Aeryn13

Yeah, Kripke`s original idea was a reporter travelling around, searching out the Supernatural. Maybe a rebellious younger son as well who wanted to escape the roots of his blue collar origin or whatnot. There wasn`t a travelling companion, though. That was the afterthought when the network rejected the original pitch. Hence, I can believe Kripke always had the story of ONE guy in mind. And his real interest was in the mini horror movies/urban legends, not exactly character beats and emo stuff. So giving that to add-on character doesn`t exactly strike me as a writerly focus. I mean, he had to have something to do onscreen. Sam had the entire story so what was the show going to be? Sam being driven around by a mute chauffeur who disappeared from the screen whenever they parked the car?

I don`t think Suck Song was the always intended ending. Maybe I`m giving Kripke more credit than he deserves but I don`t think this assy piece was supposed to be "it". The dialogue "Lucifer" and "Michael" are having could be somewhat lifted from Season 1 discussions between the brothers with the "good son" vs "I`m a rebel" variety. The scene as was ended up being pretty atrocious and Adam was completely misplaced. I think it was supposed to be Dean and they would be falling into the plothole together. I also believe the network gave them the thumbs up before the official announcement. That is not so unusual. If he truly only ever cared about Sam`y mythos, Sam`s darkside and Sam`s redemption, I wish he would have given Sam simply a dog or something to drive around with. It is less insulting to give such a "role" to an animal. Seeing as I have to live with that episode, I`m at least happy it got some scathing critique. Kripke shouldn`t have been such a fool as not to expect it after writing a Finale for "Samnatural".

You mean when Dean was a vampire? Because while it was stupid to go there, I think it`s a bit unfair to blame this on Dean seemingly not being in the right frame of mind. From everything we`ve seen of newly turned vampires, Lisa and Ben were lucky not to get drained dry on the spot. If we`re strictly measuring human!Dean`s behaviour then I don`t think he was unfit to have a family. The slap he gave Ben when the latter was freaking out in the "Lisa got captured by demons and was bleeding out" episode, I actually didn`t mind. When people get hysterical in TV shows or movies, no matter the age, usually they get slapped "out of it". I wouldn`t know what else to do with one either. There wasn`t a single word out of her mouth, to any character, where I didn`t think she was either smug, condescending, bitchy, arrogant, stupid or a general asshole. Telling that first client his wife didn`t cheat on him? Great idea. What if he comes home and find her in bed with the gardener? What if he then freaks out, kills them both and comes back to kill the stupid lying psychic as well? Would serve her annoying ass right. Having the nerve to sneer at non-psychics with an "amateurs" while she was stupidly wrong over two ghosts? Die a fiery death. Back in Season 1 I rarely rooted for side characters to get killed - the Benders, maybe - but I wanted that Poltergeist to gut her way more than I wanted them to kill the Yellow Eyed Demon. At least he had redeeming qualities for my viewing experience.

Genuine answer: because Jensen is still on the show. If he wasn`t, I`d drop it in a heartbeat.

At this point I don`t think the show can do anything to redeem this relationship between the brothers to me. After everything that happened and the way it was and keeps being handled, it just is completely dead to me. To the point where those scenes are a chore to get through. I`m not sure any show ever managed to mangle a relationship, familial, romantic or friendship-wise so badly that I felt like that. And I squeed over that relationship in earlier Seasons. Ironic that it is still supposed to be the backbone of the show when I can`t think of two people ever put together who brought out the worst in each other more. Scenes like in that church in the Season 8 Finale? I found that horrific. The Season 9 Opener "there ain`t no me when there ain`t no you"? Azazel burning mothers on the ceiling over their babies doesn`t hold as much horror as those words. The speech in the Purge might have been grotesque and rage-inducing but at least I found it honest. This is what the relationship is for me ALL the time now. As a benefit - I guess you could call it one - no one scene is more hurtful for me than another. Whatever Demon!Dean said to Sam I found no less of a gaping wound than the Sam-fan pushing the Samulet back on Dean. At least it was nowhere in sight in episode 6, I fist-pumped about that. And I just know they will keep destroying each other because the writers will at least vary between playing it as toxic and squeeing about it as the best thing ever.

