‘Supernatural’ season 10 spoilers: Stories for both Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles
When “Supernatural” season 10 starts off, most signs seem to point to Demon Dean being the center of attention. Can you really be surprised by that? It’s the story getting the buzz right now, and with Jensen Ackles getting to play such a dark iteration of a character he is otherwise super-familiar with, it’s exciting.
However, those who are worried about whether or not Jared Padalecki will get some cool things to do in the early going shouldn’t be. While the two may not spend a whole lot of time onscreen together in the first two episodes, both will still have some cool things to do. The proof of this comes courtesy of showrunner Jeremy Carver’s latest comments to Entertainment Weekly:
“I know there’s always this concern of one brother having the story, one brother not having the story, but both brothers will very much be having stories … It just so happens that at the beginning of this year, their stories very much revolve around the well being of each other, which we like.”
We definitely like it to, given that we know some out there would like to see at least a temporary end to Winchester angst for a little while. Can’t the two have a better functioning relationship? That’s probably not going to happen right away, but maybe after this whole demon problem is taken care of (whenever that is), they’ll be able to function more as a unit than they did throughout most of a rocky season 9 from that vantage point.
“Supernatural” season 10 may not premiere until Tuesday, October 7, but you don’t have to wait that long to get some more scoop related to the show! You can click here to watch a retrospective on past events related to the show, or head over here to get more via our official newsletter.
Photo: the CW
Sage
August 11, 2014 @ 12:46 am
Supernaural needs Sam to be the one to save Dean. Its damaged the core of this show for Sam not saving his brother or looking for his brother and last years tantrum POV also was damaging. Not that Dean fared any better because the boys POV was told through other characters POV. It was weird stuff and made for a very quick rewatch of S9 because there didn’t seem to be much substance in S9. If I wanted substance I’d of had to listen to angels, demons, vampires, sheriffs, ghostfacers, random humans and other random monsters. Sam and Dean told through the eyes of everyone else.
Kelios
August 11, 2014 @ 12:36 am
I really can’t wait for Sam and Dean to start patching things up between them, and I hope Dean’s demon storyline will be the what finally lets them do that. I’m so happy that we’re going to see what we SHOULD have seen in S8–Sam worried about his brother and desperately trying to save him. I don’t care what Sam has to do, honestly; there’s pretty much nothing I won’t forgive him for when it comes to saving Dean (and that’s true for Dean saving Sam as well of course). I just hope that after they were so emotionally distant for the second half of S9 Carver doesn’t wait too long to bring them back together. I love Sam and Dean’s relationship, warts and all–it’s the foundation of the show, and the reason why I’ve watched for all these years.
Sara
August 11, 2014 @ 6:09 pm
They can’t just erase what Sam did in S8(not trying to look for Dean, appearing uncaring when Dean DID return; AND his actions regarding Benny and Martin) and what he said to Dean in S9 in The Purge(Awful-I’m though with Sam until that speech is redressed by the character). Those things have to be dealt with or it’s just going to appear to be more Sam fan service from the writers and yet another whitewash of the character.
Just “saving” Dean from being a demon is simply not going to cut it this time-it hasn’t worked since S5 for many of us.
Sarah
August 10, 2014 @ 7:39 pm
I hope Carver actually writes a storyline for Dean and keeps it going for the whole season. Any storyline Dean has ever gotten it either gets dropped or handed over to another character. In the second half of Season 8 Dean was sidelined and just Sam’s cook and wet nurse, it was all about Sam.
I think we’ve gotten a lot of Sam’s pov over the years, but especially in season 9 we got a lot of Sam’s pov, the season premiere was oretty much all about that, and then the second half if season 9 in most if the episodes we got some Sam pov.
SPNFAN_Saba
August 10, 2014 @ 5:51 pm
I hope Carver sticks to his word abt balancing both brothers story line..coz so far all i hear are silly stuff abt Dean drinking/karaoke etc Nothing substantial abt Dean is heard yet.. Really hoping Carver wont crap on Demon Dean story line like he did with purgatory ! Coz i dont think many Dean fans can stand Dean being sidelined again after waiting years to get a proper storyline ! Esp after Dean was made a Nanny/nursemaid/cook/cheer leader in S8 while Sam had a heroic journey yet again!! Its high time Dean be front and center for once in mythology and Demon Dean is a perfect opportunity ..
