SPN Season 12 Overall impression

SPN Season 12 Overall impression

On tumblr someone mentioned the final of season 12 “Is a super emotional and underrated episode and people need to talk about it more.” And I thought, geez the SPN final was the worst and zilch brother emotional final I ever witnessed.

Ya see, good ol' perception. The OP loved it, I disliked it. Now as wished I'm gonna “talk” why the final IMO was the least emotional and surly not underrated episode SPN had produced in the last 12 years. So yes critic is allowed, because we KNOW SPN can do better and has done better. Oh and BTW to critic a film or book has absolutely nothing to do with “hate”. In general, story telling mediums have rules to follow, dynamics and canon that have to be uphold, because without a decent dynamic and canon a story will eventually turn into a boring, confusing tale and therefor will lead to an inevitably disappointing event.

I assume this post can be listed under 'very, very unpopular opinion', simply because I didn't like the last two episodes of season 12, actually I didn't even like the ending of season 11. But season 12 and it's ending were utterly preposterous. I don't even know what happened with the show that once was labeled “Two brothers on a road trip and their supernatural adventures”.

At first, what was this season all about?? Seriously, this is a legit question. People on tumbler and other social media, with a normal functioning mind were repeatedly asking this simple question. And interesting enough until the final aired and after, no one could satisfyingly answer it. And please don't come with “It's about family” that argument is utter BS. Already lacking a plot is a major issue. Lets face it, a story without a major plot maybe in a sense poetic, but on a long going TV horror/supernatural show, this sans-plot issue will cause confusion, which will lead inevitably to disinterest. 

The sans-plot issue

This may sound contradicting but many different plots do not make one whole plot. Remember season 12 started with the resurrection of Mary, the appearance of the British Men of Letters and Lucifer set free. Lots of plots, but in the end we got nothing, the conclusion of all three plots were missing, well except for Dean's mommy issues and at the end we got lots of diapers.

The Mary sub-plot turned out to be a pure Dean plot. From the beginning to the of the end of series, it was Dean who was mainly interacting with Mary. His conflict, him realizing how reality collides with illusion, produced the needed drama for the plot. Which was great, but prolonged over 23 episodes can be boring. Especially when the other major protagonist is kept out of the drama. The season started and ended with Dean having a heartwarming dialog with his mom Mary. There was a concrete narrative arc with a beginning, a middle, and an end. A line of inquiry was opened and pursued, and ultimately a conclusion of some sort was reached. So, here no complaints, except for the obvious fact that Sam was obviously kept out of the story. Sam was only partly interacting in Dean's plot. And this circumstance was utterly disturbing and annoying. Simply because Dean and Mary were mainly talking about Sam and his in the past endured experiences, but WITHOUT him. WTF? It was as if Sam wasn't present, or his conflict concerning his mom, whom he never met, were not important enough. Now this could be a “plot” device for the coming season, or just, as some say bad writing.

The British Men of Letters sub-plot. This sub-plot was beyond sub. I have no idea what SPN wanted to achieve with this 'much ado about nothing' plot. The BMoL started out really cool and thrilling. At the beginning they were the villains SPN didn't have since the time of the Leviathans. Than already after the second episode the BMoL plot started to morph into a soap opera. Saying the assumed believed plot disintegrated into nothing. Drama without a cause, content and common sense, hence soap opera. Sorry, but Mary believing the BMoL sales pitch, AFTER, seeing with her own eyes what they did to her youngest son, is the most unbelievable and absurd story I ever saw on TV. And the used argument for her joining the BMoL, namely trying to achieve the world peace for her sons, is just idiotic. And than Sam joining these clowns, because also believing the world peace garbage, AFTER they shot, kidnapped, physically and psychologically tortured and mentally raped him, is just awe, unbelievable. Geez I can't smoke that much weed to make sense in this stupidity. And viewers are buying this shitty plot. But the end of the BMoL is worth a double face palm. Seriously, I'm suppose to believe that a handful mediocre hunters, even though Sam (after changing his mind...sigh) was leading them, could over run and eliminate highly trained and highly equipped mercenaries and their HQ? Really?? Give me a brake. But like I mentioned before, the oddity could be a relevant plot devise for the coming season 13, or bad writing, but who knows?

The Lucifer sub-plot. What plot? It, the angel cruising to one body (rock star) to another (president), because of wasting human vessels, having an earthly spawn, than being captured by the King of Hell, which than can miraculously free itself, with his old familiar vessel. To end in an SPN AU. This is not a plot, simply because it was confusing, hence turned canon upside down and didn't in anyways emotionally interweave with the brothers, esp. Sam. The whole premiss of the show SPN was once, that Sam like Dean were designed by the heavenly realm, to contain the archangels Lucifer and Michael, to fight the apocalypse. And now it doesn't matter anymore? Since the Lucifer plot was deliberately separated from the main protagonists of the show, hence the brothers, and therefor lacking the emotional link (drama), e.g season 5, the sub-plot turned out to be irrelevant and therefor boring. 

 

Conclusion

My thoughts are just a compressed overall view of the whole season, seen as one piece. Of course there were some nice episodes, but this can't change the fact that season 12 as a whole was during and at the end confusing and incoherent, further deliberately neglected canon and utterly lacked the famous brotherly chemistry. And sorry the brother hug at episode 22 didn't rock me, it felt artificial. So, no points for that lousy spiel.

The obvious lack of Sam being interwoven in any of the plots is peculiar and conspicuous. Now this circumstance can be a hint that something bigger is going on, a foreplay for season 13 OR the character Sam, played by Jared Padalecki is being backout to give the character Dean, played by Jensen Ackles the possibility to be to the fore. In the end I don't know, all I know, the changes are obvious and IMO should be evaluated.

Since it's hiatus, a lot time can be spend with figuring out if season 12 was truly an awfully bad written season or if there is more to the story than meets the eye. It's just using ad hominem as an argument can't be the solution... and therefor I can't get rid of the feeling that what appears this season to be so obvious and disturbing, is the key to the true ongoing story of the Winchester odyssey. Lets not forget we are talking about the 'Supernatural'.

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” Robert Davies

(William Robertson Davies, He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters") :D