'Grey's' Isn't Going Anywhere
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
'Supernatural' Season 7 Premiere Preview: Sam and Dean's Bond, Castiel's Fate & Crowley's Return
by Laura Prudom, posted Sep 22nd 2011 2:00PM
There's a reason why 'Supernatural' fans refer to the summer break between seasons as "hellatus" instead of "hiatus" -- since May's cliffhanger finale, viewers have been fretting over everything from the fate of Castiel to the fate of Dean's beloved Impala, and the producers have been content to tease for the past four months.Thankfully, the wait is almost over; the show returns for its seventh season tomorrow night (Fri., Sept. 23 at 9PM) and it's a surprisingly satisfying premiere, managing to tie up many of the loose ends left in the season finale while simultaneously creating more problems for the long-suffering Winchesters to solve.
Hit the jump for our advanced review of the episode, plus highlights from the Q&A that executive producers Sera Gamble and Robert Singer conducted with press on Wednesday. Needless to say, there are light spoilers ahead.
Since his introduction in season four, Castiel (Misha Collins) has developed a fanbase every bit as passionate as Sam and Dean's, and it's been an especially long summer for those invested in the rogue angel's fate. Though I can't reveal too much for fear of a thorough smiting, Castiel's transformation is the driving force of the first episode, and Collins is given an excellent range of emotions to play. From infuriating arrogance to heartrending emotion, the episode showcases some of Collins' finest work to date, and will answer many of the questions that have been posed to the actor and the producers over the summer in regards to Castiel's arc this season.
Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) are clearly still of the opinion that Castiel was wrong to absorb the souls in purgatory in the last episode, but will the angel come around to their point of view, or is he too far gone to reach, as Dean suspects?
"I think he totally bought into what he was doing at the end of last year," Robert Singer conceded. "Eric [Kripke] used to like to say, 'Every villain is a hero of his own story.' [Castiel] totally believed in what he was doing and believed that it was the right thing -- there was a certain amount of hubris and ego there that was probably misplaced, but I don't think he counted on what happened to him and I think there's just sort of that life lesson there of power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Sera Gamble agreed, "Cas realizes in this episode that he has more to prove than he thought. I think if you kind of look at this from his perspective, he had friends that he stuck up for and he gave up everything for, over and over again for a long time, and they didn't stand by him. So, some of his actions in this episode are kind of about proving them wrong. He digs himself in a bit deeper because of that."
At Comic-Con, Gamble gave us some insight into Dean's mindset this season, and that attitude is evident in the premiere: "Dean just feels like Cas is completely lost to them," she told us. "Sam is more likely to try and give someone another chance, in this instance, but for Dean this just comes from a place of despair that he's lost this person, 'cause he doesn't have that many people!
We see a Dean who is wholly focused on fixing his once-again wrecked car, because it's the one thing in his life he can control, but he'll also seldom be seen without a glass or bottle in his hand in the premiere, indicating a larger problem looming.
"Dean will have lots of issues this year that he's going to have to deal with," Singer admitted, "I think in the first 13 episodes, he probably will carry a rockier journey in how he feels emotionally and the things that he has to deal with, probably more then any other season. He's on a real rollercoaster and we don't want to give away too much, but Jensen has plenty to do."
We'll start to see a focus on those issues in episode four (which Singer directed), in which Dean is put on trial by the Egyptian god of the afterlife, Osiris. "[He] weighs your heavy heart against a feather and if your heart is heavier than the feather, then he does you in," Singer revealed. "It's all about carrying guilt and that sort of thing, not just 'do I feel bad?' but 'do I feel guilty?' That's kind of the big turning point episode for his arc this year ... kind of a kick off for a real kind of good run for Jensen. He's in a different place, I think, than he's been in previous seasons."The episode will also see the return of Jo [Alona Tal], who is called as a witness to testify in Dean's case. "She's great in the episode," Singer enthused. "We put some flashbacks in the episode, back to episodes she was in years ago, and she has matured and grown incredibly as an actress. I was just blown away by what she did."
Sam, meanwhile, still has that pesky mental wall to deal with, and now that it's come crashing down, expect him to face some issues that Dean and Bobby can't help him with.
"It comes out pretty quickly that he is dealing with this awful wall-breaking, hallucinatory situation, which escalates really, really dramatically in the next episode, which Ben Edlund wrote," Gamble teased. "It becomes something that Dean is trying to deal with and Bobby is trying to deal with and it was an interesting thing to throw at him."
But fans who are expecting a quick fix should think again -- Gamble suggests that there might not be a fix at all: "We didn't want to wrap this up in one episode; we didn't want it to be like, his wall broke, and then he was in a really bad place and then he was fine by the end of the episode and they drank a beer and talked about it. The [next] episode kind of discusses how this is Sam facing that moment as a hunter where he's just been through so much he might just be losing his marbles for good and there's no amulet he can wear for that. He could try Prozac maybe, and that doesn't sound so good to him. It's just this intersection between the real world of what happens when somebody is in an awful job for a long time, and the supernatural, which was interesting to us."
