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isoughtyouout Warning: Spoiler alert.
I guess to me it was always obvious that Castiel at some point like all the other angels had an expiration date. There is only so many things you can do with the angel character and it seemed that SPN was going to have to move onward and forward to other storylines and other things and with that they would have had to say good bye to the Angels that which were always temporary. Anna, Zachariah, Uriel, Gabriel, Lucifer, Micheal, all these angels that were around in seasons 4 and 5 are gone now. Castiel is the last one left. Why is it that surprising that he would leave the SPN realm just like his other brethren?
I know Castiel is popular but does that mean that story should suffer by trying to find ways to keep him on the show even when the audience knows that he has already surved his usefulness and is now just on as a token extra for cameo appearances in less then half the season?
Cas' purpose and storyline has always been centered around the Angel/Apocalypse arcs which has spanned three seasons now. How many of those can there be? How long can the writers justify Cas being in the show when the show begins to move away from those premises and storylines? Are we really going to see Castiel hunting every day run of the mill monsters continuously in the upcoming seasons, considering SPN has a few seasons left in it.
There comes a point where Cas' status as an Angel just becomes a huge problem and ends up destroying story. He makes Sam and Dean useless.
He knows everything, can do everything, and can accomplish virtually any task in a matter of seconds. As a result it hurts the story and makes possible drama nonexistent. He becomes a plot tool to move things along and just makes both Dean and Sam look inefficient. Cas has basically made Dean and Sam useless in season 6 so much to the extent that Dean and Sam were used purely as a distraction in episodes like 6.16 (The French Mistake), 6.17 (My Heart Will Go On) and 6.22 (The Man Who Knew Too Much) where most of the action happened either off screen or the brothers were barely apart of the main action of the story.
To be honest Castiel as a character in terms of purpose was wearing thin as early as season 5. He never really did do much of anything. Yeah he searched for God failed and then what? Wondered around drunk for several other episodes until Sam and Dean decided to do something? It's obvious that the writers didn't know what to do with him in the context of season 5 and so he just became a glorified day player while Sam and Dean fought each other and tried to find ways to defeat Lucifer.
Which gives another problem concerning Castiel, Castiel was dis-empowered in season 5 to give there a greater sense of urgency to the show where Cas couldn't jump in and easily save the day like he did before. However this also showed us another problem with his character. Without his powers storywise he is useless.
Look no further then the episode The End, Free To Be You and Me, I Believe That Children Are Our Future, Changing Channels and Swan Song. He was constantly made the butt monkey in these episodes where he was clearly outmatched by Gabriel, Lucifer, Jesse and Raphael. He couldn't actually do much of anything in any of the situations and mostly just stood on the sidelines getting his butt handed to him episode after episode stating the obvious to Sam and Dean. This was when he was an Angel on a reduced income. So what would be the point of him being on in a reduced capacity as a human as some fans are proposing? He would likely be even less useful then he was in season 5.
His value to the team and to the show has always been his Angel status, so why would he be needed in a world with no Angels? Or when Angels are being phased out of SPN?
It's difficult to have Cas continue onwards without that story and context. Which is why I believe they added new Angel characters in season 6 that they killed off quite quickly.
This doesn't mean I don't like Castiel. It just means that I don't see the point of using him if he is not needed in the story. It made sense in context in season 4 to have Cas be a huge part of the story because Castiel was one of many and he had a purpose in stopping Lucifer. More over there were many of them and Castiel wasn't the only super powered Angel. There were many. There was Anna, Uriel, Gabriel, Lucifer, Micheal, Zachariah and others who were also important to story and made the plot seem fuller.
However without Angels who are more powerful then Castiel you don't need him in terms of story and I think we started seeing that problem in season 6 which is why most of his story happened off screen and was more or less unreleated to the Winchestes storylines around Sam's soul, Lisa/Ben, Samuel, Crowley and Mother.
Season 6 was basically the question of what can we have Cas do? How can we make him fit? And we found out that he had to be made evil in order for him to have a story which I understand actually. It makes sense considering Castiel in season 6 was one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
I know many of the Supernatural writers are getting flack for this change of character but honestly what were they supposed to do to keep Castiel apart of SPN? What more could they have done with his character that fits with the landscape of the story? How many Angel civil wars are there going to be? How many time are we going to hear the names Lucifer and Micheal threatening to come out of the cage?
