Dean and Sam Winchester

So, I added the 8 Films to Die For to this week’s Netflix queue and the first batch arrived today.  I am making my favorite dinner and when that’s ready, I plan to sit back in my recliner, eat a great meal and enjoy every minute of the movies!  However, something else arrived in the mail.  The latest addition of Entertainment Weekly.  I go and toss it on the stand next my porcelain throne where it will wait for next trip to the bathroom to be read.  Sure the magazine is better than that but I don’t have a lot of time and bathroom time, is quality time damn it!

Well, bathroom time came a little while later and as I look at the cover I see that one of the major stories is about how Supernatural is more popular than ever and the creator and actor want out.  I had to rant about that.  I almost put down the magazine right then and there without reading it so I could come in here in to my office and rant about how stupid that would be if they actually did that.  But…  Far be it from me to go off half-cocked.  I read the full article.  I can’t go offering an opinion if I don’t know the whole story or at least as much as I can before I rip them a new one.  In a nutshell, the creator Eric Kripke has said that he’s only got 5 seasons in him.  So much for being a creative genius I guess.

There is so much to explore with these characters.  For the creator to say, it’s all he’s got.  Wow, someone needs a vacation.  A nice long one to get his head screwed on straight.  I know how it can be when you work on something for so long that you just can’t see straight any more.  How, if you never have to deal with it again it would be too soon.  But, after a good vacation, I always find inspiration.

But, Mr. Kripke isn’t the only issue here.  The two stars seem to want off the show as well.  This is the biggest issue as I can see it.  I can understand it though.  But, it would be a mistake more than likely.  I can only hope the studio throws a heap of money at all of the above to keep them happy and bitch free.

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles this is for you so please pay attention.  I like the show.  It’s not my favorite but it sure is entertaining.  And, as for pure fun in TV, it’s got to be in my top five shows currently running.  I understand, this isn’t really your concern, though why it wouldn’t be, I have no idea.  Here’s why you should be concerned.  One, you should NEVER LEAVE A HIT SHOW!  Two, and please take this next one with a grain of salt because it’s kinda harsh.  YOU ARE NOT ALL THAT!

A lot of good TV actors have left their popular TV shows over the years to go on to do film.  Most of them we have never heard of again.  Well, that’s not true, there’s always the next Lifetime movie of the week starting Judith Light.  The economy sucks and just because you both just did major motion pictures that almost did ok at the box doesn’t mean anything.  Let’s face it, My Bloody Valentine and the new Friday the 13th movie were disappointments.  I paid to see both of them.  I enjoyed them, but left both feeling that they could have been so much better.  You have a good show, ride it for as long as you can because the next one may not be there.  You both may have offers on the table.  You might have a lot stuff you could also be doing but once you leave and do something else, if it sucks.  You’re not gonna have too many chances after that.

When I say that you’re not all that.  I mean, look, you’re both good looking guys with talent.  Every food server in LA has that.  The only thing that makes you two better than them right now is that you have a hit TV show right now!  Lose that and it’s all over.  You may not believe me.  You may want to believe that everyone is always going to love you but the truth is, no one loves you yet.  They love what you do, not who you are.

Sean Connery is loved.  He can do a movie or not do a movie.  He turned down the last Indiana Jones movie and ya know what?  We still love him.  We all will gladly go see whatever he does next, if he ever does anything next.  The both of you have such great potential.  Don’t waste it on maybe’s.  Take what you have now and ride it with all the passion and heart that your hottest female fans would ride you with given the chance.

Now getting back to Supernatural as a whole.  Here’s why it’s not my favorite show, how it could be and in general what’s wrong with it.  Oh and where to go after the season 5 end battle between the devil and the angels.

First, to me, that isn’t an ending.  That is a copout!  What you have there is a beginning of something great.  Not an ending. But, there’s some things you need to do first.  And, by “you” I mean the writers, crew and actors.  Get out of the soap opera thing that you’ve got goin on with the shows.

