SUPERNATURAL: Jeremy Carver on Season 8, Having an Endgame, and More
October 1, 2012 by Marisa Roffman
We’re just a few days away from SUPERNATURAL’s season premiere! Are you excited to see what Dean and Sam have been up to in the year that will have passed between seasons?
To try and get a little dirt on what’s to come, I tracked down new SUPERNATURAL showrunner Jeremy Carver to see what he could share about the upcoming season, having an endgame for the show, and more…
When you left the series, was it ever in the back of your mind that you might come back?
Jeremy Carver: I did not think I’d be coming back to the show, and that was for no other reason than going off to run another show [Syfy’s BEING HUMAN]. I had a wonderful run on SUPERNATURAL, so the call was something of a surprise. It worked out timing-wise for a lot of different reasons.
Were you keeping up with the series while you were gone?
JC: I treated it a little like an ex-girlfriend — I dipped in and out of checking up on Facebook, but I started catching up when I started thinking about coming back. And I was really thrilled with what they had done.
Was there anything you noticed that you were watching that stood out like, “I really want to touch more on this,” or “We should weed this away”?
JC: First and foremost, I was really thrilled to see what [former showrunner] Sera [Gamble] and [executive producer] Bob [Singer] had done with the show. At the time, they had to pick up after [series creator] Eric [Kripke] left.
One of the things that struck me, and I think it’s almost inevitable when you’re doing a genre show, is sometimes a show gets buried under the weight of its own mythology. And particularly with the brothers, if you zero in on someone like Sam, that guy has so much stuff — the wall’s up, the wall’s down. It gets a little confusing, even to me as I was catching up, exactly what is happening. So I think one of the things I thought was maybe we can pull back on the mythology and instead start a new myth story this year. Obviously we’re not disregarding anything from the past, but at least from the get-go, we’re starting everyone off on a new ride that hopefully lasts two, three, whatever many seasons.
How important is it for you guys to have an endgame for the show? If you’re planning an arc to last, say, three seasons, but you only go two more, it could put you in a tough spot. Have you talked with the network/studio or the stars about how long the show could run for?
JC: That’s a tricky thing. I remember sitting with Eric and him saying, “I know exactly what the last episode [of the series] is going to look like for the brothers.” And at this point, I almost feel like I should give him a call and be like, “So, what does that look like?” It’s tricky, but I know personally, as a staff, we’re looking at…there’s a card in my office that has three seasons from now, what would be a cool myth endgame. We don’t have a brother endgame, though that’s there [in our minds], too. That’s a constant [thought]. You always hope you get the heads up [if a show is on its way out]. You always hope you get the heads up, and sometimes it’s possible and sometimes it’s not. You can’t weight the scales too much with not knowing. You have to tell the story you’re telling.
I know last season Sera was vocal about wanting to strip a lot of the comforts from the brothers so they’d have to forge on essentially by themselves. Are you looking to continue that this year, or are you planning to build up more of their support system?
JC: That’s a good question. Because we jump back into things where flashbacks are an important part of the season and that really lends itself to the brothers reexamining themselves and their relationship in the season. While they’re united in this quest, as it were, there’s a lot of unpacking they have to do in terms of what the last year has told them each about themselves. It’s going to take a little while for them to understand what it told them about each other.
I don’t think either one of them ever thought they’d be sitting together again. They each had transformative experiences, and these experiences brought relationships and it’s complicated. One of the things we’re really trying to do this year is, I always say you talk to your buddies one way when you’re 20, but when you’re 30, you start to have different conversations about life and the future. It doesn’t mean the band has broken up, but when people in the band are having a baby [the conversation changes]. No one is having a baby [on the show], but you know what I mean? People mature a little bit, so we’re looking at that.
There is no baby, but there is a girlfriend for Sam. What can you say about your decision to make that move?
JC: I think being away, when I came back, I looked at it with those [fresh] eyes and went, “Why wouldn’t he [have a relationship]?” And then someone reminded me, “Because…there are about 15 million people who don’t want him to.” [Laughs] And I think it’s very organic, I think this season is very organic. I think it’s a very interesting relationship people are going to get. It’s SUPERNATURAL. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think it was worth doing.
