Month: October 2016

AtlantaCon Sunday with Jared and Jensen and Friends

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Sunday’s gold panel brought us a tired Jared and Jensen, but that never seems to stop them from being up for chatting with fans. Jensen ribbed Jared for being in his trailer “drinking wine” while Jensen was filming a fight scene in the mud, which sounds pretty intriguing actually.

They J’s had dinner with Peter Roth, head of the CW, the other night, and the outcome of that chat seems to be that Roth is game for Supernatural to keep on going as long as we’re watching and Jared and Jensen are up for it. In other words, let’s keep going!

I’m writing this having seen episode 3, which makes everything said about the relationship between Dean and Sam and their mother extra poignant. Jared said that after his real life mother saw the scene where Sam brings Mary a cup of tea, she called him to complain that he never does that for her. Awww.

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That’s My Show! Supernatural Gets Back to Basics with ‘The Foundry’

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While waiting for someone to get me off the internet (thanks to Jared and Jensen being unspeakably adorable and gorgeous at the EWPopFest this afternoon), I thought I might as well get something done and post my review of 12.03 here. I really liked it!

Last week my inflated expectations from the week before influenced my reaction to the second episode of the season. This week, I went into episode 12.03 nervous and crossing every available appendage in hopes that this one would get season 12 back on track. With writer Robert Berens and director Bob Singer at the helm, I was cautiously optimistic. And guess what? They didn’t let me down. That Show I love with all my heart and soul? It’s back. With bells on.

‘The Foundry’ was an old fashioned Supernatural episode, which is a very big compliment indeed. It was by turns creepy and terrifying and heartwarming and heartbreaking, all in 42 minutes. I screamed out loud, bit my nails, knocked over a chair in my excitement at one point, and used up half a box of tissues by the time it was over. And that? That’s Supernatural.

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Supernatural Comes to Atlanta!

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Supernatural was new to Atlanta, and so was I – this was my first trip to a city that was warm and welcoming (and had some fabulous food). I’m in the thick of work obligations and pulling together the new book, so this will be a drive by con report, but I wanted to share some of the photos and some of my favorite moments. So here goes!

This is Part 1, Friday and Saturday. Sunday coming up soon!

Briana Buckmaster and Kim Rhodes are always a great way to kick off a con, and this time was no exception. Briana talked seriously about how much she enjoyed playing Donna as a character who looks like her – “so I don’t have to hide”. She’s also not eager to have Donna get involved in another relationship if/when she’s back on the show, never mind how nice Brendan Taylor is. After all, Donna already found love – with Jody. It may not be a romantic love, but it’s definitely love.

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Mamma Mia! Supernatural 12.02

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Warner Bros/The CW
Warner Bros/The CW

Last week I was bowled over by the return of Supernatural, with a season premiere that kicked ass in so many ways. That’s always a dangerous place to be for the next episode, so I really should have tried to rein in my expectations a bit. But hey, I was enjoying being in that heady space, so I just dove in without talking myself down. The second episode of Season 12 had more ups and downs than the first.

Alas, there was no Abba despite the title. Instead, the episode started out with the definition of a WTF moment. As in, I was screaming at the television screen, WTF????!!!!! Sure it’s nice to see Jared Padalecki shirtless from time to time, but the fact that he was rolling around the bed with that Nasty Crazy Lady took any possible hotness and extinguished it within a microsecond. Do you think I’m that shallow, Show? That I’ll take some shirtless Sam no matter what the context and not be bothered? That it won’t matter the circumstances?

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Look, I’m plenty shallow at times when it comes to this Show, but no. (Jared doing pushups in the workout trailer, on the other hand? Oh hell yes, shallow shallow shallow…) I vacillated between okay-calm-down-this-clearly-isn’t-real and but-omg-what-if-it-is because a redemption arc for Lady Toni is my nightmare right now. I might actually mean that literally.

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Toronto Con Supernatural 2016

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Now that Season 12 of Supernatural has premiered, there’s a sense of excitement in the fandom that’s absolutely exhilarating. I just finished my review of the premiere, so it’s time to sit down and try to remember what happened last weekend at Toronto con. Luckily, it was pretty memorable.

Warning: Long post ahead! With probably way too many pictures (or is that even possible when we’re talking about Supernatural??)

Torcon, as it used to be hashtagged, has been a special con ever since that time three years ago when Rob Benedict had a stroke near the end of the convention. His fellow Supernatural actors, along with fans and Creation staff and volunteers, were instrumental in saving his life that night – and nobody who’s at Torcon ever forgets it. I spoke with Rob a few hours before the premiere episode last week about his experience on the show at the end of last season, but we also talked a bit about the cons and how emotional they are. Especially this one, and especially the Saturday Night Special. We almost lost Rob, and that makes every time he takes the stage that much more special. Look for that interview here soon – and for Rob’s powerful chapter in our new book, Family Don’t End With Blood, which will be released in May. Until then, here are some of my favorite moments from this year’s Torcon, and lots of pretty pictures.

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Keep Calm and Carry On – Supernatural Kicks Off Season 12!

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I came into this season’s premiere of Supernatural a little wary – the end of Season 11 brought with it a lot of changes to the show, including the departure of showrunner Jeremy Carver, some of my favorite writers, and even some long-time crew members. So I was guarded in my expectations, but hopeful because every time I talked to lead actors Jensen Ackles or Jared Padalecki about the new season, they seemed to be happy with the start of the season and where the early episodes were taking them. So, in I went, with tissues and pie and glass of wine at the ready.

Supernatural fans are a bit different than other fans – we’re a fandom that has been around for a long time, and we appreciate all sorts of little things that the casual viewer might not. Case in point:

a) The Show is now back on Thursdays, where it began on another network eleven years ago. That felt special to me, and added to the anticipation.

b) We love the crew of our show and the miracles that they work, so most of us were not only anticipating the show, but the new title card! And it didn’t let us down – I gave a little squee to see it.

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c) Music is important. Sure, sure, there’s no singing in Supernatural (untrue, btw…) but there has always been music. Great music. The classic rock that Eric Kripke loved and passed on to his fictional boys, Sam and Dean. This season kicked off with the sort of kickass classic rock montage that we’ve come to expect from Supernatural, ratcheting up the excitement and reminding me of what an amazing show I fell for.

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