PigNaPoke
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Overall nice episode.
I liked that we were finding out a few more nuggets about each of the core four. Deepening the characters.
Man, Mary IS bossy…and rash. The way she just overwrites everyone and orders them around isn’t smart. But it’s quite realistic for a teenager I would say. Especially one that is used to have orders barked AT her. As Carlos says later, she does exactly what she didn’t enjoy having done to her. However, it’s something familiar to her so she falls into it .
Really liked Carlos being less loud in this one and standing up to Mary trying to set her straight by telling her she’s being “too Samuel” like !! JoJo had some really good moments in this episode.
And I’m glad Mary came around and apologized seeing her mistake. And I loved the conversation between Carlos and Mary back at the club house where she brings it back up and wants to clear the air. A more open communication between the team members will be a good thing to see happening.
Lata is lovely and I like that the team has their own lore expert around with her. She’s basically the new (or old) version of always available WiFi and the internet on SPN…lol.
You can start to see why John and Mary might bond over their parent issues. Although they are coming from opposite ends at it – John wanting to FIND his purpose and legacy and Mary wanting to shed it. Will be interesting to explore further.
INTERSTING about Ada and her knowledge to induce that trance to write the echo words! Do we think she WAS a woman of letters?
Some of my other thoughts as I was watching:
Question: Was the burnt out creepy old factory supposed to be the MoL chapter house in Savannah?? Not realistic looking at all of the other chapter houses we have seen before? Unless this one was supposed to be long abandoned? (Nice locale though)
Is Dean’s voice over a little too Jensen Texas drawl to anyone else?
I like the use of the “classic” looking zombie here. We haven’t had that on SPN. And they even died the “Walking Dead Way” by stabbing them in the head. NICE.
Someone could’ve told John that beating a zombie won’t kill it. LOL. But he throws some great punches. I like that his current M.O. is to go all out with his hand-to-hand skills, because it’s realistic that he would fall back on something he knows. However, I want him to ask more questions about what to do.
So, they drove from Kansas to New Orleans and back to Kansas in the pilot. Now to Savannah just to find a lead back to Kansas? LOL. That’s a lot of driving, even with cheap gas. And John said that “the last two weeks” they’ve been looking for Samuel but the last we saw in the pilot was them taking off to Savannah….they drove two weeks?
Didn’t like the fight between Millie and John. That seemed a little forced and he was so rude to her. She isn’t asking much…ONE CALL. But we need a little more back story about their relationship to judge what’s happening between them. We know already that he faked his age and signed up to the Marines without her say-so. He seems quite rebellious and bull-headed, which fits with his later self.
And I loved the conversation between John and Millie at the end. It seemed real and warm and nuanced. Both actors did really well with it. And it made the fight at the beginning more understandable to me.YES, first TW motel!! Funny, but when I saw the cars in the parking lot, I’m looking for Baby and then thought “huh, all vintage cars?”….duh…we’re in the 70’s. I was wondering if a cheap motel they’ll stay in now should look vintage to the THEIR time period? Like 50’s or 40’s style?
I do like what’s happening between Ada and Millie. Could be a cool adult female friendship or at least uneasy alliance.
OK, now we know that Millie didn’t move to Lawrence AFTER Henry went missing, because HENRY planted the jasmine at the garage for protection. (Then my confusion about the location is back as Henry was living in Normal, IL when he disappeared. Oversight? Or will be explained later?)
A PHONE BOOTH at the Hippie Camp?! HA.
I liked Lata’s lore book and the story about the monster. Nice and gruesome. Just would have liked to have a little explanation why an incredibly rare monster from Columbia is in Kansas.
They could have made the monster lady way more scary, though! She was nothing like the drawing in the book. Her outfit and wig looked like a cheap Halloween costume. Either make her older and witchy looking OR make her more tree like. Her look didn’t work for me at all and took me out of the story.Also – sorry – the special effects were pretty weak. The hole in the ground looked better on SPN in season 5 (2010) than here. The vines never looked like they were actually penetrating to feed (or were they just supposed to tie the victims down?). Mary stabbing the monster at the end looked like she never gotten the stake through the fabric of the robe. ETC.
