Supernatural Season 4 Cutting Room Floor Wish List

by Sylvia Bond

Sometimes, You Get What You Need (But It Doesn’t Stop Me Asking For More)

I can’t help but be greedy, even though Season 4 (S4) knocked it out of the park all the way around. But once we got going, I and the ladies at the “Scenes on the Cutting Room Floor” panel at KazCon figured we’d keep going and let it all hang out about our desires and wants and gotta haves for S4 where we felt that Show missed some great opportunities for serious dramatic development. Or maybe we just want what we want and aren’t afraid to speak up about what we’d like more of.

So given that S4 was really, really, REALLY good, here’s our Wish List.

Lazarus Rising

Dean rises from the grave and is reunited with his beloved Sam. The ladies on the panel and I would have liked to have the reunion scene and the full body contact, rib crushing, almost weepy hug between Sam and Dean re-filmed without so very many reaction shots of Bobby.

Then later there’s the scene where Dean is fast asleep on the foldout couch, and Sam leaves to go do his thing, which logically, by this time, he’s used to doing. But to continue with the reunion complaint, it would have been nice to see Sam watching over Dean while he was sleeping to make sure he was okay. Just for a minute, just for a little minute. It wouldn’t have taken long to write the scene, or to film it, would it have killed Show to give us this? Plus, why is Sam sneaking out just when his brother is returned from hell? He’s snuck out before, the naughty boy, and it has never, ever, ever ended well.

Are You There, God? It’s Me… Dean Winchester

The boys encounter the angry spirits of people they couldn’t save. We get Meg (Yeah!) and Hendrickson (Yeah!), and Ronald Reznic (Yeah!). But I thought it would have been interesting to see Madison. Yeah, you remember her. She was the werewolf that Sammy fell in love with and then had to shoot through the heart with a silver bullet in one of the most tissue-worthy scenes Show has ever had. Wouldn’t it have been the coolest thing ever to watch Sam have to face that guilt? And what about Jessica? She would have made the perfect guilt ghost.

There’s a very sweet scene with Sammy asleep on the couch and Dean asleep on the floor. I love watching the boys sleep because they’re so cute like that, however, I’m a little puzzled. Typically, the person who has been hurt or is sick or, say, has recently gotten back from hell, gets the couch. So what’s up with Sam hogging the softness? Surely Show is fully aware of where Dean’s recently been, so I can only assume that Sam was selfish the night before, and Dean let him by saying, “No, no, I’m fine, the floor’s good enough for me.” That would have been a good, brotherly scene to see.

And lastly, we would have liked more brotherly touching, particularly in the scene where Dean helps Sam to his feet after he’s rescued Sam from Hendrickson’s ghost in the gas station.

In the Beginning

Dean goes back in time to 1973 where he encounters younger versions of his parents and grandparents on his mother’s side.

This is such a good ep, well loved by all True Fans, that the ladies on the panel and I were hard pressed as to what else we would have liked. Finally, after much dithering, we agreed that it would have been nice to have a longer scene where Dean tells Sam what happened, rather than the abbreviated “…and then I met Mom and Dad,” that we did get. Otherwise, this was a perfect ep.

Metamorphosis

Sam and Dean chase a meat-eating creature called a Rugaru.

At the beginning of the ep, Sam lets it slip about having ingested demon blood when he was a baby. Rather than several tightly controlled remarks between the brothers, I wanted

Dean to blow another gasket, pull the car over to the side of the road in a screeching halt, get out, and walk over the passenger door to haul Sam out for another punch in the face. In the rain. In fact, I wanted a whole lot more fallout from Sam’s secret. (Especially to balance out the brilliant fight scene at the beginning of the ep.)

And then, after the boys battle the Rugaru, they are both pretty bashed up and we really would have enjoyed a decent first aid scene between the brothers. Truly. We had head wounds and busted lips, and no doubt, wrenched shoulders and headaches. C’mon, Show! Be kind and get out the bandages!

Monster Movie

It’s Halloween time and the Winchesters face-off against a shape shifter with a penchant for impersonating classic movie monsters.

In one scene, Dean ends up in a dungeon, dressed in lederhosen and strapped down to a table. While I did appreciate the idea of the boy in leather, the ladies on the panel agreed that it would nice to have seen the scene where the shape shifter dresses Dean this way, and an explanation as to why. It can’t just have been for the single (albeit funny) moment where Sam comes to rescue Dean and calls him Hansel!