Fair. Looking forward, what can you say about Lauren Tom’s role on the show?
JC: She will be in multiple episodes. I can say I’ve been an enormous fan of hers for a long time. And I think she’s got the absolute perfect combination of heart and humor for the role. And we’ll leave it at that.
What can you say about how Castiel will figure into the season?
JC: We will get an idea of that as we dive into what happened in purgatory, you’ll get a sense of where Castiel is.
I know there’s been a lot of vagueness about whether Jim Beaver (Bobby) will return, but can you say whether you have an idea about if he’ll be back?
JC: Do I have an idea? I have a notion. It’s not quite an idea. I love Jim, so any opportunity to get Jim Beaver back, I’d jump at.
–
SUPERNATURAL returns Wednesday, October 3rd at 9 PM on The CW.
Related:
SUPERNATURAL: Jensen Ackles Teases Dean’s Return from Purgatory
SUPERNATURAL Season 8 Premiere: ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ Photo Preview
SUPERNATURAL: Mark Sheppard, Misha Collins, and Jim Beaver Talk Season 8, Keeping Secrets
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I am so on the fence about Carver. I don’t like what he has said about his vision for Sam and Dean this season.
Yes, Sam and Dean are growing up and maturing and whatever, but they are still brothers who went to hell and back for each other. Together, they have been through so, so much. The shared history between the two of them is ridiculous. Because of that I just don’t buy that 1 single year apart has managed to change both brothers outlook on the world and especially each other so dramatically. Not after the events of the 7 previous seasons.
From what Carver has said in interviews, I just feel like Carver is, in a way, cheapening the relationship between the brothers. And I feel like the show stands on that brother relationship.
It is entirely possible to introduce new relationships for each brother individually without lessening the importance/strength of the relationship between the brothers.
To clarify, I am not saying I want the brothers to forever remain co-depenent. Not at all. I just want their relationship to be something I find to be believable / realistic for the brothers.
Normal, healthy siblings relationships are kinda boring anyways..why would I want to watch that on SPN?
Sorry, but this feels like a big ‘f*ck you’ to Sam fans, those that have been following the evolution and progression of the character through 7 years. Now he’s ‘fresh’, suddenly, and ‘there’s no reason for him to not have a girlfriend’.
Carver should have spent more time rewatching the previous seasons, all the seasons. Because he’s messing up the characters badly (probably not only Sam, but it is pretty obvious in his case at this point), and it is a shame, ’cause he’s a good writer, but I’m afraid the role of showrunner is not for him.
Clue: lots of SPN fans follow for the characters, not because is a ‘genre show’. Werewolves, as trendy as they are now, won’t keep the fans. Same for other supernatural creatures. A good story for the characters, with supernatural elements in it (not a boring love story with a cute dog) that treats characters fairly and has some deep emotion is what keeps fans glued to the screen.
“And particularly with the brothers, if you zero in on someone like Sam, that guy has so much stuff — the wall’s up, the wall’s down. It gets a little confusing, even to me as I was catching up, exactly what is happening. So I think one of the things I thought was maybe we can pull back on the mythology and instead start a new myth story this year. ”
Since Carver has focused on Sam here, and since the Sam storyline is my main worry in the spoilers, I’ll address just Sam stuff here.
This sounds a lot like Carver has decided to wipe out tracts of Sam’s history in particular, things that have hugely affected him, and simplify the character. Starting a new mytharc is all very well, but far too much of what Carver is saying about Sam seems like a regression to season one Sam, rather than an attempt to take seriously a character who has been shaped by his cumulative experiences. There is a reason why many fans, fans of Sam and of Sam and Dean’s relationship in particular, are extremely uneasy and depressed at some of Carver’s decisions, and it’s not because the fans get antsy whenever one of the leads has a girlfriend. Sure, their histories are complicated. But if you are writing Sam with a relationship, for instance, you had better take into account what happened with Jess, with Madison, with Ruby, what happened with Lucifer in the cage, what it was like for Sam to have the soulless part of himself split off and to remember a sex life of which he really wasn’t a part, what Sam’s experiences of possession and vesselhood have done to his sense of self, and so on.
