Tracker’s Justin Hartley Goes “Off The Books” – With Jensen Ackles!

There was a whole lot of anticipation among Jensen Ackles fans for last week’s episode of Tracker – and probably a lot of anticipation mixed with glad-you-finally-discovered-this-great show emotion from Tracker fans who have made the show a bona fide hit well before Ackles joined the party. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the show and put it on the “shows I’d like to watch” list that lives in my head and rarely gets any shorter, but hadn’t managed to yet. That meant watching the previous episode live and then doing a 2-day binge watch to catch up. I watched with a couple friends and we all got sucked into the show and the Shaw family mystery and the beautiful (and often familiar) Vancouver locations – so two nights of 5 episodes in a row was actually a lot of fun!

So I already loved Colter and Justin Hartley’s portrayal, understated and nuanced and with the same ability to convey a lot of emotion with very few words that I’ve been spoiled by Supernatural for. I already loved Reenie and Bobby and Teddi and Velma and Colter’s sister Dorie – and I was already very very curious about the mysterious older brother and black sheep, Russell.  Especially after what Dorie said about wanting her family to be back together again, including her two brothers.

So like I said, a whole lot of anticipation – one of the most enjoyable things about fandom.

There are also just some plot similarities to Supernatural. A murdered parent under mysterious circumstances, growing up with a paranoid militaristic father, estranged brothers, saving people hunting things (in this case people not monsters), living a relatively isolated life. And Vancouver! But the story and the family and the characters are also very different. (The show’s official Instagram definitely got on board with welcoming the Supernatural fandom to the show – they put a clip up with Kansas’ ‘Carry On’, Supernatural’s unofficial theme song, on their IG. That’s a bit much for me though – Carry On is sacred to the SPNFamily!)

Tracker often has a scary cold open that reminds me of Supernatural, and this episode was no different. Roanoke, Virginia, a terrified man hiding behind a truck at a gas station in the dark, nobody around, trying to duck the security cameras. A man comes through the woods with a flashlight, looking shady, and the other man stashes something in the trash and runs away.

Cut to Colter in his trailer at night in the woods when a car pulls up. Colter pulls his gun and goes outside.

A man gets out of the car and we can’t see him clearly in the car’s headlights as he walks toward Colter – until we see the light shining through some familiar bowlegs.

Russell: Hey, little brother.

That packed a punch.

Tracker isn’t Supernatural, it’s a hit show all on its own. Justin is great as the main character, and the supporting characters are awesome and it’s enjoyable just as it is. But Justin and Jensen have been friends for a very long time, and that meant the show is well aware of the passion of Supernatural fans and appreciative of its star’s and his friends’ sense of humor, so paying a little homage to Supernatural was a no brainer. And fun!

The Shaw brothers are very much not the Winchesters, but Jensen Ackles saying “hey little brother” will never not evoke Sam and Dean a little bit too. An affectionate nod, if you will.

I love a show that’s self aware and writers that aren’t afraid to go there.

Colter is guarded, but Russell is trying to be friendly. Remember, these two haven’t seen each other for decades – Colter was still a kid when tragedy struck the family and his big brother disappeared (after possibly killing their father). Talk about an awkward reunion!

Russell: You gonna shoot me or can we sit down and have a few? Brought some of my home brew.

(An amusing little shout out to Ackles’ real life brewer business – and also an in joke between Justin and Jensen, because Justin sort of started that whole venture. As Jensen related at a con a little while ago, Justin left his home brew equipment at Jensen’s when he moved, and never picked it up. Eventually Jensen’s brother-in-law, Gino, said hey how about we try this out? And the rest is Family Business Brewing Company history.)

The two brothers sit around a fire drinking beer, tentative and awkward with each other. Apparently Russell didn’t show up for a meeting they set up the week before, saying “something came up”. Which, ouch. Good for you, Colter, for still being willing to sit down and hear what your brother has to say.

Their father’s death is like the elephant in the room, and Russell goes there – because really, he had to. He says he didn’t push him, doesn’t know if he fell or if someone else pushed him, but does know that there was someone else in the woods that night. Their dad was a crazy sonofabitch, but he had enemies.

