Supernatural

[louiselux]

Seeing as how new_kate sent me all of Supernatural (thank you!!) with instructions to watch it ready for connotations, I've begun my one-woman spn fest. I watched episodes 1-6 of season one last night. My deep thoughts so far ...

Dean Winchester is a huge woobie.

All the women love him, except the women seem essentially unimportant.

Everyone has fabulous hair.

There are not enough shots of Sam and Dean sleeping in their underwear, srsly.

Are Sam and Dean really brothers? I find this hard to believe. They don't act like brothers, exactly. I can't quite say what they are like though.

Dean has lots of delicious unresolved issues that we are left to guess at, whereas Sam is presented more straightforwardly angsting. I can see why Sam might be flipping out now that his girlfriend has died in the same way as his mother, but actually to me it doesn't feel real. It's something to do with the pacing and also because the writers should've developed Jessica as a person more effectively, rather than just dressing her in sexy clothes and letting us assume Sam must love her.

Sam really is a little bit spooky all by himself, having those pre-cognitive dreams about her death.

Coming back to the unimportant women thing, I dearly wish the scriptwriters would move on from women essentially being torture victims/evil/people to scream and be rescued. It's very boring.

Comments

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Apparently S1 is quite weak in comparison to S2, which is the one I watched. Their not-quite-brothers dynamic gets explored a bit better-- at least to me-- as time goes on.

They're actually making a big deal about presenting two strong, kick-ass female characters in S3. And of course a good portion of the fandom is screaming 'Mary Sue Love Interests ewww,' despite the fact that the producers insist that's not what will happen, and that-- as you say-- they desperately need strong women characters. S2 is better but I'm kind of excited about S3.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I just finished S1 last night! For those last two episodes I was totally gripped in a way that I hadn't been before yet. They are so angsty, it is wonderful. Poor Daddy Winchester! I was sorry he had to die, but it does increase the angst by about a mile.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

That episode was amazing. It's one of the first I watched. And then I watched...um, maybe half of S2. I am a bad fan, really.

[rheasilvia.livejournal.com]

SPN didn't snag me until well into S1... it does get better, honestly, particularly in terms of characterization.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

This is what I've discovered - I've finished S1 now and was very gripped by the ending. Their angst is beautiful!

[lydia-petze.livejournal.com]

I'm not a raving SPN fan, but I do enjoy the show and am up to date with it. S2 is much stronger than S1 in almost every way, so you have lots to look forward to.

Sam really is a little bit spooky all by himself, having those pre-cognitive dreams about her death.

WORD.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I've watched the first two eps of S2 now and it has got a lot better, especially those last couple of episodes in S1.

Sam is creepy in a way I can't quite define - the psychic stuff obviously, and the weirdness about the demon coming for him. I'm looking forward to finding out about that.

[fleurrochard]

Dean Winchester is a huge woobie.

Please join the fandom-wide chorus of "Oh, Dean."
*g*

Are Sam and Dean really brothers? I find this hard to believe. They don't act like brothers, exactly.

Huh, my impression was actually that they act a LOT like brothers.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Ahaha. Oh, Dean.

He really is an enormous woobie. I love how he's scared by the extremes he'll got to for his family. I suddenly understand where all the wincest comes from. You know, apart from them being hot obvsly.

They are much more brotherly now - I can really see it. At first I just did not feel it.

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

The first time I tried SPN I got kind of bored. The second time, coffeeandink hooked me up with a guide to which episodes to watch in season 1. Season 1 is very, very patchy, especially at the start. I can't link you to it because she's done that whole temp delete thing, but there is certainly hope.

Dean. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Dean.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Dean is so pretty and angsty, it's really wonderful the levels of angst he achieves while covering it all up.

I've watched all of S1 now and I'd say there were only about 4 or 5 episodes that are really worth watching, but seeing as how so many people say S2 is better, I'm going to carry on watching!

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

They are pretty! I'm not sure I have a more indepth comment than that, as I've seen only half of season 1.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

S1 is very patchy, as I have recently discovered. The last few episodes though are great, because there is a lot of beautiful brotherly love and angst and drama. They are just so emo with each other, it's wonderful. I have just embarked on S2, which people say is a big improvement.

[kintail.livejournal.com]

Ooo! Tav and I recently watched all of S1&2. And as others have said, season 1 is patchy, and it takes Sam a while to get past his Jessica angst and start to become a rounded and complex person. Season 2 is much stronger on lots of things, including characterization arcs.