Not to do so is sloppy writing, and boring to boot. I know that Carver is a good writer and I am sure he has the capacity to handle this well, but some of his comments give the impression that he is instead choosing to take the easy way out.
Why not just write Sam out if he has to nullify the character’s backstory? The viewers do remember what happened and to just forget it won’t quite work.
If he doesn’t care about the character then be brave enough to write Sam out.
That way Padalecki wouldn’t be stuck as a prop but could go on to other possible projects and the show would save on his salary.
This makes no sense at all.
What not just kill of Sam and Dean and get some new OCs because that is in essence what the clueless, lazy and apparently what very easily confused Mr. Carver is doing.
I can’t believe he is completely destroying(read ignoring) 7 seasons of characterization of Sam like this. F..k you Carver.
I like these insights into what Carver has planned. He seems to be moving away from the claustrophobic vibe of the past two seasons. Love the idea of new recurring characters, a reset of the mytharc to something new, and moving away from the idea of demon blood, Lucifer, Hell, and Sam’s wall up and down. I am really looking forward to a fresh start at Supernatural.
I don’t even recognize these characters anymore, not if this is the direction the show is going to take. I’ve tried and tried to keep up my enthusiasm and my love for Sam and Dean, but I can’t even dabble in fandom lately, I just feel so alienated from the direction the show has taken with the brotherly connection (which was my major reason for watching, NOT the monster of the week or the big mytharcs each season–which became lamer and lamer as each season passed, sigh). I’ll watch season 8 but it’s going to be like two guys who vaguely resemble Sam and Dean but really aren’t (and yeah, I get the whole character growth thing, but seriously, a bond as tight as the one they had the first 5 seasons shouldn’t just become the ‘casual buddy’ scenario it seems to have morphed into).
This all sounds pretty exciting to me, but I admit I’d dropped the show for two seasons because of where they took it at the end of S5. I just didn’t see how we were going to have something that “makes Hell look like Dollywood” and come back from it in any interesting way, plus all the dropped plot threads… the show was starting to become a mockery of itself. I saw a handful of eps in S6 and really liked Lisa, but I heard what they did to her and that relationship, so I was thoroughly sure I wasn’t going to be very high on S7. I didn’t watch any of S7 except for the finale, which set up some really exciting stuff.
So… I’m coming back this year! I’m excited to see what Carver has in store. He’s written some great episodes in the past, and his interviews so far this year sound really good. Maybe this will start looking a little more like the show I remember, instead of the sodden misery-fest it had become.
This sounds really awesome to me! I’m excited to see a Sam who is struggling to move onward and forward with his life, and who is figuring out what he really wants. I liked the comment about how they’ve gotten older and will naturally relate to each other in a different way, and I’m curious about how that will come across and play out.
Oh man, I hope Lauren Tom’s character is just as awesome as she is!
While I’m at it, maybe I’ll just enumerate a bit:
“I think being away, when I came back, I looked at it with those [fresh] eyes and went, “Why wouldn’t he [have a relationship]?” And then someone reminded me, “Because…there are about 15 million people who don’t want him to.” [Laughs] ”
Amusing though your little dig at fangirls is, Mr. Carver, here are a few reasons you might consider.
1. Sam has seen three women with whom he was romantically/sexually involved die in front of his eyes.
2. Of those three, one died because she knew him, in the exact same (somewhat disturbingly sexualized) way his mother had died (Jess). One Sam shot and killed himself (Madison). One he helped Dean kill (Ruby).
3. Canon has all but stated that Lucifer raped Sam in the Cage.
4. Sam’s last long-term relationship was with a demon who was wearing a dead woman’s body. He was addicted to her blood. She manipulated him and lied to him. He, in turn, made terrible, destructive choices and did terrible things in the context of that relationship.
