PigNaPoke
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My perception has changed over the years. I remember on my first watch of the early seasons that I (like JBB) thought Dean to be a little too cocky and reckless but with a huge heart and excellent skill to back that up. I found Sam whiny and immature the first time around – especially during the first two seasons.
Since then, every time I watch it again, their characters make more and more sense to me and I love them just the way they are.
I agree with Karen on the assessment of Dean completely.
Sam on the other hand seems just as insecure to me as Dean in many ways. Where Dean wasn’t allowed to be afraid or weak, Sam was so overprotected at the beginning and shielded from the realities of the hunting life that he was very much alone in his struggles to fit anywhere. Dad wanted Sam out of the action for his own protection and Dean wanted Sam out of the hunting life so he would not have to deal and suffer the same way he had to. To me that leaves young Sam very much alone and socially disconnected. It is no surprise to me that Sam in this case became the “researcher”, no one restricted him from reading and learning and he had to spent much time on his own, amusing himself. We know that he always tried to prove his worth to Dean and Dad – like in the flashback in “Just My Imagination” episode – wanting to be part of the family team and being shot down. I can totally understand how the Sam found his value in being the smart one and the educated one, where the other two were leagues ahead in practical skill. Overtime it all evened out a little, of course, but Sam always stayed more of an introvert and attached to learning.
Even if he comes across as slightly cocky or “know-it-all” at times (I honestly think they both do here and there….they ARE two young alpha males after all AND competitive brothers) in the early episodes, I do feel that Sam defers to Dean when it’s important. He still wants to prove himself to Dean.
So, I think, for myself I am gaining more understanding and acceptance for Sam with every rewatch I do, but Dean will always be my first love.
PNP
Whoohoo! ALWAYS liked this one a lot.
First off as I was an avid Buffy and Angel fan before SPN I was THRILLED with every guest actor appearance by previous B/A alumni and AMY ACKERS in this episode as the mom was perfect and a welcome sight. She did really well as the no nonsense young singly mother who called out Dean on his lame attempt at flirting! HA! Amy always brought a great mix of strength and vulnerability on Angel as well and I always enjoyed watching her.
All of the guest actors were again compelling and believable which made the show so darn watchable and relatable since the very beginning.
I had forgotten that Sera Gamble was involved from the start and wrote this episode.
The opening sequence was a little too long, I thought, as the underwater shots foreshadowed pretty clearly what would happen next (an attack from the deep) so there was not need to drag that out so much.
I love the fact that you can hear whispers but don’t understand them at the beginning. They only become clear when mom almost drowns in the bathtub. VERY creepy.
Sam’s puppy dog face and soft voice sure do wonders with the witnesses, huh? I am glad that they toned that down just a little bit later on. Sam is always lovely and empathetic with the witnesses but I like it better when it’s not too “sensitive”. Although, I have to say the fabulously beautiful close up of his face and gorgeous eyes when he talks to Andrea after her almost drowning is wonderful.
I just love SO MUCH all over again how complicated Dean is from the very start! He can be so understanding and smart about getting into Lucas’ defenses; we get a glimpse his own pain when describing how he is trying to be brave for his mom and then he behaves more like the rough big brother when he sets Sam straight about not running after John right this moment and about “ugh, we don’t have to hug or anything, right?” at the end. I also really like the little moment at the beginning where Dean flirts with the waitress and complains to Sam that they are allowed to have some fun, but then he seems to read in Sam’s face that it’s WAY to early after Jessica’s death for him to have any interest in another girl and suddenly Dean lets the subject drop and shows Sam a possible new case instead. Shows how tuned into his brother Dean is. And Jensen portrays it with so much finesse, it’s just completely draws you in and doesn’t let you go.
And Sam isn’t far behind in being a layered character, we just don’t get as immediate of a deeper insight as we gain with Dean.
This episodes sets into canon truth that ghost children are one of THE CREEPIEST things ever!!! Even if you see so very little of them like in this episode! It’s enough. It’s really scary. It was well-done.
I very much appreciated the mini-cliffhanger between Dean dragging Lucas out of the water, cutting to black, and the next shot where they walk to the car and Sam says “we can’t save everybody”. For a moment there – or really for five minutes to those of us who originally watched it with commercial breaks on TV…. – you didn’t know if they were successful in saving Lucas or not. Nice tension builder.
