Week two of Supernatural’s return was not as frenetic as the week before, but we still got some great new coverage of the show and interviews with the cast. Only one more month of Supernatural actually airing – ONE MONTH! I’m not sure I have my head around it yet, but ready or not, one month it is.
Here’s my wrap up of all the Supernatural happenings from last week, including a few favorite moments from some of the interviews the cast did this week, many of which were the second or third parts of interviews we saw last week. That included Jared and Jensen’s chat with TVLine.
Interviewer: Were there tears after the director yelled cut?
Jensen: No, we shotgunned beers! (laughing) Yes, there was crying. The final moments on set were weighty, because we knew it was coming, and we had a long time to see it on the horizon. And when it came, and it was there… I know I certainly broke character, I’ll tell you that much.
Jared: (softly) We both did.
I don’t know why, but that little exchange made me tear up instantly as I was watching. Knowing how much it got to them, how much finishing their time as Sam and Dean meant to them, really got to me too. I’m looking forward to that scene, but I also think it’s going to leave me in a puddle on the floor. They won’t be the only ones crying, that’s for sure.
Jensen: I felt like if you could take, like, happiness and satisfaction and being proud and just wrapped it up in emotion, then that’s the pill that we swallowed that day.
Jared: It was a good pill, though. I would take it again if I get the chance.
I so hope they do get that chance, because I cannot conceive of a world in which we never get to see the Winchesters again.
Jensen also did a wonderful video interview with Rolling Stone, which I was thrilled to see cover the show. I feel like the whole world has finally discovered just how unique and special Supernatural is – and I keep wanting to say hey, it’s been this special for fifteen years, glad you finally realized!
Jensen on the show’s premise: The long lead story was the relationship between these two brothers and how they bond together and get torn apart.
He told a story that I’ve heard before, about his very first multi-fandom convention and how he was surprised to realize that Supernatural already had a passionate fandom.
Jensen: I was the lone Supernatural representative – and I got over to London and it was me and 12 actors from various shows, and the crowd response when I came out for the show was like jaw dropping! People were super hyped about Supernatural. I immediately called Jared and said dude, I think people are watching this!
There’s a whole chapter about that convention in one of our first books, Fangasm Supernatural Fangirls, which includes the incident of the “Flying Fangirl” too – a young woman who was overcome with excitement at seeing Ackles at that convention and leapt right onto him like a spider monkey! Clearly that con made a big impression on him.
He also reminisced about some of his favorite moments filming the show, and I teared up again (with a smile on my face this time) when Jensen talked about how much fun they had filming the brilliant Robbie Thompson episode, ‘Baby’, told entirely from the car’s perspective.
Jensen: Jared hopped in and we took off down the road… At one moment I took a terry cloth towel and dabbed the sweat off Jared’s face. We were doing everything ourselves, out on the road, out on the highway.
It’s so clear how much he enjoyed that episode, and that those will be some of the moments he hangs onto.
Jensen: They outfitted eight cameras in and around and on the car and they just sent us off. There was no camera operator, no grips, no DP, no director, no script supervisor, no makeup, no nothin’. … Jared had the audio deck between his legs. We were doing everything ourselves. …
The Impala has always been important to him, just like it is to his character.
Jensen: One of my other favorite moments happened the other day when I drove the car — and put it in my garage.
He’s talked before about trying to stay in denial for as long as he could as the end of the show approached.
Jensen: I tried to keep my eye on the prize and keep steering us toward the finish line. So I think it was less a ‘long goodbye’ and more of the fourth quarter of a Super Bowl game. I didn’t want to put too much emotion into this final season because I didn’t want it to change what we’d been doing these past 15 years or foreshadow what was coming ahead. I wanted to keep it kinda business as usual, keep doing the work I’ve always done. I don’t know if that was my way of dealing with it, just suppressing it and sweeping it under the rug. Maybe I took a page out of Dean’s book.
Me: It was definitely his way of dealing with it – and he has been playing Dean for 15 years, after all.
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-news/supernatural-final-season-jensen-ackles-interview-1076038/
In another interview, Jared and Jensen were asked who they’d like to see come back to the show.