Yellow Fever

Sam and Dean discover a Colorado small that falls prey to a ghost sickness that induces fear and paranoia. Sam must figure out the cause and cure of the sickness when Dean himself falls prey to it.

Show keeps mentioning chubacabras more and more, as it does in this ep. That’s the one urban legend Show has not dealt with, so hopefully Show will take it up and film the boys hunting this legendary beast!

Then there is the last two minutes of this ep, which contained a veritable fun feast of Ackles-bestirred delight as he struts and cavorts to the tune of “Eye of the Tiger.” Ackles knows how to play it up: he commits to the act, he follows through with the act, and he’s not afraid to finish the act. With flair, yet. Even more adorable were the sounds of giggles (Padalecki’s) from behind the camera. However, while I loved this one-man show, I think I would have preferred to have those two minutes devoted to more Sam and Dean togetherness. The ladies on the panel agreed with me, even in the face of Ackles deliciously lip-synching his heart out with utter unselfconscious delight.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester

Investigating two mysterious deaths in a small town, Sam and Dean discover a witch is sacrificing people to summon a dangerous demon.

In one scene, Dean has a throw-away remark about leprechauns who, he says, grimacing, have “Small hands.” Then he makes this almost obscene gesture. Apparently, not only do leprechauns exist in the boys’ universe, the boys have had run-ins with them before. Therefore I’m putting in my request for a leprechaun-based episode where the Winchesters go up against these tiny men dressed all in green, complete with tiny Irish brogues, their tiny fists doing tiny nasty leprechaun things, and I’m laughing even though I’m not sure why.

Then there’s the bit where Sam holds out his hand for the angel to shake, and the Soap Angel almost doesn’t return the gesture. And whether this is because he’s an angel and doesn’t really know how to shake hands, or whether he’s a bit put off at the thought of shaking the hand of someone tainted by demon’s blood, the ladies on the panel and I would really, really like to know.

Towards the end of the ep Dean shouts out mock-obscenities at the kid who egged his car. The ladies and I discussed this at length and agreed to a woman that we would have liked to have seen the scene where Dean lovingly washes the egg off his beloved Impala. Nekked.

And lastly, I would like evidence of PTSD for Dean and more nosebleeds for Sam, because the nosebleed we got this time around is pretty much one of the only markers that Show’s given us as to how freaking hard this has all been for Sam. I like to watch both boys suffer, and I’ll admit that here because it would be disingenuous not to, and I’m honest like that. (And no, I’m not getting help.)

Wishful Thinking

Sam and Dean investigate when a small town’s wishing well actually starts to grant the people’s wishes.

Dean tests the well by ordering a sandwich, and there’s this brilliantly earthy bit where the sandwich bites back and Dean spends a good length of time in the bathroom, throwing up. In a previous review, I applauded Show’s use of a direct shot into a bathroom where Sam was throwing up from his one-man party the night before. In this ep, however, we just get sounds and the dramatic exodus of Dean from the bathroom wiping his mouth with a towel. Huh? We know there’s a toilet in there, people; if we can watch Sam throw up, why can’t we watch Dean? Or is that asking too much? I guess I’m just a stickler for realism and Equal Opportunity Barfing.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Sam and Dean discover the existence of a female prophet named Anna Banana, who can hear the voices of angels and thus figures into the plans of the demon Alastair who wants to use her as a tool against the angels.

The opening salvo for this particular ep is Sam drunk in a bar, playing pool and flinging loosing bets around like a drowning man, while Dean plays his straight man during a pool hustle. I totally enjoyed seeing this little slice of Winchester life. I enjoyed watching it happen in Real Time, not to mention the fact that it’s Dean who is the straight guy in this scenario and it’s Sam who is playing pool and, had the game continued, would have wiped the board with that guy. (Not to mention the lovely long angles of Sam’s arms reaching across that pool cue, and his adorable, devilish expression when he knows he’s set the guy up good and proper.) I’d like more like this, please.

There were tons of flashback scenes, most of them with Sam suffering and then drinking, and then suffering some more. Truly they were brilliant but there are never enough of them. Particularly the ladies and I would have liked it if during Sam’s sex scenes with that Skank Ruby, we saw more of NEKKED Sam and less of her. More of Sam without his shirt, that’s all we want, really.

(Thanks for the brilliant first aid scene where the boys patch each other up, by the way.)

Heaven and Hell

Dean and Sam figure out why the angels want Anna Banana dead with the help of the now-blind soothsayer, Pamela Barnes.

