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Supernatural 7.3

I can’t even begin to describe how much I’ve been stewing over one scene in this episode, a scene that may have just ended my relationship with Supernatural for good.

In general, The Girl Next Door, directed by Jensen Ackles, was uneven and disappointing. It dismissed the cliffhangers from the previous episode almost immediately.

What!?!? Bobby isn’t upset by the loss of his house, his irreplaceable lore books, or anything at all – he’s not even disturbed by the fact that Sam is still hallucinating. If anything, he’s almost chipper. Bobby, who has been known to dive DEEP into the bottle after a loss. It’s all hunky dory – I made copies of all his books in case of such an emergency. It’s okay – we’ve got Rufus’ cabin to live in now. Umm, no.

Not even a month later and Dean is ready and able to take off a cast on his leg after compound fractures to his tibia? Dean, the eternal caretaker, who is already concerned about Sammy and his mental well-being, falls asleep so Sam can leave and go walk-about? Yeah, not so much.

The worst thing is that even though there were similar inconsistencies throughout the episode, none of them bothered nearly as much as one scene, almost at the very end.

You know the scene – do I even have to describe it? The one where Dean goes behind Sammy’s back and kills his childhood friend, Amy, even though Sammy has explained that she was only killing people (and then only bad ones) to save her sick son.

It felt like a slap in the face. With that one scene in a mediocre at best episode, they took away six seasons of character growth. You can’t convince me that the Dean we know now would see things in such a black and white manner, or that he would leave a child motherless – especially after his experiences as a child.

ETA: I should probably add that this is my reaction. Jen may have had another. -Katie

I want to know what you think BUT please keep it civil. If I come across any comments that can be considered in any way offensive or a personal attack on someone else, I will delete them.

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TV Stories

Juliana Margulies in W: Television Celebrates Women
Former ER and current The Good Wife star Juliana Margulies has a nice photo spread in this month’s issue of W magazine, and she has a nice quote about why she loves working in television.

Coco’s TBS Move: It’s the Future of Television
Matthew Greenberg gives his thoughts on Conan O’Brien’s move to cable and what the future will bring for television. Looks like niche programming is the wave of the future, the question I discussed on Tuesday.

Special Focus on Glee
Does Madonna love or hate Glee? I think it is interesting that U.S. sources say she loves it, and foreign sources say she hates it. And, how much did we all love Sue Sylvester’s “Vogue”?

Supernatural

TV Review: Supernatural: 99 Problems
Alice Jester shares her reaction to last week’s episode.

Supernatural Has 99 Problems, But a Priest Ain’t One of Them
Another recap/review of last week’s episode, this one Jessica at Small Screen Scoop.

Sam Winchester Is Taking No Prisoners
Some photos from tonight’s episode. It looks fun, but I might be biased. I look forward to every episode.

Advance Review of Supernatural 100th Episode, S5.18 Point of No Return
MR Reed offers an advance review of tonight’s episode. In my desire to remain unspoiled, I haven’t read it, but I’m offering it to those of you who like a little advance taste.

Supernatural Actor’s See the Big Picture
Jensen and Jared share their thoughts on the show and their plans for the future. I hope they work on good projects in the future, instead of getting stuck in the genre junkyard just to keep working. More people need to appreciate their acting abilities.

Supernatural Breaks Down the Fourth Wall
A nice look at Supernatural’s relationship with its fans by Alice Jester.

Supernatural: Ghost Facers Get Their Own Series, Obama Approved?
A little piece on the new web series about the Ghost Facers.

Web Stuff

Kevin Pollack’s “Vamped Out” Follows the Hollywood Struggles of a True Bloodsucker
Are you looking for a new take on vampires that throws out some of the conventions without adding sparkly skin? This web show might be just your cup of tea.

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Pop Culture Roundup, January 28

The Biz
Supernatural
Random Stuff

The Biz

Fox, ABC Give out Pilot Orders
The Hollywood Report describes a couple recent pilots ordered by ABC and Fox. ABC ordered a comedy based on an Israeli show (because that worked so well for CBS ad The Ex-List), and Fox ordered a show about a police psychologist turned bounty hunter. Not sure I’m up for either of these shows.

Sundance, the Gifting that Keeps on Giving
It’s always funny that the wealthier you are, the less stuff you actually have to buy. Find out just a little bit of the free stuff Sundance attendees were lapping up.

