Season Five Finale Reaction
I had debated writing this up. Every fan with a computer and an hour to kill is going to be doing the same thing, and there's very little my opinion can add to it. This is, relatively, a knee-jerk response to the finale of Supernatural's season five.
Here's the thing: if season six wasn't confirmed, and the series ended at season five, I think the ending would have been different. I think the plan would have still gone through, but I think both brothers would have died in the process. As it is, we-- as fans-- got exactly what we asked for.
We asked for more, and we got it. We never specified quality, or story, or negotiated what characters stick around or in what state. We simple asked for more, and they're giving us season six. So, shut up and stop whining.
Overall, I'm ambivalent towards the season finale. It wasn't gripping, it was wrapping things up in the story line. There are new things to keep fans ranting and raving and theorizing for a few days, and that's all they needed to really do.
Is Chuck God? Well, it certainly explains why Gabriel got away with his running off to enjoy sex and candy. There's the idiots asking why the amulet never reacted to Chuck if he was God. So I'm going to point out, once, and only once; if that character was God, then I'm fairly certain reality would bend however he wanted it to. If the poofing off into oblivion is just what happens to prophets when the story is up, then the amulet wouldn't react that way, either.
I rather like the idea of Cas taking over Michael's role in Heaven. He wasn't cut out to be human-- as was evidenced by his growing affinity to alcohol. He was bitter, broken, and now, as an archangel (dude, he brought people back from the dead, he's not a little nerdy warrior anymore) Castiel gets some of his purpose back, and some of his faith. You know, that thing angels were created to have.
And, the thing about the initial fan outcry against Cas' new form is that complaining about it doesn't make sense. Dean and Cas were growing apart for most of the season. Things were downplayed. Half the fan works out there involved giving Cas his angel powers back, making him take the place of Michael or Lucifer, or keeping him human (which just doesn't work for the character). Not that any of the other options couldn't be pulled off, but Cas was a recurring character, not a fixture. He appeared and disappeared more often than Bobby and Ellen.
Finally, the big fan kerfluffle: "Oh my god (Chuck?), Dean's gonna end up with Lisa and they're gonna get married and he's going to settle down and... and..."
No. We don't know that. He showed up for a beer and his last shot was of him sitting at a table with Ben and Lisa. Immediately after being shown inside. This isn't months after. It's not years after. And while I maintain that Lisa is still the tangible symbol of what Dean could never have had before ("Dream a Little Dream" made it clear that Dean did dream about Lisa and Ben and a domestic life; Cassie was a no-go by her own admission, Jo is dead), there is nothing indicating that he's now settling down and sticking with them. Hell, he stopped in for a beer after losing everything.
Yes, Lisa is sort of a curve-ball, but fans who ship slash pairings as the preferred and predominant, don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to female characters acting as love interests. Hell, Jo had a ton of acid from the community, and I still think she and Dean (hell, Dean and Ellen) would have been awesome.
So I'm going to take stock:
-The story was wrapped up-- with no indication of how the status quo will be upset next season (while I maintain that they should have pulled another Joss Whedon move and went for future seasons in comics/books, I'm not going to whine about it). Fans were given exactly what they asked for as a collective: fan favourites are alive (excepting Gabe, but if Chuck was God, if Cas was brought back as an archangel... Yeah, never know), neither paradise nor hell exists on earth.
-Most favourite characters are alive in some form. Bobby is alive and healed, which is already more than I hoped for. Dean is alive, Cas is alive, and Sam is possibly alive. Along the way we lost Ellen, Jo, and Gabriel. So three of the characters died, and four are alive. The development of the characters was iffy about mid-season, but it's a passive medium for fans.
-Fresh slate for season six. There's no where else to really go. I'd say there's Dean being a father to Ben, teaching him how to hunt; there's role reversal where Dean loses everything and supernatural Sammy looks out for him, or... I dunno. There are possibilities, and most of them are fan ideas.
-It's continuing. Sure, there are issues I have with the how and why the show is continuing, but I'm still likely to watch the next season out of habit now, and still participate.
Overall, though, I liked how it ended. I can live with that. The story drew to a close, and that's what it was supposed to do. What they do from here on out is still on a fresh canvas. Fanfic.
Which leads me to the last point; if you didn't like something, stop whining. That's canon. Fanfics and fanart and whatever else exists in fandom is there for a reason-- take out your entitlement by writing how you thought it should have ended (I intend to do this-- Ellen and Jo are not dead, dammit!).
