How Supernatural Took Over My Life

The Story of How Supernatural Took Over My Life
by Clara Pond

NOTE - SPOILERS TO BE HELD WITHIN FOR ALL CURRENT SEASONS OF SUPERNATURAL. READ WITH CAUTION.      

Before watching SPN:

After watching SPN:

        About six or seven months ago, I had pretty much gotten my fandoms under control. Doctor Who had the biggest influence, followed by Sherlock. Various book fandoms followed suit accordingly. I had just gotten into another show, House (which I do reviews for here on Emily's lovely blog), but I even had that under control. I had finally found the perfect fandom/life balance equation.

        And then came Emily and, with her, Supernatural.

(Look - they even made a House reference in Supernatural. I was doomed from the beginning.)

        Of course, I'd heard of Supernatural before. I'd be surprised if anyone hasn't, especially if they're already a fangirl/boy.

        However, my interpretation of Supernatural from the scattered GIFs and rants I'd seen on G+, as well as the conversations of some of my friends, left me with a slightly skewed interpretation of the show.

Pre-SPN Image of SPN:

1. I truly believed that Destiel was canon on the show. Actually, after Season 4 (when Cas showed up), I was waiting for them to get together until around Season 7 or 8, when I realized Destiel was just Supernatural's Johnlock.

(By the way - not trying to start any shipping wars. Ship what you ship, and respect other people's ships. Peace out!)

2. The picture below was the first picture I ever saw of Crowley. It was preceded by a Tumblr conversation saying that someone should make a hipster Crowley picture based off a screenshot from one of the episodes. Since they only referred to him as the King of Hell, I assumed he was a human who had somehow managed to gain power in the Underworld. I've always been bad at guessing plot.

3. I thought that John Winchester was an absolute jerk. And I was right. 

(By the way - as you might have guessed, I am certainly not a John Winchester fan. I mean, how he sacrificed himself for Dean was very noble and all, but - Sam's right. He really did screw them up. Even if he was trying his hardest... I just can't forgive him.)

4. I actually did think that it was a show about two brothers hunting monsters - at least some aspect of SPN didn't get lost in translation!

5. I assumed there'd be drama between Sam/Dean - but I grossly misjudged the amount of chick-flick scenes (despite Dean's hatred of them) in the show.

6. I also had no idea why people kept referring to a 'Lucie' - I just assumed it was some reoccurring girl character that fought against Sam and Dean every once in awhile. Little did I know that Lucie was short for Lucifer... though, now that I think about it, I should've made the connection.

(Sorry, Lucie - it won't happen again!)

7. I didn't know that Supernatural would be so funny (or make fun of itself so many times). I mean, sure, I could tell that there were a few particularly good jokes in SPN from what I'd seen on the Interwebz, but if you'd told me there'd be episodes like Changing Channels along with ones like Swan Song, I would have doubted the show's functionality. And yet, Supernatural has been going strong for ten years. Bless them.

8. I thought that Kevin was a Winchester. Just... it was obvious he spent a lot of time with Sam and Dean on the show, and way everyone talked about him, well, I just assumed he was their long-lost brother or something! I knew the boys had a half-brother called Adam, so I only thought it logical to think of this Kevin guy as a brother, too.

(Oh Gallifrey - I'm sorry if I gave you all too many feels there, guys. So sorry.)

9. Cas was different than I expected him to be. I mean, I love him. And he's the awesomest angel to have ever had wings. But his reputation preceded him, and since he wasn't the brilliant Cas he is now way back during his introduction in Season 4, I started to doubt that I would ever adore him like most fans seemed to. But, of course, he worked his magic, and now I'm yet another hopeless Castiel fan.

(Love ya, Cassie!)

10. I was not at all prepared for the amount of feels this show gives its viewers. I thought that after watching Doctor Who and Sherlock, I was ready for anything they would throw my way. Ha. Poor me. I certainly learned that lesson.

        Anyway, back to the story...

        After I started writing for the blog, Emily made the 'innocent' suggestion that I start watching Supernatural. A lot of my friends had already tried to get me to watch it, but this time, I thought Eh, why not? It's not like it'll completely take over my life or anything...

        Oh, me. Didn't you learn with Doctor Who? Fandoms always take over your life in the end - it's your destiny.

        But no, me didn't learn - and so I started with Episode 1, Season 1, "Pilot." 

        It was pretty slow going at first. I'm always that way with fandoms. Heck, it took me a whole year to watch past Episode 3 of New Who. But one day, my friend came over. And in the course of one sleepover, followed by another one the next week, we were able to barrel through Supernatural up to the middle of Season 2. 

        I choose my friends wisely.

        One of the reasons I struggled so much with Supernatural in the beginning was because of its lack of plot. But as we started getting introduced to more reoccurring demons, and Yellow Eyes was killed once and for all, things started to pick up. Much like Sammy's hair, the plot thickened. And I loved it.

('These' being Supernatural episodes, in this case.)

        It's very interesting to watch a show without getting too much into the fandom culture beforehand, because you focus on everything. For example, I didn't know that Jo and Ellen would perish so suddenly. If I had, I probably wouldn't have gotten as invested as I did in them. Similarly, I didn't know Crowley would be with us for such a long time, so that came as a pleasant surprise. 

        In short, the only things I knew for sure were that Sam and Dean were brothers, that there'd be monsters, and that the Winchesters had a habit of dying... and so everything else came as a plot twist for me.

(Seriously with the dying and coming back, though - they're pretty much immortal at this point.)

        Throughout watching, there've been some things I've hated, and some things I've loved. But in the end, Supernatural won me over for three reasons.

The Three Winning Aspects of SPN:

1. The Idea

I mean, just think about it. It's an awesome idea. Two brothers, united by loss and pain, fighting monsters and constantly bending the rules of Heaven and Hell. Two men who have gone through so much with each other that they're the strongest form of family there is. Two sons who were started down the road of revenge by their father, and who end up doing so much more than they had planned to. Two friends who, through impossible odds and challenges, still end up valuing each other over anyone else. It's wonderful, and it's a big part of what makes Supernatural, Supernatural.

2. The Dramedy

So, in Supernatural, you get your scenes like this, from episodes like The French Mistake:

Annnnnnd your scenes like this, from episodes like On The Head Of A Pin (I believe):

As a wise blog owner named Emily has said before, Supernatural is able to do what Merlin could not in its later years - it's able to provide laughs and make fun of itself while also having a meaningful and heartbreaking storyline. Even with the Lucifer arc in Season 5, the Trials arc in Season 8, or even the Soulless!Sammy arc in Season 6, Supernatural had at least one joke in every episode. Basically, we know that none of this is real, and the writers know it, too. And they're not ashamed of making fun of that fact (repeatedly). But they also use their characters well and, despite some episodes that are a bit too far out there, for the most part provide us with the perfect balance of comedy and drama in each episode.

3. The Characters

Supernatural has provided us with some absolutely amazing characters. From Sam and Dean to Cas and Crowley, each long-term character in Supernatural always seems to grow on me before their departure (if they have one, that is). Even the characters with a shorter screen time, like Lucifer or Adam, leave their mark. I don't know whether it's just the situation they're all in or the writing or both, but the characters in Supernatural all have a story to tell. Stories which I will never get tired of listening to, and stories which I hope will never end.

        I love Supernatural. I can't wait for Season 10, and I hope that the show won't go down in quality anytime soon. Even though I hate Emily for making me a Supernaturalist, I love her, too. She introduced me to one of the greatest fandoms humanity has had yet to offer. The past year or so has been pretty rough for me. But Supernatural helped relieve a lot of that pain by filling my heart with so many feels that I was unable to be worried about my real life problems. If you ignored my spoiler warning, and are reading this without having finished Supernatural, DO NOT GIVE UP ON THIS SHOW. Trust me, that'd be a terrible, terrible mistake.

        Thanks for reading, guys. Means the world to me :) Hope we can all survive Demon!Dean in the upcoming season! 

P.S. Emily, this post is dedicated to you. Thank you so much. For everything.