Special Focus on the iPad

As if there is any pop culture story other than the unfortunately named iPad. Here are some links.

Supernatural

Supernatural Episode Recap: “Sam, Interrupted”
Read TV Guide’s synopsis of last week’s episode.

Supernatural: Two Clips from Episode 12, “Swap Meat”
A couple fun previews for tonight’s episode.

Fight the Apocalypse
Play the online Supernatural game.

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles Do Not Have Twitter, Facebook, Etc.
The boys confirm that all social media accounts in their names are fakes.

Supernatural Spinoff in the Works
Will you watch it, though?

Supernatural Drinking Bingo
This looks like a way fun drinking game.

Drinking with the Stars: Supernatural’s Misha Collins
Speaking of drinking, Korbi Gosh (from Zap2It) takes Misha Collins out for drinks and some questions.

Random Stuff

Valentine’s Day Gifts Inspired by the Men of Chuck
This is quite the collection of potential gifts for your man. Personally, I dig Awesom’s vegan soap and Jeffster’s Employee of the Month runner up shirt.

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Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival, Nov. 18

Welcome to the November 18, 2009, edition of Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival.

Last Week’s Episode
This Week’s Episode
News
Spoilers: On a separate page to protect the spoilerphobes

Last Week’s Episode

On Supernatural, the Meta Outweighed the Mega
Annalee Newitz shares her reaction to The Real Ghostbusters, which she believed was a little too meta. I agree. I really enjoyed the meta fun in last season’s The Monster at the End of This Book, but The Real Ghostbusters was a little too heavy-handed.

Who Ya Gonna Call? Supernatural! Let’s Talk The Real Ghostbusters
The Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan also has a few bones to pick with the episode, although she seemed to enjoy it overall. And, as she says, “We nitpick because we love.”

Supernatural: The Real Ghostbusters
Over at Sign On San Diego, where I hope they always stay classy, Karla Peterson also jumps on the “I didn’t love it as much as Kripke thought I would” bandwagon.

Supernatural Recap: The Real Ghostbusters
Someone out there had to love this episode, right? Well, it wasn’t Julia Thorne, who describes the episode and gives her commentary throughout.

Supernatural Season 5 Episode 9: The Real Ghostbusters
We conclude the recaps with a slightly more enthusiastic viewer, Rachel N. over at Nick C.’s Behind the Screens blog.

This Week’s Episode

Mark Pellegrino on This Week’s Episode
Lucifer’s vessel talks about the episode.

Sneak Peek & Promo: Abandon All Hope
Clarissa at TV Over Mind gives video clips and an episode description.

Supernatural: Two Sneak Peeks at Episode 10 Abandon All Hope
Dread Central also has video, and they say the thing I don’t like to believe, that Abandon All Hope is the last new episode of the year.

Supernatural First Look: Dean and Meg Face Off
We close out with Ausiello, who has a clip that shows pretty much what the page title says.

News

Is Supernatural Jumping the Shark?
In yet another lament for the way Season 5 has played out so far, John Kubicek jumps off the bandwagon. He says that SPN has, indeed, jumped the shark, and he doesn’t know if it can un-jump it before he quits caring about all things Winchester. I’m inclined to agree, but I am willing to stick it out until this season ends. I mean, a few more months isn’t that much to sit through while we assess whether the funny and the retcons have been worth it. What else would I watch on Thursdays at 9?

Convention-al Wisdom
Maureen Ryan shares her thoughts on the recently concluded Chicago Con.

Salute to Supernatural Chicago 2009
The SPN Wiki gathers all of the con reports and videos, which they say are spoiler free, on one page. Enjoy!

That concludes this edition. The next edition of The Supernatural Blog Carnival will run in 2010. Submit your posts using the carnival submission form. Past posts can be found on the blog carnival index page or by clicking Supernatural in the tag cloud.

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Visions of Winchesters: Supernatural Blog Carnival, Oct. 14

Welcome to the October 14, 2009, edition of Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival.

Last Week’s Episode
This Week’s Episode
News
Fun Stuff
Spoilers: On a separate page to protect the spoilerphobes

Last Week’s Episode

Supernatural: Fallen Idols
Suzanne presents her recap posted at Damsel Undistressed. Suzanne used to recap Supernatural at Sci Fi Chicks but has now moved them to her own site.

