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kagesdumpsterfire · 2 years

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The Winchesters: Season 1 Episode 1

I don't know if any one else prepared themselves for the pilot like I did (probably so) by watching all the important John and Mary lore centric episodes. I'm glad I did though, because it gave me a nice refresher on important elements of each of their pasts. Not to say I didn't already know their story (I've watched every episode, minus 15×20, at least 4 times so...) but it was like having a good cram session before a test. That being said I have a few thoughts on the pilot that I wanted to write down. Mostly for me to go back on in the future to see how my opinions may have changed. Anyway, SPOILERS AHEAD

CHARACTERS

ADA

Starting off with Ada because the least is known about her, but I like her so far. Strong, mysterious, smart, has worked with MOL before, owns a rare bookshop (which, let's be real here, for a black woman in the early 70s is impressive as hell). Vey much looking forward to seeing more of her.

MILLIE ( Momma Winchester)

Definitely giving Ellen Harvelle vibes. Strong, Independent but bitter. I sympathize with her, of course. She thought her husband ran off on her then her son goes off and lies about his age to join the military, not knowing for 2 years if he would come back alive. I'd be bitter too. But between her and Henry, it's easy to see secret keeping and lying to "protect loved ones" is definitely a Winchester genetic curse. Honestly I'm nervous to see what is going to happen to her, considering she's almmost never (if ever) mentioned in SPN.

LATIKA

I like her. She's vey sweet, if not a bit naive. We know that Samuel saved her life somehow which is how she got involved in everything and that she's known Mary for over a year but inexperienced in actual hunting. She's a pacifist and easily frightened, which doesn't bode well for her hunting career, but very eager to get out onto the field. Of all the characters so far though, she's to one I'm most concerned about. Her devotion to Samuel, coupled with her naivety and pacifism is a combo that could easily get her killed. I hope I'm wrong, but this is the SPNverse so...

CARLOS

Love him. He definitely felt like the most in-place character for the time setting. And being openly bisexual in the 1970s? Legendary. He's very aloof, obviously a player, hippie "free love" vibes. He got into hunting after his family was slaughtered by a gouhl. Something happened between him and Mary ( macking on her ex and bailing on a hunt of some kind) but he apparently carries a torch for her. I like that he has a takes charge vibe and obviously believes in a "hands-on learning" approach when it comes to hunting. He seems to have a lot of faith in people's abilities to suprise themselves. My only concern is that his additude is going to get someone killed. I also feel like there is going to be some tension bettween him and John regarding Mary in the future.

* note: This is about the character. When regarding Carlo's actor, they are nonbinary and use They/Them pronouns*

MARY

She's vey much Mary Winchester. Some people might not agree, but I think most people are looking at Mary the mother, Mary the wife, not Mary the young daughter of a hunter. Mary the young girl who wanted nothing to do with hunting but had no choice. Mary the young girl who is still in mourning over the death of her cousin, a death she blames heself for. Pre John, Pre Sam and Dean, Pre Azazel Mary. We're seeing a Mary who isn't responsible for anybody but the people she saves. A Free Mary if you will. But still her. She's a badass fighter, which she always has been. She has a caring quality to her but is still standoffish in a way. She would rather walk away from human confrontation than talk it out (Same ole Mary) and she definitely acts before she thinks. Now, I've had a multitude of mixed feelings on Mary ever since season 12 of SPN, mostly veering towards frustration. She's not a simple character, she never has been. She has layers and not every layer is all that likeable. But one thing about Mary that I do respect is consistency. Did she try to be a good mom, a good wife? Yes. Did she always succeed? Hell no. She has always had a layer of defiance and selfishness hidden under whatever mask she was wearing at the time, even when it came at the expense of others. But she also has always had a need to protect. I'm not going into how I felt about her abandoning S&D in SPN because that's an essay in and of itself, but overall I can say I definitely feel like they got Mary's characterization right in TW. Hopefully they'll grow with that.

John Winchester

*deep aggravated sigh* John motherf*king Winchester. The hardest thing we are all going to have to accept about this series is that this is pre Azazel John and therefore, not the ruthless SOB that we love to hate. Truth is, when we first met the Wichester parents in season 4 of SPN Mary described John as sweet, kind, and someone, who despite everything, still believed in a happily everafter, everything a hunter isn't. That is the John we are going to be seeing. Now, I am , in no way, trying to be a John apologist. I personally think he should have stayed in hell after what he did to his children. I will make no excuses for the man he became. However, this is him before he became that man. That being said, I'm still not sure I like him. He's obviously suffering from severe PTSD after watching his friend get blown up and needs to talk about it. Not just say this is what happened, but actually sit down with someone and talk about it. I realize it's the 70s and therapy wasn't as readily available as it is today (which casued a multitude of problems irl after 'nam with messed up soldiers but I digress) but jesus christ Winchester, get some therapy. Because of this he has an obvious death wish. Right off the bat he puts himself in danger without any knowledge of how to handle what he is facing. He also has a "White Knight" complex that I cannot stand (and again have seen in real life soldiers fresh out of combat so bravo for accuracy there). He is very cocky, and sure of himself, which is going to put someone in danger. He's flirtatious (we all saw the Latika scene) and while not neccesarily a bad trait, it will most likely cause a distraction that isn't needed in a time where focus is necessary. I definitely see traces of the John we know. Looks like he always had trouble of letting go of the past at the expense of others, very on brand. I can definitely see where Dean was coming from when he said Sam was just like their father. It's interesting for sure and I'm reluctant to say this but, I'm ready to learn more about him.

