I consider myself a professional fangirl, meaning I can flail along with my favorite shows but also be critical of them as well. This task is slightly harder when you’re a Supernatural fan. The shows' stars are wholly tapped into the fandom, call us family, support us through charitable giving, and share their lives with us. In nine years since discovering the show, I’ve watched series stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles grow up, get married, and have children, which severely blurs the line between the professional and the fangirl. The CW's sci-fi drama feels more like an old friend that tries to rips my heart out and scares the bejeesus out of me than a television show.
However, when that friend fails to live up to its potential, you want to slap them upside the head instead of writing a stern review. And a slap just might be the jolt Supernatural needs considering it's slated to live on for another two seasons. Despite promising beginnings with a major villain chillingly dubbed The Darkness, and creative triumphs in monster-of-the-week episodes “Baby,” “Just My Imagination” and “Red Meat,” Supernatural’s eleventh season, particularly the last quarter, was wholly disappointing and avoidably problematic.
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Before The CW's Supernatural began its eleventh season, I detailed my lofty wishes for it: embrace its horror roots; crank up the action to compete with the b adassery of The Flash and Arrow; and shine a bigger light on Sam Winchester, who has the reputation as the geeky, weaker younger brother but is just as heroic as the one-liner spitting, pie-lovin' Dean.
“Red Meat,” a brutal nail-biter of an episode somehow manages to incorporate all of these wishes and more into one brutal and extraordinarily suspenseful hour of television.
Just when you think that you could love Supernatural star Jared Padalecki even more, the actor-turned-mental health activist launches yet another Always Keep Fighting fundraiser with an emotional and candid video celebrating the campaign’s first year anniversary with its most powerful message yet.
Small Screen Girl Confession: I hate backdoor pilots. I can appreciate the brilliance of the concept of using an existing television show to set up a new series, but the execution can be about as clunky as paint mixer.
However when done well, good backdoor pilots can build a fanbase before the series is even greenlit. To be successful, they have to do three things: 1. Establish a connection to the original show. 2. Build entertaining and engaging characters that parallel the dynamic of the original heroes. 3. Create situational tension that can drive the series forward. I would bet my car that this week’s episode of Supernatural, “Don’t You Forget About Me," is an top secret backdoor pilot. And if it is, it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, lightyears beyond the failed attempt at a spin-off, "Bloodlines." By integrating characters that were sparingly used throughout the series and taking (huge) suggestions from fans and guest stars Kim Rhodes, Brianna Buckmaster and Kathryn Newton, the show inadvertently created the compelling and kickass women to continue Supernatural’s reign. So how does “Don’t You Forget About Me” fare as a backdoor pilot? Grab your favorite sword, and let’s dive in shall we? With the movie industry abuzz about the lack of inclusiveness in movies and, by extension, award shows, people have been citing television as a small screened standard for diversity. Admittedly television has always been far more progressive than cinema--now with hundreds of shows between broadcast, cable, premium channels and streaming services--it has to be. But truthfully even television's not that much better.
Supernatural has always been pretty light in terms of race and quality female and LGBTQIA characters. Having stupidly killed off one of the only female and the only gay recurring character in series history, there has been a gaping hole in both departments since the demie of Charlie Bradbury. As a longtime fan and a black woman, it’s been a constant point of frustration with the show. It’s not about checking boxes or filling quotas, but when a show regularly references saving the world, all of factions of it should be represented. After last week’s devilishly disappointing episode, I had no expectations for “Into The Mystic," a monster-of-the-week case about people who die after hearing a primal scream. Fortunately, thoroughly enjoyed this episode! Grab your favorite vinyl, and let’s dive in, shall we?
As if the wait for tonight’s first new episode of 2016—one that takes us back to the cage where Sam is trapped with Lucifer—wasn’t hard enough, a new “Supernatural” promo that’s positively dripping with angst and blood just dropped.
Stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki both tweeted a link to a promo shared by Shaving People, Punting Things, and it epically sets up the next half of the season in which Sam, Dean and Castiel each have an enemy to defeat. It’s true that you don’t realize how much you love something until it’s gone. With most of m’shows on winter hiatus, I find myself wondering what my favorite characters are doing, and watching old reruns just to hear their voices. It’s a one-sided love affair, but I knew that going in. So now is the perfect time to share my favorite TV characters in no particular order...
