(no subject)

[oselle]

Hmmm, it's 11:30 and I found an ancient bottle of Bacardi in the back of my kitchen cupboard and as the Chairman of the Board used to say, Saturday night is the loneliest night of the week, so you're all gonna sit here and listen to me idly rambling about Supernatural Season Three speculation.

I'm pretty excited because this is my first SPN season premiere as a fan. Aren't you happy for me? Aren't you??? I feel like I'm going to the debutante ball. Only instead of wearing a white dress and dancing with some cute guy in a tux, like when Sam Wichester took that little Gilmore bitch to her deb ball, I'll be sitting on my couch in my pajamas, most likely chain smoking from sheer excitement. Not much difference there.

Anyhow. I was bitching to baylorsr that they shouldn't have killed off the Yellow-Eyed Demon at the end of Season Two because what are they gonna do now? And she said that she read that Kripke had grown tired of the whole Demon thing and to be honest, you could sometimes kind of tell that he was tired of it. I don't really think the whole overarching storyline thing is one of the show's strong suits. Now, the story is that this season is going to focus more on Monsters of the Week. Okay, but they've never really gotten away from that anyway and still, I think you need something bigger hanging over the season because you know what? There really ain't all that much supernatural phenomenon out there. You've got your demons, angry spirits, vampires, werewolves, genies, killer klowns, tricksters, zombies, crazed hillbillies and pissed off Native Americans, but they've already covered all that -- sometimes more than once. Unless they really start getting freaky and give us say, a nice succubus or hey, why not an incubus for all you slash fans, they're gonna need something to override all the Monsters of the Week. So what have we got:

1) Obviously, the big thing for S3 is that Dean has one year to live. Presumably, the chronology of the season will follow that year. The rumor is that Dean's going to make hay while the sun shines and turn into a complete hedonist during this last year of his life on earth. Seriously though, he's not going to be enough of a hedonist to leave the job, so don't get too excited about seeing Dean getting his groove on a lot.

Now, in my fantasy world, this thing will pop up as an issue from time to time. It won't be something they just deal with in a two-part season finale while they wait to find out if they've been renewed for a fourth season. I think the evil forces in these kinds of stories tend to be softies. Signing your soul over to the devil should come with all sorts of strings attached, not just the big one at the end, which you already know about. So, is Dean just going to cruise through this last year or what? I'd rather think not.

However he spends this year, he's got the big kaibosh waiting for him at the end. Not just death, but a one-way ticket to Hades with it. Dean may be fatalistic about the whole thing, but you know Sam's not going to sit quiet for that. We've already seen a bit in the commercial where Sam is informing someone (perhaps the wondrously scruffy Bobby?) that if Dean's going down, he's "going down with him." Well, they can't just both drop dead, so I'd imagine Sam is going to spend a lot of this year trying to get Dean off the hook. You look at folklore and there is basically one way to get out of a deal like this, and that's by outsmarting the devil. Either through some game of chance (dice, cards) or by wiles (hiring a great lawyer, a la Daniel Webster). I'm trying to remember how Homer Simpson got out of his deal when he sold his soul to Beelzeflanders for a doughnut in what was, in many ways, a genuinely scary episode. (Best line ever? Mr. Burns to Smithers upon spying Beelzeflanders on one of his closed-circuit TVs: "Who's that goat-legged fellow? I like the cut of his gib!") The one thing they clearly can't do is have Sam sell his own soul, because enough already with that. If I were the Devil, I'd be so sick of these Winchesters turning up at crossroads that I wouldn't want to see either one of them for all eternity.

I think a lot will depend on whether the show gets renewed. Which I suspect it will because the CW doesn't really have too much on its roster and I think the show has been on long enough now to have picked up a healthy audience. If for some reason, the show does not get renewed, I hope Kripke does the ballsy thing and lets Dean die, giving us the greatest fucking Deathbed Drama scene OF ALL TIME. And I hope Sam pulls an Orpheus and plunges into Hell to go get him, and that's the last we ever hear of The Brothers Winchester in time or on earth. The rest is up to us to imagine.

2) There's still the lingering issue of whether Sam is "100% Sam" or not, following his recent resurrection. Also in question is whether or not Sam is still psychic. Which brings up the whole idea of whether his psychicness came from the Demon or whether it was something of his own -- in which case, to what use will that ability be put now that the Demon doesn't have "plans" for him anymore? There's also an idea that was floated in the S2 finale, that Mary Winchester knew who the Demon was when she found him in the nursery that night. So the implication is that she was marked in some way too. I wouldn't build up too much hope for seeing development of this last thing. I suspect it was either a red herring or an idea that was floated to juice up the finale and has already been abandoned. If Kripke really is tired of the Demon storyline, he's not going to revisit it through Mary Winchester.

3) Also up in the air is the boys' supposed fugitive status. When we last saw our heroes in the real world (as opposed to Cold Oak, South Dakota or the devil's graveyard there in Wyoming) they were the subjects of a nationwide manhunt led by the FBI's own dogged and very ass-kicking Agent Hendrickson. I say "supposed" fugitive status because these guys are the worst fugitives in the whole world and believe me -- baylorsr and I wrote Birthright for two freaking years and we know damn well that Zeke and Casey wouldn't have lasted a minute on the road if they'd been tooling aroud in some giant boat of a vintage muscle car that's big enough to be seen from space. If Dean thinks that finally changing the license plates is going to make a difference then he's as dumb as he is purty. (Don't even get me started on the price of gas. Just how much poker can Dean hustle before he'd have to hustle himself to keep that guzzler rolling? A subject that I'm sure has been covered at great, explicit length in scores of fanfics.) So while I really love Agent Hendrickson and I love the whole fugitive idea, I don't see a way that they can really pursue this storyline in an effective way. It would be kind of fun if they tried, though.

