Category: Season 12

All Along The Watchtower – Supernatural’s Season 12 Finale

All Along The Watchtower – Supernatural’s Season 12 Finale

spnfans

I was so exuberant over Supernatural’s penultimate episode of the season that I went into the finale episode already an emotional wreck – in the very best of ways. I honestly sort of wanted a while to just savor all those wonderful warm feelings, but of course Show just couldn’t let me do that. I barely had time to grab another glass of wine before the familiar notes of Carry On Wayward Son were making me even MORE emotional. There are so many things that happen that are special when a television show has been on this long and had this much impact – even the band Kansas, who recorded that classic, tweeted about the season finale, knowing that every single fan was going to go nuts when Supernatural’s unofficial theme song was played.

The recap took us through a season of ups and downs, through a lot of episodes that were painful to watch and a few story lines that didn’t work for me like I think the show intended, and ultimately ended up where the last episode left off – a Winchester family hug.

Read more →

Supernatural 12.22 – This Really Is “Who We Are”

Supernatural 12.22 – This Really Is “Who We Are”

spnfans

I feel like I’ve been waiting all season to write a review like this one – one where I unequivocally enthusiastically at-the-top-of-my-lungs want to scream from the rooftops that THIS IS MY SHOW AND I EFFING LOVE IT! I’ve already regaled writer Robert Berens with all the reasons why he can never leave Supernatural, so he’s probably regretting writing this masterpiece, but honestly, I can’t help it. There were quite a few episodes this season that were disappointing, last week’s especially, so the reminder of why I fell for this Show and just how incredible it can be felt like the very best sort of relief. At least half my live tweets were in all caps, and that hasn’t happened since the last Robbie Thompson episode. I’m incredibly grateful to be able to return to that kind of enthusiasm for my favorite Show.

I’ve been watching Supernatural live since Season 2, so it’s been over a decade of season finale nights, but the mix of anticipation and dread that I feel leading up to every one has never diminished. All day, I kept an eye on the clock. I left work early, made sure I had all the necessary supplies – a little wine, some good take-out, a little pie for dessert. And of course, tissues. Lots of tissues. I tweeted Berens a few hours before the show aired, asking just how many boxes of tissues I would need, and he tweeted back that there were not enough tissues in the world.

Let’s just say that didn’t do anything to calm my nerves. There was mostly anticipation for 12.22, since Jensen had told me this was the episode I would love and I figure he pretty much knows what I love at this point. If he said I was going to be a happy fangirl, I was fairly certain I would be. Which also means tissues. At the same time, I had nothing but feelings of foreboding about 12.23, amped up by all the rumors about Mark Sheppard leaving the show and by Misha Collins’ tweet of an ominous (and emotional) video celebrating Castiel’s 100th episode.

Finale nights are full of lots of nail biting, but they’re also nights when the entire Supernatural fandom comes together. All over the world, thanks to streams and downloads as well as broadcasts, fans sit down “together” to watch, sharing our reactions and trying to support each other through the ups and downs of the episode. You can almost feel the tension across the globe as those final minutes tick by, as everyone waits to find out – literally – who will live and who will die. It’s been like that since the Kripke days, and this season was no exception.

And boy, were we right to be emotional – both the anticipation and the dread turned out to be well founded.

Read more →

Wait, Is That Eileen?? Supernatural 12.21

spnfans

The past week has been a whirlwind, much of it Supernatural-related, and now I’m writing this from family vacation, so my review of last week’s episode is influenced by the context in which I watched the show and the fact that right now my feet are up and it’s a sunny spring day in San Francisco. And that’s probably a good thing, because – like the majority of Supernatural fans – I had a lot of issues with last week’s episode.

I did, however, have a good time the night I watched it anyway. That’s because the book release party for my new book, Family Don’t End With Blood: Cast and Fans on How Supernatural Has Changed Lives, happened the night before at The Study Hollywood in LA. It was an amazing, inspiring, emotional night, where actors and writers and producers and fans all came together to celebrate this amazing show that we all love. The next night, a group of us gathered in our hotel room to watch the episode together. It was the first time most of us had watched together an episode of the show that made us friends, so it felt very special. We ordered Grub Hub, shared some delicious nachos, and waited with a mix of anticipation and trepidation for the show to begin. Literally sitting on the edge of our seats (on the hotel beds…)

Read more →

Ouch! Supernatural Gets Emotional with Twigs & Twine & Tasha Barnes

Ouch! Supernatural Gets Emotional with Twigs & Twine & Tasha Barnes

spnfans

Sometimes it’s downright painful being a Supernatural fan! But I don’t mean that as a complaint—this is part of what the Show has always been. Two weeks in a row that were painful is tough to take, there’s no doubt about that, but there was a lot to appreciate in this week’s episode. Even the painful was just done so well! Grudging admiration, Steve Yockey, for the writing, Richard Speight Jr., for the directing, and all the actors for conveying the pain so brilliantly.

