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TV Spoilers & Speculation Corner: 3/23/11

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  • March 23, 2011
This entry is part 12 of 26 in the series Spoilers 2011: Part 1

Spoilers 2011: Part 1

This week, we have spoilers for V, Being Human and Supernatural:

V (Tuesday nights, 9pm, ABC)
By Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Because we don’t know if this show will return, I am going to be collecting spoilers for V and for other alien-related shows starting next week. Yep. I’m taking about the Spielberg project.

V finished with better ratings that it had enjoyed in the previous two weeks, but it’s still nothing to gloat about. Most people are betting it’ll be cancelled. It’s not even on the bubble. This has caused fans to start an online petition to give the show a third season.

The stars can’t shed any light on this matter, simply because they don’t know what will happen. Morena Baccarin, however, sounds hopeful: “I hear good things about the show and we’re still in the running. It’s just a waiting game and I’m trying to stay busy.”

Laura Vandervoot, on the other hand, sounds gleeful about the idea of playing Lisa’s evil twin.

Do I think the show should get a third season? It all depends. I demand the following:

  • Lishua love story. You have a lot to make up for the Tyler crap, show. Getting that guy who plays Joshua naked will be the start of it.
  • Give Erica an Uzi hidden in a cake and have her shimmy down the air ducts.
  • The Beastmaster gets to shoot people and he’s Jack’s dad. They look alike, don’t they?
  • Amy grows up to be a sexy hybrid who has sexy alien fights with Lisa 2.0. By the way, they re-skin Lisa 2.0 so she looks different. Or they give her black hair. Evil twins always have black hair.
  • Diana’s cousin appears. She looks just like Diana. Hey, if the original show had Martin’s brother, I can have Leanna.
  • At some point, there is a gladiator fight.
  • There is an alien occupation and the aliens slap their bionic whips around. Tails and whips.
  • The Fifth Column learns to do shit and throw molotov cocktails.
  • Michael Ironside is an evil corporate overlord in league with the aliens. He has a posse of ninja assassins. One of the ninka assassins is a sexy, sexy character with an eyepatch.

That would seriously be the best show ever.

Being Human (Monday nights, 9pm, Syfy)
By Paula R. Stiles

Being Human has been renewed for a second season. No word on when that season will appear (or with how many episodes), though, and Syfy just unveiled a very full schedule for the upcoming year, though a lot of it is either reality stuff, returning shows, Saturday night monster features, or

1.11 airs next Monday, so it appears the season one finale will be on April 11.

Supernatural (Friday nights, 9pm, CW)
By Paula R. Stiles

Kind of a slow news week for the show, with some rehashing of the Paley Festival spoilers, but the network has big changes coming up. First, regarding the show directly, SpoilerTV is reporting that an alleged CW insider is claiming that the show has been unofficially renewed for a seventh season. Yes, I know that sounds convoluted. Take it with the usual chunk of rock salt, but also keep in mind that all other signs point to the show being as good as renewed.

Second, the CW appears to be very close to choosing (if not announcing) the replacement for current top executive, Dawn Ostroff. Mark Pedowitz is the top choice, apparently due to his ability to be a team player and get things done. It’s very difficult to tell at this point what his getting the position (assuming he even gets it) will mean for Supernatural. However, the Hollywood Reporter, in announcing the rumour, went into detail about how Ostroff reports to certain executives and that Pedowitz has a good history with them. Since those executives seem to be pretty happy with the show right now, and the network’s upcoming pilot season is heavily skewed toward paranormal shows, I’m leaning toward Pedowitz’s becoming the new CW head being a positive for Supernatural. At any rate, it now seems certain that Ostroff is really leaving.

Remember how we said last month that Katie Walder was tweeting that she would appear as Fate in 6.18 (which is now 6.17)? Well, she just reconfirmed it. Samantha Ferris has also confirmed that she will be in 6.17 not 6.19, with Dread Central saying Samantha Smith will be in 6.17, as well (How does that work with her apparently being in the diner where the brothers meet Eve?). And those photos from a couple of months ago showing Dean getting into a black Mustang with Impala plates? From 6.17, as well.