(Maybe not a Dean Winchester shout out, but ‘sonofabitch’ is certainly a Dean tag line)

Colter has been Team Dad (and Team Mom) all this time, the “good son” who stayed connected and loyal while his two siblings both got out, one way or another.

Russell: The man was hard as hell on us. Made us learn how to skin a rabbit, not exactly a skill I need these days.

(Sorry, but the parallel to John Winchester is too obvious not to see. Not that it’s an Easter egg, it’s just that the Shaw family story is similar to the Winchester family story in some striking ways. Skin a rabbit, gave me a .45…)

Russell says that their mom was the one who told him to stay away, which obviously leaves Colter with a lot of questions. Especially in light of what his sister said in last week’s episode about their mom having as many secrets as their dad.

Russell: She said it would be best if I left and kept quiet. She said our lives depended on it.

So he left, and stayed gone, then enlisted – to leave it all behind.

Colter: Why would mom let me believe that you did it?

Russell: Yeah, I don’t know. I like to think she did the best she could, but mom had her secrets, trust me.

That little exchange gave us a bit of insight into Russell. He’s not an uncaring man who left his family because he was angry at them or because he was guilty of something. And even after his own mother told him to leave and then poisoned his relationship with his brother by blaming him for their dad’s death, he’s trying to give her the benefit of the doubt here. That’s pretty big of him, honestly.

Walker Approaches Mid Season with ‘We All Fall Down’

Last week’s episode of Walker was downright ominous. It’s close to mid season, and that means the stakes are getting raised for the ongoing plotlines that Season 4 has been following. You can feel the tension ratcheting up as it does.

And the cast really brought their A game to make us FEEL it.

The Return of Hoyt – and The Mysterious Mehar

One of the pleasures of this episode was the return of Hoyt (Matt Barr). In a flashback, he steals the necklace Stella and Augie have been looking for. For some reason he steals it in broad daylight in the middle of a social event, and pulls his bandana right off his face to grin as soon as he does, but still manages to escape and get away with his friend Mehar (Jay Ali) and his lucky jacket and the car that’s now Stella’s.

They both enjoy the theft and the getaway far too much, but it’s hard to fault them for it when they’re kinda adorable.

In the present, Stella decides that Mehar was in on the theft with Hoyt, so they decide to try to find him. Which seems like a horrible idea. And undoubtedly will be.

Stella steals/borrows Geri’s phone to contact Mehar. Augie actually questions if they should go to an adult about this instead of contacting a known felon, but Stella doesn’t want their dad to know she “sorta” lied to the police – and insists that SHE is the adult they go to. Which, nope.

Stella sets it up that Mehar will a) steal her wallet and b) use the information she gave him to pull off another jewelry theft. Which, what are you thinking, Stella??? They “help” him pull off the theft and not get caught so he’ll owe them, entirely forgetting that they’re now accomplices to grand larceny!  Stella, you have not learned your lesson after all the times you tried to handle something like this on your own?

Mehar attempts the theft (once again in the midst of a big social gathering) and Stella and Augie blow off dinner with their poor dad, who is so craving some family time, to give him an assist so he’ll owe them. Stella also gives him back the lucky jacket, and asks for the necklace or the truth in return. Oh, Stella. Don’t look so pleased like you pulled something off that’s wonderful!

Kids.

Mehar says he doesn’t have the necklace, that Hoyt played him all those years ago. They stopped at a bar for Hoyt to see “an old friend,” he says, and we get a flashback – of Hoyt meeting up with Duke when Cordell was under cover.

‘Walker’ Quietly Explores Guilt, Helping and Masculinity in ‘We’ve Been Here Before’

This week’s episode of Walker saw the search for the Jackal heat up (along with Cassie and Luna), while James, on the other hand, refuses to warm up to Cordell at all after their falling out. It’s an episode all about how our past impacts our present, for better or worse. And underneath, it’s a quiet exploration of some of the ways in which masculinity is defined, toxic and otherwise, and how that impacts our ability to help others – and accept that help for ourselves.

