What To Do When Your Favorite Show Goes Stale: A Reflection On Supernatural

Last month I found myself seated in my living room after a long day of work. My four roomies were spread out amongst the house, one in her bedroom, the other on her laptop, and my girlfriend sketching beside me. Tired and still clad in my work clothes, I decided to switch things up from my usual Netflix browsing and tune in to the midseason finale of a show I had stopped watching earlier that year. 

The air in the room took a sudden change once the channel was set and the controller was put down. We had missed a lot over the last few months but even as the events played out on screen it was easy to catch on to what had already happened throughout the season. No longer were the three of us captivated by overwhelming anticipation as the characters we had once loved interacted on screen. Instead, it was almost painful. The writing was bland, the dialogue were boring, the show was only a shadow of what it had once been. Even as the episode came to an overwhelming cliffhanger I found myself aching with awkwardness. The emotional investment I had once held for this characters was gone and the feeling was bittersweet. 

“This show should have ended after season five,” my friend would say later. She wasn’t wrong.

Yes, I’m talking about Supernatural. 

In the fast moving world of Hollywood and entertainment we find ourselves in a new world of instant streaming, digital downloads, premium channels, and cable. With so much new content coming out on so many different platforms it’s easy to find ourselves overwhelmed with things to binge watch or tune in to. Due to this demand, some shows are met with cancellation far too early and others are kept alive by the skin of their teeth. Or for Supernatural, its fans. 

As an avid lover of film and TV I’ve been through my share of phases. My first obsession was Sailor Moon at the age of seven, followed by Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings, Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler), Sherlock, and finally I found myself sitting down with the first episode of Supernatural. I was easily captivated from the start and as I caught up to the shows seventh season I began to noticed a serious change of tone, cinematography, and writing style as the seasons flew by. 

But what did I care? It was new. It was fresh. To me this was just one more thing I could throw myself in to and experience. But just like any obsession that new fresh feeling began to fade away with time until I found myself questioning the flaws in the show that were screaming me in the face. 

When was it going to end? When was I going to feel that bittersweet feeling of completion that so many other things had given me? 

When were Dean and Sam going to catch a damn break? 

Instead of seeing a potential end to the series I noticed a rise in content. Hot Topic became flooded with merchandise that I would have wasted all my money on if it had come out two years earlier. It was like an ex that sensed an oncoming breakup and was set on keeping me in their arms by any means possible. The internet was divided in half as fans continued to edge on the run of the show with praise and support while the other half was eager to see the story end. But money is money and as long as the show runners are seeing a steady stream of dedicated viewers and a rise in profits, things can go on for as long as the audience wants it to. 

But with such a divide, how long could things actually run? 

Forever, apparently. 

Supernatural hasn’t been the only show subject to criticism of a never ending run. Buffy The Vampire Slayer continued on for seven seasons before the network pulled the plug on a series that hardly resembled where it had once started. True Blood became a strong running HBO show only to leave fans scratching their heads after the sixth and seventh season (what kind of ending was that?) When you feel like your show is long overdue to come to a close it can leave a viewer feeling conflicted. Do you still tune in? Do you keep your loyalty? Do you defend or do you criticize? 

1. Be Respectful

People are discovering shows every day. For some people, they might have just come across the show and are very invested in it. I know I came upon Supernatural when the seventh season was wrapping up and couldn’t have been more pleased with it during my first viewing despite what others were saying. Share your opinion but be open minded to how others feel about the show in question. Remember, you were once just like them. You were invested, entertained, and found the show enjoyable. Let them have the chance to have the same experience.

2. Look Over What Went Wrong 

Being media literate is crucial in this day and age and holding your shows accountable for their choices is key to being a good viewer. Did your show lack diversity? Was the writing sexist? Was the plot line repetitive? Ask yourself these questions and pinpoint exactly when the show started to go stale for you and write down your thoughts. You can choose to make your thoughts public on a blog for others to read or keep it to yourself. Either way, it helps shed some light on what went wrong for you and why the show might still be appealing enough to keep it running in to oblivion.

3. Mourn the Loss of Something You Once Loved

It might seem a bit excessive but with so much going on in the real world it can be devastating when something you once took a guilty pleasure in consuming no longer appeals to you. Taking your shoes off after a long days work and tuning in to your favorite show can be just the pick me up a person needs in a world filled with bills and long hours on our feet. When your show grows stale, it’s okay to feel sad about it. Remember the good episodes and cherish the moments that made the show so important to you.

4. Make A Choice

You can either keep watching or tune out entirely. You can look up what happens on the internet to keep track of the plot or let it go entirely. What ever you choose, do what makes you happy. The show once held a lot of importance for you and only you know what it is you still want to keep up with as it continues. 

5. Find Something New

Got a book you always wanted to read? A show you never thought of tackling? Now is the time. Try a few things out and wait to see what hits you. You might be surprised by the outcome with so many choices available. 

Treat it like a break up. A show can mean a lot to us as viewers and leave us with conflicting feelings when it no longer appeals to us the same way it did when the show first aired. But with so many sequels coming out in 2016, it’s easy to say that anything that has come to an end now has a chance of being resurrected (As Told by Ginger, Ghostbusters, Zoolander, ect.) For the shows we hold dear to our hearts, it can be hard to let go when the producers keep pushing it to keep going. So the next time you reach for the TV remote and find yourself mourning the loss of that spark your favorite characters once gave you, make a choice. Be willing to let something go when there is so much still out their waiting to be explored.