Yesterday following a screening of tonight’s episode of Supernatural, titled “As Time Goes By” (read our impressions here), Supernatural Executive Producer Robert Singer participated in a Q&A to talk about the episode as well as more that we have to look forward to later in this season.
“As Time Goes By” sees Henry Winchester, the grandfather of Sam and Dean, transported to the present day, and in the episode, we will see that his methods and tactics are significantly different from what we’d see from Sam and Dean’s father, John Winchester.
“John was a product of the fact that he didn’t have a father growing up, as the first of many a bad luck for him, so he had a grudge against his father, because he thought the father deserted them,” Singer explained to the room full of press. “Now we know different. In retrospect, it makes you wonder what Dad would have been like.”
“We wanted to do it because we had spent time with the other side of the family, and this kind of brings things full circle. Also, I don’t know if you guys remember the Cupid episode where they said ‘this was ordained that these two people should get together,’ now we know who the grandfather on that side was, and why John became what he was in terms of his relationship with his father. He was supposed to be something different, but he became a hunter through necessity,” he said.
“Well look, we make this stuff up as we go along,” he laughed, “but we try to use what we’ve done before and then be able to spin out from there, and tell interesting stories and get into back story like this. Up until the time Adam came up with this notion, we hadn’t really explored that side of the family, or Grandpa Winchester, but we thought that the idea of it, hearkening back to what Cupid said, and how this was all sort of ordained, was a top priority. It just was a nice closing of that circle for us,” he told us.
Although “As Time Goes By” focuses squarely on the Winchester boys and their grandfather, the supporting characters like Benny, Kevin, and Castiel will be returning. “Kevin will be back. Benny will be back. Castiel is back. Maybe Amelia, maybe not,” Singer assured. “Pretty much every season, we like to bring the season full circle, and get a lot of questions answered of that season, but then pose new questions for whatever the next season is going to be, so I think all of these people that we introduced will have a payoff. One of my first bosses in the business said ‘Don’t introduce a character that you don’t pay off’ and that’s something I’ve kind of lived by.”
Castiel in particular will have some major storylines coming up. “He’s really crucial to the tablet stories,” he said. “He’s going through sort of a trial of his own, that’s personal. Naomi is very unhappy with him. Crowley is very unhappy with him. He’s a confused angel right now.”
One thing that seems impossible for Supernatural to crack as far as supporting cast goes is getting a regular female among the boys. “The feedback that we get [is] that’s not something that the fan base particularly likes,” Singer admitted. “We keep trying. I personally really thought the Amelia character was great; I thought it opened up a side of Sam that was really interesting, and I thought Lianne did a terrific job, but I don’t think it’s ever going to be a three-hander. Listen, part of the appeal is these [are] the Last Men Standing. That’s who they are.”
The exception to the “no popular females” role is Felicia Day as Charlie, who saw her second episode last week. The character is going to return later this season, but details so far are sketchy. “We know she’s going to be in it; we’re just breaking the story now,” he said. “I know that she basically brings them a case, but beyond that, I can’t tell you a whole lot.”
Supernatural has not yet been officially renewed for a ninth season, but Singer sounds fairly positive that we will see more, with a tinge of caution that anything could happen. “I’ve been around this long enough to know you never feel confident about anything,” Singer said, relating an experience with a show where the head of the network assured him his show was going to be on, and then things didn’t happen. “I think we’ve done really well this year. I think creatively, it’s been good. I think, by and large, the network is happy with our numbers, so if I were a betting man, I would bet that we’d be back,” he said.
Supernatural is new tonight at 9PM on The CW! Here are some related extras that you may enjoy:
Supernatural Forum – “As Time Goes By” Episode Forum – Countdown/LIVE Thread – Episodic Image Gallery – Episode Description – Five Things About “As Time Goes By” – Preview Trailers & Clips
