CW Spotlight: Supernatural

CW Spotlight isn't exactly going to be a new series, I'm just acknowledging that I love many CW shows and will probably talk about several of them over the course of the coming week/months. It is appropriate that I start with my true love: Supernatural - see my other posts about the same.

Supernatural started in 2005, and I saw a little of it then, but I really started watching in 2008. I randomly caught the tail end of a season 3 episode - literally just the last 3 or 4 minutes - when channel surfing and was instantly intrigued. I remembered when the show started after coming across it again, because that's what Jensen Ackles had left Smallville to work on a few years before. I've been a sci-fi/fantasy fan my whole life, and particularly interested in supernatural and horror stories, so after rediscovering a show that was just so me, I immediately went online and purchased box sets to catch up on the first 2 seasons.

It took me only a weekend to get through those first 2 seasons once they arrived, and that is the kind of desperate fervor I've had about the show ever since. It did pretty well in it's early years and over time, has exploded in popularity - they get the big stage at Comic Con now. To my mind, the devotion of it's fans - myself obviously included - is completely justified for several reasons. First of all, the stars are just mindbogglingly beautiful:

Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
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Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
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Misha Collins as Castiel
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Second of all, the show isn't really about the supernatural. Of course, supernatural events happen left and right and supernatural creatures are always popping up, but that's really just about setting the stage. These characters live in a world where supernatural things happen. The plot is driven forward by the familial relationships of the main characters. Any other fan will tell you the same.

I'll warn you here that if you haven't seen the show, but plan to and don't want spoilers, to turn back. If you've seen some of the show, I'll be providing season specific spoiler alerts to you can skip over sections that cover what you haven't seen. 

Season 1 and early season 2 spoilers!
The show's original story line focused on the 2 brothers, Sam and Dean, looking for their father who has gone missing. The family has spent years hunting supernatural beasties and killing them because John - the father - is obsessed with finding whatever supernatural thing murdered his wife in their younger son's nursery. The primary focus, then, is the relationship between the brothers, and it's a bit strained at first. Even when they find their father, he dies soon after, and they are all the family each has left.

No spoilers!
The story arcs over the course of the rest of the series introduce a wide variety of characters, some even technically blood relatives, but it always comes back to just Sam and Dean. That's why, if you check the IMDB page I linked above, you'll see only those 2 actors and characters listed unless you select the option to see more. It's also why the show's fans refer to themselves as the Supernatural Family. Family is what the show is all about. Blood family that you can't turn your back on, or that you might have to for the greater good, non-blood family that you choose, and the fact that even in the face of world-ending catastrophe, those people are the most important part of life.

While Sam and Dean, Jared and Jensen, have remained almost the exclusive primaries even into the upcoming 10th season, as I mentioned above, many side characters have been introduced over the years that have/had significant relationships with the boys:

Season 5 spoilers!
Ellen and Jo, a mother daughter team of part-time hunters, part-time bar owners who knew John and therefore adopted his boys as family, ultimately sacrificing their lives for the mission of killing Lucifer.

Season 7 spoilers!
Bobby, their surrogate father, who is an expert hunter but still manages to be more present in their lives than John ever was, only to be killed by leviathans. Everyone hates Dick.

Season 4 thru present spoilers!
Castiel, Dean's bromancing angel, who raising Dean from purgatory in season 4 and has been watching out for the boys ever since. His heart's in the right place, but his head frequently hasn't been, as he once teamed up with Crowley (king of Hell) to break into Purgatory and "become God" in order to set Heaven free from other angels who'd tried to bring about the apocalypse, and that time he was duped by Metatron - another angel intent on ruling heaven - into casting a spell that kicked all the angels out of heaven and removed Castiel's grace. He's currently in a bit of mess, using a borrowed grace that will ultimately kill him.

