Supernatural Station

It is now official. Supernatural has been renewed for a 6th season…but there’s a catch.

The showrunners, Eric Kripke and Robert Singer, will no longer be at the show’s helm after season 5. According to Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly, they will continue to play active roles as executive producers, but someone else will take over the reins in season 6. This is likely to be Sera Gamble, an executive producer and writer who has been with the show since it’s first season.

This change in leadership means that Kripke will be concluding the current storyline at the end season 5 as scheduled; fans will finally get the see the long anticipated end of the apocalyptic, Winchester story; and season 6 will launch a whole new chapter for Supernatural and the Winchesters.

Like other fans, I am excited about a conclusive season 5 finale, cautious about the changes to come after that, but happy that the Winchesters will still be around for yet another season.

It’s been a while since I reported on an upcoming guest star on Supernatural, but I am so thrilled with this one, that I just had to write a post about it.

Michael Shanks–Dr. Daniel Jackson from Stargate: SG1–will be in an upcoming episode of Supernatural!

There has been other SG1 alums on the show, including Shank’s wife, Lexa Doig, who played a hunter and future Dean’s love interest in the awesome season 5 episode, The End. But, Shanks will be the biggest SG1 star to make a guest appearance on the show. He will be joining the ranks of famous SciFi/Fantasy-genre star to guest star on Supernatural, including Tricia Helfer of “Battlestar Galactica”, who was in the season 2 episode, Roadkill, Ted Raimi of “Xena: Warrior Princess”, from season 4’s Wishful Thinking, and Mitch Pileggi of the “X-Files” and “Stargate: Atlantis”, who played Samuel Campbell/Azazel(YED) in season 4’s, In the Beginning.

Here is the link to the “Keck Exclusive” article on TvGuideMagazine.com. No details on the episode, his role, or when it will air, as yet.

SUPERNATURAL!!!

Yes, it is really true. Supernatural has won the People’s Choice Award 2010 for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show. Woo Hoo!

Congratulations to Eric Kripke, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Jim Beaver, the excellent writers, and all the cast and crew of Supernatural. You truly deserve this award.

Here is a video produced by The CW congratulating it’s Thursday night winners:

Supernatural has made the list of People's Choice Nominees for 2010! For the second time in as many years, Supernatural has been nominated in the category “Favorite TV Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series”. Supernatural has yet to win a major award in the USA and this could be our last opportunity before the show ends it run, so please vote. To cast your vote for Supernatural and your favorite movies, music, and other TV shows, visit www.peopleschoice.com/pca/vote/. A list of all the TV Shows nominated can be found at TVGuideMagazine.com

Supernatural star, Jensen Ackles, is engaged to be married.
JA and DH in Ten Inch Hero The news broke on Monday that Jensen is engaged to fellow actor and
Ten Inch Hero co-star, Danneel Harris. According to E!Online, Jensen Ackles publicist has confirmed that the news is true and the couple was seen together at the Breeder's Cup with Danneel sporting an engagement ring. I wish them both well. They make a stunning couple.
Does this mean the Supernatural engagement curse has been lifted and, unlike his co-stars, Jared Padalecki and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jensen will actually make it to the alter? I hope so.

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Good God, Y’All

Supernatural Season 5, episode #02.
Airdate: Thursday September 17, 2009.
Written by Sera Gamble.
Directed By Phil Sgriggia.

In deference to my overseas visitors wish not to be spoiled, episode review posts and images are no longer being displayed in the blog index. Please click on the post link or go to the “Reviews” category to read a review.

• Synopsis: Click here to read the episode summary.

  The Winchesters are with Bobby in the hospital when Castiel drops by. Castiel says he is now a fugitive, isolated from heaven and unable to heal Bobby’s paralysis. To stop Lucifer and the apocalypse, he wants to find God who he thinks is on earth and he needs Dean’s bull amulet, which glows in God’s presence, to do it. At first, Dean refuses to give it to him, but then hands it over when Castiel changes his request to an order. Then Bobby’s phone rings and it is Rufus calling for help.

  The Winchesters drive to an isolated town in Colorado to rescue Rufus but instead, find Ellen Harvelle and a small group of survivors hiding in the local church. They tell of a town overrun by demons with everyone who isn’t dead being demon possessed. Ellen says that she got separated from Rufus and her daughter, Jo, soon after they got into the town.

  While Dean prepares the survivors for fighting demons, Sam and Ellen go out to find the missing hunters. But Sam is captured by a demon-eyed Rufus and Ellen barely escapes being choked by her own daughter, who also has black eyes. Sam is tied to a chair and confronted by Rufus and Jo, quoting latin. Then the “demons” splash Sam with holy water and pour salt down his throat. Sam realizes that something is wrong…his captors think that he is the one who is demon possessed, yet it is they who look like demons. Back at the church, Ellen tells Dean that Jo called her a black-eyed bitch and they too realize that they are no demons.