Let me explain what I mean by going back to the beginning.  The X-Files.  This is always one of my most

The X-Files

favorite shows of all time.  I have every season on DVD and as much as I loved the show, I could have done without almost half of the episodes and I will tell you why.  No one gives a shit about mythology.  Don’t be fooled by all the geeks that actually write the show and write fan mail and post on fan forums.  These zit faced morons have the depth of a puddle.  They are so shallow, they only have one side. Some mythology is a good thing.  But, when it dominates each show, we lose interest.  We want a good strong story to start and finish in one or two episodes.

This soap opera shit is how you keep the sheep coming back.  It’s an insult to the rest of us and is what keeps more people from watching the show.  Sure we want to know the back stories.  Sure we want to know about these ongoing battles with angels and demons and conflicts between the brothers.  But, too much of a good thing, isn’t.  What intelligent people want is to tune in and see a good scary or interesting story and be done with it.  Stand alone episodes, with hints at the past for those who are really paying attention.

Fox Mulder and Dana Scully

The X-Files started spending so much damn time with the sister issue, with the cover-up issues that it just became a distraction and with each new episode I would become sadly disappointed when I found that it was yet another episode dealing with the stupid mythology that never got solved.  There was never an answer that didn’t get changed 9 times by the end of the series.  So, all it really did was give us a bunch of fake orgasms over 9 years with no real, curl your toes, jizz in your pants moments.  One let down after another.  The best episodes were those stand alones.  Something creepy happens and Fox and Dana have to solve it.  Didn’t matter if it could be explained scientifically at the end of the show or there was some doubt as to its origins.

Supernatural I will admit is handling season 4 the best.  They so far seem to be mostly stand alone episodes that delve only a little in to the mythology.  But, even that is too much.  You’re blowing your load during foreplay here.  Maybe 3 or 4 times a season at most you should delve in to the mythology.  It makes it so much better when you tune in to watch and you get thrown a tasty morel of a characters past, or future or of some ongoing storyline.  But what you’re doing is making it like a birthday. You do that every episode and it it loses it meaning.  It isn’t special any more.  It’s become routine and almost boring.

I am not sure how to fully explain it but basically, mythologies are great, however all myth and no substance is a waste of time.  Make great shows, about new things.  A show is always fresh when you’re not beating the same old dead horse.  You can have a ton of shows about demons and ghosts and have it never get old if you have a creative writing staff that can think outside of the box.

Adding a little more scare though I think would be a plus.  The show isn’t really scary. It’s had some good episodes that in scare factor rivaled most current horror movies but let’s face, most current horror movies kinda suck.  You need more wow!  You need more seriousness too.  You need some depth of character in some serious dramatic ways. I have seen good attempts at this.  There was a werewolf episode a few years back.  Sam as I recall was falling in love with a girl who we discover is a werewolf and he does everything he can to save her but in the end, he could not and chose to kill her himself.  I remember watching and sitting back when it was and thinking, wow.  That was show could have won an Emmy, it was that good.

I like the cheese, I like the inside jokes, “I’m agent Angus, and this is Agent Young.”  That kinda stuff is great don’t lose it.  There’s just the right amount of that kinda stuff.  Just make the rest a little more serious and this show could out run the X-Files, lead to movies and become one of the best horror/sci-fi shows ever.

Or you can all bitch and whine and walk away next season and I will look forward to seeing the cast and crew five years from now in various, straight to video, Dean Caine movies and Lifetime features. It’s your call.

And where do you go after the great battle at the end of season 5?  So many options.  But, dive in to how Sam and Dean or dealing with concept of being that close to the end of the world.  How, they dealt with being so significant that God himself chose them to help.  Find a happy medium with Sam’s demon blood.  These back story tensions can last for seasons and never get old as long as you keep giving people good, scary, and interesting stories each week.  If any of the writers think that’s too hard, then give them a vacation and I will come down help out.  Give me at least one experienced writer and I will give you stories that will scare the shit even the most cynical critics like me.