Jared: I’d like to see the LARPers from The Real Ghostbusters come back, they made me laugh so much when they were on set.
That was a surprising answer, but I loved it because I loved that episode and those Sam and Dean LARPers who taught the boys an important real life lesson about appreciating their bond as brothers and how important their job was. Kinda fits in with looking back at the end of the show now, so I agree with you, Jared!
The interview was done right after they wrapped, and emotions were still running high.
Jared: I really have this sense of pride. Not just for my involvement, but Jensen and Misha and Alex, everyone who’s been involved in front of the camera and behind the camera. And also from the fandom, the SPNFamily. What a wonderful opportunity it was.
Jensen: I feel like we’re still kinda in the debriefing room. It hasn’t settled in, the weight of the fact that it’s over. I’m still kinda looking back on it with this fondness of like, holy crap we did that! We put away 15 years on a single show playing a single character. Granted that one character may have had some possessions and some different facets. But the fact that we did that, with this crew and cast of amazingly talented actors and this fanbase that really was the engine that kept us running this whole time, right now I’m still calming down from the high.
Meanwhile, Misha continued to work incredibly hard to get out the vote, even coordinating snacks and waters to be delivered to polling places with ridiculously long lines. We all advised him on whether or not to eat one of the free brownies left on a plate in a gas station. My vote? NO WAY. We need you in this world, Misha, don’t take chances!
He also kicked off a special Halloween weekend GISH, which will be a wonderful way to tap into some creativity, have some FUN and stay sane in the midst of an insane world (and one month of Supernatural left). That includes the always entertaining Jake Abel – and the chance to do some baking with him!
Misha posted his own proof of voting, and Jensen and Danneel also posted their support of voting, sharing their “I Voted” selfies.
Excitement for Jared and Jensen’s new projects is heating up, so we got some wonderful fan art of Jared as Cordell Walker, one of which was re-posted by the woman who cut and styled his hair for the part. As Sam Winchester would say in that one hilarious episode, RAWR.
This is sort of hard for me to believe, but Walker actually starts filming five days from now, on October 27! The entire fandom is wishing Jared Padalecki all the luck in the world – I hope he can feel it. And some lucky Austin locals are auditioning to be stand ins and extras for the production (having done a little extra work, let me just say, be prepared to be very patient and bring a good book!)
Matt Cohen, an integral part of the SPNFamily for many years, directed his first (and only) episode of Supernatural last week, the Davy Perez penned ‘Gimme Shelter’. Matt talked to Variety about directing the show and how he made the episode something that turned out to be both emotionally impactful and beautiful.
Matt said that in order to truly sell the various levels of emotions in the episode, he didn’t want to rely on fancy camerawork or elaborate setups – instead he used a lot of tight close-ups of the actors. Which absolutely no one in the fandom was going to complain about for one SECOND.
Matt: I had come off working on a soap opera a few years ago and there is something in me that soap operas do very well, and it can be really irritating to the actors a lot of the time [but] the camera will just sit on your face until your face sells the moment, and that’s your cut point. I tried to bring a little soap opera to the sci-fi experience.
I, for one, appreciated that, Matt.
Matt: It became a script of characters and really just each person dealing with their own truths and letting these truths intersect with each other, so I decided to let the faces of the actors really tell the story. It’s the traditional way that stories have been told in Hollywood for so long, without doing too much, so I thought, ‘Let me keep it more simple and let me let these actors work. Let me get out of their way and let me let them perform.’ So I wanted to keep the creepy in the eyes of the actors. And you’ve got Jack and Cass on an emotional journey, and there’s a love story there between the two of them, and there’s a love story between those two and the boys, and I wanted that to play out, too. I knew they would be able to deliver a performance to me.
Having seen the episode, I think we can safely say that Matt succeeded. It helps to have a director who’s also a trusted friend and long-time colleague, not just from the show but from conventions all over the world.
Matt: If I said, “Misha, this is what we’re doing, just do it,” and then let the camera run until what I was looking for comes out, that’s what they did. Because they’re such pros, it came rather quickly. The caliber of actors that I was working with, including my guest stars, are some of the best that are doing it in television, and I wanted that to be portrayed.