CMary5
August 10, 2014 @ 5:20 pm
Dean has had a storyline for half a season and I see that already the Sam fans are getting upset, well try several years of waiting…try going though the same cycle of asking various bloggers for Dean spoilers and getting none, and even when the bloggers are sympathetic and ask outright if Dean is going to have a storyline all they get is a pissy response from the showrunner or some half hearted “the story is about both brothers and Dean is involved”….try going through season after season with literally nothing to talk about when it comes to your favourite character unless you happen to ship him with one of the others who DO have a storyline….try going through all of this for more than half a season and then lets talk.
Needless to say I am overjoyed that finally the writers have either listened, or just gained some sense and decided that the show needs to move beyond the usual What’s Wrong With Sam show and do something creative with Dean Winchester. I just hope, no pray, that they don’t bail on this, like they did with Purgatory, just because of a few fans that can’t bare to see Dean get any attention or have anything outside of Sam.
silvermoonowl
August 10, 2014 @ 6:29 pm
You’d be surprised at how many Sam fans out there want the same thing you do.
Yes, for much of the show Sam has gotten the mytharc, while the audience has sympathized with Dean because we’ve been consistently given Dean’s emotions, Dean’s concerns, Dean’s feelings. I was overjoyed when during S3, we got the reverse. There were some concerns about what Sam was doing with Ruby and what was going to happen with Lilith, but all Sam’s emotion was tied up in saving Dean, the focus was on Dean’s deal, on figuring out a way to save the self-sacrificing old brother we love so much.
And I am beyond ecstatic that the demon!Dean storyline has not only given us another arc for Dean, but has given us a Dean we can actually blame for something. Complex characters are more interesting that characters who get to bask in the overly righteous sunlight and critique everyone else’s mistakes. (His choice with trusting “Ezekiel”, his choice with leaving Sam to hunt down Gadreel, his choice to immediately change his mind and hunt for Abaddon instead, his choice to the get the Mark of Cain, his choice to etc, etc, etc. Definitely not his choice to be a demon, but everything that led up to it is on him. It’s not the first time Dean has felt responsible for something (he feels guilty for everything), but it’s the first time he actually SHOULD feel somewhat responsible for the negative outcomes. He’s not a bad person, and he was doing the best he could. But we all still have to own our choices. He broke in Hell, but no one is going to blame him for that because hello – torture.)
I do hope they don’t dump the demon!Dean storyline. I genuinely hope that. But yes, there needs to be balance. The reason anyone cared about what Sam was going through in the earlier seasons was because Dean showed his anger, fear, and protectiveness at every turn. If you actually read many of the comments on this page, we aren’t asking that Sam be the sudden focus and have his own mytharc, we’re simply asking that he be written as showing he cares about what’s happening to Dean. That he have a point of view.
Giving Sam a point of view and emotion about what is happening to demon!Dean… it’s a storytelling technique so that the demon!Dean storyline is given the URGENCY it should be. Don’t you want it to FEEL as urgent and as anguished as it possibly can? Don’t you want them to use every storytelling technique available to showcase Dean’s mytharc? Again NOT by giving Sam a huge story/trial/magical pet rock to save Dean, but just by showing how much it HURTS to have the one person Sam’s always been able to count on be perfectly okay with murdering him.
Now.. it SOUNDS like we’re getting that. The spoilers make it sound that way. However, they also make it sound like we’re RIGHT back to what you say is a problem, and I agree with you. For too long it has been the “What’s Wrong With Sam” show. Sam is never written as the smart, caring, badass hunter anymore… he’s written as “the problem.” Either he magically has a problem (trials, demon blood, special child) OR Dean has a problem with his methods. Sam’s actions get pegged as selfish screw-ups regardless of his intentions (and sometimes we’ve never even investigated his intentions at ALL), Dean’s as acts of pure nobility and sacrifice, even when they don’t go according to plan.
Here we are… Dean as a demon. The perfect opportunity for the focus to be on “the problem with Dean” and Sam getting to be heroic for his brother…. and what are we told? That Sam’s going to take it too far. That Sam might be the “true monster.” That Dean will be unhappy with things later.