Before I do an actual recap, here are some of the reasons for my grudging admiration.

First, I love when an episode is a mirror for the Winchesters. This is a tradition going back all the way to the beginning, something Kripke liked to do and made work extremely well. Sometimes the mirror is a little too large and obvious, but in this case, I didn’t think we were too pounded over the head with it – or maybe I just enjoyed the pounding. Which sounds really wrong.

Max and Alicia, the witch twins, were immediately seen by fans as a mirror of Sam and Dean in their first episode. Their closeness, the way they talked at the same time and finished each other’s sentences, the way they squabbled but clearly always had each other’s backs – all of that reminded us of the Winchester brothers. Sibling pairs often are used in the show as a mirror for the brothers, so that wasn’t a surprise.

Read more →

Dean Winchester and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day – Supernatural ‘The Future’

spnfans

It has taken me another 24 hours to figure out why I had such a strong emotional reaction to this episode – and to give the episode more props for where it intended to take me even if I didn’t enjoy the ride. The thing is, I loved the last major Cas-centric episode, as my reviews loudly proclaimed. I’ve empathized with Castiel’s painful sense of not belonging anywhere, because there’s nothing in the world more painful for humans and sometimes Cas is just as human as the rest of us (thanks to Misha’s ability to invest the character with emotional nuances). I was moved by Castiel’s near death and his need, in what he thought were his last seconds, to make his feelings clear to Sam and Dean; I was moved by their reaction too, that powerful moment when they each clasped a hand and pulled him up. I had to gush to Misha about his performance in that episode repeatedly (sorry, Misha) and to Richard about his directing (sorry, Richard) but that scene really worked. That scene was Team Free Will re-established.

And it wasn’t one way. Sam and Dean also took down their barriers and made themselves vulnerable in their relationship with Cas; not as explicitly perhaps, but Jared and Jensen are so good at what they do that we could clearly feel it and see it. Castiel was accepted as family. So that’s the lens with which I viewed ‘The Future’. That the bond between the three of them was close and tight and important. That made the things that happened in this episode very painful.

I’ve felt the same way when one of the Winchesters lies to the other(s). It’s such an extraordinarily painful thing when someone you love and trust is deceitful, so it hurts to see it. As much as Dean is repeatedly angry in this episode, it’s clear that underneath that anger is hurt. He allowed himself to love and trust Cas, so perceived betrayal hurts like hell. Hence my frequent use of OUCH in this review. It HURT.

That said, perhaps that’s exactly what Show wanted me to feel. That last episode did such a good job of setting up the emotional connection between Cas and the Winchesters, and sometimes that is exactly what this Show does when it’s getting ready to punch you right in the heart. It’s a bit of a Supernatural tradition dating back to Kripke, and it’s most definitely been the cause of entire lost days of my life railing and screaming and generally shaking my fist. That’s because I care – a lot. I care about Cas and Sam and Dean and I care about how they care about each other.

Read more →

Supernatural 12.18 – This Episode is a Memory that will Definitely Remain!

spnfans
Phil Sgriccia, Steve Boyle (twitter) and the boys

It’s been a while since we’ve had a Supernatural episode that made me so euphoric that I could barely contain myself – those kind of episodes are what made me the passionate fan I am. When it’s been too long between them, my enthusiasm quiets down a bit. Not that I don’t always love the show, but not with the OMG this is the best show in the history of EVER OMG jumping up and down that an episode like this one brings. And damn, does it ever feel good to be that squeeful again!

I would like to give writer John Bring lots of hugs, and my highest compliment – he wrote a scene that could have been written by former Supernatural writer Robbie Thompson. And that, for me, is REALLY saying something.

I’ll get to that wonderful scene soon, but I loved the entire episode. This was an old school Supernatural monster-of-the-week episode, reminiscent of the early seasons in so many ways. I liked the twists and turns of the case, first thinking it was a monster, then a human, then lo and behold it ended up being both. Bring didn’t forget Castiel either. We got another Cas phone call, leading up to the next episode when Castiel reappears. And we got Dean cleaning the Colt and then aiming and fake firing it, which never fails to do things to me.

