Part 2 of what was an epic trip to Vancouver, a city that has had incredible meaning for Supernatural fans since the show has filmed there for 15 seasons. We all knew this was the last time there would be a convention there while the show was still filming, which meant it would be the last time that so many of the cast and crew and production office would come to the con to greet the fans. It was also our last opportunity to thank them all for making this show that has meant so much to so many of us. So was it an emotional weekend? Absolutely.
Sunday started early for the Jared and Jensen gold panel. I say this every single time, but damn, they looked good. Jared wore the Comic Con tee shirt they gave out at the Supernatural panel in 2018, which made me smile because I’d been there when he asked Holly from WB if he could have one – clearly she came through! I love when they wear shirts that show they’re just as much fans of Supernatural as we are.
Someone asked early on how they will “shed” Sam and Dean when the show ends, kicking off all those emotions right off the bat.
Jensen: I’d be happy to never shed Dean.
Jared: Cut my hair?
Everyone: No!
But seriously, we’d love you with or without hair, Jared.
They were both a little teary eyed at the beginning there, then resolutely pushed it aside. I think they – like all of us – are vacillating between letting themselves feel and start to mourn and pushing it aside to just enjoy this last season.
Jared: There have been a lot of emotional “last first” days on set.
Also Jared: I get emotional every time I hear “Carry On”.
Jensen: I’m not thinking about the end yet because I’m still in the game.
Jared: We reached out to some directors who did some of our iconic episodes to come back this year.
Jensen: Of course now Charles Beeson is wondering why he agreed to do this, because we’re all messing around so much!
I love when Vancon is in August, because that means I can head up there a few days early to just have FUN. My first flight was cancelled and it took five hours to get it straightened out and get off the ground, so Wednesday was pretty much a no go, but I did get there in time to have a nice dinner with my friend Betty (who was kind enough to pick me up at the airport). After we’d indulged in lots of good pizza, we drove by the filming location for that evening, a nearby school. Due to our prioritizing of food (okay, it was my prioritizing, tbh) we arrived just as they were wrapping filming for the night – but in time to wave cheerily at the vans and trucks as they pulled out. Oh well.
Betty dropped me off at the Air BnB I was sharing with my friends Alana and Illy, who had spent the day braving the Vancouver rain and searching for past filming locations (all captured on Alana’s @_KingBooks_ Wednesday blog if you’re curious). We had the tiniest little Air BnB ever with a portable air conditioner that required us to leave a window open so its flexible tubing could protrude when we ran it but the shower was lovely and there was a fridge and two beds so we were happy fangirls.
Thursday we got up (relatively) early, walked to the little shopping area a few blocks away to a) get Lynn a latte before she gets too cranky and b) drop off clothes at the laundromat. The laundromat made me picture human!Cas stripping down to do laundry and that made me smile. The latte helped too.
The three of us then piled into the car (Kansas plates, and yes that made us giggle) and hit the road, armed with Alana’s list of past filming locations thanks to a generous fan on LiveJournal who has painstakingly logged them all for going on fifteen years. Fandom, y’all.
We got incredibly lucky at our first attempt, finding the iconic fence by the river where Dean famously told Sam that their father had said that if he couldn’t save Sam, he might have to kill him. If you’ve read ‘Fangasm Supernatural Fangirls’, there’s a chapter in which Kathy and I and some friends also try to find this fence, but have a lot more trouble (without the benefit of any directions). We finally found it at midnight that time, only to be stopped and questioned by flashlight wielding police officers who were sure that a bunch of women scrambling down an overgrown bank in a wooded area at midnight could only be up to no good.
The place has changed a bit – the overgrown banks are now just grass, with a lovely park bench, and there’s now a paved pathway along the fence. The fence itself, which was just a couple of ramshackle boards on posts, is now four new-looking boards. It’s an incredibly beautiful, peaceful spot – which made such a striking contrast when Dean has to say something so horrible to Sam.
The posts were still there so we could use those as a reference as we did what we’d come to do – reenact that iconic moment, of course! Illy set up the camera and she and Alana took their positions while I got to play director.
“You need to be on the other side of the post, Alana. No, I don’t care if there are a bunch of stink bugs there, move over!”
“Lean in more, Illy. Now look at the bridge, be somber. You’re tormented by this. Alana, you look at Illy.”
Photographer @superinspired67 sets up the shot
I kinda liked playing director, can you tell? I think the results speak for themselves.
