Supernatural: Pre-Finale Preoccupation Part II
(Spoiler warnings? not needed… other than the episode title, photos and description provided by the network, we members of the SFA - Spoiler Freaks Anonymous — have been in serious withdrawal symptoms going into the finale. Speculation will run rampant, though! And keep in mind that points are generalities; your views will most likely differ. Part I covers the players, Part II covers the issues.)
We can count the hours now before we get some answers to questions that we’ve been struggling with all season long. Just a few endless hours to close out season four and set the groundwork for season five. The riffs of “Carry on My Wayward Son” have become a tradition for each finale and while budget cuts have severely affected the signature classic rock this season, this song’s presence has become tradition.
The players are all in place on the chessboard of the impending Apocalypse. In one corner we have Heaven and The Angels, with our beloved Castiel, his boss Zachariah, and the dearly-departed Anna who was much more interesting as a human who could hear angels talking in her head than she ever was as a fallen angel. In the other corner we have the minions of Hell led by Lucifer, and with demons Ruby and Lilith making a power play for Queen Bee. And smack in the middle of it all are the Winchester Brothers, brave, stubborn, determined, broken, and each drawn by diverging destinies to stop the rise of Lucifer. For the first time in four seasons, it appears that they will be fighting towards these end means separately. And it better be the last time… because there is something completely and intrinsically wrong in using the words ‘Winchester’ and ‘separate’ in the same sentence. (Credit: MICHAEL MULLER/THE CW ©2006 The CW Network LLC. All Rights Reserved)
One thing that will be utterly fascinating is that Executive Producer and Creator Eric Kripke wrote and directed this finale episode. For the first time we will be able to see ‘Supernatural’ entirely through the creator’s eyes: his characterizations, his motivations, his vision. This should be interesting!
THE MYTHOLOGY: We’ve known for a long time that Kripke and his writers will base their stories on existing myths and urban legends. The fact that one can google all their monsters has been a show signature. They will take ALL the multicultural representations of a particular legend and then pick and choose those aspects which best fit their story, thus creating their own unique Supernatural version. For this reason, it is nearly impossible to use the myths themselves to try to guess story direction since we do not know which parts of a legend they will choose. The only danger here for the creative team is to work hard to avoid pulling a ‘Heroes’ in making the mythology as a whole so convoluted, ridiculous, and unbelievable that will have us wondering what the heck happened. One of the great things about ‘Supernatural’ was its simplicity and believability despite the subject matter it was presenting, although suspension of disbelief is getting harder and harder to come by.
Finale Speculation has run rampant as to what may be presented and what questions have been left unanswered. Here is a brief rundown. If anyone has a different theory not listed, we’re anxious to add it!
* What is the end game plan of the Yellow-Eyed Demon?
* How much of what is happening is due to angel agenda vs. demon agenda?
* What happened to the “Leader of the Demon Army” and “Boy King” slant
2009年5月13日星期三
Supernatural” is So Gay (In My Dreams Anyway)
Wait. Why is AfterElton.com writing about Supernatural, the CW show about a pair of demon-killing brothers? Are we saying it’s a show of gay interest merely because it features four of the most attractive men on television?
Um, yeah!
In fact, these four Supernatural actors all made the Hot 100, our recent reader survey of who gay and bisexual men think are most attractive: Jensen Ackles (at #5), Jared Padalecki (at #12), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (at #70) and Misha Collins, a relatively new addition to the cast as the angel Castiel (at #93).
The show also has a funny reoccurring joke where the show’s central characters, Sam and Dean, are mistaken for a gay couple (but which almost never results in gay panic).
And last year, an episode with a gay character (played by 90210’s Dustin Milligan) was nominated for a GLAAD Award. In the episode, a gay intern named Alan dies a becomes a ghost. Later, the living guy who Alan had a crush on is encouraged to pretend to be gay in order to marshal Alan into the afterlife. “Ed,” he’s told, “you have to go be gay for that poor dead intern!”
One recent episode even had Sam and Dean discovering that their lives were being recounted in a series of pulp fiction novels, and that online fans of the two characters’ were arguing about which of the two were hotter (as people do in real life, including here at AfterElton.com, except about the actors). On the episode, some people were even, it seems, writing “slash-fiction” about the characters.
“Do they know we’re brothers?” an appalled Dean asked, in one of the cheekiest, most meta lines ever uttered on television.
But the truth is, there’s plenty for gay and bisexual viewers to like about Supernatural, which has its season finale Thursday night, even apart from the obvious.
Um, yeah!
In fact, these four Supernatural actors all made the Hot 100, our recent reader survey of who gay and bisexual men think are most attractive: Jensen Ackles (at #5), Jared Padalecki (at #12), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (at #70) and Misha Collins, a relatively new addition to the cast as the angel Castiel (at #93).
The show also has a funny reoccurring joke where the show’s central characters, Sam and Dean, are mistaken for a gay couple (but which almost never results in gay panic).
And last year, an episode with a gay character (played by 90210’s Dustin Milligan) was nominated for a GLAAD Award. In the episode, a gay intern named Alan dies a becomes a ghost. Later, the living guy who Alan had a crush on is encouraged to pretend to be gay in order to marshal Alan into the afterlife. “Ed,” he’s told, “you have to go be gay for that poor dead intern!”
One recent episode even had Sam and Dean discovering that their lives were being recounted in a series of pulp fiction novels, and that online fans of the two characters’ were arguing about which of the two were hotter (as people do in real life, including here at AfterElton.com, except about the actors). On the episode, some people were even, it seems, writing “slash-fiction” about the characters.
“Do they know we’re brothers?” an appalled Dean asked, in one of the cheekiest, most meta lines ever uttered on television.
But the truth is, there’s plenty for gay and bisexual viewers to like about Supernatural, which has its season finale Thursday night, even apart from the obvious.
Supernatural:Pre-Finale Preoccupation II
Supernatural: Pre-Finale Preoccupation Part II
(Spoiler warnings? not needed… other than the episode title, photos and description provided by the network, we members of the SFA - Spoiler Freaks Anonymous — have been in serious withdrawal symptoms going into the finale. Speculation will run rampant, though! And keep in mind that points are generalities; your views will most likely differ. Part I covers the players, Part II covers the issues.)
We can count the hours now before we get some answers to questions that we’ve been struggling with all season long. Just a few endless hours to close out season four and set the groundwork for season five. The riffs of “Carry on My Wayward Son” have become a tradition for each finale and while budget cuts have severely affected the signature classic rock this season, this song’s presence has become tradition.
The players are all in place on the chessboard of the impending Apocalypse. In one corner we have Heaven and The Angels, with our beloved Castiel, his boss Zachariah, and the dearly-departed Anna who was much more interesting as a human who could hear angels talking in her head than she ever was as a fallen angel. In the other corner we have the minions of Hell led by Lucifer, and with demons Ruby and Lilith making a power play for Queen Bee. And smack in the middle of it all are the Winchester Brothers, brave, stubborn, determined, broken, and each drawn by diverging destinies to stop the rise of Lucifer. For the first time in four seasons, it appears that they will be fighting towards these end means separately. And it better be the last time… because there is something completely and intrinsically wrong in using the words ‘Winchester’ and ‘separate’ in the same sentence. (Credit: MICHAEL MULLER/THE CW ©2006 The CW Network LLC. All Rights Reserved)
One thing that will be utterly fascinating is that Executive Producer and Creator Eric Kripke wrote and directed this finale episode. For the first time we will be able to see ‘Supernatural’ entirely through the creator’s eyes: his characterizations, his motivations, his vision. This should be interesting!
(Spoiler warnings? not needed… other than the episode title, photos and description provided by the network, we members of the SFA - Spoiler Freaks Anonymous — have been in serious withdrawal symptoms going into the finale. Speculation will run rampant, though! And keep in mind that points are generalities; your views will most likely differ. Part I covers the players, Part II covers the issues.)
We can count the hours now before we get some answers to questions that we’ve been struggling with all season long. Just a few endless hours to close out season four and set the groundwork for season five. The riffs of “Carry on My Wayward Son” have become a tradition for each finale and while budget cuts have severely affected the signature classic rock this season, this song’s presence has become tradition.
The players are all in place on the chessboard of the impending Apocalypse. In one corner we have Heaven and The Angels, with our beloved Castiel, his boss Zachariah, and the dearly-departed Anna who was much more interesting as a human who could hear angels talking in her head than she ever was as a fallen angel. In the other corner we have the minions of Hell led by Lucifer, and with demons Ruby and Lilith making a power play for Queen Bee. And smack in the middle of it all are the Winchester Brothers, brave, stubborn, determined, broken, and each drawn by diverging destinies to stop the rise of Lucifer. For the first time in four seasons, it appears that they will be fighting towards these end means separately. And it better be the last time… because there is something completely and intrinsically wrong in using the words ‘Winchester’ and ‘separate’ in the same sentence. (Credit: MICHAEL MULLER/THE CW ©2006 The CW Network LLC. All Rights Reserved)
One thing that will be utterly fascinating is that Executive Producer and Creator Eric Kripke wrote and directed this finale episode. For the first time we will be able to see ‘Supernatural’ entirely through the creator’s eyes: his characterizations, his motivations, his vision. This should be interesting!