Sebastian Roche is still tweeting from Vancouver, which may possibly mean Balthazar is in the season finale (It’s either the last day or so of shooting 6.21 or the first day or so of 6.22). He tweeted some cute photos of himself and Misha Collins (doing something very strange with his tongue here) in costume, on the set. They seem to be filming in an “underground” set similar to the one from “Like a Virgin”, or perhaps “You Can’t Handle the Truth”, or some weird, lighthouse-basement combination of the two. He also tweeted a cute photo of himself with Robert Singer (and Collins being naughty behind them). So, possibly, Singer is directing 6.21 and/or 6.22. There appears to be a lot of Balthazar in 6.21. Jim Beaver has not tweeted recently (being occupied online with posting film reviews on Facebook), but one of his most recent had him in Vancouver as of last Thursday.

EW continued to put out meh “spoilers” that were more speculation than spoiler, with the exception of some minor hits from 6.18: “Dean’s showdown at high noon. Sam on horseback. A saloon girl hitting on Dean.” The same source makes 6.17 sound like a light and flaky episode, which, like the teaser shown at Paley for 6.17, contradicts assertions that the season would be “dark” from here on out. Also, in Ausiello’s latest column, Eric Kripke (who now seems firmly back in the saddle) talks about what’s happening with everything and everybody on the show but Dean in the season finale. He also as good as admits that the writers will pull their punches in terms of dealing with Sam’s drywall: “You don’t want to blow it off…You don’t want him to be a drooling vegetable on the floor, either, because that’s not super-exciting to watch, last I checked.” Um…yeah. Saw that problem coming from the next town over and 16 episodes ago, thanks.

One Dean spoiler did come out of some late Paley news. According to Jensen Ackles, Lisa and Ben will come back: “I can’t say necessarily how, but that story will be explored and it will be explored heavily. I think there’s a part of [Dean] that was left with them. But I think he knows deep down that it would never work. And I think that’s going to be a very emotional situation that he’s going to have to deal with.” Should we start cueing up “Taps” for the Braedens now or later? I can’t say I’m thrilled to see Lisa and Ben go bye-bye, not only because I like them, but because I don’t like the trend we’ve had lately of Dean ending up being All About Sam yet one more freakin’ time. Here was a storyline that was completely Dean’s and look, there it goes now….

Ratings for the “Unforgiven” repeat were up slightly from last week to 1.346 million, 0.8 in total households, 0.5, 0.4, and 0.4. That’s over twice as much as Gossip Girl‘s repeat got this week, and Gossip Girl is said to be likely to be renewed, so I’m thinking Supernatural is pretty safe.

As I said, it was a very slow news week in the middle of Hellatus.

We’ll be back next week with more spoilers. Stay tuned and check out our reviews of V, Being Human and Supernatural.

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11 Comments

  1. shamangrrl says:
    March 23, 2011 at 9:13 am

    I’m really hoping they don’t kill off Lisa and Ben, but I guess if this is the end of Dean’s storyline, the writers probably will. Either way, it sucks because once again, Dean will be given nothing to do. I’m still totally uninterested in the rest of the season, and beyond uninterested in Sam’s manpain. Whatever, Show.

  2. Jessica says:
    March 23, 2011 at 11:48 am

    Honestly, I found Dean’s storyline with Lisa and Ben to be much more interesting than Soulless!Sam’s. (It was a storyline that really allowed Dean to grow as a character.) Yet, that’s the one that was given more attention than anything else. There were so many other interesting storylines that were introduced this year which I’m sure some of them will be touched on in the remaining episodes, but let’s face it, there aren’t that many left!

  3. Fates3 says:
    March 23, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    Thanks for the rundown, Paula!

    Yea, I am very disappointed that Kripke seems to be slipping back into the whole “Dean who?” mentality he had when he was running the show before. I keep telling myself that maybe it’s because there’s something awesome happening with Dean that they can’t spoil, but then there’s that cynical voice inside my head that reminds me of all the other times I thought that and it ended up being not true, and I go back to being worried. I really do NOT understand this continual lack of mention of Dean from the writers in regards to spoilers. If Jensen hadn’t mentioned Lisa/Ben, we would have nothing for Dean, and frankly, that’s pretty pathetic when you consider he’s one of the two leads of this show and has been since the beginning. Sigh.

