The CW had a journalist meeting to screen Supernatural Season 7 Premiere followed by a Q&A with the show runner Sera Gamble and the Producer Robert Singer.
This article is from Examiner.com, but keep coming back because there will be a lot of articles from this meeting.
In this one, Sera and Singer talk about Dean’s role this season.
Sera Gamble and Bob Singer preview what’s to come for Dean in ‘Supernatural’ S7.
In season six of Supernatural, Sera Gamble took over as showrunner and kept the Impala under a tarp for a few key moments in the show’s re-introduction. In season seven of the CW series, she starts with the Impala garaged in a similar manner. After being flipped over and half-crushed in the season six finale, Dean (Jensen Ackles) has a lot of work on his hands to get his baby back up and running again. He basically has to rebuild the car completely in order to make it “as good as mint.” You might think this is an odd, nit-picky piece of minutia to focus on when such larger issues are at hand– you know, like Castiel (Misha Collins) being God now and ultimately being on the opposite side of things from the boys. But in truth, the Impala’s state can be seen as a metaphor once again. This time, though, for the way in which Dean will have to build himself back up after he unravels a bit this season.
But a bit more literally, Gamble told LA TV Insider Examiner that the Impala is being used in the season premiere episode, “Meet The Boss,” simply to show the passing of time. She thought it was the easiest way for the writers to exhibit how much time has passed since Castiel initially sucked in all of the souls and channeled the power of God. Making progress on a car proves the events that happen so quickly in the first hour back for the series really are not happening in just a day or even a week after the events of last season’s finale.
“Dean will have lots of issues this year that he’s going to have to deal with,” co-executive producer Bob Singer teased during a special screening and Q&A event for the show here in Los Angeles.
“During the first thirteen episodes [of season seven], I think he will probably carry a rockier journey in an odd way in terms of how he feels emotionally and how he deals with things. He’s on a real rollercoaster. Jensen has plenty to do!”
But much of Dean’s struggles will be internal ones, seen through nuances in Jensen Ackles’ performance, surely, while his brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) experiences external struggles in seeing the world around him shift with hallucinations of his time in hell. Dean will have a major upcoming moment in the fourth episode– the episode that Singer directed– though, during which he is put on trial by an Egyptian God. Yes, you read that right: Castiel isn’t the only God Supernatural will explore this season!
“Cyrus– an Egyptian God– he weights how heavy your heart is against a feather…It’s all about carrying guilt,” Singer previewed.
Naturally, Dean has a lot of guilt about the things he’s done, most notably the way in which his good friend Jo (Alonna Tal) died. And Jo returns for that episode, to act as a “witness” during the trial, which is chock full of emotional weight for both actors, especially when they get to the flashbacks from previous moments they shared. Long time fans will recognize them as coming out of an episode we saw Jo in earlier, though the moments are brand new. Will Dean come out of it feeling better or worse about the things he has done?
“That’s a big turning point episode for Jensen’s arc this year. Clearly the God doesn’t kill him…but it’s kind of a kick off for a good run for Jensen where he’s in a different place than he’s been in earlier seasons.”
Additionally, Dean will interact heavily with guest star D.J. Qualls, when he gets “stuck in an emergency situation when he can’t be with Bobby and can’t be with Sam and needs a hunter” in another upcoming episode. Bobby (Jim Beaver) sends him a “quirky” guy named Garth, played by Qualls, who let’s just say, may prove to antagonize Dean in his own unique way.
Supernatural airs on Friday nights at 9pm, only on The CW. And don’t worry, all you Sam Girls! I have part two of this chat with Gamble and Singer, devoted to Sam’s journey this season, coming soon! Stick around!
Source: Examiner.com
Supernatural Season 7 Preview: Dean’s Rocky Road, Sam’s Lost Marbles, Castiel’s Killer Spree
Can Cas get back from the dark side? Will Sam crumble under the memories of hell? And just what is going on with Dean? Plenty of questions surround Supernatural’s seventh season, but lucky for us — and you! — TVLine previewed Friday’s season premiere (The CW, 9/8c) and then grilled executive producers Sera Gamble and Bob Singer about what’s in store for the Winchesters and the new Big Bad (hint: read up on your bible).
DEAN’S DAY IN THE SUN | All you Dean lovers, rest assured that big bro will have plenty to do in the new season. “Dean is going to have lots of issues…that he’s going to have to deal with,” says Singer, promising a “rockier journey…of how he feels emotionally” than in the past. A “big turning point” will come in Episode 4, when the hunter stands trials before an Egyptian god “who weighs your heavy heart against a feather, and if your heart is heavier than the feather, he does you in,” previews Singer. “It’s all about carrying guilt. Not just, ‘Do I feel bad?’ But, “Do I feel guilty?’” All told, “Dean is in a different place than he’s been in previous seasons.” And as for his beloved Impala, which starts off the season in shambles, Singer assures: “It’ll be back. Like the show, [it] will not die.”
SAM AND HIS MARBLES | Remember how the wall in Sam’s head came crashing down last season? The consequences won’t be pretty, and something that ugly can’t stay secret. “What’s happening with Sam isn’t anything he can hide for very long,” says Gamble. “It comes out pretty quickly that he is dealing with this awful wall-breaking situation, which escalates really, really dramatically in [Episode 2].” Everything that Sam’s dealing with will push him to the brink, so much so that in Episode 2, he is “facing that moment as a hunter where he’s been through so much, he might just be losing his marbles for good.” Despite their issues and secrets, Gamble maintains that “it’s really important to [Dean and Sam] to try and stay together.” After all, “They don’t have very many people, they’re clearly better working together, and they need each other in so many ways.”