I am quite sympathetic to the writers on this problem. There was no where else for them to go really.
I am going to say an unpopular opinion. Well this whole thing may be unpopular so I might as well go all out right?
I think it's fair for the writers to say that they are done with Angels after Castiel at this point. We already had 3 seasons full of them. Angels are always going to be important but the focus on them has made Sam and Dean useless in their own show and isn't the reason this show is still on and has been on for now 7 seasons because people want to watch Sam and Dean? You know the leads of the show? Am I alone in thinking that?
Now I am going to answer the question of if Castiel stays on the show in the same capacity for the next season. Well the answer to that is story will stagnate and there will be no consequences anymore for anything in SPN universe.
Cas has the ability to warp time, erase memories and bring back people from the dead. He can pretty much do everything with a snap of his fingers. Demons die easily to the point where they are just flies, we saw how Castiel disposed of Crowley's minions. There is no monster that Castiel can't kill. So why do Dean and Sam even hunt anymore? Why do Sam and Dean even matter then if Castiel can do their job within 2 point five seconds or less?
That's why I see value in the redundant argument where the writers are concerned. Yes I understand Cas is really really really super popular but is he really more important then the show? More important than the story? More important then Sam and Dean? I personally don't think so and I would like for the story to move beyond Angel politics and Apocalypses.
It's time to move on. Should we continuously have an Apocalypse story forever? We had one season set up the Apocalypse (s4), we had another about the duration of the Apocalypse (s5) and we also had a season dealing with the after effects of the Apocalypse (s6). Surely it can be put to rest now?
To wrap up my points:
1. He is an Angel
That has always been what Castiel was first and foremost. He has bigger things to do then be around Sam and Dean all day. He likely has Angel duties that are a bigger deal and we saw that in s6.
His Angel status makes him bigger then Sam and Dean which causes a problem when Sam and Dean are supposed to be the focus of the show. That when we get problems like the ones in episode 6.16 and 6.17 where Sam and Dean are used as peons, as tools for a war much larger then them.
Cas position is a hard one and that is always difficult for a show to maintain when a character has that much power and is that important. Especially when the show can't support it for a long period. It would be the same as Death being a character on SPN. How long could that last until it would end up getting old? Castiel is essential as powerful (even more now) as Lucifer and Micheal. Which leads me to the next point how many Angel storylines can there be at this point?
I am hearing a lot of fans saying they want the show to be different and innovative. Well how can the show be new and interesting if we just continue to see Angel storylines over and over again consisting about the same war, and about the same problems that have been the basis of the last three seasons?
How many times are we going to have to hear the words Lucifer and Apocalypse in the same sentence if something doesn't go right and the Angel's get restless? At some point the story is going to have to move beyond Angels. The story moved past Azazel, moved past Lilith, moved past Lucifer, and now it is time to move past Angel dominated stories with the loss of all the major Angels except Castiel.
I think it's a question of usefulness at this point, and while Cas is popular is his Angel identity at this point really useful in the story? I personally don't see it. But maybe I am wrong.
2. He isn't Human
Kind of goes along with my point above. So if Cas loses his angel powers then what significance would he hold to story? I mean if we reduce Cas of his angel powers isn't he essentially just Jimmy? Except not?
What would be the point of Cas living as a human? Especially if Jimmy is still within him. Wouldn't the noble thing for Cas to do would be to leave and let Jimmy go back to his family. Why would Castiel still be on earth if he stopped the Apocalypse (which was his main reason for finding Jimmy) and stopped Raphael from recommitting to it? Do we really want to see a former Angel riding around in the back of the Impala with a gun hunting the way Sam and Dean do? Is that even who Castiel is? Wouldn't that equally be a perversion of the character that happened in 6.22?
This is what I mean when I say that Castiel is an angel and that's the problem. His identity is very much tied to that and that kind of complicates future storylines for him within the show. It's virtually the same problem the writers had for Bela and Ruby just on a grander scale because they were less popular. They didn't know what to do with them after a certain point and they ended their stories.
I don't think it's anything personal to Misha or even to the character. It just seems that they have run out of story to tell for Cas and I can understand the writers view on that. It's a criticism that has been noted by this very same fandom and even certain Cas fans who wanted a larger story for him.
