14… I’ve obviously been out of the loop a while because last I heard, Season 8 was the final season of SPN.
But now it’s slated to hang on until Season 10?
My god. (And I don’t mean that in a Castiel thinks he’s God kind of way.)
I’ll be honest, I only made it as far as the end of seventh season because of Bobby since by that point I had to have closure for his character. (I loved him enough I cried! D:) I did watch that season to the last episode. But then I was thinking, they can run one more season, I won’t watch it, and I’ll be okay with that. I’ve made my peace. After all, the storyline had gone so far into the demons-angels-Epic-Biblical-Catastrophe thing I really began to lose track of everything that had happened to Sam and Dean (because angst, always with the angst and death, people, that’s not good except for masochistic fans). Granted the show’s sense of humor still makes it appearances in awesome ways but it doesn’t mesh well with the hardcore goings-on very easily or very often.
Now I’m kind of vacillating here. Should I catch up? S9 premieres in a few weeks, right?
:/ IDK. I really don’t know if I can handle any more of it. Every time I see Sam and Dean I notice how much they’ve hardened, think of all the hell they’ve been through (and I mean that literally too), and how they really only have each other left and even then that seems like it just doesn’t cut it.
So for those of you who are still watching it to the bitter end, what do you think? For those of you who, like me, drifted away when it got too traumatic, what do you think? Even to the ones who know nothing of Supernatural, what do you think?
Related Posts:
- Question – from November 22, 2013
- Random: Supernatural – from December 3, 2011
/takes your face into my hands KLMERI Every long-running show has it’s ups and downs and continuity oopsies and things we wished wouldn’t have happened and things we downright hate and seasons that just should have gone back to square one when they had the chance but Supernatural is at its core an amazing show with an amazing message and amazing characters and season nine looks like it’s going to be SO GOOD (SO GOOD; no spoilers unless you want them but AUGH) so I am of the opinion you should watch it. Even if you can’t stand to sit through the catch-up episodes– read the synopses online. o/
SPN is probably the longest running show I started watching from the beginning and kept up with. It’s not like any ST show were it was all already out there and waiting. I feel like I invested a hell of a lot in it each year! You’re right about the amazing characters – and some of those are bad guys. I always admired that about the writing. And the actors themselves. Great actors! … You’re definitely swaying me in the direction of ‘watch it! by reminding me of these good things. :)
I just started watching Supernatural season 8 since the DVDs just came out. I still find the show worth watching and excitedly look forward to it. I only ever marathon it, so I never watch it broadcast; I wait for the next season to come on DVD. The characters have grown and changed, which I like. Yes, they have hardened. It’s right and proper, I think, in context. But the situation is difficult between the brothers. Dean is magnetic. Even tho he often pisses others off (including me!,) people just can’t stay away from him. The brotherly bond of loyalty and love is always there, that never goes away, but man is it confining. Dean knows of nothing else…his brain just won’t go there (except for one nice year with Lisa.) I actually think he is not sane. So with 8th season it has been about 8 years since Sam drove off from college with Dean. That would put Sam at about age 30. That is a pivotal age where he has to be his own self and has to have room to do so. Tiny spoiler alert here: Dean acted like a jilted lover when Sam didn’t look for him at the beginning of S8. Standoffish, manipulative, not eating, not talking, glaring. Oh my. Drama Dean. I know they have shared life and death and beyond, and they are closer than brothers, but it’s still so unhealthily confining to Sam. I find myself fascinated by the enigmatic Dean but almost always I am on Sam’s side of their “issues.” Even any lover relationship wouldn’t feel THAT confining. The dynamic is so intense, too, because Dean basically raised Sam, so he is brother/father/guardian but also friend and companion. The pisser for Dean is that he seems to need Sam in his life more than Sam needs Dean in his life. It’s not that Sam isn’t devoted and bonded, it’s that there will always be the fact that Dean just possesses deeper and harder. It is a possessive love. It’s definitely pathological by now, too. I don’t see an introduction of slash helping matters at all (despite the in jokes and comments from supporting characters on the show about their “romance” which keeps on into season 8) which is perhaps another reason I don’t rush for slash about those two. Unless they were finally removed from their environment of hunting, there is just too much stress. Where is the time for tenderness, for real deep love and all that entails and feels like? Where is the moment that can happen where you realize this person is more important than anything (including hunting) and you would sacrifice it all for them? Maybe by the end of the show when they’re both in the bin as padded roommates I might buy the final comfort of joining in all ways, but otherwise the slash dynamic eludes my brains. I don’t ship Sam/Dean. Still, I love watching this show and these characters, no matter how exasperated I can become (esp. toward Dean.) And the powerful bond between them is so angsty and drama-inducing that it is actually its own on-going horror story in a series about horror. And I enjoy watching it play out.