5. We have never seen Sam!Sam involved with a woman since Ruby’s death. However, a part of Sam’s self, split off from his central identity, had multiple sexual encounters in Sam’s body, and Sam has those memories.
6. Nor was that Sam’s only experience of being split from his self/body. OK, it’s just my opinion that all those experiences would be likely to impact his sexuality, but maybe for the sake of argument we should mention only those that has some sexual component: Meg sexually menacing Jo while possessing Sam’s body, Gary using Sam’s body to have sex with a dominatrix.
7. The last time a woman showed an interest in Sam she drugged him, kidnapped him, and married him while his consent was compromised. For all that this was a comic episode, it took place at a time when Sam was struggling with reality issues and processing the memory of 180 years of torture.
8. On a minor note, Sam now knows that his prom date was also a demon.
Now, I realize that all this may be confusing. And I honestly don’t think that any writer on earth could fully tackle the baggage Sam would bring to a relationship. But I sincerely hope, given the weight that Carver is resting on the Amelia storyline for his Sam characterization, that he didn’t just say “Why not?” and take none of this into account. If that is what he did, I am at least impressed by his brazenness in admitting it.
Carver’s commentary on Sam’s past storylines makes me so sad. He basically felt his experiences were too “complicated,” so he’s just pretending it never happened and having Sam move on as if it didn’t? What happened to what we heard last season that Sam will never fully recover from his damage? What happened to the disasters of his previous relationships and the affect those had on how he relates to people? That’s a pretty big reason to question his “Well, why not just give him a girlfriend?” approach to Sam’s story this season.
His take on characterization in this show seriously worries me; it seems like he’s more focused on the plot and where he wants that to go, but when shows start writing the characters as needed to prop up the plot, it rarely leads anywhere good. After seasons 6 and 7 showing us just that, I was hoping he’d go back to the Kripke school of storytelling and let the characters lead the story. I’m not at all surprised to hear Kripke’s plan was based around where he wanted the brothers’ story to end, not the mytharc’s story. It ensures the emotional core remains, and leaves room for creativity and change in the plot.
I’m still going to give S8 a chance, but I’m not getting the good vibes I was hoping for after two weak seasons of this show.
@albinia
Thank you so much for putting words to why I am so disgusted with Carver right now.
Sure, blame icky fangirls for your own laziness and inability to write an IC Sam, Mr. Carver, that is such grownup and classy thing to do. I wonder how he ever managed to get employed in the first place.
“Why wouldn’t Sam have a girlfriend?”
Well, he might be traumatized by having all his previous girlfriends die. Or he might be worried about her safety, after what happened to all his other girlfriends, not to mention Dean’s girlfriend, his mother, etc. Or he might be still dealing with the aftermath of having been possessed by Lucifer and the strongly implied sexual assault involved in that.
Not that I don’t think Sam deserves a little happiness, but giving it to him at the cost of just ignoring all that backstory is incredibly frustrating for those who have been watching this show from the beginning, and care about the characters.
Add in the fact the he doesn’t have a “brother endgame” and this does not inspire confidence in me at all.
I wonder how long it’s going to take before fans start screaming about how much the new showrunner hates Dean or Sam or whoever (I think maybe before midseason.) I guess we’ll see in a couple of days what new version of Sam and Dean show up this time. There seems to be a new incarnation every season now. It all sounds just like more reheated leftovers and more unoriginality and more mediocrity. I have to really think long and hard sometimes about why I ever loved this show.
I’m really disappointed by everything I’ve read about Sam’s story for Season 8.
First, the Amelia storyline is set up on the crumbling foundation of Sam moving on from Dean’s disappearance because HE DIDN’T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK. Really? Are we talking about the same Sam who found a way to get Dean back in the time travel ep. last year? You know, smart Sam, who doesn’t need anyone to hit the library or look at obscure books to find a spell or something? Sam, who knows how to summon Crowley to get more info? And how about Kevin? Sam would never “move on” without trying to get Kevin back!!
