Now that we have our first teases about Supernatural season 8 fresh from Comic-Con, here’s a look at what we hope they will mean for the upcoming season. Spoilers ahead!
Teaser: Sam quits hunting and spends a year living a regular life
One of the biggest teasers to come out of Comic-Con is that a year will pass between the season 7 finale and season 8 premiere. And during that year, Sam will have quit hunting and started living a normal life, which will include a girlfriend and a dog.
What we hope this means
Going forward, we hope that Sam’s time away gives him a renewed sense of purpose once Dean returns. Sam started out as the reluctant hunter, and that helped him empathize with the people they saved. Sam gradually became more entrenched in the series’ mythology as the boy with the demon blood and Lucifer’s vessel.
Sam needs a refreshed perspective on what exactly his sacrifices have meant. He saved the world from the Devil in season 5, but it was a world he was far removed from and never gave him thanks. Returning to the world he’s protecting should go a long way toward strengthening his resolve to hunt.
Teaser: Dean returns from Purgatory with a “sense of clarity”
Meanwhile, Dean will be stuck in Purgatory with Castiel and the very things he’s hunted his entire life. Jensen Ackles told the press that Dean will return with a sense of clarity about the importance of hunting.
What we hope this means
Protecting Sam has been his life’s mission since the age of four, and up until now he hasn’t really figured out how to live without his father’s order of “Look out for Sammy” echoing in the back of his mind.
But hopefully with him fighting for his own survival, not Sam’s or anyone else’s, the trademark Dean Winchester fire will rekindle.
In season 7, Dean was only holding on for Sam’s sake and was spiraling as a result of the horrors the world kept throwing his way. Despite everything he’s suffered, at his core, Dean is a caregiver. Hopefully this new focus means he turned his attention on himself.
Teaser: “This time it’s personal.”
According to showrunner Jeremy Carver, the tagline for season 8 could be “This time it’s personal.” The brothers will be on offense, searching for an energy source related to their earliest hunting experiences.
What we hope this means
After a season that seemed to lack believable personal stakes, this sounds like a return to form.
Carver also mentioned that they will be dialing back the mythology this season and spending more time on this personal arc, which will be welcome. We want the brothers to be the focus of the story and not be pulled down by the heavy tide of mythology. This is an idea that ties into the final teaser.
Teaser: A more mature relationship between the brothers
A big theme from the press room was that the separation will mean the brothers have developed new relationships outside of each other. Once they are reunited, they will have to deal with these new developments in each others’ lives.
What we hope this means
We still want to see the brothers close and willing to sacrifice anything for each other, but to keep their relationship evolving we need outside influences. The more natural, the better.
In an echo of season 1, Sam and Dean will be relearning their relationship after time apart, and we hope this will only serve to enhance the brothers’ organic, human relationship.