As Gamble pointed out, it's not exactly possible for Sam to keep his hallucinations quiet for long, and though Dean has never been a fan of Sam's penchant for secret-keeping, the producers promised that we won't see a fractured relationship between the brothers this season.
"I think at this point, having gone through so much of the same
stuff, it's hard -- especially for Dean this season -- that they're dealing with it in such different ways. It's really important to both of them to try and stay together because they don't have very many people and because they're clearly better working together and they need each other in so many ways," Gamble pointed out. "We explore how, over the seven years that we've just been watching them, they've developed in really different ways and they deal with things in really different ways. They've gotten past different things and they've held onto different things and there's a lot of material just from the stuff we've all seen them go through on screen."
Singer agreed, but clarified that they won't be gluing Sam and Dean together every episode when the narrative demands otherwise. "There's some episodes where we separate them, not necessarily emotionally, but just kind of the way the story takes you," he reasoned. "We're always guided by where the stories take us and if they naturally take us where they all split apart and come together, that's where we go, or if the idea is one that requires them to be locked at the hip, we do that. But we try to mix it up and let them have their own adventures on some episodes."
What Else To Expect:
-- More time-travel: (Although the boys won't be flying Angel Air this time around.) "We're breaking an episode right now that's pretty cool, where one of the guys ends up stuck in 1944, which is very different then getting stuck in the wild west ... it's a darker time period," Gamble hinted. "It turns out that a case that they were trying to solve back than is the same as a case that Sam and Dean are trying to solve now. All of the tropes at that time period are really fun; in its own way, it's as iconic and fun as the western."
-- New allies: As previewed at Comic-Con, we'll be introduced to Frank, an old acquaintance of Bobby's who is "a bit off the grid" and "a really difficult guy to deal with." We'll also meet Garth, who is "very quirky" according to Gamble. "Dean is stuck in an emergency situation and can't be with Bobby and can't be with Sam and needs a hunter and Bobby sends him this guy named Garth, who's going to be played by DJ Qualls," she revealed.
-- The devil you know: As the previews have indicated, Crowley is back -- and the demon is harder to kill than a cockroach. Expect to see more of him, according to Gamble. "Crowley is sort of the ultimate, self-interested character; he always finds a way to bend whatever's happening to his own best uses," she said. "I mean, there's a reason he's lived this long; there's a reason he always finds the parachute under his seat. So, as things evolve this season, we'll see him try and adapt. He's always fun -- we keep throwing stuff at him."
-- More Meg: Singer predicted that Meg (Rachel Miner) would "rear her lovely and evil head again" sometime soon, but didn't specify any precise plans.
-- Title card: Fans always relish the title card change at the start of a new season, and this year's card is certainly ... messier than before. "It's just monstery and disgusting and connects to purgatory, and also, there's sort of like a B-movie vibe of grossness coming at you from your screen that we really have wholeheartedly embraced in the writer's room," Gamble laughed.
The premiere itself: I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't too fond of season six on the whole; episodes often felt tonally uneven in terms of direction or editing, or badly paced in terms of writing, with some storylines rushed through too fast (hello and goodbye, Eve!) or character potential squandered because of indecisive plotting (hello and goodbye, Campbells!).
That being said, even though episode 701 is more dialogue-heavy than action-heavy, I found it well-paced and well-edited, with amusing musical cues and a compelling narrative. Scenes didn't drag or cut off too abruptly; there was a well-tempered balance of drama and humor; all the actors were delivering strong, nuanced performances, and the episode contained a couple of surprising twists that I don't think the audience will see coming.
As a fan of Castiel's character and the new dynamic he brought to the show in season four, I was admittedly pensive about the premiere given the way last season ended, but without giving anything away, I found myself generally satisfied with the direction he took, although a lot hinges on what happens in the next episode. Being active on Twitter, I'm also well aware of the concerns some Dean fans have in regards to his arc, but I will say that the producers seem aware of those worries, as well as those relating to Castiel, and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in handling the characters respectfully, because they seem to have a much clearer direction for the season as a whole in mind than they demonstrated at the beginning of last year.
There was a point early last season where I wondered if 'Supernatural' could ever recapture that giddy sense of anticipation I felt in earlier years, where waiting a week for answers seemed impossible, but I can honestly say that I'm genuinely looking forward to episode 702. I'm hoping it addresses a few of the questions posed by the cliffhanger ending of 701, but on the whole, I'm feeling a lot more optimistic than I was feeling after last season's premiere, and that's a very good sign.
The 'Supernatural' premiere airs Fri., Sept. 23 at 9PM ET on The CW.