My two cents.
I guess to me it was always obvious that Castiel at some point like all the other angels had an expiration date. There is only so many things you can do with the angel character and it seemed that SPN was going to have to move onward and forward to other storylines and other things and with that they would have had to say good bye to the Angels that which were always temporary. Anna, Zachariah, Uriel, Gabriel, Lucifer, Micheal, all these angels that were around in seasons 4 and 5 are gone now. Castiel is the last one left. Why is it that surprising that he would leave the SPN realm just like his other brethren?
I know Castiel is popular but does that mean that story should suffer by trying to find ways to keep him on the show even when the audience knows that he has already surved his usefulness and is now just on as a token extra for cameo appearances in less then half the season?
Cas' purpose and storyline has always been centered around the Angel/Apocalypse arcs which has spanned three seasons now. How many of those can there be? How long can the writers justify Cas being in the show when the show begins to move away from those premises and storylines? Are we really going to see Castiel hunting every day run of the mill monsters continuously in the upcoming seasons, considering SPN has a few seasons left in it.
There comes a point where Cas' status as an Angel just becomes a huge problem and ends up destroying story. He makes Sam and Dean useless.
He knows everything, can do everything, and can accomplish virtually any task in a matter of seconds. As a result it hurts the story and makes possible drama nonexistent. He becomes a plot tool to move things along and just makes both Dean and Sam look inefficient. Cas has basically made Dean and Sam useless in season 6 so much to the extent that Dean and Sam were used purely as a distraction in episodes like 6.16 (The French Mistake), 6.17 (My Heart Will Go On) and 6.22 (The Man Who Knew Too Much) where most of the action happened either off screen or the brothers were barely apart of the main action of the story.
To be honest Castiel as a character in terms of purpose was wearing thin as early as season 5. He never really did do much of anything. Yeah he searched for God failed and then what? Wondered around drunk for several other episodes until Sam and Dean decided to do something? It's obvious that the writers didn't know what to do with him in the context of season 5 and so he just became a glorified day player while Sam and Dean fought each other and tried to find ways to defeat Lucifer.
Which gives another problem concerning Castiel, Castiel was dis-empowered in season 5 to give there a greater sense of urgency to the show where Cas couldn't jump in and easily save the day like he did before. However this also showed us another problem with his character. Without his powers storywise he is useless.
Look no further then the episode The End, Free To Be You and Me, I Believe That Children Are Our Future, Changing Channels and Swan Song. He was constantly made the butt monkey in these episodes where he was clearly outmatched by Gabriel, Lucifer, Jesse and Raphael. He couldn't actually do much of anything in any of the situations and mostly just stood on the sidelines getting his butt handed to him episode after episode stating the obvious to Sam and Dean. This was when he was an Angel on a reduced income. So what would be the point of him being on in a reduced capacity as a human as some fans are proposing? He would likely be even less useful then he was in season 5.
His value to the team and to the show has always been his Angel status, so why would he be needed in a world with no Angels? Or when Angels are being phased out of SPN?
It's difficult to have Cas continue onwards without that story and context. Which is why I believe they added new Angel characters in season 6 that they killed off quite quickly.
This doesn't mean I don't like Castiel. It just means that I don't see the point of using him if he is not needed in the story. It made sense in context in season 4 to have Cas be a huge part of the story because Castiel was one of many and he had a purpose in stopping Lucifer. More over there were many of them and Castiel wasn't the only super powered Angel. There were many. There was Anna, Uriel, Gabriel, Lucifer, Micheal, Zachariah and others who were also important to story and made the plot seem fuller.
However without Angels who are more powerful then Castiel you don't need him in terms of story and I think we started seeing that problem in season 6 which is why most of his story happened off screen and was more or less unreleated to the Winchestes storylines around Sam's soul, Lisa/Ben, Samuel, Crowley and Mother.
Season 6 was basically the question of what can we have Cas do? How can we make him fit? And we found out that he had to be made evil in order for him to have a story which I understand actually. It makes sense considering Castiel in season 6 was one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
I know many of the Supernatural writers are getting flack for this change of character but honestly what were they supposed to do to keep Castiel apart of SPN? What more could they have done with his character that fits with the landscape of the story? How many Angel civil wars are there going to be? How many time are we going to hear the names Lucifer and Micheal threatening to come out of the cage?