Supernatural: Paris Hilton Is a Homicidal Maniac
Buddy TV’s recaps always have great titles. Personally, I think it might be true, we just haven’t found out about it yet. I mean, what does she feed her pack of chihuahuas?

TV Review: Supernatural Fallen Idols
Sahar shares his thoughts on last week’s episode at Blog Critics. Short version: Adding Paris Hilton did not ruin the show.

TV Recap: Not a Lot of Loving It Going on Here
M.R. Reed shares some background on Supernatural fan-dom, our feelings about the treatment the show gets from The CW, and some Twitter silliness before launching into his review of last week’s episode. He defends Paris Hilton’s performance against even the show insiders themselves. A very thought-provoking post. I’m not going to say that I loved Paris, but I may feel less ire when I watch the episode again in repeats or on DVD.

5.05 Fallen Idol
Supernatural Wiki gathers all of the pop culture references from last week’s episode. This is a very cool feature. I typically get 90% of the pop culture references, but I love getting confirmation of the ones I got and finding out the ones I didn’t.

This Week’s Episode

New Promo: Win or Lose
Here’s a video promo for tomorrow’s episode. Personally, I am interested to see how the episode differs from Bedtime Stories and

Supernatural: I Believe the Children Are Our Future Clip
BCS Review has a clip from tomorrow’s episode.

First Photos from Supernatural Episode 6
And Shock Till You Drop has still photos from the episode to whet your appetites.

News
A Hunter’s Guide to “Supernatural” Weapons
Kris DeLeon compiled a nice slideshow of the various weapons our boys use to protect themselves from the evil supernatural creatures they encounter.

Jensen Ackles: DaKine Dude
Jensen Ackles is a stand-up guy who is willing to take photos with fans in the airport. And apparently wears a DaKine cap. (Mr. Pop Culture Curmudgeon, who is from Hawaii, would be so excited–if he cared what clothing and accessories celebs wear.)

Jared Padalecki: I Believe the Children Are Our Future
Like many of us, when J.Paddz travels, he uses luggage to carry his clothing and other belongings. I love silly celeb news.

The Vampire Diaries up 100% with Women 18-34
Really? They increased their viewership from last year when they weren’t on TV? Seriously, I know what they are saying, but it seems like a less than clear way of saying it. The SPN gem here is that girls watch Supernatural, too.

Fun Stuff

I’m Erica, and I’m an Addict … That Is, a Romance Writer
Urban fantasy author and Supernatural fan Erica Hayes introduces herself on the group blog The Romantic Journey. She is a Sam girl, and she is hoping to gather more Sam girls in the comments to tak a stand against we rampant Dean girls.

That concludes this edition. Don’t forget that I’m still looking for a Sam girl to do a guest post. Email me at popculture AT jennifer-roland.com if you’re interested.

And submit your blog article to the next edition of The Supernatural Blog Carnival using the carnival submission form. Past posts can be found on the blog carnival index page or by clicking Supernatural in the tag cloud.

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Visions of Winchesters: Supernatural Blog Carnival, Sept. 23

Welcome to the September 23, 2009 edition of Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival.

Last Week’s Episode
This Week’s Episode
News
Spoilers: On a separate page to protect the spoiler-phobes.

Last Week’s Episode
5.02 Good God, Y’All: I Don’t Trust Me, Either
Bardicvoice presents a recap posted at Bardic’s Descant. Episode summary, commentary/meta analysis, and production notes – settle in for a long read!

Supernatural: Good God, Y’All
Suzanne presents her recap posted at Damsel Undistressed. A reminder that Suzanne used to post her recaps at Sci Fi Chicks but has now moved them to her own site.

Supernatural 5.02: Good God, Y’all”
John Keegan posts his reflections on last week’s episode at Media Blvd.

Good God, Y’all: That’s Almost Perfect
M.R. Reed shares his thoughts on last week’s episode at Eclipse Magazine.

This Week’s Episode

Preview of Supernatural Episode 5.3 “Free to Be You and Me”
Buddy TV gives a glimpse of what the boys will experience in tomorrow’s episode. The title reminds me of the Marlo Thomas and Co. PBS special and accompanying album from my childhood–happiness–but the fact that our boys are separated belies the lightheardedness of the title.

Supernatural “Free to Be You and Me”
Daemon’s TV includes a clip with a brief description of the episode.

Supernatural Season 5 Episode 3
Shock ti You Drop ups the ante with a teaser trailer and a clip.

