I never thought I'd say this, but I'm starting to feel the same way. I had such high hopes for this season. So many directions they could have gone in. You'd think at this point, with the end somewhere near (yes, a 14th season has already been confirmed), they'd go wild and start throwing us some curve balls story-wise. Hit for the fence. Do something really epic, or at least unexpected. Add some excitement. What have they got to lose? It's not like they'll get cancelled or something.
Alas, 'tis not to be, at least if this season's opening volley is any indication.
I wanted to see the boys in Apocalypse World. I wanted to see a grieving Dean deal with Earth 2 Castiel, who I suspect is a regular son of a bitch. If we're really lucky, we may still see that. Or have the boys rescue their Cas from the Empty by Dean volunteering to be his new vessel until they could fix his old one (so Misha could keep his job) or find him a new one. Oh, the fun Jensen could have had with
that concept for a couple of episodes. Instead Cas pisses off the Empty's head entity and gets himself booted home, his regular body fully restored, no explanation given. The boys take him back without question. Jack's powers only work when the plot requires it. He had better control in the womb. Lucifer gets depowered and joins the team in Crowley's old position. Jack disappears and Mary's in the wind. And now, with Luci and Cas in lockup, we're right back to the same old same old: Sam and Dean, saving people, hunting things. The showrunners have wiped away the plot threads presented in the cliffhanger and rushed right back to their tried-and-true formula, just like they've done in the past couple seasons. (Remember the "Year of the Deanmon"? All three episodes of it?)
I'm beginning to suspect I know why Mark Sheppard bailed.
At least we got Billie back, and they're hinting Rowena may not be as gone as we think. Dead women are finally coming back, just like the guys. Somebody's paying attention.
Now if we could just get some enthusiastic writers, and showrunners with guts, they could breathe some excitement into what's become a tired premise and let the show go out with a bang instead of an awful whimper. I hope they're not holding back the good concepts for season 14. No one may be watching by then.
Oh well. We'll always have fanfic. Loads of imaginative concepts in those stories. And a helluva lot more sex.
As for Sam, he's been whacked in the head so many times he's lucky he still knows his own name, let alone how to put out a fire.