UHM….wouldn’t there be water in those copper pipes John rips out from under the sink like the Hulk? Unless John cut off the main?
It was very obvious that Millie was La Tunda. But I did like that we hear a little more about the chip on John’s shoulder about his dad leaving and him feeling like he wasn’t worth staying for.
There was a misplaced “Audrey III” reference from Mary! Little Shop of Horrors – where the man-eating plant
Audrey is from – didn’t open until 1986!!HA, I guess, John’s thing will be to have monster goo spewed in the face? First the zombie and then La Tunda’s green sap?
Pretty intriguing end there. Someone coming for the essence of the La Tunda and drawing those crawly things to follow? Was that the same thing as in the New Orleans crypt? Were those Akrida? I hope not. They looked like shadowy crabs.
I was again entertained and want to see more.
Hey Borgmama1of5, great to have you here joining the discussion!
You make an EXCELLENT POINT about John’s attitude towards it all in “The Song Remains The Same”!! I had not thought about that. I still would hope for a little more inquisitiveness (I don’t think that’s a word, right?) from John in future episodes, but I can accept his “roll with the punches” behavior a little better now that you pointed that out. THANKS!
YES, I thought about the licorice discussion between Sam and Dean as well! HA! I am completely on Sam’s side in that argument. Licorice DOES taste like DIRT!
Even though the notion that Dean is more like Mary and Sam is more like John was already established in SPN canon and I do like subtle hints at that here in TW (like the licorice thing) I’m a little worried that they will start showing it down our throats more forcefully in the run of this show. I believe that kids, although predestined to pick up SOME traits of their parents, have the ability to change their behavioral patterns away from their parents’ and develop their own character traits based on their own life experiences. Same goes for Sam and Dean. I don’t want to be fed heavy handed parallels all throughout TW that are meant to make me think that I am practically watching a version of Sam and Dean here!!
Not that Robbie would write it like that, but that might be something the Network or Studio want to convey….feeding off the popularity of SPN.
Most of all, though, I hope that the show is given a REAL chance by the audience, network, studio and whatever other PTB out there to become an entertaining and relevant companion piece to the OG SPN!
Of course, it will never diminish my desire for more Sam and Dean and Supernatural!! And TW will never completely measure up to the OG mothership and “our boys”…..but then….I would never LET it either.
PNP
Hey All, after pondering it some more I think why the episode seemed a little frantic or clunky and many things were just touched on too briefly was because they had to introduce four core characters in 42 minutes and leave us at least with a cursatory impression.
Jensen and Robbie both said that this will be an ensemble show and the “core four” are ALL important from the start whereas SPN was mostly about Sam and Dean and only until it became kind of ensemble-y with Cas joining.
Plus you have Millie and Ada (LOVE how many important WOMEN we have here) who need a little attention, too, as they seem to be guiding influences in some ways.To me Robbie did a good job giving me a few important bits about each character to be intrigued and want more. That’s really most I hoped for from the pilot, that the characters were hinting at layers that can be explored.
The MAIN thing that bothered me that John wasn’t more skeptical!! That was WAY too glossed over. Like kate38 said “This is a demon….from hell.” “OH, cool, let’s have coffee and find our dads.”I
I can buy that John is WILLING to accept that there could be supernatural beings. And I definitely can buy that he is brave and self-sacrificing in the face of danger, especially after just coming back from Vietnam. And I also understand that he jumps on this new “mission” of fighting monsters and finding out more about his dad’s world but for him to seem like a SMART character I need him to ask more questions and be a little stunned at it all.
And his way to explain why he went to Vietnam to find out more about his dad was really confusing.
