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.)

By the way, I'll be convinced we're truly a cult hit when a fan gets the same tattoo.

It's been over a week! Wonder if anyone's got it already.

I just read that article (and yes, there are definitely spoilers). So far there are 46 replies to it, ALL of them commenting on Bela, and I think only 3 of them were in defense of her character. All the rest of them hate her. Not love to hate her, but hate her because they feel she isn't working for the show, that she was shoehorned in to begin with, that she has appeared in too many episodes for really flimsy reasons, and so on. Apparently the writers and staff believe that she is the kind of character that fans "love to hate," like Meg, the YED, and Hendrickson. Those particular fans don't really think so.

I gotta say, when I hear about reactions like that, even though I didn't much like Bela when she was introduced, it makes me want to write a story in which she is totally awesome and entirely sympathetic.

Because I'm just that cross-grained with this fandom.

Based mainly on TWOP and people that I know - most people hate Bela and not in a "love to hate her" way. They don't want to hear suggestions as to what might be driving her - they just want her gone. And these same people tolerate Katie Cassidy because they really like the idea of Ruby.