And then there’s the relationship itself. It’s not that long ago that Sam admitted to Dean that he wasn’t “normal”, but he was managing. I can’t imagine him in a relationship, especially when he knows what happened to Lisa and Ben. And there are so many other issues he would have to deal with, which were touched upon in other posts.
You can’t erase what happened because it’s too complicated Mr. Carver!!
Ugh. Reading this, I don’t think I’ll recognize much of what’s left of Sam.
Looks like the ESG bat call went out and the sock puppets came charging in.
I just hope that he’ll do right by Dean. Keep him IC and bring back the friendship that he shared with Cas in the latter part of S4 and most of 5. I think he’d be okay if he did that. I’m thrilled to hear that he’s starting a whole new mythology. Hope Dean will play a more central role in it this time. I’m very, VERY! excited for the S8 premiere-I don’t think I’ve been this excited since the S4 premiere!
So, does that one guy Dean Winchester still play on the show? Because the interviewer asked about every character under the sun but Dean. Characters who aren’t even close to being leads on the show.
Anyway, I’m not particularly happy about Sam’s new love interest, or the fact that he doesn’t seem to have spent anytime looking for Dean after his disappearance, but I am happy that Carver seems to be moving away from that contrived mess of a storyline that Sam has had for the last couple of seasons. He’s right, there was too much going on with Sam’s soullessness, the wall, the crumbling wall, and the boring Lucifer hallucinations. I’d really like to find out exactly who Sam is now. He’s been lost underneath all the drama for the last few seasons.
I’m not quite sure why the Sam fans are so upset. At least your character was mentioned. You go by this interview, Dean doesn’t exist. Apparently, it was way more important to get spoilers on Bobby and Kevin’s mom. I’m just thrilled we are going back to the days of entire interviews about the show where Dean’s name isn’t mentioned even once, by the interviewer (nicely blatant bias there) or the showrunner.
“Why wouldn’t Sam have a girlfriend?”
How about because he spent hundred of years being tortured/raped in a cage with Lucifer? How about because his last girlfriend was roasted on a ceiling in front of his eyes? How about because the brother who practically raised him disappeared right in front of his eyes.
Jeremy Carver is destroying the heart of this show– intentionally. This is NOT Sam Winchester. They need to find someone else to run this show ASAP. Carver is the true horror this year.
I find it amusing how the interviewer asked about everyone, including Kevin’s mom, yet nothing about Dean. I also think it would be prudent, Mr Carver, to look at Dean fans and realize that there are many of us.
I love the direction the show seems to be taking, and after 7 seasons of Dean being all abou Sam and, as Mr Carver so well realized that Sam seemed to be the only one with a million stories, I find it refreshing that Dean now has a story of his own. Please leave Dean’s story about Dean and don’t turn it to something about Sam.
For the Sam fans who are whining about Sam’s story, I would like to remind them that when Dean has a domestic story with a love life, these same fans insisted that the story was great for Dean and Dean didn’t need anything else then being Sam’s brother and have a side story about family that went nowhere.
Maybe it’s time to stop whining about what Sam doesn’t have and start appreciating all that Sam was given, including all of Dean’s storylines with this latest one of Sam having a family life and trying to juggle both family and hunting. If you feel it’s Deja Vu, I may once again remind you that when Dean had this story, the Sam fans were ecstatic. So, if it’s good enough for Dean, surely it’s good enough for Sam.
Anyway, Mr Carver, for all the Dean fans that this interviewer decided to ignore, I thank you for Dean’s storyline and am looking forward to a great season where Dean’s story will play out. It sounds extremely interesting and I can’t wait!
Dean fans, there is more from Carver about Dean coming post-episode. (And in the meantime, Jensen talked a bit about what he could say about his arc pre-premiere here: https://www.givememyremote.com/remote/2012/09/28/supernatural-jensen-ackles-teases-deans-return-from-purgatory/)
….sigh….
I don’t even recognize this version of Sam. I’ve always been a Dean girl and I STILL think Sam is getting shafted here. And I hate the idea that Sam and Dean are just moving on from each other like old friends who don’t see each other as often…that’s a horrible analogy, and a horrible thing to do to the show if it’s true.
