Unsolicited Ranting

A couple of months ago I promised a post that I don’t think I’ll ever do. Welp. On to other things, then.

People told me I would love Supernatural, so I started watching it years ago but stopped in the middle of season 1 out of tedium. Sometime in the last year I picked it back up. I wish I hadn’t.

I’d get really stoned and binge watch, hoping the characters would evolve or that at the very least, being high would make the gags funnier and the scares scarier.

Not so much. All it (the cannabis) did was make me see past Sam Winchester’s stupid haircut to realize how unbearably perfect Jared Padalecki is. Ugh. Now I’m stuck with that and currently hate-watching my way through season 6.

A couple things: If we’re being honest, I’ve probably been hate-watching since season 2 or 3. Also, my frustrated crushing on Padalecki is not why I despise Supernatural. In fact, I think the lead actors are terrific – they carry the show and are better at acting than I will be at anything. Ever. They’re certainly better at their jobs than the writers/producers are at theirs.

And that’s my problem with Supernatural. The writing is insufferable. God. It’s like some shit I would churn out if I was locked in a cell and forced to write fiction. That shit is crazy hard to write, but I can’t be like, Props to the staff for trying. I’m more like, If y’all hate your jobs and the fans so much, why don’t you quit and find something you do enjoy?

At the beginning of each story, I narrow my eyes like a bitter, hateful old schoolmarm and watch for the writing credits. Who’s getting the paddle for the shenanigans in this episode, hmm?

At one point I had earmarked Ben Edlund as the most egregious offender, but after reading comments from fans on The Mary Sue championing him as the best writer the show had, I’m forced to admit that I was probably baked off my tits when I made that call. I don’t even remember where or why I made it, so, I’m officially retracting it now.

After all, Edlund did write “A Bad Day at Black Rock,” and “Monster Movie.” Also, “The French Mistake,” wherein he made fun of everyone and had producers Eric Kripke and Bob Singer shot to death. (Which was pretty cathartic, except that Kripke’s death still managed to look self-aggrandizing.)

Meanwhile, I had noted Jeremy Carver as one of the better writers because of “In the Beginning,” where we FINALLY got a woman – the Winchester boys’ mother – who was a benevolent, capable badass instead of an “evil bitch” badass or a useless damsel (the latter of which saturates seasons 1-5). Yet, in the same comments section on The Mary Sue, the bulk of animosity is directed at a shit move Carver made regarding a beloved female character.

At this point I recognize that the axis of what I consider to be good or bad writing is the direct inverse of what actual fans perceive. Unfortunately, I was already planning to rewatch the first five seasons after reading a book on how to write television, and maybe another book on character development. So I can better analyze why the show doesn’t work for me (and many others) and avoid those missteps in any fiction I attempt, if ever…

And I should probably be sober next time I watch.

I may dip my toes in the fandom pool, too. I’m extremely suggestible and need an antidote to the negative bias I’ve developed if I want to give the series a more thorough critical look. So far, The Mary Sue has been my only source, and while a lot of the fandom seems horrifying, I’m willing to bet that the cretins are the exception rather than the rule.

I’ve got to admit that while I’m at a point where I have very strong negative feelings towards this show, I am in awe of how long it’s been running. So it’s a major curiosity to me. A lot of people say to give up after season 5, since that was the original showrunner’s intended finale, but I’ve also seen some fans (and creators) note season 8 as the strongest.

That’s enough for now. I may be writing a blog series in the next year or two, so gonna save the rest ’til then.