CORRUPTED CAS | Get ready for a new and terrifying Cas as the former angel goes on a killing spree, smiting those he believes “were doing stuff in the name of God that was corrupt or wrong,” says Gamble. But in Cas’ mind, what he’s doing is right. “Eric [Kripke] liked to say, ‘Every villain is the hero of his own story,’” shares Singer. Adds Gamble: “There are things he’s doing… that come from a really pure, old place for him – things that he has wished for a long time his dad would get his ass back here and do.” Cas is also out to stick it to his old pals who abandoned him. “Some of his actions in this episode are about proving them wrong,” says Gamble. “He digs himself in a bit deeper because of that.”
THE LEVIATHANS ARE HERE! | The new Big Baddies in Dean and Sam’s rear-view mirror are older than man and angels. But did you know that the biblical beasts like to party? “That sense that they’re having fun and not here to hail fire and brimstone on the world and just be mustache-twirling evil is right,” says Gamble, adding, “They’re here to have a good time.” But she points out that they’re also “smarter,” so what’s their master plan? That remains unclear, but “they certainly don’t want to go home” to purgatory. “When you think about it, our place, Earth, is sort of this Eden – slightly corrupted, but full of possibilities,” she explains. “It seems like everybody wants to be here, and there’s a lot of directions we can take that.”
FACES NEW AND FAMILIAR | Don’t discount the resourceful Crowley just because he was banished by Cas. “Crowley is the ultimate, self-interested character,” explains Gamble. “He always finds a way to bend whatever is happening to his own best uses.” As the tides of power shift in the new season, “He figures out how to insert himself in the situation,” she continues. “There’s a reason he’s lived this long. … So as things evolve this season, we’ll see him try and adapt.” Dean and Sam, meanwhile, will have to rely on some new friends for help. For example, viewers will meet a difficult, off-the-grid acquaintance of Bobby’s who the boys are forced to seek help from when they “have to drop out of sight a bit more,” teases Gamble.
BEST OF THE REST | One of the boys will be time-traveling again — back to 1944! — but it won’t be via angel power this time. “It turns out a case that they were trying to solve back then is the same as a case that Sam and Dean are trying to solve now,” describes Gamble. Relatedly, one of the things on Gamble’s wish list, but not in this episode? Nazi zombies! Also look out for a new, symbolic title card. “It’s just monstery and disgusting and connects to purgatory,” says Gamble of the new image. “There’s a B-movie horror vibe to that of just grossness coming at you from your screen.”
The Second Part from Examiner.com:
Sera Gamble previews what’s to come for Sam in ‘Supernatural’ S7
Okay, Sam (Jared Padalecki) fans, you know we couldn’t keep you waiting for Supernatural season seven news on your favorite Winchester brother for too long! With the wall breaking in his head, there is a lot to discuss, right? And earlier today, that is exactly what we did– with the woman in charge, Sera Gamble, to get the scoop on what’s about to go down as episodes unfold.
“What’s happening with Sam isn’t something that he can hide for very long. It comes out pretty quickly that he’s dealing with this awful wall-breaking situation, which escalates really, really dramatically in the [second] episode that Ben Edlund wrote,” Gamble shared.
“It’s something that Dean is dealing with, that Bobby is trying to deal with; it was an interesting thing to throw at them because every now and then a hunter will come into their sphere where they’ve been hunting for so long, they’ve gone crazy. And Ben wrote just a couple of lines in the episode about how ‘It’s one thing to get hexed or possessed, but it’s another to lose your marbles.’ And, you know, the episode kind of discusses that this is Sam, kind of facing that moment as a hunter where it’s just too much. He might just be losing his marbles for good, and there’s no amulet he can wear for that. And he could try Prozac, maybe, if it’s really strong, and you know, that doesn’t sound so good to him. So it’s this intersection between what happens in the real world when someone is in a really awful job for a long time and the supernatural.”
Sam has a lot to deal with internally, in addition to all of the craziness surrounding him with Castiel (Misha Collins) as the new God.
“It’s a really hard thing. It was a really big sacrifice he made—I mean when he jumped into the pit to stop the apocalypse. So now he’s living with this fissure in his head,” Gamble continued. “We didn’t want to wrap it up in one episode, where the wall breaks, but then he’s fine and drinking a beer and talking about it!”
But going forward in the season, after the first few episodes, the tone and focus will shift a bit. There will be resolution to Sam’s situation in one way, only to have a new door to a whole other set of issues opened. And that, of course, will introduce a whole new big bad.
“Sam and Dean kind of feel like they are part of a small…way of fighting evil. They feel kind of outmatched in the way the world around them as moved,” Gamble admitted. “We introduced the idea of purgatory and the monsters there. That’s an awful place, and hell’s an awful place, and heaven, frankly, sounds kind of boring to me. But when you think about it, our place– Earth– is sort of this Eden. Slightly corrupted but full of possibilities, certainly, and it seems like everyone wants to be here, so there’s a lot of direction we can go in with that.”
And one such direction is playing with alternate realities and places in time, not just Sam’s skewed reality. Sadly, there are no plans as of yet to go back to the wild, wild, west, but Gamble broke the news to LA TV Insider Examiner that the show will visit an equally exciting, though extremely different point in history.
“We’re breaking an episode right now that’s pretty cool where there’s a whole new means [of time travel],” Gamble said, noting that angels would not be involved in “zapping” the boys back. “One of the guys gets stuck in 1944, which is very different from being out west! It’s a much darker time period. It turns out the case they were trying to solve back then is the same type of case that Sam and Dean are trying to solve right now.”
Gamble promised this particular time travel episode would be just as “iconic and fun” as “Frontierland,” but she also expressed interest in another idea we just know would become a classic episode if the show actually finds time to tackle it: “I still want to do Nazi zombies at some point!”
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