Photo: @Superinspired67 (but I pushed the button…)
Alana left her video camera running the entire time we were there, so god knows what other footage she has of us being total idiots – and having the time of our lives. It’s what fandom is all about, after all.
A man and his wife were sitting on a nearby bench and came over to compliment our ‘work’, which was such a Vancouver thing to do. They are the nicest folks!
Our next search missions weren’t quite as successful. We found the field where the gigantic boat from the Wayward Sisters episode is run aground, but it’s on the most forbidding sort of private property you can imagine. I wanted to just get the hell out of there but Alana and Illy are more intrepid, so we got of the car and walked a ways down the gravel road (which WAS a road, so it was technically okay – the private property signs were on the cornfields all around us). But as we passed by a few sketchy looking guys and foreboding looking farmhouses – think The Benders – (were they glaring at us or was that my imagination?) and more signs, I got more and more anxious. Finally we reached a sign that in big letters said “PRIVATE PROPERYY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.” And then said something about trespassers being violated!
That was it, I was outta there. We later found a vantage point where we could at least see the ship and take a few photos from far away, and that was as close as I was getting!
Next we found the river bank where the Wayward girls skipped stones but – you guessed it – another private property sign. Oh well.
After that we had more success, finding the school where the 200th episode was filmed. The Russ Hamilton set tour earlier that day had been able to go inside to the auditorium and even sing “Carry On” on that same stage, and of course we couldn’t do that, but just seeing where the Impala had been parked and the entrance where the Supernatural sign had been was a thrill. We are nothing if not easily amused.
Our final stop of the day was a complete success, and SO much fun – the field where the climactic fight scene of LARP and the Real Girl took place (which, by the way is adjacent to a little swim club). We found the exact place, which is much smaller than it looked in the episode, and decided to reenact that wonderful moment when Dean, painted and bedecked, gives his Braveheart speech – and gets interrupted by a non-LARPer playing Frisbee. You see, the field is a real life Frisbee course. And what happened just as we were setting up the camera to film? A real life guy tossed a Frisbee right onto the field! I was freaking out about how perfect that was, and immediately directed Illy or Alana to go convince the two young guys that they needed to be in our film. (This whole director thing is hard to let go of, tbh…)
They did – and the two nicest guys ever were happy to help. They threw the Frisbee, Illy channeled her inner Dean, Alana her inner Sam, and me my inner Felicia Day – the results are frankly hilarious. If Alana hasn’t posted that video yet, be sure to check it out. Just so you can laugh your ass off at us. We don’t mind.
(Sincere apologies, Felicia Day, if you ever see the video…)
Illy and Alana channel their inner Dean and Sam
After that we headed to the con hotel for pre-reg, but every so often I’d remember what we just filmed and just burst into laughter.
I met up with my friend Alicia for a late dinner and lots of catching up and reminiscing, and then it was time to get some rest for Friday.
Friday I got to sleep in and have a nice breakfast, then the con kicked off with Rob Benedict holding down the fort (Richard Speight Jr. was busy with directing Supernatural). Poor Rob ended up introducing himself when there was no one else to do it, but all the props because he played all his multiple roles seamlessly.
Rob: (sheepish) Don’t hate me too much, I know I took a turn last season…
So, where was I? Oh right, the Saturday Night Special…The thing is, it’s not just the way they sing that makes them all such rockstars. It’s the emotion they put into everything they sing – I don’t know if it’s because they’re also actors, or just people who feel things deeply and allow themselves to be emotionally vulnerable, but so many of them reduce me to tears during the SNS. It’s an entirely emotional experience, not just a musical one.
And speaking of…. I knew Jensen Ackles was going to sing, but it seems I’m never entirely prepared for it anyway. He’s performed ‘Whipping Post’ several times, but I swear every time he pours his heart into it even more and it gets to me even more. I was so enthralled with his performance, I completely missed the fact that he was wearing a tee shirt (single layer single layer single layer) that said ‘Skyrockets In Flight’ – once the SNS was over we were all humming ‘Afternoon Delight’. Jensen and Jared are huge Anchorman fans, so it made sense, but….yeah.
In my defense, I may have been a little distracted by all the biceps action too. Hey, it was just right there, what can I say?
I’ve been too busy to post con reports this year for the most part, but I’m trying to change that – at least for one con! Vancon, as it was called for almost a decade and will still always be called in my head, is a special con. It takes place in mecca for Supernatural fans, where the show is filmed, and that means that lots of other Vancouver-based Supernatural alums and crew members often come by to say hi to the fans. It’s also the place where some of the best days of my life have taken place, and where many of my SPNFamily friends come to congregate, so that makes it a special con for me. This year was no exception.
