Supernatural Season 6: Blessing or Curse?

[Joe Washington]

What do you think of Supernatural being renewed for a sixth season? Do you think it would give the show enough room to provide itself a satyisfying, non-rushed conclusion? Or it is destined to decline into the realm of mediocrity and old ideas which would result in the show ending with a disappointing whimper than the bang that many Supernatural fans wanted for the show to end with?

 

[Dorian Thompson]

I want it to end at five seasons. Not that I want it to end, but the story has built to a climax with this Lucifer business. The brothers' relationship has been through the ringer, they've fought progressively worse and worse foes and worse and worse inner demons. You cannot go backwards in terms of dramatic impact. There's a natural beginning, middle, and end. What do you do after Lucifer? You don't. Not in my opinion.

 

[Orintho]

Yeah so why exactly does the Apocalypse have to occur within one TV season? Rather than see an additional season as a wasteland of filler and recycling of old stories, how about seeing it as a potential for new action, better stories, more focus/development on characters?

 

[Aragorn]

If the CW folds next year, Dean and Sam can go kill some teenage vampire brats and then take down the Red-Blue Blur.

CLARK: "How'd you know I was the Blur?"

DEAN: "You mean besides you talking out loud about it with people around?"

 

[Snaploud]

It could go either way. I'm not entirely sold on the idea that the last season should be "smaller stories" rather than an extension of the apocalypse, but I'll certainly give it a shot.

If the CW folds next year, Dean and Sam can go kill some teenage vampire brats and then take down the Red-Blue Blur.

CLARK: "How'd you know I was the Blur?"

DEAN: "You mean besides you talking out loud about it with people around?"

Dean should be wearing a Superman costume in that scene...

 

[startrekwatcher]

A sixth season of SN is an all around bad idea. The series is already starting to show its age and I really can't see another year of recycled supernatural plots of the week is going to be entertaining. Kripke had a 5 year plan--if he learns anything from tv history is that shows that try to keep going when they are out of ideas just for the sake of continuing never end well. This season even with an arc has been very unsatisfying.

But given CW has very little worthwhile beyond Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl and Life Unexpected I'm sure they'll bring it back and run it into the ground the way they have Smallville. Afterall SN is very cheap compared to everything else they have going.

 

[mswood]

Frankly it all depends.

People talk about Kripke having a five year plan and he should stick to that. Well the problem is that he hasn't, in fact he has gone way the hell off of that 5 year plan.

Dean was never supposed to go to hell!
Angels were never supposed to be actual characters on the show.
Sam was supposed to get as dark as he got at the end of season three (and how Dean was able to avoid hell).

Special Kids was never supposed to end the way it did.

There are lots and lots of changes Kripke and the writers staff have had to make to their plan from things outside their control (a couple casting issues and a writers strike),to things completely in their control. Things were as the time goes by they see what works and what doesn't, get inspiration from other sources, ect.

But make to mistakes that 5 year plan has long, long been changed and changed very, very dramatically.

I mean look at season 4, what most consider to be it's best season and almost everything in that season was not either part of what was supposed to happen in year 4, or something that wasn't supposed to happen at all.

The only reason (as of this moment) that I would say their absolutely shouldn't be a season 6, is if the plan for these two characters (or just one of them) is that they are supposed to die at the end of this conflict. If that was the plan, then clearly that is something that couldn't happen with a season 6 (well without a major resurrection and by that time both characters will have died twice, already).

Dorian states,

Not that I want it to end, but the story has built to a climax with this Lucifer business. The brothers' relationship has been through the ringer, they've fought progressively worse and worse foes and worse and worse inner demons. You cannot go backwards in terms of dramatic impact. There's a natural beginning, middle, and end.

Well their is a significant problem with that line of thought. And that is the heart of the story isn't Angels versus Lucifer, thats just the plot. The heart of the story is the brothers character arc, and that wouldn't end with that final battle (unless again if they die). Talk to anyone who deals with extreme dramatic events and half of their story is how they deal with those events after they occur.

A season of "normal, hunting might (as I don't know if the writers want to tell that story, would do it any justice, or would be allowed by the CW) give us a much, much better view on seeing how these events did change the brothers, and how they deal with the ramifications of what they did. Be it a bullet in the brain, going insane with grief, trying to get out of that life, embracing that life to atone, ect, ect.

One of the pluses to this type of story telling is that it would allow the writers to more natural pace the stories. Something that hasn't happened this season. Its heard to go from cities being destroyed to a humor episode and not go what the hell. But you can tell scary horror stories and use them to explore the guys feelings, and not have to worry about having this huge epic story (that happens to be on hold for three weeks).

 

[bigdaddy]

Do you think it would give the show enough room to provide itself a satyisfying, non-rushed conclusion?

Ummm yeah considering the creator planned on only doing 5 years.

However why would season 6 suck? The writer has talked about having a 5 year plan, but he even admitted a 6th season could work. Just because you had a plan 5-6 years ago doesn't mean anything now.

 

[startrekwatcher]

But is there really much more story to tell about these brothers that would justify another 22 episode season. It seems they are struggling this year to come up with ideas to stretch out the season having to resort to a bunch of stupid episode ideas like Changing Channels, The Real Ghostbusters, Swap Meat, Fallen Idols etc.