Mike Hale includes SPN in his roundup of tomorrow’s

News
Supernatural is a Hit … on DVD
Nick C is back to bash The CW’s shoddy treatment of our favorite show, pointing out that Season 4 DVD sales have blown most other genre and all CW shows sales out of the water.

Pic Post
The folks at After Elton have gathered some nice photos of our boys, even Lucifer’s meatsuit.

More Scripts Ordered for Vampire Diaries
Michael Hinman reports that The CW is looking into ordering the back 9 for The Vampire Diaries and discusses Supernatural’s ratings.

Same Old, Same Old
Pop Culture Vulture Elizabeth Tai laments the lack on interesting new blood in this year’s Emmy winners, including the snubbing of Supernatural stars in the acting categories.

Spoilers for Smallville
Need more of a Jim Beaver fix than you can get on SPN? Here is a little snippet about Jim Beaver’s upcoming appearance on Smallville.

That concludes this edition. Don’t forget that I’m still looking for a Sam girl to do a guest post. Email me at popculture AT jennifer-roland.com if you’re interested.

And submit your blog article to the next edition of The Supernatural Blog Carnival using the carnival submission form. Past posts can be found on the blog carnival index page or by clicking Supernatural in the tag cloud.

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Should Genre Shows Get Their Own Emmy Category?

Many of us have lamented the fact that Jensen Ackles will never get an Emmy nod while he is on Supernatural, even though his work is Emmy caliber. Or that Battlestar Gallactica may have gotten some nominations, but was never considered a serious contender for any categories shown on the broadcast. Or <insert genre show name here> will never get serious consideration from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

With the rise in genre shows that have good production value, great writing, and award-caliber acting, it is time to broaden the categories and allow more good shows to be recognized at this mainstream awards show.

I remember in the 1980s when we complained and complained that no heavy metal acts ever got any Grammy love. So, the Grammys added a category for Hard Rock/Heavy Metal. (Fans of Rap and Hip Hop fought the same battle, and got a category of their own, too.)

Reality TV shows got a couple awards categories added recently. It’s time for the Academy to recognize our speculative fiction shows, too.

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Guest Post: Why I’m a Dean Girl by Katie Lawson

Today, I’m turning the blog over to Katie Lawson, who is sharing her thoughts in the beauty and joy that are Dean Winchester. Other Dean girls, feel free to weigh in on your own favorite Dean episodes. And, Sam girls, I’m looking for an essay from you for next week. Email me if you’re interested in contributing.

“There are Sam girls and Dean girls…” Dean, S4E18

I began watching Supernatural two years after it started in a marathon DVD session of Seasons 1 and 2.

Believe me when I tell you I watched all episodes from both seasons in two days. I don’t think I slept. I picked them up at a big box store from the discount rack after reading about the Winchesters all over my favorite pop culture websites. I’d seen the ads but was somewhat hesitant to watch the series. I’m not sure why, but the idea of watching a show about demon hunting brothers bothered me.

Anyway, I was hooked from the first episode.

At first, I had a lot more sympathy for Sam and thought Dean was a bit of a dick. Sam was just so tragic, having lost not only his chance at a normal life but also a great love and his father, all at the same time.

Gradually, my sympathies shifted to Dean. He was funnier—God, the one liners he spits out—and seemed to feel things so deeply it actually hurt. Not that Sammy didn’t feel deeply; it’s just that Dean seemed to internalize it all and make jokes to hide the true depth of his. I realized that in some ways, Dean was the more tragic figure. Sam at least had had a normal life, even if only for a little while at college. Dean never even had that bit of respite.

To prepare for the new season, I decided to watch all four of the earlier seasons to see if I could pinpoint the exact episodes that caused me to shift permanently from a Sam girl to a Dean girl and I came up with two: “Heart” and “The Kids Are Alright.”

In “Heart,” the brothers try to save a girl that has been changed into a werewolf without her knowledge. She and Sam falls in love, and in the end she asks him to kill her because she can’t do it herself.

You’d think this would make me more sympathetic to Sam, right? Wrong.

The closing shot of Dean in the kitchen listening to the sound of the shot literally took my breath away. You could see in his face his heart breaking for Sam, knowing that if Sam had any innocence left, it was truly gone now.

