First off, I have to say that the first part of this exhaustive recap would not possibly without the aid of youtube and the fans who made sure that sure that those of us not able to get to Comic-Con were still able to share in the Supernatural love.

Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, showrunner Eric Kripke, and writers Ben Edlund and Sera Gamble were all on hand at the San Diego Comic-Con 2008 panel to talk to fans, giving them a taste of what to expect in season four.  Eric Kripke confirmed that the season would open four months after we last saw the Winchesters, and that Dean would be out of hell in the first episode.

On whether Jeffrey Dean Morgan, would be back playing John Winchester this season, Kripke said that they would love to have him back on the show and there’s an open invitation for him to return, but its all a matter of scheduling, as Morgan has been busy with other projects. But there could be a chance, in a show like Supernatural, “no one’s dead forever. You can always find ways to bring them back.” 

But we will be seeing John Winchester again in another incarnation this season though. Early in season four we will see both Winchester parents, a 20-year-old John Winchester, and 18-year-old Mary Winchester. And as mentioned in a previous Firefox article, Mitch Pileggi of X-Files fame will be playing Mary’s father (Sam and Dean’s grandfather.) 

Ben Edlund, one of Supernatural’s writers, said he thought that the writer’s strike actually had a good effect on the show as it helped the writers become more concise about telling their story, even though they had to leave some storylines dangling in season three that they’ll be picking up again this year.

Kripke would like to the show to run five seasons. He doesn’t want the show to ‘jump the shark’. “Better to go out on top and strong. A story like this is so epic it wants to have the kind of ending where you can walk away satisfied, wanting to smoke a cigarette, rather than an inevitable slide into mediocrity.” (seriously, if you can watch the video for this, it’s pretty awesome- he even references Raven Symon, heh)

On rumors that Sam is going to get a serious girlfriend in season four… Kripke played it coy, and mentioned that there may be opportunity for an ‘exchange of bodily fluids’. But he admited that mostly he just likes messing with the fans’ heads, and likes writing ‘love interest’ in because he wants to see how fans will react.

Going to the writers’ favorite episodes of season three – ‘Ghostfacers’ is Edlund’s, and ‘Jus In Bello’ is Sera Gamble’s favorite of the season. All the writers are excited about writing for season four, but they keep most of the details of the plot under wraps, and don’t give much away. Kripke said that the writers are excited for the way this season can unfold, because of the four month gap where the Winchesters are separated, it’ll allow for secrets between the brothers again, which is something they really haven’t been able to do since season one.

The theme of the season? ‘Pornography’, according to Kripke. (You can imagine that the crowd supported this answer)

Some unexpected guests crashed the panel about mid-way through. The ‘Ghostfacers team’ stayed in character the whole time, taking a few minutes to sing their theme song and make fun of ‘Sam and Dean.’ (fun fact: The Ghostfacers were going to be the ‘Boys in Boo’ originally, as named by Kripke, but it was Edlund who came up with the name ‘Ghostfacers and he even wrote the theme song.) And while the details are still sketchy at the moment, fans can look for a series of short spin-offs featuring the Ghostfacers, likely in the form of alternative media, such as webisodes.

Questions from the audience attending the panel:

With regards to being inspired by Asian horror films, The Ring and the Grudge, Dark Water, the Pulse, and Two Sisters were some of the most influential.

Kripke talked about how each season they’ve tried to get Bruce Campbell (of ‘Living Dead’ fame) as a guest actor but he’s been busy  filming Burn Notice every time they ask. But on the plus side- they did get Mitch Pileggi!

There was a question and a bit of talk about Bela. Kripke and the other writers mentioned again that they did Lauren Cohan a disservice by writing a character who didn’t really fit in with the main mythology, which is why she ended where she did at the end of the season.

A question was asked about whether Jensen and Jared would be open to doing a Western-themed episode. Jensen said ‘it wasn’t likely’, but Jared seemed more keen on the idea, saying he’d like to do a western someday. He also reminded the audience that they already had an episode with a ‘western feel’ in the second season with ‘All Hell Breaks Loose, Part I’.

The last question of the panel was whether this season would be darker, and whether the dynamics between the Winchester brothers would be changed by the events they had gone through. Jared, Jensen and Eric Kripke all confirmed that while the ‘brotherly love’ was still there, there were going to be moments when they were working separately on separate goals, and keeping secrets from each other.

Also during the panel: the first five minutes of the season four opener were played in front of an appreciative audience, as was the season three gag reel. No spoilers for those here, since this writer wants at least something to look forward to in September!

Some other tantalizing hints that were dropped in various Comic-Con media reports:

Kripke, in talking with TV Guide, said that Dean’s body wasn’t burned, but buried… and was most likely pretty gross by the end of the four months. He said that considering some fans’ feelings toward Jensen, maybe they’d like that, and he called it ‘necro-rific’. But since the show is Supernatural, regenerative healing isn’t all that unlikely, so people shouldn’t worry about Dean overly much. On a more serious note, he also said that Dean’s resurrection was going to be one of the big mysteries of the season. How did Dean get back into his body, and what was Sam doing in the meantime? Those are questions that will be answered in season four.

In Jared’s interviews, he said that Sam almost had a death wish after Dean’s death, and kind of goes off into the deep end, not talking to Bobby or anybody for a while. “We see a tougher, darker, more hardened side of Sam,” Jared said, also mentioning that the brotherly dynamic between the two will change because of the time spent apart.

Jensen said that Dean will be spending some time in a coffin, and digging himself out in the first episode… and will enter not knowing what’s changed in the time he’s been gone. Memories from his time in hell will also re-surface over the season. As well, Jensen said that the writers are ‘going all in’ for this season, with some giant, climatic story-lines to be told...

Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m about ready for it to be September now.    

(Sources: TV Guide Interviews, CW Source Interview, various youtube sources)