Wayward Sisters: An Appreciation
By Dot
Amazing things are afoot.
First let’s go back to the start. I want to tell you a story
about a fandom.
Having watched Supernatural since the pilot episode aired
in October 2005, I’ve seen the fandom change and evolve. One particular concern
is the female characters—their presence in canon, the fandom’s response to female
characters, even perceptions of the fandom’s view of female characters.
From the beginning, many Supernatural fans were
protective of the show keeping its focus on brothers Sam and Dean Winchester,
which is understandable. Supernatural at its center is a “bottle” show
mostly focused on the Winchester brothers, although that often encompasses
their extended family. It’s also a show that revolves around male point of
view. However, women have always been important on Supernatural, and not
just to be mourned by the male leads, although it didn’t help that the main
impetus for the show starts over the death of two female characters.
However there have been plenty of recurring or memorable
one-shot female characters who have agency. It’s both a misperception and a
truth that early Supernatural fandom was negative towards newly introduced
female characters. While some fans were a bit more intense in their desire to
have the show remain “only about the brothers,” many fans welcomed new
characters and felt that, even if Supernatural is a show about the male
emotional landscape, that wasn’t a reason to exclude women.
For example, resistance to the introduction of Jo Harvelle, a
female hunter, in season 2 was high--but so was the love. Many fans rooted for
her to be more of a regular presence on the show. Unfortunately that didn’t
come to pass, perhaps because the support didn’t manage to gain enough foothold
to outweigh the backlash. Season 3 saw the introduced Bela, a dealer in
mystical objects, and Ruby, a demon. Bela’s arc had a lot of potential that the
show cut too short and the character was killed off by the end of the season.
Ruby had a more extensive, complex arc with the Winchesters, but was eventually
revealed as a villain and killed off.
Yet there was always significant portion of the fandom that
wanted more positive representation of women (and minorities) on Supernatural.
Some fans were wary, out of a protectiveness of keeping the show centered on
Sam and Dean, but not against having more characters around. Some were more
resistant, some even hateful—which is where the fandom’s reputation for being
unfriendly towards female characters originated, but it’s not the full picture.
That full picture is far more complicated, and took time to
emerge.
One of the biggest reasons for change was shifts in social
media, and with that, fandom’s relationship with creators. Concepts about what
fandom should be changed. During Supernatural’s earliest seasons, fandom
was more insular, with less interaction between fans and creatives. The
internet wasn’t as accessible to as many people as it later became, and the
nature of social media was constantly evolving. Fans heard each other’s voices
more than they were heard by the people who made the stories. As the nature of
fandom changed, so did Supernatural fandom.
While there’s an argument to be made that showrunners shouldn’t
be too governed by online opinion, they also ignore fan voices at their
peril. It’s not true that the only “real” fans are the quiet ones who never ask
for anything, or question anything, who don’t look deeper—there’s value in
respectful criticism, and change and growth are part of storytelling. TV shows survive
by fan engagement, and yes, online engagement matters. Supernatural
itself would not have become the longest running genre show in US history
without its fanbase, without more than one type of fan supporting it, and
without newer fans as well as older ones. The more fans engage, the fuller the
picture of what a fandom really is. Creators need to honor long-standing
characters and elements at the foundation of a series while allowing for
expansion, and this balance can be precarious to maintain. But change itself is
not the problem. Additions to the cast can make a strong show even better.
The advent of high speed internet, greater accessibility, and
the arrival of sites like twitter and tumblr, along with the rise of
conventions, caused some seismic shifts. Fans more readily engaging with the people
who made their shows has advantages and disadvantages, but a wider range of
voices being heard has a ripple effect, especially given that diversity in
storytelling can have such an important impact. Stories are a reflection and a
commentary on the world we live in, even if they’re fantasy or science fiction,
and can help inspire and open minds. For a show with the longevity and pop
culture footprint of Supernatural, it definitely matters to expand the
definitions of who gets to be the hero.
The portion of Supernatural’s fanbase that welcomed more
characters gained a stronger voice over time. It became more and more evident
that the fandom was more complex and diverse than it had first seemed. An
aspect of fandom that got drowned out in early seasons began to move to the
forefront.
There is a large and thriving part of Supernatural fandom
that sees nothing odd whatsoever in watching the show for more than one reason,
and who fell hard for recurring characters of all kinds. Fans care deeply about
them as they do about the Winchester brothers who are still the show’s main
focal points and fandom touchstones. The introduction of the angel Castiel was
one watershed moment. The character moved to the forefront of the show’s
long-running arc about family defined by more than blood, and ignited a fanbase
to rival Sam and Dean’s. The resistance to new characters isn’t entirely about
sexism--even with a male character like Castiel, there’s a portion of the
fanbase who still flat-out balks at anyone but the Winchester brothers getting
too much attention or support. Castiel’s “break-out” helped usher an
environment that no longer stigmatized the idea of watching for more than one
reason.
The concept of Supernatural as a whole world has grown
since the earliest seasons. It’s a universe, with many rich characters that
deserve their stories told. Those barn doors cannot be un-opened. And along
with that, fans of female characters have become ever-increasingly vocal. Fans
strongly supportive of female characters and LGBT characters and characters of
color, who embrace the idea of Supernatural as a wider (if still
personal-scale) canvas have become a force to be reckoned with.
