My dear friend Clarissa at TV Overmind a few weeks ago asked me for a write up shortly after "Death's Door" aired on what I thought of "Supernatural's" season seven so far. She asked for comments from several bloggers for the show and came up with an amazing summary on what the overall consensus was from the blogging community based on the feedback she got. For those that missed this amazing article, here is the link:
TV Overmind Midseason Review of Season 7 So Far
http://www.tvovermind.com/supernatural/supernatural-season-7-midseason-review/
I was so honored and pleased to see many of my quotes used in the article, but since then I never shared in it's entirety what I wrote. Only Clarissa has seen this until now. I know my opinion is not popular opinion overall, so I'm curious what all of you think about season 7 so far. We have 7 Days, 21 Hours, and several minutes and seconds before the show comes back, so this should be a fun distraction. All opinions are welcome! Below is my short commentary on the way I see it:
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Season Seven So Far, by Alice Jester
The first half of Supernatural’s season seven is done, and I do have to say overall I’m enjoying it more than the first half of season six. Season six was a bold experiment with soulless Sam, but for me fatigue set in with the story line somewhere around episode 8. Just by ditching the noir theme alone season seven is an improvement.
Still, there’s something missing. Something that existed in the first five seasons that still hasn’t quite found itself again. Everything seems tired. Often times it looks like the brothers are going through the motions, and at this rate they probably are. After all, how much crap can they take? There haven’t been a lot of wins, and the losses keep mounting at a now annoying rate. First Castiel (a devastating blow for a fan like me), then Bobby’s house, then the Impala, and now possibly Bobby himself (another crushing blow). Sam and Dean vs. the world was the season one theme and I get why the writers would take these characters to that place again. I’m just not entirely sure if I like it this go around.
The question is, how much suffering can these boys go through and it still be compelling to watch? Instead of being fascinated by the possibilities, I’m seeing a lot of missed opportunities. I for one came into this season most intrigued over the idea of Sam’s wall breaking inside his head. All those memories of a hundred plus years of intense torture in Lucifer’s cage in Hell, all those memories of what his soulless self had done during that year and a half, it surely had to wreak some serious havoc on the younger Winchester’s psyche. It has, but so far there has been very little payoff in that department. “Hello Cruel World†is a brilliant depiction of his psychotic break, and then it all went away too easily. Sure, it’s entirely possible that its going to come back and bite Sam hard in the second half, but that doesn’t leave me any less disappointed over what we’ve gotten so far.
Then there’s Dean. His story line makes some sense, but it hasn’t been all that interesting. In the season premiere, of course he had every right to feel depressed and defeated. He knew better than to believe that Sam was okay, and it was only a matter of time before everything was going to go bad. But it’s been hard watching him limp along in these episodes, getting more cranky and complacent with circumstances (not to mention drinking a lot more) rather than angry and fired up. He had every right to ask why they should keep saving the world. Why did it take until episode nine for him to start verbalizing those questions though?
Nowadays, I keep thinking back to that line in “Jus In Bello†in which Dean vehemently drew a line. They were going to fight their way. “If that’s how you win wars, then I don’t want to win.†He was a warrior on the side of humanity. He was going out fighting. Where is this determination when taking on the Leviathan? It took until episode 19 last season for Dean to get to that point, and I had hoped that his fighting spirit would have carried over from that. It faded away too quickly.
I know, little is known about these Leviathan creatures though and going up against them right now would be suicide. Is that dilemma thwarting our heroes enough to keep us vested in the story line every week? That is where the shaky ground of season seven comes in. Because there’s no simple answer to that question, the episodes have been very uneven. The brothers don’t seem to be all that motivated, and their attention has been pushed into other wastes of time. They’ve gotten lost in stupid drama like the entire Amy fiasco. That story line did not deserve anywhere near the attention it got. It’s okay that it happened, but dragging it along for a good chunk of the first half made the storyline contrived. They have bigger and tastier fish to fry.
There have been some great episodes though, and that has what separates season seven from “forgettable†to “watchable.†The first two episodes of the season are breathtaking barn burners, “Slash Fiction†is an old school lesson on how you amp up a mytharc, and the devastating “Death’s Door†is nothing short of pure brilliance. When these episodes though have been put together with the other mediocre to just plain bad offerings (“Defending Your Life†being the worst of the bunch) it’s very clear something is missing. The fun and the action. This show used to pride itself on having the perfect mix of action, drama, and humor. Remember “Changing Channels?†Even by this time last season we had the howlingly funny “Clap You Hands If You Believe.†Sorry, but “Season 7, Time For A Wedding†just didn’t cut it in the comedy category compared to what we’ve gotten in the past.