Maybe he meant that Henry was a duty driven man and he wanted to experience that in his own way through military service and see if it was something they shared a passion for? But if that’s it, I need to hear THAT from Millie amd John. John was only four when Henry escaped Abbadon and found Sam and Dean. John couldn’t have remembered much details about his dad without someone telling him. At the moment it sounds like his was physically searching for Henry in Vietnam.On the other side what DOES immediately feel to me like we are playing in the same world as SPN is all the rich detail in the sets and locations!! It might not be Jerry Wanek anymore but whoever has taken this on is doing a great job evoking the same magic so far!! There was A LOT for the Production design team to do between the MoL “clubhouse”, Ada’s bookstore, the Winchester Garage, the crypt!!
Now, one other BIG question I have is: In “Time Goes By” Henry lives in NORMAL, IL when he leaves his family to go “to work” and then disappears, but TW is set in Lawrence, KS and Henry’s chapter house is there….. I doubt Henry had to drive from Normal to Lawrence every time to go to a meeting of the MoL??
Hey Stedan,
I too am eagerly hoping for a SPN reboot and the almost cruel teaser to see only Dean only made that wish more desperste, BUT….
if T.W. can bridge the time until then and provide worthy entertainment in the SPN universe….I’m IN for the ride!I never watched “How I met your mother” so that reference during the NYCCC was kinda lost on me.
I AM hoping that Dean won’t string is along too long for answers on his findings AND his situation!! His narration is intriguing to me, though and I trust Robbie to use it as an interesting tool for us to get unique insight into the past that the characters IN it not yet have.
Jensen said in a TVLine interview last week that there will be OTHER voices added to the narration here and there. (I’m guessing Sam?!)
And Robbie said that episode 13 will reveal A LOT on how this fits into canon we know!I always loved the way Robbie wrote and revealed characters in layers. I am excited to see what he’ll do here!
I just watched the episode again and liked it again very much!
I thought Meg did a fine job portraying Mary as starting off very abrasive and blustery but showing subtle signs of surprise and interest over John’s fast involvement and softer nature pretty quickly. She takes charge, yes, but she seems to be the one with the longest experience, so I don’t mind that. And she delegates jobs to the team member she trusts to be good at what she asks. To me that’s being a good leader. I’m excited to see more.
Kate38, you mentioned Mary being “too Buffy” for you. I laughed at that!! Great thought! Although, I have to say that I always LOVED watching Buffy ASIDE from the fact that most female characters were heavily sexualized (with the sleazy 90’s outfits and dumbed down lines) and didn’t NEED to be!! I was very happy to see that T.W. seem to follow a different, more modern and empowered way on that subject! We had several strong female characters in this pilot and not a sleazy outfit in sight!! Happy about that.
I will DEFINITELY do my best to WATCH T.W. for as long as the show is on the air!! Even if it’s just to support the creative team behind the scenes!!
Hey, I’m STILL watching Walker after all to support Jared, even though I REALLY don’t enjoy it or think it’s a well written show. It’s more like a chore. LolPNP
WELCOME, STEDAN!!!
It is so great to have NEW fans joining us here to chat and exchange opinions!!!
We are a 100% SAFE place here!!!
ALL opinions are respected and listened to. No one is shamed or bullied!
We don’t have to agree but no thought is discounted.
I had some of the best discussions here over the last years and often on subjects some of us DISagree on. Lol.
I learned A LOT here and I consider the people here my REAL SPN FAMILY.SO…AGAIN…welcome
PNP
To me it makes more sense if the Dean scene at the end of The Winchester pilot was not set in Heaven.
They could’ve out the old plates back on after Chuck was gone.
Also in this scene the cooler is in the back seat and the amulet hangs on the rearview mirror – both not the case in Dean’s ride around Heaven’s back roads in the finals as far as I recall!
The feeling I got from the heaven scenes w as that only a few hours passed for Dean until Sam joined him. It never even got dark. Not enough time for some detective work on his origins.
I DO really appreciate, however, that the Dean scenes at the end of TW pilot had the SPN blueish-cool look and feeling to them!!
HEY NIKCON7!!!! GREAT to see you back as well!!!!
Yay, the gang is back together to discuss AND we got Tigerlili in the mix!!I
Great START!
