Zap2it broke the news yesterday that Misha Collins has been promoted back to regular status for season nine, as well as been given the opportunity to direct an episode. My first thought was “Great!” I’ve enjoyed much of Castiel’s story line over the last four and a half years and, goodness knows, the Winchesters can use all the friends they can get.
But I soon noticed I had just a bit of a niggling feeling about the news; something wasn’t quite sitting right. Upon reflection, I realized I’ve had issues with how Castiel has been used over the last two years. The issues have nothing to do with how Misha Collins creates the character—I love the way he imbues the angel with an otherworldly aura. From the moment Castiel unfurled his wings to show Dean he truly raised him from Perdition, I wanted to see more.
I loved Cas and Dean’s story line as they bonded over absent fathers. I loved that Cas fell from grace because he believed in Dean’s vision of free will. Cas and Dean’s friendship has been torn and frayed, but remains essentially intact, and I enjoyed what Cas tried to teach Dean this season as they journeyed through Purgatory. It took nuanced writing to believably posit Dean would forgive his friend for so horribly damaging Sam, but Castiel’s desire for penance feels real, and at this point, no one on Team Free Will has a blameless record.
All of this is to say my niggling feeling is not based on a dislike of the character. I like Castiel. However, I also feel he is a very problematic character. Castiel was created for the Apocalypse story line, which very nicely curtailed his power by having arch angels willing to smite him if he misbehaved. During Season four, it wasn’t clear exactly where Castiel’s loyalties lay as the boys slowly realized the angels were using them as ruthlessly as the demons were. When Cas finally declared himself for the Winchesters, he was in as much danger as they were.
Even with Castiel on the run with the Winchesters, Eric Kripke still had to deal with the issue of the boys having such a powerful ally. The Winchesters need to solve sticky situations by themselves to have credibility as heroes. It does not help the show to have Deus Ex Machina in angel form show up consistently to save Sam and Dean. The boys had enough trouble with agency in season five as they were buffeted between two powerful forces they could not defeat. Kripke found ways to dampen the angel’s power to allow Sam and Dean’s plans and sacrifices to take centre stage, where they belong.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - deborah
I'm saddened you have joined the argument that Dean and Sam have always done everything alone,etc. Tell that to Bobby, Ash, Ellen, Jo, and the list goes on. Dean and Sam have never gotten themselves out of "sticky situations" without help from some corner. Frankly, Misha Collins's Castiel is a HUGE asset to Supernatural and the Dean and Castiel stories are one of my main draws to the show. I am thrilled Misha has been signed as a regular in season nine.
2 - Dilys
I could not disagree with you more. I am thrilled that Misha is a regular in Season 9 and so happy Cas will be part of the story more. He's my favorite character and he is the reason I fangirl SPN so much.
3 - Kara
I agree that Castiel's character brings a lot to the show, but as you point out he also brings a lot of problems the show has not always been able to deal with. With the power at his disposal less is always more, and I'm afraid as a series regular he unbalances the show. That and the obvious imbalance when it comes to Sam and Cas scenes vs Dean and Cas scenes. If they can't find a way to reinforce Sam and Cas's relationship, I think the Angle's regular presence next season will be even more problematic.
4 - Nicola
To answer your question, yes Supernatural should have signed Misha as a regular for season 9. I love Cas and I enjoy the show more when he is in it. Supernatural will always be about Dean and Sam but I don't see why Cas can't be there to add another dynamic to the show. It would have gotten stale a long time ago if it wasn't for the addition of other characters.
5 - Marie
I definitely share you concerns, Gerry. The problem with having a "Superman" on a show--at least on the side of good--is that for that to work, the superpowered hero has always had to be the primary focus of the show. When has there ever been a "Superman" where the story is based around his human counterparts? I think all of Cas's storylines since S4 ended show how awkwardly he fits into their universe, which is a shame, but not surprising. I'm not sure the writers will ever commit to depowering him (they seem to like having the deus ex machina side of him around), so IA that using his powers to make stuff too easy is a problem this show will be facing for at least one more year. I also very much agree with balancing out Dean-Cas scenes with Sam-Cas scenes. This season the imbalance between Dean-other characters and Sam-other characters in general has gotten the most lopsided this show has ever been, and them starting fixing that with Cas would go a long way to correcting it, if the writers ever plan to.
6 - Cassie
I absolutely LOVE the character of Castiel. He brings so much to the show. So happy to have him as a regular again!
7 - Joels
Thankfully we have fresh Show running blood with Jeremy Carver and a creative, versatile bevy of writers with which to solve a powerful problem like Castiel. Indeed, SPN's fan fiction writers have had no trouble overcoming this angelic niggle for years.
I'm thrilled at Misha Collins return as regular & director next season and the opportunity for him to do more with our beloved, enduringly popular Castiel.
8 - Kivina
I couldn't be more happy about Misha being regular again. When he disappeared during season 7 and it was just the brothers over and over again, I have to admit I stopped watching for a while and then started watching more episodes at once when Cas came back. It was just...boring. Now, with season 8 it's something different. I'm every week thrilled to see what's going to happen on the show and I can't wait for Cas' return. But now I know that he's out there, actually alive and important to the story. He adds so much to the show. He's family now. Without him it's like if the show was without Dean or Sam. I get that he's not that important for the show and never will be but he's important to me and the characters.
I'm pretty sure that producers and writers have something in mind for him when Misha is being regular again. I wouldn't be surprised if he had to become human to get away from Naomi.
Season 5 with Team Free Will was my all time favorite and I hope season 9 will be just as amazing.
9 - Gerry
Hi all, so glad to read all your comments! I agree with many of you that Castiel has offered a lot to the show over the years. I just also think that since the Apocalypse ended, he's also added story problems.
Deborah, I don't think I stated Sam and Dean did every things alone. I love the relationships they had with Ellen, Ash, Jo, Rufus etc. But none of those characters were ever any near to regular status. They were used only when there was a specific story need for them. And none of them had superpowers, so Sam and Dean always took the lead on solving whatever problem they were in. The scene where Dean had to wire Jo up with explosives so she could provide a distraction for the hell hounds was heartbreaking because there was no other way out, no magic solution.
I think Bobby is the closest comparison to Castiel and while he always seemed to have the right spell at hand, he couldn't zap anything to make it right. And the writers still decided the Winchesters relied too much upon him and wrote him out. If they relied too much upon Bobby for story comfort, I really wonder how they will increase Castiel's role without causing story issues. And Bobby related to both boys, unlike Cas.
I hope for the best with Castiel, but I do have trepidations about increasing his time.
10 - JJ
Good god--you sound like one of Cas haters who think the brothers need to be alone. Cas need not be equal friends to each brother--how realistic is that? And Dean and Sam having a regular ally is good not bad. And the Cas solutions have worked despite what you say ANd I have faith in Carver and his crew to make it work.
11 - KAY66
I have no worries that Carver Edlund will have success in making Castiel's character consistent and relevant to the story of Sam and Dean, that he will be allowed to have a well rounded character and I'm looking forward to his interactions with Sam and Dean as a team and individuals, of course that also means a world of pain. It wouldn't be spn any other way.
12 - Gerry
Hi JJ, not sure how you got Cas hater out of my article. Definitely not where I'm coming from, as I think my past reviews have frequently shown.
I do think how Cas relates to both the boys matters if he's going to increase his time on the show and I do think the way he is an ally is a huge story point that matters. The writers wrote Bobby out because they felt they had made the boys too reliant on him. If Bobby was a problem as deus ex machina, Castiel is more so, which is why the writers take such trouble to find ways to depower him and most frequently end up dropping his story line abruptly while they brain storm. I don't look at season seven as a great way of telling Cas's story.
I also don't think the way the writers had to drop Cas and Naomi's arc to allow the brothers to come together and gain power as a great way to develop the tablet arc.
Threading a season long arc throughout all the episodes has been a problem since season five ended and Cas has to support that goal, not be a problem.
I wish it felt like solving these problems is something the writers can easily do, but they've pretty clearly shown it's really difficult. I do have hope Carver has something up his sleeve as great as the Men of Letters story, but I have to say I was very unimpressed with the Amelia story, so it could go either way.
13 - Laura
Wow, way to diminish a character who is important and relevant to a lot of fans *in his own right* and who is certainly much more than support to us too. In fact I'm more interested in Castiel's story and journey right now than I am in the tedious rinse-repeat brotherly angst-woobie-Sam-worried-Dean we seem to be getting. Please don't parrot Gamble's view that Cas (and by virtue his fans) are redundant to this show.
"Kripke found ways to dampen the angel’s power..."
And you assume the highly paid people who run the show can't also think up a way to do this?
14 - Gerry
Hi Laura, I am writing from the standpoint that Cas is a supporting character to Sam and Dean's leads, which I think there is a good deal of support for. (-:
Of course Cas has fans in his own right and deservedly so. But I also think that Sam and Dean have to work for the show to work and that Castiel will not be a substitute for the brothers' dynamic working well. There's a reason the writers shuffled Cas's story offscreen after hiatus to give Sam and Dean the space to heal and reboot.
"And you assume the highly paid people who run the show can't also think up a way to do this?"
I assume the clear issues the other showrunners had with dealing with Cas's deus ex machina issue will not disappear for Carver and that Carver is not infallible. I think he already stumbled with Sam's earlier story line.
15 - Claire
LOL, right, because if Cas isn't there the writers won't just come up with another plot device to tell the brothers all they need to know, or magic them back through time, or help them learn out to destroy the MOTW. Please. He wasn't there in season 7 and there was a new plot device every week. They can easily depower him. He falls: there, I did it for them.
16 - Sara
Cas fans obviously will not take kindly to your opinion even if you like the character or give very credible points. They can be very protective and extreme sometimes but I thought you should know I believe you have very excellent and true points. Whether you like the character or not, there are issues with inserting this kind of character into the show with a show like this. He is too powerful. Do you really want the audience to know they don't have to worry about the characters dying because they always have Cas? That's not suspenseful or interesting.
The story is meant to center on the two brothers and there have been times I have felt Cas' story took precedence over there's which as you say...makes the show not work. I get if fans like the character but it's not about that: this character does present problems and in many ways the writers have written themselves into the corner with him and lost golden opportunities to good scenes like in Born Again Identity. That episode could've been great but instead we had the instant fix and it was more about Castiel than Sam and Dean.
17 - Claire
"The writers wrote Bobby out because they felt they had made the boys too reliant on him. "
Case in point. They wrote him out and promptly brought in a substitute and then brought Bobby back. If they want a deus ex machina they write one in. It's as simple as that and it isn't at all dependent on Cas being in the storyline.
18 - Dot
While I agree that the agency needs to stay with Sam and Dean, rather than relying on a superpowered ally, and that's a challenge of writing Castiel, I don't agree that having another regular character will take away from Sam and Dean's relationship or their screentime together. Castiel was a regular in Season 5, he wasn't in every episode, there were plenty of Sam and Dean focused episodes and moments. The issues on the show that made Castiel's storyline in S6/S7 wobbly are systemic ones that affected all of the characters, including Sam and Dean as individuals and the brother relationship. There's also the actual in-story factors that have strained Sam and Dean's relationship over the years and one of them is the relentless losses and isolation. Castiel's hero journey is compelling in its own right. To me that's a feature not a bug--I don't think supporting characters should be only be about leads, they need to be fully fleshed out, not one-dimensional cardboard players. I also think Sam needs to have other relationships and Dean needs to have other relationships. Season 8 brought in Amelia and Benny, brought back Kevin and Charlie and restored Castiel, and I feel the brothers' story is better for it because of all the notes these other characters bring. I fully expect the brothers to remain front and center but the show needs Castiel and others and I'm kind of wondering why mistakes in the writing for the two leads doesn't mean anyone questions the validity of the characters, but when the writers make mistakes with supporting characters, it often leads to discussion about whether they should be there at all. Obviously Sam and Dean can't be removed, but leads need a framework and a structure around them.
19 - Claire
"He is too powerful. Do you really want the audience to know they don't have to worry about the characters dying because they always have Cas? That's not suspenseful or interesting. "
LOL, do me a favour. We don't have to worry about the main characters dying because they're the main characters and they've signed on for two more years. And they left Bobby dead didn't they? Instead of having Cas raise him.
They can depower Cas easily. He falls: it's done.
"there have been times I have felt Cas' story took precedence over there's which as you say...makes the show not work."
He has been in, what, ten or eleven episodes across the last two seasons (meaning season 8 so far)? Please. And as far as I'm concerned Born Again Identity was ruined by the boring Sam scenes and season 7 was ruined by yet another boring what's wrong with Sam storyline. The show might not work for you with him in it but it works for me and a whole lot of other fans who are important to this show's ratings. I'll actually watch season 9 now.
20 - JJ
Gerry, I respect your polite response though I do disagree with many of your points and assumptions. Firstly if you say your are not a hater then i'll take your word--it's just a lot of your points are "talking points" of a lot of the fringe who spew against Cas as the font of all SPN problems and evil.
You assume the way the writers wrote the last 2 and a half seasons are because of Cas and the problems he creates. I submit that is wrong--at best that is your surmise. The writing may have been uneven but it's highly dubious to blame it on one factor.
I thought the Cas trajectory from Crowley, to souls, Purgatory, God Cas, Crazy Cas and redemption Cas has worked well. Highly entertaining. Now you my disagree but hey it's just a different personal judgement.
Also we do NOT know why they wrote Bobby out--that is another assumption. The fact of the matter is the boys always get help pre and post Bobby and always will. With Cas again I think they have been fine in making the boys the heroes and Cas helping from time to time. I disagree that it hasn't worked.
With Cas being more with Dean--doesn't mean Sam won't interact with him. It just doesn't have to be halfies, which is unrealistic. And having just one more regular for a hour show leaves plenty of time for Sam and Dean--even with recurring visitors.
So really just don't buy many of your assumptions and judgements on the show. Which is fine--we all have opinions.
21 - Gerry
Hi Sara and Claire, thanks for commenting!
Sara, thanks! I do understand really loving a character, but telling the best story is really the bottom line for the writers.
Claire, I agree the writers haven't handled the Bobby issue at all well. Simply having the boys phone another person doesn't solve the issue with a very tired plot device. But that just makes the plot device still an issue they have to solve. Deus ex machina is not good writing, whether Cas or Bobby.
I also don't think the decision to take Cas's power away is a simple one. I think many people love the sense of "otherness" he has. Losing that I think will take away from the character. It will also make the way Castiel has no people skills even harder to swallow than it is now, given other angels seem to assimilate just fine. He'll have to figure out how to talk to people or have no place in the show.
I'm not sure the writers can't come up with something that works, as I wrote in my article. But I think it is hard and I'm not sure making Cas a regular is going to make it any the easier. He may work better in smaller doses.
And maybe the solution will be to keep him in smaller doses even if he is a regular, as the writers did in season six. There are a lot of possibilities.
22 - Michele
I, for one, my husband and every one I know that watches SPN are all super happy he'll be back! Sam and Dean need to stay the main focus but it's not the same without him around and after 5 seasons he deserves to have some of the spotlight and be a regular again!
23 - Gerry
Hi JJ--thank you for your polite discussion as well--I love discussion! Different viewpoints are welcome.
"You assume the way the writers wrote the last 2 and a half seasons are because of Cas and the problems he creates."
No, what I'm saying is that Cas brings issues with him that the writers have to deal with--he's not the only issue nor the only shaping force.
But Kripke had to find a way to power down Cas to centre the final Apocalypse show down on Sam and Dean. And Gamble had to find a way to way to power him down to allow Dean to kill Eve. She had to find a way to make Cas unavailable to Sam and Dean in season six in general to fight the deus ex machina issue--but having Cas make a huge character shift largely offscreen because Sam and Dean were not involved in the civil war was a problem.
In season seven, Gamble took Cas off the playing board again until she could find a way to depower him--and again, I think there were story issues with how she brought him back.
The point is that Cas's power is a continuing problem that requires big story points to handle.
"Also we do NOT know why they wrote Bobby out--that is another assumption:"
No, I took that from the interview with the writers at: http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2013/02/19/supernatural-writers-return-drama-to-its-hellish-roots-in-season-8/#sthash.p0nhPWj4.dpuf
Loflin said: Jim Beaver is a phenomenal actor, and we always loved to work him into episodes, almost to a fault. His absence makes it so we have to get a little more creative in how the boys do their procedural stuff . . . The “Let’s call Bobby” has become kind of a cliché.
He also said: "So to have them face challenges without Castiel as backup or have him be unreliable allows us to put the focus on Sam and Dean. Because Cas as an angel is very powerful and limiting him is sometimes a challenge."
So I know the writers have considered a lot of the points I'm concerned about. The only reason I'm still concerned is I haven't always thought their solutions worked. (-: As Claire noted and I agree, they haven't handled the Bobby at the end of the phone issue well yet.
24 - sistermagpie
Cas definitely offers some unique challenges as a character--but I admit that just makes me really hope he can also inspire some really creative solutions. Because it does feel that in some past seasons they were flailing around with Cas. He's a great character in terms of personality and what makes him tick, his relationship with Dean. But when he first came on he came with rules and a belief system that limited what he could and would do. As a wanderer like he is now, he doesn't have those and it doesn't yet feel like the writers have hit on a new role for him. Not a new role as a character but as a supernatural being. For instance, Gabriel as a trickster had what seemed like unlimited powers, but his personality meant that he wasn't always going to do what Sam and Dean wanted. Angels by definition have a pretty strict code of behavior, but Castiel's history kind of leaves him in limbo there.
But I think it could work if they really sit down and think about how to use him well for the story and his personality. Hell, he could have a vision from God that gave him a new sense of purpose that allowed him to refuse to get into the fight 100% without being a betrayal. Just something that makes his status as an angel a plus instead of only something that must be written around or cancelled out.
25 - JJ
Gerry, I also saw the interviews you cite but still think it doesn't lead to your conclusions. A couple of snippets here and there from interviews do NOT tell us what really is going on behind the scenes and WHY they do things.
The Jim B quotes tells us the after effects of Bobby gone, not why he was gone. Anyway we just got others like Frank and Garth helping OR a guest star. There is nothing wrong with the boys getting some help--as I said before that has always been part of the fabric of the show.
With the Cas quote--yes an angel being all powerful is a challenge. As the quotes say, "limiting him is sometimes a challenge." Sometimes a challenge(kind of mild)--and I submit they've done it well. So why I have a lot more faith in them doing it well.
I also submit if Cas is depowered fully or partially, he will not lose his otherwordly charm. Cas is still naive with humanity as you rightly said compared to most angels--being depowered for multiple years won't be long enough to lose that. It would take a long time, much longer than the show has left.
Again the whole Cas arc has been highly entertaining, So I think the manuevering with Cas has been highly effective. Has the show post Kripke been more inconsistent? Yes. Is it because of dealing with Cas? I think not. I submit it's finding a structure that will out do the Apocalypse.
I'm finding the Men of Letters and the Tablets very promising. I find no reason Cas can't fit in there. And about the difficulties of Cas--there are some but they are and have been surmountable. Which is why they keep using Cas...because he adds to the show! Otherwise they wouldn't do it--he's way worth the trouble. And the writers and tptb have voted in the affirmative by using him--and next year even more. So regardless of a few quotes(which are very mild!), on what counts which is ACTION...tptb and writers have said Cas is easily worth it.