I’m sorry that Matt only got to direct one episode of the show, but I’m thrilled that he did get to direct that one episode!
Entertainment Weekly also did a throwback interview with Travis Wester and AJ Buckley, aka the Ghostfacers. Both had glowing things to say about both Supernatural and Jared and Jensen.
BUCKLEY: To show up on somebody’s set and it’s their show and for them to allow us to, in a sense, to take over, some actors could get bent out of shape. But they just embraced it. They’re such great human beings anyways, but they’re just always down to riff.
WESTER: Shows like that don’t go for 15 years unless you have amazing people at the top and Jensen and Jared are by far and away two of the greatest stars of a show I’ve ever encountered. The way they take care of everyone on the set, the way they treat everyone like family, it’s really something to behold and honestly, every single star of every single TV show can take something away from how they treat everyone on their set.
https://ew.com/tv/supernatural-aj-buckley-travis-wester-ghostfacers/
Supernatural also has a panel at the NY Paley Fest tomorrow, but some were able to watch the pre-recorded panel early – if you weren’t able to see it, be sure to catch it when it’s available to all on Friday, because it’s a great panel. Not gonna lie, I needed tissues by the time it was done.
To whet your appetite, here are a few excerpts. Of course, moderator Damian Holbrook (who did a fabulous job) asked what those final days on set were like.
Jensen: The final day on our soundstages was the Friday previous to our last three days and that was really the big heavy emotional scene of the episode, and of the season and of the series, I think. We did that and filmed that on our last day at our soundstages. That embodied the emotional goodbye, to our home, and Jared and I said it felt like putting these brothers and these characters away, like this is it, this is the last real time we’re gonna have to set up an emotional moment to this degree. I kinda felt like that was the last song in a huge heavy rock concert. And then we came back for three days on the road and that to me felt like an encore, that we were all able to come back out and do our thing and the very final moment standing on a bridge somewhere, somehow, we all kinda had a real beautiful moment. Like Jared said, it was less sad and more proud, kinda happy tears, that feeling you get when you know you’ve done something that you’ll be proud of for the rest of your life.
Annnnnnnd that’s when I already needed the tissues.
Misha: I feel like I did my mourning of the end of the show leading up to when we had to stop production, and it’s been sad and hard. Honestly I don’t feel like these guys at all, I’m like ah, this is the end of a really important seminal chapter of my life and I already miss all these faces and showing up at work and laughing so hard my six pack abs get developed — Jared don’t laugh! I’m grateful for this chapter in my life, but sad to move on from it.
Misha looked very emotional throughout the panel, and every time I saw sadness in those blue eyes, I got more emotional too.
Showrunners Bob Singer and Andrew Dabb said that they didn’t end up having to make any major changes to the last two episodes because of the pandemic.
Singer: The last episode is about the guys, it’s sort of an intimate episode that I hope the fans like.
Me: Damn, that makes me feel hopeful…that is always a mistake when it comes to this show! Not counting on a happy ending!
Dabb: Where we were going never changed. We didn’t have to go in and blow anything up.
Jared and Jensen lamented that they couldn’t have their customary social interaction with the cast and crew that they’re used to, though – the one that sets that distinctive tone on set that Jensen talks about in his chapter in There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done.
Jared: Ackles and I have known our crew for so long, some of them fifteen plus years. We felt like some of those asshole actors, we’d leave stage and it was like the Red Sea parting, like exploding dots or shining lights on cockroaches and they’d just disperse!
Jensen: It was like they’d yell ‘Here comes first team’ and we were like oh, I feel like a leper right now…
All the actors said they were happy about where their characters landed in the finale.
Jensen, who had not been happy initially, said he had worked through his doubts.
Jensen: I had my reservations, but I realized I’m so close to this story and these characters, maybe I had my own idea of how it was gonna look. The more that I thought about it and mulled over all the different possibilities of what could and maybe what should happen, I kept coming back to what ended up happening.
Alex, who also seemed really emotional about the show ending, said that since he’s from Vancouver, he’d already heard a lot about the show before he joined.