    I too don’t want to see an end to Lisa/Ben, as I quite liked them. but I hope at the very least, they give Dean some positive resolution with them. For crying out loud, the character doesn’t need MORE guilt and grief weighing him down!

    I sense a little discouragement from you in the last couple of spoiler round ups, Paula, and I hope you aren’t giving up on the show! Your optimism, insight, and recaps have been about the only thing that has kept me hanging on to hope some times, I hope you don’t give it up!

  4. Cassiea says:
    March 23, 2011 at 1:08 pm

    Dean/Lisa story was never going anywhere from the start. I don’t even know why they did it. It could have been very good, BUT this is a Sam-centric show, so any strong Dean arc was not going anywhere. Dean’s character has been dropped and Sam’s highlighted and will continue in that vein until the show goes off the air. Dean’s only arc is Sam… to hold his hand, clean up his messes and worry about him when he gets hurt…ie this STUPID wall…something of little interest to many. As for Lisa and Ben, that story has ended twice now. Why they feel the need to end it again is beyond me. If that is supposed to be a tidbit Kripke is throwing at Dean fans, one has to wonder if he realizes what Dean fans want. Maybe he has no idea how to write Dean any more. Either that or he just lost interest in the character.

    I also really hope Dean followers are not tricked into thinking any episode labeled ‘Dean-centric’ involves the ‘old’ Dean. That Dean is gone. The ‘Dean-centric’ episodes are all for Sam fans. Sam will dominate ALL episodes of the series as long as Kripke has any say in it. He only wants Sam fans.

  5. elena says:
    March 23, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    I was never a big fan of the whole “Dean as a family man” scenario because to me, it just seemed like a ploy for the the showrunners to use as an excuse not to give Dean anything of more substance connected to the mytharc. And besides, it seemed pointless to become overly invested in an arc that would obviously not move forward past a certain point because god forbid, Dean have anyone else in his life besides Sam. The poor guy wasn’t even allowed to have Cas as his buddy lest it threaten the almost mythic brotherly bond.

    But what I never expected was just how shabbily Dean’s arc (such as it was) would be treated. I agree that it was at least cohesive and got from A to B. But talk about a fast ride: some set up in the first two episodes, ten minutes in 6.5, the quickie breakup in 6.6, then nothing until 8 freaking episodes later. Then it’s sheleved again for another 7 episodes. Considering that was Dean’s only individual storyline, imo, it deserved a much more respectful treatment. They sure found time a plenty for Sam’s neverending saga-a-thon.And if the point was that Dean really saw himself as a killer unfit to sit at the dining table, why not explore that? Or if Dean chose hunting instead, what happened to Sera’s talk of Dean rediscovering his passion for saving people, hunting things? There were so many ways Dean’s arc could have gone, had any of the showrunners been remotely interested enough in pursuing it. Oh, well- I guess we can add it to the growing list of this season’s wasted potential and lost opportunities.

    Paula, I don’t know if you saw the reported episode title revisions for the last 2 episodes. Apparently, 6.21 is no longer “Haunter of the Dark” but rather, “Let it Bleed” and 6.22 is “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” And Kripke had said at Paley that these two episodes are pretty much unrelated to the point that he wished they could have used a “one week later” sign before the finale.It would have been nice to somehow tie Dean’s episode to the resolution of the season but whatever. At this point, I’ll be happy if Dean actually gets to kill something and doesn’t just spend his angsting over Lisa and/or Sam.

    What a far cry from all the excited speculation we had at the beginning of the season, eh?