I’m interested in Sam and Dean interacting with EACH OTHER, Mr. Carver. Not all these other people. And I’d like them to do it onscreen at the same time where I can see it. Otherwise, I’m not sure what’s left of the show I’ve loved for the last 7 years.
Good to hear. Can’t wait to read what Carver has in store for Dean.
I am so scared!! I love this show and I love these guys and I am so scared!! I had such high hopes for season 8, but everything I read just makes me want to sit in the corner and rock. It sounds like JC doesn’t know Sam & Dean at all. Heck, even Jared’s interviews sound like he doesn’t know Sam & Dean at all. I keep telling my friends it’s going to be okay, let’s just keep the faith and see what happens……but I’m slowly beginning to see what they have been saying all along…..this is the begining of the end and there’s probably no need to worry about seasons 9 & 10. The fans brought SPN to the party and the fans can take ’em out. There can be plenty of conflict and drama on the show without tearing the brothers apart constantly……let them “fight” with other characters, not each other. We have seen time and time again what the lying and secrets do to their relationship…..why is that necessary? SPN is about Sam & Dean Winchester against the world…….not against each other. I am just so scared and getting so sad!
Thanks for the clarification that more about Dean is forthcoming, Marisa. I was also wondering why he wasn’t even mentioned in this interview.
I have to say, I’m really surprised by some of the comments here. I’ve seen plenty of complaints over the last few years that how we never get Sam’s POV, get to know the real Sam, and see him have a meaningful relationship with anyone outside of Dean. This season, it sounds like Carver’s planning a lot of focus on the “human” Sam, so a lot of those issues should be addressed. Instead, it seems some fans want more trauma for the poor guy, more PTSD, discussions about being raped in the Cage, bringing up all his dead girlfriends…yikes! Let Sam be happy for once! As someone who loves his character, I’m all for him finally having some peace in his life.
It’s wonderful how some people need to insult and say we’re sockpuppets when some fans show dislike for the spoilers. Very mature.
Sounds like the majority of fans here have decided to hate Jeremy Carver before the season has even started. We haven’t even seen the first episode and there is a lynch mob forming. I’m going to defend the brothers for the following reasons and you hate me all you want.
#1 At the season 7 finale Dean did not know where they had ended up – Cas had to tell him. Why would Sam assume Dean went to Purgatory when it is reserved for Monsters exclusively just as Heaven and Hell are reserved only for Humans.
#2 Sam could not compell Crowley to help him rescue Dean. What exactly does Sam have to bargain with? Nothing.
#3 Sam had help with locating Dean when Chronos took him. He had their own detective work, the lore, Jody and finally a note from Dean himself.
Now onto Amelia. It has already been stated that both she and Sam are troubled and at the season opener they are on a break. We don’t know how this relationship is going to pan out. I can say that the characters on Jeremy Carver’s old show the USA version of Being Human are adult and modern a well as believable. The male friends/ roommates are close and supportive. So I am saying Jeremy could write great episodes for these characters and he will do it again for Supernatural. Please just give him a chance.
Wow. This sounds like the bottom of the barrel. This season looks like it will be horrible and yet again, the one issue I have with SPN is the writer’s inability to address issues a human being would have after being through what Sam and Dean have been through. Not to mention the numerous storylines that have been completely forgotten about. They seem to enjoy seeping it under the rug because they are apparently completely inept at writing a decent show anymore and dealing with human emotions.