I think this has been pretty much a case since day one. Dean is the "blue collar" guy, that`s why he gets the stereotypical markers. Sam is the blue collar guy who wanted to leave his roots behind and turn white collar, hence despite growing up in the same environment, College apparently gave him the "smart, enlightened, sweet, sophisticated" markers. Kripke himself apparently comes from a blue collar background and he is the younger brother who went away to follow different dreams. It`s like jeeze, can it be more on the nose? And the writers IMO all share a certain perspective. If it were a fantasy setting, the blue collar people would be the backwater woodlands folk, not too bright but hard-drinking and hard-partying, probably family-based and loyal. Happy in pursuing the "little pleasures". Often the "muscle" or brawn side of things. White collar would be the magical city folks, brainy and enlightened if a bit stuck up. Sam would be the guy who left the woods for the city. The story would be written from city folk, though, and their (often ignorant) ideas and perception of woodland people. People like the family in the recent Clue episode would be the folks in the Palace/nobility, carricatures that are to be mocked by BOTH the woodland and the city people. I also don`t think there is much real life to it. Mostly it reminds me of some people I went to university with who had some seriously ignorant and out-there perceptions at working class people. For the most part they didn`t even mean to be bratty and arrogant but what used to come out of their mouths could be so wrong and offensive, it was mind-blowing. And university didn`t give them a particularly enlightened perspective on life, on shades of gray or anything. It didn`t make them sweet or sensitive or anything. My family is a mixture of blue and white collar you could say in terms of professions chosen and stereotypes like that just make me shake my head in despair.

I think this is it pretty much, The reason why I have basically the same bitterness rants over and over again is that this show is giving me the same causes to be bitter about over and over again. I`m annoyed that Dean never really gets mytharc importance like Sam and his plots with potential are dropped like hot potatoes and what does this Season do? The same thing. I`m annoyed at what I perceive to be Sam-Sue-pimping and this Season gives me those same annoyances. Don`t know what it is, other shows have their own formulaic problems but they have at least switched out the things that annoy me somewhat. This one doesn`t. Which is insane seeing as the plots vary slightly but it`s like having a dinner with several dishes and yet every single one holds the same poison. I would be happy if this was the last Season, provided they can manage something other than another Suck Song ending. I`d even take boring or stupid cliffhanger or anything over that. Sadly, I do think there will be at least one more year they will wring from it. And even without being cynical, I already know that it will be troubled by the same bloody issues.

To be honest, I never got that. When I say the writers are crap and too incompetent to get their intended message across, I don`t think it attacks the characters. Do I think my fave character gets ill-treated and I`m not supposed to really favour them? Sure, I do. But I also said that how they come across as positive - to me - regardless is a) the actor`s portrayal and b) the writers sucking. That the character works on some level DESPITE my issues with the writing. I am just not ready to really credit the writers with much of anything positive. The actors, the production team, the directing and all those people? Sure, I give them kudos. The writers at this point, very very little. And the characters themselves are fictional anyway, they won`t know or care anyone championing them.

They`ve let Misha direct also. Vampire Diaries has let cast members direct. Back in the day Smallville let cast direct. Star Trek has had multiple actors directing. I don`t see this as the gold star of actor acknowledgment. Someone expressed their interest, puts in the prep work and they usually get it.

I`m not saying anyone has to agree with me but in the same vain, noone can convince me that it is fact that the show is wonderfully unbiased, that it is an undisputable fact that Dean gets treated wonderfully and everything I get from it otherwise is just a silly delusion. There is still single photo ops and always have been. And, as far as I know, J2 has always been equally priced. The prices just skyrocketed in general and the US Creation con prices are as a rule much higher than the European Cons. Kripke once outright admitted that the mytharc was about Sam. He said it didn`t make Dean second banana for him but acknowledged how it could do so for other people. So, he did admit to certain differences. Personally, I was not impressed that he, a younger brother, made up a five year epos centering on the Chosen One story of a Sue-ish younger brother where the older brother`s purpose is to revolve in adoration around said younger brother. But it`s not like he is gonna be know or care that I hold a very unfavourable opinion over that self-aggrandizement. I think worse about the other two showrunners, looking at their work.

