Supernatural Boss: ‘It’s Challenging to Write Episodes Without Dean’
After 13 years on the air, Supernatural will do something it’s never done before when the CW series returns this fall: have episodes without Dean Winchester in them, while his portrayer Jensen Ackles takes on the role of archangel Michael.
“The show’s built upon two pillars, and those two pillars are Sam and Dean,” co-showrunner Andrew Dabb tells TVLine as part of our Fall Preview Q&A. “We’ve taken Sam away for little chunks of time here and there, but never in a huge way. He’s been soulless and things like that, but he’s still kind of present. Demon Dean was kind of a one-episode thing, and largely, the action happened off-screen.”
But with the Apocalypse World transplant taking control of Dean’s body heading into Season 14, “one of the pillars of the show is gone, basically,” Dabb continues, “and that, in some ways, makes things very difficult, because the show is Sam and Dean, and their interplay.”
It’s not surprising then that Dabb says, “It’s challenging to write episodes without Dean Winchester in them, because he is such a fundamental part of the show. But it’s also exciting [for] Jensen and us [to have] the opportunity to play around with this new character.”
The twist has also benefited the growing ensemble’s beloved fan faves. “It gives some other characters a bit of breathing room in terms of Castiel and Jack, and Mary and Bobby…,” Dabb notes. Plus, the series now has a villain played by one of its original leading men.
“The hardest thing about a show like this, sometimes, is every year, you have to create the new Big Bad,” Dabb explains. “You have to build that character. You have to build that actor to find a comfort level with the show and everything else. With Jensen playing Michael, there’s none of that. This is an actor who everyone loves, who knows exactly what the show is, who knows exactly who he is, who knows exactly [and] very smartly how to approach this character. So it’s really given us, like instantly, a great bad guy, which is kind of obvious, but it’s something where you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s really, really cool.'”
And, Dabb adds: “Jensen’s doing an amazing job of bringing a lot to it.”
Supernatural Season 14 premieres Thursday, Oct. 11 at 8/7c on The CW.
Midseason finale is likely when Dean comes back. If not, it’s definitely happening before episode 13, which is the 300th episode.
This is not the end of supernatural
Never said this was the end. CW president did say that they would continue the show as long as Jensen and Jared wanted to continue and the ratings held. Jensen and Jared did say they wanted to continue and concerning ratings, this doesn’t seem to be a problem.
They did lower episode count to 20 because Jensen and Jared did want more time with their family though, but this doesn’t mean it’s ending.
They both said more than likely there will only be one more season but it would be a limited number if episodes.
Actually what I heard them say was they want Supernatural to continue on for many more seasons & see no end in sight. Most especially with the network agreeing to fewer eps to give them more family time, it’s a win-win for everyone!
I’m pretty sure that it was said that there was at least going to be a season 15, with Jensen saying that if they keep the format of 20 or less episodes, that they will continue as long as the fans will have them. They just want to make sure they have family time as well. There is an interview on youtube of just Jensen stating all of this during one of the recent expos. It was like a 7 minute interview. Hopefully you can find it. Based on this, though, I doubt the show will be ending within the next few years.
I think your wrong to take away the two that really makes the show work. So. If that’s whats your going to do well without dean nd Sam are going to be apart . that means the show will go sour without both dean and Sam.
Still over a month away….
This sh*t better be epic!!!! At least he recognized that Sam and Dean are the show. :)
Is there still going to be episodes with Jensen in it because if not supernatural probably is going to lose a lot of views
Jensen is in all of them, except not as Dean, but MIchael
Of course there is. Only a few aren’t gonna be.
Im a super nautral fan but without dean its not foing to be supernautral dean and sam made supernatural
You guys are so wonderful together Lisa Thomas
Wow. Sure seems like Michael is hanging around til mid-season. Fascinating. Can’t wait for S14!
“The show’s built upon two pillars, and those two pillars are Sam and Dean,” ✓
“because the show is Sam and Dean, and their interplay.” ✓
“ensemble” X
I’ve been waiting 9 years to see Jensen play Michael so I’m beyond stoked to see how it turns out.
But I don’t quite understand what Dabb meant by this storyline giving other characters more “breathing room.” It’s not like Dean’s presence stopped Cas, jack, Mary, Wayward Sisters and the AU people from getting lots of airtime last season.
Dont forget this is an evil version of arch angel micheal… dean was supposed to be paired with a good version and not the evil version… so maybe the fates will interven… i dunno…
To be honest, the Michael from season 5 was also kind of “evil”. At the very least he was bad at least that’s how I saw him. I never saw Michael or Lucifer as being black and white good and evil. This Michael seems to have a similar agenda to Season 5’s Michael. The difference is Lucifer is dead, so there is no point of there being an apocalypse.
RW Michael wasn’t “kind of” evil he was all evil. He didn’t care about humanity anymore than Lucifer did. He wanted the Apocalypse to happen so that he could kill his brother….billions of people dead? Who cares. I never got why so many Dean fans wanted him to be Michael. Michael was a dick.
AU Michael killed Lucifer in his world and he still wanted to wipe out all humans. So basically no difference.
I can’t help myself. My Supernatural is 100 % Sam and Dean. I want Dean back as soon as possible. I am sure Jensen did a great job being Michael.
He is a great actor but I don’t care. Please bring Dean back! Every episode without him is one to much!
I agree. I also hope they allow Jensen to be Michael for a lot longer than he got to be Demon Dean. It was a joke that he only was a demon for barely 3 episodes. I’m hopping they go at least half of the season.