J.J. Abrams Talks 'Fringe' -- Seasons One AND Two!
You can't get away from J.J. Abrams nowadays – not that you would want to. With Star Trek exploding at the box office, Lost going strong, and Fringe getting picked up for a second season, Abrams is on his way to becoming the next Jerry Bruckheimer. He manages to take a few moments to talk about the evolution of Fringe over this season, and gives us a few little teasers as to what's on tap for season two.
Tell us a little bit about the conversation that landed Leonard Nimoy in the season finale.
I called him and I just essentially started begging, and I told him that we were doing this show. He was familiar with it, but I don't think he'd seen it. But he knew of the show and I explained that there was a critical character who had been mentioned throughout the first season, including the pilot, and it was a big deal for the show, not just where he came from and what his back story was, but where it was going, and that it would be an obvious honor if he would consider playing the part.
He was open to the idea of it but he wanted, of course, to see the show and read some pages, and so we sent him everything that we could, and I was thrilled when he called back and said that he thought it was intriguing and interesting. And that was how we actually ended up getting him to return to the role of Spock in Star Trek.
When you originally conceived of the series, did you have anyone in mind for the part of William Bell, and were you planning to hold off for the entire season before he first was revealed?
We discussed having him show up earlier in the season, but as you work on a show and as the season progresses it tells you as much as you're telling it what it wants to be. It was clear as we were going that getting to William Bell could and should be pushed off, and we should pace ourselves. That's one of the biggest challenges, I think, of any first season of a show: to really find the pace of the series. Especially a show that has both a stand-alone episode-to-episode and a story arc to follow. So that was very important to us.
Fringe seems to be getting a lot funnier as the episodes go on, and Olivia seems to have loosened up a bit. How much of the arc of the season did you have planned from the beginning, and how much of it, as you say, is the show finding itself and "telling" you what it wants to be?
We actually had a surprising amount of plans in terms of broad strokes, but the crazy thing is, as you work on it, like I said, you start to get resistance, not from an actor and not from a director, or even other writers on the show, but the show just defines its shape in a strange way. One of the things that I love about the show is the kind of inherent humor in the insanity of it. If the show takes itself too seriously, then I'm afraid people will laugh at it. But if the show has humor inside of it, then the show itself is embracing and admitting to the preposterous nature of many of the episodes and stories.
I love preposterous stories. If you look at Jaws or Alien or Tootsie, or whatever, there are movies that if you describe the story, you go, "What? All right, well, okay." But done well, you're like, "Oh my God, this is the greatest story ever." So for me, the humor did increase as the season went on and things like bringing Olivia's sister in gave her a chance to be warmer. She's a character who admitted in the show that she doesn't really have friends, so I think that the story for Olivia is one of a guarded, protective woman who, over time, is, in a sense, forced to be more vulnerable.
You seem to like time travel. There's time travel in Lost and time travel in the Star Trek movie. Will there be time travel on Fringe?
Well, I definitely think that one of the fun aspects of doing Fringe is the kind of open-ended possibilities of the show, where we could go and what we could do. Obviously, it is not a brand new idea, especially science fiction, the idea of traveling through time and space. But I would say that while Lost concerns itself more with traveling through time, I would say that Fringe can serve itself more with traveling through space.
All of your projects feature very strong-willed, independent females like Olivia. Who or what is your inspiration for those characters?
I would like to think that I've been lucky enough to work on projects that have strong-willed characters who happen to be male or female, and certainly in the case of characters like Kate [from Lost] or Sydney Bristow [from Alias], and certainly Olivia Dunham, that those are females who are interesting because they are strong-willed. But I also could point to certain male characters that have the same thing. So I guess the answer is, I don't really try to write characters who are strong women, I just try to write strong characters, and if they happen to be women, they happen to be women.
In my life I've got the most spectacular wife in Katie McGrath. She is probably the strongest and best influence on me that I've ever had, and I would say that it's no coincidence that it was after I met her that I wrote Felicity, mostly because I think she reminded me to write about stuff that I actually care about again, because it had been a while. She has strength and this amazing ability to immediately understand right and wrong. She's very socially active and politically-minded and fights a good fight, and she's someone who is definitely an inspiration, who happens to be a woman.
Can you speak – generally - about what season two's story arc might be?
I would actually argue that, in a way, season two is getting to know the enemy. Season one is identifying that there is an enemy and really getting to know each other. But I think that as the show progresses what you'll see in the second season is that it's building to a very specific type of confrontation and I think you'll see that there will be a really interesting shift in the fundamental paradigm of the show at the beginning of next season, in a very cool way.
What lessons, if any, did you learn from Lost that you applied to the creation of the first season of Fringe?
The truth is, when I was on Lost, at the beginning, we were just trying to figure out how the show was going to work and how we could take our ideas, these big-picture ideas, and actually make a series out of it. But one of the lessons that I learned from Lost, and from Alias, was to try and create a show that would not confound people if they happened to miss the first two or three hours. And it was a very conscious decision at the very beginning of developing Fringe: let's come up with a show that could just be a series of really crazy week-to-week insane events, and knowing that we all love the ongoing nature of series television character development and stuff, we knew that we would never not have that as a part of it.
So secondarily, we knew we would be doing, of course, character stories which you would see evolve over the years. So we try to pace ourselves out in that regard. But I think that the biggest lesson was to try and avoid hurting people's brains by making the show too confusing too early which in turn would make it limiting too, and unwelcoming.
How much do you really, truly understand about everything that happens on Fringe, in terms of science?
I've always, and I'm sure to a fault, been of the mind that if you have a cool idea that's compelling and crazy, that's the idea you follow, and you do research to back it up. There are occasions when research actually yields a story, but I have often found that that's not the case for me. Instead I will think, "Can someone blow up spontaneously?" And then I end up working backwards and finding out that there are insane tests where people have applied microwaves to their bodies. Fringe was never intended as a course on any kind of physics or medicine or science. It was always meant to just be a kind of fun, cool, and insane representation of what it feels like to live in a world where science seems to be limitless in what it can do.
The crazy thing about a show like Fringe is, as you're working on it, as you're writing about things that are insane, like a cold virus the size of a football, or whatever the hell you happen to be playing with that week, invariably you will see a story online that is weirder than what you're writing, that actually happened. Whether it's a body part that was grown, whether it's about something that was replaced, whether it's about somebody that came back to life, whether it's about some really weird spontaneous event, like it just seems like the weirdest part about Fringe is, as we work on it, pushing the envelope, kind of having fun for ourselves, inevitably there is some real life story that feels almost beyond what we're playing with. I kind of feel like, yes, it's fantasy, it's fiction, and yes, we're inspired by gut instinct much more than we are factual data, but I think that we all live in a moment where nothing surprises us any more, where almost anything that we would see online or in a paper, we would believe. So I just want to feel that we are in that weird place where, as crazy as Fringe is, we no longer need to look to the supernatural ghosts or aliens to feel like there is an unpredictable and terrifying enemy among us. I think that we have made that enemy ourselves.
Many episodes of Fringe open with a monologue from Broyles, sort of catching viewers up. Do you foresee a day at some point – maybe even next season – where you won't need that exposition?
Yes. I can't say yes loud enough, fast enough, or with more passion. There is nothing more crazy than having that sort of massive chunk of exposition thrown at you at the beginning of the story. It is one of those things that I would love to avoid, and I think that sometimes the desire of either the producers, writers, and network execs is to try to provide clarity. The net result is almost always confusing. I feel like those kinds of monologues of exposition don't help anyone.
Now that we've seen Charlie and Broyles in this alternate reality, do you think we might run into, say, a still-breathing John Scott over there?
I would say that it'll be very difficult now that John's show [Human Target] got picked up [laughing]. Having said that, I'm very excited his show got picked up, and I do think that there will be some very interesting things happening, given this "alternate reality" that you were referring to.
The relationship between Walter and Peter is like a little sitcom in the middle of all the weirdness. What is the thought process behind developing that relationship?
I think that the father/son relationship was, at the very beginning, one of the things that got all of us [co-creators] excited, Alex [Kurtzman] and Bob [Orci] and myself. And one of the things that I think has happened over the course of this season is that there is a sort of sense of facility of their relationship has increased. There's no longer as much of a conflict between them as there was at the beginning. Now granted, they've gotten to know each other and they develop a rhythm, but one of the things that I think we're going to play with a little bit, which I think speaks to our sense of evolution of that relationship, is that there will be some issues between them and some sort of setback that I think will make their working together, frankly, a little bit more dynamic and a little bit more interesting, and not just so familiar and easygoing. But I could not adore the actors, both Josh and John, more and I think they're wonderful together and I just think that when you give them more, when there are more sparks between them, I think it's that much more interesting
Tell us a little bit about the conversation that landed Leonard Nimoy in the season finale.
I called him and I just essentially started begging, and I told him that we were doing this show. He was familiar with it, but I don't think he'd seen it. But he knew of the show and I explained that there was a critical character who had been mentioned throughout the first season, including the pilot, and it was a big deal for the show, not just where he came from and what his back story was, but where it was going, and that it would be an obvious honor if he would consider playing the part.
He was open to the idea of it but he wanted, of course, to see the show and read some pages, and so we sent him everything that we could, and I was thrilled when he called back and said that he thought it was intriguing and interesting. And that was how we actually ended up getting him to return to the role of Spock in Star Trek.