I didn’t have any extra time to take in location filming or revisit some of my favorite Vancouver restaurants and sights, and I’m still grieving that the con is no longer at the beautiful Sheraton Wall Centre, but the Westin Bayshore is also quite nice. It’s also way above my budget at the non-con rate, and thanks to my aforementioned busy, I neglected to book it early enough to get that. So my friend Alicia and I spent the first two nights up the hill at the Coast, a European flavored hotel with an international bunch of patrons and a portable AC machine that served as possibly the best white noise I’ve ever experienced. I totally wanted to bring the giant thing with me! I then cashed in every single Starwood point I’ve ever accumulated to move over to the Westin, which rewarded us with an amazing view of this amazing city. I love you, Vancouver!
I mean, look at it! That’s the view from my window once I finally got to the Westin Bayshore.
I had a lovely seafood dinner out on the water on Friday night and a few good meals at the hotel restaurant too – I wasn’t in the vendor room, so I had a lot more time to hang out and have some good conversation. I was also very honored to sign copies of Family Don’t End With Blood for lots of people who had read it and been inspired by it, which totally made my weekend. If you came up to me and asked for my ‘autograph’, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed the book and that I got to meet you. And I hope you all told the actors what a fantastic job they did writing their chapters!
I had very little internet reception on Friday and especially Saturday, so I tried to make up for the lack of tweets by taking pictures. Thus this is Part One of my Vancon post, since wordpress was a wee bit upset with how many photos I was trying to cram into a single post. Part Two (SNS continued and Sunday) up shortly!
There were lots of SPN alums on hand for karaoke and during the con, most of which I forgot to take photos of, but I had to have a picture of the lovely Kuma, star of television commercials, and his owners Kevin and Jill Parks. Kevin has been with Supernatural as a First Assistant Director ever since I can remember, and is instrumental in making the show the high quality tv that it is. In fact, he’s joking referred to as “Parkasapedia” for his encyclopedic knowledge of SPN canon! Kuma has appeared on the show too, as well as in that Flonase commercial you see all the time.
Adam Williams, who supervises all that amazing VFX wizardry on Supernatural, was also on hand – along with the always awesome Lucy. Together, Adam and Lucy wrote a chapter in Family Don’t End With Blood about how the show changed their lives completely – by bringing them together! Talk about life changing.
Friday kicked off with Alaina Huffman (filling in for the busy-filming-Supernatural Kim Rhodes) and Gil McKinney.
To be honest, I missed Richard Speight Jr and his country-twang-ballhat-wearin-jammin-on-guitar portion of the concert. And I missed Gil McKinney singing some song that dripped with so much silky sexiness that it makes one feel weak in the knees. Yes, I missed those guys.
But the Saturday Night Special, at any convention, is always about Stephen and Mike and Billy and Rob. And, as always, they delivered one helluva show in Vancouver this year.
They opened the show with “Reunion,” from their Sky Alive album. Then they played for us a new song, called “Present Time,” from their upcoming album. I don’t know who’s more excited for this new album to be released, the band or the fans. I know a few die-hard Swainers who would argue that they are more excited for its release than the band, that they need this new album like they need air to breathe. Yet as I sat there and listened to the guys play this new song, I am pretty sure they too are pretty excited about this new album and can’t wait to share it with us. And if I haven’t used the word pretty enough, then can I just say the boys of Louden Swain are just so freakin pretty? Yep, pretty. (insert sighs here)
(Side note: there is not an official release date yet. So I guess we’ll all just wait here then.)
Well, actually at Vancon, J2 Day (or at least J1 Day) started the evening before, when Jensen Ackles joined in the Saturday Night Special. I’ve written paeans to Jensen being a rockstar before (maybe even a few times), but I just can’t help it – he is just unbelievably good! He was in a wonderful mood at Vancon, rested and not having had to travel. And his family was with him, so doing the con didn’t mean being away from his daughter, which must have felt pretty utopian. It’s clear how much he enjoys singing with Louden Swain and his fellow cast and musicians too, so the combination made for a very smiley Jensen indeed.
I wrote an article on this year’s Vancouver Supernatural convention for MovieTVTechGeeks that you can check out over there (link at the end), but wanted to add my own more personal moments (and the 5,298 photos I couldn’t include in that article…). Vancouver is one of my favorite places in the whole world. It’s where the Show I love is made, which makes it special already. It’s a gorgeous city that takes my breath away with its beauty every time I come back (especially this time, because the weather was five days of perfection!). And it’s where some of the best experiences I’ve ever had have happened on the set of Supernatural.
I don’t even mind the twelve hours of flying, because once I walk outside and realize where I am, I’m wide awake and smiling, brimming with memories of all the good times. Vancon is one of my favorite cons for another reason too – fangirls. SO MANY FANGIRLS! It was one of the first Creation cons, and there are still many people who came to that first one and have come back every year since, me included. So Vancon means lots and lots of socializing – there’s nothing like being with fellow Supernatural fans to make you feel like life is just plain GOOD.
One of my favorite parts of Vancon this year was catching up with Briana Buckmaster, who is beyond awesome. You already know from my episode reviews that I love her character on Supernatural and her chemistry with Kim Rhodes, but spending some face-to face-time with Briana has made me love her even more. She brought along her wonderful husband, Jose, and her beautiful daughter, Valentina, too. We gave them a little tour of the con, took them shopping in the vendors’ area, and then we sat down with Briana for a chat while the rest of the family enjoyed exploring the convention center.
First, Briana filmed a segment for us for the upcoming film “Squee! The Fangirl Documentary,” which I have had a blast working on as co-writer and associate producer along with the amazing producer/director Hansi Oppenheimer and our super-talented post-producer Adam Williams (who also makes Supernatural look incredible with his VFX talent). Briana gave us some wonderful insights into fandom and fangirls for Squee. She’s a fangirl herself – witness her tweet of last night in response to that unfortunate and terribly misinformed SpoilerTV article:
@OfficialBrianaB: Sure I’m a #CasualFemaleViewer. I mean, I binge watch hundreds of tv shows, tweet about them, dream about them. You know, super casual.
Vancon always feels a bit like coming home. Which is odd, since I’ve never lived in Vancouver. But several of the most pivotal and emotional chapters of our story in Fangasm Supernatural Fangirls took place in Vancouver. I met my first other SPN Family members in Vancouver – and, miraculously, six of us from that first group of a few dozen fans were back in Vancouver again last weekend! It was wonderful to reconnect, and amazing to know that so many of us are still fans, almost a decade later. Of course, Vancouver also feels like “home” because it’s home to the Show we were all there to celebrate. It’s a bit more laid back, since the boys don’t have to fly in and out. They’re more relaxed, and that means more time to chat with fans and be creative in photo ops (and oh yes, can fans ever be creative in photo ops!) It also gives the other actors, who aren’t there on Sunday and sometimes don’t get a chance to say hi to Jared and Jensen, the opportunity to reconnect too. I chatted with Gil McKinney recently and he said he hoped he would run into Jared and Jensen soon, since he kept having to fly out before they got to the con on Sunday. Watching Gil and Jensen singing together at the Saturday Night Special, I kept thinking how nice it was that they indeed got a chance to hang out again. And to harmonize!
It happens to be the birthday of one of our favorite people in the world – and not just in the Supernatural world – Richard Speight, Jr. Richard is one of the first people we interviewed for Fangasm Supernatural Fangirls. We’ve had some of our most insightful and intellectually stimulating talks with him, often at the end of a convention when we all want to process and relax with a beer. Richard wrote a chapter for our new book, Fan Phenomena: Supernatural, sharing his unique point of view on the Supernatural conventions which have become a big part of his life over the past eight years. He turned around karaoke to make it the awesome party it is now, and when he became the emcee for a con weekend, the energy level at cons went up – and stayed there.
[Richard Speight, Jr., in Fan Phenomena: Supernatural, on not being famous: “And yet for the past four years, somewhere between five and fifteen times a year, I make grown women shake and young girls squee (and maybe a couple of guys get sweaty palms). Why? Because I’m a regular guest at conventions for the CW show Supernatural. Am I one of the show’s stars? Nope. A strong supporting character? Not even close. I appeared in a measly four episodes, playing first The Trickster who (spoiler alert!) later revealed himself to be the Archangel Gabriel. Four, total. On a show that has clocked over a hundred episodes and counting. Yet according to the web, I’ve so far been a featured guest at thirty-three conventions. That’s an unbalanced ratio that leads to an obvious question – Why?”]
At the time Richard wrote that chapter, Gabriel had been gone from the Show for three years. That all changed in Season 9, when he (and Richard) returned to the Show for the episode “Meta Fiction.” What was it like, we wondered, to return to the Show after all this time?
Lynn: That was the first time you worked with Misha, right?