What I’m hoping for in the second half is a return to consistency and form of the first five seasons. Previous seasons did an awesome job of blending the looming mytharc with the brotherly issues and monster of the week drama. That groove needs to be found again. Sam cannot be okay. The setup has been done, ride with it. Dean needs to find his reason to fight and get that smart ass confidence back. Both need a reason to save the world other than it’s their jobs. Their universe keeps shrinking and if the writers are going there, then let’s see what these brothers are capable of when backed into a corner. We know it’s something extraordinary.
My overall grade so far, a B-.
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Your turn! How do you think season seven is going? Where would you like to see it go in the second half?
Comments
It all comes down to the lazy, slapdash, F minus work they've done with Sam's Wall collapsing and them giving him a psychotic break with full blown hallucinations, only to reduce it's "story time" on the show to 'Sam rubs his magic hand for 2 seconds, that is all.' I want to scream every episode, this treatment is soooooooooo bad, the writing for it, is completely pathetic and lacking in ANY imagination. They could do anything, ANYTHING, with Sam right now, under his POV, and they CHOSE TO DO NOTHING!!!! I will never forgive them for this garbage we got instead. Never.
And then Sam is not allowed to be mad at Dean and hurt by Dean for even a full episode before Dead!Ellen comes back and tells Dean to go yell at his brother! Go figure. I'm surprised she didn't tell Dean to just go ahead and hit Sam in the head again, too, while she was at it. I've had to live with Dean being angry and resentful of Sam since at least season 4. It's even more sad and appalling NOW, when Sam is most likely traumatized under his 'okay, fine' exterior. Dean hasn't once even asked his own brother if he's okay, not once. Why isn't he happy that Sam is still alive, after what Castiel put him through? And now Sam is living with Lucifer and Hell inside his head 24/7, but no one cares, not even Sam.
What planet do these writers live on? Planet Vulcan? How can Sam not be having nightmares, flashes of visual or audio cues, talking to himself, jumping at things only he sees? Where is this material we should be seeing but are not?
And if Dean doesn't kill Castiel for his crimes, then why did he *really* kill Amy then? Because she was a woman or because Sam liked her? Dean killed more human hosts in Let It Bleed than Amy has her whole life. Or does it not count when the human body count belongs to Dean on this show?
Forgive my passionate ranting, as I have really enjoyed the episodes for themselves, as entertainment. But if the writers can't even take their own material seriously, how do they want me to watch this show right now? This show needs Sam's POV, period. It's becoming an empty fake of itself without it. Soulless Sam would have been better with 'his' POV, too. I want to know and experience the journey along with Sam, not get a second hand blow off from a hostile witness like Dean. And sadly, I do view Dean as a hostile witness to Sam's story, who blocks Sam's story at every turn, because he needs to have his annual break down built up to at Sam's expense for the umpteenth time.
Dean Winchester jacket
As for that Amy episode, I'm so TIRED of that whole thing!!! They should have dropped the reference to that after the recap that showed on the next episode. I agree that it got way too much attention. As a mother I felt for the character, but a mother does not have the right to kill others, no matter what the reason. Also, she was a monster and so we all knew what would be her fate after that point was revealed. I must say that I thought the episode was directed in a very competent way and Jensen did his best with the material and time constraints that he had to deal with.
As for Sam, I would like to see more of this breakdown of the wall in his head. However, I don't want this issue to be all consuming. After all, this show is about two brothers and both have issues that need to be discussed and resolved. AND this time they need to be resolved and then the writers need to move on. There are plenty of other issues that have been left unanswered over the years and the time has come for them to be addressed.
The "Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid" theme that the show is exploring is all fine, but you know, those two had friends, too and Sundance even had a girlfriend. So, let our guys keep some of their friends and explore some romantic relationships even if its only for a short period of time. Sam and Dean definitely need it. I don't know of any man who can go without female companionship for very long and these two have gone without for too long especially Sam. I really was hopeful that the wedding episode was going to be more of a serious nature and while I like Becky on small doses, it was just too unbelievable that Sam would ever give her the time of day at any level. Sam needs a reconnect with his romantic side. It's been a long time. Dean is the same. Lisa is gone. Now it's time for him to move on.