I am quite sympathetic to the writers on this problem. There was no where else for them to go really.
I am going to say an unpopular opinion. Well this whole thing may be unpopular so I might as well go all out right?
I think it's fair for the writers to say that they are done with Angels after Castiel at this point. We already had 3 seasons full of them. Angels are always going to be important but the focus on them has made Sam and Dean useless in their own show and isn't the reason this show is still on and has been on for now 7 seasons because people want to watch Sam and Dean? You know the leads of the show? Am I alone in thinking that?
Now I am going to answer the question of if Castiel stays on the show in the same capacity for the next season. Well the answer to that is story will stagnate and there will be no consequences anymore for anything in SPN universe.
Cas has the ability to warp time, erase memories and bring back people from the dead. He can pretty much do everything with a snap of his fingers. Demons die easily to the point where they are just flies, we saw how Castiel disposed of Crowley's minions. There is no monster that Castiel can't kill. So why do Dean and Sam even hunt anymore? Why do Sam and Dean even matter then if Castiel can do their job within 2 point five seconds or less?
That's why I see value in the redundant argument where the writers are concerned. Yes I understand Cas is really really really super popular but is he really more important then the show? More important than the story? More important then Sam and Dean? I personally don't think so and I would like for the story to move beyond Angel politics and Apocalypses.
It's time to move on. Should we continuously have an Apocalypse story forever? We had one season set up the Apocalypse (s4), we had another about the duration of the Apocalypse (s5) and we also had a season dealing with the after effects of the Apocalypse (s6). Surely it can be put to rest now?
To wrap up my points:
1. He is an Angel
That has always been what Castiel was first and foremost. He has bigger things to do then be around Sam and Dean all day. He likely has Angel duties that are a bigger deal and we saw that in s6.
His Angel status makes him bigger then Sam and Dean which causes a problem when Sam and Dean are supposed to be the focus of the show. That when we get problems like the ones in episode 6.16 and 6.17 where Sam and Dean are used as peons, as tools for a war much larger then them.
Cas position is a hard one and that is always difficult for a show to maintain when a character has that much power and is that important. Especially when the show can't support it for a long period. It would be the same as Death being a character on SPN. How long could that last until it would end up getting old? Castiel is essential as powerful (even more now) as Lucifer and Micheal. Which leads me to the next point how many Angel storylines can there be at this point?
I am hearing a lot of fans saying they want the show to be different and innovative. Well how can the show be new and interesting if we just continue to see Angel storylines over and over again consisting about the same war, and about the same problems that have been the basis of the last three seasons?
How many times are we going to have to hear the words Lucifer and Apocalypse in the same sentence if something doesn't go right and the Angel's get restless? At some point the story is going to have to move beyond Angels. The story moved past Azazel, moved past Lilith, moved past Lucifer, and now it is time to move past Angel dominated stories with the loss of all the major Angels except Castiel.
I think it's a question of usefulness at this point, and while Cas is popular is his Angel identity at this point really useful in the story? I personally don't see it. But maybe I am wrong.
2. He isn't Human
Kind of goes along with my point above. So if Cas loses his angel powers then what significance would he hold to story? I mean if we reduce Cas of his angel powers isn't he essentially just Jimmy? Except not?
What would be the point of Cas living as a human? Especially if Jimmy is still within him. Wouldn't the noble thing for Cas to do would be to leave and let Jimmy go back to his family. Why would Castiel still be on earth if he stopped the Apocalypse (which was his main reason for finding Jimmy) and stopped Raphael from recommitting to it? Do we really want to see a former Angel riding around in the back of the Impala with a gun hunting the way Sam and Dean do? Is that even who Castiel is? Wouldn't that equally be a perversion of the character that happened in 6.22?
This is what I mean when I say that Castiel is an angel and that's the problem. His identity is very much tied to that and that kind of complicates future storylines for him within the show. It's virtually the same problem the writers had for Bela and Ruby just on a grander scale because they were less popular. They didn't know what to do with them after a certain point and they ended their stories.
I don't think it's anything personal to Misha or even to the character. It just seems that they have run out of story to tell for Cas and I can understand the writers view on that. It's a criticism that has been noted by this very same fandom and even certain Cas fans who wanted a larger story for him.
My two cents.