As for what we on the panel wanted in this ep? In a word, more boys, less Anna Banana. Because the sex scene was incendiary. In it Dean takes his shirt off and we get to see Dean-skin, and it was hotter than burning, it was seduction and skin and a whole lot of sizzle, and I was bought and sold by the images of Dean’s bare back. He’s got a beautiful one, made up of curved muscles and that dip of spine, and lord, you could see a little bit of his underroos, which just sweetened the whole deal. And even though, yeah, more like this please, it would have been nicer if he’d had sex NEKKED with anyone but Anna Banana. Because angels are asexual, hello, and are moved and transfixed only by the glory of God, amen.

Family Remains

The Winchesters try to stop a family from moving into a haunted house.

The opening scene between Sam and Dean rates pretty high. In the front seat of the Impala, Dean peruses the paper for a gig, and up Sam pops from the back seat to inquire as to what Dean is doing. Exhausted boys are always lovely, but given that Sam is sleeping in the back of the Impala (and how do his long legs fit back there?), the panel was interested in seeing the scene where Sam tries to convince Dean to stop at a motel for the night and fails. Especially so soon after their last gig, which we are told, was only hours in the past. The ladies and I would also like to know what the gig was.

Additionally, it came to the panel’s attention that during this episode there were lots of missed opportunities for the brothers to be interacting physically. We wanted more squabbles, and fighting, the biffs to the back head, chuffs to the shoulder, the grabbing, the hauling, the punching. And lord, yes, let us not forget, the ever-beloved wall-slamming.

Criss Angel Is a Douche Bag

Sam and Dean investigate the activities of a trio of magicians who are using a grimoire to execute real feats of magic.

We’re given a bit of back story when we learn that at age 13, Sam was way into magic tricks; he even had a wand and everything. Seeing as how the three Winchesters were essentially stuck in the Impala for hours on end, I feel fairly safe in assuming that Dean and The Dad were a captive audience to Sam’s antics. Now there’s some flashback fodder for you!

During the final show down, Sam and Dean arrive to try to prevent Charlie from convincing Jay and Vernon to grow young with him. Charlie attacks. He brings a rope down to hang Dean, and sends Sam sprawling on the table of death. (Naturally, Sam is tied down, which means it must be Thursday.) Eventually, Jay stabs himself, and, because he planted a tarot card on Charlie, Charlie dies. Down tumbles the rope, and Dean is choking but not going to die. And what does Sam do? From the vantage point of the table of death (where he has also been magically freed), Sam asks, “You okay?”

Say what? Since when did one brother not rush to the other brother’s side when that brother was in peril? Even though the brothers are fighting, they always look out for each other. Would always be there, to reach out and, not just ask whether the other one’s okay, but touch, to make sure. There used to be a lot of brotherly touching on Show, but I suspect it’s also in the Land of Lost Things. Show could go there, you know, and get it back. If it wanted to. If it wanted to make me happy.

After School Special

Sam and Dean investigate a haunting at one of their old high schools.

I’m just going to tell you my first gripe right up front, because why be coy, right? One of the first scenes in this ep is a flashback scene of the Impala driving up to the school. But then, when WeeDean and WeeSam jump out of the vehicle (which has barely come to a stop), and because it’s a flashback scene, You Know Who is driving the Impala. But no. You do not get to see the driver; there is no interaction between The Dad and his sons. There is no Joy. None. None. None. Which is a big, fat gyp, because frankly, having The Dad there, seeing him interact with WeeDean, and especially WeeSam would have added so much to the episode. So much texture, so much back-story, would have added oomph and reality and depth. Especially considering the Then montage, which was filled to the brim with images and ideas about Sam and his relationship with The Dad.

Would it have killed Show to accommodate me and all the other fans of The Dad? Seriously. There are two measly little scenes here, one where The Dad drops the boys off and one where The Dad picks them up. There’s also one tiny, little, teeny, weeny phone call. Show could have flown Jeffrey Dean Morgan up for one stinking morning, and filmed these two scenes and this one little voice clip and sent him on his merry way with nary a bobble in his routine. From the way Mr. Morgan talks about having enjoyed working on Show, I’ll wager he would have done it for free. Or, if not, fangirls would have raised the money. What a huge missed opportunity. Huge.