STORY

It's alot. Like a lot. It feels like they did their damndest to pack as much exposition in as possible which made for and extremely fast pace3 pilot. There wasn't a whole bunch of down time in the episode to reflect on things which can be a good thing, midseason, but was a little wonky for the pilot. We got introduced to a few new characters as well as reintroduced to some old ones with some glimpses of backstory and it honestly could have been split into two parts to ease the pacing but overall I'm intrigued.

Some key points:

John's PTSD is definitely going to bite them in the ass, though it was interesting to see he always had a willingness to bleed for mary when he cut his friend's cross out of his arm.

Samuel leaving Mary and Deanna alone to go off on a hunt seemed off. I realize it was used as a plot device to tie in with SPN but it felt...hmmm....I'm just not sure I like what certain fans will do with the " finding Mary's dad narrative. Iykyk.

The man who handed John his dad's letter and dissapeared was 100% an Angel. You can't change my mind

Driving to 3 different states in the first episode was a lot but apparently this group is used to it, John however seemed so willing to leave home and travel with them, which made me feel sorry for Millie.

They have a monster box and a lot of info on how to use it due to the library and the MOL club house, which was cool and I want to know more about this stuff but everything was so sped up I couldn't get a grasp on everything they were doing and saying. I'm sure it will be explored more.

While it isn't the first time we've seen that the MOL have used monsters/creatures as guard dogs for their things, I almost wish it would have been a previously known monster. I actually have a lot of complaints about the loup-garou but that's neither here nor there.

I hope to see more of Carlos and Mary's beef regarding that hunt and they don't leave it slightly vague like they did with Bobby and Rufus. I also want to know more about how Samuel saved Latika.

The Akrida. Are we talking Aliens, dimentional creatures, or underworld here? I have a feeling they are going to be a key plot point in why John seems oblivous to everything once we meet him. I'm definitely intrigued, if not a bit apprehensive, but we'll see.

I, personally, enjoyed the little details about John and Mary's first meeting they put in there. Slaugher house 5. Cup of coffe. All that good Jazz, it was nice. I'm still bothered by Zachariah saying they hated each other at first and forever bothered by the random patron of the diner from In The Beginning telling John to say hi to his old man for him, when Henry dissapeared when John was a child, but it's still the pilot so, there's time.

DEAN😭😭😭😭😭

I'm not going to sit here and predt3end I didn't tear up hearing his voice. I'm sure as hell not gonna pretend I didn't cry actually seeing him on my screen again. I was born into this fandom a Dean girl and since nothing in the SPNverse never truly dies, it looks like a Dean girl I shall remain (with occasional Castrash moments obviously).

PRODUCTION

Glorious. The shots in Louisiana were beautiful, I enjoy the music accompaniment and that it isn't so loud that it overtakes the dialogue *coughcough* but gives the scenes a nice ambiance. Hearing Dean's song over John's dialogue made me feel a type of way but I'll let it slide. The lightning is very bright and Campy but that's just how most everything is shot now. And it wasn't terrible. Literally my only complaint from a production stand point is some things about Mary's costume (she looked more like Claire Novak's twin sister that Mary Winchester. We need the Farrah Faucet hair) and the damn loup-garou. It looked like and ROUS from the Princess Bride. There is no known lore on it other than how to kill it. I get that it's a pilot and budget sacrifices have to be made somewhere but it was just...ugh. literally my only real complaint. I could deal with every minor detail that didn't fit my expectations because this is the pilot and really, who am I to be picky, this show wasn't made SPECIFICALLY for me and me alone, but that damn loup-garou was not it. Overall production, not just "for a pilot", but as a whole, was stunning when you consider that Jensen and Danneel have NEVER done this before. Bravo.

ACTING

I've already seen people commenting about the acting in the tags and some of it hasn't been terribly kind. I saw someone liken it to disney acting. Which, IDK couldn't have anything to do with the fact that Meg was a Disney channel actor, could it? Give them a break guys. They did a good job. Acting isn't easy and I, spending the majority of my childhood and teen years being a stage actor, saw no glaring issues. I was very impressed with the acting for a pilot. Let's face facts here guys its not like the SPN actors were ALWAYS on the ball either. Jensen was a soap opera star ffs! This is their first episode together. You gotta give them a chance to get to know each other. Damn, it's not like they stared into the camera or broke character or gave middle school play vibes. I'd be more concerned about their acting skills if they had been doing this for umpteen seasons and were internationally known super stars, but they did better than A LOT of CW actors on tv today. They did good. I'd like to see some of you go out there and do better. It's a pilot not a finale.

Final thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed it, and not just for it being part of the SPNverse. I honestly think i I would probably watch it as a stand alone for it's subject matter and genre. I think Jensen and Danneel did a wonderful job. I'm looking forward to putting my bias against John aside and actually learning more about the Winchesters' past. Definite 7.8/ 10 for a stand alone pilot (-0.2 for the pacing and - 2 for the damn loup-garou) and a solid 8/10 for something from the SPNverse.

Will we learn more about the The Akrida and their plan to destroy existence as we know it?

Will we get more backstory on our new characters?

Will anyone ever explain why the random patron told John to say hi to his old man for him when Henry had been missing for years?!?!?!?

Tune in next week for: Kage rants about The Winchesters To Almost Nobody But Themselves, to find out.

#the winchesters #TW #the winchesters prequel #spn prequel #pilot #kage rants #review #kratwtanbt

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