The Road So Far: A Supernatural Review; Meet the New Boss or In Defense of Sera Gamble

Season 7 of Supernatural is officially here and excited fans want to know: is the premiere of Season 7 any good?

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK, IDJIT!

The first episode of Supernatural Season 7 premiered this past Friday and fans have been online talking about it ever since. What’s the consensus? Well, while browsing the web, I saw a lot of hatred for Sera Gamble, the episode’s writer and executive producer, mostly coming from Destiel fans, but also from general fans of the show. The reason for this anger seemed to be Dean’s reaction to Castiel’s dip into the evil pool.

The battle cry from the fans seems to be that Dean’s out of character. And this cry is also closely followed by demands to bring back Castiel. But we’ll get back to both points later.

Overall, fans seemed to enjoy Death, Crowley, and Bobby’s characterization and reappearance throughout the episode. With this I have to agree, especially with Death, who fit in with the plot so perfectly it almost makes me think they had this episode planed since Season 5. It’s a testament to good writing.

Then we have Sammy, who is going crazy. This had me proclaiming, “Sammy’s in trouble again, must be Tuesday.” I don’t mean that the show is becoming predictable necessarily; the Winchester boys are always in trouble and if Sammy came back from Hell without any consequences I would have to cry bullshit, but it might be nice at some point for the boys to deal with their problems other than lying to each other. Though, I will admit that Sam’s reason for wanting to give Dean one small break from everything else was really legit and in character, despite how well that has worked in the past.

Another aspect of the episode I really loved was Sammy being the one not to give up on Castiel, instead of Dean. Yes, Dean and Castiel have always been closer than Sam and Castiel; they “have a profound bond” after all, but Sam and Castiel can relate to each other better in this instance. Sam’s good intentions lead him to being addicted to demon blood and starting the apocalypse. Castiel’s need to protect the Winchesters and make things in heaven better lead him to becoming addicted to the power the souls of purgatory offered him and caused him to unleash the Leviathans. The correlation between the two characters is easy to see and I certainly hope that this is something the writers focus on more as the series progresses.

Now let’s get back to Dean, whose characterization is the reason most people are hating on Sera Gamble. Well, I’m going to defend Gamble because I actually thought the episode was very well written and that Dean’s characterization was pretty perfect in this episode for several reasons.

Dean’s been through a lot. He has dealt with a lot of betrayal and abandonment from the people he loves. Though his relationship with Castiel was shaky in the fourth season, throughout the fifth season Castiel was a constant support and ally. This remained true in the sixth season until the reveal that Castiel had betrayed them by working with Crowley and finally declaring himself God. Dean’s angry and hurt. Many comments online seem to imply that fans were annoyed that Dean was so angsty. Dean’s drinking and watching animated Asian porn isn’t exactly out of character for him. If Dean can’t actively do something, he drinks. It’s how his character copes and has been throughout the seasons.

Furthermore, many fans criticized Dean’s abandoning Castiel and simply wanting to kill him. I admit that at first I felt this was out of character. Dean always seems never to give up on those he’s closest to, but after I thought about it I realized I was wrong. Dean almost abandons Sam in Season 4. It takes a verbal lashing from Bobby to knock some sense into him. In this episode, it’s Sammy who tries to reach past Dean’s feeling of hurt and betrayal to get him to help Castiel. Then there is the issue that what is happening to Castiel was not necessarily something Dean can fix. As stated in this very episode, what’s happening to Castiel and how to stop or fix isn’t in any book. There is nothing here for Sam and Dean to research. This is new and no one really knows what to do. If anything, Dean calling on Death to help kill Castiel makes sense for his character. If he can’t get Castiel back, then he won’t watch him turn into a monster, so death is really the only option left. Once that option is taken away and Dean thinks there is no hope he goes back to his old standby of drinking and watching porn. He even becomes angry at Castiel and blames him for everything, which is also something many fans criticized, but again fits his character. If he is angry at Castiel, that makes it easier for Dean to stop Castiel, as well as keeping him from blaming himself. Dean clearly still cares for Castiel. That is all the more evident at the end of the episode when he thinks Castiel is dead and again when Leviathan takes Castiel over completely. So to all the other Supernatural fans out there, give Sera Gamble a break. She knows Dean Winchester and she’s going to keep him in character, so don’t worry.

Next we have Castiel, and can I just geek out about what an amazing actor Misha Collins is for a second? As a friend of mine pointed out, Misha Collins has played, throughout the course of the show, Castiel, Jimmy Novak (Castiel’s host), 2014 dystopian future Castiel, Godstiel, and now the Leviathans, and he played them all well. Misha Collins is a beast! And now so is Castiel! No, seriously. Monsters called the Leviathans that God created at the beginning of the world now possess him. They were supposed to stay in Purgatory, but we all know how that played out. Many fans are freaking out because the Leviathan proclaimed that Castiel is dead. This may be a clever trick on the part of the writers: kill Castiel, but find a way to keep Misha Collins around, though I doubt that. The writers have already said at SDCC that the season was going to focus on redemption and Castiel has already promised Dean that he will redeem himself to him. It seems safe to say that Castiel isn’t going away just yet. Though I’m sad Castiel will probably be missing from the show for a while, I am excited to see more of Leviathan, who seems like he will be both terrifying and hilarious.

So stay calm, Supernatural fans! Sam, Dean, and Castiel may die… a lot, but they always come back. I’m confident we’ll see Castiel again. In the meantime, let’s just enjoy Leviathan, Misha Collins’s amazing acting, and Sera Gamble’s awesome writing.