It was rich, deep, driven, truthful, exhausting, and ultimately, unequivocal proof that these days, Supernatural isn’t here to play.Įven if you don’t religiously follow the show, you’ll probably have noticed that the biggest, most publicized promotional hype of the season surrounded the (ironically standalone, given the point I’ve just waxed lyrical about) Scooby-Doo crossover that aired in the second half of season 13. But season 13 was uncompromising, utterly unwilling to cede emotional ground for the sake of entertainment. The show has always been a mixed bag, with strong multi-season storytelling interspersed with standalone formulaic episodes, attracting both a dedicated and a casual audience – it’s got so much variety that it can be all manner of things to all manner of people. Supernatural pushed that arc harder than most fan, given past precedence, ever dared to expect. Nearly every ‘monster of the week’ is a situation that the boys step into in pursuit of that goal of saving Mary (and later Jack) from the Apocalypse World, rather than your traditional “so, get this” case discovery spotted in a local newspaper.īut those first five episodes – especially juxtaposed against the ridiculously indulgent joy of the sixth, in which Castiel returns to them – left many viewers utterly overwhelmed. Sam’s trauma bubbling to the surface upon the discovery of Lucifer’s return is one, as is Castiel’s sense of purpose and belonging upon his return from the dead, Jack’s story, Gabriel’s, Rowena’s, even Lucifer’s. This is huge progress, and I’ve written a lot of words about why it’s a game-changer, but that initial grief-stricken arc is just one of several threads throughout season 13 that’s allowed to breathe and grow and take up space, instead of being conveniently tucked away when a certain episode doesn’t have room to cater to it.
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This season, we see a story where the entire point, the build and climax of each episode, is about how the boys are unable to do that this time, and through this, it proves that they’re no longer willing to accept those kind of casualties as their lot in life – they’ll repress and move on no longer. They repressed and moved on, repressed and moved on, conveniently removing the mourning period from show’s tone sooner rather than later. Back in the day, when they lost someone close to them, they did not react like this. Mary and Castiel were both unconditionally loved, both unacceptable losses, so their respective perils were included to prove a point about the way Sam and Dean have changed. That’s why they were necessary, after all. There is no “back to normal” this time – instead, it is one long aftermath, with the focus entirely hinging on those absences, and how each brother is handling them differently. It seems like the showrunners had some firm ideas about how a loss of this magnitude should actually be handled, so during the first five episodes of the season, that grief, and the downward spiral it causes, is actually the show’s A-plot, amidst the regular case-solving (which here serves as window-dressing, juxtaposing the attempts at normalcy with the ultimate impossibility of it) and the introduction of new mythology and characters. That’s the first element that makes season 13 stand out as having seriously raised the bar – or rather, the avoidance of that. ‘Supernatural’ season 13: Why it was the best ever A week or so later, that loss is no longer obligated to affect the plot or tone, and while the Winchesters are repression experts, sometimes it can be jarring to look at in perspective – say, when a genuinely comedic episode pops up two episodes after a massive loss.
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![supernatural season 13 episode 1 full episode supernatural season 13 episode 1 full episode](https://cfm.yidio.com/images/tv/263/clip/9238378847/clip-image-640x360.jpg)
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Repeatedly, we’ve seen huge tragedies followed by no real exploration of the lingering trauma – not every single time, but fairly often, including after many important character deaths. Supernatural has a history of leaving problems behind pretty quickly, in order to get back to its status quo: Sam and Dean Winchester saving people and hunting things without too many distractions to muddy the waters.