Warning: At the bottom, I list the upcoming episode titles. If you consider them spoilers, stop reading when you see ~~~~~~~~~~~.
In season finale news, it turns out a woman is needed to ground Sam and Dean in their bodies, because they are only sufficiently strong vessels if their souls don't check out (it's not just a body thing), but their love for her is also what keeps them from saying "yes."
Okay, I totally made that up. Pure fantasy, but wouldn't it be cool to be that woman?
In REAL season finale news, it will air May 13. Which anyone who can count already knew, but now it's official. For the fourth year in a row I'll be on retreat and unable to watch, but thank God the facility has wi-fi, and I'll be downloading from iTunes and watching with my fellow obsessives on Friday.
The show finally returns this Thursday and will run nonstop through the remaining 8 episodes, so that's something we can all be thankful for.
In one of my Google alerts, I glimpsed a question about the season finale that was so upsetting I quickly clicked past the alert and didn't explore to find out if that was just a random fan speculating, or actual spoiler news. Unfortunately, it's been burned into my brain...
That's two months away, though. Closer is episode 15, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid." Support Supernatural has clips on their YouTube Channel. (Note: Support SPN indicates this is episode 5.16; The CW's website labels one of the clips episode 5.14, but math and IMDb tell us it's definitely 5.15.)
SFX awarded Misha Collins "Man of His Word of the Week" for being totally awesome. Scroll down for the paragraph on him, or just go here for the reason for the award.
Buddy TV has a short interview with Jared at the 100th episode party (with audio).
Jason Manns is doing an East Coast Tour this week! You remember Jason, he's a friend of Jensen's who sometimes plays at Creation's Salute to Supernatural conventions. His song was on Sam's iPod when Dean got into the Impala for the first time after returning from Hell. He'll be in DC on Wednesday, Philadelphia on Friday, and New York City on Saturday, and he'll be selling his new album. He also has a role in the film Rock Slyde, starring Patrick Warburton, soon available at Netflix.
The new issue of Supernatural: Beginning's End is out! This comic mini-series is set while Sam is in college, before the Big Break with his dad. Each issue is like an episode of the show, very classic, and this month's features a very funny storyline. This is my favorite of the three comics series. Pick it up at your local comic store today!
Do you hi-def? The first season of Supernatural will be released on Blu-Ray on June 15. It has a few new special features that the first set didn't have (Devil's Road Map, Paley Festival panel discussion).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I love Supernatural more than any other show, but it's not the only show I love. My favorites tend to have humor, adventure, mind-bendingly serialized plots, and characters I fall for on day 1.
None of them measure up completely. SPN is the only show that's appointment TV for me. But if you take all the good stuff from each of my other current favorites, it might come closer:
1. Rick Castle's wisecracking (Castle)
2. Reaper's bad guys from hell
3. Prison Break's brothers who would do anything for each other--except right now.
4. The "where the hell are we going?" factor from Lost
5. The fake ID element in Dollhouse
6. The young buck asserting his power and a beguiling young woman who's probably untrustworthy (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
7. Intense co-star chemistry (Bones and, in a totally different way, Big Bang Theory)
All of those shows are ones I'd miss, but somehow, the synergy that is Supernatural is the only one I'd cry over. In my bed. With the covers over my head. For a week.
There's only been one other show my entire life that I've watched over and over and over, and carry on my iPod. Firefly had humor ("I'll be in my bunk") and depth (brother who would do anything to save his sister, captain who would do anything for his crew) and complex interpersonal relationships. If it had been allowed to continue for five seasons, I'm guessing it would trump SPN on my all-time list. As it happens, it wasn't. So I'm going to have to put them neck and neck with humor, adventure, drama, and characterization.
But there's only one show that has ripped my heart out, asked me to stuff it back in, and ripped it out again. Then stomped on it. And had me beg for more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since this week is sure to do that again, let me end on a lighter note. Thanks to AuthorM for the vid!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What elements do your other favorite shows share with Supernatural? Which show does it better? Weigh in with a comment, and remember that commenting enters you in the contest for a bag stuffed with goodies!
Not too long ago, it occurred to me how comfortable the boys have become in suits. And that made me think of how the episodes now compare to previous seasons. Let us count the ways the Winchester Brothers have changed (or not) in four years...