  6. Arafel says:
    March 24, 2011 at 8:57 am

    I never wanted them to “domesticate” Dean either, but if they’d kept him hunting, then Ackles complete ownership of the Dean role wouldn’t have given JP any chance whatsoever at pulling off his/the showrunner’s “new Dean” schtick that they were trumpeting at Comic Con and all the subsequent interviews after that in the guise of yet another “role reversal” that actually became more of an attempted cannabalization of the best of Dean’s character traits for Sam than it was an actual role reversal-and still JP didn’t/couldn’t pull off Sam as the “New Dean” anyway. And from what I’ve read on-line, I’m far from the only one who thinks that this tactic and this season, in general, is and has been terribly disrespectful of all that Jensen Ackles has done for and given to this show. IMO, the writing since mid season 5 has been such a departure from the two lead, more equal character focus in terms of storylines that we’d always gotten in previous seasons-not that I ever felt that it was truly equal(with the exception of S4)-but at least Dean had always had his Best Demon Hunter on the Planet status and role, besides being only and strictly Sam’s Supporter in the myth-arc. To have had so little focus on Dean’s Lisa and Ben storyline, while pimping Sam’s storyline(s), to some degree, in practically every episode this season, makes one wonder if something hinky is going on BTS of this show in spite of the “happy family” vibe that’s always been cultivated at cons, festivals, and in interviews. And it would hardly be the first time that politics/BTS shenanigans of some sort had intervened and undermined a television program. I wonder if in terms of storylines, S7 will find Dean’s storyline(s) as up-front, as Sam’s have been in S6. Jensen DID say at one of his private meet-and-greets at one of the recent cons that S6 was an “experimental” season. At this point, I must say that I am more curious than ever as to exactly the nautre of, or even predominantly, what this “experimental” aspect was supposed to involve and entail.

  7. shamangrrl says:
    March 24, 2011 at 10:36 am

    It’s not Jared’s fault the Becky Gamble and Kripke have a love-on for Sam (well, maybe Jared’s physique is at fault). Jared likes playing “dark” and being “bad” – most actors do, because it’s a hell of a lot more interesting than playing vanilla. Unfortunately, I don’t think that what the writers have given him to work with play to his strengths as an actor. But that doesn’t mean that he has some insidious plan to make Jensen and/or Dean look bad. Frankly, I think that the writing and showrunners have gotten increasingly lazy and out of touch with reality. They’re pretty much guaranteed a renewal, so it’s not like they have to challenge themselves. Kripke loses interest in storylines quickly – he’s admitted as much. And frankly, I don’t think Gamble has nearly the control that being “showrunner” would usually entail. I mean, when you have to pass everything through Kripke to make sure that things are staying “true to Supernatural”, I’d say you don’t actually have much control. Also, I think that Kim Manners was a real force behind the scenes. Since he died, things have really gone downhill, and quickly.

    Anyway, I really don’t think S7 is going to change anything with regard to Dean. He didn’t have a story in S1-3, had an abandoned story in S4, and was once more all-about-Sam in S5 and S6. I can’t see that changing in S7. That’s why I seldom watch anymore, and I certainly don’t bother with live viewing. It simply isn’t worth it.

  8. Cassiea says:
    March 24, 2011 at 11:30 am

    “It’s not Jared’s fault the Becky Gamble and Kripke have a love-on for Sam (well, maybe Jared’s physique is at fault). Jared likes playing “dark” and being “bad” – most actors do, because it’s a hell of a lot more interesting than playing vanilla. Unfortunately, I don’t think that what the writers have given him to work with play to his strengths as an actor. But that doesn’t mean that he has some insidious plan to make Jensen and/or Dean look bad.”

    I so agree! Can’t blame JP for what he has to act. He really has a very innocent naivety about him and I really don’t think he understands what about Sambot the fans don’t like. The lack of a story for Dean has irked many fans; JP is just stuck in the middle. I do think it would have been better on his part to follow Jensen’s lead though with the season ‘being difficult to act with the role reversal’ scenario. He would have retained a lot more respect with fan then he has.

    “Also, I think that Kim Manners was a real force behind the scenes. Since he died, things have really gone downhill, and quickly.”

    I have always felt the passing of Kim Manners was the turning point of the show. I really feel he was the driving force behind the “Dean” character. I have always felt that if he had not passed, the show would be much better accepted with much less fan fighting. Dean and Sam would have remained ‘family’ and ‘balanced’ in personalities. Not the huge discrepancies we now see. Just seems he had a way of dealing with Kripke’s arrogance that others can’t do.

    As for the Dean character over the seasons….the was always a strong Dean in the earlier years. But that started going downhill in s4. Season 5 and 6 are a total disaster. I, too, don’t believe there will ever be a “Dean” again….not unless someone can rein in Kripke or he just gets removed from the position. As for Gamble…after Parleyfest, I really believe she is just a front for Kripke…a ‘yes man’ so to speak. Kind of think he was hiding behind her this season after he was so flayed for “SS”.