Alex: These guys have an amazing reputation throughout the city with all these other actors, people are genuinely thrilled to work with them.
He then added, tongue in cheek: My personal experience was much different… being Misha 2.0 was a little more difficult than I expected…
Misha said they never expected the finish line for the show would be so far from the start line!
Misha: I remember thinking, at the 100th episode party, like OMG we made it to 100 episodes! Someone was like, we’ll see you at the 200th episode party and we were like come on, what a joke…
Damian: Was there a ritualistic burning of the trenchcoat when you wrapped?
Misha (aghast): NO! Those things are gold…
Jensen: Uh Misha? There was….
I got the feeling they have all missed teasing and joking around with each other tremendously, even though when they filmed the panel it had only been a week since they wrapped the series.
Holbrook asked, now that the show is done, what was their favorite moment on or off set?
Jared said that Season 4 was magical (he met and fell in love with Gen, so that makes sense) but that the series finale is his favorite episode of all time.
Jensen agreed.
Jensen: I’ll echo Jared, there’s a moment in this final episode that might eke out the number one spot of all time, but it’s also fresh, so…
Me: Damn it, there’s more of that hope sneaking in!
Jensen: There is a moment offscreen that I remember very vividly, when we all took the stage at Comic Con last year. There’s something really special about that room and that crowd, the grandeur of it all. To be able to stand there and take that in was a pretty emotional moment that I will never forget.
I think most fans feel the same. I will never forget witnessing the cast taking the stage that day, knowing it was the last time, thinking back over all those Comic Cons and everything I’d been through with the show. I was incredibly emotional, and seeing their genuine emotion and watching them tear up made it a thousand times more emotional. I can’t imagine the pride they must have felt standing there, looking out over the crowd, knowing what a difference they’ve made with this little show.
Misha: There are bookends. My character’s intro on the show was like epic. My character’s conclusion, my last scene on the show, was epic in its own right and felt like such a satisfying conclusion to that arc.
So all three of them agree – their last scenes on the show feel right to them, feel satisfying and feel full of genuine emotion. That somehow helps me feel better about the ending too, knowing that the people who most deserve to feel good about it, actually do.
Misha: Offscreen moment, literally hundreds of hours of WB money wasted by us just laughing on set. The countless hours we spent laughing and enjoying the process of being together, the friendship and camaraderie we built on the show over the years.
Jensen: We wouldn’t have made it fifteen years without that.
Me: I need more tissues!
Having been on that set a few times, I can attest to how much they genuinely do enjoy working together, and how strikingly smooth their working environment is – partly because they know when to crack each other up and they know when to buckle down and get serious and facilitate each other’s emotional journeys. No wonder they lasted fifteen years.
Alex gave credit to the amazing crew, so many of whom have been there since the beginning.
Alex: There was not a day that I showed up on set that I wasn’t thankful to be there. Knowing how we went through the mud and the rain, how you guys did that for 15 years, I was just so moved by the thoughtfulness and the kindness of so many people that surround us at our job every day. Knowing how many people on the show care and how many people worldwide care.
Jared and Jensen both talked about what they’ll take from the show in their chapters in There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done, as well as on this panel.
Jared: I think I learned gratitude. I feel so friggen fortunate.
Jensen: Lifelong lessons and lifelong friends. I have no doubt I will know these people for the rest of mine and their lives.
Misha: Ditto.
Damian really made me lose it when he read a message to Jared and Jensen from series creator Eric Kripke.
Kripke: I sat you guys down on episode 2 and said that this show and this story starts and ends with you. And even more than that, you two have to be the leaders of all of Supernatural.
Jared and Jensen both nodded, remembering that pivotal conversation.
Holbrook’s voice grew emotional as he continued reading.
Kripke: Not only did you rise to that challenge, you have exceeded it in every way. Not only did you give amazing performances as Sam and Dean, you are even better people. The good that has come out of Supernatural is the thing I am most proud of. I know that the Supernatural family will always be there, so I know this isn’t goodbye.
Jensen and Jared, as they listened, were clearly moved by what Kripke had said, Jared with tears in his eyes by the time Damian reached the end of the message.
