Supernatural 3.01

[wednesday_whimsy]

I've decided to do my weekly review now right after I watch the show and before I read any other reactions so my opinions aren't influenced by anyone else.


What I liked

1. Every member of fandom's idea that Dean would want to live out his last year having lots of sex and greasy food being 100% accurate. Oh Dean.

2. Every member of fandom's idea that Sam would want to live out Dean's last year trying to stop it being Dean's last year being 100% accurate. Oh Sam.

3. The new titles. I think changing them every season is a good thing. It signifies change. And they were nifty.

3. See below for my issues with the others "hunters" but Tamara, at least, didn't make me want to scratch my eyes out and throw them at her.

4. Bobby looking spiffy in his suit and being an all round awesome dude for the whole episode. I loved him putting his foot down and saying "I'm in charge. Do as you're told."

5. The idea of the Seven Deadly sins being demons was genius and I liked the idea of them influencing behaviour. I think more could have been done with those characters, but not in 20 minutes. I also think it was important that the "Envy Demon" pointed out Dean's own flaws, because obviously Sam hasn't been doing that and we all know that Dean goes a little too far sometimes and needs a restraining hand or word.

6. Dean being honest with Sam about what he did and why. There are more issues to it, but Dean has at least learned from last year's mistakes and isn't lying to Sam and trying to hide or sugarcoat things. Sam may not like it, but I think it's a good thing. It puts them on a more equal footing.

7. The knowledge that Sam isn't going to pay any attention to what Dean said, because Dean may not be able to live without Sam, but Sam also can't live without Dean.

What I didn't like

1. Dean using the fact that he's going to die at every opportunity. He can't have it both ways. If Sam's not allowed to feel sorry for him and try to save him, then Dean's not allowed to pout and say "But I'm dying and I did it for you, so let me do what I want."

2. TOKEN BRITISH PERSON. I swear to God my theory of US TV putting a token British person in every show is correct. The amateur hunters wanting to go it alone has been used before and generally ends up with the same problem. Because no one is as good as Sam and Dean. Yes they had back story and yes I'm interested but it was a little too much like Gordon. The pretty blonde girl turning up with a magic knife to save Sam just in the nick of time was the part I had the biggest problem with because it's so overdone it's not even funny anymore.

Overall rating
A good start to the season (nothing could beat In My Time of Dying so there's no point in comparing) with lots of potential. I give it a solid B for effort and the introduction of a hopefully kickass season.

Comments

[frikatilhi.livejournal.com]

I love the fact that they're expanding the universe. So, I liked the new girl. Only thing that I didn't like about her was the hair - it's the Buffy thing - isn't it hard to fight with your hair down like that?

[jacqui-hw.livejournal.com]

I have no problem with expanding the universe and to be honest, if she'd had any other colour hair I probably wouldn't have minded as much.

But it IS a Buffy thing. Like they're all sitting around going "Okay we need a kickass chick. You know who was kickass? Buffy. Let's put Buffy in the show."

Well it's NOT Buffy. It's never going to be Buffy. So get over it and invent a NEW character.

[frikatilhi.livejournal.com]

Isn't it a bit unfair to say thay trying to make her Buffy? We don't know anything about her yet, not even if she's good or bad or something in the middle. Is every kick-ass girl from here to eternity going to be labeled as a Buffy-wannabe just because they're girls? The hair thing is just a thing, just like the fact that no-one on tv ever locks their car.

[jacqui-hw.livejournal.com]

No I know we don't know anything about her. I'm not saying anything about her, just that fact that it seems to me as though writers of a lot of shows want to have strong female characters and don't know how to go about introducing them. That's why Jo didn't work out last year. So they look at the other strong female characters (and in sci-fi TV there aren't many) and think of Buffy.

Ellen and Ava were fantastic female characters and Jo, in Born Under a Bad Sign was amazing. None of them felt to me as though they couldn't be cool kickass women. They're all strong and smart and sexy and none of them remind me of Buffy.

But Ruby's introduction to me smacked an awful lot of them thinking of Buffy (not trying to make her Buffy, but thinking of her) when they devised that scene in the house. Here's the pretty blonde with the flowing hair who is so fast and skilled she can take out three demons without blinking an eye.

In her next episode I'm sure they'll explain more and again, I'm reserving judgement until I've seen her for more than five minutes. Everyone attacked Jo last year and she ended up being pretty awesome, so I want to wait and make my mind up over time.

