Last year, I teamed up with Kara to present our version of the Supernatural season five awards. This year, we are thrilled to have Amy joining us for another special collaboration project.
So without further adieu, may we present Project Kara-Amy-Tiny -- aka our version of the Supernatural season six awards (part 1 of 3).
Favourite Filler
Kara: I found it really, really, hard to work out what a good filler was in this season. A season where on first watching it seemed like more fillers than mythos episodes, however even with the underlining issue about the heavens weapons seemed more like a plot device for this episode, hence why calling it a filler. Anyway the winner of the first award is, The French Mistake. The French Mistake was just a fun episode and allowed some humour before entering the deep dark world of walls breaking and angels becoming Gods and really everyone dying, even those who had already died – I am looking at you Ellen.
Amy: I always struggle with what constitutes a filler episode, because nearly all episodes in some way point to the over-arching mythology. Also, there were a few episodes in season six that probably do fall into the filler category that were excellent. But, I know I’ve got to pick one, so I’m going to pick Weekend At Bobby’s. Pretty sure this is a filler. I just loved getting a peak into Bobby’s life. I loved the interaction between Bobby and Rufus. I loved the interaction between Bobby and Crowley and that Bobby outsmarted that smartass demon! It’s a fun script by Dabb & Loflin with lots of great one-liners. The characters were beautifully represented and of course, this is the episode Jensen directed. So if this is considered filler, Weekend at Bobby’s is my favourite.
Honourable mentions: Clap Your Hands If You Believe, Live Free Or Twihard, Frontierland (if indeed any of these are actually fillers).
Tiny: I love a good filler that is fun and not too intense. My favourite filler in season six is Weekend at Bobby's. Jim Beaver is one of my favourite actors, I just love me some Bobby centric episode. Dean and Sam have taken Bobby for granted and I like how this was addressed in the episode. I love the 'behind the scene' tour of Bobby's daily life. I love how details were embedded into the episode highlighting Bobby's dedication, selflessness and awesomeness. I like his 'Help me for once' speech the most. Bobby would do anything for the boys, he had been through some really tough times recently when he was in the wheelchair. So, to me, the 'Help me for once' speech was an indication of Bobby's attitude of life -- that he wasn't going to let Crowley walk all over him and he had every intention to live. This episode was directly by Jensen Ackles who did a fabulous job. Bravo! I cannot wait to watch the DVD featurette of this episode and I cannot wait to see Jensen's second directorial effort in season seven.
Least Favourite Filler
Kara: This was really hard one. Because to me what is the difference between least favourite filler and least favourite episode when they both suck? So it then comes down to which one I dreaded the most when rewatching and that would be my least favourite episode and the other would be my least favourite filler. ANYWHO Kara’s Least Favourite episode goes to, drum roll please, Mannequin 3: The Rise of the Craptastic episode. Blah! Such a weak pathetic episode and how the hell did the sister end up dead? And the ‘comedy’ of the creep having a doll as a girlfriend. And don’t even get me started on the whole Parent Trap section of the episode. Please. No. Never again.
Amy: Oh so easy… Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. I disliked this episode intensely on first watch. Even more than season four’s Criss Angel is a Douchebag! I hated it less on rewatch....but not by much. It’s probably taken the mantel off Criss Angel as my least favourite Supernatural episode ever. It was messy. A poorly constructed script and a loosely directed episode. The humour was shoehorned in and everything felt forced. That whole scene with Lisa, the random door closing montage, the Metallicar gone wild moment. YUCK. The thing is, the haunted kidney concept was actually kind of cool. That’s a neat idea, because really, what would you do about that? So I think the idea was there, it was just poorly executed. The only scene that worked was the scene between Dean and Ben...except, does Dean really need more guilt put on him? Justsayin’.
Tiny: Mannequin 3: The Reckoning had a very uncharacteristic montage in the history of Supernatural. The Lisa-opening-door montage was lame. I didn't think the style or editing or the soundtrack was Dean-y. The story was forgettable, the kidney thing was meh. Having said that, this episode has its moments, referencing the Impala as a sex doll was kinda awesome.