This show is often so much deeper than it seems at first watch, and this episode was no exception.

Down the Rabbit Hole (Again)

Picking up where last week left off, Walker reluctantly fills James in on their new leads on the Jackal, taking him to their wall of Supernatural-looking case notes.

They announce it to the news and all put their heads together to try to stop this guy before he keeps going on another killing spree.

Det. Luna pulls his hair back. Yes, this is an important note.

Cordell is still worried about James, who’s noticeably cool to him. (What a great shot showing this dynamic!)

In fact, lots of people are kinda hard on him recently. Geri has to do all the exposition of what happened to lead up to Walker and James’ rift, which makes it sound like she’s critical of him trying to protect Larry. She also tells him to focus more on being a Ranger and not a co-owner of the Side Step, going to meet with an influencer about opening another bar without him. She’s not wrong that he can’t be in three places at once, but he looks a little sad to be left out.

Then Kelly comes over wanting to make a plan to keep James grounded, and tells him that Larry’s more or less forgiven her, when it’s clear he hasn’t forgiven Cordell.

Poor guy is trying to keep everyone happy and it really isn’t working. Kelly wants him to make sure James doesn’t drown, but how is he supposed to do that?? I feel like he’s being set up to be blamed when things go off the rails again. And his guilt from what happened before is making him just shoulder all that responsibility anyway.

In spite of the exposition scene, Geri and Cordell are in a good place, though. There’s a tender little scene where she helps him button his shirt sleeve cuffs later in the episode.

Helping – the ethics and value of giving help, as well as the sometimes underestimated value of being able to receive help – is the underlying theme of this episode, along with how many messages we take from our past in trying to make those decisions. Sometimes it’s such a simple thing, like letting someone help you button your shirt, that deepen a relationship. Relationships can’t prosper if no vulnerability is allowed, and I’m really happy to see that Cordell and Geri are letting that happen, toxic masculinity be damned.

Some shows talk about these little things more obviously, which can be powerful; Walker does it quietly, the way these little things that are nevertheless important play out in our everyday lives. And that too is powerful.

The episode pulls the viewer in on the mystery that is trying to figure out who the Jackal is. Interestingly, the motel room had zero DNA, which makes me instantly worried that’s because Det. Luna was of course there already. I do not want him to be the bad guy!! Poor Cassie doesn’t need another Kevin experience (and isn’t it ominous that the title of the episode is We’ve Been Here Before… I hope that doesn’t apply to Cassie here too!)

Happy birthday Sam Winchester! (2024 Edition)

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. He hasn’t been on my TV screen in almost four years, and I have missed him every single day since then – just like I’ve missed the show he was on, the one that changed my life, Supernatural. Every time I have the pleasure of seeing the actor who brought him to life so brilliantly, Jared Padalecki, it makes me incredibly happy to hear Jared say that he’s 99.99% sure that Sam Winchester will be back. And that until that happens, he’s keeping Sam safe, as a cherished part of himself.

I am so grateful – and walk around with my fingers and toes crossed all the time hoping for more Supernatural. It’s uncomfortable, but hey, this is important.

And so is Sam’s birthday! One of the great things about social media (and yes, there are plenty of not-so-great things too) is that whatever you’re celebrating, you probably won’t have to do it alone. Sam Winchester’s birthday is no exception. For the past five days, the SPN Family has been celebrating the smart, sassy, selfless, adorable and badass younger Winchester brother, me included.  (Thanks to DaenerysM on X/Twitter for organizing!)

So I thought I’d share here some of the things Supernatural fans appreciate so much about our beloved Sammy.

One of the things that impresses me the most about Sam is his ability to be selfless – to put others ahead of himself, to sacrifice himself to save someone else. That someone else is often his brother – and it definitely goes both ways – but sometimes it’s a stranger, or even humanity itself. Many of us will sacrifice a lot for a loved one, but for a stranger, or the amorphous “the sake of the world”? That’s a rarity. But it’s one of Sam’s most admirable characteristics.

Here are some posts that fans made about Sam’s ability to be selfless:

Even when Sam is dying, he tries to put others first.

