Month: February 2018

Supernatural Cons 2018 – First Stop, Orlando!

Supernatural Cons 2018 – First Stop, Orlando!

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I’m just about to drag out my suitcase and toss some things in there to head to Las Vegas for the Supernatural convention that starts on Thursday – and I’m ridiculously excited! Vegas is one of my favorite cons. It’s an extra day of fun, it’s got so many of the friends I don’t get to see nearly enough all year long, and Jensen sings at the Saturday Night Special. The first time he did that, in 2015, was one of those experiences you never forget. Nobody expected him to come onstage and turn into this total effing rockstar, so afterwards we were all a bit stunned. Nobody could stop grinning; no one could stop hugging each other. We clung to each other like we’d just witnessed a piece of history, overflowing with wordless pure unadulterated joy. It was one of my favorite con moments ever.

So I always look forward to Vegas!

After Jensen’s 2015 SNS Performance

I was determined to post my Orlando con report before I leave for Vegas, so here it is, with almost an entire day to spare. Sure, that con was over a month ago, but hey, at least I met my admittedly generous deadline.

So, OrlandoCon 2018…

Orlando is a great place to have a convention in the middle of January, especially for those of us who live in the Northeast US and are sick of being frozen half to death. So I was thrilled to fly down a bit early and spend some time with my friends Liz and Kristen and Kim. The con hotel was across the footbridge from Disney Springs, so we trekked over there to explore and shop and have a delicious dinner in a café full of animated dinosaurs. Definitely in Disney!

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What Is Happening?? Lynn and Nightsky Live on Supernatural ‘Devil’s Bargain’

What Is Happening?? Lynn and Nightsky Live on Supernatural ‘Devil’s Bargain’

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Last week Lynn and Nightsky (from the Winchester Family Business) were at an academic conference on Popular Culture, giving carefully prepared papers on (what else?) Supernatural and moderating panels and generally working our butts off. So Thursday night was a welcome break to watch the new Supernatural episode with a room full of fellow acafans (academics who are also passionate fans). Oh, and pie. Lots of pie.  Being the resourceful women we are, we loaded up some plates with free conference food and then crowded into our friends Susan and Mandy’s room. Balancing overloaded plates precariously, we settled in to watch. Come along with us, if you will, to see what happens next…

The THEN came on and the room fell silent. For a minute anyway.

Lynn: KEVIN! Is Osric in this episode? Please let Osric be in this episode! (Alas, Osric was in fact NOT in this episode…)

The NOW begins, which repeats the scene we saw last week of Castiel and Lucifer having a tussle, and Lucifer full on lunging at Castiel and stabbing him in the stomach. Wait, what? Is that what we saw last week?

Nightsky: Hold on, when did that happen??

Lynn: He stabbed him last week but not like THAT, am I right?

Susan and Mandy (who remember things much better than the two of us) He did stab him last week, but he swiped high, it was a high slice not a gut stab!

Cas staggers through the woods, clearly way more injured than he seemed to be last week when he prevailed and stabbed Lucifer instead. He falls to the ground – to be found by the shocked teenagers of the week who of course do what? Poke him with a stick.

Everyone in the room: WHAT IS HAPPENING??

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Lynn and Kim talk Supernatural and its ‘Various and Sundry Villains’

Lynn and Kim talk Supernatural and its ‘Various and Sundry Villains’

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I haven’t seen so much commentary on a Supernatural episode – and not just by the big outlets who routinely cover the show – in a long time. I’m talking fannish thinky thoughts – on Tumblr, on Twitter, on Facebook, even on LiveJournal! And that says something about ‘Various and Sundry Villains’ and the way Steve Yockey wrote the characters and the story arc this week. It was also the week to honor female directors and filmmakers, so having Amanda Tapping back to direct was wonderful – and she did an amazing job. Not only did the humor come through, but Tapping filmed the emotional scenes in a powerful way – often in ultra close ups, evoking the intimacy of the moment we were witnessing. (And also showing off our very beautiful cast…)

Ruth with director Amanda Tapping – tweet Ruth Connell

So here are my own thinky thoughts to add to the mix, and because everyone had something to say about this episode, here are some of Kim’s (my talented photographer friend) too. Amusingly, we agree passionately about some things and have a completely different take on others. But that’s how fandom should be! What we have in common is a deep love for this Show, which lets us disagree and still have lots in common.

Like most, I loved a lot about the episode, or at least I loved the overwhelming majority of the episode. The two very emotional scenes were award worthy, no question.  There were some times when the episode felt like a roller coaster though – or more accurately a Wild Mouse – because every so often it would lurch to a stop and leave me hanging onto the lap bar going wait, what? There was an unnevenness to it that was jarring at times, and that was confusing – perhaps because there was a TON happening. We’re back to multiple story lines, and that switch back and forth never sits entirely well with me. Every time I get deeply invested in what’s happening we switch to the other story line and I have a moment of irritation before I can make that mental switch too. It’s a common thing on Supernatural, but I don’t entirely enjoy it. My brain likes to go deep and then stay there, especially when my emotions are deeply engaged, as they were in much of this episode.

Kim is much more forgiving. At least she thinks she is…

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