Read more →

The British Invasion Indeed – Supernatural 12.17

spnfans

Here’s one thing you cannot say about last week’s Supernatural episode: “Eh, not much happened…” A lot happened, that’s for sure. Some of it was a shock, some of it wasn’t; some of it I liked; some of it I most definitely did not. It’s a beautiful spring day on the East coast, so let’s start with the good stuff.

1. The return of hunter Eileen Leahy (and actress Shoshannah Stern). I loved the character in her debut episode, as did just about everyone in the fandom, and miracle of miracles, Eileen actually survived the episode, so I was hopeful she’d be back. Eileen is seamlessly integrated back into the narrative, giving the boys some intel that intersects with their current search for Kelly Kline. I loved watching Sam and Dean’s frank appreciation of Eileen and her hunting skills – the genuine pride on their faces as they both said ‘Nice work, Eileen’. I also loved the care they both took to be sure she could see them when they were talking with her via iPad or in person – it’s those little touches that only happen on a show when someone cares. I interviewed Shoshannah after her first episode, and she talked about her choice to have the character read lips as well as she does.

Read more →

Ladies Drink Free! Supernatural 12.16

spnfans

This week’s episode saw the return of Claire Novak (Kathryn Newton), who is a controversial character for the fandom. I thought Newton and writer Meredith Glynn did a good job with a lot of this episode. It won’t go down in history as one of my favorites, but I enjoyed a lot of it. And yay for Show being back! The opening scene was notable for its scariness factor, and also for the acknowledgment of what everyone is asking the characters in every single horror movie. Yes, why ARE you going off into the woods alone, silly boy?? The explicit question, of course, didn’t keep the brother and sister from being attacked by the creepy mask-wearing werewolf. That’s a new one, werewolves in masks! I guess that’s a smarter than average werewolf.

Soon Sam and Dean are summoned to the Men of Letters headquarters, and I may have squealed a little bit just to have Ackles and Padalecki back on my tv screen, looking mighty fine. Dean is still clearly not really on board, especially not with the whole ‘reporting for duty’ thing. And especially if they keep him waiting! I was glad to hear Dean say that out loud, because we all knew that wouldn’t sit well with Dean. Thanks, Meredith Glynn, for putting it in words. I was also very glad to hear Mick admit that if Mary and Sam hadn’t been there, he would be dead too – finally, someone admitting that SAM saved the day and killed the alpha vampire! More thanks.

Read more →

Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell – Supernatural 12.15

spnfans
WB/The CW

Last week’s episode of Supernatural had something that never fails to make me a very happy fan indeed: The Winchesters listening to each other and trusting each other and telling each other the truth. THANK YOU, SHOW! (And writer Davy Perez). That alone is enough to make a good episode imho. But actually there was one more thing that will always make me happy – Winchesters in glasses. Is it hot in here?

So let’s talk about what I liked first, and then I’ll get to the things that didn’t quite work for me. I really really loved that last conversation between Sam and Dean, where Sam comes clean about working with the BMoL and Dean, instead of flying off the handle and feeling threatened and betrayed and thus shutting down, instead hears Sam out and they come to an agreement. Dean isn’t anywhere near trusting them – and I don’t think Sam is either – but the brothers are on the same page about cautiously taking what they can from the BMoL while still retaining their independence as hunters. How easy that will be I’m not at all sure, but the important thing is that the brothers are together in the decision. I don’t know if I’ve ever loved Sam more than when he steeled himself and told his brother the truth.

Read more →

Supernatural 12.14 ‘The Raid’

spnfans

Maybe it’s something about being in Season 12, but Supernatural has been pretty fearless this season about being controversial. Last week’s episode, written by Robert Berens, continued this season’s tradition of pushing boundaries and putting fans through a roller coaster of emotions. All in an episode that was well written and paced – and in which a helluva lot happened!

Most of what happened had to do with the ever more entangled relationship between the Winchesters and the British Men of Letters, but threaded throughout all that was the painful struggle that Sam and Dean and Mary are going through trying to figure out who they are to each other. The episode picks up where we left off, with Mary confessing her lies and Sam and Dean hurt and angry. Because they’re played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, that means their emotions are right there on their handsome faces, and mine are already spilling over as I grab for the tissues.

They are SO HURT. I can’t stand the pain I can see on their faces. Sam is trying to stay calm, but Dean is about to explode, he’s so angry. How many years did he spend wishing that he had his mom – and even more compelling for Dean, wishing that Sammy had his mom? Both of the brothers want things for each other more than for themselves, and I think this is one of those times. Dean must have desperately wished that Sam could have that, and now it’s possible – except Mary just cannot be that mom.

Read more →