We’ll have to wait and see how it goes, but honestly…. as someone who loves both brothers, I’m concerned that Dean’s amazing moments of psychopathic evil are going to be faded down some because it seems they just can’t resist making Sam the worse off brother.
You make it sound like this is only a problem fans of Dean experience. There are more bi-bro and Sam fans out there than you think who would love for us to be stripped down to basics with Sam Winchester. For us to be given the true character again and shown his emotions, rather than shown a collection of mistakes because the writers feel the need to always write him doing something that Dean will eventually not trust him for.
If you’d take a moment and stop trying to view fandom so divisively, you’d see there’s quite a lot of fans, including Sam-girls, who want to see Dean get a kickass storyline.
Yes, there are ESGs out there who aren’t going to agree no matter what, just like there are EDGs out there who would probably rather demon!Dean just kill off everyone and somehow cure himself.
Don’t focus on the extremists. There are PLENTY of sane voices in the middle ground who are trying to talk to you, who agree with you. None of them are saying that they hope Dean’s SL is cut off.
LJ
August 10, 2014 @ 9:07 pm
Well said. The petty micro-divisions in this fandom are something that I try really hard to stay away from but sometimes it just gets to a point to where I wonder if I’m even watching the same show as some other people. I’m a bi-bro and find it wholly offensive when I see other people minimizing Dean’s role within the show because you’d think if they were really Dean fans they would appreciate how fleshed out and well written he is.
Until season 9 I’ve always found it very easy to sympathize with Dean and understand what his motivations are because he’s been written as such. You can’t say the same for Sam. It takes a lot to try and get inside his head space because so much of his POV is left open to interpretation. It’s basic storytelling 101 and it seems to fly over a lot of people’s heads that having the mytharc doesn’t automatically = importance to the narrative.
The reason why I wish they would focus more on Sam’s emotional POV is for all the reasons you listed. In order to really grasp the urgency to find a cure to Dean being a demon, we need to see how his actions are having an impact on the person who loves him the most. If it’s presented to us as Demon Dean carousing around getting drunk and getting laid and killing people indiscriminately without a care in the world because we’re only seeing it from his perspective, the audience isn’t going to really care one way or the other if he gets cured or not. That’s not good storytelling IMO. That’s waving a magic wand at the issue and if it plays out that way he won’t have a chance to earn any redemption.
It really bugged me last season to watch as his character was basically assassinated because of how poorly the MoC storyline was handled. He was written very inconsistently during that storyline. From one week to the next we never knew which Dean we were going to get. He alternated between being a raging lunatic or a drunken self-pitying mess and neither one of those versions came across as very sympathetic. It got to a point to where I almost stopped caring about what was going to happen to him and that was really upsetting because Dean Winchester is supposed to be a character we admire. By keeping the POV in his court we never got to feel afraid for Dean because according to his internal monologue he was completely justified in his actions and proclaiming himself to be a dictator. It’s really hard to root for a guy like that. You get to a point to where you start wanting to see him getting his just desserts and that’s not at all what you want to ever see happening to the moral compass of the show’s narrative.
That being said, I do feel as if they managed to turn it around in the finale to where Dean did come across as sympathetic and it made his death scene that much more heartbreaking to watch. Interestingly enough was the revelation that recently came out that the main reason for that is because Jared and Jensen altered the dialogue that was originally written and I really think that’s what the difference was. If they had delivered their lines as written, the finale and Dean’s death scene especially would not have had the same emotional impact that it ended up having. Thank Chuck these two men know their characters well enough to be able to pull off a save of that magnitude on what ended up being a really depressing second half of the season for brothers fans. Their love for the brothers and the long-time fans of the show really shone through and I will always be grateful to them for doing right by Sam and Dean. Here’s to hoping that Carver has learned to trust their input after that and Sam and Dean are both equally done right by in season 10.
silvermoonowl
August 11, 2014 @ 2:09 am
I agree.
And I always think it’s such a huge disservice that so many of the people who proclaim to love Dean Winchester truly believe he had no mytharc at all in S5. Yes, Sam got redemption. Dean didn’t get to be Michael. Jared got to flex acting chops being a different character. Sam got to jump in the hole.
