Thursday , March 28 2024
Theorizing, summarizing, and a bit of worrying, seven days before the premiere.

Supernatural: The Eighth Season Approaches

Remember those good old days when the arch villain was only Lucifer himself, and the only calamitous event to be stopped was the end of the world? No big deal, the Winchesters got rid of the Devil, stopped the Apocalypse, and sent God and the angels to hell (metaphorically). Now it’s time for the heroes of Supernatural to tackle some serious business.

Last season (which went by the magical number seven and unfortunately happened to be all but magical), the serious business in question had to do with the Leviathans – monsters from Purgatory who hadn’t walked the earth since the dawn of time. In the finale, Dean and Castiel managed to destroy head Leviathan Dick Roman, but at the price of getting themselves stuck in Purgatory, while Sam was left all alone. Now, the eighth season is on its way to premiering on the CW on October 3rd…what can we expect?

With God running the show, good things, one hopes. Remember that season four episode where the boys meet Carver Edlund, the writer of the Supernatural books who turns out to actually be the Creator? Of course, at the time, the naming was rather inaccurate, as the God-like figure behind the show was still Kripke, the show creator and show runner. Now that season eight is upon us, the name as entirely accurate, for the brilliant duo of Jeremy Carver and Ben Edlund has taken over Supernatural this season.

Carver and Edlund are truly gods among writers. Edlund can be lauded for such brilliant and tragic episodes as “The Man Who Would be King,” while Carver also has a sprinkling of fair writing on his record, including the fifth season’s “Free to be You and Me.” Our favorite characters are in good hands…which is reassuring, as the tantalizing hints and promos have sent fans into a panicked frenzy of flails and analysis.

It all seems to come down to the question of what happened to Castiel. In the last shot of the seventh season, we see Castiel mysteriously disappear, leaving Dean alone in Purgatory. In a clip from the season premiere, we’re shown Dean once he gets out of Purgatory, telling Sam that “Cas didn’t make it.” While many fans fear that this bodes badly for their beloved angel, Misha Collins, who plays Castiel, confirms that the angel will be in the first few episodes. And it certainly seems time for Castiel’s character to do something besides die yet again – something he’s already pulled off a spectacular four times. Plus, the new gods running the show have also given reassurances that this time, it’s Dean’s turn to save Castiel, which seems to bode well.

Which does not mean, however, that there’s nothing to worry about. Purgatory does not seem to have had a healthy effect on Dean Winchester: in the aforementioned promos, he appears to be manic, paranoid, and a little too uncomfortably like his self from the alternate 2014 storyline we saw in the fifth season. That, along with the fact that he got out of Purgatory by working with a vampire named Benny, who appears to have come between Dean and Castiel, is worrisome. Not to mention that the plan for this season is an attempt to close off the doors to Hell, which can’t come without a hefty price because, well, why make it easy for our heroes?

Nevertheless, amid all the angst and suffering that we’ve come to expect from this show, there are a few cheering things to look forward to, including the return of fan favorites Kevin Tran and Crowley. Carver and Edlund suggest that the upcoming season will be very Indiana Jones in style, as the characters hunt for the Word of God yet again. Sam Winchester gets a new love interest, while the newly cast Amanda Tapping will appear as Naomi, advertised as an entirely new kind of angel. Tapping is known for her work on the ever-popular Stargate, and seeing her join the cast of another cult show with an enthusiastic fandom is exciting. A magical seven days away from the premiere, one can hope that it all lives up to the excitement.

About Anastasia Klimchynskaya

My mind rebels at stagnation. Find the rebellious thoughts of that constantly racing mind at my blog, Monitoring the Media.

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