Supernatural Post One: Intro into My Fandom Self. Sort of.

I've been watching Supernatural from the beginning again. I haven't done this since I originally started watching the show back in my freshman year of high school. Wow. I've been watching this show since the second season. Amazing how the years go by so quickly. (For the record, I just finished my freshman year of college.)

It's worth noting that, technically, I haven't seen it all the way through properly. I started watching it on YouTube two or three days before season two started. I watched the first few episodes and then realized that the second season was starting. I knew I wanted to watch the second season as it aired. So, I panicked, like you do. I watched those few beginning episodes and then watched the last three or so of the first season. This was shortly followed by watching the first episode of the second season. Thus began my undying love for the show.

While, I've seen every single episode, I just haven't watched them in exactly the correct order. After I watched about half of the second season I bought the first season on DVD and watched all the episodes I hadn't seen. It's an odd way to get into a television show, but I'd cite my getting in Harry Potter as a stranger way to get into something. That story is for another time, however.

Image from rocksaltandholywater on Tumblr.

So...Supernatural. Okay. I've always been a "Dean girl." Let me get that out in the open, first of all. I guess this will be a bit about fandom as well as the show itself. Maybe that's how this has to be, though. I mean, the show has gone meta many times. Super meta, actually, with an episode where the boys crashed onto the television set of Supernatural, during the current season. SPN and fandom cannot escape each other and even before I knew the fandom of SPN, I think I knew this to be true. Oh, and for those of you who don't know. Meta is, "a term, especially in art, used to characterize something that is characteristically self-referential," as per Urban Dictionary.

So, I was a "Dean girl" from the get go. A strapping young man who was blue collar in the best possible way, who had a muscle car (Metallicar, a '67 Chevy Impala) and the drive necessary to keep him and his brother going. So, yeah. I fell for Dean Winchester. Hard. Besides while Sam was attractive, in all honesty, I wasn't too pleased with Jared Padalecki's acting. Less so as I watch the show again.

Being a "Dean girl" is kind of the strong end of the stick, though. I mean I could have been a "Sam girl" and ended up with all the shit he's gone through and still had to defend him. Honestly, Dean is righteous and doesn't need defending too often. He's a very strong character, he knows exactly what he wants, how to get it, and what the right thing is. He's so many shades of gray that it amazing Eric Kripke was able to create such a real character. Plus, there's slash potential out the ass. The only fall back is that he's slightly sexiest. Not really in his actions, which is kind of amazing, but mostly in his language. The way I see it, though, it isn't really Dean's fault. The show isn't really that female friendly in multiple ways. The blunt sexism in the show is for another time.

Dean is one of those characters who brings out the best in the show. After watching season six, I've come to the realization that Dean Winchester is the main character of Supernatural and everyone else, including Sam Winchester, us just a supporting character. This, however, was not always the case. The first season had no real single protagonist, both Sam and Dean shared an equal number of experiences of growth. Season two showed Sam being the main character, but from season three onward Dean becomes the predominate character of the series. More on this in another entry.

The next entry will be deeper into the character of Dean from season one to season six and hopefully I can show why Dean Winchester is the main character of the beloved SPN. Or maybe the next entry will be strictly fandom based. Who knows?

-Wednesday