  9. angelina says:
    March 24, 2011 at 1:16 pm

    I’ve had to stop watching because I have lost a ton of love for the show over the years. I don’t know what this show is or who these characters are. They feel like AU versions to me, and I don’t see any resemblance to what I loved. Shamangrrl, I thought you said in a previous comment you liked the earlier seasons and the guys’ relationship. So I was just curious to get your thoughts on that. I don’t think Jared is at fault either. He and Jensen still seem close (Jim Beaver tweeted recently that the guys are “like brothers”), and while I feel Jensen gives more to his character, I don’t think Jared is a horrible actor. I think none of the characters are bring served at all. The writing and storytelling have been some of the worst I’ve seen, and I don’t think it’s going to get better in six episodes. I can’t even imagine what the plans are for a seventh, if it happens.

  10. shamangrrl says:
    March 24, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    Angelina, I liked S1-4, and about 1/2 of the episodes in S5. The only season that the writers invested in Dean’s character (in that Dean was given a story that didn’t revolve around Sam), was S4. I’m really surprised by how much influence Kim Manners seemed to have behind the scenes. I always got the impression that the reason Robert Singer was hired on was to make sure that the characters actually got developed, because Kripke was more interested in gore, horror and kewl shots. I always thought that the character development fell into Robert Singer’s perview, but apparently I was wrong.

    On a personal level, the guys seem be be just as friendly and supportive of each other as they’ve always been. I don’t think there’s been any falling out between them. Of course, I don’t live in their pockets, so I can only voice my opinion. It just seems to me that JA is much more invested in his craft, while JP is more prone to coasting and going with the flow. His performances are therefore much more dependent upon the writing and the direction that he receives. That doesn’t mean I think JP is necessarily a bad actor. Personally, I think he’s gotten complacent, but again, that’s just my opinion.

    But getting back to Dean, I really wish there was something going on for him, something besides angst, pain and giving apologies. Obviously I haven’t seen Ep6.21, but it sounds like it’s more pain for Dean. And frankly, even though I like Lisa and Ben, I’m totally over that for the character of Dean. I want the writers to give him something to do, to pick up some of the threads that have been abandoned over the years. But that isn’t going to happen, given that Kripke always intended for Sam to be the hero (and admitted that Sam was his avatar in the story, well before Chuck came into being). Kripke has tunnel vision, in my opinion. And it’s a shame, because he lucked out with JA.

  11. Ginger says:
    March 25, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    I’m late reading and posting to this, but I just wanted to add that I agree with all of the above comments. The show I fell in love with is over and I know as sure as I breath that there will be no more of the old Dean character.

    Honestly, there was not one spoiler or comment that came from PaleyFest that interested me, and when Jensen said that 6.21 was Dean-centric and would be a very emotional revisit to Lisa/Ben, I almost threw up. I’m not watching the rest of the season live except maybe the western (and I haven’t decided yet if I can stomach another Gossip Girl in the form of Cas’s girl buddy). I’ll read recaps and see if there’s anything that might interest me. But right now, I’m done with Lisa/Ben, I don’t give a hoot about Cas’s childhood, and I certainly don’t want to watch another showing of Sam’s wall falling. How predictable is that, BTW. Didn’t we all know from…what was that episode? Mannequin?, that the finale would have Sam’s wall falling?

    Which brings up another point about this season. It simply isn’t suspenseful. The audience is always several episodes ahead of the big reveal, canon is being written episode by episode (or changed), and if there is a coherent story somewhere there, I guess it will be shown in the finale, which means the 21 episodes before that were really meaningless. That just shows a lack of storytelling ability; although I haven’t seen real good characterization in anyone this season either.

    So disappointing when there was every opportunity to take this show anywhere this season. I was hoping for the best for Sera, but all she has shown me is that she is over her head. Although I have to say that I got the impression at PaleyFest that Eric is still very much the boss of the showrunner and was approving the ideas and stories presented by the writers.

    Surely they have to know that this season is a mess, don’t they?