The Leviathan storyline needs to be moved along. SlashFiction was a good start. However, let's get down to the basics about them. I don't want this to turn out to be another frustrating arch like the Mother of All Monsters was...I was very disappointed with that! Between the Mother and her first-borns, there was so much potential to create so much havoc, but that never transpired.
My last note is this...I don't want Bobby to die, but if he must, let it be for a VERY good reason and amount to something! Otherwise, it will amount to nothing more than another missed opportunity that Gamble and Singer let go by and that would be such a waste!
I give it a B+...but still hopeful that it will be an A+ by the season finale!
Season 7 has had good moments and a very good start but Sam? I have got no understanding of what their thinking is with him ? or why they bother putting him through anything because it never actually seems to end up being about Sam but the impact on those around him and how they feel about it.
What I feel this show needs is a real season 1 balance. Both brothers matter, they both get to feel, they get episodes traded off and none of them hurt the other. Nearly all Dean episodes have been used against Sam or Sam's story on some level, and I'm starting to hate them all on principal. Sam's Amy episode was used to promote Dean and Dean's story and was used against Sam's character development and characterizatio n. I love Dab and Loflin a lot, but the Amy episode may have ruined this entire, ENTIRE, season for me. It's fall out has been THAT bad. Sera should have taken that script and run it through a shredder. I want a proper episode by episode build up for Sam, from Sam's POV. From now on, forever, on SPN. I'm tired of waiting for a real show about brothers to come back. Until Sam is given his Real Voice on the show back, everything that they say this show is about, brotherhood, family, fighting evil, is just a lie. Talk is cheap. They need to put their words into scripts, proper scenes and all.
I can't get over the idea that they have deliberately been squashing Sam's Return from Hell Story because certain people hated that Sam sacrificed himself to hell at all in Swan Song. So, we get a years delay before season 6 even starts, another delay for a whole season for the Wall to come down. And now with the Wall down, they have blown off Sam's Suffering in the worst way possible. What an insult to Sam's Sacrifice and Death. How could he not be suffering? Why don't they want us to see this? Because it would be sympathetic to Sam????? Just paying kind attention to Sam takes nothing away from Dean and all he's gotten on the show, so much of it at Sam's expense, so why deny it to Sam NOW, of all times? To make a few online haters happy? Is that what SPN has become in it's HEART now? A show to please haters?
I've been feeling an ongoing grief for the loss of Sam's voice and POV on SPN for years and seasons now. I thought Sam had finally "earned" decent treatment in season 7. But no, this is what they are giving him. His life threatening injuries are treated like a joke, he's never allowed to react emotionally to the things that hurt him, the very bad things he finds out about himself, his struggles to do and be good. We get almost none of it laid out for us in any path. So much is fan guesswork instead of good writing. I'm tired of waiting for these writers to grow up and love Sam as much as Dean. What are they afraid of? That we'll like and love Sam too much if we get to know him? Is this the world SPN has devolved into?
Bottom line, I love the characters from Supernatural. And I love them in a way that makes it hard for me to see their lives as being controlled by the mighty hand of the writers, aka: The Supernatural Gods. I love and watch this show for so many reasons, and one of those reasons is that it is a show that is full of enough goodness that I can shut my eyes to the ridiculous, the unbelievable and the maladroit moments.
So here is a list of things I have loved about Season 7. It’s far from a complete list, but these are the ones that first jump to mind.
*The painful, and long awaited, evolution of Dean from caretaker into a complete self. It’s tedious and heartrending and messy and I’m excited! I hope he makes it!
*Sam dimples. Don’t think I’ve seen this many since Season 1!
*The brothers being brothers. Sure, they’ve slipped now and again but just ‘awwws’ for the most part. (And I’m trying to stay away from particulars, but that scene when Dean battles to get Sam to know what’s real? Awesome. Epically awesome.)
*Rather shocked, happily so and perhaps unjustly so, at Dean’s slow return to his womanizing ways. I know he’s got to get back, cause he’s The Dean after all, but I like that he didn’t rush right back into the ‘dating’ pool. It has somehow made me love him even more.
*The portrayal of Sam’s insanity. Kudos show, kudos. This subtly is so much better than what I thought it might be. I find it a breath of fresh air that Sam hallucinations have not overtaken the show. He’s dealing with them as best he can and it’s painfully beautiful to watch. We the viewers know he’s struggling, but it isn’t rammed down my throat every few minutes.