PNP
The TRAP is a little too Ghostbusters to me at the moment, although, I appreciate the use of Norse Runes! But I could see potential issues with it already, like: how many fit into it? When you trap another will others trapped escape? Was there something IN the trap already that might escape with the Akriba (was that the name?) will be shoved in?
But I will allows it some time….
Interesting that Meg Donnelly is first on the call sheet! Good for her, though!
KATE38!!!! YOU’RE BACK!!! I Am soooooo happy! Thanks for being here.
I do agree with you on my confusion about some of the demon aspects!
Also, Carlos was REALLY good at casually sprinkling salt into a perfect circle. HAHA.
I did not quite get the explanation of why John joined the Marines and left his mom behind yet either and REALLY hope we get more on that.
VERY good point on John’s mom! Strong and impressive character and non-conformist for her time, which I LOVE!!
PNP
WELCOME, TIGERLILLY!!!! SOOOO good to have new commentators!!!
Well, Well, Well…..and here it goes. It was GOOD, not great…yet….but very enjoyable and intriguing.
It could TOTALLY be me and my old(er) brain, but the fast and furious start caught me a little off guard. I didn’t dislike it but, MAN, it moved quickly. I DID really dig the Indiana Jones vibe at the very beginning, though. Knowing Jensen loves that character and would have loved to play it….
Immediately I loved the LOOK of it – the hues of amber and moss and rust, the slight fuzziness of everything, almost sepia and nostalgic. VERY vintage and cool looking. (Very Southern)
It’s probably as obviously NOT Kansas as Broward County in “Mystery Spot” was NOT Florida….so, I will always forgive that.
And the use of music was great, too, ASIDE from the incessant need nowadays to ALWAYS have background music in every scene….
I also liked a lot how we jump straight into it all with John and Mary after the fist “Slaughterhouse Five” meeting.
John having a letter from Henry and looking for where the key fit that first night and Mary looking for her dad overlapping with that seemed a good fit to make them interact again.
I didn’t mind at all that we got an immediate reveal of the MoL “clubhouse” and the fact that Henry (aaaaawwww Gil’s voice at the end!) left John a letter and key! YES, it throws up a lot of questions, but I can wait for clarification on that. I always hoped for more MoL content on SPN that would show them in a more useful and less elitist way than the BRITISH MoL. Maybe Robbie can give that to us?! I’m FOR it.
I do have to say, though, that I found John a little TOO accepting of the fact that Mary tells him about demons, monsters, suflur, vampires etc and later Carlos tells him about a ghoul. John never even bats an eye or is the least bit suspicious??!! I wish they had to put a little more skepticism into that! Or a montage of him reading some of Henry’s paperwork and finding out more? SOMETHING to make him a little more disbelieving. I mean we KNOW he has seen evil in Vietnam….but it’s not the same. The Supernatural still needs to stand out from that.
I get that they had time constraints and needed to get a lot communicated in the first episode….but he never even questions “what? Vampires are real? Like Dracula?” Or ask Carlos about what a ghoul is? MISSED opportunities at humor here.
Also, Mary is a little too sharing for someone who wants OUT of the live and doesn’t want to involve anyone else in it, BUT I can take that as an attempt to try and scare John away.
But I do like Meg as Mary. To me she portrayed nicely how closed off and wary Mary is at this point. There was a lot of good awkwardness about her.
Drake makes a charming picture of a very square John here at the beginning. Black and white world view nicely shown, something we know him for later. We can also feel bits of his pain and search for purpose. His recklessness over jumping into the next dangerous adventure makes sense to me for someone who just returned from war and doesn’t want to sit still and look too closely at what he just went through.
To me John wore a Sam-style shirt until Carlos gave him a “John-like” leather jacket, but I might be stretching the intent. LOL.
Latha, Carlos and Ada were just intriguing enough to make me want more. There are hints at what got them into hunting, and explanation enough why they would might want to make their knowledge about the supernatural a weapon against it.
I have 100% trust in Robbie Thompson to layer them in a way that we get bits and pieces of their personalities and intentions episode by episode.
