‘Supernatural’ season 14 spoilers: Michael!Dean, Sam’s new role, Cas and Jack’s relationship
“Supernatural” season 14 won’t air until October, but the producers and cast couldn’t resist giving a few spoilers now. According to them, Team Free Will 2.0 will take on different roles while AU Michael still uses Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) as a vessel, and that episode 300 will be a “love letter to the show.”
The show’s season 13 finale in May left Jack (Alexander Calvert) without powers after his father sipped his Nephilim grace from him. Castiel (Misha Collins) was left devastated after Dean agreed to have Michael use him as his vessel to save his brother, Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki), and Jack from Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino). Lucifer was killed, but Michael continued to use Dean as his vessel, refusing to give him up.
Michael!Dean is here to stay
In an interview with Digital Spy, executive producer Brad Buckner said Michael would be around for a while. This means Ackles will be playing Michael, not Dean, for more episodes than some fans initially predicted. He did not say how many episodes will Michael stick around, but it probably is more than the three episodes that Demon!Dean had in season 10.
“Michael’s going to be around long enough to be a really legitimate threat,” Buckner told Digital Spy. “He has to build his forces, build his strategy…”
Sam the leader
And while Michael!Dean is going about his way, Sam will be stepping into a leadership role. Co-showrunner Andrew Dabb said the younger Winchester would be completing a “journey that he’s been on for quite a while now,” and that would really come more into focus this season.
Sam is a master strategist and a good leader, but his co-dependency with his brother has hampered his progress. The few previous episodes in season 12 and 13 have finally allowed the brothers to function separately. So perhaps this was what Dabb was saying about Sam’s journey.
“Sam is keeping the hunters in line — and he takes that job very seriously!” exec producer/writer Eugenie Ross-Leming said. “Getting Dean back is their mission, from the beginning of the season. That’s part of their goal. The other part I can’t tell you about!”
Padalecki said part of Sam’s job was to teach the Apocalypse World hunters about the basics of living in this Earth. Sam would also help restrict the AU hunters’ desire to kill Michael long enough to save Dean.
“They want to kill Michael, not save Dean. They don’t know Dean. They more want to kill the guy who destroyed their planet, so Sam is trying to get to Dean and extract Michael, as opposed to killing the vessel,” he said.
Jack and his father Castiel
Never mind that Jack’s father, Lucifer, betrayed and used him for his own selfishness; it was Castiel who’s the nephilim’s real protector. Even before Jack was born, Cas sacrificed everything, including his friendship with Sam and Dean, to protect him. And now that Jack has been left without his powers, it would be Cas who would guide him through it all. After all, the seraph has also experienced being one of the most powerful beings alive to suddenly becoming a human.
“Jack is a human being who’s been on the planet for maybe a year and has zero human experiences,” Buckner said, adding that the season would open with Jack still “in the throes” of struggling with being a mere human.
He did not mention if Jack would somehow be able to replenish his powers back, just as archangels do when their graces are extracted from them.
Nevertheless, Jack has Cas to help him with the shift. Ross-Leming said the angel would become the “de facto parent” of Jack. She described their relationship as “tough” but also “profound and sweet.”
“Jack and Cas definitely have a very special connection,” Calvert said. “We’re going to see where that goes and push it a little further this season than we did last year.”
As for Castiel, fans don’t need to worry that the shorter season of only 20 episodes would also mean shorter number of episodes with Cas in them. Ross-Leming said the fallen angel would be in “a lot of scripts.” Not only that, he would start the season in good health and “pretty close to full power.”
“[Cas] has a mission that he cares about, trying to rescue Dean,” Collins said.
Rowena, AU Charlie and AU Bobby
“Rowena (Ruth Connell), we’re just finishing a script … I think it’s [episode] seven, and she plays a very pivotal part in that episode,” Ross-Leming said of the centuries-old witch. “She’s at the core of the problem… and the core of the solution!”
Buckner added that Rowena would become a “major player” this season.
As for Apocalypse World Charlie (Felicia Day), fans would also see “a good deal” of her. But it’s not really Charlie. She would be different from the little sister that the Winchesters knew and loved.
“She is not a mirror image of Charlie, which she aggressively points out!” Buckner said.
AU Bobby (Jim Beaver), however, would still be the father figure that the boys knew. He would fall into that “natural mentor role” that his Earth counterpart had fulfilled until his death in season 7.
Episode 300 would be 100 and 200’s ‘middle ground’
Dabb said they have done a normal episode for episode 100 (“Point of No Return,” season 5) and a meta one for episode 200 (“Fan Fiction,” season 10). So for the 300th episode, they would do “a little bit of the middle ground.”
The special episode will explore how the people of Lebanon, Kansas, where the Men of Letters bunker is located, feel about “these guys who drive this muscle car and always turn up at the drycleaners covered in blood.”
Dabb said it would be a different way to look at the guys that in a way would be a “love letter to the show.”
“It’ll be a totally different kind of episode,” co-showrunner Robert Singer added. He will be directing the episode. “What’s their life like when they’re not on the road, when they’re in their home town? And what does their home town think of them?”
Missing Impala
With Dean being unfortunately used as vessel by Michael, whose wings are still intact, there would be not much use for the Impala this season. Ross-Leming said the vehicle wouldn’t make an appearance in the first part of the season.
‘Supernatural’ season 14
The next season will premiere in the US on The CW on Oct. 11. There is no airing date for Australia yet.