In terms of discussion, just compare the second half of Season 9 to any other Sam-plot. Because it was the first and only time in the show where there was something supernaturally wrong with Dean and Sam didn`t have a mytharc strand himself. If Sam had had the Mark of Cain, Dean and Cas would have discussed it ad nauseum, Dean would have been in that obnoxious "Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam" mode. We would have heard characters espouse how "if anyone can do this, Sam can" bla blibbity bla. So, honestly, I was expecting an actual role reversal for the first time ever in 9 years. In the end, my mind, it was blown but how they did not do this. I mean, the stuff we got seemed somewhat novel and fresh because it was the very first time ever we got it. Never before had Dean been in such a story. But it wasn`t even remotely like a Sam-plot is handled. Cas made one remark. We got one character that signified Dean as special vs. Sam as "and why the hell are you here?" in Magnus. Quantitatively and qualitatively, it wasn`t the same. And Demon!Dean? If it had been a Sam!plot, we would have seen superpowers. Actual superpowers. And the plot would have gone on to mid-Season. They would have found a way. Just because it was about supernatural!Sam and they always, always find a way. Jared remarked on how he was so lucky to play soulless!Sam and Gadreel!Sam both for half a Season. The only and I mean the only reason the demon-plot got no meat to it is IMO it was about Dean. And I think this is because the very idea weirds out the writers. Dean is the sidekick and Sam is the lead. That is how they approach writing them in both plot and characterization. It was that way under every single showrunner. When fans make "character lists", i.e. listing the most obvious attributes they associate with a certain character, "smart" is one every single one for Sam, I have never, ever, ever seen one that doesn`t list Sam as "smart". Meanwhile if out of a 100 fans two of them have "smart" for Dean, and then even qualified as "street-smart" - not to be confused with the actual-smalrt - that is a lot. It is simply not an attribute readily associated with the characters and that is thanks to 9-10 years of the show reinforcing that through dialogue. He could be solving nuclear equations for every episode till the end of time now and the perception wouldn`t change. That depends IMO. If mouthpiece characters say it, you know those characters where you can nearly see the writers stepping onscreen and adressing the audience directly, than it is as a close to a fourth wall break and a message to be conveyed as can be. Bobby was such a character. His word was basically law. If he said Dean was a little whiny princess, that is what the writer thought. Kripke himself made that clear because it IS what he thought in the commentary. If Bobby says Sam has always been a "deep son of a bitch", that is fact as per the writers. If in comparism he said to Dean not to strain himself with something intellectual, well, it`s clear what he means. He says they have always been so hard on heroic Sam? Clear. He says Sam is the better hunter? Might as well come from the canon bible if the show had one. Meanwhile Dean being liked is framed like a pet being loved. It might be dumb and everything but it is loveable and loyal and you can`t help but wanna cuddle it. What a fantastic compliment for a person. Not.

See, the thing for me is, the tell, Bobby`s words in that moment will hold more water and be more easily remembered than any context. Most general viewers go by these short blips of dialogue. Sam is a better hunter? Check. Fact stored. Which is IMO why the writers put it in. Just as they put in neverending digs at Dean`s intelligence. It doesn`t matter if Dean is shown to do something smart or whatnot occassionally. What stays is him being called dumb over and over. Another fact stored. Just as Sam`s super-intelligence is fact stored through those dialogue pieces. He could do one million dumb things and still hardly anyone will question the super-smarts, simply because it is repeated in words. Dean gets the nanny compliments and the "he means well but..." stuff and the "I like you" which to me are all going to the same well. None of it is any praise worth its salt. Yet those dialogue bits are what the writers do to get their message across quickly and create a lasting imprint. And for that reason I can never see Sam as unfavoured or Dean as favoured.