Many fans cited “The Born Again Identity” as a great example. Look at my poor baby!

An instance of Sam’s selflessness that I love is “The Born Again Identity”. His hell PTSD is at its worst and he’s dying of sleep deprivation, yet he’s still helping people, helping a young girl who was being haunted by her dead brother.

Sam had SO many selfless acts, but this one is probably my fav, bc after a psychotic break causing by hallucinations, after getting hit by a car and getting drugs to try to sleep, Sam still helped someone, because it’s who he is.

He was dying. He was in constant torment thanks to Hallucifer. And he used the last dregs of his energy and sanity to save a girl, because Sam Winchester cares more about others than he ever has himself. 

The devil is in his head, Lucifer depriving him of sleep, tired beyond belief, and he still sees the danger that someone is in and helps them. My sweet brave Selfless Sam.

When he was dying in “Red Meat” he also was more concerned about others – in this case once again, strangers. (That episode was often cited for Sam being badass, but he’s selfless in it too).

Sam Winchester is the most selfless character like there’s a bullet in his gut but all he cares about is the victims, asks Dean to take care of them first and he knows he slows them down so he tells them to ditch him and find help, putting others b4 himself.

Season 8 ends with an episode called “Sacrifice”, which is all about Sam doing just that.

The heartbreaking sequence near the end when Dean tries to talk him out of it is one of my favorite scenes of the whole show, but Sam’s “So?” in response to Dean telling him if he does this he’ll die will never not make me tear up.

One fan noted:

Sam always sacrificed his own well-being for the greater good. he took on the tablet trials and put himself in front of people to protect them. his mind and body were used and abused time after time but he didn’t care. he was truly selfless

Sam was ready to sacrifice himself in Season 10 too, when it came right down to it in a showdown with Death, because Dean said that was the only way to make things right. He knelt down and told Dean to do it, but not before he tried to absolve his brother of the guilt he knew would destroy him. Fans quoted Sam saying this to Dean, and meaning it:

You will never ever hear me say that you — the real you — is anything but good. But you’re right. Before you hurt anyone else, you have to be stopped, at any cost. I understand. Do it.”

Both of the brothers put each other first in both small and major ways throughout the series, as fans noted. Starting right at the beginning with the pilot episode.

This moment where he decides to risk what to him is the perfect life to help his brother is also an incredibly selfless act. 

And continuing throughout the entire fifteen seasons.

Walker Gets Dark with ‘Insane B.S. and Bloodshed’

Walker is both a family drama and a crime fighting mystery drama. So far this season, we’ve had more of the family drama, which if you’ve been reading my reviews, you know I’ve enjoyed. I’m usually not quite as drawn into the case focused episodes, but this one was an exception – the show is getting as dark as it probably has so far with the Jackal, and it’s pretty compelling.

And disturbing.

There a lot of interesting team-ups in this episode, some new and some long-standing (but maybe soon-to-be-disrupted…)

Stella and Augie Team Up With Witt

I wonder if the situation with Witt will somehow wind into the Jackal case too, or if it’s separate. The episode also saw a lot happening with Witt and Stella, after we left off the last episode with Witt holding Sadie and Stella at gunpoint and ordering them to “just drive”.

Witt, after forcing Stella and Sadie to drive him away from HQ, insists they’re on the same side. I can understand why they’d be a bit skeptical, Witt!

He says that the shady and scary woman who hired him to steal a necklace from Geri’s house (and got him shot when Stella and Sadie came back there) is after him. Turns out it was his accomplice who died in that burning car – Witt switched their wallets so he could play dead. He feels as guilty about the other man dying as Stella did when she thought she accidentally killed him.

Sadie: All this insane BS and bloodshed is over a frickin’ necklace??

Apparently yes.

Witt gives them his gun and says he wouldn’t blame them if they shot him, but he’s asking for their help finding the necklace and he’s sorry for what he put them through. Then he walks away, leaving Stella holding the gun and sobbing.

Sadie tries to console her, but all the emotions Stella has been trying to swallow all this time, believing she killed Witt, just come pouring out. I thought Violet Brinson did an amazing job showing Stella’s breakdown, the way her face just crumples as Witt walks away. Ouch.