When you originally conceived of the series, did you have anyone in mind for the part of William Bell, and were you planning to hold off for the entire season before he first was revealed?
We discussed having him show up earlier in the season, but as you work on a show and as the season progresses it tells you as much as you're telling it what it wants to be. It was clear as we were going that getting to William Bell could and should be pushed off, and we should pace ourselves. That's one of the biggest challenges, I think, of any first season of a show: to really find the pace of the series. Especially a show that has both a stand-alone episode-to-episode and a story arc to follow. So that was very important to us.
Fringe seems to be getting a lot funnier as the episodes go on, and Olivia seems to have loosened up a bit. How much of the arc of the season did you have planned from the beginning, and how much of it, as you say, is the show finding itself and "telling" you what it wants to be?
We actually had a surprising amount of plans in terms of broad strokes, but the crazy thing is, as you work on it, like I said, you start to get resistance, not from an actor and not from a director, or even other writers on the show, but the show just defines its shape in a strange way. One of the things that I love about the show is the kind of inherent humor in the insanity of it. If the show takes itself too seriously, then I'm afraid people will laugh at it. But if the show has humor inside of it, then the show itself is embracing and admitting to the preposterous nature of many of the episodes and stories.
I love preposterous stories. If you look at Jaws or Alien or Tootsie, or whatever, there are movies that if you describe the story, you go, "What? All right, well, okay." But done well, you're like, "Oh my God, this is the greatest story ever." So for me, the humor did increase as the season went on and things like bringing Olivia's sister in gave her a chance to be warmer. She's a character who admitted in the show that she doesn't really have friends, so I think that the story for Olivia is one of a guarded, protective woman who, over time, is, in a sense, forced to be more vulnerable.
You seem to like time travel. There's time travel in Lost and time travel in the Star Trek movie. Will there be time travel on Fringe?
Well, I definitely think that one of the fun aspects of doing Fringe is the kind of open-ended possibilities of the show, where we could go and what we could do. Obviously, it is not a brand new idea, especially science fiction, the idea of traveling through time and space. But I would say that while Lost concerns itself more with traveling through time, I would say that Fringe can serve itself more with traveling through space.
All of your projects feature very strong-willed, independent females like Olivia. Who or what is your inspiration for those characters?
I would like to think that I've been lucky enough to work on projects that have strong-willed characters who happen to be male or female, and certainly in the case of characters like Kate [from Lost] or Sydney Bristow [from Alias], and certainly Olivia Dunham, that those are females who are interesting because they are strong-willed. But I also could point to certain male characters that have the same thing. So I guess the answer is, I don't really try to write characters who are strong women, I just try to write strong characters, and if they happen to be women, they happen to be women.
In my life I've got the most spectacular wife in Katie McGrath. She is probably the strongest and best influence on me that I've ever had, and I would say that it's no coincidence that it was after I met her that I wrote Felicity, mostly because I think she reminded me to write about stuff that I actually care about again, because it had been a while. She has strength and this amazing ability to immediately understand right and wrong. She's very socially active and politically-minded and fights a good fight, and she's someone who is definitely an inspiration, who happens to be a woman.
Can you speak – generally - about what season two's story arc might be?
I would actually argue that, in a way, season two is getting to know the enemy. Season one is identifying that there is an enemy and really getting to know each other. But I think that as the show progresses what you'll see in the second season is that it's building to a very specific type of confrontation and I think you'll see that there will be a really interesting shift in the fundamental paradigm of the show at the beginning of next season, in a very cool way.
What lessons, if any, did you learn from Lost that you applied to the creation of the first season of Fringe?
The truth is, when I was on Lost, at the beginning, we were just trying to figure out how the show was going to work and how we could take our ideas, these big-picture ideas, and actually make a series out of it. But one of the lessons that I learned from Lost, and from Alias, was to try and create a show that would not confound people if they happened to miss the first two or three hours. And it was a very conscious decision at the very beginning of developing Fringe: let's come up with a show that could just be a series of really crazy week-to-week insane events, and knowing that we all love the ongoing nature of series television character development and stuff, we knew that we would never not have that as a part of it.
So secondarily, we knew we would be doing, of course, character stories which you would see evolve over the years. So we try to pace ourselves out in that regard. But I think that the biggest lesson was to try and avoid hurting people's brains by making the show too confusing too early which in turn would make it limiting too, and unwelcoming.
How much do you really, truly understand about everything that happens on Fringe, in terms of science?
I've always, and I'm sure to a fault, been of the mind that if you have a cool idea that's compelling and crazy, that's the idea you follow, and you do research to back it up. There are occasions when research actually yields a story, but I have often found that that's not the case for me. Instead I will think, "Can someone blow up spontaneously?" And then I end up working backwards and finding out that there are insane tests where people have applied microwaves to their bodies. Fringe was never intended as a course on any kind of physics or medicine or science. It was always meant to just be a kind of fun, cool, and insane representation of what it feels like to live in a world where science seems to be limitless in what it can do.
The crazy thing about a show like Fringe is, as you're working on it, as you're writing about things that are insane, like a cold virus the size of a football, or whatever the hell you happen to be playing with that week, invariably you will see a story online that is weirder than what you're writing, that actually happened. Whether it's a body part that was grown, whether it's about something that was replaced, whether it's about somebody that came back to life, whether it's about some really weird spontaneous event, like it just seems like the weirdest part about Fringe is, as we work on it, pushing the envelope, kind of having fun for ourselves, inevitably there is some real life story that feels almost beyond what we're playing with. I kind of feel like, yes, it's fantasy, it's fiction, and yes, we're inspired by gut instinct much more than we are factual data, but I think that we all live in a moment where nothing surprises us any more, where almost anything that we would see online or in a paper, we would believe. So I just want to feel that we are in that weird place where, as crazy as Fringe is, we no longer need to look to the supernatural ghosts or aliens to feel like there is an unpredictable and terrifying enemy among us. I think that we have made that enemy ourselves.
Many episodes of Fringe open with a monologue from Broyles, sort of catching viewers up. Do you foresee a day at some point – maybe even next season – where you won't need that exposition?
Yes. I can't say yes loud enough, fast enough, or with more passion. There is nothing more crazy than having that sort of massive chunk of exposition thrown at you at the beginning of the story. It is one of those things that I would love to avoid, and I think that sometimes the desire of either the producers, writers, and network execs is to try to provide clarity. The net result is almost always confusing. I feel like those kinds of monologues of exposition don't help anyone.
Now that we've seen Charlie and Broyles in this alternate reality, do you think we might run into, say, a still-breathing John Scott over there?
I would say that it'll be very difficult now that John's show [Human Target] got picked up [laughing]. Having said that, I'm very excited his show got picked up, and I do think that there will be some very interesting things happening, given this "alternate reality" that you were referring to.
The relationship between Walter and Peter is like a little sitcom in the middle of all the weirdness. What is the thought process behind developing that relationship?
I think that the father/son relationship was, at the very beginning, one of the things that got all of us [co-creators] excited, Alex [Kurtzman] and Bob [Orci] and myself. And one of the things that I think has happened over the course of this season is that there is a sort of sense of facility of their relationship has increased. There's no longer as much of a conflict between them as there was at the beginning. Now granted, they've gotten to know each other and they develop a rhythm, but one of the things that I think we're going to play with a little bit, which I think speaks to our sense of evolution of that relationship, is that there will be some issues between them and some sort of setback that I think will make their working together, frankly, a little bit more dynamic and a little bit more interesting, and not just so familiar and easygoing. But I could not adore the actors, both Josh and John, more and I think they're wonderful together and I just think that when you give them more, when there are more sparks between them, I think it's that much more interesting
Supernatural: Pre-Finale Preoccupation
A few days ago, I put up three clips from the season finale of Supernatural and the comments came in by the bucket load. It wasn’t the number that surprised us, it was the length and intensity of the comments. So, in an effort to find a middle ground between the sides (and there are more than two at this point), we went to our favorite Supernatural guest poster Liana for a few final words.
Supernatural — Pre-Finale Preoccupation Part I
by Liana B. (mousitsa@sbcglobal.net)
(Spoiler warning? nah, not really… other than the description provided by the network, we members of the SFA — SpoilerFreaks Anonymous — have been in serious withdrawal going into the finale. Speculation will run rampant, though! And keep in mind that points are generalities; your views will most likely differ. Part I covers the players, Part II covers the issues.)
my own pale in comparison. I used to make fun of the Trekkies for their obsession, but now I understand it. Speaking of which, I wish ‘Supernatural’ lent itself to a cool nickname, like Trekkies, X-Philes, Losties… the ‘Supernaturalies’ just doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. Of all the possible nicknames I’ve heard for the fandom, SuperFreaks seems to be a catchy one, although it makes us sound like something Sam and Dean would
Supernatural — Pre-Finale Preoccupation Part I
by Liana B. (mousitsa@sbcglobal.net)
(Spoiler warning? nah, not really… other than the description provided by the network, we members of the SFA — SpoilerFreaks Anonymous — have been in serious withdrawal going into the finale. Speculation will run rampant, though! And keep in mind that points are generalities; your views will most likely differ. Part I covers the players, Part II covers the issues.)
my own pale in comparison. I used to make fun of the Trekkies for their obsession, but now I understand it. Speaking of which, I wish ‘Supernatural’ lent itself to a cool nickname, like Trekkies, X-Philes, Losties… the ‘Supernaturalies’ just doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. Of all the possible nicknames I’ve heard for the fandom, SuperFreaks seems to be a catchy one, although it makes us sound like something Sam and Dean would
2009年5月10日星期日
'Star Trek' ... or 'Hunks in Space'?