Here's the thing: if season six wasn't confirmed, and the series ended at season five, I think the ending would have been different. I think the plan would have still gone through, but I think both brothers would have died in the process. As it is, we-- as fans-- got exactly what we asked for.
We asked for more, and we got it. We never specified quality, or story, or negotiated what characters stick around or in what state. We simple asked for more, and they're giving us season six. So, shut up and stop whining.
Overall, I'm ambivalent towards the season finale. It wasn't gripping, it was wrapping things up in the story line. There are new things to keep fans ranting and raving and theorizing for a few days, and that's all they needed to really do.
Is Chuck God? Well, it certainly explains why Gabriel got away with his running off to enjoy sex and candy. There's the idiots asking why the amulet never reacted to Chuck if he was God. So I'm going to point out, once, and only once; if that character was God, then I'm fairly certain reality would bend however he wanted it to. If the poofing off into oblivion is just what happens to prophets when the story is up, then the amulet wouldn't react that way, either.
I rather like the idea of Cas taking over Michael's role in Heaven. He wasn't cut out to be human-- as was evidenced by his growing affinity to alcohol. He was bitter, broken, and now, as an archangel (dude, he brought people back from the dead, he's not a little nerdy warrior anymore) Castiel gets some of his purpose back, and some of his faith. You know, that thing angels were created to have.
And, the thing about the initial fan outcry against Cas' new form is that complaining about it doesn't make sense. Dean and Cas were growing apart for most of the season. Things were downplayed. Half the fan works out there involved giving Cas his angel powers back, making him take the place of Michael or Lucifer, or keeping him human (which just doesn't work for the character). Not that any of the other options couldn't be pulled off, but Cas was a recurring character, not a fixture. He appeared and disappeared more often than Bobby and Ellen.
Finally, the big fan kerfluffle: "Oh my god (Chuck?), Dean's gonna end up with Lisa and they're gonna get married and he's going to settle down and... and..."
No. We don't know that. He showed up for a beer and his last shot was of him sitting at a table with Ben and Lisa. Immediately after being shown inside. This isn't months after. It's not years after. And while I maintain that Lisa is still the tangible symbol of what Dean could never have had before ("Dream a Little Dream" made it clear that Dean did dream about Lisa and Ben and a domestic life; Cassie was a no-go by her own admission, Jo is dead), there is nothing indicating that he's now settling down and sticking with them. Hell, he stopped in for a beer after losing everything.
Yes, Lisa is sort of a curve-ball, but fans who ship slash pairings as the preferred and predominant, don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to female characters acting as love interests. Hell, Jo had a ton of acid from the community, and I still think she and Dean (hell, Dean and Ellen) would have been awesome.
So I'm going to take stock:
-The story was wrapped up-- with no indication of how the status quo will be upset next season (while I maintain that they should have pulled another Joss Whedon move and went for future seasons in comics/books, I'm not going to whine about it). Fans were given exactly what they asked for as a collective: fan favourites are alive (excepting Gabe, but if Chuck was God, if Cas was brought back as an archangel... Yeah, never know), neither paradise nor hell exists on earth.
-Most favourite characters are alive in some form. Bobby is alive and healed, which is already more than I hoped for. Dean is alive, Cas is alive, and Sam is possibly alive. Along the way we lost Ellen, Jo, and Gabriel. So three of the characters died, and four are alive. The development of the characters was iffy about mid-season, but it's a passive medium for fans.
-Fresh slate for season six. There's no where else to really go. I'd say there's Dean being a father to Ben, teaching him how to hunt; there's role reversal where Dean loses everything and supernatural Sammy looks out for him, or... I dunno. There are possibilities, and most of them are fan ideas.
-It's continuing. Sure, there are issues I have with the how and why the show is continuing, but I'm still likely to watch the next season out of habit now, and still participate.
Overall, though, I liked how it ended. I can live with that. The story drew to a close, and that's what it was supposed to do. What they do from here on out is still on a fresh canvas. Fanfic.
Which leads me to the last point; if you didn't like something, stop whining. That's canon. Fanfics and fanart and whatever else exists in fandom is there for a reason-- take out your entitlement by writing how you thought it should have ended (I intend to do this-- Ellen and Jo are not dead, dammit!).