But the entire reason Sam was able to fight back at all was because of Dean’s decisions, Dean’s agency, Dean’s choices. Had Dean not made a decision to ignore both Cas and Bobby and pursue Sam, to call Chuck, to drive the Impala into that cemetery… Sam would have never been able to fight Lucifer back without his big brother showing up.
When we listen to the ending, including Chuck’s words… the literal story, their mytharc according to the creator of the show, is that Sam and Dean fought off all comers and chose each other, chose family. According to “Carver Edlund” the entire point is humanity making their own path and letting themselves be guided by love.
How is Dean Winchester not the purest embodiment of that?
That’s not being a sidekick, that’s being an equal. That’s supporting each other. That’s fighting tooth and nail and being willing to die for your family.
I agree with the idea that demon!Dean presents an opportunity we haven’t seen as much of with Dean. I’m excited to see Dean get to go beyond being the moral compass of the show. I can absolutely understand why people want that progress made.
But I do genuinely wish those who are so very focused on mytharcs would start truly examining the situations Dean has been put in on the show and realizing how IMPORTANT those situations are in terms of narrative structure and what the overall theme/point of the story is.
Lola
August 11, 2014 @ 3:36 am
I’m one of those who “proclaim” to love Dean and I hated Swan Song on so, so many levels. Michael accepting Adam as an adequate replacement for Dean was insulting, contradicted previous canon, and essentially threw a 2 year set up for Dean’s storyline under the bus. At the least, Dean saying no should have shut Michael down completely and then allowed Sam to take care of Lucifer. That would have been fair. As it stands, Dean’s refusal just took humanity’s avatar out of having an active role and into being a passive participant. Dean wasn’t even allowed to work the Horsemen’s rings, for pete sakes. Dean just basically got his face pummeled and then sat on the ground while a super powered Sam saved the day. I’m all for the power of love but after waiting for 5 years for Dean to be an equal player in Kripke’s mytharc, Dean ending up as the wind beneath hero Sam’s wings was, for me, about as unsatisfying an ending possible. That’s like Adrianne showing up and cheering Rocky on to win the big prize fight. That’s not equal in my mind. IMO, Kripke should have stuck to his original ending of both brothers saying yes, with both presumably then overpowering their archangels to save the world together. But it is what it is.
“But I do genuinely wish those who are so very focused on mytharcs would start truly examining the situations Dean has been put in on the show and realizing how IMPORTANT those situations are in terms of narrative structure and what the overall theme/point of the story is”
I think it’s great that Dean keeps saving Sam and proving he’s an awesome big brother. But at some point, that trope has become tired. It’s disheartening to have Sam constantly designated as the special one while Dean’s only purpose on the show has been to revolve around Sam and take care of him. If Dean’s a lead character, he likewise deserves to have the storyline focus shine on him. He’s more than Sam’s caregiver. I’m all for Sam sharing in the show’s theme of brotherly love and taking care of Dean for a change.
Pamela Watson
August 13, 2014 @ 7:25 am
It’s true Dean has been Sam’s caretaker throughout the series but THAT is how he has defined himself. This does not negate his importance in any way. If you examine episode by episode it is Dean’s character that has the most interesting experiences to help flesh out his personality and role as a hero…warts and all. This is why we love Dean… he has been so well developed as the hero who will pull out all stops to get the job done and often to his own detriment. He generally “drives the bus” when it comes to daily decisions and developing plans to solve problems. Sam may be regarded as the brainy one but often Dean comes up with novel approaches to saving the day (without any fanfare). As observers of this show we should be able to pick up on this and not dwell on the fact that Dean didn’t get to be Michael’s vessel. His show of courage and devotion to his brother was much more meaningful because he was able to reach Sam despite the power of Lucifer. Both brothers were heroic at this event. There have been many instances that Sam has played second fiddle to Dean. Dean has been featured in the lead of many interesting situations: he time travelled more than Sam, he got to meet and work with Elliot Ness; He changed the future from what he learned in The End; he survived being a badass as a vampire and a warrior living in Purgatory; he killed Eve; he got Sam’s soul back and found Cas in time to save Sam from his insanity. Yes, he is his brother’s keeper but he does so in such a prominent and significant way.