There was a lot of great things about this episode and I think it’s holding up very well even after watching it numerous times.
PNP
I am trying hard to watch the episodes this time around with the intent NOT to let “God’s plan” or “God’s writing” color my view.
I want to watch it discovering things I might have overlooked in the past. I want to watch the Winchesters grow and change and have their horizons expand.
I do not believe that all that was GOD’s doing!! I will stick with that opinion through out. God might have set the general outline and scenarios, God might have played the long story arc of getting the Winchester brothers born and put on the playing field for the apocalypse. He might have put road blocks in place that forced the brothers’ hand BUT I truly believe that their actual actions, their growth and their gained experience is THEIR OWN.
In my opinion they influenced their story as much if not more than God ever did.
PNP
I know Eric Kripke always cringes at this episode….I don’t know why? I LOVE IT!
Maybe it’s the Wendigo itself? Ok, maybe….kinda rubbery and awkward looking, but I thought they did a good job hiding it in half light and fast movement.
I, for one, am a sucker for Native American legends and mythology and I remember I was excited back in 2005 that they used such well known creature early in the series. SADLY other than in “BUGS” that was it for many seasons, which I am still sad about. There’s such wealth of folklore and myths that they could have played with.
But back to the positive.
Creepy camping in a far away location – always a good start. HA. I am with Dean : I HATE camping!
Especially with monsters in the woods and no Winchesters on speed dial.To my point from last week, again, great guest actor casting – shout out to Alden Ehrenreich and R.I.P. Corey Monteith – all around.
So between the set up, the monster, the outdoorsy nature, which to me always translates into no protection and vulnerability, I like the episode a lot.
Aside from all that we learn a lot new things about the brothers! We hear from Dean that Sam is not behaving like is usual self – Sam seems to be more hot headed and and charge-in-first-ask-questions later at the moment, which sets up future character development nicely, because we see Sam already in two possible ways.
In this episode it becomes even more apparent that Dean is the concerned, protective big brother. First in the car after Sam wakes up from the nightmare (establishing the BRO-MENT in the car concept!!) and especially through the talk by the camp fire where one of our most central catch phrases is coined (“Saving people, hunting things, the family business”)! Yes, he comes across as cocky and a little devil-may-care at first, but we see already in espisode 2 of 327 that there is a big heart and selfless willingness to help and sacrifice of himself behind the facade. That is great writing AND incredible acting so early on.
We also learn about the importance of John’s Journal and Dean’s view of “the job” and his duty to fulfill it.
We see Dean’s love for PEANUT M&M’s – another thing I agree with him on!! hehehe
We find out that Sam might be upset and anxious to revenge Jessica’s death and find his dad, but when it counts he is smart and resourceful and when the chips are down he is just as focused on saving the people in his care and getting the job done as Dean is.
I loved ALL of that.
To me the episode keeps up it’s tense feeling all the way through. The woods seem spooky, the labyrinth tunnels of the mine are oppressive, the monster is menacing especially because you DON’T see much of it.
The score also helps a lot to get your heart pounding and worry for our boys and their charges.AND this episode marks the first real SAVE for the Winchester Brothers. In the pilot they destroyed the ghost, yes, but they didn’t directly save a person. HERE they do BOTH. It’s feels great at the end that they were able to at least save the brother and keep the siblings together even if all involved are a little worse for wear at the conclusion.
One thing:
I noticed before when rewatching the series that in the early seasons the focus is sometimes off. Like when you have a close up of a person’s face and only the ear or shirt or something other than the face is in focus. I often wondered if that was on purpose? It’s weird.
Hi JBB,
I love all of your points about watching the Pilot without trying to be influenced by the end of the road. I was worried, too. And just like you I found the worry unnecessary in the end.
I have watched the entire series several times over the years, but I STILL find new things each time and enjoy it every time. This time was no different.
I always wondered why the pilot never got a episode name. It’s just PILOT. Huh.
From the start I was pulled into the episode. Captivated by what was unfolding. It never lost it’s grip on me.
What immediately got me was the feel of the show. It was dark, gritty, pretty brutal straight from the beginning, but also had a distinct tone of relatability. These were NORMAL people with screwed up problems and the grit to try and solve them.
