Supernatural: Please retire the old horse

The news is out. Supernatural is getting renewed for yet another season. Now let’s get one thing clear, I LOVE Supernatural, it's been my favorite show for years and has forged some great friendships, I’m sure my good friends Kat and Laura will attest to that. But with Season 6 approaching its finale I am ready to say it: enough is enough. The show’s creator Eric Kripke had only planned for five seasons and I too had had my share of Supernatural once the world was saved from Satan, Sam was dead, and as sad as that was, it was an ending that had the pathos and hope required for the end of a fantastic show.

 For me now, Supernatural is a beloved house-guest that has overstayed their welcome; As much as you love them they are just getting in the way, the jokes are becoming tiresome, they keep borrowing your toothbrush and leaving the fridge door open.

SUPERNATURRAAULLL! You left the door open, AGAIN!

In season four the show took a new turn and started paying homage to its fans with episodes that incorporated them and their fandom into the show. My mind was blown when this first happened, but as Supernatural breaks down the fourth wall the cleverness has become trite and these meta-episodes are too out of sync with the rest of the plot, whereas before they were smoothly tied in. I don’t know about anyone else, but the recent episode where (spoilers) Sam and Dean were transported to our world and forced to live the lives of  the actors, Jared and Jensen, looks like it was great fun for the cast and crew to shoot, but I struggled to find any of it funny beyond Misha Collins' attempt to portray himself.

Ever since season two death has had no meaning in Supernatural, both Dean and Sam have had resurrections, twice for Sam in fact. There is no sense of peril anymore; I find it impossible to care about what happens to Sam and Dean and anyone else now.  Not that there is anyone to care about; very few members of the supporting cast have survived the show, with Castiel and Bobby being the unkillable satellites forced to orbit the endless "Wincest" (that’s Winchester incest apparently).

I get that there is a loyal fanbase out there, but true loyalty is only found after a show has ended. All those Firefly fans who campaigned years for a movie, or the Jericho Rangers who sent nuts to CBS until they got a second series. Both fans and the CW need to stop flogging the pony; you’ll only end up with that dead horse analogy. Instead retire the show and let it canter round a paddock in peace. Then you fans can look back on it and say, “Wasn’t Supernatural fantastic? - Hey, did you ever read my Bobby/Castiel fanfic?”




Comments from Facebook:
Fellow TV critic Ian has this to say:
You had to have seen this one coming though? Supernatural still gets better ratings than newer CW shows like Hellcats and Nikita. Plus it's going to pair well with a couple of CW pilots if these get picked up for full series. Either The Secret Circle (witches) or Awakening (zombies).