LJ
August 9, 2014 @ 5:50 pm
I hope that Carver isn’t just paying lip service here and we actually do get more balance in the storytelling for the brothers. I was really excited last season for Dean to finally get a mytharc but by giving him both the storyline and emotional POV they kind of made him come across as unlikable and that really bothered me as a fan of both brothers. Dean was going down a very dark path and it was hard to see him as a relateable character under those circumstances. Dean has long been the audience’s surrogate and the guy you ultimately root for, but with the way his storyline was handled last season it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to do so. By giving Sam the emotional POV and telling Demon Dean’s story through his eyes it would make Dean’s plight seem all that much more dire and make the audience care about what happens to him. I hope they don’t drop the ball on this because one of the things I’ve been worried about is Dean not getting a chance to be properly redeemed. Here’s to hoping.
Safa
August 9, 2014 @ 2:43 pm
I was worried about Sam and his story in season 10 ! Now it sounds like that i can be hopeful of Jeremy Carver’s way to balance ackles and padalecki’s screen times !
LJ
August 9, 2014 @ 5:05 pm
Me too. Sam was pretty much non existent in season 9. He had the mytharc in the first half of the season but it was all about Gadreel, not Sam. And then once Gadreel was expelled we barely got any of his POV at all. Dean got the MoC mytharc and had both the storyline and the POV. There needs to be more balance in the storytelling. Hopefully season 10 gets it right and they switch things up a bit.
silver
August 9, 2014 @ 12:14 pm
Nobody seemed worried whenever Dean had nothing to do but drive a car. Carver certainly didn’t jump up and say, oh no! Dean has a story also in season 8 or 9 when it was all about Sam. Sam’s trials, while Dean cooked, Sam possessed while Dean angst, Sam mad while Dean angsts. Now that Dean has a story, finally, after 9 years, all of a sudden Carver jumps in with, oh but Sam is important and has a story of his own! Which no doubt will be the case, because heaven forbid Sam be the brother that Dean’s been for the past 9 years and actually have a story that revolves around Dean just like Dean’s had to revolve around Sam for 9 years.
Pft. The Sam fans will never be satisfied. It’s always going to be all about Sam, Sam and Sam. Dean Who? Once again Carver shows who he listens to, and it isn’t the Dean fans.
LJ
August 9, 2014 @ 5:27 pm
I can assure you that most Sam fans are more than happy for Dean to have the mytharc. All they ask for in return is to have his emotional POV represented. I love both boys and I’ve seen a major discrepancy since season 6 onward of Dean having the emotional POV while Sam has been mostly used as a plot device. All of the other characters interact with Dean while they merely react to Sam. Then last season when Dean finally got a mytharc (which I was ecstatic for, BTW) instead of switching the POV over to Sam, Dean had both. Not only was it jarring from a narrative standpoint (it felt to me like Dean was being thrown under the bus because he didn’t come off as very sympathetic at all), it also led to his characterization coming across as very inconsistent.
I really don’t know how they plan on dealing with Demon Dean but it would make more sense from a narrative standpoint for them to tell his story through Sam’s POV. That way Jensen can focus on playing the character and really getting a chance to shine without needing to worry about being the audience’s surrogate.
CMary5
August 10, 2014 @ 5:50 pm
I’m pretty sure it was Sam’s POV when he expressed his anger at Dean about Gadreel throughout many episodes, and then we also saw his anger and distrust at Crowley, plus when Sam was on his own hunting in episode 17 for example I’m pretty sure Sam had POV there too..not to mention it was his POV in the finale when he said he didn’t want the others to use Dean as a weapon. I would say that we saw both Sam and Dean having the POV especially in the latter half of season 9, I remember countless scenes where Sam did the talking while Dean kept his mouth shut, and I have to disagree that giving Dean some POV still when he had the MOC made him unsympathetic..he was going through psychological aswell as physical changes, how were the audience going to understand what he was going through if he had no POV at all.
Sam can have the majority of the POV like Dean has had all this time, but I have always disagreed that Sam had absolutely NO POV because otherwise he’d be a pod person with no opinions, likewise now that Dean has the mytharc he too still has to have some if not all the POV.
It’s not about tit for tat – that’s about good writing!
Sage
August 11, 2014 @ 12:41 am
Saying nasty things in retaliation and storming out is not an opinion. A POV is usually talking about why you feel this way and why you are acting the way you are. If you think that was Sams POV I wonder if you care at all if Sam talks.