Some very strong female characters become involved in later episodes, though the focus always remains on the brothers and most of them aren't recurring. In at least one episode they do kind of get indirectly called on their chivalrous sexism (which is annoying but plausible given the way they were raised without female role models who don't need any protecting, nevermind vengence). By which I mean, some of the writers do seem to be somewhat aware of the character's unintentional sexism in the show, and sometimes use an episode to comment on it.

There do continue to be some skanky race issues which left me very frustrated, because with very few exceptions the writers *don't* seem to be as aware of their racist casting as they are about the sexism. They do some cool things in the one episode where they do explicitly deal with racism, though!

I am still looking forward to season 3, and also to hearing more thoughts from you on the earlier episodes because I've actually seen them recently enough to comment on them, which is rarely the case with my brain and TV. ^_^

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

There are some good female characters in S1, or at least some of them get more developed. There is a very distasteful sort of torture porn going on at times, with loving shots of mutilated dead women. Ughh. I have no idea of the producers are aware they're doing this, but it's creepy.

But I do feel that the writers have developed from the standard 'skinny blonde screams and has to be rescued' sort of plot they pulled at the start. That said, for all of S1 if a woman displayed confidence and assertiveness she was also evil.

Yeah, skanky race issues - there is the Mystical Black Person early on and the girl in the racist truck episode, but apart from that there are only a scattering of people of colour and all in very minor roles. I really doubt that the writers are properly aware of this, nut I do hope someone hands them a large clue in the near future.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

It gets better. Actually, episode 9 is usually the point at which you can see it, and then there is a run of three episodes that are actually really *good* (Asylum, Scarecrow, Faith), and you can practically *see* things start to click.

I do think they're very brotherly, though in the early episodes they're still sort of getting used to each other again, and also Dean is kind of getting used to seeing Sam as an adult.

And Padalecki's acting is much improved in season 2.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Dean is kind of getting used to seeing Sam as an adult.

Thinking about their ages (Sam 22 and Dean 26?), it probably is the first time they've been at an age where their age isn't so important, if you see what I mean. 10 and 14 are worlds apart, so are 16 and 20, but 22 and 26... your outlook at those ages is not so very different.

I think the brotherly vibe came out strongly when Daddy Winchester showed up, and from that point I could really see it. It's interesting how intense and emotionally they play it - half the time it's like they're almost near tears, specially towards the end of S1, and then there are lots of actual tears of course. I did squeak with joy when Dean said he was scared of the extremes he was prepared to go to for Sam and his dad.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

it probably is the first time they've been at an age where their age isn't so important,

Exactly.

And with Dean acting as Sam's mom in a quasi-parental role most of their lives, that gap probably seemed even larger before Sam went away to school. But now Sam has been on his own and Dean has to deal with him on a more equal partners level.

It's interesting how intense and emotionally they play it - half the time it's like they're almost near tears, specially towards the end of S1, and then there are lots of actual tears of course.

Heh. Yes. For someone who claims to not to want to talk about feelings, Dean is exceptionally emotional. He just doesn't have the equipment to deal with it, and it all bursts out messy and needy. It's awesome.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

It is very awesome. He is an emotional mess in a way that Sam isn't, because Dean wants security and to keep his family close and happy, and this is his obsession. Daddy Winchester nails it in either ep 21 or 22 of S1, when he describes his wishes for his sons. He wants Sam to go to college, but he wants Dean to have a home. I thought that was heartbreaking.

[andmydog.livejournal.com]

They're totally brothers. Totally. Like cousins, or, um, brothers.

...Seriously, the amount of subtext between those two almost wounds me. They act, not like there's this huge amount of UST, or like they're dating, but almost like they're friendly exes, who broke up when Sam went off to school and never quite got over each other but still have enough respect and admiration for the other to pretend like there's nothing there anymore, honest.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

The subtext is awesome. I think they must be doing it on purpose, specially when they get all up close and personal with each other and talk about their pain and how they'd do anything for each other. Gahh, the emo is wonderful.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

they're brothers. it gets more obvious once sam stops angsting so much, along with one ep of prank wars.* Also, there's a bit where papa winchester shows up, and it's bloody clear how awesome casting was, since suddenly the sibling vibe pops out something chronic in the way you only see when you see the parents of kids who you think look nothing alike.

*incest vibes? what incest vibes? Brother. Totally brothers. In conclusion : brothers.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

You are totally right! That's exactly what happened, and suddenly they are bickering and whining and wanting Daddy's approval, and yes. They are brothers. Ahem.