Favourite Episode
Kara: The Man Who Would Be King. I like Cas centric episodes and I liked how this episode had a different story telling method. I enjoyed the whole Demon version of Bobby, the whole dark side of Cas.
Amy: Hmmmmm...tricky to pick a personal favourite. I think I’ll go with Frontierland. I really enjoyed this episode. Dean was having such a good time. It’s not often we see Dean really happy. I like happy Dean. It was another awesome script from Dabb & Loflin with plenty of humour (mostly at Dean’s expense) but also some solid character exploration. It revealed more of the whole Cas is lying through his teeth thing, we saw Lenore again and we actually got to meet Samuel Colt. It was one of those, how does Supernatural keep knocking episodes like this out of the park moments. Plus it had an all shades of gray bad guy that you sort of feel sorry for and Dean in a very hot cowboy outfit....what’s not to love there.
Honourable mention: Appointment in Samarra.
Tiny: Season six took risks, more so than ever. I like it when writers think outside the square especially with genre shows, because as a fan I expect innovative refreshing ideas that challenge my viewing habit and I like to see a long-running show like Supernatural to keep reinventing itself. They were some really outstanding and memorable episodes this season -- the time-travel cowboy episode Frontierland; the first person narration story-telling style in The Man Who Would Be King; and the super-meta episode The French Mistakes. I love these episodes very much.
Least Favourite Episode
Kara: Clap Your Hands If You Believe. There are certain lines I thought Supernatural would never cross, having fairies in an episode is one of them. I could have handled it if it was like a Trickster episode where the fairies aren’t real and just some illusion. But come on! Seriously? Fairies. Blah. As Sookie says in True Blood “Fairies *bleeping* how lame.”
Amy: Yeah, Mannequin 3: The Reckoning again, for all the reasons stated earlier.
Dishonourable mention: All Dogs Got To Heaven.
Tiny: Let me reiterate. To me, there is no such thing as a horrible or unwatchable Supernatural episode. Even Bugs has its moment. The reason I picked Family Matters was because of my disappointment in the character of Grandpa Samuel, and not because of the writing or casting or performance. As long time readers of my blog, you'd know I am a huge fan of the family episodes such as Home, In the Beginning and The Song Reminds the Same. I love it when the Winchesters are in the same episode, in the same scene. So, when I heard about Grandpa was joining the show, I was so excited. My expectation was so high, it fell hard and flat. Family Matters was a great episode, again don't get me wrong, I was just disappointed with Samuel Campbell because he was weak and not inspiring. This episode reminded me of how much I wanted the Mary-John family vibe (the Winchester family vibe) and I wasn't getting it and I never will. Agh!
Favourite Writer
Kara: Sera Gamble. She wrote Appointment in Samarra and Let It Bleed this season, need I say more?
Amy: Ben Edlund is always going to be my favourite writer. Clap Your Hands If You Believe, The French Mistake but in particular, The Man Who Would Be King are all awesome. The thing I love about Edlund is he can write the ridiculous but he can also write the heavy emotional moments that rip your heart out, like the many moments in TMWWBK. It was torturous.
Honourable mention: Dabb & Loflin. I love these two for their witty scripts, awesome character representation and really cool pop culture references.
Tiny: Unquestionably, without a doubt, hands down -- Ben Edlund. I love him. I want to write like Ben. The thing I love about Ben is how weird his ideas are -- fairies, suicidal teddy bear, killing the crew and cast in a super-meta episode and the reality show approach of Ghostfacers. He is more weird than Eric Kripke! There are so many reasons for me to love Ben. Seriously! If Supernatural is going to do a musical episode, I want Ben to write it.
Favourite Director
Kara: The only director that has had 100% total of awesome episodes... well episode. Jensen Ackles.