I can think of several shows that would have benefitted from ending sooner rather than later--

The X-Files needed about a five year run. Seasons 6-9 were progressively worse. Roseanne could have ended around year 6 or 7 instead of going on for 9 seasons. And the list goes on. Even nBSG had really only about 3 years max in it.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Changing Channels is one of the best episodes SPN has done in its five years. In no way should it be grouped with Swap Meat. It was brilliantly funny.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Changing Channels is one of the best episodes SPN has done in its five years. In no way should it be grouped with Swap Meat. It was brilliantly funny.

Obviously we disagree about this. I found it excruciating to sit through and one of the worst the show has ever produced. I doubt I'll ever watch it again it.

 

[mswood]

SUre you can state the show has had bad episodes, but the thing is I have never watched a show were that isn't the case (well ok Band of Brothers was pretty awesome for each installment).

But here is the thing, even the episodes I disliked, I think in general had a sound premise behind them (their execution on the other hand). For example I think Swap Meat was the worst episode of the season the heart of the story was a great premise. The execution was pretty damn sad though.

Heck Changing Channels is a premise I like (though most of the scenes didn't work for me at all, except a few brief moments and the end were really the only parts in final that I really liked), but I really liked the premise.

The rest Dean (getting older), guys in the funny farm, worship of idols ect are all good ideas, but all had problems with execution.

So I can't reasonable complain about them running out of ideas. I can say they have been less successful then last year in going from premise to final product, but I still find it superior to seasons 3 and 2 and 1.

For me I compare this show often to the X-Files (others would use Buffy or Angel but SN in general with a few exceptions take itself and its situations as serious, Buffy and Angel often didn't). Yet Most of the X-Files isn't that good. Even at its Peak (seasons 2 and 3, my opinion of course) they produced many episodes that weren't very good (Blood, 3, firewalker, Fresh Bones, Fearful Symmetry, Dod Calm, The List, The Walk, Teso dos Bichos, Hell Money, Avatar, Quaqmire are all episode I didn't care for). And by that point the show didn't have to worry at all about its production side as it was well on its way of becoming a huge hit for for Fox.

Yet for all its faults (and getting worse in worse in my opinion the end of season 3 on to its bitter, bitter end), I forgave a lot of their crappy episodes because they still created both great mythology episodes (though that would get much, much worse) and still produce a great stand alone on occasion as well.

For myself SN is a much more consistent show.

 

[mswood]

Changing Channels is one of the best episodes SPN has done in its five years. In no way should it be grouped with Swap Meat. It was brilliantly funny.

Obviously we disagree about this. I found it excruciating to sit through and one of the worst the show has ever produced. I doubt I'll ever watch it again it.

This is an episode for the most part that I hate. As I found it produced poorly, the acting subpar on all levels and the dialogue not at its strongest. But, there are a few moments and the confrontation with the Trickster that I did love. Thats the only reason I would score it higher then say Swap Meat (which I think didn't hit as low, but didn't hit really any highs for me at all). In fact I did like it marginally better then the X-Files two parter where Mulder body swapped, but of course I thought those episodes were a total and complete mess.

Yet no matter my opinion, my gods the critics loved that episode with several picking it as the best episode of this season, it also did fairly well on fan sites (in comparison to other SN episodes).

Premise wise I still think racist truck wins hands down, as worst premise for an episode ever. Hell even Ghost ship (by far my least favorite episode of this damn show) is an ok premise, terrible, terrible final product.

 

[Joe Washington]

Since the actors playing Sam and Dean have said repeatedly that they aren't going to be on the show for anything further than a sixth season, I just hope the people in charge of the show give Season 6 a "final season" feeling instead of a "just another season of Supernatural" feeling. I want to see the wrapping up of some loose ends from the show and especially the characters' arcs. I want Sam and Dean to have a happy ending by the end of the series which is something they have more than earned after years of sacrifices, turmoil, and emotional losses.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Changing Channels is one of my top five episodes of the entire series. Its commentary on the crap that is television was scathingly funny. How can a confirmed Grey's Anatomy hater not love it? Dr. Sexy M.D., indeed. You're a brilliant coward. The women of Grey's are just that insipid and more so. You just want to strangle Meredith for being such an unfathomable wimp for "her McDreamy."

McDreamy. Gag me. Now Swap Meat is my choice for all time worst episode. It beats Route 666. It was that bad.

 

[Mallet]

I'm torn between wanting the brothers to live happily ever after and for a dark, "the fight never ends" style ending.

I mean the only way they could have a real happily ever after ending is if they somehow manage to banish all the demons from Earth permanently, but if there are still monsters and demons roaming the earth then I don't think that either of them, especially Dean, would ever give up the fight and settle down to lead normal lives.

Besides, you know they are going to want to leave some leeway around for a possible future movie or two.

 

[Navaros]

It's neither a blessing nor a curse. Nothing is going to change.

Supernatural will remain 80% copy and paste monster-of-the-week filler and 20% (or maybe less) actual content in Season 6, just as it has for all the previous 5 seasons.

I suppose it could in theory get worse, but when all they are going to do to make a new episode is copy and paste some a different 'monster name' into the formula as they've done a million times before, it's hard to imagine how they could screw that up.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

I wouldn't call season 4 "20 percent content." I wouldn't call any of the seasons that.