I also liked WeeDean being constantly in the janitor’s closet, macking on the female hotties, and making that his Focus du Jour, rather than school. And I do mean more than one hottie, typical of WeeDean, he gets it while he can. I’m sure it started this early, perhaps even earlier. So no problems there. In keeping with the hotties in the closet, it naturally follows that WeeDean gets caught between a blonde and a brunette. I both liked and disliked the conversation that follows. Here’s what I didn’t like. The blonde chick says something along the lines of, “I know that somewhere inside of you is a human being. I’ve seen you with your brother.” So, yeah, okay, she sees that there’s something more to WeeDean, some hidden depth, but when on earth did she ever see the WeeBrothers together? If there’s some off-screen interaction she’s referring to, no one else knows about it; so I would have liked to see the WeeBrothers interacting more.

Sex and Violence

The Winchester’s investigation into a series of deaths takes a deadly turn when a siren tries to tear them apart for good.

This ep is all about sex, so we would like to have seen more of the sex scene between the lady doctor and Sam, because Sam’s deskside manner is smoky and delicious and not enough seen around these here parts.

As for Dean, he takes up with dweeby Nick, who turns out to be the siren. That Show actually stepped out on a ledge and made the everything that Dean needed and could not resist a man took a lot of guts. Plus, the siren uses sex as a lure, so in keeping with that, I’ve always thought Dean swung both ways, that to him, any love is good love, and he takes what he can get, so I wasn’t shocked by the overtones (and undertones) of a homoerotic nature, and in fact, I liked them. And I firmly believe that between the time this particular scene ends and Sam shows up at the motel that sex happened. I realize that a non-cable channel probably couldn’t have filmed it outright, but maybe they could have played with the idea a little more. Be brave, Show!

Death Takes a Holiday

Sam and Dean try to find out why people in a small town are having near death experiences with alarming frequency by going into the spirit world.

This episode had everything we needed and nothing we didn’t. In short, it was perfect. Just like Sam’s hair.

On the Head of a Pin

The Soap Angel asks Dean to torture Alastair for information. But when Alastair breaks free, the Soap Angel starts to believe that there is a traitor among the angels.

At the end of the ep, Dean is laid up in a hospital bed. Sure, it’s sweet (very sweet) when Sam’s sitting at Dean’s hospital bedside, shoulders slumped and eyes tip-tilted downward in exhausted worry. But the moment passes, and for some reason, Show determines that the best course of action is to have Sammy get up and the Soap Angel sit down, and to show the Soap Angel, rather than Sam, lingering at Dean’s bedside. Not that I didn’t like the conversation, but I would have preferred it if Sam had stayed. (Sam’s too hot for Show not to use him more than they do. Seriously.)

It’s a Terrible Life

In an alternate reality created as if Sam and Dean where never brothers and have never met, Sam and Dean work at a marketing office where they are forced to team up to go ghost hunting.

At the end of the ep, there’s this big reveal where Dean finds out who he really is. We got a lot of delicious Sam during the ep, and for that I am grateful. Except, we got gyped because again, yet again, after Sam smashes his phone, he waltzes out of the picture and into the sunset, like he never even existed in the ep. It’s not just that Sam doesn’t get his own reveal scene, either. It’s more that we don’t get to see Sam and Dean reconnect after finding out that, in their heart of hearts, hunting is their destiny. Especially after their “I know you,” and “You don’t know me, pal,” exchange. They are still brothers, you know, and their fates are intertwined and always have been. Had Show spent less time on the ghost and the suicides, they could have included more of Sam.

The Monster at the End of The Book

An author has been writing books about Sam and Dean since 2005. Sam and Dean try to figure out how he knows so much about them.

Thank you, Show, very much for the laundry room scene! This scene was a salve to my heart; I felt a thumping thrill when I realized what I was seeing, and a deep, soul-satisfying squee erupted forth from my lungs. Laundry! The boys are doing laundry! Look!!! Sam is putting stuff in the washer!! It’s a load of darks!! What kind of soap are they using, oh, I can’t see, move, move! The scene was exactly as it should be and definitely not long enough. But my heart felt as warm and as cozy as a clean, well-lit, well run laundry room. Thank you Show, for this. But please, Show, could we have some more like it? The realism of their day-to-day lives is terribly fascinating to me.

P.S., We liked Chuck the Prophet, so more of him, please!

Jump the Shark

Sam and Dean are contacted by one Adam Milligan who claims to be John Winchester’s son. This turns out to be true, and we find out that John kept from Adam separate from Sam and Dean and the hunting life.