I think their idea of tearing down a character is whatever consists of the writing for Dean. It just doesn`t work exceptionally well. On this show - and I`m not being snarky here - I truly believe it is accidental 95 % of the time. The writers are manipulative, they are just not skilled enough to make it actually work. To be fair, most TV writers aren`t. Nine out of ten cases I see where a writer wants me to go and it drives me in the opposite direction and I don`t think that is ever on purpose. But I will concede that it is all viewpoint. To me Sam is so freaking favoured, my head would explode if it was trying to describe whereas most of the things that Dean supposedly gets are more often than not subtle digs. Sure, he gets to spend more time with guest stars, often being lectured on appreciating the brotherhood with Sam more or being given a boohoo speech or he gets/gives speeches on how great Sam is or it is spent worrying about Sam`s current mytharc. I`ve already said elsewhere that for me the true compliment was Bobby`s "he is a better hunter" about Sam vs. his relatively "yeah, I like you better" for Dean. One is worthless to me, the other is actual praise worth something. I guess it depends on what you (general you) feel is important for a character to have. And for me the Chosen One-ness trumps "feelings and angst" for example. The Sue-save from Sam of the world in 5.22 trumps everything ever bothered to be given to Dean by ten thousands miles. The praises for Sam some might see as meaningless window dressing I would take in a heartbeat over the guest characters berating Dean. The grass always appears greener on the other side after all.

I say that as a Ms.Cuddles fan who found it very sweet how Damon carried her around in his backpack and then in his arms and talked through her with a teddy-bear-voice but Stefan drop-kicking the bear was maybe the single greatest moment in TVD history. I couldn`t stop laughing. The entire road trip chemistry with the guys was just wonderful. So friendly and fun and teasing. In comparism the lame-o Friendsgiving Dinner just gave me "what the hell? go back to the guys with the teddy bear" feelings. At least we got some plot forward movement and though it was expected, it brought the characters of Jo, Kai, Liv and Luke together nicely. For once, it`s no evil plot centered on our gang, carried out by one of their doppelgangers or a person looking for one of their doppelgangers. Hooray. Liam sitting there in utter pointlessness while everyone kept talking about Supernatural shenanigans? If that wasn`t an indication of the character as a non-entity, I don`t know what was. Also, was I supposed to be sad about Elena letting him go? Like she could have developed actual feelings for him in those basically five minutes they "dated" Ahahaha. And no, Elena, he wasn`t your safe option. Dying from boredom is still a real danger. Stefan might have presented as nice and cuddly in the beginning but he was a vampire and brought his own danger with him. Elena has always been attracted to guys a bit on the wild side like this. If she hadn`t, she would have dated Captain Dependable, Matt, for infinitum. Caroline inviting Damon but not Stefan? The burn. Not sure what to make of their final scene, though. It clearly raised Caro`s hopes again but I`m still not getting "ZOMG, I might have feelings for her" from Stefan. He, rightly, acknowledged that he pushed her away because she would have been the one to comfort him and make him deal with his pain. But, as his closest friend, I think. He has clearly gotten to a good friendship place with Elena right now so on some level she ranks below Caroline. No more "the one true love" but also not "bestest friend". Yet that doesn`t mean Caroline has been upgraded to "true love" either. I don`t have much of a problem with Damon compelling Ric. Sure, it will lead to disaster and sure, Ric will be angry as hell but Damon had a point. Ric has dated Jo for all of the five minutes Elena dated Liam. Meanwhile you have Bonnie, the girl who nearly always went ALL in for her friends. Heck, she is the reason Ric is back to date in the first place. And all he can offer is a lame "yeah, I help but not too much"? After all Bonnie`s fucking sacrifices that is seriously low. Lower, the lowest. So, personally, I applaud Damon for Bonnie-ing it and going all in for a friend. The final Delena scene? I don`t know. We know Damon and Bonnie didn`t spend all their time talking about Elena. Or did Bonnie tell him all about Jeremy being a viking in the sack or something? While Damon sat there, traumatized? Maybe cuddling the bear? Did they compare and contrast "Gilbert siblings in bed and out"? But the kicker was Elena saying "will you help me find my friend?" Lady, I`m pretty sure it`s the other way around. It`s already Damon`s quest, you just seem to wanna hop in on it. And not even for Bonnie herself but to get relationship advice from her? I get that was supposed to be a romantic moment but it is one of the most callous and self-centered things Elena ever said. DAMON, the guy who begun the show slaughtering people, seems to be in it to save a friend, not a couple therapist for HIMSELF. Urgh.

