written by Vinnie Chaffee for WinchesterBros.com
San Diego Comic-Con was a rush, in every sense of the word, but amongst the chaos we were able to sit down with the cast and crew of the CW’s Supernatural and attempt to pry some season 8 dish out of them.
Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) is quick to say that his third foray into directing has been a bit more taxing than before, “I’m in everyday [of shooting]; I think last year I was only in three days out of the eight, this year I’m in all eight days.” Ackles is quick to say that certain scenes, for example hotel scenes with co-star Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester), are easier as he can block those out so he and Padalecki can just do their thing, however it became more difficult when directing guest stars he’s doing scenes with and jumping between being Dean Winchester and being Jensen the Director.
One thing can be said for the cast of the Supernatural; their newly appointed show runner, Jeremy Carver, has them locked down when it comes to spoilers. That’s not to say they didn’t share a few tidbits in the pressroom, but betting odds are that those tidbits aren’t the juicy ones.
Since the lid was on fairly tight, we asked Ackles if he had any reaction to the much-discussed episode, ‘Season 7, Time for a Wedding’. Ackles was unaware that there had been a strong reaction, let alone negative feelings, toward the controversial episode. Ackles admits that Supernatural takes risks that other shows don’t when it comes to the fourth wall, “We definitely play with fire probably a lot more than people would be comfortable doing and sometimes you fail. When you take risks and you try something out; one time it works, the next time it may not work; actually this is news to me, I didn’t know that [‘Time for a Wedding’] did not work.” He did go on to say that while the fans are able to analyze episode, they don’t have the luxury of reflection, they have to go on to the next script and tell the next story, however agreed that the show deals with a great deal of subject matter that has the potential to make viewers uncomfortable.
Ackles was able to divulge that the show is taking a year jump and when we see them again Dean will be out of Purgatory, however season 8 will be filling in the gaps with flashbacks. He also let us know that the show will be introducing new mythology into the mix, “Of which I couldn’t tell you anything, because they haven’t told me. I’ve go a loud mouth as far as spilling the beans, so it’s probably best they don’t tell me things because I’ll tell you.” As Ackles was pulled away from the table, he remarked that he was interested in discussing the reaction to ‘Season 7, Time for a Wedding,’ showing once again that the actors themselves care about how the episodes are received by their fans.
When Padalecki sat down with us, the first order of business was his newly trimmed sideburns, “They’re not that much shorter [are they]?” The table agreed the difference was a big one and Padalecki finally agreed, “[the sideburns] were gradually taking over my face. I think we took the opportunity of the year that Sam was kinda living in normalcy to leave the ‘70s.”
The Winchester brothers have been apart for stretches of time before, for different reasons, but Padalecki says this time it’s different because this time Sam got out of the life completely. Padalecki says that this is the first time that Sam is utterly alone, “without Bobby, without Cas, without Dean, with no Kevin in sight and Crowley [having] taken [Kevin] God knows where, Sam finally went, ‘You know what? Everybody I know is dead, I’m gonna leave [the hunting life].’” There may be potential criticism, but Padalecki maintains that Sam got out of the life because he didn’t know what else to do, unlike other times he didn’t even know where Dean was. As a result, Sam was able to do what he’s always thought he wanted to do, which is be normal. Padalecki also reminds us that this doesn’t necessarily mean Sam is happy, only that Sam is moving forward.
Padalecki says he was very interested in exploring Sam on his own, “I’ve always really wanted to fight for ‘Sam time’ and ‘Dean time,’ not just ‘Sam and Dean time.’”
Padalecki reflects that they are almost three characters, “Sam,” “Dean” and “Sam and Dean”; “Sam and Dean” being the lead character and the individual characters playing second billing equally. Padalecki likes the idea of fleshing out the brothers independently, feeling that it makes their bond stronger.
If the idea of one brother being gone and the other moving on with a female love interest sounds familiar, well that’s because it is. Padalecki addressed whether or not Sam moving on with Amelia (Sam’s new love interest, played by Liane Balaban) was similar to Dean attempting to move on with Lisa (Cindy Sampson), “Dean still had people out there, he had Bobby, he still had people alive […] Sam doesn’t.”
The Winchesters are often the hunted as well as the hunters, which leaves the audience wondering how Sam was able to make a clean break. Padalecki admits that even he isn’t sure about that yet.
Catch Supernatural, Wednesdays on the CW.