Dust off your favorite trucker cap and brush up on your Tori Spelling gossip because Bobby Singer is returning of Supernatural!
Actor Jim Beaver will once again reprise his role in this season’s 16th episode as beloved surrogate father to the world’s hottest demon hunters, TVLine.com reports. Wait, there’s more! Bobby’s late BFF Rufus (Steven Williams) is returning too! EP Jeremy Carver told TVLine.com that the upcoming episode will feature the “wonderful relationship between Bobby and Rufus” in flashbacks as Sam and Dean (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles respectively) re-visit one of Bobby and Rufus’ cold cases. Rufus met his maker in the season 6’s “And Then There Were None.” Fan favorite Bobby died in the season 7’s fantastic “Death’s Door” but has returned several times, most recent being last season’s “Inside Man.” All new episodes begin on January 20. Who else would you like to see return to Supernatural? Sound off below! Photo Credits: ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com Small Screen Girl Confession: I hate winter finales. Not only do they mark a very long desolate weeks without my beloved shows just when I have plenty of time to watch them, they also require that the storytelling mounts to a massive finale-esque crescendo that is often resolved with a "just kidding" fake-out come the new year. It requires show to manufacture cliffhangers, and it can feel like they are just checking boxes rather than organically crafting action.
"Supernatural's" 'O Brother Where Art Thou?" boasted fantastical special effects, great gore, and an ending that will leave Winchester fans ugly-crying into their Christmas trees, and yet it still felt a little paint-by-numbers: Encounter with the mysterious Big Bad: Check. Appearance of an old foe: Discount Double-Check. Main characters in hellacious danger: ANGRY Check. As most winter finales do, the episode left us with more questions than answers. Here are the biggest questions I had after watching "Supernatural's" winter finale. If you watch a show long enough, you begin to follow the rules of that specific universe and learn lessons from the show’s characters. As a longtime “Supernatural” fan and recapper, I reflexively freak out if anyone’s fingertips come anywhere near a garbage disposal. And I don’t automatically attribute flickering lights to electrical issues, I get the damn rock salt.
This week's zany and unexpectedly emotional episode “Just My Imagination" taught me many things while sneaking in a few swift, sparkly kicks to the feels. Here are the biggest lessons from this week’s episode of “Supernatural.” Imaginary friends are real. They are Zannas are fairy-esque creatures assigned to young children to give them love, guidance and never-ending fun until the children are confident enough to stand on their own. They can take any form the child desires: mystical mermaid, mulleted air-rocker, or a half-man, half-unicorn. Sam’s Zanna is a rainbow-suspendered, fiercely protective goober named Sully. Dean never had one, which falls in line with the show’s cannon that he never really was a child. He responds like he normally does to things that make him uncomfortable—with abject revulsion and snarky distrust. He comes around, of course, the second he realizes that Sully is almost as protective of Sam as he is. His final verdict: "You're a good weird." We'll take it. Manicorns bleed sparkly blood. In one of the most creatively hilarious scenes of the episode, Maddie’s unlikable mother unknowingly squishes through the glittery carnage of Sparkle's crime scene (including his cleaved horn) and smears his blood all over face, much to the horror of Sam and Dean and an invisible and near hysterical Sully. “Even when he’s dead, Sparkle can’t stop shining,” Sully sniffles. Sam was a lonely kid. When Dean scoffs as to why Sam would need a Zanna since he had a big brother, Sam reveals that was lonely. The episode's flashbacks quickly and viscerally convey a nine-year-old Sam’s solitude as he's left alone while Sam and Dean hunt. Sully encourages Sam with heart-bursting love and does his best to fill the tacky motel rooms with dreams of freedom and marshmallow nachos. “You can be whatever you want to be. You're not Dean; you're not your dad. You’re Sam. And Sam is so awesome.” He is, isn't he? |
Small Screen GirlI am an unabashed pop culture and TV-aholic with no plans to ever seek treatment. Explore this blog and see just how deep my obsession goes. Categories
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