I’m not one or the other, I don’t know how anyone can’t see both boys stories complement each other but your obvious bias is ridiculous. I also don’t think Dean had much of a POV in S9. Both boys seemed to just react not discuss.
silvermoonowl
August 11, 2014 @ 3:16 am
I agree. For two seasons BOTH brothers have been written as passive-aggressive dicks when they have to “converse”… until the season finale when they “make up”. Again. Up until the finale, it isn’t conversing, it isn’t talking about where they’re at, it’s written as accusation most of the time. It’s sniping at each other,
It makes me dislike both of the characters a little, honestly, because I’m sorry… no man in his 30s should be that petulant. That is extremely unattractive behavior in both sexes.
People say things they regret, sure. Especially with siblings. But never has it been so consistent. Dean was less of a jerk to Sam after Sam chose Ruby, than after Sam chose Amelia.
I think the writers did keep it all reaction. And I think it’s because they wanted to keep the fight between the boys going until the finale. It’s the same reason Dean was suddenly blaming Sam for losing his soul out of nowhere in S8 (even though it was Castiel who pulled Sam out without his soul). The writers needed to create further problems between Sam and Dean so Sam continued to have something to feel bad about – which led to his big speech in the S8 finale. In S9, they didn’t want Sam and Dean to resolve ANYTHING so that things would be more dramatic. Therefore neither could be mature and talk about it. Dean could apologize and explain his feelings when Gadreel was faking being Sam, could apologize to Cas for kicking him out, could apologize to Kevin for getting him killed… but never tried simply addressing the situation with his brother. And Sam, meanwhile, instead of being written as the person he usually is where he calms down and discusses his feelings, was shut down completely, and never once explained why Dean using trickery to keep him alive (and trickery with an angel no less) was a violation of his basic human rights. Sam was being a hardass who refused to address it head on.
It’s getting to be a really similar situation every single season. Instead of saying, “how would these characters react in X situation?” they say “we’re going to write the characters reacting this specific way to this, because that’s how we need to them react.”
I appreciate the need to get your characters from point A to point B in a story, but when you stop considering their individuality and who they are AS characters… then you could put in any two. It stops being a story about Sam & Dean. It starts being a story about two guys in a Supernatural-ish situation that the writers really want to see fight.
Hopefully in S10 there will be less manufactured angst.
Lola
August 11, 2014 @ 2:51 am
“how were the audience going to understand what he was going through if he had no POV at all.”
Exactly. One of the biggest complaints I heard from Sam fans about S4 is that because there wasn’t enough time spent exploring Sam’s reasons and feelings about the demon blood, he came across looking unsympathetic. So by that logic, giving Dean less POV would have just done the same thing.
Elle
August 10, 2014 @ 10:28 pm
I disagree because I don’t think Dean came off unsympathetic at all, I actually was very sympathetic to the tough position Dean was put in and I was very empathetic to him.
Sage
August 11, 2014 @ 12:43 am
I don’t, neither boy really came off as anything imo. They reacted to situations and neither of them really had a POV. Every other character was able to have a POV and even a whole episode to express that POV but the boys didn’t have more than a line or 2 to discuss any kind of feelings about Gadreel and dying and dealing with their feelings.
roxi
August 10, 2014 @ 4:57 pm
Yes, it’s true that last season, Sam had no story, but people are acting like it’s always been that way! Last season was the first and ONLY time that has ever happened. The majority of the seasons, it’s always been Sam that was the center of everything, while Dean played sidekick. Where were the complaints then?
This POV argument that I have been hearing about for so long, you know what? They had to give Dean SOMETHING! Sam had all the major stories, was deemed the “important” one”, everything revolved around him.Without giving Dean the POV he may as well have not even been there.
I love Sam too.I don’t mind Sam having more POV. Just please, don’t throw Dean to the sidelines yet again. Even it out, that’s all I ask. But it sounds more and more like Dean’s demon story is going to be over quickly, just like any other time he started with a story of his own, and the focus, yet again, will be on Sam.
Pamela Watson
August 13, 2014 @ 5:28 am
I read that Demon Dean will be “cured” after a fashion because Dean will still bear the MOC. So Dean will still be front and center as his Sam tries to help figure out how to rid his brother of the mark.