Okay so here’s what’s going on with Sera Gamble. She tweeted this:
The thread is notably by Kira Snyder, a writer and producer from The 100.
It’s literally a ton of reasons why a show’s script would need to be changed last minute, including several reasons that are part of the “conspiracy” of destielgate…..
so the question is, did Sera not read the thread and/or doesn’t understand the “conspiracy theories” and was trying to debunk it? OR was she actually confirming that the so-called conspiracy is definitely known and common network fuckery JUST AS WE’VE BEEN SAYING?
Here’s the rest of the thread:
Whatever her intention, Sera’s basically just confirmed that the network meddled in the end of spn 😈
no wait I have to reblog again because the James Bond sirens are going off insanely in my head over “give existing character someone else’s dialogue” and flashbacks of Dean’s speech to Sam and that post changing it to Cas how it fits fuck im losing it
HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA this is fine
I completely get this and it’s all legit but it still doesn’t explain why a picture of Cas & Jack couldn’t have been on the mantle at Sam’s house (or a picture of Eileen), that Sam couldn’t sign to his son (to indicate Eileen had returned), a sound bite being played of “Hello Dean” or “Hello” (but let’s say that takes too much time or is over budget, again, a picture would suffice), how Bobby could have said after the whole “He’ll be along shortly” line & Dean decides to go for a 40-year drive: “I’ll see you later - Rufus is having everyone over” or hell mention his own wife’s name – simple fixes like this could have changed so much & yes maybe the network fuckery did happen (I believe it definitely did) but do not forget that the writers/show are culpable too (not talking about the cast & crew at all) because if the network did do this interference (which again, I think definitely happened just based on what occurred with Wayward Sisters and Dabb’s tweet on that 2 years ago), instead of throwing their hands up and stoking a fire in a dumpster with this finale as a giant FU to the network, there still could have been ways around it without needing Misha & Alex on set, or anyone else, so the story wasn’t completely dropped & it made just that bit more sense, they gave “Cas helped” and talking about Jack remaking Heaven, mentioning John & Mary, Rufus & his wife & having Harvelle’s roadhouse there - Dean could have said “Jack & Cas, huh?” and had that smile, which would not have confirmed Dean’s response to the 15x18 confession one way or another, kept it open-ended, but at least was something for his kid (which Bobby also calls him) & Bobby’s eyebrows wouldn’t have had to go half over his head when talking about Cas. Dean didn’t have to die being shishkabobbed in one of the most laughable and disheartening ways possible. Sam could have had a better wig (I know, budget, but come on). Seriously, unless Mark Pedowitz was screening every line/shot in the script/episode-in-the-editing-room, there should have been something better.
My current working theory is they tried to give us some hints in 15x19 (not just with Cas & seeing Jack’s endgame but also keeping Dean & Sam in character until they couldn’t, the initials on the table shot, etc.) but they should have switched up the writers on that episode (unless it was already too late). But still… Ultimately, I just wish we had answers, it’s been a month and still this shit continues.
If it’s the C*W, tell me it’s the C*W and I’ll bring three dragons to knock on their front door but for the love of Pete, tell me! (lol I know they really can’t but come on already!) I don’t know about you folks but I’ve had enough of season 16, it’s like a bad nightmare that won’t end. I have laid my weary head to rest and there has been no peace since we’re not really done.
I’ll give you a hint: read the blog of the person you reblogged, they’ve addressed this. Because if it was the writers, they wouldn’t have, you know, spent 18-19 episodes of a season building things in just to gouge them all out randomly at the end. Even in 19 Sam is evoking losing his mind at the loss of Eileen.
Again, part of the “things we’ve been talking about” also include the CW using budget gouging in the past to take the reigns on a show by force and make it perform certain ways. Unfortunately, we have to remain incredibly vague about these things to protect people still at work, and people want receipts, but hopefully the other stacks of receipts from people who have LEFT the company have made things clear enough, or other incidental leaks along the way from people fandom is less driven to protect (eg: assholes) – hopefully that’s enough to click gears running.
You would be amazed what a team can be brought to its knees on, and how swiftly too.
Imagine if you will: You’re a shitty company that have a shitty way of doing things. In fact, you may have realized the entire season is basically subtweeting you (eg, the network god cancelling shows in front of 20 TVs). Right down to that network god yelling that they yet again went against what he wanted. Would Shitty Company know yet at this point or not? UNCLEAR!
