The main draw were the panels for the popular kids -- Most Likely to Succeed (Jensen Ackles), Best Athlete (Jared Padalecki), Class Clown (I was gonna say Misha Collins, but then there's Mark Sheppard. Either way, we were very much looking forward to seeing both of them.) Jensen and Jared, who play Sam and Dean Winchester, were scheduled to be there on our second day; Misha and Mark, the show's angel and the demon respectively, took the stage on the first (and actually Mark did again on Day 2).
Most of the panels had two or three members of the cast playing off of each other. The first one of the day was Ruth Connell (Rowena), Osric Chau (Kevin Chan) and Gil McKinney (Henry Winchester). Although Season 10 of the show got to be kind of a drag with predictable dialogue uttered by Crowley's mother, Rowena, we found Ruth to be the exact opposite. She was charming and sweet, offering shortbread to fans who asked questions during the Q&A. When asked what they'd write for their characters if given the chance, Ruth came up with a delightfully raunchy answer of having them chained in her basement to give her massages and other services. And then they kind of acted it out a little with Osric cosplaying Sam, it got weird. In a fun way.
So Misha had came into the room while she was waiting to take her picture with Tahmoh. By the time she finished, Misha was just a few feet away, so she went over to him and actually flashed her "Team Castiel" shirt at him! He chuckled approvingly, then she showed the back and he laughed. She told him her sister had the reverse and we would see them at the duo's photo op. Flashing Castiel, priceless.
What we learned throughout the day, no matter whose session was underway, that everyone loves the character of Castiel, but if they got to play a part on the show, they'd want to be Crowley. Worked for us.
He dissed fans dressed as Castiel, saying their costumes looked more like Constantine, and paused before gently knocking over a life-sized standup of Castiel that one fan had brought to the event. He also made side comments to people he passed by during his walkabouts.
That was followed by our photo op with Mark and Misha. We had planned this one out for a while, what we'd say, what we'd do. We decided to go with hugs, a wise choice. Mark said, "I like your shirt." Then I showed him the "Team Castiel" back and he added, "I don't like that one." But at least Lor got a thumbs-up from him when she showed him the "Team Crowley" back of hers. Misha, ever sensible, admired them both.
And in the afternoon, we had a Misha panel. That got funny very quickly. He asked the first fan, "How are you?" and she responded with her age. That led to a running "how old are you" joke for the rest of the session. Another fan told Misha she had written a song for him. He looked a little wary, but she belted out an amazing tune that he loved and the audience whole-heartedly approved of."
Convention host Rob Benedict (Carver Edlund) and Matt Cohen (Young John Winchester) did the late afternoon session, and Mark showed up asking "Where's Rich?" in his patented American accent. In fact, it's such a good variation that many of the fans didn't seem to know it was the Englishman at all. By the way, his question was about Richard Speight Jr. (Gabriel/The Trickster), who was supposed to be the third man in the session, but had to cancel because he was directing the show's next episode and preparing production for it.
Our last event the first day was getting Misha's autograph. But since we didn't have Gold or Silver Seats (entitling us to autographs from everyone), our group was never called. When I saw people randomly getting on the line, and making it longer and longer, I went up to the stage to inquire about it with the person running the show. She said, "It's really long, but if you want to stand there, go right ahead." And then a lot of other people who seemed to have the same issue followed us, so it probably was a good idea to get on it before it doubled in size. I asked Misha how he was holding up and something about how he just keeps going and going with smiles and hellos for everyone. Lor added that he doesn't even get a break. And he sighed, "You're right," but probably was still giving smiles long after we departed.
Sunday's event was shorter for us, because the Gold Seaters got an exclusive panel with co-stars Jensen and Jared. Then there was a panel with Erica Carroll (Hannah), which was most notable for another sneak appearance by Misha. He really can work the crowd into a frenzy and get people milling about outside to run in quickly.
Then it was time for the so-called main attraction -- Jared and Jensen's panel for everyone. We all had glow sticks that have become a show of support for Jared, he really seemed touch to see them seemingly being waved by everyone in attendance at the same time.
They showed the camaraderie that is such a big part of the show has extended off the screen as well, making jokes at each others' expense and laughing about different things that have befallen the Winchesters. Every time Jensen had what he deemed to be a good response to a question, he would utter "I got this," while Jared seems to have taken his character's penchant for saying "So here's the thing" when delivering exposition on the show to heart.
Mark's second panel of the event was shorter, but still a lot of fun. And although I already would have been considered a fan of his for life, he endeared himself to me even further by mentioning my favorite television director, the late Kim Manners, during the session. Over the weekend, he also shared some big news with us -- he and his fiancee are expecting a baby and he had just become an American citizen.
If something at the convention could be considered a downer, it's probably the fact that EVERYONE is there to see the same people, so there's no time for personalizing autographs or making connections. The next day when I met Mark again, there were four things I wanted to get in during the brief conversation -- a thank-you for mentioning Kim, that I first became a big fan of his when he was on Medium, and congratulations on the baby and his naturalization. While we awaited my turn, Lor kept quizzing me so I wouldn't forget when I got up there, all nervous and excited. It became known as "KimMediumBabyCitizen."
And I did it too, while adding a clutch autograph to The X-Files yearbook collection -- he was in the first season episode, "Fire." By Sis' tally, I got "two big smiles and a chuckle" out of it. Here's the way I remember it: Me: "Thanks for mentioning Kim Manners, he was my favorite TV director." Mark: "Mine too." Me: "I've been a big fan since Medium." Mark: "Thanks." Me: "Congrats on the baby and becoming an American ... citizen." That's when the chuckle came into play, I kind of stumbled over that last part. But not bad for 10 seconds.
As the drawback is more a statement of fact than a complaint, it's easy to grade the convention on a curve and give it an easy "A," natch. Or Supernatch.
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