Thanks a lot, Carver. Looking forward to it.
wow-people sure are negative. i am thrilled that we are finally going to get a dean centered story arc. that he has another relationship other than cas-who has done nothing but betrayed dean -and if dean had been written as dean instead of some foreign emo character-dean would have killed cas because of what he did to sam.
that being said-i think carver missed the mark on sam not looking for dean. sam had plenty of clues to go by to find his brother. sam knew the circumstances of deans disappearence. he new crowly had keven. sam could have went after lower demons to find kevin or to find where crowly was. sam could have gone to the alpha vamp to see if he new what happens after using the bone knife thing. he could have used bobbies library, rufus’ library, samuels library to see if he could find anything. sam new some psycics he could have went to. Missouri for one. (remember her??? anything just to let the viewer know he at least tried.
that being said-carver has said that things aren’t always what they seem to be this year. so we could all be blowing smoke here and later on in the season find out sam did look.
thank you mr.carver for finally giving jensen ackles some meat to did his acting chops into for a change. last year was agonizing for us jensen/dean fans to watch. such talent being wasted. same for jared. these two have such chemistry with each other. to not utilized it and waste it like sera did last season was a huge mistake.
thats “dig” not “did” his acting chops into. (fingers)
I share the same worries on Sam’s SL and Sam&Dean relationship as most of the people who commented on this have.
I am thrilled to bits by the spoilers coming out concerning Dean, Castiel and Benny. I think this is going to be the best season in years!
I don’t know, this development concerns me in regards to Sam. I was excited at first to hear Sam was going to be in a relationship this season because I would like to see him have to fight through the damage caused by his past to form a healthy relationship. I thought this might be a cool undercurrent in the plot. Especially when I heard that Amelia was sort of a damaged soul herself, I thought it would be cool if the two characters could find comfort from each other. If they decide to just ignore a chunk of Sam’s past, however, it’s not going to be nearly as interesting as it could be. I hope this isn’t the direction they take. I’m a fangirl, but not a crazy fangirl. I’d be totally happy to see Sam in a relationship. I just think they should do justice to the relationship.
As far as his efforts to find Dean, I really hope they elaborate further on what Sam did before giving up on finding him. If Sam gave up super quickly, even though he’s the more independent of the two, it’s going to seem out of character. I mean, this is the same guy who tried to sacrifice his own soul to bring his brother back from hell. He’s not just gonna give up quickly, especially with Bobby and all of their other close friends gone already.
I’m still incredibly positive about season 8 and the possibility of two more seasons afterward. I just hope things stay great on this show until the end.
It’s so sad to see (read, that is, since I won’t be watching) how far SN has fallen. From this amazing little show that could that was about FAMILY and BROTHERS and a relationship between those brothers that was stated to be pretty much the third lead in the series to something where in order to “mature,” these brothers who have lived and died through everything with each other for the past seven years need to move on, treat each other like married-with-kids-after-it-breaks-up band members. Where rather than finally letting the boys have a good run TOGETHER, with each other the most important thing in their lives, the boys have to develop outside relationships in order to be realized as characters. Where backstory has to be swept under the table because “why not?” instead of solid evolution after DEALING with things.
I don’t blame Carver or even Gamble. Kripke started things off, feeling that there needed to be conflict between Sam and Dean in order to move the story, even when they had enough conflict coming AT them to launch several series. Getting bored with the Psy!kids and so just killing them all instead of fleshing out the whole story (a trend of ignoring major plotlines that would continue up to the present). Gamble and Carver are continuing in his tradition: minimizing the brother relationship that made this show truly unique and special and treating it like it’s no more important than the Monster of the Week.
I miss the Sam and Dean and show I fell in love with. I’ve been disappointed, angry, impassioned, and now am finally resigned. It isn’t coming back, and I won’t be either.
I still hope others enjoy it and imagine they will–more power to them. But I am sad for what we’ve lost.
Very excited about the spoilers of the 8th season. Woooohoooo Bitch*s!! 😀
I, for one, am very happy about Sam’s storyline this season. I’m glad Carver realizes we need to finally explore another dynamic of his character, and regardless of the amount of fits Wincest fans throw, growth and maturity is natural and to be expected in storytelling. The guys don’t need to be attached at the hip 24/7 to maintain a spectacular bond. It sounds new and fresh and happy Sammy equals happy me.
I’m really excited about Sam’s new love interest and storyline, and also the Purgatory storyline with the dinamic trio of Dean, Cas and Benny. I’d be happier than ever, if the brothers were at least a little less co-dependant and more of their own persons this seasons!