Come back to AOL TV after the episode airs on Friday night (10PM ET) for more from our chat with Sera Gamble and Robert Singer -- you'll have questions, and we'll have (some) answers! And while you're at it, don't forget to check out Mo Ryan's weekly 'Supernatural' recaps here.
Are you looking forward to the episode? Feeling reassured by the producers' responses, or more nervous than ever? Share your thoughts below!
Follow Laura on Twitter: @LauinLA
Singer agreed, but clarified that they won't be gluing Sam and Dean together every episode when the narrative demands otherwise. "There's some episodes where we separate them, not necessarily emotionally, but just kind of the way the story takes you," he reasoned. "We're always guided by where the stories take us and if they naturally take us where they all split apart and come together, that's where we go, or if the idea is one that requires them to be locked at the hip, we do that. But we try to mix it up and let them have their own adventures on some episodes."
What Else To Expect:
-- More time-travel: (Although the boys won't be flying Angel Air this time around.) "We're breaking an episode right now that's pretty cool, where one of the guys ends up stuck in 1944, which is very different then getting stuck in the wild west ... it's a darker time period," Gamble hinted. "It turns out that a case that they were trying to solve back than is the same as a case that Sam and Dean are trying to solve now. All of the tropes at that time period are really fun; in its own way, it's as iconic and fun as the western."
-- New allies: As previewed at Comic-Con, we'll be introduced to Frank, an old acquaintance of Bobby's who is "a bit off the grid" and "a really difficult guy to deal with." We'll also meet Garth, who is "very quirky" according to Gamble. "Dean is stuck in an emergency situation and can't be with Bobby and can't be with Sam and needs a hunter and Bobby sends him this guy named Garth, who's going to be played by DJ Qualls," she revealed.
-- The devil you know: As the previews have indicated, Crowley is back -- and the demon is harder to kill than a cockroach. Expect to see more of him, according to Gamble. "Crowley is sort of the ultimate, self-interested character; he always finds a way to bend whatever's happening to his own best uses," she said. "I mean, there's a reason he's lived this long; there's a reason he always finds the parachute under his seat. So, as things evolve this season, we'll see him try and adapt. He's always fun -- we keep throwing stuff at him."-- More Meg: Singer predicted that Meg (Rachel Miner) would "rear her lovely and evil head again" sometime soon, but didn't specify any precise plans.
-- Title card: Fans always relish the title card change at the start of a new season, and this year's card is certainly ... messier than before. "It's just monstery and disgusting and connects to purgatory, and also, there's sort of like a B-movie vibe of grossness coming at you from your screen that we really have wholeheartedly embraced in the writer's room," Gamble laughed.
The premiere itself: I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't too fond of season six on the whole; episodes often felt tonally uneven in terms of direction or editing, or badly paced in terms of writing, with some storylines rushed through too fast (hello and goodbye, Eve!) or character potential squandered because of indecisive plotting (hello and goodbye, Campbells!).
That being said, even though episode 701 is more dialogue-heavy than action-heavy, I found it well-paced and well-edited, with amusing musical cues and a compelling narrative. Scenes didn't drag or cut off too abruptly; there was a well-tempered balance of drama and humor; all the actors were delivering strong, nuanced performances, and the episode contained a couple of surprising twists that I don't think the audience will see coming.
As a fan of Castiel's character and the new dynamic he brought to the show in season four, I was admittedly pensive about the premiere given the way last season ended, but without giving anything away, I found myself generally satisfied with the direction he took, although a lot hinges on what happens in the next episode. Being active on Twitter, I'm also well aware of the concerns some Dean fans have in regards to his arc, but I will say that the producers seem aware of those worries, as well as those relating to Castiel, and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in handling the characters respectfully, because they seem to have a much clearer direction for the season as a whole in mind than they demonstrated at the beginning of last year.
There was a point early last season where I wondered if 'Supernatural' could ever recapture that giddy sense of anticipation I felt in earlier years, where waiting a week for answers seemed impossible, but I can honestly say that I'm genuinely looking forward to episode 702. I'm hoping it addresses a few of the questions posed by the cliffhanger ending of 701, but on the whole, I'm feeling a lot more optimistic than I was feeling after last season's premiere, and that's a very good sign.
The 'Supernatural' premiere airs Fri., Sept. 23 at 9PM ET on The CW.
Come back to AOL TV after the episode airs on Friday night (10PM ET) for more from our chat with Sera Gamble and Robert Singer -- you'll have questions, and we'll have (some) answers! And while you're at it, don't forget to check out Mo Ryan's weekly 'Supernatural' recaps here.
Are you looking forward to the episode? Feeling reassured by the producers' responses, or more nervous than ever? Share your thoughts below!
Follow Laura on Twitter: @LauinLA
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