MysteryGuest

I'm sorry, but this makes me happy. It just reinforces my own opinion that without Dean, there is no show. And the same can be said for Sam. But the idea that they're trying to phase Dean out of the show I find to be ridiculous. Unless their goal is to lose fans so they can all quit the show and go home, it makes absolutely no sense to dick around with a character as important and popular as Dean is. And since they were just renewed for next season, I don't think they're looking to get canned. I frankly take the above comments from Dabb as a compliment to Jensen and Dean, not a negative. I don't always like what Dabb has to say about the show, but I can't argue with him here.

When or where did Dabb actually say that other characters couldn't breathe with Dean around? I'd really like to hear or read the context of that statement, because I see no indication that Dean is being slowly removed from the show.

I don't disagree with this, and it does bother me when they go there. The problem I have though, is that I think a lot of those scenes are driven by Jensen. He seems to enjoy that type of humor, and is good at it, so the show writers take advantage of that. I personally wish they wouldn't, but I have to hold Jensen at least partly responsible for playing those scenes so over-the-top.

I don't get how the Michael storyline has been back-burnered? No, Dean isn't walking around having constant onscreen battles with Michael in his head, but it's been the central story, and will continue to be for the remainder of this season, and possibly into next. As for Jensen being gullible enough to fall for a "contract lure", that doesn't say very much about his intelligence. I think he's getting the opportunity he wanted...to get to "be" someone else for a certain amount of time. But Dean is too important to the show and to his fans to have him sidelined while Michael/Dean struts around killing people for the entire season. As a Dean fan, I would have hated that. I know there appear to be a lot of unhappy Dean fans, but this Dean fan is pretty satisfied with the balance between Michael/Dean and just Dean. I can't imagine that I'm the only Dean fan who feels this way.

Jensen receives far more acting accolades than Jared does from this show, so letting Jared get a little acting credit for a couple of great efforts back-to-back is hardly a slight to Jensen. Are people as upset on Jared's behalf when Jensen is lauded, repeatedly? As for Jensen being the next Mark Sheppard, I just don't see it. Jensen has the story arc this season. But just because he does, that doesn't mean that Jared isn't entitled to just as many meaty scenes as Jensen. I honestly think some expectations for Jensen are out of whack. He's a co-star, not the star.

I personally think that everyone got what they needed from John's return, considering he was only there for a day. Sam got to let go of his guilt. Mary got to see her husband again. And Dean got to have his whole family together one last time (sorry, Adam). The reality is that both Sam and Dean love their father. Yes, he made mistakes which left some scars, but he didn't beat them or molest them. He wasn't a drunk or a deadbeat. There were extenuating circumstances, and I think both Sam and Dean have repeatedly cut him some slack for that. The brothers, whether right or wrong, were raised in the hunting life. John was a young father of two small boys suddenly thrown into some nightmare he didn't understand. That would definitely screw you up a bit. So when John suddenly appears in the bunker, do you really think their first thought was "good, now I can vent my spleen over all of the ways he fucked up my life"? I don't think either one of them thought that at any time. He was back with them, and they were going to enjoy it while it lasted. Had he been back for good, then I'm sure some of those conversations might have been had, but under these circumstances, it wasn't the time or the place.

I absolutely want this episode. I'd almost have preferred that storyline be the 300th episode and save the John reunion for when the show is ending. They definitely shouldn't have been crammed together, regardless.

I don't think it was ignored by the show. Dean and John had their talk, and no, it didn't fix everything. But you can't really fix a lifetime of issues with just a few words. What the show did do is acknowledge that Dean had a lot of anger toward John and Mary, and rightfully so, but that he realized he needed to let it go. That he really wouldn't change anything, if given the opportunity. Yes, their lives suck, but doing it over so that they could have different lives, and sticking some other poor sap with their problems, wasn't something he had any interest in doing. He's no longer doing what he does to prove something to his father, or because he thinks he isn't deserving of anything else. He's doing it now by choice, because he knows they're good at what they do and that it's important.

