Why Watching Season 15 is Sad

[borgmama1of5]

I finally realized what this last season of Supernatural feels like...if you've watched Star Trek Next Gen or later--

You're in the holodeck in an opulent garden. Not only is it visually stunning, but the texture of the ground underfoot and the plants you touch, the scents, the breeze--all combine to convince you that you are in this astounding place. You walk around in it for hours, immersed in the illusion.

After a while (5 seasons or so) you start to notice there are now tiny glitches--barely perceptible moments where the feel of something is just a little off, or when you take a step something flickers and you are taking that step a second time. But you ignore them and keep walking, still lost in the overall astonishment of this holodeck creation.

Now and then you pass a tree and see an incongruity--a snowman, for instance, but it vanishes as you take another look and maybe it was your imagination, you tell yourself.

The longer you stay you start to see patches where the illusion fades momentarily and you can see the gridlines of the holodeck through the flora. At first the faintness solidifies quickly when you notice it, but eventually (say around season 12) the thin patches remain once you spot them.

And they are getting bigger. But you look away from them because you want to keep the beauty of the illusion going.

At this point (season 15) you see places where the the image of the beautiful garden has simply disappeared and the harsh lines of the holodeck stand out to remind you this was pretend all along. You carefully walk a path that keeps you in the garden but while your feet stay in the illusion, everywhere you look you see bigger patches of the grid's reality.

You know that very soon the last of the garden will be gone. You wish the whole thing had simply vanished in one fell swoop so that the image left in your mind would only be of the initial perfection, but sadly the distorted picture will also be remembered when you recall your walk.

-----------------------------

I was trying to explain to myself why it feels sad this year when you see things in an episode that are clearly the writers going 'Dean needs to not have his phone so he doesn't race back to the bunker. Have the bar girl collect it'  and then dash off to write the fun/dramatic scene they want to get to without taking time to think through a logical way for Dean to be incommunicado because they are just focused on the big parts of the episode, having forgotten that it was the solid grounding of the details that made the show work in the beginning.

Comments

[fanspired]

Your metaphor is tragic in its aptness :(

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I don't mean for it to be tragic...more of a sadness that, like everything in life, change happens.

And I'd still take an episode of imperfect Supernatural (and fix it in my head over anything else!)

[ficwriter1966.livejournal.com]

Well said. At this point, I'm not really watching the show -- it's more like I'm enduring it, waiting for the end. Last night was incredibly boring for a mid-season finale, and the new push for Sam to find some sort of happy ending with Eileen makes me cringe. (They have ZERO chemistry together.)

It just isn't the show we loved anymore. The writers just shove pieces into place, canon has all gone out the window, and I try not to even think about how they're going to end it, since I've heard that both Jensen and Jared hated the idea. (Although I wasn't fond of the ending they originally wanted, either.)

I'm long past ready for it to be over.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I totally agree re: Eileen and Sam. I'm sure the only fans making positive noises about the idea of them hitching up (apart from Dean, whose heart isn't really in his vague matchmaking anyway) are the more delusional Destiel fans who want Sam out of the way.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I am sure Eileen is going to get a tragic end, the whole point of bringing her back was to make Sam suffer more.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've a feeling that's what the set up at the end of the mid season finale is about. Because this shower can't maintain a storyline for more than three episodes, and the next episode will be Eileen's third.
The sad thing is they haven't done a great job of setting up the relationship so poor Jared is going to have to work extra hard at convincing me he's devastated by her (second) demise.

[ficwriter1966.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine the thing ending up with Dean and Cas together while Sam has some picket-fence life with a random woman. (Delusional fandom notwithstanding.) As much as I scream at everyone who's occupying that writers' room, I'm sure NONE of them thinks that would be a good plan.

Sam has no more chemistry with Eileen than he did with the dreaded Amelia. For that matter, I don't remember him having honest chemistry with anyone since the first couple of seasons. (And I'm still mad at them for the way they f***ed over Sarah Blake.)

If Kripke is talking about an ending he thinks is going to satisfy the fans, he's going to have to go with the "There'll be peace when you are done" refrain. Big reunion with John and Mary in heaven. That's what my money is on at this point. Which isn't to say I think it's the best way to go out. I'd rather have them get rid of all the OMG IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!! nonsense and just have the boys go back to battling wendigos and angry spirits. That's the life they both love -- traveling the country, helping people.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my ideal ending would be the two Winchesters driving into the sunset together. (And that wouldn't do their SPN movie any harm either). Though the fact that Jensen had to be talked round to the ending really worries me.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

It is unfortunate that the details have gotten lost. Still, I'd rather watch a less-than perfect episode of SPN over anything else out there, just for Sam and Dean. I can fix the broken bits in my head.

Jared was fine with the ending from the start. Jensen had concerns but Eric Kripke explained to him how it was the right way to end. Can we still trust Kripke?

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

That is such a perfect (if tragic) analogy.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I'll still take an episode of SPN, warts and all, over anything else!