*The gentleness of the myth arc this season. Great Chuck/Cas…who ever it is now, I love all the seasons but this is a bit of a relief from the speedy momentum of some of the past ones. It does feel like Season 1 again. Don’t get me wrong, the breathless, driving force that propelled the series forward for so many years is something I will always love, but the foot is off the accelerator and I’m not complaining. I won’t lie, I had felt worried that the show’s gods would try to keep up the energy, or even increase it, and that would’ve been exhausting. Besides * insert excited, exhilarated laughter* slowing it down again means room to speed up again and that means MORE SEASONS!
*The straightforward ness of the Big Season Monster. Ok, this is a bit of my own opinion, but it seems to me that the Leviathan are driven by the need and want to feed on things that taste good to them. Calm human cattle or human cattle feeling certain emotions = happy Leviathan taste buds. They are walking mouths. Powerful, but in the end a simplistic, single layered opponent. Quite a departure from the destiny driven, or revenge driven or emotionally driven or so many other things driven Big Bads of the past. They are just evil, no grays. Awesome. And out comes the can of Winchester Whoopass. Ya’ll are going down you Leviabastards. Down hard.
*Sherrif Jody Mills. Fargo indeed. (If you haven’t seen that movie, go watch it. The female lead is fantastic!)
Okay, so there are a few of the things on my Season 7 love list. Am I the 1%? Sorry for the loooooong comment, but I wanted to get this off my chest.
Oh...as to the others...I have to disagree. I believe there has been a balance between the Sam and Dean story lines this year. However, there needs to be a push to get them to be resolved for good and to stop rehashing old conflicts.
Don’t get me wrong, if the writers decide to step it up, I’ll cheer and smile and love the show even more. And I’m with you, I find myself feeling confused and at a loss when presented with the idea that the brothers have had unequal story lines.
Like you I also am happy to finally see Dean evolve, painful as it is, as he has only ever seen himself as Sam's protector and is having to discover that he has worth beyond this. Lets get back to some classic Dean hook ups and classic rock (impala?). In Deaths Door we also get to see Dean angry and determined again when he confronts Dick, this is a good thing and will bring back his focus.
The brothers being brothers..altho ugh I fear we will never see anymore Bitch/Jerk moments as the characters are more mature now, it is nice to see them working their way back to each other. And Dean working so hard to look after Sam in the first two episodes, both physicall and mentally..in the best way he knows how (this IS Dean) gave me hope. I was disappointed that this was almost derailed by the Amy episode though.
Sam's insanity is being addressed in a very subtle manner. I appreciate this slow burn, just catching glimpses of it now and then instead of having him rolling around on the floor. Sam is showing a maturity and strength of character, and that he is dealing with the issue at the moment. I am assuming that there will be a climax soon, there has to be.
And like you Yvonne, I am really enjoying the Monster of the Week episodes where the brothers can get back to basics, and we as viewers can relax and enjoy the story/great acting just for a while. Though I now believe that the Leviathan issue is about to be addressed and we will be in for some exciting action and brotherly 'I got your back' moments.
I enjoy watching this show, it is my passion at the moment. I am loving Season 7. Lets watch, appreciate and enjoy.
I feel a need to clarify myself. I never, ever as in NEVER was a fan of Becky. From the very first ever. She kinda creeped me out. Still does. What I loved about the episode was NOT Becky. Dean’s reactions, Sam’s absolute loveliness as a husband (though directed so wrongly), the adorable strangeness of Garth cuddling into Dean…I could go on. I also loved/hated to see how terrible it was to see Sam chained by a drug again. It seemed a parallel flashback to when he was chained to the blood. The whole episode was like a miniature replay of Sam’s time as an addict. It was rather monstrous, like watching a wild tiger put on a short leash by a platypus. And this time Dean fought for Sam, not by opposing him, trying to restrict him and insisting upon his wrongness, but by trying to communicate with him. Looking for answers but letting Sam make his own decisions. To me, this episode was an indicator of how much the boys have grown in their relationship. THAT is why I loved the episode. Plus, Sam tied to a bed? Yes, I am shallow.
Glad to find camaraderie in loving on Season 7. And 13 more eps? Hurrah!
As for Same tied up in bed, remember - he had now pants on. Im matching you for shallowness.
I also agree with the way that Sam's wall coming down hasn't made him a drooling mess. He is handling it in the best way he can. Will his psyche get a little more damaged now that they are totally alone? Maybe. But I'm hoping that Dean will get his fighting mojo back, for his sake and his brother's sake.