I guess I see it as if Dean comes across positively or heroic or actually like a lead despite not having the mytharc, it`s a) to a large part accidental in writing and b) Jensen`s portrayal. Meanwhile, I`m sure the writers do believe they write Sam as the greatest guy who ever lived. And that he might not comes across like that is also accidental in the writing. Because they try and overhype so much and do so much zero sum and vice versa writing for Dean that it creates the opposite effect. Which, actually, is most often the case when they go and overhype and pimp characters. That hardly works. Meanwhile the ones where initially the writers don`t give much of a crap work relatively well. Because the tell of the show has always been very, very clear to me in how Sam is to be adored. And Dean`s single good trait is adoring Sam. That it creates the "fuck you and the horse you rode in on, you Beckys" against the writers (for me at least) just makes it more obnoxious because the "tell" of the show just gets my hackles up. I will grant you the hair-stylists as anti-Sammers, though. :) Then again, sometimes they nearly scalp Jensen so maybe they just don`t have the greatest taste in general?

I didn`t mind the term because it is an actual term from the bible, connected to the revelation, so it`s not like the SPN writers made up "Whore of Babylon" specifically. Though if memory serves the entire city of Babylon was the "whore", wasn`t it? Or was it more left to nebulous metaphor? But the "on a good day you get to kill a whore" was just a very stupid word pun. I have no doubt the writer didn`t even think twice about the impication. I mean, it could have been "on a good day, you get to kill the Whore of Babylon" but noone would really say this. Maybe with Lucifer, it could have been clever to say "on a good day, you get to kill the devil". But "a whore"? Dean isn`t Jack the Ripper. And he very much never looks down on women in the sex trade so he hardly feels urges to kill them. Hence, the "joke" falls flat. I don`t think it was that so much as they brought in her actually sympathetic backstory much too late. Until then she was such a cliché. The cunning, beautiful thief who outsmarts the guys at every turn. And it was so obnoxious. Amanda over on Highlander was a similar character and she fooled Duncan, the lead of the show, a few times. But not all the damn time. Not like freaking Roadrunner and Wily Coyote. Yet that is what Bela did, especially to Dean since she was more often paired with him. When I like the leads of a show, I do not enjoy guest stars who come in and are made to look wonderful at the actual lead`s expense all the time. That is a quick way to turn me against guest character. It doesn`t help then to throw in a "see, what a misunderstood woobie" curveball at the 11th hour. I think little Bela had a horrible childhood and didn`t deserve to be forced into a deal and ultimately go to hell for it. Problem is, I can`t muster up sympathy when Big Bela bugs me as much as that freaking obnoxious Roadrunner. I wouldn`t like HIM any better either if he had a tragic childhood. :) Lauren Cohan wasn`t the problem. I did enjoy the actress muchly over on Vampire Diaries but Bela was just a big balls of no. Even in her own show, I would have then rooted for a guest star to come in and continously make her look the fool. Just for cosmic payback.

Then I guess my unpopular opinion is that I hated Soulless Sam. For one, the concept was once again being "what is wrong with Sam/all about Sam" which came with the expected "Dean who" counterpart. Secondly, it was like some porn pimping of how badass and how much of a sex machine he was that even the hooker forgot to ask for pay. Comparatively, Dean became a mocked and belittled Deansel in distress. Thirdly, soulless Sam was all over the place. He was scary, no funny, no had no clue about reading people, no he was totally perceptive. No internal consistency whatsoever. And if all that wasn`t bad enough, he was like another version of Smug!Sam whom I already had with demon blood. Smug is a hard thing to play and still get me to like a character, I mean House and Sherlock manage but everyone acknowledges that. But Jared is seriously not someone who can play smug in any way I can even stomach. When it creeps through, it is bad enough but when it is actually supposed to be in a scene on some level? I absolutely hate it, not in a love-to-hate but can`t-stand-watching-hate. I also felt bad for Jensen because he was onscreen a lot, therefore obviously had long shooting hours, but fucking shit-all to do as a character. He didn`t need to be that entire first half of the Season and it would have been a mercy. So, first half of Season 6? Is slightly better than the second half of Season 8 but still sucks complete ass.