Get ready for some intergalactic man candy.
The new "Star Trek" from director J.J. Abrams has been hyped as a movie that can pull even non-Trekkies into its orbit. Maybe that's because the sci-fi adventure could just as easily have been titled "Hunks in Space."
Ever since the trailer hit the Web late last year, anticipation has been building around newcomer Chris Pine's rugged, motorcycle-
riding Captain James T. Kirk, who finds time between action scenes to steam up the windows of the starship.
Pine, 28, crews on a ship of hotties like Zachary Quinto, John Cho and Anton Yelchin. They battle a time-traveling Romulan named Nero, played by Eric Bana, whose sweet mug is temporarily hidden under a thick layer of makeup. That said, he looks pretty good in green.
Here's an inside look at the cast that makes us want to boldly go to the front row.
Chris Pine (James T. Kirk)
Born in Los Angeles to actor parents Robert Pine and Gwynne Gilford, Pine played roles on "ER" and "CSI: Miami" in his early 20s before popping up opposite Lindsay Lohan in the pretty-much-ignored romantic comedy "Just My Luck."
His luck improved with the seamy Las Vegas tale "Smokin' Aces," but "Star Trek" is his biggest break so far. To channel the famous Captain Kirk, he bought a box set of DVDs in an attempt to become a true Trekkie. After a few solid hours, he gave up.
"It really went against the mandate that J.J. put forth in the beginning of the process," he says, "which was really to reimagine these characters."
The new "Star Trek" audience will get to see Kirk as a kid, and later as a thrill-seeking Starfleet Academy student. "I think that this version of Kirk is a bit more brash and
arrogant," Pine has said, "and young, essentially."
After shooting the action-packed film, Pine says he "took a long break and slept a lot." "Star Trek" is already slated for a sequel in 2011, but until then the single Californian can look forward to resting his biceps and flexing his acting muscles. On June 24, he steps onstage opposite Chris Noth in the Los Angeles production of the Off-Broadway hit "Farragut North."
The new "Star Trek" from director J.J. Abrams has been hyped as a movie that can pull even non-Trekkies into its orbit. Maybe that's because the sci-fi adventure could just as easily have been titled "Hunks in Space."
Ever since the trailer hit the Web late last year, anticipation has been building around newcomer Chris Pine's rugged, motorcycle-
riding Captain James T. Kirk, who finds time between action scenes to steam up the windows of the starship.
Pine, 28, crews on a ship of hotties like Zachary Quinto, John Cho and Anton Yelchin. They battle a time-traveling Romulan named Nero, played by Eric Bana, whose sweet mug is temporarily hidden under a thick layer of makeup. That said, he looks pretty good in green.
Here's an inside look at the cast that makes us want to boldly go to the front row.
Chris Pine (James T. Kirk)
Born in Los Angeles to actor parents Robert Pine and Gwynne Gilford, Pine played roles on "ER" and "CSI: Miami" in his early 20s before popping up opposite Lindsay Lohan in the pretty-much-ignored romantic comedy "Just My Luck."
His luck improved with the seamy Las Vegas tale "Smokin' Aces," but "Star Trek" is his biggest break so far. To channel the famous Captain Kirk, he bought a box set of DVDs in an attempt to become a true Trekkie. After a few solid hours, he gave up.
"It really went against the mandate that J.J. put forth in the beginning of the process," he says, "which was really to reimagine these characters."
The new "Star Trek" audience will get to see Kirk as a kid, and later as a thrill-seeking Starfleet Academy student. "I think that this version of Kirk is a bit more brash and
arrogant," Pine has said, "and young, essentially."
After shooting the action-packed film, Pine says he "took a long break and slept a lot." "Star Trek" is already slated for a sequel in 2011, but until then the single Californian can look forward to resting his biceps and flexing his acting muscles. On June 24, he steps onstage opposite Chris Noth in the Los Angeles production of the Off-Broadway hit "Farragut North."
Three Clips From 'Supernatural' 4th Season Finale
A big portion of the season finale of "Supernatural" has been given through a three-minute clip. Consisting of three different scenes, the sneak peek lacks of the anticipated action but provides the dilemma experienced by each of the Winchester brothers.
In the first clip, Sam talks to Ruby on his decision to go against Dean. In the second clip meanwhile, Dean complains about Sam's attitude to Bobby and got yelled at for being soft. The third and last clip shows Castiel and Zachary approaching Dean for a strategy to kill Lilith.
The fourth season finale airs Thursday, May 14. The official synopsis is read: "The apocalypse is coming, and Sam and Dean prepare for the fight in very different ways. Sam joins Ruby on a final run to kill Lilith (guest star Katherine Boecher), while Castiel and Zachariah (guest star Kurt Fuller) tell Dean it's time to play his part in stopping Lucifer."
In the first clip, Sam talks to Ruby on his decision to go against Dean. In the second clip meanwhile, Dean complains about Sam's attitude to Bobby and got yelled at for being soft. The third and last clip shows Castiel and Zachary approaching Dean for a strategy to kill Lilith.
The fourth season finale airs Thursday, May 14. The official synopsis is read: "The apocalypse is coming, and Sam and Dean prepare for the fight in very different ways. Sam joins Ruby on a final run to kill Lilith (guest star Katherine Boecher), while Castiel and Zachariah (guest star Kurt Fuller) tell Dean it's time to play his part in stopping Lucifer."
Supernatural: When the Levee Breaks
The demons are the bad guy, that’s for certain. What’s not so certain is who the good guys are. The expected answer would of course be the angels but the angels in Supernatural exist in a gray area at best. They lie, they murder, and they basically do whatever they want to get the job done. The problem is that they for the most part don’t care about the humans that are caught in the middle of the war between heaven and Hell. God does appear to care about the humans but many of his angels are either jealous of humans or they don’t even consider humans to be more than annoying bugs that can be crushed. This isn’t the first time angels have been portrayed in a villainous way on TV or in film but it’s extremely well executed here. I always think about the Christopher Walken film The Prophecy as a benchmark for this sort of characterization. Misha Collins is no Walken, but he is very strong in the role of a conflicted angel here. Sam and Dean are supposed to be good guys, or at least they have good intentions, but Sam has become so addicted to demon blood that his judgment is clouded.
Last week, Dean and Bobby tricked Sam into the demon proof vault in Bobby’s house to dry out. Last week that decision seemed like the right one but like the villains and bad guys the answers on this subject aren’t exactly clear. I know I’ve quoted this in other reviews but it just works so well: Spock says at the end of Star Trek II that “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” Wouldn’t it make sense to sacrifice Sam to the demon blood if he does get powerful enough to destroy Lilith? It would be hard for Dean to sacrifice his brother, the last of his family, to such an existence but at one point in the episode, even Bobby begins to believe that this might be the right decision.
There’s not much surprising in Sam’s withdrawal and in a smart move these scenes don’t monopolize the episode. You get just enough of his guilt from people in his past and then he mysteriously escapes from the vault. The vault is demon proof, so how did Sam get free? The answer is obvious even before the slow pan to reveal the person that set him free. Of course, once he’s free, Sam goes out after some demon blood from Ruby. I have not been a fan of this actress since she first appeared on the episode. She has done a good enough job, but she never seemed to approach the role with the zeal that the original actress did. It’s only now toward the end of the season that I find myself settling into her in the role. She’s good in this episode considering what little she gets to do.
The angels are master manipulators so it’s hard to say how it’ll all end. Cass continues to pump Dean up as the true person responsible for saving the world from Satan but is he really? An obvious use of Dean would be for him to sacrifice himself in some way to save everyone. That’s the typical movie ending for a story like this and a character like Dean. If it’s one thing the creators of Supernatural have proven, it’s their ability to break formula when its least expected. Hopefully, that’s what will happen on next week’s season finale. Dean has already been to Hell so it would be annoying to see him die again and go to Heaven this time. He may well be the man responsible for saving the day but only because he’s the catalyst for making Sam do the real dirty work. Either way, it’s a really interesting story that I hope gets some kind of finish in next week’s episode. I’m sure the slash fiction writers are going to have a good time with the little Sam and Dean throw down. Overall, this was a solid installment of the series. The main story is center stage and filler free. Right now, Cass is the most interesting character of them all. He’s definitely sympathetic to Dean but he has a view of the bigger picture and he has his orders that are a priority. It’ll be extremely interesting to see where his character goes at the end of this season
Last week, Dean and Bobby tricked Sam into the demon proof vault in Bobby’s house to dry out. Last week that decision seemed like the right one but like the villains and bad guys the answers on this subject aren’t exactly clear. I know I’ve quoted this in other reviews but it just works so well: Spock says at the end of Star Trek II that “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” Wouldn’t it make sense to sacrifice Sam to the demon blood if he does get powerful enough to destroy Lilith? It would be hard for Dean to sacrifice his brother, the last of his family, to such an existence but at one point in the episode, even Bobby begins to believe that this might be the right decision.