Dishonourable mentions: Philip Sgriccia. (I should say I did however enjoy My Heart Will Go On) but the OVER use of the flashbacks in Exile made me a hater. A show like Supernatural should presume, when you have six seasons, that your audience will know who the fudge Samuel is. We don’t need a jarring flashback that takes you from the episode. Flashbacks work like the montage in Swan Song, not just randomly.
Amy: Can I haz more than one? I feel like I need to say Jensen, because he’s my favourite everything and he did a lovely job with Weekend At Bobby’s. But really, I was blown away by Ben Edlund’s turn with The Man Who Would Be King. For the cast to bring home such amazing emotional performances shows a real trust in the director and his vision. Then there’s Phil Sgriccia and the wonderful camera angles he used in Like A Virgin, including the Impala interior, which was actually a moving shot, not done ‘poor man’s process’ but with the car really going down the road. That gave a wonderful intimacy to that moment with the brothers and made the scene feel real and gritty. Also there were some interesting shots with Bobby cooking. I like that Phil was trying new stuff. On a personal level of course, there’s Guy Bee who seems to be one of the nicest men on the face of the earth and a really good director. So I guess, bottom-line, I can’t choose just one.
Tiny: Again, unquestionably, without a doubt, hands down -- Ben Edlund. His directorial job in The Man Who Would Be King was outstanding. Ben had fantastic materials to work with.. oh wait.. he wrote the episode!
Honourable mention: It was an awesome directorial debut from Jensen Ackles. Kim Manners would be proud. Kick it in the ass!
Best Use of Song
Kara: The Gambler. The lyrics connect so well with Bobby -- "You just gotta know when to hold them."
Dishonourable mention: Smoke on the Water. I love that song and would be used so well in Supernatural HOWEVER it was edited weirdly in Two and a Half Men.
Amy: Ok, this is going to sound random, but for me it was, A New Day Yesterday by Jethro Tull. It was playing on the Impala radio in the episode Like a Virgin. That whole scene in the Impala is near perfect and something about that song just sets it off. Also, I like that essentially it’s incidental music, but it really adds to the overall natural feel of that scene, how it’s shot, the brother’s conversation. I just love it and I love how Dean turns the song up when he’s finished sharing. I downloaded that track straight away and now it’s a favourite. It’s awesome use of music.
Very honourable mentions: The Gambler in Weekend At Bobby’s, A Space Oddity in Clap Your Hands If You Believe and Play With Fire in The Man Who Knew Too Much.
Tiny: Never did I imagine that I would be saying this, but I love Kenny Rogers' The Gambler. I just love the use of song in Weekend at Bobby's. I love Bobby, not Kenny Rogers!! I also love the use of song in Exile On Main Street, Bob Seger's Beautiful Loser was a perfect song to sum up Dean's life as a soccer dad. I still prefer Dean as a hunter (who doesn't, right?), so this song comes second on the list.
Best Quote
Kara: “Welcome to next time.” Oh hells to the yeah Dean!
Amy: How can you ever choose a best quote from Supernatural. The show is filled with amazing dialogue. Snappy, witty comebacks all over the place, but if I must choose, I’m going to choose something that, once again, may seem random, but it is from Family Matters, when Dean walks in and sees Christian and says “Hello Newman.” I swear I nearly fell off my chair with the laughing. It may be because of my Seinfeld leanings, I don’t know, but Hello Newman? Man that was just pure gold.
Honourable mention: Dean’s whole posse magnet thing in Frontierland. Joy. Or maybe, “I’d rather ask forgiveness than permission” – Crowley in Let It Bleed, because I kind of want to live by that quote!
Tiny: Even in a horrible situation, Dean Winchester can still come up with something funny to say, "Jefferson Starships…because they're horrible and hard to kill."
Next up... 'Most Heart Breaking Moment', 'Favourite Villain', and 'Biggest WTF Moment' plus more in the next edition of Supernatural season six awards...
A big thank you and hugs and kisses to Kara and Amy for being some awesome.
This is a collaboration project with Kara and Amy.