[frikatilhi.livejournal.com]

It is hard to introduce female character's, isn't it? No matter what the writers do, people aren't pleased. Why is it so hard? Why is it a lot easier when the characters are men? Why do fangirls insist on hating women on principle? And I'm not talking about you, you make good points, I'm just frustrated in general.

Is it that she was perhaps too kick-ass? She saved Sam and killed three demons without effort. (I really think they are going to explain that and the magic knife.) Would it be better to introduce her like Ava, being totally clueless at first? But wouldn't she just be a damsel in distress then? Would it all just be better if she had worse hair or if she was older like Ellen? What a scary thought. Our boys have good hair too.

[jacqui-hw.livejournal.com]

For most shows it's not a problem because most shows start with both male and female characters. The female characters in SPN were both killed off in the first episode, leaving it a story about two brothers and for the first season, a story about them searching for their father, getting to know each other, re-building their relationship, learning to know and trust each other.

Then the producers/writers/creators decide that they want some female characters. The boys need girlfriends because a) why wouldn't two really hot guys have girlfriends and b) it's getting a little too homoerotic and borderline incestuous for prime-time television.

But instead of introducing them as characters in their own right you decide one of them is going to be "the female Dean" which is guaranteed to piss people off because Dean is Dean. And you tell everyone that this person is going to be Mrs Dean Winchester. Now this never works, because people who have invested a year in a character and feel that they know him, don't like being told who this person should end up with. That works for any show. Most of the best loved "ships" are ones that developed naturally through over a period of time and weren't thrust upon viewers from the start.

So people complain and the writer/creator/producer realises they made a mistake and changes things. But they still want girls in the show, so they go back to the drawing board. But now people are suspicious, because girls=romance=the boys being split up.

Stealing from your other post, Bobby may mean Sam sits in the back, but Bobby is no competition for Dean's affection in the eyes of the viewers. A girl would be. If Dean made Sam sit in the back of the Impala while he drove around his new girlfriend, that would mean Dean cares a bit more about said girlfriend than he does about Sam.

If you've watched a show for two years and all you really care about is the interaction between those brothers you got to know as they got to know each other, then all people who call into question their commitment to each other are the enemy. Plain and simple. Girls are more threatening to that dynamic therefore all girls are the enemy.

Also, from a writers perspective, writing women as hunters is a double edged sword. On one hand you want to say "see this kickass chick; look how awesome she is" but at the same time you can't let your hero look weak. So in a way, it's better having Jo point a gun at Dean and have him take it off her and then have her punch him, because then they're on equal footing, than it is for some mystery girl to come in and save Sam with very little help from him.

The fact is that fangirls are always going to complain about women in Supernatural because to most people the show is about Sam and Dean and their relationship. Most people don't care as much about seeing a scene with Dean and Bobby or Sam and Ellen, as they do about a scene between Sam and Dean.

[frikatilhi.livejournal.com]

Yes. Also, yes.

Except that I can't imagine seeing anyone as threat, because no-one will ever be as important to Sam or Dean than Dean or Sam. I just can't see that happening, but apparently a lot of people can, and that's why they're hostile.

And another thing: I have high hopes that these characters will be developed on their own, not as female characters, but as characters. *crosses fingers*

And last: it annoys me to see the implication that a woman can't be as good as a hunter than Sam and Dean. Sam was excellent at 22, and he had a 4 year break, so apparently he was also excellent at 18. So why couldn't a 20-something woman be a good hunter? (Again, I'm not saying you think so, it's just an argument I see around a lot.)

[frikatilhi.livejournal.com]

My English is broken. *hides*

[jacqui-hw.livejournal.com]

Well yeah no one who believes that they are the most important thing to each other should be worried, but people are stupid.

I hope the characters will be developed as characters too. I know that they can be. They did really well with all the supporting characters last year. I have no doubt they'll do the same this year.

And I do think women can be good hunters but I also find that introduction flawed, because clearly Sam needed the girl with the magic knife to show up and save him. Clearly Sam isn't good enough deal with three demons. Do you see what I'm saying? Even if it had been a man it would have irritated me, because I hate stuff like that. I hate that it's true that Sam would probably have died, but the only thing that saved him was a glowing magical plot device. And that the girl and the knife took out all three of them, meaning Sam did practically nothing.

In fact, thinking about it, it's the knife irritates me more than anything, because if she'd come in and pulled one or two of them away and fought that would have been cool. But she didn't actually do anything, beyond jam the knife in them. /ramble