Why does SPN S7 feel like it’s going through the motions?

[rusty_halo]

Had a great Thanksgiving with my friend Cat. She stayed over for a few days and we went to Candle 79 for Thanksgiving, where we enjoyed a delicious meal and she ran into David Duchovny in line for the bathroom. I had Thanksgiving with Mulder! In an all-vegan restaurant! :) Of course she was a consummate New Yorker and didn’t let on that she had any idea who he was, though we are both X-Files fans from way back and spent the rest of the meal squeeing over it.

We also continued our SPN marathon with the last few episodes of season six. It really struck home how much I enjoyed season six, and how wonderful Castiel was when they actually gave him something to do. I've been extremely disappointed by season seven and it wasn't until re-watching the end of season six that I realized how much the lack of Castiel is detracting from my enjoyment of the show.

The only things I was really invested in last season were Dean's relationships with Castiel and with Lisa, and now both are gone. It really feels like there is just nothing dynamic or compelling at all about season seven, no emotional hook to keep me interested.

Of course the only "hook" the show is really invested in exploring is the relationship between the brothers, but it's giving me nothing. I was actually starting to quite like Sam in seasons three, four, and five, as his "dark side" became a primary part of his story, but now he's become incredibly pointless, affectless, and uninteresting. It's hard to care about the relationship between a character and a block of wood. :P

Sam magically recovered from hell trauma and is totally fine? Seriously? What is the point of this character? What does he want from his life? What about the side of him that wanted to be a lawyer--is that totally gone? Does he ever regret not having a normal life? Is he driven by guilt over disappointing his father? Does he just want to be a hunter forever? Is he resigned to it, is he emotionally repressing, is this lack of affect coming from somewhere traumatized or is he just... cool with spending the rest of his life in discomfort, isolation, and codependency?

I think the show wants us to think he's just driven by his love for Dean and refusal to leave Dean in this miserable life alone, but the show's take on it is so one-dimensional, so without layers, and Padalecki's acting adds nothing. And if we're supposed to believe in this intense, profound emotional bond between the brothers, where's the evidence of it? Dean's clearly in the midst of a complete emotional breakdown and Sam's reaction is indifference and business-as-usual?

And then there's Dean, who I love, but everything he's ever wanted has been torn away from him, he's resigned himself to a life of misery, he's clearly unhappy about it and frequently suicidal, and hey I LOVE angst, but the show barely does anything with this plotline--they've barely mentioned Lisa and Ben, and though they've acknowledged Cas, we've seen almost nothing of Dean himself actually dealing with the loss. And meanwhile the only other characters Dean has to react against are Sam, who's basically a black hole of pointlessness (so sad after 7x02 where their relationship briefly seemed interesting again!), and Bobby, who's also pointless and exists solely for the purpose of delivering exposition and trite folk "wisdom." Ugh.

It was such a contrast, watching the end of season six, where Dean has such profound emotional interactions with Lisa (lovely but underdeveloped) and the amazing, dynamic Castiel.

I am totally with the show on jettisoning the angel storyline, but jettisoning their second-best character didn't have to be part of the deal. Make him human, cut him off from heaven, turn him into something else, I don't care; a good writer could figure out how to utilize him. :( :( :(

So anyway, I went into this week's episode praying for Bobby's death (at least eliminate this pointless character from sucking up screentime every week, and give the boys a new situation to react to) and I think the show kind of almost gave it to me? Because clearly he's not going to be around in the same capacity anymore? But ARGH, at the end, they still didn't have the guts to actually get rid of him once and for all. >:( I am betting on a coma, until the show figures out if its renewed for season eight and is willing to extend a contract to the actor. That way they can eliminate a pointless narrative suckhole while still keeping the boys fairly functional as characters. But meanwhile it feels like pulling narrative punches, from a show I used to think was brave.

I still think they are building up to a breakdown from Dean that I am hoping and praying will be interesting and will last over an arc of episodes and will be worth all this buildup. Right now it just seems like they are killing time with pointless MOTWs, but they must be going somewhere, right? And maybe they can bring Castiel back? Please?

*sigh*

Oh well, at least there's fanfiction.

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[alpheratz]

David Duchovny, eating beside me... :D

[soundingsea]

The only things I was really invested in last season were Dean's relationships with Castiel and with Lisa, and now both are gone. It really feels like there is just nothing dynamic or compelling at all about season seven, no emotional hook to keep me interested.

I can agree with this, even the Castiel bit, in that at least it was engaging (even if I didn't like all of it) and now... things are much, much flatter.

I got the feeling Bobby was actually dead, fwiw.

It's hard to care about the relationship between a character and a block of wood. :P

Snerk!