VERY dynamic and ambitious scene in the underground chamber!!! Mary throwing punches at the demon, John fighting the Loupgarou (I APRRECIATE the use of THAT specific monster, indigenous to Creole culture, even though it DID look a little “early SPN” rubbery), Latha figuring out the box, Carlos….being knocked out. There was a lot going on in that scene and it was a little confusing, but exciting.
I am not on board (yet) with the musical use of what I always considered the Sam and Dean Theme when John and his mom talk about his “destiny” towards the end. But I might be convinced otherwise later as the music itself DOES invoke warm feelings of belonging in me. Maybe it’s simply the “Winchester heart to hear music”? I have to wait and see.
There were also some definite “HUH?” moments.
When John “exorcises” the demon Carlos throws at him (funny) he didn’t use the full incantation?? Sign of the (squirrel) attention span of the younger viewer? Or time constraints? I did not like that.
Did Mary just leave her car in Lubbock to ride in Carlos’ van to New Orleans? WHY. Two cars might come in hand and GAS was $0.89 a gallon at the time…lol.
Dean’s narration needed a little more context to me! WHEN was he? (Where was Sam?) WHAT set off the curiosity about his parent’s origin story? The actual words of his speech changed a lot from the first teaser trailer but now it seems a little disjointed – AS GREAT AS IT IS TO SEE DEAN!!!!
But overall….strong start for a prequel that had to live up to a LEGEND! 6 out of 10 for me.
PNP
SUPER EXCITED!!! All around.
I completely trust the creative talent behind the new series. Every single person talking about it over the last few months and even more so at NYC COMIC CON last weekend, from Jensen and Danneel to Robbie, Meg and Drake, are so super concerned about it being both NEW and FAMILIAR and NOT interfering with what we already know as canon – it’s heartwarming and makes me expect an outstanding product.
How perfect that Drake (John W.) is already a huge fan of the “mothership” series of SUPERNATURAL? He has so many thoughtful things to say in his interviews about what he wants to bring to his portrayal of John.
Robbie Thompson is a genius! I loved his episodes and especially his “creations” of Charlie and Eileen, so I have high hopes for the new characters in The Winchesters such as Carlos and Lata and also for interesting insight into John and Mary’s characters and history.
And I have to say that New Orleans is my favorite city in the U.S. for its history, vibe, people, atmosphere and culture so having THAT as a back drop for the show – as it is filming there – is the total cherry on the top for me.
CANNOT WAIT to see what’s in store for the “Core Four” (as the bts peeps call Mary, John, Carlos and Lata) and for us as an audience on this new ride IN A VAN! LOL
PNP
I think it’s Zach who changed the voicemail to Sam! When he talks to Dean and says that he has nudged Sam in the right direction (paraphrasing) to make sure he fulfills his role and I think he means the voicemail.
(It ALWAYS bugged me that they never addressed that at any time afterwards and cleared the air about it!)I never liked the Dumbo reference from Ruby! It was misplaced imo and that movie is SO HORRIBLE I didn’t want it to have any place in SPN.
VERY GOOD point about Sam seeing by Dean’s action that he hasn’t given up on him! It honestly never occurred to me. I always thought Sam would assume Dean is just there to do the job. Sam looks SO devastated and sad at the end when he says he’s sorry, like he doesn’t think there is forgiveness for his mistake. But maybe he gained hope back now that Dean was there.
It’s an awful situation with one brother betting on the angels and the other betting on a demon in their desperation to do prevent Lucifer’s rising and BOTH being wrong in their choices and get fucked over in the process.
I still remember thinking (after watching it the first time) that NOW Sam and Dean will understand that they are best TOGETHER counting on each other….Well….that took a while longer. LOL
YES, DAMMIT, Cas!
Many fans won’t let any blame come to Cas….ever….but if you look at his actions throughout the series he has MANY moments where he is not only NOT loyal to the Winchesters but actually ACTIVELY screwing them over. Some of his actions cause some of the most hurtful and dangerous situations to the Winchesters. He is often so misguided and instead of leaning on the Winchesters for advise or help he has a definite streak of hubris that is neither helpful nor becoming. HA! Another flawed dick angel.