I don't remember that particular scene from Fan Fiction, but I thoroughly enjoyed that episode. Just watched it again, and loved it just as much. And now I remember that scene.

Just watched again, and I enjoyed it more this time. I could still do with much less of the teenager stuff, but the scenes with the Winchesters made it worthwhile. All four actors did a great job. Yes, I'd have liked to have actually witnessed them telling John some of their story, in lieu of another damn musical interlude, but the scenes we did get were done well. I think both Sam and Dean made peace with their father, and now they can let go of the anger and guilt they've been carrying around for years. It doesn't do anyone any good. As for Michael, my assumption was that nothing happened with him. And they did mention him multiple times, just not specifically to John. My guess is we'll be back to talking about Dean's steel coffin by the next episode.

This one was a mixed bag for me. I'm a sap, so the family scenes did what they were intended to do, but I did feel there was a lot missing. Again, it comes down to writing. It's just no where near the same quality we used to have, and I think I need to resign myself to the fact that it's not coming back. Considering it was the 300th episode, I thought they spent way too much time on the teenagers. I so didn't care about them. Having the girl steal Baby was just filler, and all we got out of it was your standard ghost burning. It was just a waste of time that could have been better spent on some actual dialogue between the Winchester family members. I'm not even going to try to sort out the whole time-travel aspect and what should or shouldn't have happened, because this is SPN, and they're just going to do what they want. It doesn't really bother me because I wanted the end result. I was satisfied with the scenes between John and his sons. Jared has really impressed me with his acting in the past few episodes. He doesn't always hit the mark for me, but I think he's nailed the emotional scenes lately. He got his closure so that's good. I think Dean got what he needed, as well. Yes, he recognizes all of the things that John did to screw him up, but he's moved passed all of that. Their lives are not normal, and that fact isn't John's fault. So in the end, he's forgiven both of his parents because he realizes there's a bigger picture. I'm glad that he's good now with who he is. That's real growth for him. The Mary and John scenes were sappy, and that was fine. I wish they'd spent a little less time chasing teenagers around so we could have gotten a few scenes of dialogue where they explained to John that Mary had continued to hunt after their marriage. Did they tell him about the deal, and all of that? And I wasn't sure what he was talking about when he said that he took out Yellow Eyes when he died? I may have to watch again to pick up on that. I would rather have had our Cas get to meet John, then to get the 2 minutes of bad-ass Cas and Zachariah. That seemed kind of pointless, other than to explain the time shift. I guess I sound pretty negative about the episode, but that's not really how I felt after watching it. I think I was just disappointed that it couldn't have been more. I'll need to watch it again to see if my opinion changes at all.

Cambion, thanks for setting this up. The timing of the board shutdown is certainly inconvenient, but what are you gonna do. Not sure this East Coaster will still be up at 11:00 to chat, but I just wanted to thank you for thinking of an alternate solution.

Hey, it's always nice to get your name in the paper, so I'll take the publicity on behalf of the show. The "Dean is the tough guy and Sam is the empathetic one" is clearly an over-simplification of who they are. It isn't that Dean doesn't care, it's that he's not good with the touchy feely stuff. So for the most part, Sam has been the one to talk to the victims because Dean has been shown to be just too blunt sometimes, and he's been known to freak people out a bit. I do think that's a consistent theme of the show, but it certainly doesn't mean that Dean has no empathy, or that he's a bad person, or that he never comforts victims. We know that's not true. But part of his charm from the beginning was that he just says what he thinks, and doesn't sugar coat things. At least that was one of the things that I loved about him from the start.

I think this is something we can all agree on. Better writing all the way around would improve the show dramatically. And having writers not take the easy way around a plot by just simply making their characters do things they would not normally do, or ignoring canon on a whim. And I agree also that having either one of the brothers look bumbling just to make it easy for the MOTW to overpower them is frustrating as hell. I just don't understand why writing for this show is so difficult when pretty much everything is made up.