The Suits
Remember in "Phantom Traveler," they came out of a shop looking like the Blues Brothers in cheap black suits? Dean complained about that, and walked like the whole thing itched.
Contrast that with "Jump the Shark," when the bartender took him for a cop or fed right from the get-go. Both boys have a couple of suits stuffed in their duffels now, and not only don't hesitate to pull them out for a pretext, but wear them as if they were born to do so.
Yum.
Their pretexting (cover stories) have gotten slicker, though Dean does still like to use the rocker names, and they even have backup for their covers (ref. Bobby in "Sex and Violence" with his wall of agency phones).
The brotherly comfort level has changed, too, but it's come full circle. In season one they had the same goal but different motivations. They butted heads because of it, and their methods often grated on each other. They held things back from each other, too, especially after Dad died.
When Dean saved Sammy and consigned himself to hell, they came together in a new way. They relied on each other more, and even though it wasn't all smooth sailing, they were closer to partners (at least at times) than they ever had been before.
But now they've come to the joining of the mobius strip (like "full circle" but twisted away from how it started), and they're once again keeping things from each other, with different motivations taking them toward the same goal.
Whew. Got dark for a moment there. Let's lighten it up.
Every Season Has Its...
Ghost Episode(s) Spirits manifest in different ways in the Supernatural universe. Ghosts are a classic staple, and they use them extensively.
Season 1: A dead boy gets revenge from his watery grave, a dead woman gets revenge from reflective surfaces, a dead priest gets revenge through his hook... And just to be a little different, a dead mother gets revenge on a poltergeist who dares to go after her sons.
Season 2: The ghost was good! The drug addict one, anyway. The HH Wells one was the epitome of bad. *shudder* The little girl ghost was just as vengeful/angry as any have been, but we got to see her as a normal person, and the resolution in that episode didn't come, for once, from the boys. (Aside: That ep provided one of my all-time favorite quotes, "Dude! You're not gonna poke her with a stick!" and the drunken exchange.) They took things even further with a ghost who didn't know she was a ghost, a bunch of celebrity ghosts being controlled by a vengeful writer, and one applying her own brand of justice to prison inmates in death as she had in life.
Whew. I never realized just how hard they ply the revenge theme in this show!
Truncated Season 3 only hit the ghost episodes twice, with a girl who wasn't actually dead and a lonely, creepy guy who was incidental to the real purpose of the show: bringing back the Ghostfacers!
By Season 4, they've really run out the genre. We saw some spirits conjured by Lilith (out for revenge) and the "Whoops! We're not really ghosts!" episode, also dealing with revenge. There were 3 other ghost episodes so far this season, but I've rattled on long enough. I'm kind of shocked there were so many, and used in so many different ways. Kudos to the writers for their creativity.
Every Season Also Has Its...
Faith Episode
Imagined dialogue in the writer's room while breaking episodes:
Season one: "Let's explore how ephemeral yet powerful faith can be, especially in desperate circumstances."
Season two: "Faith was so much fun last year, we should explore it again. Dean is a non-believer, but Sam believes wholeheartedly. Won't it be cool if they both have good reason to feel the way they do, and it's the same reason?"
Season three: "Dean's going to hell and we're sitting on our asses with this strike. Let's just hold off until season 4."
Season four: "Eh, what the hell. Let's stop pussyfootin' and just go all the way."
Then there's the...
Flashback or Alternate Reality Episode
1.18, Wee!Dean rebels against his tedious, self-sacrificing role taking care of Sammy, and almost lets him get taken by a striga.
Michael: You said you're a big brother? Dean Winchester: Yeah. Michael: You'd take care of your little brother? You'd do anything for him? Dean Winchester: [in a very heartfelt way] Yeah, I would.
2.20, A djinn gives Dean everything he thinks he wants, but it turns out to be...flawed.
Dean Winchester: Bitch. Sam Winchester: What're you calling me a bitch for?
3.8, more Dean taking care of Sam, this time giving him girl presents and getting his necklace in return--something he almost never takes off.
