Hello. Remember me?

When last I was online—two months ago!—I was preparing a list of my top Supernatural episodes from season 8 (my favorite), and procrastinating on anything Outlander.  So what got in the way?  My computer.  It didn’t die, but it caused enough problems to be annoying.

Are you looking forward to Supernatural;s 11th season?

I’m grateful I was able to buy a new computer on a moment’s notice.  But a new computer is not the same as an old, familiar one.  In my case, it involved getting used to a new operating system, as well as the lack of programs I’ve come to rely on.

Wouldn’t you agree that a blog post is needs a nice photo or two?  Perhaps not, but who doesn’t enjoy looking at Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki?  Even after updating my photo editing software, I’ve been reluctant to use it.  Perhaps it’s fear that it will require a learning curve.  You know, like the change from Windows 7 to 8.  And then 10.

Now that fall is in the air, perhaps it’s time to get back on the blog wagon.  September is already half over 😮 which means the new fall television season is just around the corner.

This season’s coverage will be new.  Of course, Supernatural will be on the menu, but I’m not sure I’ll continue covering The Flash and Arrow.  I haven’t watched reruns of either show this summer.  I had planned on rewatching The Flash, keeping an eye on  Harrison Wells’s behavior.  But the misuse of Iris for most of the season was too much to endure.  As for Arrow, my interest is waning.  There’s not enough of the good stuff (Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle) to balance the bad (Malcolm Merlin, too many masked heroes running around Starling City).  But I’ll certainly continue to watch.  (Until I don’t.)

The good news is I will be covering iZombie.  I started watching the show around its midseason, then caught up with summer reruns.  The season ending was such game-changer, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store this fall.  (And no, the irony that senior-esque I continue to watch the youth-skewing CW does not escape me.)

The cast of iZombie is THRILLED I’ll be covering season 2.

 

What about you?  Any new (or returning) series you’re looking forward to?  Post in the comments and I’ll check out your recommendations!

Two New Supernatural Fans

This week we bring you a Very Special Fourth of July post in our weekly Summer Series 2015 (posted on the 3rd of July, because that’s when the Federal holiday is “observed” [i.e., takes the day off] this year.)

Last weekend I was watching the Home Shopping Network, as is my wont.  One of the items they were selling was the Roku 3.  The host (one of my favorites) talked about how much she loves hers.  In extolling the virtues of being able to stream Netflix, she said she and her daughter had just discovered and were binge-watching a show called Supernatural.  She then gushed “It stars two of the best-looking guys ever!”

Excellent actors? I’m there!

Good looking guys? Don’t care.

And to think, that’s the reason I didn’t watch Supernatural at first.  In case you’ve never heard the story, when I saw the advertisements for Supernatural, I figured it was one of those shows aimed at teens and 20-somethings.  (It is, or was.  But that’s not the point.)  The actors were just too pretty to be any good.  Right?

Yet, for some reason, one Thursday night I had the tv tuned to the WB.  (I think it was because a friend had mentioned she liked Smallville so I decided to check it out.)  Apparently I was too lazy to change the channel and thus watched the ensuing show.  The episode was “Something Wicked,” and you know what?  Turns out those pretty boys can actually act!  

To this day, “Something Wicked” remains one of my favorites.  🙂

And here we are, 10 years later.

Supernatural Favorites, Season 6

Death makes a deal with Dean.

“Frontierland” title card: Bonanza lite.

Drink your tea, Sammy.

With the summer hiatus in full swing, it’s time to review my favorite Supernatural episodes from past seasons.  We finished with season 5 in March and it’s time to pick things back up with season 6.  The first season after Eric Kripke’s reign (and his five-season story arc) was inspired by film noir (I read that somewhere), with more emphasis on inner demons than external monsters.  It wasn’t one of my favorite seasons.

Per TV Fanatic, TV.com, and IMDB, the favorite season 6 episodes are:

1. (3-way tie):  Weekend at Bobby’s (603, and Jensen Ackles’s directorial debut), You Can’t Handle the Truth (606), and Appointment in Samarra (611)
2. The French Mistake (615)
3. (tie) Caged Heat (610) and Frontierland (618)

(Incidentally, this list differs from my previous post of the Best of Supernatural Season 6 episodes, probably because I used a different metric back in 2013.)

What’s for Summer?