All of you Jeremy C. haters are immature wincest fans, who cannot be happy about anything, but the brothers redundat, co-dependant problems, stop complaining, the season haven’t even started yet! It finally seems we get a cool storyline for everyone and not just manpain and “what’s wrong with Sam again”.
Is there a character named Dean on the show? Wouldn’t know it given how little he was mentioned in this interview. Why not ask some questions about Dean too? I mean even Bobby got a question.
Luckily I’m fairly excited why what I’ve heard other places about Dean’s storyline or I wouldn’t even bother watching this season after the last 2 seasons. I’m hopeful Purgatory will be treated with a little more gravitas and importance than Dean’s Hell experience was which got a total of about 10 minutes screen time in Season 4, most of which involved people criticizing him for not being over it already, before it was brushed off as “doesn’t really matter anyway let’s forget he was there”.
I don’t really have a problem with Sam having a girlfriend but I can’t say I really buy Carver’s reasoning for it or the way he apparently sets up the storyline, going by what has been said in other interviews(really, Sam just gave up on Dean, because it was too hard to figure out what might have happened to him? And this is the guy they try to tell us is practically a genius? Yeah it’s not a good excuse, disappearance is almost never going to equal death in their world so the fact that Sam would assume it just…whatever
ETA; Just saw Marisa’s not about Dean when I went up thread to read something–that’s good to know but I still think some little thing about Dean should have been put in this interview, because it just looks very strange that nothing at all is mentioned about him specifically is even mentioned in this article, when even Bobby gets a question.
Good Heavens, people, how about waiting and seeing how it plays out before declaring that you hate it or don’t recognize the characters or whatever? You haven’t seen them yet! Personally I’d be GLAD to see a good majority of the past couple of seasons erased and things reset to a time pre-Gamble, but I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen–you saw that Carver also said “Obviously we’re not disregarding anything from the past,” right?
For all we know Sam may have had all kinds of issues with his new love interest for precisely the reasons people have listed here. Just because he has good reason to be scared of getting into relationships doesn’t mean that the desire or temptation to be close to someone wouldn’t still be there, especially with Dean, Bobby and Cas all gone.
I’m looking forward to seeing what Jeremy and company come up with this season. I can’t imagine how they could disappoint me more than 85% of Seasons 6 and 7 did.
“I think being away, when I came back, I looked at it with those [fresh] eyes and went, “Why wouldn’t he [have a relationship]?” And then someone reminded me, “Because…there are about 15 million people who don’t want him to.” [Laughs] And I think it’s very organic, I think this season is very organic. I think it’s a very interesting relationship people are going to get.”
Just stumbled across this, and it completely confirms my feeling through these first six episodes of S8 that Carver does not give a damn about how the audience feels. He just wants to do what he wants to do, and if the audience doesn’t like it, tough. It sounds like his colleagues tried to talk him out of it, but he didn’t pay them any mind either. And now a lot of people, including TV critics, are saying it’s not organic and it’s not interesting. In fact, it’s contrived and boring. Here’s from MaryAnn Sleasman, critic at tv.com: “The Amelia/Sam story is that special kind of awful…the flashbacks seemingly plunked down randomly throughout any given episode…They seem awkward and wooden and honestly, kind of bored…I’ve found myself cringing through most of their scenes over the past two weeks.”
In that regard, it’s a shame Supernatural’s ratings have gone up now that it has been moved off the graveyard night of Fridays and has been paired with Arrow, the best lead-in imaginable. I’m sure Carver will take credit for this (never mind Supernatural scored a 0.8 for its premiere, same as the year before under Sera on Fridays, and only hit 1.0 when Arrow premiered a week later) and continue to not give a damn about audience reaction.
He’s lucky he inherited the most loyal fanbase out there. But he shouldn’t push his luck. We may be still watching, but that doesn’t mean we’re enjoying it, and that doesn’t mean we’ll keep watching. I’ve seen a lot of diehard fans say they’re giving it until the end of the season, and if things aren’t better, they’re bowing out. And I’ll be one of them.
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