SPN Rewatch Season 1

Sep 01, 2022 15:39

I promised myself that one of the first things I would do upon retirement is a complete rewatch of all SPN episodes...in 32 days.

When I started Tuesday I kept making little notes to myself about things I found interesting, and it occurred to me that the SPN posts on LJ have really fallen off, so I figured what the heck and am posting my notes in case there are any other SPN fans doing a rewatch who might be interested.

Rewatch of Supernatural starting 8/30/22

These notes were made as I was watching each episode. They fall into a few types: things that made me go ‘oh, that’s where we learned that’; knowing what I know now, that is really interesting; following Sam and Dean’s character development; production elements that caught my attention this time around; annoying plot elements; and anything else random that I wanted to remember

General observations on Season 1
  • I was surprised at how much the boys, especially Dean, actually communicated their feelings in this season…I remember being very frustrated with the Winchester style of not communicating, but in this first season they actually did, maybe with some deflection first but they did get to it
  • Dean’s ladies’ man reputation was not so prominent in season 1 other than in the episodes where he is trying to get Sam laid and therefore needed to be an example…it was referenced he was a horndog but not so blatantly shown
  • Likewise with the ‘Dean eats all the time,’ not so prominent in season 1
  • I was surprised at how often they introduced themselves as Sam and Dean (though without a last name)
  • So much explaining of the monsters, usually from Sam to Dean, in order to keep the audience in the loop-but it is weird because the boys would know this stuff…This did improve some around halfway through the season
  • Visual style was very dark, jerky/fast cut camera movement for monsters
  • Lots of special effects that were later fine-tuned, they were clearly experimenting in this season to see what looked coolest, so there is some discontinuity between demon smoke effects, how ghosts appear/flame out, etc
  • Also there were lots of gadgets used in season one that I don’t think show up much again-camera to detect orbs, thermal imager with green rays, a blacklight (along with ‘Christo’)

