FlickChick

I wonder if Jensen is going to continue the tradition of "Carry On Wayward Son" in either the Opener or Finale?

Last night's episode of Big Sky is the first time I saw any resemblance of Dean in Beau. First, he was eating a sandwich with great gusto, and then later Beau was holding his gun in the same manor when he entered a dangerous house. Of course, there also was the obvious gift of salt for Cassie's housewarming - to keep the demons out. 😄 But I think that Jensen is doing a very good job of keeping Beau's character different than Dean. I still miss Dean though. 😢

Talking about the JP stans and their negative posts here. I had no idea how much was going on since I'm not on social media platforms. But I've just come over from TVLine where they have put up the new poster and I'm not exaggerating when I say that the large majority of comments below the article were nasty comments about Jensen and how horrible he is along with predictions of a lousy show that won't make it past a season - and they are thrilled at that prediction. I've never seen such - really, hatred - for anything before reading this. It makes me sick to my stomach. And I would feel the same way if Jared was the target with his new show. It's just sick IMO. 👿

That was my opinion as well - it looked to me like Sam had moved to Texas and started a family. After three episodes I was out. (My rule is to try a new show for three episodes and make a decision whether or not to continue after that). However, I certainly wouldn't go on social media and trash it and Jared. Life is too short and everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I think the theory that something is amiss in Heaven and it involves his parents who have a "cabin over there" according to Bobby. Dean is determined to set things right and in order to do so, has to go back to the beginning of their relationship. I would therefore not see any reason for having Jack, Sam or Cas be part of the investigation. Dean would assume that Sam was having a good life on earth and Jack is a hands-off "God" according to what he said before leaving earth, so wouldn't be helping Dean in Heaven. The story would focus, as it should, on John and Mary's story. Like others, I can't see the Dean Winchester who could never be still, just driving Baby around until his brother appears. He would have to keep busy if Heaven is a place where you find happiness. If his parents need his help, that would become a mission for Dean.

@7kstar, The Boys is certainly not everyone's cup of tea. My daughter was surprised I watched it (pre-Jensen). I just checked it out because it was Kripke's project just as I did with his other shows on network TV. I wasn't crazy over it, but I did watch both seasons before Jensen joined. Soldier Boy was wasted - not a well-developed character considering all the promotion for his appearance. Guess Kripke thought he was still writing for "Dean". 😉

I don't know. It's coming up on two years, and I haven't found it yet. 😢

This is my favorite episode of the series. My heart breaks for Dean - he finally has at least some of what he's always wanted and then discovers that it is an alternate reality. TVLine listed the top 15 alternate reality episodes and WIAWSNB comes in at #4 in their opinion. I would have ranked it as #1. I have yet to be able to watch Dean "talking" to his father in the graveyard or telling his family that he cannot stay in the warehouse, without at least a tear in my eye or more. Re-reading @Aithne's post above really makes me realize even more why this is such a heartbreaking episode. The look that Dean has on his face in the last shot of the episode (after he has returned to reality) is one of such sadness, it's almost hard to watch. Jensen was such a talented actor even in those early seasons, it makes me furious to see how following showrunners treated their best lead.

Apparently. However, this of course was written/aired in the writers' strike-shortened season. Originally, Sam was supposed to follow Ruby's plan in the season, but they didn't have enough episodes to show it. Sam was going to save Dean from hell by finding/killing Lilith. And then I imagine that Dean was going to actively try to save Sam in S4 from Ruby's clutches. No angels; no Cas. But after Kripke left in S5, SamlovingSera took over, so things started to change.

I couldn't believe the turn around of Nihilism vs. 14.14 with the concussion causing Dean to lose control of Michael. It seemed to be written by a different writer. Then we heard that Yockey was leaving - so yes, maybe he was told how to write that second episode. I also believe that of Glynn as well. I think she was a decent writer (and who knows, maybe actually liked Dean) but after "Regarding Dean" she was told that she needed to go in a different direction with her writing. That's two examples of writers flipping their writing. I can't believe that's a coincidence. Three guesses of who I think is responsible for these flips.

Loved your whole post. It's very informative since it is your field. Re: bold - I agree 100%, and I think that it's a reflection of his personality. He's just a really, really good guy who wants to do his best and help others do their best. I never got that feeling from Jared in any way.

I remember a discussion about what Jensen (as Dean) does in the background. Dean is always moving - folding clothes, putting a mug in a sink, etc. even when the focus is on another character (usually Sam). And I have to admit, that's where my eyes go. He really has the strongest presence even when he's not front and center. I love that Jensen has said that he never took any acting classes, he just acts natural in every scene. I think that may be key to what draws our attention.

@MAK said: I don't know about anyone else, but I would love a thread/topic about Jensen Ackles characters. Where we can talk about his acting/styles/looks and compare the differences and/or similarities between his characters. Would this be possible since we would be discussing both Dean and Jensen in the thread? We'd enjoy this so much now that the show is no longer showing new episodes.

@Nick24, Sorry, didn't mean to get your blood pressure up. :( And it's really sad that instead of focusing on their favorite's good qualities, that Sam fans have to shift all blame to Dean for Sam's less flattering qualities.