To me, as an immigrant to this country AND as a travel professional, the AMERICANA the show exuded right from the start was another HUGE point of interest. The back roads, motels, smaller towns, classic car, classic rock….I mean, wow, what’s NOT to like??
And then there was the brother’s connection. It never even occurred to me that they looked nothing alike, the completely natural way they were interacting with each other made me believe they were brothers. The head slapping, bumping each other, stomping on a foot, glaring at each other….it was all there and all seemed to speak of YEARS of knowing each other. For two young actors to pull that off so immediately was IMPRESSIVE and still gets me today.
But there was also immediately the impression that both of them had layers and depth and a vulnerability that promised for very interesting character development.
BECAUSE of all of that the story made sense. The dialogue wasn’t strange, the situations seemed believable. It was MAGIC.
I thought at first that Dean was a pretty cocky jerk, BUT that there had to be more to it than that. Here was a 26 year old “kid” hunting monsters on his own, reluctantly asking his brother for help? And there is the younger brother, in Stanford of all places, reluctantly going off with his older bro to find their dad and figure out what might have gotten him? WOW. there had to be so much more to the story.
Nowadays I get the biggest smile on my face looking at the two of them being so young!! Their voices were much higher! Jared seemed almost like a teen still, puppy fat and lack of definition. And Jensen….well, of course, he was completely STUNNING from the start. HAHA.
One thing I had kinda forgotten is how many catch phrases were immediately coined in the Pilot! All things that became immediately t-shirt worthy like the “Driver picks the music….”; “Jerk” & “Bitch” and others.
Another thing that was immediately apparent is that the guest actors casting was well done. There was no wasted character in this episode, from the teenagers to the police officers to the creepy motel clerk to the actual “monster”. I love Sarah Shahi, the actress playing the Woman in White, in many of her future projects and love to be able to always know that she was in the pilot.
The horror aspect of this show was also great. The special effects seemed pretty elaborate for a TV show – before special effects were easy and cheap to achieve. The case was spooky. The action from the first fight in the dark to the driverless car attack to the fight with the Woman in White at the end including crashing a car into a house….WOW….nicely done and exciting.
Watching it again now the pilot has not lost any of it appeal or special fascination for me. Even aside from my love for the show I think it holds up as one fine episode of TV all these years later!!
CAN’T WAIT FOR MORE!!!
LOVE THIS!!! Thanks for setting this up, JBB!!!
From the first promo I found Supernatural intriguing! I had looked for another dark AND funny, scary AND touching, intense AND engaging show ever since Buffy and Angel ended and THIS new show about two brothers looked promising.
And once the pilot aired I stopped looking, never looked back and stuck with it through 15 incredibly wonderful years full of EVERYTHING I had looked for. Plus I gained a whole bunch of things that I could have NEVER even imagined – FRIENDS that I will love and be with for the rest of my life; EXPERIENCES I never knew are available like Conventions and road trips and scene and promo shot recreations and so much more.
In short what started out as a new little horror show that fascinated me Supernatural quickly became a huge part of my life. I will never be more grateful for anything than I am for Eric Kripke’s creation of this show and for Jared’s and Jensen’s portrayal of these characters who have become REAL for me.
ANYHOW – ON WITH THE SHOW…..AGAIN!
I’m tired of crying my eyes out at every meme and gif of the scenes in the finale and I am READY to relive the whole ride….at least once more.
PNP
THAT was awesome!!!
I have to say the “LONG ROAD HOME” episode was not very impressive!! It was nice, but it felt like a bonus extra on the season bluray. There wasn’t really anything new to be gained from it.
I fully expected some behind the scenes of the last season footage or maybe some “what are they doing now” thing.
But again, it was nice.
PNP
Hehe, I said the same thing, JBB.
I agree with you.PNP
Hey JBB,
I really don’t think THAT was was the writers had in mind!!! That would carelessly undo fifteen years of having the Winchesters expand their knowledge and gain skills. To me that part of them was never influenced by God’s writing. Didn’t he say at some point that he set scenarios and gave them plot lines but their movement through that was their decision and could surprise him? To me God set up the characters (maybe) and set them loose, but a lot of what they BECAME was their doing and free will. I don’t buy that with God’s defeat the Winchesters became LESSER.And even IF their power and prowess was linked to God’s existence then shouldn’t the power Jack sucked out of Chuck be enough to tether the Winchester’s power too? In that case they wouldn’t be “less” now either.