Sadie and Stella go to HQ to tell her dad, but then Stella has second thoughts. She doesn’t want Witt to go to jail, and wants to help him instead. She now feels a connection with him, knowing what it feels like to be responsible for someone else’s death. This time Sadie is the voice of reason, but Stella prevails. Like father like daughter, Stella wants to wait until they find out more about the necklace before they tell her dad.

Sadie’s not having it.

Sadie: You insist on carrying around this misguided guilt, and I won’t carry it too. We can end this right now, I wish you’d see that.

While the two are arguing about whether to confide in Cordell, Augie and Liam are at Cordell’s waiting for Stella, who had promised to come back there but hasn’t shown up. The two decide to eat massive amounts of midnight steak nachos in some odd masculine ritual about bulking up, make themselves half sick, and make lots of jokes about stinking up the bathroom (which has to be an inside joke for Jared Padalecki, whose reputation for being “gassy” precedes him on this set too I’m sure).

Augie is worried about Stella, but Liam has been told by so many people to leave her alone that he’s reluctant to be intrusive.

Liam: I heard loud and clear that we should stop hounding her so I’m staying out of it.

Walker Episode 4.03 Learns some ‘Lessons From the Gift Shop’

Although we’re only on episode 3 of Walker Season 4, it’s a briefer season and that means that in the real world, the show just wrapped for the season! The cast was clearly emotional about the wrap and at the same time full of anticipation and excitement for this new season, which made for some interesting social media posts leading up to this week’s episode.

Jared Padalecki asked some of his castmates for some words to describe this season.

I guess they’re going with Frittata.

Not everyone was on board with that, though.

Suffice it to say, this cast always has fun together. And it sounds like the season is gonna be a real rollercoaster!

Jared was at a convention in Rome this past weekend and talked about being anxious about the fate of this show, since they don’t know yet whether they’ll be picked up for a fifth season. He said he wasn’t worried about himself, that he and Gen would be fine, but that he was worried about their cast and crew, and didn’t want them to have to be searching for a job. I love the genuine caring they all have for each other, something that we saw year after year on the Supernatural set too.

Fingers crossed for a Season 5!

So, on to episode 3…

This episode is all about our ‘things’. Physical, psychological, emotional. What we keep and what we decide to give up, and how we all make those decisions differently. How they change at different times of our lives as the meaning of all the “things we carry” changes over time. As someone who is probably too sentimental about a lot of things, I could relate to many of the characters’ struggles – so, as usual, I enjoyed this episode the most for its psychological explorations.

I’m guessing the title too is meant to hold multiple meanings. Yes, we buy things at the gift shop, and maybe they become souvenirs of experiences we want to remember. But some of the most important gifts we get in life aren’t things at all – love, caring, understanding, friendship, a gentle challenge. The space to be who we are and where we want to be. Space in every sense of the word.

This was a surprisingly deep episode, in other words!

Once again, the interconnected relationships also make the show work a lot more smoothly now. The becoming-family bond between Cassie and Liam is one of the relationships that I’m really enjoying.

Cassie and Liam, Giving Space and Taking Space

The episode begins with Cassie packing up some things that Geri had left in the spare bedroom that’s now hers, automatically assuming they might have some meaning to her now housemate.

Ben wants her to clean her stuff out of his storage unit (and bring those to Geri’s or donate them to a charity sale they’re having soon at Ranger HQ). Cassie’s been unwilling to put down roots for most of her life, but transferring things from a storage unit to a house is a step toward putting down those roots, symbolizing a new phase of life for Cassie.

She asks Liam to help her clean it out. Liam has been trying so hard to help everyone else. He wants Cordell and Trey to check out a podcast on Kintsugi –  “embracing the broken and rolling that history into the future”. Could there be a more apt podcast for the repeatedly traumatized Walker clan?? Of course no one else is very interested.

Walker Season 4 Pulls at the Heartstrings with Maybe It’s Maybelline!

