SPN 6x01
Hmmmm.
Well, let's get the bad stuff out of the way, I guess.
1. Between the flashbacks, the montage, the hallucinations, and the commercials that went on forever, it sorta felt like not much of anything happened. Really, though, it mainly had to do with the cast bloat. Traditionally, Supernatural has only had a couple of secondary characters at a time, and they rarely all show up in a single episode. Or, if they do, it's all part of a single narrative strand (see: Heaven and Hell, or Point of No Return). This ep had a lot of characters, most of whom needed some sort of introduction, since they were either new, or they were callbacks to previous seasons that the audience might not be expected to recognize if they hadn't been around for years. Samuel was in one episode two seasons ago (we got a flashback). Lisa's been in a grand total of three episodes over the course of the last five seasons, and Ben in only one of those (we get the montage establishing Dean's life with them). The YED's been dead and gone for three seasons now (we get lengthy hallucinations detailing his past with the Winchesters). The Campbell cousins are new and needed to be introduced. Dean's friend Sid (RIP) was new and needed to be introduced. It all took up a lot of time and kinda fragmented the story. Which leads me to my next point.
2. The episode was so busy going in so many different directions, Sam and Dean basically had no time for any meaningful interaction. Usually, with so few secondary characters, Sam and Dean are alone together and interacting in about half of the scenes in any given episode. This ep? Sam and Dean got about three scenes where they said more than ten words to each other. I'm hoping that, now that all the other characters are established, and we know where everyone stands (more or less), things will pick up, and the boys will get more scenes together.
3. Due to the way the premiere was set up, and the lack of interaction between the boys, it might be too early to get worked up about this, but... well. I'm reminded unpleasantly of S4, in which most (read: almost all) of the emotional drama is from Dean's POV, while Sam's characterization and motivation remain enigmatic. I understand why that was a necessary device for this episode -- both Dean and the audience have been in the dark for a year, so his POV is the natural entry point. With any luck, we'll get to see some more of the inside of Sam's head in the near future. I'm particularly hopeful on this point, what with Sara in charge now. Shirtless!Sam and Sam!centric episodes. Oh please, oh please, on both those scores.
The good things:
1. Yay YED!!!! I have to admit, when I saw the spoilers that Azazel would be in the premiere, I was worried. I was really, really hoping it would be a dream, and it was! Well, you know, close enough. So, I got to revel in the YED, by my favorite of the YED actors, without worrying that his death had been undone. So, yeah, yay for the YED!
2. The Campbells are interesting. It remains to be seen if they'll stay that way (the angels were initially interesting, but got old real damn fast), but for now, I'm happy to wait and see. I suppose it's not that much of a leap to figure that there's something sinister going on with them, but I'm officially stating my suspicion for the record. For one thing, I'm rather wondering if Samuel is actually Samuel. As it is, it all seems a bit pat. And, assuming he is exactly who/what he says, I'm placing my bet right now that his and Sam's resurrections are either a side-effect or cause of whatever hinkiness is going on with the beasties.
(Striking out from that for a moment, I have a theory [it could be bunnies!]. I sincerely doubt that this is where the season is going to go -- for one thing, it's an enormous cheat. But. I think it would be really cool. Ahem. Yeah, my theory [or maybe midgets] is that neither Sam nor Samuel [and isn't that going to get confusing quick] is who he seems to be. Who/what are they? Got me. But, I dunno, something keeps pinging me about both of them. And I've always loved the trope of someone/thing impersonating someone, and he doesn't even know that he's not him, and then the original shows up, and there is angst. I would really, really love it if this Sam isn't actually Sam, and real!Sam is still in hell, and then he gets resurrected for real mid-season, and fake!Sam is all, "But I'm Sam!" I know. They're not gonna do that. But it's a theory that I like, anyway.)
3. Kinda loving the new Sam. I wasn't sure what to make of Jared's interview, but I'm rather pleased with the result. I like that Sam apologized to Dean for the radio silence, but he wasn't falling over himself feeling guilty over it. I'm intrigued by they way he implied that he doesn't really care about the people he's saving anymore. I'd also like to know what his relationship with the Campbells is actually like. One can only assume that they get along, or he wouldn't have stuck around for a year, and he wouldn't have been so cheerful introducing them to Dean. But, hm, for all we didn't get much interaction between Sam and Dean, we got even less between Sam and the Campbells. Obviously, they're hiding the whole kidnapping critters thing from him, but what I really want to know is what his day-to-day dealings with them are like. And finally, naturally, I really want Sammy to spill the beans on Hell. He will eventually -- these boys always spill eventually, but for all Dean's talk about chick flick moments, it's Sam who's the closed-mouthed bastard, and I think it'll take a while and something major happening to get him to talk. (Maybe real!Sam coming back from Hell? A girl can dream.)
Anyway, I obviously had some issues with the episode, but looking back at what I've written here, they're pretty much all just storytelling things, and mostly have to do with the format they chose for the premiere. Plot-wise, things are looking pretty good, and while I'm reserving final judgment, I remain guardedly optimistic.
Here's to next week.