So onto the next half of the season, I am so anxious to see what's in store for our favourite duo.
I completely agree with everything you wrote and I am certainly with you in your 1% opinion. Does that make it 2% then?
I'm joining you in the 1% camp. I'm really liking Season 7, for most of the reasons you listed. I'm intrigued by the smarmy political nature of the Leviathans, as opposed to them just being organically evil. But, I would like to know why the boys are such personal targets for these particular monsters. Perhaps we'll find out as the season progresses.
I'm also appreciating the vulnerabilities of the brothers this season - Dean's emotional fragility and Sam's mental instability. However, I would have preferred a few more small glimpses of Sam struggling to deal with the hellucinations (I've mentioned possibilties before - confusion, memory lapses, little signs like that). I confess I too really liked Dean's pep talk with himself before he tried to pick up the bartender in DFL. So sweet!
And cheers for Sheriff Jody Mills. A strong, positive female character who isn't dead yet. Yippee!!
My speculation for the rest of the season is the Sam's wall is going to crack and perhaps fall apart again in this second half. I think Dean is going to realize that his role as a hunter allows him to express his natural personality traits as a caregiver and nurturer, and maybe he'll make some peace with that. Bobby is not going to die. No way! I think perhaps Michael and his relationship with Dean (after all God!Cas did mention him in MTNB) will come back into play. Although I think Adam is long gone, and we're unlikely to see him. And I hope we find out why the Leviathans are so invested in our world, and the Winchesters in particular.
I do think there is room for improvement in some areas, but mostly I'm still glad the show is here for me to watch.
Happy 2012!
Pragmatic Dreamer
I even got the feeling that Sam is not real, Sam is a fragment of Dean's broken psyche, and Dean projected and imagined Sam to somehow be able to deal with himself, with his disability. And it makes me very very sad that I even think that. I just watch old episodes with friends over the whole world and what I feel is a loss, a hole in the episodes now, back then it was RICH, rich on brotherly moments, rich on Sam-exploring, rich on Dean-protection and having his own worries even back then. Now I will say that when Sam's story, POV, inner is hidden again in the second half of this season I will quit the show as much as it hurts to write this down. There is absolute no balance between the two main characters. And its more than obvious for me.
I am too absolutely not satiesfied with the way the show handles Dean's depressions. I even don't know for what reason he is now down. The writers keep it open so they can do what they think the people want to see. I don't know which people or which forums they read to decide what they do. I think its wrong to do what some people want, they should simply focus on both brothers, character exploring, resolutions, follow ups, for both not only for one of them, so I know that Sam is in the series real and not only a pixel/fragment of Dean's broken psyche!
And I even don't start with the angel, I want him gone gone gone, even Bobby is not that important for me, its the heart of the show what is missing and it lays inbetween the two brothers
And now this: Sam should be strongly traumatized from 180 years in the cage. He is functioning all to well and that's bad writing (IMO). They shoud havé given us hints over the course of the 8 episodes that he is barely holding it together .....for the sake of Dean, but there is nothing, that is really poorly done. We didn't get to see him coming to the point where he found a way to cope. How does he cope, what way around did he found? It doesn't take whole episodes to tell us how Sam came to that point. It needs only a few minutes, seconds! And its important to know atleast for me and many others I know too. Instead we got to see Dean with a girl in a bar (a smart girl)Dean being alone although the brothers have their anniversary in Vegas and it is implied that Sam left Dean(huh) although they do this every year. I don't understand the show anymore, they forgot that Sam has feelings and losses too and that he is affected in a way too. This is almost an invisible Sam and a robotic Sam except the last episode(10) where we were allowed(!) to see Sam for a few seconds struggling and scared.
I used to love this show but I won't support further a series where the writers only focus on one brothers feelings and dump down the others. I still love Sam to death and this is only Jareds fault. If not for him I would already be gone!
Sam is the forgotten one, it's forgotten that he is a human being with feelings, fears, desires, emotions, he is not allowed to connect to others except Dean and when Sam talks it has nothing to do with his situation. It makes the show unbalanced, but I don't think we will get an equal focus on Sam's journey, repercussions like we had with Dean. I will watch the last 13 episodes and the message of the episodes will give me my decision to watch further or to quit watching.
He must be a huge part in the myth arc when his inner is so much hidden from us, in the end even when they say Sam is reborn Jesus I have lost Sam nonetheless. I want to be guided by Sam's character in his life jouney through the series,others want this with Dean's character, and the heart is inbetween, their relationship. But there is almost no foundation/infr astructure anymore. The "Amy" episode was less Sam than I could have imagined (except the youngSam scenes)I know how much I looked forward to that episode. It was a real downer for me, and a foreshadowing of the course and the dropped inner/focus (any focus) of Sam.
I am bitter and depressed and I remember how much I looked forward to season 7 hoping the brothers were focus again...
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I've watched a movie called "Jacobs Ladder" and this Jacob had hallucinations in the underground. People staring at him, with black eyes, or the head is shaking, Jacob was scared, people he knew reacted differently than he expected, and me as a viewer did ask myself what is real what is not real. Inbetween Jacob was interacting with people totally normal (for those people who think that Sam couldn't hunt anymore because of a broken psyche), and then things happened to him. It was made so we can empathize with the character. Since episode 3 there were so much possibilities to show us that Sam is not a robotic man who has endured nothing in his life (for example when he was tied up from Becky we could have gotten any reaction from him connected to his hellmemories... . but Sam was fine)
Sam has been through so much and its just dusted/wiped away from the audience.
What happened in hell with Sam and why is he so well adjusted and functioning like nothing ever has happened to/with him? Will the show ever explore Sam's inner landscape (in every episode a little) or do they just another final episode this season with Sam focus to explain something about him?
Sam like Dean has been through just has much yet is miles behind Dean in insight and a true emotional perspective it is the oddest thing I have seen , why put a character through so much and yet not allow us any real access to him.?
"Slash Fiction" was a great "amping-up" of the Leviathan story. However, the show has never had a problem with amping-up, it's follow through and resolution that trips it up sometimes. Time will tell how the Leviathan end up being defeated. I'm glad I don't have to write it! ;)
"Death's Door" was a very good episode, and if Bobby is in fact dead, I'm satisfied with his send-off. I wrote about the small issues I had with the ep here: http://tigerlily-too.livejournal.com/6840.html so I won't re-hash that.
The thing I have a real problem with this season is the brothers' relationship. I hear that this is the season of "Butch and Sundance" and that it's the brothers alone against all the bad things, but the Amy debacle really threw a wrench in that.
The Amy mess didn't break the brothers up, it was simply a sign that everything was already not okay with them. Sam sneaked away to find Amy because he knew Dean wouldn't let him go. Dean has Sam on lockdown because he thinks Sam is unstable and dangerous. Sam might be unstable and dangerous, but the show is not showing us enough about him for us to know for sure. Sam is acting like he's fine and show is not giving us anything of Sam's point of view to know whether that's true or not. Dean obviously doesn't believe it, and the history of the show is that Dean's usually right.
So, again, we have Dean with the weight of the world on his shoulders and the burden of his messed up little brother to deal with. There's no partnership because Dean has to carry it all and Sam -- well, the viewer doesn't know what's up with Sam, so the only thing to conclude is that Dean is right to keep his thumb on Sam.
I love Dean, but everything that made me love him has been stripped away. He's bitter and angry and coming dangerously close to an unattractive martyr complex. I can't tell that he even likes Sam anymore, and everyone else he loved is gone.
When I think back over shows that I've loved, but gradually stopped watching, the reason was always that the characters became unrelatable to me. Sam and Dean are dangerously close to that. Sam has always been my favorite, but I don't know him anymore. Is he fine? Is he lying? What does he believe in? What keeps him going? What does he see every day and how is he dealing with it? Does he see his brother spiraling down into alcoholism and drug addiction? Can he do anything about it, or is he just hanging on by his fingernails and saying "Okay, Dean, whatever you say?"
I want something to happen that brings the boys back together as brothers and partners. I want them to trust each other again. I want them to be happy in each other's company again. To be completely honest, I don't know how they get there from where they are now.
To quote Lisa, "That came out so much harsher than I intended." I don't hate everything about the show. I'll watch until the last episode goes to black screen. But there are things I'm not happy with, and I hope they get fixed soon.
As for season 7 in general, I thought that the writers had a couple of interesting stories set up at the end of season 6 and beginning of season 7: Sam's wall breaking and the ensuing insanity, and GodCas/Leviatha nCas. One story was never explored and Cas simply disappeared. The other was wrapped up with hand rubbing and it's not compelling to watch at all. Even if it comes back in the second half of the season, the story has been ignored for so long, all momentum is lost.
Instead of what naturally flowed from the season 6 narrative, the writers have decided to basically give us a repeat of Dean's season 5 depression, and IMO, it's one of the reasons why the show seems so tired and repetitive. We've seen that story before, and done much better.
And I might be in the minority, but I think that the show started to lose it's way and lose its heart in season 5, not 6.
I feel like Season 7 is aimless and w/o direction just like Season 5.
Unfortunately, I don't think the show is going to recover the magic it once had, and here is why.
I believe SG's inexperience shows in her inability to put together an overall story. We are at the mid-way point in the season and Sam and Dean have just now figured out that the Levi are targeting them. Why, the audience doesn't know except for the statement that they have Cas's memories. From that the audience can assume that the Levi know that Sam and Dean have taken some big fish. But the question of what investment Sam and Dean have in the Levi story still hasn't been developed, and that is something that should be shown upfront. We have left off with the Levi hurting (or killing) Bobby, with a long build-up that Bobby is the Winchester father. Will hurting/killing Bobby be the impetus for the brothers to now become involved in the Levi story? We don't know yet. Why seek the Winchesters out in the first place, if the object was to stay under the radar and proceed with whatever plan the Levi had in the first place (because we still don't know what that plan is). the Levi started out interesting, but then fell into a political corrupt corporate America story, and that is boring. We can catch the news every night if that is what we want to see.
SG also appears to believe that drama and tension are in personal, human problems (soap stories), and not organically developed in an overall horror/ mythological story. S1 through S5 had the drama in the plot and the brothers drove the plot for the most part. S6 had two separate stories for the brothers (if Dean being a houseboy for Lisa is considered a story) and Sam was all over the place. In the end, the overall story was a support character's story. Now, in S7, support roles have been developed (Amy, Becky, and Bobby), with the Winchesters just there in their emo angsting reacting to support characters' stories.
The major problem for me has been the direction Sam and Dean have been taken since S6. I liked Sam in the beginning, when he was introduced as empathizing with people, caring about them, and trying to get away from a fringe lifestyle. He was one side of a coin, and Dean was the other. Dean was introduced in the Pilot as a shadowy person, one who loved hunting because he was saving people from a life he was thrown into. Sam hunted for revenge, but Dean hunted for a noble purpose, but still Sam cared about people.
In S6, the roles changed. Dean was domesticated, unbelievably so for me, and Sam was cold (with the excuse of lacking a soul). But more than that, the whole purpose for Sam hunting (his empathy for people) and his best qualities (sweet, sensitive, caring, intelligent) were taken away. He hunted, but he no longer did it because he cared for people. His reasons were selfish, even when it was to get his soul back, which he rejected in the end.
The dark, dangerous, socially inept, sometimes crazy Dean was gone and Dean was neutered, manipulated, and continually angsting.
S7, up to this point, has not changed what was done to these two characters in any significant way, so what we are left with is major undeveloped plot holes for Dean, Sam floundering as each episode's plot demands, and guest stars trying to fill the void of a compelling story.
I want my characters back in a story about the supernatural, and I was hoping that S7 (after the S6 mess) would give us that. So far it hasn't. The season has not been terrible, but it is dragging and the plot is uneven. When the plot is uneven, that means the season's story has not been planned out well (to me anyway).
I will be here until the end, but it's only because of the two actors; Jensen specifically, and not because I think the series is the best thing on TV like I used to.
I suspect that the first two episodes coming up will not be advancing the mytharc much.
My lack of excitement is due to a combination of a few things. I don't feel the suspense/tensio n from the Leviathans yet. Sam and Dean are not communicating. Dean is talking to Bobby rather than Sam about the important things. Sam isn't saying much of anything. I'm extremely disappointed at what's been done with Sam's storyline (or lack of one). If they had second thoughts about the Hell fallout direction, the least they could have done is quickly deal with it so that he could move onto other things - like developing some new relationships. I haven't liked Dean much this season (loved him in the first few seasons) but he doesn't seem like he likes Sam much anymore, and unlike season 4, he really doesn't have a good reason anymore. Finally, I feel like Castiel's storyline was cut off abruptly right in its climax. There was the potential to keep Cas a little dark - make him a more interesting, complex character - but instead they just killed him off right when his storyline had gotten good. It mirrors what they're doing with Sam's storyline - building it up and then putting it on hold right when it's developed momentum.
On the positive side though, the first half is never as strong as the second half, so I think I'll like the second half better. We should get more of Sam's story, Castiel's story, more tension with the Leviathan story, and Bobby's death should force Dean and Sam to start talking to each other and playing off one another again the way they used to in the early seasons.
If and I say again IF nothing else is done this season with the fallout from Sam's mental issues, THEN I'll think it was an opportunity lost and I'll be disappointed. But I'm happy with what they've done with it SO FAR. Personally, I don't think the show is done with it yet.
I hope that Bobby isn't dead - it'll be depressing if he is - but as someone pointed out above, with him gone (or out of commission)the boys will be forced to interact more. My favorite part of any episode is when Sam & Dean are together.
I don't miss Castiel very much - I thought I would, but I don't. I'm quite sure that his story arc isn't finished, however, IF it is, when I find that out for sure, THEN I'll contemplate what I think of his 'send-off'
As I said, I am really, really enjoying season 7. I enjoyed season 6 too. How do I do this? Its not that I'm easily pleased. Its not that I don't see that there have been some clunky episodes. Its not that I don't have preferences for how I would like some storylines to go. Its not that I've lowered my expectations.
Its that I'm watching Supernatural fot the story Show is telling - not one that I think they SHOULD be telling. I only have one line in the sand that I won't cross and Show is nowhere near it.
I give the season a D.
Sam - His story gets a big, fat F from me. They have totally and completely failed to do ANYTHING w/Sam this year. The really awful part is we were off to a great start w/7.01 and 7.02. For some odd, unknown, inexplicable reason, the writers chose to STOP Sam's story right as it was getting started. Why this was done will NEVER make sense to me.
Stories are all about momentum, and I'm sorry but Sam's story is the one that had the momentum. They should have continued w/his story. They went from Point A to Point C and skipped Point B w/Sam, which would have been showing the journey from him having crippling hallucinations to managing. We didn't get that part of the story. It was simply not told. Sam suddenly was "coping" and "knowing his way around the plate." We were, IMO, deprived of a story. How does Sam cope? How does jogging help him? What is he hallucinating? Is it just Lucifer or other things? What is happening w/him? We haven't even seen him rub his hand all that often.
This story is just crap. Heck, it's not even a story. Sam is practically non-existent. He doesn't feel real. He has no thoughts or feelings about anything that ever happens to him. It's a strange way to write a character, IMO. Sam seems perfectly fine. The only reason I think he may have a breakdown later is b/c that is the only thing that makes sense for literary reasons. They've done NOTHING to show that Sam really isn't coping. It could have been done in a little ways like Sam seeing Dean get injured but continue to speak to him sort of like that scene w/Bobby in HCW or Sam talking to himself about not believing what he sees or showing Sam rub his hand more often than they have. Something. We've got nothing. What some call subtle, I call non-existent. There has been, IMO, no on-screen evidence that Sam isn't coping as well as he says. Again, I assume he may break down later in the season, but that is only b/c that's what makes sense after the buildup they gave to his Wall falling. I assume they plan on exploring it a little further. If not, the story was completely pointless and shouldn't have been done.
What was the purpose of dropping the Wall if it wasn't going to have a lasting impact on Sam? Why resolve his issues so quickly? And if you decided to backburner his problems, why do that so completely? Aside from Levi!Sam and Sam saying he hallucinates practically every minute of the day, there have been no signs that Sam is doing that. Nothing has changed about him. He acts as he always has. The writing should be better than this! If Sam is supposedly barely hanging on, we, the audience, should be seeing that.
Put it this way - I would not be shocked in the writers DIDN'T revisit Sam's hallucinations at this point. They've set it up so we know Sam hallucinates, and we know Sam deals w/the hallucinations. Sam is superhuman, and nothing impacts him. That's the "story" I see if I had to give it a theme. The story has been parked so long that, IMO, it will be contrived and forced to dust it off and bring it back to the forefront.
Dean - His story gets a D from me. I am utterly confused by his sadness and depression this year. I don't know what's driving it. I think I may be plain sick & tired of seeing Dean depressed. I know it's realistic, but if I had any faith that the writers would resolve his issues/problems , I'd feel better about what we're seeing. I don't have that faith. I think Dean's story has been very poorly executed.
Episodes/Writin g - Taken together, I'd give them a C-.
I have been entertained by each individual episode, but like I said earlier, the entire season seems w/o a purpose. It feels very aimless like Season 5.
So, while the episodes have entertained me, I have found them to be "filler." The only ones w/a little substance were MTNB, HCW, SF, DD. I won't even get into the Amy debacle that lasted for four episodes and SERVED NO PURPOSE!
All-in-all, the season gets a D from me, so far.