The second episode of Season 2 continued the show’s exploration of all kinds of family transitions, especially those of being a parent as your kids grow up – always way too fast! After a widely-watched season premiere, the fandom was eagerly awaiting the second episode, and the numbers were great once again as many fans tuned in. Let’s keep it up this week for episode 3!

We got some teasers again, including a proud Jeff Pierre letting us know that his character’s hot date in this episode was his real life wife!

This episode definitely did pull at my heartstrings, but it also introduced a guest character that I thoroughly enjoyed – and who had some much-needed words of wisdom for Cordell.

Transitions

In its fourth season, Walker has gotten much better at integrating its story lines and its cast, so that none of the arcs or characters feel shoe-horned in anymore, and the transition from scene to scene is smoother. Geri and Cassie are the latest in the newly close relationships, and I’m here for it. They come back from a run together and Cassie tells Geri that she’s not going back to the FBI – in fact, it’s time for her to lay down some roots.

Also, Cassie has a cute nickname for Geri – Geri-rigged.

We eventually find out that Cassie is gonna be laying down those roots at Geri’s place –  they’re now roomies!

This episode continues the theme from last week, as Cordell struggles with both his kids growing up and soon moving out, and the fear that the quiet in their wake will be hard for him. Augie is definitely growing up WAY too fast, working out and doing an end run around his dad by asking his Gramps to sign a permission slip for a high school boot camp readiness program. Bonham, to his credit, keeps his boundaries where they should be and says he won’t sign – but he will talk to Cordell about it.

Bonham goes to Trey’s to talk to him about it too, since Trey is the one teaching the boot camp. Trey is getting ready to host a hot date (played by his actual wife), opening the door to a knock with a rose and a “hello, gorgeous” only to find it’s Bonham.

Mitch Pileggi plays Bonham’s reaction perfectly.

Bonham wants Trey to let August join his boot camp prep course; Trey too says Walker has to approve.

Finally, Bonham brings the permission slip to his son, who accuses him of interfering and asks him to stay out of it, August is his son. Which, valid – but Cordell is gonna have to deal with it instead of burying himself in the Jackal case to avoid it.

Bonham confesses to Abby that he’s been “meddling”, but he also says he knows a thing or two about raising boys, and that you can’t tell them not to do something or they’ll do just that.

Abeline: Please tell me more about raising two boys.

Me: I love you, Abeline.

Walker Returns for Season 4 with ‘The Quiet’

There was a lot of anticipation for the season premiere of Walker last week – it’s the show’s fourth season, and it’s made a switch to Wednesday night, but fans were happy to follow it to its new day, posting their excitement online after the long, long wait.

Graphic by laurenxann

The cast and crew were equally excited – it was a long long break between seasons with the strike going on. They posted some bts photos and Jared Padalecki even took over the Walker Instagram for some fun videos.

We also got some hints that the premiere episode was gonna be a little racy…

Which of course amped the excitement up even more!

The season premiere opens 5 months later – after a reminder of the reappearance of The Jackal, the reappearance of “Cordri” (the Geri and Cordell romance) to the elation of those who ‘ship it’, and the missing body after Stella and Sadie’s break in.  The episode is a treat for the Cordri shippers, opening with some Geri and Cordi making out – waiting all these seasons really created a lot of passion! I don’t ship it but I don’t not ship it, so good for you, Cordell and Geri.

gifs abordelimpala

Edit by lemondropsonice

Also Geri looks hot in his oversized shirt and a disheveled Cordell who really really doesn’t wanna go into work right now is a very good thing.

It’s Cordell’s birthday – Geri surprises him with a little cupcake before he reluctantly has to leave for work – more reluctant about leaving Geri than not eating the cupcake though.

He’s saving room for a big steak eating competition at the Grand Lonestar. Augie isn’t thrilled about it, but Geri wants to surprise her man by the whole family being there too.  Abeline, I’ve missed you!!

Also I’m happy that Ben’s eating breakfast with the Walkers so I guess things are going well with him and Liam. Lots of happiness it seems….which I’m sure means something will go very wrong soon.

First Supernatural Con of 2024 comes to Burbank!

