‘Supernatural’ season 8, episode 15 preview: Dogs and a debate
Regardless of whether or not Wednesday night’s new “Supernatural” season 8 episode is any good, it should be said first and foremost that “Man’s Best Friend with Benefits” has to be one of the greatest titles that the series has ever come up with. The premise is also somewhat interesting, given that it is not every day that you see a story about a man’s relationship with the human version of his dog.
However, we’ve heard all of the complaints already about this episode being somewhat filler, especially after the landmark “Trial and Error” from Wednesday night. This is not the first time that the show has done this, and the Castiel fans seem about ready to riot over how long it has been since Misha Collins has graced the small screen. (Considering the higher ratings this season, would it be a lot to ask to make him a series regular again?)
While we understand the passion behind a group of people who would rather see a “Supernatural” season of just one 22-episode arc, we also understand the difficulties relating to that happening. How many TV series of this lengthy do you see really able to do this? Even some shows like “The Vampire Diaries” and “Grey’s Anatomy” have ones that are largely filler. It’s just next to impossible to tell a story of this lengthy with a definite beginning, middle, and end without there being some stuffing added in there. (The early seasons of “24” and “Fringe” season 4 are more the exceptions rather than the rule.)
For those of you who would prefer seeing a consistent story arc with more filler and presumably more Cas, the solution here is simple: shorten the order to around 13 episodes, and this gives you more opportunities to actually construct a story that is compact and fascinating. However, these standalone episodes perform much better in syndication, and The loves the ratings of 22 new episodes versus 13 that would not repeat very well.
Are you excited for next week’s episode, and are you okay with more standalone episodes so long as they are done well? If you want to check out some more scoop on what is coming up later this season, you can do so here.
Photo: The CW
DeansFamiliar
February 21, 2013 @ 8:55 am
Yes, I am happy to pass on the filler episodes. Still, it was funny in some places and anything the continues to rebuild/repair the damage done to the boys relationship, anything that brings them closer together is worth a watch. I agree with Goddamnit: we want Dean-driven storylines and given that every time Sam is given a ‘save-the-world’ responsibility something goes horribly wrong and Dean is left to clean up the collateral damage and deal w/ the consequences of putting poor Humpty Dumpty Sam back together again. Instead of the filler episodes, tell us what happened to Benny and Cas. What is Naomi doing to Cas and the other angels? Where’s Crowley? Is he going after the angel tablet? Don’t create storylines w/ new characters and then drop them off by the side of the road indefinitely. I guess doing so builds anticipation for the audience as we all clamor for the stories to be picked up again. SPN just got picked up for season 9: it had better be chocked full of Dean storylines or I am gonna haunt Jeremy Carver’s ass.
Goddamnit
February 16, 2013 @ 2:30 pm
Seriously? another filler episode, again??? It seems they don’t understand the situation, do they? We want more myth-arc episodes and way less filler ones, we want Dean to have a storyline of his own that isn’t just the overused taking-care-of-little-sammy stuff, we want to know what’s going on with Crowley and Benny and Naomi etc, and of course, we want Cas back and hopefully a series regular again! Is this so difficult to understand?!
Colin
February 16, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
OH MY GOD YES! We want Castiel back already! He must be a regular in s09!! We all love him so much!
Mouse
February 16, 2013 @ 11:34 am
No don’t shorten the series, I love the so called filler episodes. They allow the show to expand in character growth and other relationships. If we didn’t have the “filler episodes” a good 75% of my favourite episodes and characters wouldn’t exist. That being said I think that having Misha as a regular cast member would allow for a stronger main plot. The behind the scenes battle that is going on with Cas could be shown. There could be two main plots that come together in the end. Personally it isn’t just Ca that is missed these past few season have the big bad off screen most of the time which diminishes their threat. I want to know what Crowely is up to, why hasn’t he gone after Garth or caused more mayhem for the boys? And of course where is Naomi? If she is the big bad why haven’t the boys run into her yet? What are her plans? Where is the angel tablet? What is going on with Benny? We love the “filler episodes” but it does seem unbalanced in proportion to the main arc.
Peter J
February 16, 2013 @ 11:32 am
It’s not just Cas being gone, it’s his being unmentioned for most of his absence. The show just tends to forget he exists, even though he has so much history with Dean, and of course with Sam.
As for a 13 episode season, I don’t think so. I don’t agree this guarantees a tighter focus (The Sopranos was one of the most pointless, rambling shows I ever watched). The problem is not 22-23 episodes, it’s just lazy, confused pacing which hurts the show. I think you can have a tight focus even with 22, 23, or more episodes. If you go back and watch the old seasons of Knots Landing, they sometimes had 30 episodes, and they had a tight focus.
tvmonkey
February 15, 2013 @ 3:35 pm
13 episode seasons? um…no
Cas clearly doesn’t affect the ratings either way so….whatever. Off course he’s going to be back because we’ve still got to get to the whole Naomi and the angel tablet part of the myth arc.