He wasn’t the only one. Eric Kripke contributed a special message to There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done in which he also talked about what he’s proud of about the show, so the message made me extra emotional.
And then Holbrook started the last question with “this might be the last time you guys are together…” and I LOST it. Somehow that simple phrase, along with Kripke’s heartfelt message, just made it so crystal clear – we really are at the end, and the cast and crew is now looking back.
Dabb, Singer and the three actors all gave credit to the fans for keeping the show going. Misha gave the fandom credit for allowing the show to be a force for good in the world too.
Misha: This fandom has this incredible devotion and creative energy and empathy and inherent kindness that we have just been piggybacking on. This moniker of the Supernatural family is meaningful, these people are bonding together like a family and trying to be a force to do good in the world, which is frankly the underlying mythology of the show – fighting monsters and trying to make the world a better place.
Jensen: We’re in a unique position to have a real open face to face dialogue with a lot of fans on a frequent basis. I don’t know a lot of casts who get to have that opportunity. They have really become a part of what we do. I often say meeting and interacting with fans we have is fuel. The fact that you can get that inspiration to keep working harder and want to wake up at 6 am and make the best production that you can. It’s a unique situation that I don’t know if I’ll ever have again, certainly to this capacity, and so for that I will forever be married to this SPNFamily – that’s just what it is.
Jared: I don’t know of any other show in the history of television that the fan support was so critical and crucial in the show’s success. To fans watching this, thank you. I know we as actors get to have our horns tooted quite often but I hope you know we’re tooting your horns and I hope you toot your own as well with us. We have a saying, Supernatural never dies, and the fandom is the only reason the show lived for fifteen years and the reason Supernatural truly will never die.
That one required a lot of tissues. So did everything they said about what this show has meant to them in There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done, no matter how many times I read over those chapters as we put the book together to make sure we got them right. As we get closer and closer to the finale, all their words are hitting me even more intensely and the emotions are even greater – both the sadness and the pride.
Last night I had a brief twitter exchange with Supernatural composers Jay Gruska and Christopher Lennertz – Gruska was in the midst of scoring the final episode, and had this to say:
Gruska: I have the pleasure of writing that score…I’m in the thick of it now. But I’m staying mum about music choices. I will only say that Jensen and Jared floored me with their performances.
I am not at all surprised, and I have no doubt that Gruska’s score combined with Jared and Jensen’s acting will leave me in a puddle on the floor. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Today we got a little bit more from TVLine about the finale. Jared reiterated that he really tried to “take Jared out of it” (which made Jensen laugh) and “make sure that Sam was in the moment.”
Jensen said it was hard not to allow that emotion, knowing how heavy this was and that it was their last day walking the soundstages.
Jensen: It was hard not to allow that emotion… to keep that at bay and in check. But I think another reason why [Jared] and I have worked together so well for so long is because we do bolster one another, and we do kind of like check in constantly, like, ‘Hey, it’s just another day at the office. Let’s get this done. We got this.’ And it was a really, really awesome day. It was probably one of my most favorite days in 15 years.”
Jared: Which is bizarre when you see what we shot.
I can imagine what that means and….have I stocked up on enough tissues??
Probably not. Also, am I ready for tonight’s new episode, which will leave FOUR more to go?
Not really. But here we go!
— Lynn
You can read more of the actors’ thoughts on
Supernatural’s legacy and how the show has
changed their lives in There’ll Be Peace When
You Are Done. Info at peacewhenyouaredone.com
Or links at the top of the page
Saw the interviews. The Oalet one had me feeling the feels.
I don’t think I’m going to make it to the end. I feel like a condemned prisoner awaiting execution. Thank Chuck for my SPN FAMILY who will help me through the mourning. I’m trying to feel grateful and proud but I’m so sad it gets in the way.
There Will Be Peace When They Are Done
Another great week from the guys, it may be in the can, but they just keep on giving. They are the best.
Thanks for the recap Lynn, you’re doing a grand job yourself, I’ve been depending on you for the things I miss, coverage here is a bit thin. It’s so good it’s getting wider coverage now generally and hopefully new people will keep finding their way to the show and benefit from it, as we have.