There’s not much surprising in Sam’s withdrawal and in a smart move these scenes don’t monopolize the episode. You get just enough of his guilt from people in his past and then he mysteriously escapes from the vault. The vault is demon proof, so how did Sam get free? The answer is obvious even before the slow pan to reveal the person that set him free. Of course, once he’s free, Sam goes out after some demon blood from Ruby. I have not been a fan of this actress since she first appeared on the episode. She has done a good enough job, but she never seemed to approach the role with the zeal that the original actress did. It’s only now toward the end of the season that I find myself settling into her in the role. She’s good in this episode considering what little she gets to do.
The angels are master manipulators so it’s hard to say how it’ll all end. Cass continues to pump Dean up as the true person responsible for saving the world from Satan but is he really? An obvious use of Dean would be for him to sacrifice himself in some way to save everyone. That’s the typical movie ending for a story like this and a character like Dean. If it’s one thing the creators of Supernatural have proven, it’s their ability to break formula when its least expected. Hopefully, that’s what will happen on next week’s season finale. Dean has already been to Hell so it would be annoying to see him die again and go to Heaven this time. He may well be the man responsible for saving the day but only because he’s the catalyst for making Sam do the real dirty work. Either way, it’s a really interesting story that I hope gets some kind of finish in next week’s episode. I’m sure the slash fiction writers are going to have a good time with the little Sam and Dean throw down. Overall, this was a solid installment of the series. The main story is center stage and filler free. Right now, Cass is the most interesting character of them all. He’s definitely sympathetic to Dean but he has a view of the bigger picture and he has his orders that are a priority. It’ll be extremely interesting to see where his character goes at the end of this season
Supernatural Preview: For Sam, "There's No Turning Back"
For the few of you who have recovered from "When the Levee Breaks," it's time now to start prepping for Supernatural's Season 4 finale. And here is a sneak peek.
Airing May 14, "Lucifer Rising" finds the brothers nearing the end of their long-dreaded (by fans) collision course. Here is the official logline for the season-ender:
"Dealing with the aftermath of a newly created, crushing rift in their relationship, Sam and Dean each race down a different path to try to stop the impending apocalypse from happening. Guest stars include Jim Beaver as Bobby, Genevieve Cortese as Ruby, Misha Collins as Castiel, Katherine Boecher as Lilith, Kurt Fuller as Zachariah and Rob Benedict as Chuck.
As reminded in this week's Mega Buzz, "Lucifer Rising" was written and directed by series creator Eric Kripke.
In this preview clip, a tormented Sam confabs with Ruby about what he "must do" (FYI, the audio is a bit soft, so pump up the volume):
Airing May 14, "Lucifer Rising" finds the brothers nearing the end of their long-dreaded (by fans) collision course. Here is the official logline for the season-ender:
"Dealing with the aftermath of a newly created, crushing rift in their relationship, Sam and Dean each race down a different path to try to stop the impending apocalypse from happening. Guest stars include Jim Beaver as Bobby, Genevieve Cortese as Ruby, Misha Collins as Castiel, Katherine Boecher as Lilith, Kurt Fuller as Zachariah and Rob Benedict as Chuck.
As reminded in this week's Mega Buzz, "Lucifer Rising" was written and directed by series creator Eric Kripke.
In this preview clip, a tormented Sam confabs with Ruby about what he "must do" (FYI, the audio is a bit soft, so pump up the volume):
'Lost' owes a debt to King
It’s a riveting character study set against a supernatural backdrop.
“It” in this case is ABC’s often surreal, sometimes frustrating but always intriguing drama “Lost,” which airs its two-hour, fifth-season finale at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
But “it” could just as well be many of the works by Bangor’s own Stephen King.
That’s not coincidence, according to “Lost” executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who, along with series creator J.J. Abrams, admit to being huge King fans.
In a 2005 “Lost” podcast, Cuse explained, “Stephen King is so artful at blending science fiction or horror concepts with really compelling character stories, and that is so much a model for what we are doing on the show. I mean, those books of his sustain for 800 to 1,000 pages. Not because of the mythology, but because the characters are so damn cool.”
In a recent phone interview, Lindelof and Cuse credited King’s influence for helping them to become the writers they are today.
“I read the first book in the Gunslinger series at age 9 or 10,” said Lindelof, 36, “When I read ‘The Stand,’ it was a real game-changer for me. It had supernatural leanings, but it was a character study as well. It shaped what I became as a writer.”
Cuse, 40, praised the addictive quality to King’s writing.
“Once I picked one up, I couldn’t put it down,” he said. “That was a lesson I strove to emulate in my own writing.”
A King masterpiece served as the model for “Lost” as it was being developed for its 2004 debut.
“There wasn’t a template for this type of show,” Cuse said. “The best thing for us was ‘The Stand,’ for its beautiful character writing more than the mythology. That’s why we owe a huge debut to Stephen King, for showing us the way.”
The “Lost” creators have repaid that debt with King references throughout its five seasons, such The Others discussing “Carrie” in their book group in the episode “A Tale of Two Cities” in Season 3. The Web site Lostpedia is packed with hundreds of “Lost”-King connections, but Lindelof downplays the actual number of in-tentional shout-outs.
“Clearly there are things we do consciously,” Lindelof said. “Others are less overt but purposeful. Then there’s a vast number on the subconscious level. If you look hard enough, you’ll find hundreds. But only 10 percent of those are purposeful on our part.”
King has been a “Lost” fan since the beginning, touting the show in his monthly Entertainment Weekly column “The Pop of King.”
Therefore, he enjoys the connections to his writings.
“It’s amusing and sometimes touching,” he said in a recent e-mail interview. “It makes me feel a little old — more like a founding father than an angry old man — but I guess that’s part of life. The important thing is that I’m still here to appreciate it.”
Lindelof, Cuse and Abrams got to meet the idol in 2006 during an Entertainment Weekly-sponsored visit to Bangor for a round-table discussion on writing. It’s a visit that Cuse and Lindelof remember fondly.
“We had the ultimate Stephen King tour,” Cuse said. “He took us to his house, showed us around Bangor, took us out for a lobster meal and then finally to the horror movie ‘The Descent.’ It was fantastic to be there with him, to witness his enthusiasm for that movie and that genre. That was unbelievably special.”
“For someone who doesn’t get starstruck, I have never been so starstruck as I was hanging out with Mr. King,” Lindelof added. “It kept getting more surrealistic as it went on. He’d seen the movie before, so he provided us with a DVD commentary as it unfolded.”
King was the first to suggest, in a 2005 EW column, that the “Lost” producers firm up an end date for the series, which will conclude next season,
“Having an end date is the difference from being out of control and in control,” Lindelof said. “Until you establish that there’s going to be an end date, all you have is middle. [Having an end date] allows us to save the show, to hammer out the plan we’ve been executing ever since.”
King isn’t the only Bangor connection to “Lost,” as Bangor native Melinda Hsu Taylor joined the show’s writing staff this season.
“Melinda has been great,” Cuse said. “She’s a real genre fan and a Stephen King fan, and shared the same interests that we have. Once we heard her story, we figured that she’s the perfect fit for our group. We felt an immediate kinship with her.”
“Lost” has more science-fiction elements this season, and fans have responded well to it, Cuse said.
“The audience seems to embrace the time-travel elements of the show, and that’s been enormously satisfying,” he said. “The biggest question we get now is, ‘Will you change the future by changing the past?’ and the show will be asking that question through to the end.”
King remains a big fan of the show, which recently passed its 100th episode.
“It’s still terrific fun,” he said. “It’s not quite as mysterious, because we’re in the ‘answers’ phase rather than the ‘questions’ phase, but the lure of the island is, for me, still very strong. I never miss an episode, which is probably the best answer.”
“It” in this case is ABC’s often surreal, sometimes frustrating but always intriguing drama “Lost,” which airs its two-hour, fifth-season finale at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
But “it” could just as well be many of the works by Bangor’s own Stephen King.
That’s not coincidence, according to “Lost” executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who, along with series creator J.J. Abrams, admit to being huge King fans.
In a 2005 “Lost” podcast, Cuse explained, “Stephen King is so artful at blending science fiction or horror concepts with really compelling character stories, and that is so much a model for what we are doing on the show. I mean, those books of his sustain for 800 to 1,000 pages. Not because of the mythology, but because the characters are so damn cool.”
In a recent phone interview, Lindelof and Cuse credited King’s influence for helping them to become the writers they are today.
“I read the first book in the Gunslinger series at age 9 or 10,” said Lindelof, 36, “When I read ‘The Stand,’ it was a real game-changer for me. It had supernatural leanings, but it was a character study as well. It shaped what I became as a writer.”
Cuse, 40, praised the addictive quality to King’s writing.
“Once I picked one up, I couldn’t put it down,” he said. “That was a lesson I strove to emulate in my own writing.”
A King masterpiece served as the model for “Lost” as it was being developed for its 2004 debut.
“There wasn’t a template for this type of show,” Cuse said. “The best thing for us was ‘The Stand,’ for its beautiful character writing more than the mythology. That’s why we owe a huge debut to Stephen King, for showing us the way.”