Now that my favorite television shows have finished their first-run episodes, what’s a person to do during the summer months (or, in the case of Outlander, more like an entire year)?  How about the SciFi Chicks Summer Series 2015, where I attempt to post weekly discussions favorite episodes (Supernatural and possibly Arrow), highlights and lowlights of the past season (Outlander), and various musings (including, but not limited to The Flash)?

Let’s start with a musing.

Two Sams: two of Cupboard Maker Books’ four author-nominated champions*

In my bi-annual visit to Facebook yesterday, I found an intriguing entry from my friend Natalie.  She told me to visit Cupboard Makers Books’ Facebook page and vote for my favorite “champion.”  Then, if I came to the book-signing event at the brick-and-mortar Cupboard Maker Books on Saturday, I might win a prize!

Supernatural: Brother’s Keeper (1023)

The synopsis of “Brother’s Keeper” starts something like this:

Dean comes to a stunning decision that will alter his life — as well as Sam’s…

Yeah, Sam’s life would have been altered, all right—in that he wouldn’t have had one.  Talk about understatement!

Can Sam be Dean’s “keeper’ if he’s dead?

The other night I was trying to recall the various Supernatural season finale’s over the years, in anticipation of how bad this season’s might be.  We’ve had an epic car crash, a couple deaths, a crossroads deal, the beginning and the end of the apocalypse, demons released from hell, and angels released from heaven.  Given the events of the last few episodes, this season was definitely heading for an Epic Cliffhanger of Winchester Angst (ECWA, for short).

Supernatural Favorites: Season 5

The real March Madness is in full swing, and I’m not even half-way through my top 32 episodes.  Plus, new Supernatural episodes have resumed, so now there’s that delay too.

Young Mom, you’re so beautiful.

King me!

“I’ll Just Wait Here,” inspiring a song 5 years later.

Season 5 was not a favorite of mine.  In fact, it was the first time I didn’t buy the season DVD set.  Thank goodness for TNT reruns.  If I’m on the ball, I can record my favorites when they come ’round.  Better still, I can now buy individual episodes OnDemand to enjoy any time I want, without commercial interruption.

My go-to sites say the top episodes of season 5 are:

1. Swan Song (522)
2. Two Minutes to Midnight (521)
3. (3-way tie):  Dark Side of the Moon (516); Point of No Return (518); The Devil You Know (520)

The CW’s New Wednesday Line Up (And a Poll!)

Arrow and Supernatural returned with less of a bang than The Flash.  But then, you’d be hard pressed to do as well as “Out of Time.”  I have nothing other than a few random-ish thoughts about both.  How ’bout you?  Anything more cohesive?

Street meeting

So pretty

Supernatural Favorites: Season 2

If you bought the season 1 DVD set, you’ll remember the commentary Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles provided for “Phantom Traveler.”  In between the babbling, bumbling, and fake snoring (which may be why they’ve never done another commentary unsupervised), they talked about how the entire Supernatural team grew to know and trust each other throughout the season.  Jensen said the show would continue to improve and that season 2 would be better than season 1.

I scoffed!  I could not imagine how anything could be better than season 1.  Guess what?  It was!

The scene where I add my own dialog.

“My daddy shot your daddy in the he-ad.”

Is Dean there, or is he not?

Best. Sandwich. Ever!

Supernatural Favorites, Season 1

Big damn hero: Dead in the Water

Home: Dean tells Sam he carried him out of the house.

Faith: Layla has it.

[Can you tell what my favorite episodes are from the screenshots?  Without checking below the cut!]

Detailed analysis of season 1 data indicates my favorite episodes are not normal.  According to a compilation of IMDB and TV.com ratings, the six favorite season 1 episodes, in rank order are:

• First place:  Home
• Second place tie:  Pilot and Faith
• “Fourth” place 3-way tie:  Scarecrow, Provenance, and Devil’s Trap

Supernatural: The Executioner’s Song (+2, or 3)

Your thoughts on “The Executioner’s Song?”  Here’s mine.

It’s the Battle of the First Borns.

1.  Jensen Ackles is back, baby!

In the past I’ve called him the most underrated actor in Hollywood.  But recently he hasn’t overwhelmed me.  His performances haven’t been bad—I don’t think Jensen’s talent or work ethic would allow that—but they haven’t been as riveting as I’ve come to expect. It was wonderful to see him back in full form again.  Every single one of Dean’s scene in “The Executioner’s Song” was magnificent.  Even before his confrontation with Cain, Dean’s fear and sorrow drew me in and didn’t let go.