When the character of Sheriff Jody Mills, played by Kim Rhodes,
arrived during season 6, no one was sure how long she would survive. The
character was accepted, though, and then embraced. She continued to return each
season, growing as a character. Jody, like the Winchesters, had her family
ripped apart by supernatural forces, and became a hunter. Fans also embraced
Kim Rhodes, who became a regular fixture on the Supernatural convention
circuit. When Sheriff Donna Hanscum arrived, it was to a much more welcoming
environment already in place. Briana Buckmaster’s portrayal of the smart,
tough, yet somewhat more innocent and naive Donna, who gets pulled into the
hunting world, also won fans over.
Individually and as a team, Kim and Briana are some of the
warmest, most caring actors a fandom could hope for. They’re smart, they show
us their hearts, and admit to their fears. They engage with us on twitter and
do frequent livestreams on facebook. Kim often makes wonderful, raw & honest,
heart-first tumblr posts. With Kim and Briana, along with other women from the
cast, the Supernatural convention circuit went from
almost no women on panels, progressing to regular appearances and finally
headlining the weekend. They’ve become among the touchstones in Supernatural
fandom.
In season ten, the series re-introduced Claire Novak, played by
Kathryn L. Newton. Claire, the daughter of Jimmy Novak, the man who gave his
consent to become Castiel’s vessel (Jimmy’s soul went to heaven seasons ago),
had some tense initial interactions with Sam, Dean, and Castiel but wound up as
an adoptive little sister. Supernatural
also introduced Alex, played by Kat Ramdeen, a young woman fleeing the pack of
vampires who raised her, who Jody took under her protection. Both young women
found refuge with Sheriff Jody.
The fanbase inspired by the friendship between Jody and Donna
also blossomed, even though they had interacted in only one episode so far.
Another episode showed the inner workings of Jody’s household, and the
relationship between Claire and Alex appealed strongly to fans as well. Genre
tends to depict male bonding far more often than it depicts female
relationships.
Fans started talking about the specific concept of Wayward
Daughters when Claire first went to Jody’s place, and the enthusiasm for the
idea just kept growing. The fandom movement of Wayward Daughters, while based
in a push for a spin-off, became about more than a spin-off. Wayward Daughters
is about advocating for women in Supernatural fandom and on the show,
and providing a support network that may be focused on women but is inclusive
of all genders and fans of all backgrounds. The #WaywardAF tag is an expression
of individuality as well as a way to connect with others.
The yearning for a spin-off centered on pre-established
characters, especially female characters, had been voiced before, but the
Wayward Daughters movement in fandom was when it took hold in a big way. The
momentum of the love Supernatural fans have for Jody, Donna, Alex, and
Claire continued to grow. Bringing us to Wayward Sisters.
The CW has announced a backdoor pilot in season 13 for a
female-led Supernatural spinoff, “Wayward Sisters.” It will star Kim Rhodes,
Briana Buckmaster, Kathryn L. Newton, Kat Ramdeen, and newcomers Clark Backo,
who will play Patience (the granddaughter of Missouri Mosely, a memorable
one-shot female character from season 1), and Yadira Guevara-Prip, who will play
Kaia, another young “wayward daughter” taken under Jody and Donna’s wing.
It’s a “how did we get here” feeling in all the best possible
ways.
Supernatural is still chronically too quick to mash the “kill
characters for drama” button. It’s doubtful many fans will ever forgive the
show for killing off Charlie Bradbury, played by Felicia Day, a geeky female
character who was also a lesbian, who endured for a while, or Eileen Leahy, a
deaf hunter portrayed by a deaf actress, Shoshanna Stern, who was introduced
and killed off after a few scant episodes. But female characters have still
made deep footprints in canon and in fandom. The fact that Supernatural
is primarily a show about male characters hasn’t precluded that happening, and
doesn’t mean female characters shouldn’t be allowed to be significant in that
world.
After all, far more than male point of view, Supernatural
is ultimately about people. It’s about family, friendship, grief, loss
and regaining of hope, fighting on despite being kicked in the stomach, and
shooting monsters in the face. It’s universal. It’s about the fact that strong
emotions and nurturing behavior can go side-by-side with badassery and are not
limited to any one gender. It’s about the bond between two brothers as well as
how family forms in varied ways. And just as the stories of male characters are
relatable regardless of gender, the same is true of female characters. One of
the show’s greatest strengths is tapping into that universality. Despite its
flaws, Supernatural gets that people are people and the commonalities
that lie beneath appearances.
I’m delighted this backdoor pilot is a thing, that this series
will have its shot at becoming. I feel the concept will work. Supernatural’s
previous attempt at a spin-off, Bloodlines, failed for a variety of
reasons. One was because it didn’t tap into the show’s rich and beloved array
of pre-existing recurring characters.
It took many things to get us here.
The road to Wayward Sisters is a testament to the fact that fan
voices do matter and can make a difference, and how fanbases and viewpoints
evolve over time. Properties such as Marvel, Star Wars, and DC are changing
too, as women and minorities and LGBT fans--fans who were always there, but not
recognized--have their voices heard more often.
Supernatural’s fanbase is often incorrectly categorized
still as overwhelmingly male-driven. That is not the case. Women built most of
the fandom’s online spaces, women have been a predominant force keeping the
show renewed season after season, women relate to Sam, Dean, and Castiel, women
spend money on conventions, merchandise, and DVD’s, and women are a strong
support for female characters on the show.
The world of Supernatural, like Star Wars, is a
girl thing too.
This is a fandom story over a decade in the making of how fan
love and support makes amazing things happen.
Keep raising your voices. Keep showing what you love. It took so
much to get us here, but we are here.
Keep going.
