TV Romance
Why ‘Supernatural’s Lack of Romance Made It the Best Show for Yearners
From start to finish, it’s no secret that the beating heart of Supernatural is the Winchester brothers’ bond, and after that, the show focuses on developing strong friendships. Romance, on the other hand, falls to the wayside.
Don’t get us wrong: Any Supernatural fan worth their salt could tell you that the 15-season drama isn’t completely devoid of romance. Considering how many episodes there are, it would be outrageous if Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) didn’t have any love interests at all. One could even argue that romantic love is what kicked off the story: If Sam’s girlfriend hadn’t been burned to death by a demon, he might not have left law school to get back in the monster-hunting game.
That turned out to be the first in a long line of disastrous Supernatural romances. On the few occasions Sam and Dean formed connections beyond nameless hookups, they were fleeting, underdeveloped, or both. The women were presented as obstacles in the way of their brotherly bond. And their raison d’être? Saving people and hunting things.
Remember Dean and Lisa’s (Cindy Sampson) catastrophic run in Season 6? Dean only lasted a year before his past caught up to him. After Lisa nearly died, Dean asked Castiel (Misha Collins) to remove her memories, and he was brought back into the fold. In terms of Sam, his love interest (and fellow hunter) Eileen (Shoshannah Stern) might be the exception to the trend, but even she died a few times before being resurrected. And she was only in seven episodes!
As romance lovers, we here at Swooon found ourselves frustrated back when the show was on the air. Why couldn’t Supernatural have it all, we wondered? Looking back now that its 20th anniversary is on the horizon, we view Supernatural’s lack of romance a bit differently.
In fact, we’ve come to appreciate it. The show’s aversion to giving the brothers full-fledged love stories is what makes it perfect for shipping and yearning.
Isn’t that a huge part of what makes the show so great, especially upon first viewing? It’s essentially a blank slate, at least in the romance department, because the show isn’t truly trying to make fans root for a canon couple. Instead, that allows viewers to imagine better love stories for the characters and fill in the gaps themselves. In the meantime, they can also hold out hope that maybe, just maybe, certain romances will finally happen.
You can probably guess what pairing we’re referring to. “Destiel” emerged as the show’s most popular ship, and years later, fans still talk about it. If the show had given the boys stronger romances, would viewers have latched onto the far-fetched possibility of Castiel and Dean falling in love? Granted, some might argue that it isn’t a leap and that Supernatural occasionally teased Destiel without ever seeing it through. (Though, there is the matter of Castiel’s ambiguous death speech and love confession.)
In the end, however, the show not giving Sam and Dean signifiant love stories also meant that there wasn’t any romantic letdowns. What if Destiel had come to pass, but it ended up being underwhelming?
Instead, even years after their journey ended, fans can still imagine what could’ve been. The yearning lives on. It may hurt a little — real yearning does — but in some ways, it serves the show better. We would even go as far as to say it makes the show more romantic.
Do you agree? Or should Supernatural have had more romance? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Supernatural, All Seasons, Streaming Now, Netflix
