i'm sorry if this comes across wanky but i thought the alpha vampire was a bit under used? it's pretty unclear who the season antagonist is even this far into the season, and idk, i thought he could have been interesting. that there could have been more suspense build or something. i mean he did just wipe out all but 2 of the bmol in the US, but then he died. and that was that?
Hey, no worries, I donât read that as wanky at all. Criticism based on factual stuff is always more than welcome, otherwise whatâs the point?
Itâs interesting what you say about the seasonâs antagonist. Itâs true that we donât have a real SuperMegaVillain this season - Lucifer wanted to do his own thing and now heâs locked up, that demon fetus is not threatening anyone (yet), Mick is sort of a good guy, Toni was featured so prominently then disappeared (and whatâs up with that?), Crowley is being plain adorkable, and Mr Ketch, despite his many faults, could actually be the most interesting addition to the cast weâve had in a while. So whatâs up with that, uh?
My guess is that they finally saw that tumblr post with three million notes about Luciferâs second cousin, Bruce, whoâs got inimaginable powers and a violent thirst for destruction (you know the one) and realized they had to change something, or this show would have become a parody of itself. Weâve seen God, after all - how much bigger can you get? Also, personally, what first got me hooked to Supernatural werenât the monsters, exactly, but the well-rounded characters and the shades of grey. I remember having intense debates (with myself, because I wasnât in the fandom back then) about Sam choosing to work with Ruby, and I donât feel like weâve witnessed a lot of stuff like that since then - in fact, I kind of miss it? I mean, normally the choices Sam and Dean agonize over are about their own lives and death - they hardly ever sit around and debate over the nature of good and evil, and even destiny has taken a seat back since they basically defeated Godâs whole scheme and Cas destroyed what was left.
No, the impression I have is that theyâre going back to that thing, and yay! - the kind of discussion where nobodyâs right and nobodyâs wrong - so weâre heading towards a time of pain and betrayal and difficult decisions, but nothing on a âsave the cheerleader, save the worldâ scale. Just, you know, more basic stuff like, is a racial genocide ever a good idea? Does your nature determine your actions? Is family people youâre born with or people you choose?
In this sense, the Alphaâs death worked out fine for me. His role in this episode was not that of the big baddie. He was there simply to give the vampires a way in - weâve known for a while that the BMoL are not as strong and well-informed as they pretend to be, but Sam and Dean didnât know that. All theyâve seen are the shiny weapons, the efficient killing, the sneers, the hacking of government satellites. And the thing is, Sam would never work with the top dog - thatâs simply not who he is. So if they wanted him to switch sides, they needed him to see the BMoL are simply people trying their best - and failing. And with all those gadgets, the writers needed to come up with something powerful in order to show the BMoLâs weaknesses. Once upon a time, they would have invented a new villain out of thin air, but this seasonâs been all about acknowledging the showâs past - hence the return of the Alpha. The fact they needed the Colt to kill him was another elegant touch, because it highlighted Samâs history with the gun and Maryâs choices about it.
The thing is, Supernatural is about Sam and Dean, which means every other character is used to showcase their actions and the reasons behind them. This is sometimes frustrating, because in the past twelve years theyâve created such a rich and diverse world of heroes and villains - personally, Iâd happily watch a whole series of unconnected episodes just about them (Charlieâs adventures in Oz, Benny, Crowleyâs childhood, how Gabriel became LokiâŠ), because the truth is, Supernatural will never do them justice. Sure, itâll give them interesting motivations and - if theyâre lucky - a dramatic death, but there is so much more about them, right? and thatâs both the beauty and the blemish of this show: a universe of people whoâre colourful and vibrant and larger than life, and now you blink, and bye, theyâre gone.
I guess thatâs what fanfiction is for?
(Sigh.)Â