The way I took the comment is that they may get more chances of being front and center as opposed to being a side character. For instance, there will probably be more focus on building Sam and Cas’s relationship or Sam and Jack’s, or Sam and Mary, ect. Dean has always gotten more chances to do scenes with Mary, Cas, Jack, Bobby, ect. I also think that they will be in more episodes. While Cas and Jack are series regulars now, they are not in all episodes. In fact there were a lot of times in Season 13 where it really only was just Sam and Dean. With Dean somewhere else, it puts more of a focus on the supporting cast to be there in the front and center helping Sam both grieve and find a way to get Dean back.
I’m jazzed about this, and really pleased about Jensen getting a chance to play another character. Finally! He’s such an underrated actor, but I feel as if the showrunners have known that since Dean is so beloved, ti was a risk for him to be “away”. But he’ll be back eventually, and everyone else has had a chance to be another character so…finally!
It’ll also be interesting to see how Sam and Cas and Mary and Jack deal with this.
I think that it will turn out really good so long as they don’t do the Demon Dean debacle again. Where they have him as Michael for 3 episodes and then cure him/remove Michael. I am also really excited to see more interactions with Sam and Mary. I think that their dynamic is the most fascinating for me. Never to know your mom for your whole life and then she is back when you are an adult. At leas Dean remembered when his mom was alive. I am also curious to see how Cas and Sam interact since Dean is usually the one who does more communicating with Cas. It will definitely be an interesting season, and I can’t wait until it begins.
I can’t wait to see how Jensen plays Michael!! I know it will be awesome because all of his acting is perfect!!
It’s going to be hard to see how Sam and the rest of them, deal with Dean being gone😢
But I have to say, Jensen looks awful hot as Michael❤
Omg
Love this show
Still think Dean’ s back around ep 4 and the rest will be done in flashbacks🤷♀️ also not impressed. It ruins ‘ point of no return’ and season 5 in general. Dean always resisted. Now they recycle that storyline. With the AU hunters they recycle characters…if they can’ t come up with decent storylines anymore maybe end the show?
It doesnt ruin anything. The characters have changed and grew. Dean always felt guilty for “letting Sam jump in the cage” it was addressed in season 7 8 9 10 amd 11. It also got heavily addressed i Season 13. The younger Dean did not say yes to Michael not even when Sam had no lungs. But season 13 Dean is more desperate and he feels he has more to fight for with Mary anf all the other characters. Ppint of No Return was a strong emphasis for how Deans perspective was at that point. Supernatural is one of the only shows that is able to recycle characters in the way it does, even before season 13 and the alternate universe they always found ways to bend with reality. Its not to be seen as a negative if this is how the show always worked. They still create new characters such as Asmodeus and Jack. The show is fresh and constantly reinvents itself, as long as Sam and Dean are the main focus, the show has alot more space to run and fly!
Yeah…no. Dean weaseled himself out of saying yes but still managed to get Sam his lungs back. And he is bot more deseprate because of more characters’ lives on stake. Dean constantky goes on suicide missions and is willing to sacrifice himself, he even kilked himself a few times just for the fun of it. This is just another variation if selling your soul, becoming a soul bomb, becoming a demon etc. Same thing every season. Something is wrong with one bro, gets resolved in a couple of eps, red herring big bad gets introduced, killed around midseason finale, second big bad they pulled out of their a**es at some point during writing gets introduced, gets defeated, keading to new problems. Same thing next season. Nothing is happening. I woukd be ok with it if the eps were entertaining at least, you know, funny monster hunting. But they’ re still using angels and demons which are basically regular looking people stabbing each other… that’ s boring.
I find it curious that you have watched 13 seasons of a show that you seem to not even like.
I see her point, actually. At this point many of the storylines have been recycled. It must be difficult to keep a show fresh with new ideas and new plot lines after 13 years.
I don’t see why they can’t replace the writers every few years. It would mean new blood and new energy for the show and it wouldn’t have a storyline from 9 years ago trying to be fresh and new when it clearly is not.
… I’d say they’ve been writing shows without Dean since at least season 7. And Sam, for that matter.
I love supernatural , i watched since day one & i love every episode i have all the series on dvd up to 12 am a true fan of supernatural i love same & dean i knew them off shows
Love it
I LOVE DEAN! WON’T WATCH IT IF HE’S GONE..
So what you’re saying is that Dean will still be present, he will just be Michael? That’s cool. Luv me some Supernatural anyway. You writers know how to keep viewership. Keep it up.
What it will b, supernatural without one of the brothers?? 😲
Wish they had stuck more to finding werewolves and vampires. I know that limiting , but thats my preference. Angeles, good or bad. Nah. Fighting evil. Split realities nope. Been disappointed the last several seasons. Sorry.
Supernatural is my favorite show. I love Sam and Dean and can’t wait to see what happens. I was happy to see Bobby and Gabriel back although we lost him again. Would love to see Crowley back but Jensen and Jared make the show. BTW I also miss John Winchester.
I almost had a heart attack…lol!
Yes, we will all miss Dean, however for the past seasons we have trusted the writers. I am again trusting that this season will be just as great. I do hope thou that we don’t have to be without Dean the entire season.
As much as I like Supernatural, it does seem that the show keeps traveling over the same ground with all of the angsty crap that keeps ping ponging from one brother to the other. It’s exhausting to watch.
I love Supernatural so much I have watched the entire seasons and episodes 10 times now. It is my peaceful time when I hit the couch at 8 pm and stay up and watch 4 episodes every nite, 7 days a week and never ever miss it. It is my favorite show on tv. Every episode is exciting and even though I watched it ten times I’m still on the edge of my feet. Sam and Dean rock and I will watch it forever .
Every time I think about how quickly they dissolved the amazing and incredibly creative storyline that was Demon Dean, it makes me furious. Jensen deserves better and I hope they do a better job this time around.