  War, one of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse, created the illusion of demons to turn the townspeople against each other. He boasts of this to captive Sam, then he makes Dean and Ellen appear like demons in the church, forcing them to flee for their lives when the survivors turned on them too.

  Dean and Ellen work together to capture Rufus and Jo and convince them that there are no demons. After they do this, Sam is released and Sam and Dean go hunting for War as the townspeople launch another attack on each other. The Winchester find him as he is about drive off in his classic red Mustang. Unable to kill him, they cut his ring finger off and this dissipates the illusion just in time to prevent Ellen from being killed.

  Later at a highway rest stop, Sam and Dean talk about the lack of trust between them. Sam suggests that he stops hunting for a while and Dean agrees. Sam takes his duffel bag from the impala and hitches a ride with a truck driver, leaving Dean behind.
  The end.

• Praises: The Winchester brothers were back doing what they do best: roaring into town in the Impala, stopping a scary supernatural baddie, saving people (a beautiful girl), with snarkish humor and machismo (Dean), plus angst and drama (Sam), while listening to classic rock and looking really hot (both). Simple right? Not anymore. Kripke ramped up the stakes when he started the apocalypse in the season premiere. Now, the supernatural beings are even badder and almost impossible to kill, the brothers are out of sync as a team, and Sam is fighting his own addiction demons. And that made this episode was both exciting and interesting.

  There was angst, there was tension, there were scary moments, there was humor and snark, family moments, and even a hug (from Ellen). The scary part was not the supernatural being, but how easy it was for neighbor to turn against neighbor, for an entire town to become unraveled, based on appearances. As bleak parallel, we saw the Winchester brother’s relationship also unraveling. Like the townspeople, arguing, fighting (almost) and lack of trust has replaced their once tight bond. Their relationship has deteriorated so badly that for the first time ever, Dean did not immediately try to rescue Sam when he was captured by demons. To make things more complicated, Sam Winchester is still drawn to the superior power and strength that demon blood gives him and almost surrendered to that temptation after killing a couple demons.

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Sympathy for the Devil

Supernatural Season 5, episode #01.
Airdate: Thursday September 10, 2009.
Written by Eric Kripke.
Directed By Robert Singer.

In deference to my overseas visitors wish not to be spoiled, episode review posts and images are no longer being displayed in the blog index.
Please click on the post link or go to the “Reviews” category to read a review.

• Synopsis: Click here to read the episode summary.

  Lucifer is on earth and the apocalypse has begun. Sam is racked by guilt because he caused it, Dean is stoic, smart-mouthed and trying to treat it like any other hunt. But the world-ending war still awaits two of it’s major players: Lucifer who needs a human vessel, and Dean, destined to kill Lucifer but refusing to corporate with the angels.

  The Winchesters survive Lucifer’s blazing escape because they were transported into an airplane flying above. Not questioning this seeming miracle, they seek Castiel’s help, but soon learn that he is dead, killed by an archangel. They are forced to lay low at a motel trying to figure out their next move while avoiding both demons and angels who want to nab Dean for opposing reasons.

  Chuck, the prophet, sends a message to them, via an obsessed fangirl, that there is a weapon on earth that can kill Lucifer…the archangel Michael’s sword. They recruit Bobby to help them decipher Chuck’s clues, but Bobby is demon-possessed and leads demon Meg right to them. When Meg orders Bobby to kill Dean, he manages to wrest control from the demon just long enough to stab himself, instead. The Winchesters prevail in the ensuing fight and escape with a gravely injured Bobby in tow.

  The brothers leave Bobby in a hospital emergency room, then head to upstate NY and John Winchester’s storage locker where they believe Michael’s sword is located. There, dead demons and live angels, including Zachariah, await them. Zachariah tells them that Michael’s sword is none other than Dean himself. He is chosen to be Michael’s vessel. When Dean refuses the “honor”, Zachariah begins to torture him and his brother. Then, the once-dead Castiel materializes armed with an angel-killing dagger and kills two of his fellow angels and forces Zachariah to flee.

  Soon afterwards, Lucifer finds a willing host…a grief-stricken man, angry at God over the murder of his family, Bobby is told he is unlikely to walk again, and Dean tells Sam that his choice of demon Ruby over him, his own brother, had been unforgivable and that he no longer trusts him.
  The end.

• Praises: This season premiere episode was all about the show’s mythology with strong tie-ins to past episodes. It is also the first season opener since season one that was not directed by the late, great Kim Manners and his absence was noticeable. Nonetheless, Robert Singer did a great job taking over this responsibility. He kept the show tension filled and his strength in character development was nicely showcased in the heartbreaking backstory about Nick, the man chosen to be Lucifer’s vessel.

  The caliber of the actors on Supernatural has gotten better with each season and this episode had some of the best. Jensen Ackles (Dean), Jared Padalecki (Sam), Misha Collins (Castiel), Rob Benedict (Chuck), Kurt Fuller (Zachariah), newcomer Mark Pellegrino (Nick) were awesome in their roles. Mark especially rocked as grief-stricken Nick. I am looking forward to seeing more of him as Lucifer.

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Supernatural's season 5 will begin airing on Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 9/8c on The CW Network in the USA.

This is the earliest season launch ever for Supernatural in all it's seasons on The CW. Significantly, this early start means that the season premiere episode will air unchallenged by new episodes from the other major TV networks' regular Thursday lineups. Hopefully, if Supernatural attracts a portion of those networks' audience and if enough new viewers stick around after the daunting competition from The Office on NBC (9/17), Fringe on FOX (9/17), CSI on CBS (9/24), and Grey’s Anatomy on ABC (9/24) return from their summer hiatus, then The CW may dip into their pockets to keep Kripke around for a 6th season of Supernatural. I am keeping my fingers crossed for this to happen.

Filming for season 5 has already begun at the Vancouver, BC studios in Canada. The premiere episode, preliminarily titled, Sympathy for the Devil, will introduce the new recurring character of Lucifer to be played by Mark Pellegrino, currently of Lost and formerly of Dexter. I saw Pellegrino in his former role as Layla's (um, I mean Rita's) abusive ex-husband in the first season of Dexter and he was outstanding. I think he'll be just as “grate” on Supernatural. […spoiler text hidden…]

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Lucifer Rising

Supernatural Season 4, episode #22.
Airdate: Thursday May 14, 2009.
Written by Eric Kripke.
Directed By Eric Kripke.

In deference to my overseas visitors wish not to be spoiled, episode review posts and images are no longer being displayed in the blog index. Please click on the post link or go to the “Reviews” category to read a review.

• Synopsis: Click here to read the episode summary.

  The Apocalypse is nigh and Dean has been called into service by the angels. He is taken away mid-argument with Bobby to what looks like a luxurious palace to await his instructions.

  Back in middle America, Sam and Ruby are on the hunt for Lilith. They have captured her “chef” and Sam uses his mojo to torture Lilith’s location out of her. Fearing her impending death, the demon returns control to the terrified woman who it possessed, causing Sam to have second thoughts. But Ruby reminds him that he needs her demon blood to kill Lilith and there is no more time left.

  Dean learns from the angel Zachariah that his job is not to stop the Apocalypse, but to end it after it begins, that it is his brother who will begin the Apocalypse by killing Lilith, the final seal. He attempts to leave but finds that the palace has turned into a gilded prison. Dean appeals to Castiel who defies his orders and helps Dean escape. Castiel takes Dean to the prophet Chuck who tells them Sam’s location, then he transports Dean there, staying behind to hold off the archangel.

  Dean arrives at the abandoned convert before the seal is broken, but Ruby sees him and bars the doors against him so he cannot reach Sam. His muffled shouts and pounding at the door goes unheeded as Sam proceeds to kill Lilith at the alter.

  Afterwards, Ruby laughs in triumph and tells Sam that he has done exactly what he was destined for. Sam is flabbergasted as she takes pride in her role in manipulating him to make all the “right” choices to fulfill that destiny. Sam angrily tries to kill her, but has no more mojo left. Then Dean breaks through the door armed with the demon-killing knife. Sam grabs Ruby and holds her as Dean stabbed her to death.

  Then the convent floor becomes awash in a blaze of light as Lucifer’s prison door opens.
  The end.

• Praises: My first reaction to this season 4 finale was…HOLY SH*T!!! Who would have thunk it. Kripke managed to trump season 1’s and season 3’s finale cliffhangers with one that is even more suspenseful. The ending was WOW, just WOW!

  Backing up a bit, I have to say that the acting was top notch. Jared and Jensen did a fantastic job. Jim and Misha are masters of their craft. Even Cortese’s Ruby was convincing. Kripke knows best how to bring his characters out of the actors. His directing style, though not as edgy and dramatic as Kim Manners’ was, had me totally engaged throughout the episode. At times, he had me gripping my chair for several OMG moments. I even screamed aloud to tell Sam “DON’T DO IT!”.

  Kripke presented some interesting dualities in this episode and for the season as a whole…from the title “Lucifer Rising” as a counterpoint to the premiere’s title, “Lazarus Rising”; then the fact that it was one Winchester who broke the first seal and another Winchester who broke the last; the continuing contrast of an angel-Dean duo versus a demon-Sam duo; and, of course, there’s that “small thing” where the season ends as the end-of-the world begins.

  One of the high points of this episode for me was seeing Dean reenergized, trying to save his brother as well as the world. I missed my hero terribly. I had stopped enjoying this season when Dean’s armor was revealed to be badly tarnished, when he was laden down with guilt and self-loathing. But Kripke finally returned to us the man who would sacrifice himself to help others, the man who knows what’s right from what’s wrong better than even the angels!

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