‘Supernatural’ Stars Weigh-In On Matt Cohen’s Return
When Matt Cohen returned to Supernatural, many fans were excited. John Winchester was back, at least in some form. There are certainly plenty of fans who want to see the older John, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, but this would suffice for now.
Then, Supernatural fans realized that Cohen was not the real John Winchester after all. When he appeared to Sam, he appeared as the younger version of his father to help make Sam trust him. Now there are plenty of questions over who this really was. Could it be that God has decided to make an appearance? After all, Michael was able to use the Winchesters’ father as a vessel to get messages across, so why not God?
Jared Padalecki talked to TV Line and shared some of his thoughts on the episode. He admitted that one of the things he loved was being totally caught off guard. After 11 seasons of Supernatural, it rarely happens. In fact, recently it has never happened. There has always been something playing on the back of Sam’s mind. Playing this side of the character was something that Padalecki really enjoyed, because it was something he had not done.
“It was fun for me to play that part of Sam. Sam’s not often really caught off guard like that. He’s been through a lot. He’s been to Hell and to Heaven and purgatory and he’s died and killed, so Sam’s not often caught totally off guard. So that was a fun direction for me to go with him.”
–Jared Padalecki
He also shared some secrets from behind the scenes. Just in case anyone picked up the scripts, Cohen’s name was changed. Rather than saying Matt was returning, the writers put Leonard Cohen. The 33-year-old actor admits that this was very suspicious, looking back at the scripts now. It certainly fooled enough people, though.
Delving further into the use of Cohen over Morgan, Padalecki says that it was a good thing to do for Supernatural. Bringing in the older Winchester probably would not have had the same affect on Sam. He grew up with his dad, and would have probably seen through a few things. With the younger version, he has only ever met him once. That one time led to the young John Winchester being possessed by an angel, attempting to convince Dean to take over as the vessel for Michael.
Despite not being on the show in five years, Padalecki explained that he and Cohen are close. They spend a lot of time at conventions together, and they are friends in real life. While shooting, they would talk about their personal lives. There is a hashtag #SPNFamily, and it is certainly true for the Supernatural cast and crew. They are a family, and some of them closer to their friends than their real family members.
The story of the Darkness continues on Supernatural. It is time for good and evil to join forces to fight this formidable evil that was released at the end of the 10th season. The question is whether they will manage it, or whether it will be a little anticlimactic like the destruction of Eve back in season six.
“People are getting their defenses together… and being like, ‘Listen, it’s not about you and me anymore. It’s about us, and we’re going to lose all of this if we don’t join forces and man up.'”
–Jensen Ackles
One thing that fans really want to know, though, is where these visions are coming from. The last time Sam had visions and other supernatural powers was when he was full of demon blood. It was the main storyline of the first two seasons, and then going into the fourth. Now fans wonder whether the release of the Darkness has caused those visions to come back. Could it be that it is still Sam against Dean, considering Amara has said to Dean that they are linked? Is it possible that another deity is passing the messages onto Sam through the visions?
The cast and crew are being extremely tight-lipped about this storyline, according to the Christian Post. They want to keep the suspense up, while they opt for a few standalone episodes. Supernatural fans will need to keep watching on Wednesday nights to find out just where Sam’s visions are coming from and how they will stop the Darkness.
[Feature photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