Season 7-9 spoilers!
Kevin Tran - who's in advanced placement - a prophet of the Lord who becomes embroiled in the politics of Heaven, Hell, and Earth since he is the only one who can translate the word of God left on stone tablets and containing instructions about things like how to permanently close the doors to Hell so no more demons can get out. He is ultimately killed by an angel possessing Sam to prevent his abilities from aiding the Winchesters in their efforts to stop Metatron.

Season 9 spoilers!
Crowley, oddly enough, now a series regular and aforementioned king of Hell who develops a bit of a soft spot for the boys as they've butted heads over the years, specifically since that time they almost made him human again, and especially in regards to Dean who's been carrying the First Blade all season and slowly desceding into darkness, ultimately demon-hood!

Season 9 and 10 spoilers!
There are a few others who pop up periodically, but I can't put off discussing the Deanmon any longer. At the end of season 9, Metatron kills Dean, only to have him rise again as a demon because the dark power of the First Blade won't let him go that easily.

So he rises, and it's now the year of the Deanmon.

Sam and Dean both go to some dark places as a result of this turn of events.

I hope it was clear that you shouldn't watch those videos unless you're up to date. If you are, let's just take a moment and SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE! about how awesome the new season is going to be! I mean, COME ON! The once traditional "jerk," and "bitch," brotherly exchange is now a Dean and Crowley thing? How am I not supposed to freak out about this?! It's going to be beyond amaze-balls you guys. I haven't been this giggly and excited since I saw Dean get mauled by hell hounds at the end of season 3! Allow me to clarify, I get happy when things go horribly awry in SN (it is not abbreviated as spn) because I like the dark side of my boys. That's when things get interesting. 

Season 10 spoilers!

The show's masterminds have already revealed - as though any of us suspected differently - Dean won't stay a demon. Cas and Sam will find some way to restore him, and hopefully some way to restore themselves as well. But I'm still pumped because this story arc has been literally years in the making. Remember that nightmare from season 3?

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Yeah, it's about damn time. The most interesting part is that this isn't a possession. The demon is Dean, something Sam and Cas both seem to struggle with in the previews.

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Whatever happens, I'm super excited to see it go down. Unhealthily excited. Hyperventilating a little bit. I literally (I've used that word a lot, but each use has been accurate) have to not think about the premiere or I'm afraid I'll pass out. That's part of why it took me so long to put this post together. I had to stop and breathe into a bag periodically.

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It's really becoming a problem. I mentioned above that I have been devoted to this show for a long time. I have friends who are fans, but still don't quite get the obsession, so I turn to the internet for support. Here are my people. The ones who understand how worthy of obsession the show really is. SN is one of the most heartbreaking things on the air. I'm not kidding, if you can get through a whole season without crying at least once - probably a hell of a lot more - you're dead inside. Don't misunderstand, the show is also funny - at times downright hilarious - but boy, is it ever also depressing. The boys are constantly beaten down. But there is something incredibly inspiring about that. They have faced some of the worst pain possible - including experiencing their own and each other's deaths multiple times - but they still roll out of bed every day and fight. Not even just that, but it's comforting to know that other people out there are slogging through the shit just like we are. I've been through some dark times in my life, some of which I've discussed here on the blog. When I was young, and ignorant of the world, I thought my pain was special. Exceptionally rare if not outright unique. And in one sense that's true. Even in the exact same circumstances, no two people experience the exact same emotions. But the majority of humans have suffered just as bad if not much worse than I have. Obviously, Sam and Dean and their world of monsters and magic is fictional, but it was one of the first times I was confronted with the fact that pain is not unique or solitary. It is possibly the most unifying feature of human existence. And when you realize that everyone, everyone has experienced gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, breathless pain, it can make your problems seem smaller and more manageable. Supernatural, for a show based on fantasy, tells some very raw, emotional stories that demonstrated this fact to me. It has been a constant in my life, a reminder than no matter how bad it gets, we can find our way back to the light and those who love us.

It's okay if you don't understand. It's a Family thing.

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New episodes air starting Tuesday, October 7.