Re-watching SPN

[feliciakw]

I started re-watching SPN from the beginning today. I'm not going to write a review, but a couple things did hit me this time:

That was one great piece of television. The lighting, the pacing, the mood, the atmosphere, the characters, the creepy. That was a fine, fine bit of TV viewing.

The boys were so young! In some ways, it's like they've evolved into different characters.

Elaborating on that, I agree with Jensen when he says that too much has happened for them to return to the S1 vibe. It really has. They can't go back to those innocent times. They've both been through too much. Hopefully they'll find a way to move forward and re-establish that brotherly bond.

Sam had control and anger issues as far back as the pilot. Looking back at some of the stuff now, I'm kind of tickled to find that it's not something the writers made up recently, but can be traced as far back as the pilot.

Watching these eps (I also watched Wendigo) left me smiling. The boys were so cute!

It was kind of like going through an old album. You miss those days, and you sort of wish you could relive those days, or if not relive, then at least re-capture, but you know that's not possible.

They were so young! (I said that already, didn't I.)

So anyway. The Pilot. Still awesome. Still an excellent piece of television.

Comments

[ficwriter1966.livejournal.com]

It puzzles me when the "return to S1" situation comes up and folks start with the mad flail of protest. (Not you, Felicia - I'm speaking more of the folks at TWoP, who always start shrieking "Characters need to learn and grow!!") What I would hope for is a dynamic *similar* to S1, where the boys return to "saving people, hunting things" - but as adults who have been through the fire (literally and figuratively) and need to establish a comfortable partnership. Instead of the wobbly ground of Sam's having "deserted" the family, John's bad parenting, Dean's devotion to him, etc., in 2010 we'd have a new set of problems underlying their relationship - but with them more together than apart. (In S5 it was more apart than together.) I really don't want any more gigantic!Biblical!arcs - the writers have demonstrated that they can't handle them, and really, the show is best when it keeps the focus tight and intimate.

But yes: there was a lot of fertile ground there. Some wonderful cinematography. All kind of wonderful raw material. I never tire of re-watching S1.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

I am so with you on the no more gigantic!Biblical!arcs thing. It's been done now, so let's move on to something different.

Like working out the boys' new dynamic after everything they've been through. If they are going to go more intimate next season, I'm kind of hoping that they will focus on the emotional arc of Sam and Dean learning to relate to each other again. I don't think it can be the way they related to each other before. They've both grown up, had horrible things happen, become more cynical and more world weary. But they're still brothers, and I'd like to see them reconnect.

So, basically, what you said.

And I would love to have an episode leave me smiling from time to time again. Yes, have the OH NOEZ cliffies, but whatever they do, I hope they can recapture the fun. At least occasionally.

And big, huge, messy kudos to the production crew on S1. Seriously. That's some good TV.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I don't think it can be the way they related to each other before. They've both grown up, had horrible things happen, become more cynical and more world weary.

But it's not even just that, not now. Now Sam understands better what Dean went through during their whole history, and has gotten to show Dean the kind of love and trust Dean's never had from anyone; and Dean has seen the man that Sam is becoming, not the little boy or the potential monster, but Sam himself, and has shown Sam the kind of love that Sam has always craved, to be trusted and acknowledged.

I'm so pleased about where they are now. Hopefully we just get more of what that looks like in their every-day lives, come next season. *hugs boys*

[kimmer1227.livejournal.com]

What you said.

Full steam ahead!

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

And if they opt to explore that new aspect of their relationship, I will be delighted. That's part of the reconnection. (I doubt that's going to be the jumping off point of the season, though.)

But that wasn't really what I was talking about. I was talking about the stuff that left me smiling at the end of these early episodes. The playfulness of things, you might say. They can't return to that youthful playfulness; too much has happened to them. They can't go back to the "big brother" and "little brother" relationship. It will almost be like meeting someone completely new.

(I'm thinking about the connection I've lost with my own brother, and now trying to put what I was going after into more specific terms, I can feel my eyes pricking.)

Oh, I hope there will be eps that still leave me smiling at the banter or the brotherhood, but I don't expect it to be--it can't be--the same type of innocence of early days.

But honestly? I don't really want to speculate about S6 too much. I'm going to enjoy re-watching the series this summer, and digest it in context of where it ended, not necessarily where it's going from here.

[ficwriter1966.livejournal.com]

I think that's a big part of my dissatisfaction with S5 - there was just no *fun* to be had. I honestly didn't like "Changing Channels," but looking back, it's the only light moment in the whole season!

I just love moments like Dean's glee with the big pretzel. I think they could still set up occasions for the brothers where they just *enjoy* something. Maybe moving toward the latter half of the season? It wouldn't have to be entire episodes, just a moment here and there.

[fufaraw]

The thing that impressed me, rewatching the pilot after the S3 dvds was Jared's screen test. Paired with Ackles, JP was often discounted as an actor, "a WB face." But watching his test, and then rewatching the pilot I realized Jared was giving us everything on the page. He's an actor, bringing the words to life and imbuing a character with as much information as he's been given, plus what his instincts intuit.

By the time the dvds were released, they had gone through a fraught season two, and an even more tense and angst-filled S3. Working as a team with Ackles, under the tutelage of Manners and Sgriccia and other good directors, and with some talented guest stars, you could see the strides in his craft Jared had made.

And at the same time, Jensen had, in that period, honed and refined the talent he brought to the show, deepening and broadening his ability to bring Dean's emotions and conflicts to the screen.

I think it's wonderful to rewatch early seasons at least as each season ends, to remind us that not only have the characters matured, endured, and grown, but so have the actors who give them to us, week after week. It's a sort of tutorial, if one wants to think of it that way.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

I . . . have nothing to add. :-) You're very right, I think, on all counts.

Btw, love the icon. :-)