Dean Winchester: Remember that wreath dad brought home that one year? Sam Winchester: You mean the one he stole from, like, a liquor store? Dean Winchester: Yeah, it was a bunch of empty beer cans. [laughs] Dean Winchester: That thing was great.
Season 4 goes all out, with TWO flashback episodes AND an alternate reality:
4.3, in which Our Hero learns his mother was a Hunter.
Young Mary Winchester: I want a family. I want to be safe... You know what the worst thing is I can think of, the very worst thing? It's for my children raised into this like I was.
4.13, in which Our Other Hero recalls high school and kicks some bully ass.
and finally, 4.17, where they put Sam in a snug, short-sleeved polo shirt and crammed his gigantic bulk into a cubicle a quarter of the size of a normal one, and...
I'm sorry, I don't remember anything else.
This is getting really super long, so let me rush through my other thoughts.
Meta Episode
How much fun are "Hollywood Babylon" and "The Monster at the End of this Book"? The links will take you to the lists on the Supernatural Wiki of all the little self-referential things they tucked into the scripts.
You Think You Know All About X, But...Episode
Some redundancy here, but we have:
"The Benders" — "Dude, they're just people."
"The Usual Suspects" — Ghost who's actually being helpful
"Roadkill" — Ghost who doesn't know it
"Sin City" — Demons are actually kinda a lot like humans
"Lazarus Rising" — ANGELS, baby!
"Wishful Thinking" — Existential teddy bear
"Jump the Shark" — Ghouls. Whoa.
How Dare They Introduce Women Episodes
Cassie — everyone hated her (well, I didn't, but I seem to be the only one)
Jo — everyone hated her (probably wouldn't have if we'd been told she was a little sister type, which is how it came out, instead of love interest)
Ruby — everyone hated her (until we got a new Ruby, then everyone loved Katie better)
I had intentions of talking about growth (Jared got...what's a word for "bigger than gigantic"?...and became a tremendous actor along the way; Bobby's influence on their lives increased; etc.) and the things that have remained constant (John's influence on their lives, Dean's beauty and heartbreaking pain, etc.), but obviously, I've gone on way too long already. So I'll just leave you with something new at YouTube.
Feel free to add stuff in the comments that I missed, or correct me if you think I'm wrong!
If you're reading this blog, you're probably at least somewhat familiar with YouTube. YouTube is everything you've ever wanted to see on video. Looking for high school football highlights for Tom Brady, superstar NFL quarterback, from nearly 15 years ago? They're there. Maybe you were born later than 1984 but wanna know why your parents keep yelling "Where's the beef?"
But YouTube is also a repository of creativity, and a great deal of it is dedicated to our favorite show. A simple search brings up 162,000 hits. Here are some of our favorites (some not safe for work):
This one is my fave, because it has excellent timing and matches the clips with the lyrics. You'll notice they've added an "advertisement" that allows you to purchase the music used (assuming that carries over from the main URL to the embedded video). That makes me squee with joy for the musicians being (well-meaningly) infringed upon by the fans.
There are probably a hundred Supernatural drinking games on YouTube. This one is magnificent for its action choices, its music, and its "interactivity" with the boys:
Here's a short one you'll have to watch over and over, and then you'll curse me for days for the earworm:
I'm not the only Supernatural Sister who hangs out a YouTube! Mary also recommends the previous two (and heck, she might have pointed me to them in the first place!). But her favorite favorite is a South Park mix with magnificent alignment:
It's probably not a surprise that Trish said the ones Mary listed are some of her favorites, too. Plus, she is routinely cracked up by this (embedding is disabled on that one) and this:
Those two have been available on TV, of course, but thank goodness for YouTube when we want to go back and giggle.
I could fill another couple of webfeet with videos, but Tanya's got the truth of it:
"I try to stay away from them because once I'm at a place like youtube watching Winchester vids, I can lose an entire day of writing before I realize it! But when I am there, I tend to watch Dean's eye of the tiger performance and different interviews, including one of the boys at a convention talking about Texas accents :-)"
There you go! I've probably wasted a good half hour of your time there. Now it's your turn. What excellent videos have we missed? I need some replacements for the "Dude" and "Son of a Bitch" Dean videos that got taken down! Share your favorites in the comments!