The “Lost” creators have repaid that debt with King references throughout its five seasons, such The Others discussing “Carrie” in their book group in the episode “A Tale of Two Cities” in Season 3. The Web site Lostpedia is packed with hundreds of “Lost”-King connections, but Lindelof downplays the actual number of in-tentional shout-outs.
“Clearly there are things we do consciously,” Lindelof said. “Others are less overt but purposeful. Then there’s a vast number on the subconscious level. If you look hard enough, you’ll find hundreds. But only 10 percent of those are purposeful on our part.”
King has been a “Lost” fan since the beginning, touting the show in his monthly Entertainment Weekly column “The Pop of King.”
Therefore, he enjoys the connections to his writings.
“It’s amusing and sometimes touching,” he said in a recent e-mail interview. “It makes me feel a little old — more like a founding father than an angry old man — but I guess that’s part of life. The important thing is that I’m still here to appreciate it.”
Lindelof, Cuse and Abrams got to meet the idol in 2006 during an Entertainment Weekly-sponsored visit to Bangor for a round-table discussion on writing. It’s a visit that Cuse and Lindelof remember fondly.
“We had the ultimate Stephen King tour,” Cuse said. “He took us to his house, showed us around Bangor, took us out for a lobster meal and then finally to the horror movie ‘The Descent.’ It was fantastic to be there with him, to witness his enthusiasm for that movie and that genre. That was unbelievably special.”
“For someone who doesn’t get starstruck, I have never been so starstruck as I was hanging out with Mr. King,” Lindelof added. “It kept getting more surrealistic as it went on. He’d seen the movie before, so he provided us with a DVD commentary as it unfolded.”
King was the first to suggest, in a 2005 EW column, that the “Lost” producers firm up an end date for the series, which will conclude next season,
“Having an end date is the difference from being out of control and in control,” Lindelof said. “Until you establish that there’s going to be an end date, all you have is middle. [Having an end date] allows us to save the show, to hammer out the plan we’ve been executing ever since.”
King isn’t the only Bangor connection to “Lost,” as Bangor native Melinda Hsu Taylor joined the show’s writing staff this season.
“Melinda has been great,” Cuse said. “She’s a real genre fan and a Stephen King fan, and shared the same interests that we have. Once we heard her story, we figured that she’s the perfect fit for our group. We felt an immediate kinship with her.”
“Lost” has more science-fiction elements this season, and fans have responded well to it, Cuse said.
“The audience seems to embrace the time-travel elements of the show, and that’s been enormously satisfying,” he said. “The biggest question we get now is, ‘Will you change the future by changing the past?’ and the show will be asking that question through to the end.”
King remains a big fan of the show, which recently passed its 100th episode.
“It’s still terrific fun,” he said. “It’s not quite as mysterious, because we’re in the ‘answers’ phase rather than the ‘questions’ phase, but the lure of the island is, for me, still very strong. I never miss an episode, which is probably the best answer.”
2009年5月7日星期四
Supernatural' Interview: Misha Collins Talks Heavenly Torture and Summer Plans
We love Misha Collins. Last September we talked with the then-new Supernatural star about developing the role of Castiel and what it was like to work with Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. Then in March
we talked with him again, this time about his future on Supernatural, the possibility of a sixth season for the series and his grandmother's reaction to his appearence on Nip/Tuck.
On the heels of last Thursday's Misha-centric episode "The Rapture", the Supernatural actor was great enough to check in with us again. In our latest conversation he tells us why he thinks Castiel is now taking Heaven's company line with Sam and Dean, shares his personal plans for the summer, and answers the questions you sent us on our Supernatural Twitter site.
we talked with him again, this time about his future on Supernatural, the possibility of a sixth season for the series and his grandmother's reaction to his appearence on Nip/Tuck.
On the heels of last Thursday's Misha-centric episode "The Rapture", the Supernatural actor was great enough to check in with us again. In our latest conversation he tells us why he thinks Castiel is now taking Heaven's company line with Sam and Dean, shares his personal plans for the summer, and answers the questions you sent us on our Supernatural Twitter site.
DEMON CLEANERS
THE fearless Winchester brothers are back with a vengeance. Their battle against paranormal evils escalates as doomsday approaches in Season 4 of Supernatural, out on DVD recently, courtesy of Warner Home Video.
Twenty-five years ago, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force – hell hath no fury like a Winchester scorned!
They were raised as soldiers by their father, who laterŠdied in battle, to fight paranormal evils that infest the dark corners and back roads of America.
In Season 3 they cruised America's highways in their trademark 1967 Chevy Impala searching for a loop-hole in Dean's deal with the Crossroads Demon. An agreement was made with the Demon to sell his soul in return for his brother’s life, but the catch was that he was only given a year to live.
Despite an all-out ambush against the demon that held Dean's contract, the last series called time on the rugged bad boy and he was dragged away by hell hounds. Season 4 opens four months later as Dean wakes-up in a pine box. He has escaped hell's clutches with no recollection of his time there or how he was freed.
The brothers are reunited but all is not the same, it becomes apparent that Sam is hiding secrets from Dean. Could Sam still possess supernatural powers as the Demon with yellow eyes prophesized?
In search of answers and demonic blood, the brothers hit the road to battle a legion of new supernatural forces including; malevolent spirits, Dracula himself and a drunk, heavily armed 7-foot-tall teddy bear. As their battle continues it becomes clear that these isolated paranormal cases are a small-part of a terrifying war heading their way.
In an explosive twist rumours begin to emerge that the fearful Lucifer will soon be released from the fires of hell. If he should walk free the Winchesters will not just be soldiers they will become martyrs against the Apocalypse.
We have two copies of Supernatural Season 4 to be won, to enter tell us: Which actor plays the role of Dean Winchester?Send your answer to: Supernatural Comp, c/o Daniel Bissett, 14 Eastgate Street, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1AG by May 14.
Twenty-five years ago, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force – hell hath no fury like a Winchester scorned!
They were raised as soldiers by their father, who laterŠdied in battle, to fight paranormal evils that infest the dark corners and back roads of America.
In Season 3 they cruised America's highways in their trademark 1967 Chevy Impala searching for a loop-hole in Dean's deal with the Crossroads Demon. An agreement was made with the Demon to sell his soul in return for his brother’s life, but the catch was that he was only given a year to live.
Despite an all-out ambush against the demon that held Dean's contract, the last series called time on the rugged bad boy and he was dragged away by hell hounds. Season 4 opens four months later as Dean wakes-up in a pine box. He has escaped hell's clutches with no recollection of his time there or how he was freed.
The brothers are reunited but all is not the same, it becomes apparent that Sam is hiding secrets from Dean. Could Sam still possess supernatural powers as the Demon with yellow eyes prophesized?
In search of answers and demonic blood, the brothers hit the road to battle a legion of new supernatural forces including; malevolent spirits, Dracula himself and a drunk, heavily armed 7-foot-tall teddy bear. As their battle continues it becomes clear that these isolated paranormal cases are a small-part of a terrifying war heading their way.
In an explosive twist rumours begin to emerge that the fearful Lucifer will soon be released from the fires of hell. If he should walk free the Winchesters will not just be soldiers they will become martyrs against the Apocalypse.
We have two copies of Supernatural Season 4 to be won, to enter tell us: Which actor plays the role of Dean Winchester?Send your answer to: Supernatural Comp, c/o Daniel Bissett, 14 Eastgate Street, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1AG by May 14.
Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on 'Lost,' 'House,' 'Bones,' '24,' 'NCIS,' 'Grey's,' 'Greek,' and more!
Question: Got any scoop on the Lost finale? --Carolyn
Ausiello: Funny, we posed that exact question to Damon Lindelof at the Hollywood premiere of Star Trek earlier this week. "All I will say is that it is time for the time travel craziness to end," he said. "And once it does end, something very, very surprising will happen in its wake. It is a little bit of a game-changer."
Question: Any spoilers about Lost's season finale? Please! --Sarah
Ausiello: Funny, we posed that exact question to Damon Lindelof Jorge Garcia at the Hollywood premiere of Star Trek earlier this week. "People will find out why [Hurley] got on the plane and how he came to get that guitar case in his hands," he said. "I've been wondering about that, too. I remember at one point asking a question about it and getting a, 'We don't know yet.' I had to ask once, 'How heavy is it? Is it just a guitar? Is it something else? How heavy is it supposed to be?' Sometimes I get an empty case to lug around in a scene and sometimes it has a guitar in it, but we don't actually know what's in it because that has not been [revealed] yet. It could be a case full of food or money or guns or papers or anything. So you see me get the case by the finale, but I don't know that we will find out what's in it. It was hard for me to play because at first I did not understand why Hurley would have ever changed his mind about going back to the island, and I'm sure fans are thinking the same thing. So it will be nice to be able to give them that information."
Question: Any new scoop on Gossip Girl? --Kathleen
Ausiello: One relationship won't survive prom night.