  1. Pilot
Wow, those are really baggy flair jeans!
Clean shaven and very young voices
They speak in sync in this very first episode-when a witness starts to mention they know something they say simultaneously ‘Tell me about it’
We also get ‘no check flick moments’ and ‘bitch/jerk’ in the pilot
Dean started the episode in a canvas jacket; after he falls in the river and showers in the motel room John was using he grabs Dad’s leather jacket off a shelf (and it becomes his for the rest of the show)
Both ‘Back in Black’ and ‘Highway to Hell’ in the pilot too!
Dean tells Sam in front of Jess that Dad’s been missing a few days, but later he says Dad’s been gone 3 weeks
When presenting ID to the cops Dean flashes his and introduces both of them as cops-this would make sense since Sam doesn’t have any fake IDs at this point
  1. Wendigo
Sam still doesn’t have fake ID but he does have his laptop-when did they grab it from the burning apartment???
Sam is very on edge
Dean shows his purity of purpose to the idea of ‘saving people, hunting things’
Dean definitely acts like his arms have been injured when he is cut free in the Wendigo’s den
Sam protects the civilians and lets Dean play bait without protesting
  1. Dead in the Water
Dean has a little more stubble in this one
They use Sam and Dean as first names
Start of Dean’s emotional development revealed when he talks to the kid about seeing something bad happen and says ‘I know my mom wanted me to be brave and I think about that every day’
Dean is pretty serious throughout; takes it hard that so many, especially the sheriff, died and Sam tries to console him with ‘we’re not gonna save everybody’
  1. Phantom Traveler
This is the episode where the camera pans up Dean’s sleeping body in his underwear at the opening
Sam: ‘You’re never afraid?’
Sam admits he’s having nightmares
The airport manager Jerry reveals to Sam that John talked about Sam ‘all the time’ and was proud of him, to Sam’s surprise
Dean makes Homeland Security IDs for both of them
Sam mocks Dean’s homemade EMF reader
They get ill-fitting black suits off-the rack-we see them come out of the store with them (so different than later years with the exquisitely fitted, must-be-expensive suits)
Dean wishes Dad were here to deal with a demon this big
When calling the stewardess to try to keep her off the flight Dean cycles through several attempts as she calls him out on each one-it doesn’t work but he switches tactics so quickly
Sam says the plane is departing in 30 minutes and they just got in the airport-how did they get tickets and through TSA that fast???
Dean has smuggled a bottle of holy water on the plane-how could he do that???
The demon knows about Jess-first hint of her death having more meaning
Sam saves the day with the exorcism in a book that is not the one we are used to
John’s voicemail has been changed to tell callers to dial Dean, upsetting the boys
  1. Bloody Mary
Introduce themselves as Sam and Dean again
Sam gives out his cell number to witness
Dean is concerned over Sam’s nightmares
In trying to help Sam past Jess Dean tells Sam to ‘take a swing at me’ if it will help
Dean protests Sam being the one to summon Bloody Mary when they are in the car, but when they get in the store he doesn’t say anything more to dissuade Sam
Dean knocks out 2 cops effortlessly
Smart Dean figures out to show Bloody Mary her reflection in another mirror
Dean’s eyes are bleeding-he has a secret that got someone killed (but we never find out what it is in the whole series)
  1. Skin
Dean gives Sam grief about keeping up with his college friends
Dean does not wear the leather jacket this episode (good thing or it would have gotten trashed in the sewer)
We first hear Dean’s belief that everyone is going to leave him (from shapeshifter)
So Becky is brutalized by shapeshifter Dean and rescued by the cops-she then tells Dean she was knocked out and brought to the sewer as she was walking home. What the heck? She was just allowed to walk home from the hospital after being turned into a bloody mess???
Sam managing to flip himself to cut the ropes on the knife stuck in the pool table was very impressive
Dean tells Sam ‘I wish you could be Joe College’
  1. Hookman
First time we see the iconic wooden trestle bridge in the show!
Dean is more of a jerk this episode, especially to Sam
Still introduce themselves as Sam and Dean
In a nice bit of improvised tactics, Dean distracts the reverend so Sam can talk to Lori-being able to adapt strategy without speaking is one of the things I enjoyed about these characters from the start
Rocksalt bullets explained as something Dean and John came up with while Sam was at school
Dean digs the grave solo and it was amazingly easy, no ghost, just showed the physical labor
Figuring out how to solve the problem they say in unison ‘We stop the Hookman’
Sam gets sliced by the Hookman and gets paramedic care
Seeing that Sam had a connection with Lori, Dean says ‘we could stay’
  1. Bugs
First time we see Dean has made money hustling pool; Sam is not happy about how they make money through hustling and credit card fraud
They do a macho one-upmanship over who has to go in the hole where the man died of bugs and Sam ends up going
First time they are perceived as a couple (twice)
Sam drives Baby
Seeing how the real estate developer treats his son, Sam identifies that with how John treated him, telling Dean ‘Dad never treated you like that…he was all over my case’
When Sam advises Matt that he can go to college in 2 years to get away Dean is not happy
Dean defends John ‘He was not disappointed (by Sam going to college,) he was scared’
Dean also says John would swing by Stanford to check on Sam
At the end Sam says he wants to apologize to Dad who was doing the best he could
Near the start of the episode there is a cool camera move from a puddle upwards that shows a complete reversal of Baby; later there is another complete reverse image from a mirror when the boys break into a house
This was actually a cool mystery where they boys figured out the problem along with the audience instead of Sam explaining the lore ‘to us’-it only falls apart when the all-night-long attack of the bugs is over too fast. And that could have been fixed with a line of dialog about how much time had passed!
