"There's a little note card in my office that goes three seasons, but that's not to say it couldn't go more," Jeremy Carver told LA TV Insider Examiner when we asked him just how far he was planning the mythology for Supernatural.
Carver is back on Supernatural after a brief hiatus away to showrun Being Human for Syfy, and now he is stepping into the boss' seat to shake things up for Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles), and the merry band of hunters/creatures/random innocents they encounter along the way.
"There's an end point for this particular mythology which can move, but right now I have it as three seasons," he continued, confirming.
The CW has not announced long-term plans for Supernatural, though Mark Pedowitz admitted to critics during their bi-annual TCA presentation in Los Angeles that he loves the show, never had any question about renewing it, and if it was completely up to him, would have it on-air for a number of years more. Perhaps long enough to take the title of longest-running series to start on The WB? Fans can certainly hope, and as of right now, all signs point to the powers that be prepping for such a scenario.
But before we can think too far down the line, we have to get Dean out of Purgatory and reunited with Sam, which Carver shared will occur early on in the season to jump-start new action. Of course, cleaning up the "loose ends" of Purgatory, namely the ways it has changed Dean, will be an ongoing process in season eight.
"Purgatory is not directly related to that overall, boys' mythology," Carver admitted. "You're going to see many flashbacks to Purgatory in the first half of the season, and whether or not we see more flashbacks later is still to be determined, but by the first half of the season, you'll have a full understanding of what went down in Purgatory."
Getting back to much of the "case of the week," "on the road" drama that Supernatural started out to be (the only standing set or "home base" for the boys is the Impala; every other semi-permanent place they could lay low has been burned down or otherwise destroyed), the show in season eight will also be getting back to the basics of the brothers, per Carver.
"Within each episode, there's always a fair amount of [physical] separation, just as they're tracking down the case, but we're doing some episodes that are pretty new, structurally, for us, in which sometimes you're going to see them less than you would, but that's not affecting the myth at all [either]. The boys are pretty much always together," Carver stressed.
Carver admitted that "part of the reason some of the supporting characters are coming in is, yes, some of these relationships will test the boys." Additionally, he has a few things in the works for early season episodes to call back to season one themes, stories, and perhaps even characters, but he didn't want to say too much about the specifics since they were not set in stone-- err, in scripts.
"I love doing stuff like that, and the staff loves doing stuff like that," he admitted. "Let me put it this way, we're big fans of bringing back characters. We're just still in the middle of breaking the season, so it's a little early to say."
But fans probably shouldn't expect too many return surprises, as Carver has already set up brand new characters and stories that will challenge the hunters in new ways and keep the show fresh. One actor just signed for a guest spot is Lauren Tom, who we personally think would be perfect for Kevin's mom.*
"I love Lauren Tom. I think she's going to bring a heck of a lot of heart and emotion to the role. I've been a fan of hers for years," Carver gushed, noting that the story in which she is involved does leave it open for her to recur.
(*Yes, we know we have already seen Kevin's mom on the show, but actors get recast all the time, and Carver was being so secretive, we have to imagine something goes down with her character!)
"With any luck, though, we're introducing some hopefully new iconic characters!" Carver teased.
What kind of personality do you feel Supernatural needs to see Dean and Sam mix it up with next? Sound off in the comments below!
Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/jeremy-c
Personally when I got to "Additionally, he has a few things in the works for early season episodes to call back to season one themes, stories, and perhaps even characters," my immediate reaction was "SARAH!!!!!! BRING BACK SARAH SO SAM CAN MARRY HER LIKE HIS BIG BROTHER TOLD HIM TO!!!!" I need this for reasons.