TV Friendships: On ‘Supernatural’ season 12 and the future for Dean, Castiel
To say that Misha Collins’ Castiel had a rough time on “Supernatural” season 11 would be making quite the understatement, to say the least. After all, he spent the vast majority of the second half of it with Lucifer using him as a vessel … so it’s pretty darn fair to say that he wasn’t feeling like himself.
Luckily, by the end of season things were slightly back to normal / however normal they can be in the “Supernatural” universe. That leads into season 12, one with a new chapter of the Men of Letters, Mary Winchester, monsters, and some potential surprises coming up. There are some new challenges (there always is), but there’s plenty of space open for hijinks. Where does this leave Castiel to operate — especially in terms of his friendship with Dean? That’s something we’re rarin’ to discuss today in the latest chapter of our ongoing TV Friendships series.
Where we left off – We had a rather sweet conversation between these two guys, one where Dean let Cas know that he was basically the third Winchester brother and that he was the best friend that they’ve ever had. Aw. (Don’t Misha and Jensen Ackles play these scenes great?)
The sweetness of this moment is almost enough to balance out all of the insanity that came later in between the end of the Amara / Chuck story (for now), Sam believing that Dean is dead, the arrival of Mary, and Sam seemingly getting shot by Lady Toni, who sent Cas away before commencing her confrontation.
Where to go from here – Obviously, Dean and Cas are left on a weird note, and there’s a lot that will need to be addressed in resolved in the coming episodes just so that everyone knows where the chess pieces are. When that happens, we’re mostly just down for some signature “Supernatural” fun and maybe something on a less-epic scale. It’d be fun to see Cas utilized more on some monster-of-the-week missions, where he could do a little undercover work and serve as a field correspondent. After all, some missions require more than just two men, and to quote Liam Neeson, Cas has a particular set of skills that can get many a job done. Also, throwing him out of his element has worked before to hilarious effect.
On a more emotional side, maybe Cas can offer up a different perspective to Dean as he starts to work through things with his mother. We can’t exactly call him unbiased, but communicating about your issues with a friend is certainly different than a brother. Then again, when was Dean ever good about communicating his issues in the first place?
The new season starts up later this fall, and we’ll have some further news all about it in the weeks ahead?
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Jane
August 29, 2016 @ 6:43 pm
Great article, Matt! Was really nice to read about the dynamics between these 2 characters. After all that is the reason I’m watching this show for several years already. And I am completely agree that Misha and Jensen do an amazing job together! :)
Sorry for some hatefull folks, seems like they just do not like these 2 characters together so much and chasing authors just to be mean with them. Sad :( But you should know that a lot of people are welcoming new articles about these two guys :) So thanks again!) And take care)
Sassy
August 25, 2016 @ 2:26 am
I had to comment on that. Matt Carter has always been a paid shill for SPN.
Matt Carter
August 25, 2016 @ 5:09 am
If they’re paying me, is it cool if I ask them to buy me a new office chair?
rubyangel
August 25, 2016 @ 1:19 pm
Matt, if you’re not getting enough money under the table to afford a new office chair that’s your problem, not ours. You should re-negotiate your deal with them.
Matt Carter
August 25, 2016 @ 7:31 pm
T’was just a joke! WB / CW don’t need to pay anyone. Everyone watches and enjoys the show for different reasons, and that’s totally okay. Same goes for writing about it. Personally I enjoy Sam / Dean adventures but also like it when Cas is implemented.
rubyangel
August 25, 2016 @ 8:54 pm
My my, you’re getting defensive aren’t you? I do believe that the CW has paid shills all over the net. All of the big entertainment companies do, because they want to sway and shape public opinion. It’s part of doing business nowadays. Just because you enjoy seeing bird butt included doesn’t mean that everyone does. I think the media and certain parts of this fandom need to recognize that. Getting really tired of these online articles which assume that everyone likes the direction that SPN has taken. Everyone doesn’t.
rubyangel
August 24, 2016 @ 7:06 pm
More Dean and Castiel?. Sorry, Matt Carter, no. Not everyone out here wants to see that. Castiel ruined SPN. He’s stronger than the brothers. He takes the sense of danger out of the hunts. If Sam or Dean is injured he can heal them. Bird butt shows up, tells the brothers what to kill and how to kill it. If they need transport he takes them where they need to go. No dramatic tension, no road trips in Baby, no research scenes, no Winchester BAMF action on hunts. As you can see I am definitely not a fan of Team Free Will. cassbutt has sucked all the life and all of the fun out of the show. A lot of fans stopped watching for the reasons I just mentioned. I imagine him being around is fine for people who enjoy stale, boring story lines, but the rest of us like stories that are more compelling.
Matt Carter
August 25, 2016 @ 1:37 am
I’ve seen it both ways — some people like Castiel, and others don’t. Sometimes having polarizing characters can be good! Inspires passion.
rubyangel
August 25, 2016 @ 1:18 pm
Having polarizing characters can be good, but not when that character takes the passion and excitement out of the story. Not when the story has to be dumbed down to accommodate that one character. If bird butt had been in a Joss Whedon show he would be a solid supporting character because Whedon would not have allowed him to take over. Whedon would have set solid boundaries on the limits of bird butt’s powers and he wouldn’t have allowed him to overshadow the leads just to pander to a vocal minority of fans or the whim of a CW exec who’s no longer there.
By introducing angels to SPN Eric Kripke effectively reduced the Winchesters to guest stars in their own show. They’re outclassed and outgunned all the time. That “mythical big bad coming to destroy the world” scenario is overblown and tiresome and the angel arc is like a fungus. It doesn’t end, it just mutates, and not in a good way either. SPN was better and less cluttered when it focused on the MOTW and Sam and Dean’s relationship with each other. Kripke once said that angels would never be on the show, that Heaven was working through the hunters. Too bad he caved in to then-head of the CW Dawn Oslof and gave her friend mishmash a part on the show.
Lynn
August 23, 2016 @ 2:40 pm
“Don’t Misha and Jensen Ackles play these scenes great?”
Yes! That scene in the car was wonderful – I love that Dean finally was able to communicate to Cas how important he is and how loved. He’s family, plain and simple.
And I’m with you, I’d love to see Cas on more MOTW episodes. Hunter Heroici as a fantastic one – I love seeing all three of them work together.
Great article – thanks!
Matt Carter
August 23, 2016 @ 10:51 pm
Thanks for checking it out!