PNP
Hi JBB, I agree 100% with everything you so eloquently said and felt very similarly about it all.
I, too, had always thought Sam and Dean’s heaven would include a get together at the Road House and many past lost friends and family. It makes me sad that the pandemic obviously took THAT from us, too.
I do love that we all have different opinions and can discuss them freely here!!!
I love that the show has such deep and lasting effect on so many people.
I will NEVER stop loving the show and all it has brought to my life!!!
I am HUGELY sad that it is over and I am sure I will never again get THIS involved in any other show.
But if it had to end, I am glad it was this way. I had MANY visions of worse (for me) endings.
PNP
I COMPLETELY agree with the statement that DEAN deserved a longer life after all he has given to the world!!!
Absolutely, yes! I did not WANT Dean to die young!!! There is no joy in it for me.
And I honestly do not understand WHY that decision was made??? There is no reason for it AND it makes no good business sense!! Even if you wanted to kill Dean earlier than Sam would die, why not leave a nice long stretch of time between the defeat of Chuck and that incident in order to possibly set a reboot or movie in?
But I don’t see Sam’s life as unhappy.
PNP
Hi Shannon,
can you explain what you mean by “Dean didn’t have God’s armor”? Do you thing that the writers still wanted us to believe that without God’s writing Dean was out of “luck”?
To me that part of the story line was finished after the GAMBLERS episode. My understanding to the “God made them normal” debacle was that in fact it wasn’t at all that God withdrew favor from them (even though he made them believe that) but that he instead put a damper on their OWN and natural abilities which is what caused them to feel normal and be clutsy. And that he put some type of whammy on them to have all the other unpleasant issues.
But all that was lifted when Fortuna gave them the coin and their “luck” back.
PNP
Hi Guys,
I understood the restoration of humanity Jack-God performed last week to have all vanished people reappear. Therefore I would assume that Donna, Jodi, the girls, AU hunters, AU Charlie, AU Bobby (and the Doppelgangers) are all still in the world. Many of them know about the bunker. And I can believe that Sam would place a key with Donna or Jodi or maybe AU Bobby.
I didn’t understand as Sam walking away from the bunker forever. To me he definitely moved out, it being too painful to be there alone, but I would assume he would come back for the resources when needed. And I would have expected him to show his son.
I understand Sam’s son to be the main legacy now.
I also found it heartwarming for Donna to send work Sam’s way, no doubt in an effort to prevent him from giving up hunting completely.
I believe the Winchesters had enough chosen family left in the world and had influenced enough lives through their work that there are always people out there to carry on their legacy and work.
PNP
Super interesting to me how different we all felt the episode!!
I was hanging on every word in that scene. To me it felt like at first DEAN was drawing it out because he wasn’t ready to go and then SAM drew it out because he couldn’t let go of Dean when he was hanging on by a thread. But it didn’t feel too long to me.
The asking for and giving of “permission” to let go was INCREDIBLY powerful to me personally – partially because I had a very similar experience with a dying friend. So the whole thing went straight under my skin even though I only realized WHY on the second watching of it.
PNP
Although Sam got a “life” it seemed hollow — like he was never truly happy and spent decades faking having a life and a family. I guess the writers went back to that time when Sam said he wanted a normal life. So they thought it was okay to force Sam to live a whole life away from Dean and away from hunting. But it just felt hollow and empty to me. They were going for a level of sadness these characters didn’t deserve.
Hey Kate,
what made it seem hollow and unhappy to you?I felt that very differently. I agree that Sam wouldn’t have ever went looking for a family life on his own if Dean was still alive. However Dean has been pushing Sam towards Eileen as a possible partner ever since Eileen came into the picture. So with Dean’s dying wish for Sam to have a live and knowing that Eileen would be a good choice, seeing how she is a hunter herself and Dean liked her too, I can believe that Sam would have given that relationship a go.
And I got melancholy, but not unhappiness from the Sam life montage.
Like when he climbed into the Impala as a old man for example, it felt to me like he was feeling close to Dean there and that he missed him and that he maybe was “telling” Dean that he wouldn’t have to wait much longer, but he did not seem generally unhappy or suicidal to me.I am very sorry that it felt wrong and depressing to you!!!!!
PNP