You are so smart to wait until the DVDs come out. So smart. I wish I’d been able to restrain myself like that over a lot of tv shows. Would have reduced weeks of ugly crying to like a couple of days. LOL. The bond between Dean and Sam is always what has drawn me to the show and kept me watching it. I loved that they were so close… but as time went on, it really became apparent that Dean couldn’t be his own person without Sam. That hurt me, a lot. You’re absolutely right in saying it’s dysfunctional. I guess I knew it couldn’t be anything except that, given how the brothers grew up, but – I don’t know. And then Sam went off the rails and the brother-bond really began to fray into this awkward almost hated thing. Logically, every relationship has its low points. And granted sometimes if it gets so low, people walk away from each other and stay away for good. I guess I worried that would happen at some point to Dean and Sam. After a few close calls, I couldn’t take it anymore. But if you’re saying it is still a dynamic worth watching… I might have to brave the troubled waters again. :)
I definitely believe that marathon watching of a TV show gives the viewer a different perspective than watching weekly, or waiting for hiatuses to end. I watch it like one big long movie, so when Sam and Dean have their difficulties they are resolved within one or two episodes or within that season. And ever since Sam joined Dean on the road all those years ago, it’s a show-formula. If the angst of that is too heavy, I heartily suggest this way of viewing. I know it’s hard to wait a whole year for another season, tho. Sam and Dean are like one person split into two halves for me. I can’t imagine the show where one of them is permanently missing. It wouldn’t be Supernatural anymore for me. I like that they are so different, and that they move effortlessly and as a unit, understanding each other perfectly, but have their moments of rubbing together like sandpaper. The juxtaposition of that is what compels me to say how well written that show is (even in the cheesier eps.) Dean confounds and annoys me quite often and yet I can honestly say that he is written and acted so impeccably well and consistently to the character that I actually forget he isn’t a real guy. And I eventually forgive him anything.
CATCH UP. NOW. I got sucked into Supernatural while sick one week last fall, and went through all seven seasons in a matter of months, my heart breaking a little more each time. But in my humble, fangirl opinion, Season Eight redeemed much that I disliked of the last three or four seasons. The first half of Eight will make you want to scream, cry, or throw things at oblivious!boys, but the last half is one total gift of fanservice that will make you glad you watched it. And the point where they leave us is a pretty cool and relatively original jumping-off point for the series, which as you said got so bogged down in a war between heaven and hell that it made my head spin. /totally non-philosophical or educated opinion Also, what we’ve seen for season nine so far? SO STOKED. I can give you spoilers if you want, especially if you love Bobby so much…*cough* *shuts up now*
Wow, my friends are serious SPN advocates! But in my humble, fangirl opinion, Season Eight redeemed much that I disliked of the last three or four seasons. I think you had me at this line. This is what I wanted to know. And then you threw in Bobby! *grin*
SPN is srs (family) bsns, m’friend. And yes, you’ll probably watch the first half and want to tear your hair out and never watch it again – but the rest? More hugs than the whole other seven serieses combined, let’s just say. *squees quietly* I’ve turned back to rewatching SPN on Netflix because I still can’t bring myself to stomach the fifth season of Merlin. *forever sad*
It’s so funny you mentioned Merlin, because I was viewing Netflix this afternoon and I went to Merlin and watched part of an episode and was like I can’t believe I am recovered enough to watch this now! I bypassed the last episode though. …maybe I’m not as recovered as I thought?
I hear you. That may be the one fandom I will never really forgive. :( In other news, how is life treating you?
Maybe I shouldn’t be honest here but… kind of hellish. Well, work that is. But you know what I’m talking about. Sometimes you are so busy just surviving your regular work day, your muse withers up by the wayside. So even if you find a few minutes to do the one thing you like – writing, for instance – nothing productive or good happens. I hate it. Absolutely hate it. So, yeah. That question just garners a lot of complaining. :/ My apologies, KCS. Your turn! How’s life been to you lately?
I’m in the same boat, I think. I am moving into the city tomorrow, so hopefully the new apartment and the peace and quiet of my alone time, in addition to being 40 minutes closer to work, will help me get my life back under control. Just in time for the holidays to start, of course. :[ Here’s hoping I can somehow get the kick in the pants I need to put me back into the fandom!
It will be a lot better once you’re on your own. Take it from someone who knows. I started SPN S8 today. Already I’m rolling my eyes at the brothers… but you said the second half is worth the wait. I’m going to hang onto that belief!
Yeah, keep rolling them for another half dozen episodes or so. But then after they find a certain something things start looking up.and the finale? What I’ve wanted to see for, oh, like five or six seasons now, ever since the main plot point quit being two brothers hunting evil and turned into two guys being manipulated by various shades of evil. Totally worth waiting through the man-drama for. :)