Again, never said you were watching the show "wrong". Everyone on this board has an opinion, and I was just stating mine. I'll leave it at that.

I think so, too. I've seen that picture of Jensen and Gen quite a few times, so it's definitely not new.

I never said that anyone's reason for watching the show was somehow "less than" anyone else's. So if that's how I came across, I apologize for that. What I did say is that when you watch a show like Supernatural where there are two equal co-stars, your favorite (and mine, by the way), is only going to get half of the action/storyline. And when you add in the various other characters the show has picked up along with way, that half gets decreased to about a third. That leaves two thirds of the show that your favorite isn't going to be a part of. If you (and I'm not referring to you, specifically) can't find another reason to watch or another character to enjoy, then you're going to be disappointed and unhappy with the show most of the time. We can all want what we want, and I'm sure that each of us would like more screen time and better storylines for our favorites, but that's just not going to happen on this show. As for our Michael, I agree that they've been talking about him for a few years now, and have done nothing with him. It seems reasonable that that will change at some point. I personally don't see him possessing Sam, especially with Lucifer still hanging around, but I suppose anything could happen. I know this is important to a great number of fans, I just don't happen to be one of them. I never needed Dean to be Michael's vessel, so if someone else would like to wear him for a while, I'd be fine with that. I like my Dean "straight up", if you'll pardon the pun. When he's playing someone other than Dean, I miss Dean. But like I said, we all want what we want, but getting what we want is another matter altogether.

I could do without the torture, as well. What ever happened to just being suspenseful and creepy? Why is that so hard for them to do? They used to be able to write those episodes. Now they just go with the gore because it's easy.

Obviously, it's all subjective. I'm pretty claustrophobic, so anything having to do with being trapped in a small space is torture for me to watch. I personally couldn't take 40 minutes of the scenes we got at the beginning of last weeks' episode. I'd have had to turn it off. I could barely breath as it was.

I'm not sure what you mean by this? Are you concerned that someone else is going to take over the Michael storyline? I don't see that happening. But even with the story arc for the season being Dean's possession by Michael, it doesn't mean that the other actors, specifically Jared, aren't going to get equal screen time and action. This show has two stars, so that's always how it's going to be. I personally think the show has done a good job throughout its run in giving both brothers interesting things to do, regardless of who the myth arc revolves around for any specific season. The problem arises if you only really enjoy one character. Then you're pretty much going to be disappointed or bored by any scenes where your favorite is not on screen. Add in the shortened shooting schedules for both Jensen and Jared, and the addition of more cast members, and that screen time pie slice gets even smaller.

I couldn't agree with you more. The few scenes we had of his dreaming he was in the box were sufficient for me. I don't want to ever see him, or anyone else for that matter, have to suffer that fate. There's plenty of opportunity for Jensen to stretch his acting wings just by having Michael inhabiting his head.

Congrats to the entire cast and crew! It is quite a milestone. I shall remain optimistic about the episode until it airs. I'm expecting quite the emotional ride, if nothing else. Not sure I'll be able to watch live yet, and my sources for viewing without commercials the next day appear to be drying up. Amazon doesn't have the show now and Google Play hasn't yet uploaded last week's episode, so I have no idea what's going on there. It is annoying, to say the least. Not sure why Warner Bros. would choose to do this right in the middle of the season, but maybe they feel it gives them a bit more leverage because people will be complaining. It doesn't appear to be working, however.

Well, we'll just be forced to continue watching the video until we can discern for certain just what he says. For science, of course.

Yeah, it's hard to hear, but since he was holding his head after she hit him, and running his fingers through his hair, I assumed he says "you gave me a haircut". He could have said "I'll give you a haircut", but I'm not sure how that works in the context of what they were doing. Unless he offers to cut her hair in lieu of paying her the $5.00. Maybe we need to ask him.

He said he'd give her $5 if she could actually hit him with the rubberband. She did exactly that, and got him right in the head, which I'm sure stung, and he laughed and said she gave him a haircut.