4) As most of you know there are two new "super badass" ladies who are slated to be added to the cast. I've already heard about "Ruby," and, thanks to ghyste have gotten to look at some of her, shall we say, "interesting" footwear. "Interesting" as in, we all know what kind of character this gal is going to be if she's kicking demon ass all over backroads America while wearing four-inch fuck-me heels. I haven't heard anything about Lady Badass No. 2, but I'm certain she'll be just as "interesting." I hope that these characters will only appear on occasion and will not affect the overall storyline that much. And I'm definitely hoping that we don't wind up with episodes about them because I'm here for the boys, okay?

5) I want both Ellen and Bobby to be in this season and if they're not I'm going to be really, really surly. I was looking at Samantha Harris's listing on IMDB and saw, to my dismay, that she doesn't appear to have any episodes listed yet for the 2007/08 season. They could be wrong, or she might just not have filmed any yet. But it will be a terrible shame if they just write off either one of these wonderful supporting characters.

OK that's it from me. This has gone on way too long and this rum is setting my guts on fire. I'd luuuuurve to hear your thoughts for Season Three. Stop in and share, and remember...

U.S. Season Three premiere: Thursday, 9:00 pm, CW (I assume you furriners will be able to download it, so I'm not taunting you with something out of reach!)

Comments

[layne67.livejournal.com]

Have you read about where Dean got his amulet from? Or would you rather not know? It's good, btw.

I have this sinking feeling each time I think about those two girls, heels or no heels. Because, the show is all about Sam and Dean to me, too. But I'd love it if they were to explore the Mary / YED angle. Big question mark there and all sorts of possibilities.

I want Ellen and Bobby back, too. And Ash. And those guys from 'Hell House'. And I wish Ava is not dead. I think she's kinda cute.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Aside from the commercials, I'm avoiding all specific spoilers. I had a moment of weakness the other day and clicked on a message board link that was discussing the premiere and miraculously, the page would not load! So I took that as a sign from above to keep avoiding those spoilers. So no, don't tell me about the amulet.

I liked Ava too and there was a really cute chemistry between her and Sam. There are a lot of women who could wind up in this show who'd be great foils for the guys, but they're not the sort of women that would attract the "young male" audience that the CW really seems to want. We're going to get badass chicks who spout lines like "I'm the girl who just saved your ass!" whether we like it or not.

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

I just read your answer to Layne's comment, and I so agree with you about the two new characters being an attempt by the CW to get more of those desirable young male viewers. What puzzles me is how the suits could think it's young males who make these shows popular (and lucrative for advertisers) It's women who make up most of their audience, and women who support them, and women want to see more Sam and Dean. And some Bobby. Ava is kinda "meh" to me, though I liked her better than the thought of ass-kicking females in stilleto heels. That's about as stupid as Daisy Duke sashaying around the south in crotch-splitting cutoffs and high heels. Give me a broad like Linda Hamilton in Terminator II. Now she was righteous, and she didn't have to flash her tits to prove it.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

The thing is, the network wants both the male and the female viewers. That's perfectly understandable of course, but I've always felt that all of these entertainment companies have a really narrow idea of what appeals to women. I'm sure they think that adding "badass" characters to this show will attract both men and women -- the guys will be there to ogle the chicks and the women will be there for the love interest angle. I can't speak to what guys are there for but I know that in a show like this, the women who watch aren't all that interested in any love angle -- nor do they identify with these comic book heroines. They're just an annoying distraction from what we really want to see. Problem with us is that we're such loyal suckers. We're going to keep tuning in for a glimpse of what we do want past all the badassery, and network execs will pat themselves on the back for having increased their audience.

I've been bitching since the LoTR films about how the female audience is dismissed and ignored when it comes to genre entertainment -- sci-fi, fantasy, etc. I still remember reading an article in the NY Times about how "surprised" New Line Cinema was to find out that LoTR was attracting such a large female audience. What the hell kind of market research were they doing? Women make up a huge portion of the audience for sci-fi/fantasy and we're the ones who keep fandoms afloat -- and yet the perception is that all we want is Grey's Anatomy.

Frankly I've never understood what is so appealing about those "young male" viewers that everyone seems to want so badly. It's women who spend the most money, women who shop -- for themselves, their friends and families, their homes. What the hell does a 20-year old guy buy? Halo3 and Burger King?

[ghyste.livejournal.com]

I've been bitching since the LoTR films about how the female audience is dismissed and ignored when it comes to genre entertainment

But remember - they put in lots of extra Arwen moments just for us girls.

*ducks*

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd be up for spending oodles of money on Supernatural merchandise, if only they'd produce something for me to buy.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you'd better duck.

I've never been that much into merch, so I don't even know what is out there for Supernatural, if anything. I'd sure buy a model of that car, if they had one, as preposterous as I think it is within the context of the story.

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

[ghyste.livejournal.com]

A company that's been selling diecast models of classic cars for years were totally baffled when fandom discovered their Impala and descended like a plague of locusts!

Other than that, it's just the DVDs, the (execrable) Origins comic and one spin-off novel. You can't even get a calendar :(

[oselle.livejournal.com]

You think they got any more of those die-cast models?

I spent a very pleasant hour or so last week looking at muscle-car websites. There were no '67 four-door Impalas for sale, but lots of the two-door coupe versions from the early '70s. In all sorts of bizarre colors though, like...turquoise. Well, it was the '70s. I did find a black Impala sedan but it was a '64 and looked radically different.

[ghyste.livejournal.com]

You think they got any more of those die-cast models?

I believe they sold out their entire stock in a couple of hours. It was a while back, but if I can recall where I saw it mentioned I'll let you have the details.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I was just Googling for it and found lots of the two-door version, but not the four-door. We wants it, Precious.