I was fine with Sam in Season 4, not in the "oh so likeable" way but actually because everything that bugged me about the character was SO exaggerated here, I was sure it could only lead to character growth. And well, it is always darkest before dawn so I didn`t mind that I wanted to axe-murder him often during the Season. That happens sometimes even with my favourite characters. Then Season 5 and the anti-redemption of doom happened. Where apparently everything that ever put me off was so exaggerated in Season 4 because Season 5 told me those were his very best traits. And the fault was with everyone else, mainly Dean, for not seeing it and kissing his feet for it. Capped off with the Sue-save and I pretty much hated everything about it. The character never recovered from that IMO.

IMO they would need to let Charlie be handled by another writer but will never do so because she is Robbie Thompson`s pet project. And that is exactly the problem. From every interview he gives about her to the way he writes her, it`s the 13-year old inserts herself into first fanfic trope. Adored by all, uber-capable, aquiring skill-sets like they are going out of business, out-leading the leads and making them look inferior in just about every situation. And so on and so forth. And just like those 13-year-olds lack the perspective how a character so sparklingly perfect unicorns will weep in joy can come across to anyone not them, Thompson clearly lacks that perspective as well. He has admitted that she IS his avatar, even if a female character and I don`t think he even sees how self-aggrandizing that would be, to admit you are write yourself and then write yourself as the epitome of perfection. So far to some degree the actress and especially a cute chemistry with Jensen have saved it from becoming a total disaster but if she comes back as super-hunter on of everything, I will not only not be surprised but it will be a death blow for the character. As such, I can`t put her in the strong female character category, just as I wouldn`t say the raven-haired, violet-eyed orphan yet secret heiress with a half-Supernatural lineage, coming with special powers no race possesses and a Chosen destiny who is the greatest martial arts specialiest in the whole wide world and immediately sexually attracts everyone from Fanfic Nr.5 was a strong female. Not even if she defeated an army of five thousand evil dhampires all on her own with her trusty katana.

On the one hand this sounds pretty friend-zoning but on the other, this is pretty much how Olicity started over on Arrow, with the guy clueless/in denial till one days his eyes opened. I just hope the Steroline chemistry works better in future scenes than the last episode. Other than that, I thought it was cute clip. Damon carrying around Bonnie`s bear is sweet. Him, Ric and Stefan joking around and ribbing each other is nice to see. Not high drama about relationships and the Delena star-crossed-ness or whatnot, just some friendly interaction. I know the connotations of Damon pimping out Caro to his bro are a bit unfortunate due to their past but it honestly felt to me like he was just being supportive. It had nothing to do with getting Stefan out of the way romantically in terms of Elena, just getting Stefan to some happiness. And he did acknowledge Caro being a great gal. Just a fun scene.

I do this all the time actually - I never let any inanimate object get away with hurting me - but I don`t classify this as dark. And I get that this was cathartic for Dean but just for me, it`s not remotely in the neighbourhood of "dark" or "scary" generally speaking. Like I said, maybe I got desensitized with other shows I watch where ripping someone`s throat out and then driving around with their corpse in your car is met with a weary "oh, come on, not this drinking bender stuff again" and then swiftly forgotten. But SPN for me is like the kiddie pool of scary and I just can`t get, you know, scared by it anymore. Not for years actually. So I see what the writers are going for, what they mean to convey in the scenes but I can`t go there emotionally. Dean has never done anything going over maybe a 5 on my darkness scale (if say 25 was "this is dark shit" and 1 was "fluffy, cuddle bunnies"). Not as a human, not as a demon, not with the MOC. And judging by the writing he never will. In fairness, I`m the person who cheered back in Angel the show when the lead character let a bunch of his lawyer enemies get slaughtered and just walked away. Or who went "why? no. why?" when the lead character in Arrow vowed to stop killing people in vigilante justice.

