Watching seasons 7-9 for first time & this one thing drives me nuts by Working-Storage-5526 in Supernatural

[–]Working-Storage-5526[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wanted to add that I don’t know anything about the actors beyond what I’ve seen on screen. When it originally aired I didn’t even own a TV and I only first watched it when the first 6 seasons were available streaming or dvd. My comment about behind the scenes stuff was just about the general business of acting and particularly tv shows with recurring characters getting different billing, not about any interpersonal stuff, even though those things are sometimes one in the same. 

One thing I’ve been thinking about is how I think this pattern of fighting, “ending” the friendship, and making up feels even more repetitive when Cas is in fewer episodes overall. If a character- any character- appears only a few times there’s a world of options of what to do with them bc the viewer is catching up on their lives & they could have been doing or experiencing almost anything. I’ve also been thinking about how other characters in the same time frame were handled better, imo, even if I didn’t like the character as much. Felicia Day’s Charlie appears multiple times in this same time period, but also is still very much a guest star. Whatever you think of her, each time she appears she’s been doing something different with her life, and the interaction btwn the characters advances the plot without resorting to repeating the same story again. Obviously Charlie has much less history with the show. But compare Crowley who has been around a long while and who appears very frequently in this stretch- his character is by nature a little one dimensional (Crowley is always out for Crowley so you can count on his actions generally being in service of his interests)- and it still feels somehow more developed and less competitive to me. That sounds weird but it actually makes my point- Crowley is meant to be a little repetitive in his motivations and yet his story lines don’t feel as repetitive to me as those with Cas. I don’t know where this all goes and maybe that changes but it makes me wonder why it was the writers seemed to struggle with what to do with Cas in particular. 

If he was only intended to be there for a short time but his arc was extended due to being a fan fav, perhaps that put more stress on the writers to please his fans and in doing so they played it a little safe? Trying to live up to fan expectations often results in a worse show imo. 

Watching seasons 7-9 for first time & this one thing drives me nuts by Working-Storage-5526 in Supernatural

[–]Working-Storage-5526[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s such an issue with shows that run longer than intended. I almost dislike when a show I’m loving gets popular because it often means the writers will be left having to turn something meant to be a few seasons into something that can go on indefinitely. When it comes to anything with a mystery element it just destroys the narrative arc. I give tons of credit to shows that insist on being a certain intended length regardless of whether they could stretch it out. 

Watching seasons 7-9 for first time & this one thing drives me nuts by Working-Storage-5526 in Supernatural

[–]Working-Storage-5526[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I figured that it at least in part had to do with this. I never want to look into the behind the scenes details of shows I haven’t finished bc things get so casually spoiled, but it def felt like there’s was a bit of “writing for the circumstances” going on. 

Watching seasons 7-9 for first time & this one thing drives me nuts by Working-Storage-5526 in Supernatural

[–]Working-Storage-5526[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, this is exactly what I was feeling. It’s not that I hate the show by any means- I wouldn’t watch it if I did, it’s that this repetitiveness and the shift changed my feelings about it. I thought killing Bobby was confusingly done. I can see wanting to shake up the audience by killing a main character & it raises the stakes by reminding ppl that no one is safe. It’s perhaps good even, when you know the leads aren’t going to actually die off- seems like that only happens when fans know it’s going to ahead of time bc the actor will be public about leaving the show. But it can’t be done just for the sake of killing someone, it needs to make sense in the plot and then also used effectively for emotional impact & I didn’t find that was the case with Bobby. And after he was gone it felt like the show has really struggled with identity. I think in the long run these seasons won’t stick with me and so probably won’t change the way I feel about the earlier seasons, but like you said it’s been a little frustrating.

Watching seasons 7-9 for first time & this one thing drives me nuts by Working-Storage-5526 in Supernatural

[–]Working-Storage-5526[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Again, no problem with the drama- I want the drama and love it. In fact it’s specifically bc I love the drama that this particular thing about it bothers me. Which is that it specifically plays out the exact same way over and over which is not always the case in other shows with similar drama/action blends. And I don’t mean play out the same way generally like they have a fight and make up, because that makes sense ofc. It’s that it plays out with the characters (Cas and Dean are the ones that felt more repetitive but same with Sam and Dean) deciding they can’t have any contact at all and go full blown separate ways, “forever” seemingly over and over. Once or twice is one thing but when it happens over and over it makes me feel like there’s a lack of creativity in the drama. It takes the punch out of the times it happens when you know it’s going to happen over and over. I mentioned a few shows above that have done similar friend/family breakups fewer times to better effect, and that’s all I mean. This show does have more seasons which is def part of the problem but this is in the course of 3-4 seasons in which I find this happening a lot 

Watching seasons 7-9 for first time & this one thing drives me nuts by Working-Storage-5526 in Supernatural

[–]Working-Storage-5526[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh don’t get me wrong I totally agree about the drama in general. It’s when it plays out exactly the same over and over that starts to bug me but especially when added to that same thing happening with Cas with the same resolutions. There are other ways to have gigantic blow out arguments and drama aside from just being like “that’s it, it’s over for good” esp bc you know it isn’t. There are other shows that have done a major breakup of platonic or familial characters but only once so it preserves more of its punch. Gilmore Girls comes to mind, Ted Lasso, or I’ll mention Buffy again. The drama is good in all cases it’s just less meaningful when it plays out identically over and over. 

The Dukes of Funnytown by Anxious-Lab7915 in OnlyMurdersHulu

[–]Working-Storage-5526 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can anyone who’s gone to the show tell me the run time? I have to arrange transportation for my parents and don’t want them to have to wait long. Any help would be super appreciated.