You know when they would definitely know by? That 6 month gap right before the end to stare into all the ways they were being undercut. All the ways those rogue character elements came in, in ways that went under their noses–things that weren’t hard coded in scripts to change, or had excuses to change in the last moment. (”We changed the shot blocking!” Totally for an accident of a continuity error which actually made perfect continuity! [x] )
Competitive creators aren’t even a new idea to SPN. When a show has a certain budget and production schedule that is strictly adhered to, as well as very specific corporate demands that will overwrite things, smart writers try to figure out how to tell the story that deserves to be told by using these as tools, as much as constraints. Especially if they have cooperative people at other levels. Like 15.18 magically being shot blocked into the perfect mirror room for a mirror conversation by “fixing” a script fluke about a room with two exits and also landing smack into the 15.09 square again by the same author!! By complete accident!! Oops!! It’s too late!! Even if this is now VERY LOUD!! We can’t reshoot!!! =)))) How much can they cut? I don’t know. How much is useable? How much got adlibbed off the script? Sometimes almost an entire scene! (15.18 says hello again!) =))))
“After everything– you did it again!!!!!!”
But when that timeline is completely derailed– when there’s 6 new months for a network or studio to start digging around? Oh, well, those same tools are back to being restraints. You see, you only have THIS MUCH budget. Yes, we know you’re the only show back to filming and the guinea pigs, but you don’t get any extra. You get to figure it out. Conveniently, here are our demands suggestions.
So a competitive creative team tries to figure out their ways around these Budget Suggestions. Maybe they do. Maybe they figure out they can condense/minimize one storyline/amount of heads to afford a specific person, for example. But maybe that goes against what these IP holders/network want done at the end of the day, what THEY imagine will work with a product they barely really know. Oh, well, guess what! You need to/we just bought for you out of your budget this Very Expensive Item. Don’t know what that item is, maybe it’s a drone! Those can be like 10K for good ones. Oh, now you’re 10K short, AND several scheduled other people short? Oh gosh!! Gee, guess you’ll have to find a way to make this work! Here’s our extra demands suggestions on the production script.
At this point, recourse is very narrow. Especially if, in theoretic covid-land of first-back-to-filming, they have every excuse to micro-study what you’re doing. Because you get to be the guideline for the future! And you can actually risk further retaliation the more you buck back. More Very Helpful Budget Expendatures, for example. Eventually, if broken enough, a team will just comply and crank it out.
Generally, even a team complying will still tell the story they want. It might not be the original story they wanted, but it’s what they want to tell with the husk. It might, for example, give you an ending with vampires after they already told you that the Network God wanted vampires but you deserved better, so they have a postmodern statement at least! It might still hold up the shadows of pillars left between the blank spaces choked out, maybe characters passing on and existing in a realm together, even if they’re not allowed to tell the in between. It might be Rubbing In A Character’s Face a certain theme they never get to really consume the final parts of, because something’s still wrong. Maybe giving The Big Resolution to the character that the show kept saying wasn’t right for the Big Resolution to go to! In a weird way that doesn’t even feel like them anymore!! In harmony! It might be all the signals that, in a series this meta, the Network God did in fact win, he just went in Standby Mode another way. Swiss watch, tick tick ticking, installed to the framework of a show, cancelling shows on his command, in Perfect Harmony still with the sister still inside him, in a way that leaves people to question. And… CUT! [slapboard noise]
Is it the perfect story they wanted? Is it the story the audience wanted? No and no. Is it even necessarily bad writing? That depends. After all, that’s now a postmodern piece you can study the meta narrative on for years on exactly these issues, it still Makes a Statement, even if it wasn’t the statement everyone was looking for the show to make, but it’s the only one LEFT to make. Because recourse has been ripped from under them.
It’s absolutely the CW and it’s not even the first time they’ve done this, they just rely on fandoms remaining insular about their bullshit.
This is the friendly reminder that no matter what color of script sheet you have passing around, be it white or blue or green or cherry, those are still phases of production draft, after they’ve already gone Writer > Studio > Network > Production. You’re only getting that end of the story. So until someone gets Dabb to release his pre-covid Writer’s Draft, all we have is a bunch of people working off of seventeen different copies of rewrites. The network and studio are still hiding behind that firewall on ANY copy you guys are seeing.