Much better. I mean, it doesn`t redeem or excuse the previous two episodes in terms of presenting it like Dean CAN`T fight vs. showing that he struggles to hold himself back out of fear for making the kill but I`m just so gosh-damn glad he did make the kill here. And was genuinely smart and capable as a hunter. Sure, we got the obligatory dig at his intelligence - as always - that made me roll my eyes but at least he wasn`t written dumb and unknowing to warrant it. I have to say I got to laugh a bit at the final scene being supposed to be such an OMG-how-dark moment. Not Jensen`s acting, his cold look was hot. And maybe it`s me but I saw it as just a turn-on, not split between turned-on/scared. But that`s because, well, the darkest thing about it was the waste of ammunition if we get down to it. It didn`t prolong the shifter`s death, it didn`t make it more or less painful nor make her more or less dead than if he had just shot her once. But then, this show has always portrayed "dark acts" like this, seldom really fitting my criteria for such. Dean supposedly holding out his hand to shake for Gadreel and then attacking him was probably the scariest moment I`ve seen with the MOC, more than any kills with it. Even overkills. Same for Abaddon. Sure, stabbing her over and over again was not necessary but the same thing applied like here with the shifter. Maybe it`s also because of other shows I watch with much, much darker character actions. Granted, the entire episode was a bit awkward because wouldn`t you know, the Supernatural Clue boardgame just got released and boy, I`ve never seen a product placed so shamelessly. But they managed to make it into kind of an oldschool episode. Even the original shifter lore was back. Did they smuggle it past lol!canon!Carver? If so, kudos. As for the somewhat overbearing cougar jokes, I just count my blessings it`s not dog-fucking at this point.

Well, that actually fit the episode title the best because that is fanfic!Sam, especially the Sam-fan fanfic where Sam is simultaneously the wounded baby bird and the most badass hunter ever whereas Dean can`t tie his own shoes. But especially how Sam feels nothing but admiration and love for Dean. Fanfic!Sam would douse himself in gasoline before saying the things that canon!Sam said in the Purge for example. The two are really nothing like each other. So, in that vain, I wouldn`t have a problem with the episode mocking that fanfic-concept. However, it`s not what they do because IMO the writers, too, believe they are writing that fanfic!Sam. And whenever canon!Sam strays too far from that, it is later summarily ignored or retconned or somehow turned around on Dean. Then I would have thought equal shilling of characters and equal represtantion of fans should have been done. As a fan of Dean, I certainly didn`t see it as a "love letter". And not everyone was in love or wanted the "Samulet" back. Maybe back on Sam since it`s named after him but that is as far as I would want it.

Yes, and I already said to me it was nothing really to write home about. When the words "brave, selfless, hero and nothing he can`t do" turn up, THEN we would have something. Anything beyond "brother". I said he has gotten validation for this before. And that he hides his feelings, whoop-dee-doo. It was just not the praise I think the character deserves and that I want to hear him. And I don`t think that praise will ever come because the writers don`t see him as that kind of hero. Only Sam. As for being the "narrator", I have also often said how much I don`t believe and have never believed that gives someone an (equal) role in the story. At this point, I just consider it insult to injury. Well, it`s still there. That`s all that happens with it. Sam`s angel possession shoehorned its way into every single filler. He started coughing up blood from the trials the episode after the trials began. And so on and so forth. I`m just sick of Dean-plots being handled in offscreenville.

And he still managed to hunt, successfully get the kill and save the day in lots of those times. I was expecting MOC-bearing Dean to at least be a badass, that was my sole comfort after cutting his arc short after a measly three episodes again. But nope, insult to injury, he suddenly can`t hunt anymore at all. Hate it. And nothing is made of the MOC either. Absolutely squat. This would never happen with one of Sam`s plot. Ever. As for Marie being a Samgirl, I think she was one, 100 %. Just as I think the writers are sending a message whenever they have a character do the Sam-shilling. Becky might have been a crazy, obsessed Sam-fan but I think the audience was supposed to go "well, Sam is so great, no wonder it happens". Same as Marie shilling Sam to the high heavens. And I don`t for a second think Bobby was supposed to be seen as wrong in his assessment of Sam as the great white hunter. And the lack of Dean-shilling like that is also sending a message. He is only ever validated for being a good nursemaid/sidekick and never for being the Chosen One/IT-hero because that is how the show sees him and his purpose. They make that clear in meta-episodes like this one and non meta-ones. Having no real Dean-fan-voice in this particular meta-episode kinda is its own message for me. It`s the writers saying "you are a fan of WHICH character? well, you are doing it wrong then, you aren`t supposed to be and you shouldn`t exist in the first place". Thanks a lot.