Question: I am so obsessed with Fringe right now. Any mind-blowing scoop? --Mindy
Ausiello: Aside from it getting renewed for a second season? Let's see ... "Look for a very special gravestone and [take note of] whose name is on it," teases co-exec producer Roberto Orci of the May 12 finale. "My God [I just gave you] a big puzzle piece." No kidding. When we pressed Anna Torv about said gravestone she pleaded the Fifth. “I can't say anything about the grave. But that's a big plot [twist]. The grave is the key." Torv was more forthcoming about the drama coming up for Olivia and Walter. "A whole lot of information starts to come to light about the trials and Olivia's part in the larger puzzle," she reveals. "Olivia decides to push Walter to his breaking point in order to get answers. She wants to know what happened to her and what is going on. She pushes a couple of buttons and Walter gets a little out of sorts and reverts to some of his old ways. I'm glad because it would be no fun if Walter fully recovered from his mental illness. People love him because he is eccentric and brilliant."
Question: Thanks for the Emily Deschanel Q&A. Now tell us what she said about the triangle with Booth's bro! --Deb
Ausiello: The events of the season finale will further complicate the triangle, she told me. "Booth's suspicion of his brother and his inability to fully trust his brother [is heightened]. It will give us some different dynamics to play next season."
Question: Emily said the sex between Booth and Brennan isn't going to be a dream. What about a hallucination? --Maggie
Ausiello: She also confirmed that it is not a hallucination. I suspect it'll be something in between the two. A dreamination, if you will.
Question: Can you ask Emily Deschanel if, before joining Bones, she had read the books by Kathy Reichs? --Kim
Ausiello: Sorry, got your question too late. Can I interest you in this answer she gave me about the show traveling overseas again next season? "We're not traveling at the beginning of the season, but we may go away at the end of the season or the beginning of the next. The intention is to travel again. But the way the next season is going to begin it wouldn't make sense." Hmm ... the way next season is going to begin? There's a clue in there somewhere.
Question: Please, give me something about next week's season finale of House! --Angelina
Ausiello: There's so much I want to tell you I don't know where to begin. That's a lie, yes I do: There's a wedding!
Question: House-Cuddy scoop, please! Will I need tissues? --Eve
Ausiello: Probably. And just to be safe, pick up some mood stabilizers, because Monday's finale will have Huddy fans experiencing a wide range of emotions, including (but not limited to) happiness, sadness, and "I'll cut a bitch"-level anger.
Question: Please tell me House will see one last awesome Amber hallucination in next week's season finale! --Luke
Ausiello: Not only will Amber be back, but another memorable Princeton Plainsboro alum will descend from heaven to haunt House next week. Guesses? Head to the comments!
Question: Is there any news on who is gonna take the ol' dirt nap in the Smallville season finale? Just a little hint? --Brad
Ausiello: Hey, we had a deal!
Question: Have you heard anything about Friday Night Lights' plans for the next year, and which castmembers are coming back? Hoping I haven't seen the last of Tim Riggins. --Diana
Ausiello: You haven't seen the last of Tim. I'm told Taylor Kitsch is definitely returning for season 4.
Question: Is Stella really the mother on HIMYM? Not that I don't love Sarah Chalke, but I was hoping the show was heading somewhere else with the mystery. --Michael
Ausiello: Exec producer Carter Bays isn't saying either way, but A Mother insider tells me that she is not the mom. Still, it looks like Chalke will be sticking around next season -- in some capacity. "We haven't talked to her or her people about it yet, but there's something very exciting about next season [involving Stella] that will sort of be alluded to in next week's episode," teases Bays. "We're excited to see how it'll play out next season." Speaking of Monday's ep, Bays says it ranks among the show's best. "It's a real good, classic How I Met Your Mother," he declares. "There are a few episodes of this show that, when we were shooting it, felt like an old movie. You just want to put it in black and white. Next week's episode felt like one of those."
Question: Tell me something about the 24 finale. I'm dying to hear anything! --Ferlay
Ausiello: Can't help you with the finale. Can help you with Monday's penultimate ep, which finds Jack Bauer going all Jack Bauer on Tony. It's a brutal scene, so if extreme violence isn't your thing, run for cover right around the halfway point. Just make sure you come back in time to catch Chloe and Janis' hilarious sneer-off.
Ausiello: Funny, we posed that exact question to Damon Lindelof at the Hollywood premiere of Star Trek earlier this week. "All I will say is that it is time for the time travel craziness to end," he said. "And once it does end, something very, very surprising will happen in its wake. It is a little bit of a game-changer."
Question: Any spoilers about Lost's season finale? Please! --Sarah
Ausiello: Funny, we posed that exact question to Damon Lindelof Jorge Garcia at the Hollywood premiere of Star Trek earlier this week. "People will find out why [Hurley] got on the plane and how he came to get that guitar case in his hands," he said. "I've been wondering about that, too. I remember at one point asking a question about it and getting a, 'We don't know yet.' I had to ask once, 'How heavy is it? Is it just a guitar? Is it something else? How heavy is it supposed to be?' Sometimes I get an empty case to lug around in a scene and sometimes it has a guitar in it, but we don't actually know what's in it because that has not been [revealed] yet. It could be a case full of food or money or guns or papers or anything. So you see me get the case by the finale, but I don't know that we will find out what's in it. It was hard for me to play because at first I did not understand why Hurley would have ever changed his mind about going back to the island, and I'm sure fans are thinking the same thing. So it will be nice to be able to give them that information."
Question: Any new scoop on Gossip Girl? --Kathleen
Ausiello: One relationship won't survive prom night.
Question: I am so obsessed with Fringe right now. Any mind-blowing scoop? --Mindy
Ausiello: Aside from it getting renewed for a second season? Let's see ... "Look for a very special gravestone and [take note of] whose name is on it," teases co-exec producer Roberto Orci of the May 12 finale. "My God [I just gave you] a big puzzle piece." No kidding. When we pressed Anna Torv about said gravestone she pleaded the Fifth. “I can't say anything about the grave. But that's a big plot [twist]. The grave is the key." Torv was more forthcoming about the drama coming up for Olivia and Walter. "A whole lot of information starts to come to light about the trials and Olivia's part in the larger puzzle," she reveals. "Olivia decides to push Walter to his breaking point in order to get answers. She wants to know what happened to her and what is going on. She pushes a couple of buttons and Walter gets a little out of sorts and reverts to some of his old ways. I'm glad because it would be no fun if Walter fully recovered from his mental illness. People love him because he is eccentric and brilliant."
Question: Thanks for the Emily Deschanel Q&A. Now tell us what she said about the triangle with Booth's bro! --Deb
Ausiello: The events of the season finale will further complicate the triangle, she told me. "Booth's suspicion of his brother and his inability to fully trust his brother [is heightened]. It will give us some different dynamics to play next season."
Question: Emily said the sex between Booth and Brennan isn't going to be a dream. What about a hallucination? --Maggie
Ausiello: She also confirmed that it is not a hallucination. I suspect it'll be something in between the two. A dreamination, if you will.
Question: Can you ask Emily Deschanel if, before joining Bones, she had read the books by Kathy Reichs? --Kim
Ausiello: Sorry, got your question too late. Can I interest you in this answer she gave me about the show traveling overseas again next season? "We're not traveling at the beginning of the season, but we may go away at the end of the season or the beginning of the next. The intention is to travel again. But the way the next season is going to begin it wouldn't make sense." Hmm ... the way next season is going to begin? There's a clue in there somewhere.
Question: Please, give me something about next week's season finale of House! --Angelina
Ausiello: There's so much I want to tell you I don't know where to begin. That's a lie, yes I do: There's a wedding!
Question: House-Cuddy scoop, please! Will I need tissues? --Eve
Ausiello: Probably. And just to be safe, pick up some mood stabilizers, because Monday's finale will have Huddy fans experiencing a wide range of emotions, including (but not limited to) happiness, sadness, and "I'll cut a bitch"-level anger.
Question: Please tell me House will see one last awesome Amber hallucination in next week's season finale! --Luke
Ausiello: Not only will Amber be back, but another memorable Princeton Plainsboro alum will descend from heaven to haunt House next week. Guesses? Head to the comments!
Question: Is there any news on who is gonna take the ol' dirt nap in the Smallville season finale? Just a little hint? --Brad
Ausiello: Hey, we had a deal!
Question: Have you heard anything about Friday Night Lights' plans for the next year, and which castmembers are coming back? Hoping I haven't seen the last of Tim Riggins. --Diana
Ausiello: You haven't seen the last of Tim. I'm told Taylor Kitsch is definitely returning for season 4.
Question: Is Stella really the mother on HIMYM? Not that I don't love Sarah Chalke, but I was hoping the show was heading somewhere else with the mystery. --Michael
Ausiello: Exec producer Carter Bays isn't saying either way, but A Mother insider tells me that she is not the mom. Still, it looks like Chalke will be sticking around next season -- in some capacity. "We haven't talked to her or her people about it yet, but there's something very exciting about next season [involving Stella] that will sort of be alluded to in next week's episode," teases Bays. "We're excited to see how it'll play out next season." Speaking of Monday's ep, Bays says it ranks among the show's best. "It's a real good, classic How I Met Your Mother," he declares. "There are a few episodes of this show that, when we were shooting it, felt like an old movie. You just want to put it in black and white. Next week's episode felt like one of those."
Question: Tell me something about the 24 finale. I'm dying to hear anything! --Ferlay
Ausiello: Can't help you with the finale. Can help you with Monday's penultimate ep, which finds Jack Bauer going all Jack Bauer on Tony. It's a brutal scene, so if extreme violence isn't your thing, run for cover right around the halfway point. Just make sure you come back in time to catch Chloe and Janis' hilarious sneer-off.
