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Supernatural can’t be ABOUT the Winchesters if it’s just them driving around hunting monsters

ilovehowyouletmefall:

A common complaint that I see from back-to-basics, Two Brothers fans about season 7 is that too many monster-of-the-week episodes were about supporting characters rather than the Winchesters. 

And I understand this complaint. It’s true. For the first five seasons, the story was driven by the Winchesters’ struggles, which both had global consequences and were very personal. Since then, it hasn’t been. Sam and Dean’s story was resolved in “Swan Song” and from then on they’ve just had stuff happen to them instead of being protagonists. Season 6 was driven by Castiel’s arc (even if that wasn’t made clear until towards the end of the season). The problem with season 7 was that it was all over the place and not driven by much of anything, hence one-episode supporting characters carrying the plot. There are people who complain that Castiel got a better arc in his three episodes than Sam and Dean did all season. And yeah, I think that’s true. Because, contrary to what haters often claim, Sam and Dean’s story ended with season 5, but Castiel’s did not. 

The problem, though, is not Cas (or other supporting characters) being on the show. The problem was that the writers didn’t find a way to open up Sam and Dean’s story to make it really about them. They could’ve done that by making Sam and Dean the centre of another prophesy and cosmic struggle. I can understand why they shied away from that route. OR the writers could do that by using Sam and Dean’s relationships with other characters. Like season 1 was about finding their father. 

The thing is, to do that either one of them has to be in peril, (entailing some kind of angst or the two of them splitting up) or, Sam and Dean have to have important relationships with characters other than each other. 

You know what would have made season 7 about the Winchesters? If Castiel had been the villain. Or at least if Misha Collins had played the head Leviathan, using Castiel’s relationship with the Winchesters against them in a very personal way, more than just utilizing what factual information he knows about them. But, oops, that would involve reaffirming how important Castiel was to the boys.

Since there’s no one left (besides Cas) to make the story personal, splitting up Sam and Dean like this is the best thing the writers could have done. 

What gets me about the complaints about the season 7 finale, is that people who are upset are ignoring the fact that Sam actually has something to actively do now, instead of just dealing with stuff happening to him like he has for the past two seasons. Sam has a quest now. And instead of it just being “stop the bad guy”, it’s personal. He has to get his brother (and friend) back from Purgatory. And that’s a major reason why season 8 has so much potential to be awesome.