Meta: Supernatural and character flaws through 9.09

Thanks to a couple of really good meta posts this month, I started to contemplate exactly what it is the writers are doing with the characters of my favorite show. I was one of those who defaulted to the position that maybe the writers didn’t know and love Sam and Dean the way I did, and, you know, HOW can they make them do things that are so BAD??? But some very thoughtful writers made me think about it a different way.

What We Watched Mini-update: Winter Holidays 2013 (one tiny SPOILER for Top of the Lake)

We finished season two of Game of Thrones.  Wow. It should be overwhelming. So many characters, so many settings, so many scenes. But it isn’t. I can’t even begin to go into a discussion or analysis, I’m still absorbing. And trying to figure out a way to get HBO so we can see season three.

I watched the first episode of Top of the Lake. It’s very strange, and has that quiet, foreign atmosphere and pacing that American crime drama rarely has. Elisabeth Moss is very good in the role of Robin. I read that Anna Paquin was offered the role, and I have not seen her in anything lately, but I think Moss’ quiet, pensive demeanor is perfect. In a single episode, she comes across as both strong and capable with the male detectives, compassionate with the young rape victim, and baffled and weighed down by her demanding ill mother. And Holly Hunter…WHAT??? So strange.  I will be watching the rest of this. I’m completely unspoiled, having read no reviews, so please don’t spoil me. 🙂

Justified returns with season 5 on January 7, so my son and I will be re-watching season 4 in the next few days. I watched it when it aired, but he has not seen it at all. As I recall, it was not as strong as previous seasons, but maybe my opinion will change upon re-watching.

Supernatural season 9 picks up again on January 14. I’ll be writing about Supernatural in a separate post, coming soon.

Supernatural, episode 9.08. Not cool.

Well, that was painful.

Look, I know Supernatural is not trying to be the most self-aware, progressive show on the air. It’s about two handsome white guys heroically fighting monsters and demons and all things supernatural all over the US, roaring around in their gas-guzzling classic muscle car and listening to classic rock while swathed in denim and plaid. There are lots of guns and bullets. There is punching (sometimes of each other.) There is porn. The sex is of the casual, one-night-stand variety, usually.

The women in the show are, if not the monster, usually superficial side characters who are damsels to be saved, victims who are burned or eaten by the monster, brief motherly figures, fawning fangirls or daffy cat lady witnesses relating what they saw for comic relief.

There are occasional egregious wardrobe choices for the women, like the lovely young female hunter a couple of episodes ago in daisy dukes and a short shirt, while the men are swathed in five shirts each, plus a jacket.

But yes, I still watch. I am able to ignore most of the yucky treatment of women because the two main characters are compelling and the show is often a good creepy, gory hour of escapist television.

Supernatural: SPOILER DISCUSSION (Don’t read if you don’t want to be spoiled!)

Usually I don’t read spoilers about Supernatural. But I have been seeing reactions from some of my fellow Sam fans that piqued my curiosity and broke my resolve to remain unspoiled. So I looked at a couple of reliable spoiler sources, and I have to say that I am not that upset based on what I am reading.

Supernatural 9.02: “Devil May Care”

There was a lot I liked about this episode, but overall, it left me feeling disgruntled and with a frowny face.

Supernatural 9.01: “I think I’m gonna like it here”

After eight seasons, the thing Supernatural does best is build on the consistent characterization of the two brothers. It is what keeps me watching.

Dean did a very bad thing. He allowed Sam to be possessed, actually tricked him into accepting Ezekiel, when he knew Sam would never do it if he knew the whole story. That’s bad. It’s really, really awful considering Sam’s past experience with angel possession. But is it out of character for Dean to do this? I don’t think so.

Last night: Supernatural, ep. 8.22 “Clip Show”

Not as good as the previous week’s “The Great Escapist,” but still a good episode. I love finding out more and more about the Men of Letters’ lair, with its creepy room filled with boxes and boxes of files and the hidden demon dungeon. Yikes, those guys.