In “The Kids Are Alright,” Dean tracks down a memorable one night stand in hopes of repeating the experience—only to learn that she has a kid that is the right age to be his. And boy, is he Dean at age 8—obsessed with cars, girls, hard rock and determined not to be a bitch.

You can see the shock, hope and disbelief in Dean’s face all at the same time. By this point, Dean has already made his deal with the crossroads demon to bring Sammy back to life, so he knows his days are numbered.

Again, the expression on his face when he learns that the kid isn’t his is incredible—a combination of disappointment and regret all at the same time. You can practically feel his yearning to have the knowledge that he’d left something of himself behind. And the girl sees this, offers to let him stay, and he declines, knowing that they would only be hurt when his year is up.

Why, you ask, didn’t I pick the episode where Dean makes his deal to save Sam, or goes to hell, or any of the others? I think it’s because he’s at his most human and accessible in these episodes.

In so many of the others, he’s heroic, larger than life. It’s the deeper layers, though, that I find most interesting. That’s not to say that Dean’s emotionless in the other episodes. Far from it—these just spoke the most strongly to me personally.

Please keep in mind that these selections are from the first four seasons—they might change after season 5.

A lover of all things quirky and pop culture related, Katie Lawson is “owned” by a Great Dane named Ash. She lives in South Louisiana, where she writes obituaries for the local paper and wonders if Sam and Dean ever venture forth to warmer climes.

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Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival, Sept. 9

Welcome to the September 9, 2009, edition of Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival.

Last Season
Season Premiere
Season 5 Previews
News
Fun Stuff
Spoilers

Last Season

Arieanna at Gilmore Girls News shares her thoughts on season 4 with some nice shots of Jared Padalecki in the finale.

At Screen Rant, Bruce Simmons gives a play-by-play of the finale for those of us who didn’t watch it last Thursday.

Season Premiere

The Chicago Tribune has some preview clips and an episode description of the season premiere.

Shane presents his preview at Dingorue.

Season 5

At Airlock Alpha, Michael Hinman posts an interview with Jim Beaver in which he discusses some of the things to come in Season 5. It’s not really spoiler-y, but if you like to watch each episode as a designated Supernatural virgin, you might want to avoid.

LeAnn Tiede post a season 5 preview at Examiner.com. She discusses characters who will show up this season, so again, not spoiler-y unless you absolutely positively ant to know nothing about the upcoming episodes until you sit down to watch them.

Over at TV Fodder, Miller discusses some of the news from Season 5. Casting news is included, and some links include spoilers.

Christina Radish posts interviews with Misha Collins and Jim Beaver at iesb.net. Both discuss what is to come in Season 5.

Finally, On the Flix previews the sounds of season 5.

News

Amanda Meuwissen presents Why Supernatural is the Most Underrated Show on TV posted at The Geek Girl Gamut.

Ozy, a user at Comic Book Movie, posts that Jensen Ackles is rumored to be playing Captain America. That would be awesome!

Teletext reports that Jared Padalecki is slated to star in a remake of Out of the Past. Yvonne Strahovski, from Chuck, will join him.

Fun Stuff

Here are a couple fun videos for the Sam girls out there: Is That You? and The Shrine of Jared Padalecki’s Ass.

Spoilers

On a separate page

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Variety using our carnival submission form.

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Supernatural Blog Carnival, Aug. 14

Welcome to the August 14 edition of the Visions of Winchesters blog carnival. It’s summertime, so I’m keeping it loose in here. The posts are just kind of jumbled rather than grouped into categories. But, as always, spoilers are in a separate page.

Alice Jester discusses the information (and lack thereof) revealed at Comic-Con last month in “Hot Brothers Night.” This post at Blog Critics.org also previews The Vampire Diaries.

The CW released a promo video. Some say its spoiler-y, but I didn’t think so. If they play it on TV during the episode, it can’t reveal too much.

Buddy TV has two fun pieces from their Comic-Con coverage. First up is an interview with Jim Beaver. Next is a collection of videos from the panel at Comic-Con.

For those of you who think it is a travesty that neither Jared nor Jensen were able to go to Comic-Con, here are some videos of the boys at previous conferences:

Want to know which Supernatural character you are? If so, then take the quiz here. (BTW, I took it, and I am Dean.)

Finally, prepare for the new season by re-reading the awesome recaps at Television Without Pity. Begin the countdown to Sept. 10 now.

If you missed the June Supernatural Blog Carnival, check it out here.

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