This year the powers that be put a Supernatural convention during my spring break – yay! That meant I was able to travel to California, spend some time with my daughter in the Bay area, then take a short flight to Burbank for the con.  The hotel is one of my all time favorite con hotels, with a lovely pool and a spacious outdoor dining restaurant right there between the con area and the hotel itself. It was the perfect place to gather and have a drink and a bite in between panels and events, which was great because I got to reconnect with some friends I haven’t seen in far too long.

I also met alot of wonderful new people and fans of Supernatural – and of The Boys, including this mini Homelander who was adorable!

Shout out to everyone who came to say hi in the vendor room and picked up a copy of one of the books with chapters by the Supernatural actors and fans, Family Don’t End With Blood and There’ll Be  Peace When You Are Done – or everyone who just stopped by to tell me they’d already read them and enjoyed them!  We were also able to bring the new book on ‘The Boys’ to this con – let me know what you think if you picked one of those up. It should catch you up and get you ready for Season 4 in a few months – can’t wait!

There was a substantial break in between the last convention of 2023 back in December and this one in mid March – so everyone was extra happy to be reunited, both fans and cast. And we were treated to some guests we hadn’t seen in far longer than that!

I inevitably miss a few people thanks to working in the vendor room, but I managed to catch quite a few this time – It was wonderful to have Lisa Berry back at a con. She talked about how she was already a passionate Supernatural fan when she was cast on the show, and then finding out there were so many other passionate fans! She enjoyed fans’ complicated canon questions because she is a fan herself.

Lisa: In my incarnation of Billie, she was always right next to Death.

Her character was continually frustrated with Sam and Dean.

Lisa: Billie’s whole thing with the Winchesters is that they always kept coming back to life. Now fangirl Lisa, she was like YES!

Favorite line?

Lisa: Hey.

It’s true, she could give Billie one word to say and it would come out memorable. She said that sometimes she was flown into Vancouver just to turn around to the camera and say ‘hey’!

One of her favorite scenes was the one in the library with Dean, with all the books.

Lisa: Jensen was so generous in that scene – everyone there is, so it’s safe to play.

A fan stepped up to the mic and shared that she had an AKF tattoo.

Lisa: That’s awesome – and yes please do (always keep fighting)!

It was also wonderful to have Matt Cohen back at conventions. I came into the ballroom a little late and Matt was standing in front of the stage and when I walked up the center aisle, he swept me into a hug to say it was good to see me – not a bad way to start the day! He made his way around the entire ballroom to greet everyone he possibly could. It was early so it wasn’t all that crowded, but the people who were there were treated to a great panel.

It does, however, mean that I hardly got any photos of Matt as he walked around.

Matt: There’s no better place to be in terms of diversity and acceptance than the SPNFamily.

Happy Birthday Jensen Ackles! Here’s to 46!

Every year when March 1st rolls around and it’s Jensen Ackles’ birthday once again, I find myself feeling grateful that the man who brought to life two of my favorite fictional characters ever (aka Dean Winchester and Soldier Boy) is happy and healthy and enriching our lives with his creative presence. This year is no exception – whether it was playing a part as a talented actor, entertaining us at a convention, showing off his great form at the golf course, hyping some Supe Juice at the brewery or just selfies with family, friends and fans, I’m grateful for everything he shared with us this past year.

So let’s celebrate Jensen Ackles heading into his 46^th year with a little look back at some of the highlights of his 45^th!

March was the finale of The Winchesters, which saw the return of Dean Winchester, defying the laws of God (Chuck) and time to defeat an enemy threatening an alternate universe John and Mary – and ultimately Dean’s little brother, still alive in the universe of Supernatural we know and love. We all know Dean will do whatever it takes to save Sam, and he proved it once again – even after he was already settled into Heaven!

The spring saw Jensen roadtripping across the country with Clif to join his family in a new house in Connecticut, which gave us some travel glimpses along the way. Hopefully they’re having a blast renovating the house and enjoying the East coast weather for a change of pace.

In the spring, I was lucky enough to go to some conventions in the US, including the one in New Orleans in May. One of my favorite cities in the world.

Jensen showed off his “model poses” much to everyone’s amusement.