During the ep, there’s lots of evidence that The Dad returned to the scene of the crime to interact with his little hidden family. We discover that he spent what is known in the biz as Quality Time with Adam. There’s baseball. And fishing. Maybe even camping or Friday night pizza. It would have been really, really cool to see some flashback scenes of The Dad with Adam.

And about first aid. Yeah. Let’s chat. I didn’t mind that Sam was applying his own first aid to his leg after the ghoul tried to drag him under the truck. Even though, truth be told I would have liked the camera angle to be a little higher so I could watch his nimble fingers at work. But. Later, the ghouls sliced open Sam’s arms. He’s breathing hard, he’s struggling and calling for Dean (“Dean! Dean!” Ah, music to my ears.) while Dean is busy beating up the ghoul and taking out his angerragegrief about The Dad maybe loving Adam more. All the while, blood is pumping out of Sam’s arms into a fairly large looking bowl on the floor. I’m not saying it was arterial blood, but it was flowing pretty fast from Sam’s arms, and you can die that way.

No rush to the hospital because it would take up too much with non-plotty stuff? Okay then. Why not show us Dean doing the sewing on Sam’s arms, and dosing him with orange juice and maybe a jot of whiskey after? I’m sure Dean would make the nicest little stitches and hardly leave any scar at all. Why, in future eps, the scar would most likely seem invisible. If I have any beef with this ep, this would be it, the lack of first aid. But that’s me, and it doesn’t detract in any way from my enjoyment of Sam Whumpage or Dean Rescue.

The Rapture

An ep about a guy named Jimmy who turns into the Soap Angel.

I would have liked more Sam, less everything else, especially as this seemed a critical phase of Sam’s descent into darkness.

Then there’s the bit where Dean is sleeping, which is always a treat. Sadly, once again, Dean sleeps on top of the covers, fully dressed, boots and everything. This would make sense if he was the one on duty, but in which case, he wouldn’t be sleeping, would he. But he isn’t on duty, so what’s up with that? How I long to see him in his jim jams! Or better yet, when am I going to get to see Dean in his boxers while he sleeps? (For an eyeful like this, you’ll need to harken back to Season 1.)

When the Levee Breaks

Dean and Bobby lock Sam up in Bobby’s demon proof cell where Sam hallucinates about the people in his life as he goes though an agonizing withdrawal from consumption of demon blood.

There’s a scene in the panic room where Sam imagines that Alistair is torturing him on the special table reserved for torture scenes. When that Skank Ruby was tortured on the very same table, she was nekked. Now given that this is Sam’s delusion and he wasn’t there when that Skank Ruby was tortured, I could see that he would clothe himself in his own mind. However, I’m all for Equal Opportunity Nekked Nudity, so I must ask: Why is it that only women get all the way nekked on this show? Oh, Show, how you continue to deny me.

Lucifer Rising

When the last few of the 66 Seals are broken by Lilith’s minions, Sam and Dean prepare for the big and futile fight

In the Green Room, where Dean is being kept by the angels, Mr. Z offers Dean a cheeseburger, which he promises is just as good as the one Dean had when he was eleven, somewhere in Delaware. I would like to have seen the flashback scene for that, please. Also, much dithering has occurred as to whether the angels or the demons blocked Dean’s real message to Sam. True Fans would like to know!

P.S., The brotherly clutching during the last scene was particularly fine, so thank you for that!

So there’s the panel’s wish list for S4. If I’ve left anything out, please feel free to add to this list because as you know, if you don’t ask, you don’t get!

Sylvia Bond is a ten-year technical writing veteran with too many degrees under her belt to count. She lives in Colorado, but does not ski, preferring instead to spend her money and time at the annual Great American Beer Festival, taking road trips across the United States, and reading historical fiction from the comfort of her fluffy green arm chair. She has been involved in fandom since 1993 and been writing fanfic since approximately 1993. What she finds most amazing about fandom (besides the open heartedness of fans and the sheer amount of creativity) is how visible fandom has become. “In my day,” she says, “we had to hide behind P.O. boxes to get fanfic. But nowadays, people wear t-shirts that shout their affiliation and share their shiny toys on the internet.” It’s a wonderful world.

Never miss an update. Subscribe to Pink Raygun by Email or subscribe via RSS

Related articles by Zemanta

• “Supernatural” Season 4 Wrap-Up (gilmoregirlsnews.com)
• Supernatural 2009 Comic-Con Panel (screenrant.com)
• Sam vs. Dean: Whose side are you on? (tvsquad.com)

Related Stuff: