So I'm finally catching up on the SPN episodes. Last night we watched MM. I'm glad I was spoiled for it, because I probably would have been a lot more cranky about it than I ended up being. The writing felt rushed, and it felt like a bad rip-off of 80s horror movies instead of a knowing homage to them (which is the vibe I get from most SPN episodes.) Also, the episode felt like it was trying to fulfil the expectations of what non-viewers of SPN expect it to be. Kinda dumb, gory, and with a base of unthinking misogyny.

(And yes, I'm well aware that MM is the worst episode of the season.)

I ... oh lord, I hope none of you get annoyed with me for this. I have realized that I like fandom's version of SPN better than the actual show. I think the show is a kind of rickety scaffold that fandom has built an elaborate world around, and I worry that fandom is going to get its collective heart broken when that scaffold crumples. A lot of the really neat meta-discussion I see about the bonds of family, journey of redemption, battling of monsters turns one into a monster - I have to squint at the actual show to find more than tenuous support for it.

Yes, I know that we, as viewers, bring our own interpretation of things, that we're supposed to. But more and more I'm wondering if the interpretations that the majority of fandom brings to SPN is more wishful thinking than mining the text for metatexual themes.

I think that's a valid point, Jilli. It's certainly one I've wondered about with various fandoms. But I decided that for me, any show that spawned such thought, whether by actual content onscreen, or from viewers longing and creating material for what was obviously a shortfall onscreen, has worth.

Others may feel differently. In the past, for other shows, I have decided that making up stuff for the interstices was more trouble than its worth. SPN hasn't reached that point for me yet.

I think the show is a kind of rickety scaffold that fandom has built an elaborate world around, and I worry that fandom is going to get its collective heart broken when that scaffold crumples.

Too late. Or actually, that happens for me with every show; and the world I build is sometimes all I can take with me from the experience for a long time.

I think the show is a kind of rickety scaffold that fandom has built an elaborate world around, and I worry that fandom is going to get its collective heart broken when that scaffold crumples.

It hasn't reached that point for me -- I think the last time it did, I wanted to rewrite BtVS S7 from scratch, just for myself.

What's definitely true is that this fandom has created some amazing stuff out of the source, and it's as valuable to me as the show itself. I often have to remind myself that something I've read that really stuck with me *wasn't* canon, and was instead fic.

That said, for me, as was true with Buffy, even when SPN is bad, it's better than most of what else is on.

I think the scaffold analogy is a good one (though I also like to think of it as a skeleton), because a lot of what I like about the show is tied into the fandom that surrounds it and builds on it. I guess I just don't see the scaffold as being all that rickety, even though it's beginning to show cracks this year.

Jilli, absolutely. The fandom got me into the show, and likely I'll continue to be attached to the fandom (to some extent) after the show succeeds in driving me away.

The fandom got me into the show

That's it exactly. I wanted to understand what all of you were beebling on about. Because (and I KNOW this will get me some odd looks) the two main characters are not my flavor of eye candy. They're attractive guys, yes, but Not My Thing.

the two main characters are not my flavor of eye candy. They're attractive guys, yes, but Not My Thing.

The words, they are are in English, and yet they do not parse....

Okay, I suppose I can understand. It's the same reaction I have to, say, Justin Timberlake. I do not find him particularly attractive, nor do I like his music. And yet I know that much of the planet disagrees with me. So I just manage to say things like "hmmm" when people burble on about him.

Kroki_refur's recap of "Mystery Spot - of course, it's funny and of course it includes copious screenshots.

From a highly Spoilery interview with Sera Gamble (discusses plot of next episode; stuff about casting for finale and bits about future of some characters):

FFN: Those matching tattoos are pretty cool. How long has that been planned?

SG: I remember talking about it with Ben Edlund last season, while Cat was writing "Born Under A Bad Sign." We agreed that if we were Sam, the first thing we'd do is take that anti-possession amulet and head for the nearest tattoo parlor. He reminded me of it while we were working on “Jus In Bello,” because breaking out the amulets was an important story point in that episode. So I stuck it in there, and it made for a nice moment. It’s like, of course Sam and Dean have matching tats. How could it be any other way? By the way, I'll be convinced we're truly a cult hit when a fan gets the same tattoo.

And in really bad and annoying news: Chicagoans - there is a WHITE SOX game on WGN on the night of SPN's return . . . I don't know if we will get it delayed to late night or run on Saturday instead. (I'm guessing the latter.)