Supernatural Pre-Season Ten: Hope and Low Expectations

Supernatural's tenth season is premiering in less than a month, so I'd like to congratulate the show on this milestone. The season will feature the show's 200th episode, an impressive number for any television series, let alone a genre exclusive one.


When we left off at the tail of season nine, Castiel's stolen grace was burning him out, Metatron was locked up, and Dean's death resulted in him becoming a demon. This sets up an interesting playing ground for the new season, which is allegedly supposed to focus more on relationships and family bonds rather than a large scale arcing plot.

That is precisely what I am looking forward to about the tenth season. At this point, I follow the show for the characters and their relationships. Having the writers prominently feature this aspect of the story will certainly draw me in. I am especially looking forward to the way Sam and Dean interact now that the elder brother has, as I am sure they will say, "gone dark-side." The promos have successfully gotten my interest bubbling to excitement. (The extended promo can be found here.)

Although I do believe there is much to look forward to, I do not have high expectations for Supernatural season ten. Any show can grow tired, and I fear that Supernatural already has. I hope they don't try to overdo story lines. However, it sounds like they might. Hannah's line "Heaven needs you, Castiel," has been uttered more than once, and it never has a pleasant result. I had the impression that heaven would finally be fine, but apparently not. Let's recycle that old story line like its brand new.

In another note of worry, I'm a little anxious over how the writers will treat Cas this season. Since he's my favorite character and I love his interactions with the boys, I always hate to see him sectioned off.  I think that this season will largely exclude him from intertwining plots and try to create his own arc. That's not necessarily awful, but I don't trust the writers to execute it in a way that will ring with the fan base. In addition to this, there's the romance between him and Hannah that is supposedly blooming. What is that? Angel incest? I'm not sure if I'm interested...If they wanted a romance for Cas, they shouldn't have killed Meg off.

Aside from my apprehensions over Castiel, I am actually very excited to see how Sam and Dean interact. From the promos, it is evident that the boys are not getting along. The Sam-Dean brother dynamic is what first drew me into this show, and I love the way it has developed. They tend to be a little too co-dependent, but hey. That's just their relationship. I wonder how it will evolve this season.

GIF credit to mooseleys.tumblr.com

Dean is somehow best friends with Crowley, which is great, but I'm betting the friendship will be short-lived once Dean finds out whatever Crowley is planning. Because it's Crowley. He most definitely has ulterior motives for his friendship with a Winchester.

Again, I will reinforce my wish that this is the last season. I also hope that, if this does happen to be the final season, they end it in a satisfying way. What I fear most is that this season will take a path that makes me end up hating the show. (I doubt it will!)

What do you think? Will Sam and Dean's relationship change? Will Cas's story somehow tie into the Winchesters'? How do you feel about the romance between angels Castiel and Hannah? Do you agree that this should be the last season? Comment below!