All I can say at this point - great, very true posts - is that it's a good thing that Jensen doesn't analyze Dean's role as deeply as we do, or he might end up questioning why he stayed beyond his original contract. Of course, it went downhill from there. I often wonder how the Sam fans could justify a great deal of his behavior. Blinders?

Yeah, let's not forget that Dean was not in that episode (actually until the end of the next episode as well), so that the other characters "could breathe". I can't believe that any showrunner would say that about one of the lead actors. Fuck Badd!

I agree that Dean's morality, caring, personality, and many other traits are what make him such an iconic character and certainly a better person than his father. I loved how he matured throughout the series; how we saw so many facets to who he was in every way. And yes, Sam is much more like John - Dean even said that to Sam in "Jump the Shark". Of course I believe that Dean is a better person than John, I was just trying to explain how Jensen would give that quick reply to the question. 👍

I agree that Dean wasn't like John in some ways - but keep in mind that throughout S1-2, he was actively seeking revenge for his mother's death. Dean even says to the YED vessel corpse, "That's for our mom, you son of a bitch!". It's just that Dean didn't hunt solely for revenge, he really believed in the family business motto - saving people, hunting things - more than John or Sam for that matter. John was totally focused on hunting even to the detriment of his young children - training Dean to be the ultimate soldier, while putting him solely responsible for Sam. Dean became a much more balanced person - hunting to protect people, not for revenge. Perhaps Jensen was thinking that Dean emulated his father in many ways - which he did in how he dressed, the music he listened to, the car he drove. Dean's skills were second to none, he was the ultimate hunter that his father was. All of this is like John. There usually isn't too much time to go into great detail in an interview.

That's one of the reasons that I wished Jensen would have called it quits with Supernatural a few seasons earlier. I was thinking S13 - the latest. Should have been (the real) Swan Song. Of course, looking back, I would say S11 finale. Let's hope he has a wonderful career ahead!

Two thoughts on different ends of the spectrum. First, I think that The Deep's scenes are meant to be OTT and possibly humorous breaks in the action and that is probably the only reason the character is still on. Secondly, sadly, I wonder where they're going with Maeve and Homelander's threat to harvest her eggs. Because, I think that she would find a way to kill herself before letting him do that to her. In fact, when we saw the suicide warning at the beginning of the episode, then saw the threatening scene with Maeve/Homelander, I was afraid that was what the warning was about. I do like the spec that Maeve might be pregnant with Butcher's child, as long as that story gets to play out. Also, count me in with those who think that 8 episodes in a season is entirely too few to play out so many characters' stories.

I started with the Pilot (in real time), but wasn't impressed with the next several episodes until Home and Faith. That's when it became obvious to me that Dean's character was evolving and Jensen really knew how to play the character. Skin was good, but not for a newbie. So like others, I recommend Pilot, Faith and if the person would like to sample humor/brotherly teasing - Hell House (plus there's that great scene of Dean driving, singing and listening to BOC) Honestly, if this person likes Jensen in The Boys, this should be an easy sell. 😉

That's a very good question! We know that Sera was a Sam/Jared girl, but that doesn't account for the rest - Kripke, Carver and Asshole. I think Kripke had Sam as his avatar (don't forget - Dean was supposed to be a sidekick brother character). Carver did write Demon Dean and MOC Dean while also giving us Jared's interpretation of an angel with a stick up his ass. And Asshole, who has zero talent in any capacity, was probably jealous of Jensen and listened to what Jared wanted - except of course when it came to his real HERO -JACK! Then, all bets were off. I should know better than to mention him - raises my blood pressure! 👿

Apparently with the writers and showrunner we had at the time, it was! Sera was obsessed with Sam (Jared?) and wanted everything to revolve around him. The soulless storyline was supposed to last the entire season, but maybe someone (Kripke?) shortened it to a half-season. Then in S7, her intent was to kill off Cas for good - no resurrection. That way, Sam could be even more of the focus. I don't think she disliked Dean/Jensen, she just didn't care about him or his story. That's pretty sad for a showrunner, but as we know it can get a helluva lot worse!!!

I've always felt the same way about that scene - which was the writer's intent, IMO. But I also was really pissed that the writers spent all of S4 setting Dean up as the Righteous Man - presumably to be the only one to save the world, but wait, it's Sam!! I also believe that Kripke's original intended ending was both the boys being possessed by their respective archangels, overcoming them with love for one another, and jumping into the cage to save the world and humankind. Considering how this series turned out, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. However, we would have missed fabulous scenes from Jensen - ten years of them! 🙁

My, how our boy has changed. I attended the very first Salute to Supernatural Con in Chicago in November of 2007. The panels were separate - Jensen and Jared each had a 20 minute panel, and then combined for another 20 or 30 minutes. Jared was always rambunctious and outgoing, but Jensen was reserved and quiet for the most part, especially when he was on stage alone. No judgment here, just differing personalities. In subsequent years, Jensen started to become more comfortable, fooling around a bit, more at ease with the fans, but he still wouldn't sing even a few bars. So when I look at this vid above, watch some panels online and see Jensen enjoying it all so much, it makes me very happy to see how he's evolved. I believe these Cons have made it easier for him to interact with all the people that he has/will deal with in his career.