SMALLVILLE "Injustice" Season 8 Episode 21
Episode Synopsis: SMALLVILLE "Injustice" Season 8 Episode 21 - Chloe (Allison Mack) returns and begs Clark (Tom Welling) to kill Davis (Sam Witwer), claiming he can no longer keep the beast under control. Tess (Cassidy Freeman) has assembled a team of meteor freaks, including Plastique (guest star Jessica Parker Kennedy), to track down Davis so Clark can kill him. However, things get out of hand once Tess’ team discovers she is double-crossing them. Erica Durance, Aaron Ashmore and Justin Hartley also star. Mairzee Almas directed the episode written by Al Septian & Turi Meyer.
Also watch the latest episodes of Smallville episode here (Smallville Season 8 Episodes).
Also watch the latest episodes of Smallville episode here (Smallville Season 8 Episodes).
Will Smallville beat SG-1’s longevity record?
Stargate SG-1 fans have been holding their heads high since the show entered the Guiness Book of World Records a few years back (story), boasting the title of the longest-running science fiction show in North America. (Only the original Doctor Who ran longer.)
The series produced 214 hours over ten seasons (1997-2006).
Meanwhile, however, another Vancouver-made genre show has been quietly creeping up on Jack O’Neill and his team. The CW’s young Superman supershow Smallville is currently finishing up its eighth season, and has already been renewed for a ninth (EW.com). That will bring it up to a tie with The X-Files (in the season count), and hot on the heels of SG-1 for the record.
So is Smallville going to tie or beat SG-1’s record?
Stargate SG-1 produced 22 episodes per year for seven seasons, then 20 per year for its last three. Smallville has stayed at 22 episodes per year, with Season Seven shortened to 20 only because of the writer’s strike.
After Smallville’s 2009-2010 season, then, the show will have produced 196 episodes. If it continues on to a tenth season, it will tie SG-1 in the season count and surpass it in episodes — 218 if the network orders a full, 22-episode season.
Future prospects for the CW show rely heavily on signing lead actor Tom Welling. The eighth and ninth years have proven that the show can lose major cast members (Michael Rosenbaum and Kristin Kreuk, a.k.a. Lex Luthor and Lana Lang) and even its executive producers and keep going strong.
Smallville airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. (7 Central) on The CW in the United States. Season Nine begins this fall, and future contract negotiations and a tenth season renewal decision should come next spring.
The series produced 214 hours over ten seasons (1997-2006).
Meanwhile, however, another Vancouver-made genre show has been quietly creeping up on Jack O’Neill and his team. The CW’s young Superman supershow Smallville is currently finishing up its eighth season, and has already been renewed for a ninth (EW.com). That will bring it up to a tie with The X-Files (in the season count), and hot on the heels of SG-1 for the record.
So is Smallville going to tie or beat SG-1’s record?
Stargate SG-1 produced 22 episodes per year for seven seasons, then 20 per year for its last three. Smallville has stayed at 22 episodes per year, with Season Seven shortened to 20 only because of the writer’s strike.
After Smallville’s 2009-2010 season, then, the show will have produced 196 episodes. If it continues on to a tenth season, it will tie SG-1 in the season count and surpass it in episodes — 218 if the network orders a full, 22-episode season.
Future prospects for the CW show rely heavily on signing lead actor Tom Welling. The eighth and ninth years have proven that the show can lose major cast members (Michael Rosenbaum and Kristin Kreuk, a.k.a. Lex Luthor and Lana Lang) and even its executive producers and keep going strong.
Smallville airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. (7 Central) on The CW in the United States. Season Nine begins this fall, and future contract negotiations and a tenth season renewal decision should come next spring.
2009年5月5日星期二
ATV spoiler alert: 'Smallville' finale sneak! 'Bones' sex twist! 'Grey's' wedding scoop!
The Grim Reaper is about to make an unwelcome pit stop in Smallville, and, if I'm not mistaken, the blockbuster trailer The CW cut together for the May 14 season finale comes very close to identifying at least one of the victims. I could be wrong. Don't think I am, though. Watch the latest episode of Ausiello TV and judge for yourself (hint: it features an exclusive first look at said trailer. You can thank me later, Smallville fans.)
Also in the new ATV: Fresh details about Booth and Brennan's season-ending hookup on Bones, and a Grey's-themed wedding present for Mer-Der fans.
Press play below!
Also in the new ATV: Fresh details about Booth and Brennan's season-ending hookup on Bones, and a Grey's-themed wedding present for Mer-Der fans.
Press play below!
Local viewing habits don’t bode well for networks
This isn’t only because three of the top 11 shows in March in Western New York have “CSI” in the title and four other CBS crime-related series—“ NCIS,” “The Mentalist,” “Criminal Minds” and “Cold Case” —were in the Top 11, too.
It isn’t because three versions of the crime series “Law& Order”—“SVU,” the Wednesday originals and the Saturday repeats—were among NBC’s top five series here. (“ER” was still NBC’s highest-rated series here, which may help explain why there are two medical shows on its fall lineup.)
New hits are vital to the continued success of network TV, and they will be more difficult to come by when old shows die and the lead-ins they provide to new ones disappear. Lead-ins still are a key determining factor in what becomes a hit. Even “The Mentalist,” the No. 3 series here and the only new one with a double-digit rating, has the benefit of the “NCIS” lead-in. In a way, the Jay Mohr comedy, “Gary Unmarried,” is a bigger success story here at No. 28 because it builds on its lead-in and it’s so hard for any comedies to get any traction now.
It isn’t because three versions of the crime series “Law& Order”—“SVU,” the Wednesday originals and the Saturday repeats—were among NBC’s top five series here. (“ER” was still NBC’s highest-rated series here, which may help explain why there are two medical shows on its fall lineup.)
New hits are vital to the continued success of network TV, and they will be more difficult to come by when old shows die and the lead-ins they provide to new ones disappear. Lead-ins still are a key determining factor in what becomes a hit. Even “The Mentalist,” the No. 3 series here and the only new one with a double-digit rating, has the benefit of the “NCIS” lead-in. In a way, the Jay Mohr comedy, “Gary Unmarried,” is a bigger success story here at No. 28 because it builds on its lead-in and it’s so hard for any comedies to get any traction now.
TV shows set to finish season in dramatic style
?"NCIS" (May 19, CBS): Can our hearts take it? Last year they stunned us by killing off Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly). Now, producers are promising to drop another bombshell. Details are scarce, but the network's logline says Gibbs (Mark Harmon) will be forced to make "a decision that sends shockwaves through NCIS."
NCIS "Legend" Season 6 Episode 23 (Part 2)
Browse > Home / NCIS / NCIS “Legend” Season 6 Episode 23 (Part 2) NCIS "Legend" Season 6 Episode 23 (Part 2)
Watch a sneak peek of NCIS Season 6 Episode 23 "Legend" Part 2 airing this Tuesday May 5 at 9 pm on CBS.
Also watch any NCIS Episodes you may have missed here.
Episode Synopsis: NCIS "Legend" Part 2 Season 6 Episode 23 - With the appearance of Mossad agent Michael Rivkin, Tony is forced to question Ziva’s loyalty to NCIS. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Special Agent Callen goes undercover to try to catch a terrorist cell while OSP psychologist Nate Getz discovers the startling truth about Gibbs and Special Agent Lara Macy’s relationship, on NCIS, Tuesday, May 5th (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
You can also watch a preview from NCIS "Legend" below and read all our NCIS coverage
Watch a sneak peek of NCIS Season 6 Episode 23 "Legend" Part 2 airing this Tuesday May 5 at 9 pm on CBS.
Also watch any NCIS Episodes you may have missed here.
Episode Synopsis: NCIS "Legend" Part 2 Season 6 Episode 23 - With the appearance of Mossad agent Michael Rivkin, Tony is forced to question Ziva’s loyalty to NCIS. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Special Agent Callen goes undercover to try to catch a terrorist cell while OSP psychologist Nate Getz discovers the startling truth about Gibbs and Special Agent Lara Macy’s relationship, on NCIS, Tuesday, May 5th (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
You can also watch a preview from NCIS "Legend" below and read all our NCIS coverage
Mega Buzz on SVU, NCIS, Housewives, Private Practice & More
I heard a very nasty rumor that Michael Weatherly is leaving NCIS. When? Why? It would take an amazing actor to fill the hole left in Gibbs' family/team if Tony left. — Laura
MATT: It is entirely likely that Tony will be a victim of ... semantics. When I asked NCIS boss Shane Brennan about the rumor that Gibbs will lose a team member by season's end, he said, "That's not correct ... but that's not wrong, either." He then let rip a rather sneaky laugh, before adding, "It's one of those things that people are going to have to watch to figure out." (Get more NCIS finale scoop here.)
MATT: It is entirely likely that Tony will be a victim of ... semantics. When I asked NCIS boss Shane Brennan about the rumor that Gibbs will lose a team member by season's end, he said, "That's not correct ... but that's not wrong, either." He then let rip a rather sneaky laugh, before adding, "It's one of those things that people are going to have to watch to figure out." (Get more NCIS finale scoop here.)
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