[ficwriter1966.livejournal.com]

Not for me, unfortunately. That hasn't been true for me for at least... I'm gonna say Season 6? The last episode I really loved (and watch over and over) was "Fan Fiction," and that was what, S9?

Which makes me sad, because (as you guys know) Show captured my whole imagination during those early years.

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

This is a perfect analogy about what's been happening with our Show. Although, for me, the large patches and illusion started disappearing in Season 11. I enjoyed S10, for the most part, but after that I felt they started regurgitating things and some of their storylines were just worn out, i.e., Crowley, Lucifer - and yet Show felt the need to continue with them even though it felt they were grasping at straws to come up with viable stories.

As for this season; I enjoyed last night's episode, but it was slow moving and not worthy of a mid-season finale, as it didn't contain the excitement and tension that is usually contained within a mid-season finale. So far, I feel this season they are throwing as much "fan satisfying" moments into the show that they can, whether or not they make sense. One example is bringing Kevin back. It was nice to see him but he didn't really serve much of a purpose, except for us seeing him again. Also, it's nice to see Eileen again. It's great that they redeemed themselves from killing her (which was an asinine move on Show's part), but it seems they only brought her back to shove her at Sam to bring a romantic partner in, which is something the boys have long decided they didn't need. As everyone says, it's nice to see her, but the chemistry isn't there as a romantic couple. So, why bring her back and push that into story? Because some fans are clamoring for it. Like I said, they are making up stories that don't work so they can fit in the fan servicing moments. It's ridiculous. I would rather have less of those moments and maybe a shorter season with more concrete storytelling. Something where they are not retconning Canon. I am sad like you, as I feel the writers are phoning in their stories and not bothering about following Canon and creating fun and dramatic stories that are deserving of these beloved characters. It makes me wish Gamble or Carver were back at the helm. As much as people disliked them, at least some of their stuff made sense and had continuity. Anywho. I will always love the show, but the passion I had for it has been gone for awhile now, which makes me sad, indeed.

[ficwriter1966.livejournal.com]

Them bringing back Kevin to announce he'd been in Hell, then sending him off to wander the earth after one episode was such a slap in the face, both to the fans and to Osric. (Who's now a Paragon in the Arrowverse!) Although I guess I have to admit it made me less angry than what they did to Charlie, and to Sarah Blake.

On a similar note, there was NO reason for Dean to kill Lee last week. He could have killed the monster and walked away feeling betrayed by the guy he thought was on his wavelength -- same sense of isolation without an unnecessary murder.

Eileen is a cute character but I'm feeling nothing about her being there all the time now. The Sam/Eileen relationship is nonsense.

I did absolutely LOVE Rowena now being Queen of Hell. It works for the character, and Ruthie plays every square inch of that character. But the rest of the episode left me flat. I actually cried at the end of "Fan Fiction" when Chuck/God showed up, because the moment worked so well, but at this point the character exhausts me.

I agree with you about Gamble and Carver. At least they CARED.

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

Totally agree about Kevin. I feel they just brought Kevin back because fans were clamoring for him, he was on a wishlist for characters to bring back. They could have done so much more with him than what they did. It was a slap in the face to Kevin to have him back on the show for such a short time, to only have him wander the earth. Useless. Useless. Useless. The first three episodes could easily have been done in 2 episodes with smarter writing. UGH!

You are right about Lee. Dean could have left him alive, he didn't need to kill him. With the monster gone, Lee's fortune would have crumbled up, since the monster was the one bringing him the fortune. Lee would have received his just rewards in the long run.

It was nice to see Ruth back. At least they didn't resurrect her, which is something I feared they were going to do, which would make death all the more less meaningful. So, it was nice to see her as Queen of Hell. I would have liked to see more interaction between her and Sam; and then when they couldn't find Michael they just jumped scenes. The boys were in Hell with Ruth and then back in the bunker - what the heck happened in the meantime. I would have liked to see something there. That shift was jarring to me.

I did enjoy the Adam/Michael bits. Would have liked to see more of him with Dean/Sam.

As for God, I was never on board when they made Chuck God. I wish they would have just left God as a missing character. This storyline doesn't excite me all that much, to be honest. But, it is what it is.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Yes, it seems pretty much like they went with the idea of 'bringing back this person would be cool!' and 'oh, we have to throw this in too' and then justifying shoving it together by saying 'it's just God messing with the boys' so they don't have to have a logical, coherent reason for anything they do.

So I will contort canon in my head to make it fit...

[jennygeee.livejournal.com]

I agree, but this is still the only show that I watch without fail every single week! Even at its worse it is better than anything else I have watched.

But what on earth is all this Sam/Eileen? Zero chemistry and how the hell can she be such an epic hunter when she is unable to hear, makes no sense whatsoever!

I read somewhere that this season is so bad because when it ends all of us will be pleased instead of sad!! LOL actually I think this is how I may feel at the end, sad that we will never see our boys again but ready for it to end.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I will always love Sam and Dean!