We have heard Jared and Jensen talking about being stuck in the room full of bees, but the guest actors had to be in there too!
After the episode goes to black there is a buzz heard over the credits
  1. Home
Sam tells Dean about his dreams about Jess in order to get him to take his new dream about the house in Lawrence seriously
Dean has a hard time with going back to Lawrence-When Sam asks ‘Will you be all right?’ instead of blowing Sam off, Dean says ‘Let me get back to you on that’
Dean’s red plaid shirt of angst!
Sam learns Dean carried him out of the house during the fire
The mythology of Sam being connected to something starts in this episode
Missouri tells them about poltergeist bags (even though in Phantom Traveler Dean says he and John took care of the airport guy’s poltergeist previously)
Dean’s face when he sees Mom is heartbreaking
Poor Jenny’s house
Missouri tells John that Sam has powerful abilities-is this why John doesn’t want Sam involved in the demon hunt?
The story doesn’t make sense-the poltergeist explodes out of the house but is still there and Mary has to vanquish it? Or is there another something after the poltergeist that Mary deals with? Missouri says the house is an evil magnet because of what happened there-but also says has been quiet since she’s been checking on it regularly
  1. Asylum
We hear the names of Caleb, Jefferson, and Pastor Jim for the first time when Sam says he called them looking for Dad
Dean has told Sam that he tried calling Dad before going to Lawrence
Sam is pissed about Dad not contacting them except to give locations-Dean wants to just follow orders
Dean scales the asylum fence in a truly awesome 180 twist (if Jensen pulled that off-wow!)
Sam using a camera to detect ‘orbing’-show still wanted to have them using gadgets
Dean’s first ever ‘son of a bitch’ (I think) is directed at his flashlight when it goes out
Another speaking in sync when they both say the asylum room number
They split up without argument, Sam to get the kids out and Dean to find the ghost
When Sam is under Ellicott’s influence about to shoot him, Dean asks ‘You hate me that much?’
When Sam does pull the trigger and Dean knocks him out Dean says ‘I’m not gonna give you a loaded pistol!’ (I wonder when he unloaded it though) Dean clearly is a step ahead of where Sam is emotionally in the moment
Ellicott’s ghost doesn’t flame out when his bones burned, he crumbles into dust
Dean is sleeping shirtless, Sam is in the whippet shirt at the end
  1. Scarecrow
Opens with Dad finally calling and telling Sam ‘it’s a demon’ then wants them to do a hunt
When Sam starts to argue Dean takes the phone-he has pulled on a t-shirt while Sam is talking-and visibly assumes the soldier mentality talking to Dad
Sam is driving
When Dean is trying to defend Dad to Sam, Sam says Mom died years ago-‘Jess died 6 months ago, how would you know how I feel?’
When Dean calls Sam after Sam has started to California he admits that he’s admired how Sam stands up to Dad
Sam needs to be sure Dean is okay more than he needs to find Dad
Sam tells Dean that he is sticking with Dean because the 2 of them need to see it through together.
  1. Faith
Dean misses his first shot with his taser and Sam throws his taser to Dean as he is getting the kids out
Dean just accepts he’s dying almost like it’s a relief
Sam’s call to Dad: ‘I can do it without you’
Roy to Dean’s question about why him? ‘(you have)…a job to do that isn’t finished’-just how much foreshadowing was Kripke intending?
Mrs. Rourke’s question: ‘Why do you deserve to live more than my daughter?’ really hits Dean’s low self-value hard
‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’ music-ha!
Sam states they can’t kill humans (regarding Roy)-boy, will this get challeneged…
Smart Sam-he finds the spellbook by seeing there is no dust on the shelf by it
Dean questions if they did the right thing-‘It sure doesn’t feel like it’
It feels like this is the first case that really shakes up Dean’s world view of both hunting and his value as a person
  1. Route 666
Radio announcer states unprecedented zero temp in Missouri at start of episode to account for snow that was in Vancouver at filming
Dean says he was with Cassie for a couple weeks, Sam says he was with Jess a year-and-a-half, and Sam is really pissed Dean told the family secret when Sam didn’t
Sam is intrigued at seeing a side of Dean he never knew-can’t get his mind around Dean being other than love ‘em and leave ‘em
Sam initially covers his fascination by being a bit of a jerk teasing Dean and keeps pressing for details
Sam’s gleeful ‘She dumped you!’ ouch
They use their suits from ‘Phantom Traveler’
When Dean goes to see Cassie alone and they are trading pointed comments Dean says to her ‘Without Sam it’s easier’
Easy to see why Dean likes Cassie-she is fiery and stands up for herself (maybe like how Sam was always fighting Dad-Dean is comfortable with that dynamic?)
Another smart Sam who figures out Dean needs to drive to the destroyed church
Cool visual effect of truck dissolving as it hits the Impala
‘What if you were wrong?’ ‘That thought didn’t even occur to me’-touch of Sam’s arrogance that he knows what he’s doing there even though it’s supposed to be a laugh line
Sam drives them away
  1. Nightmare
Nice visual segueway from light on motel desk to headlight
Sam’s 3rd nightmare/vision
First ‘Dean’s always eating’-the cocktail sausages
Dean uses a green ray thing in house-more tech stuff that never shows up again
Pistol-cleaning scene Jensen talked about
Sam’s first vison while awake
‘This doesn’t freak me out’-first big lie Dean says about his feelings
They make a point to wipe their fingerprints
Dean thinks it acceptable to kill Max even if he’s human
Sam makes the connection between him and Max from nursery fires and abilities starting 6-7 months ago and this is the start of him feeling there’s something wrong with him
Max uses Dean’s gun to kill himself and boys are there when cops come-how did Dean get his gun back since cops would have taken it as evidence???
Proof John was not abusive dad-Sam says ‘We’re lucky we had Dad-a little more tequila and a little less demon hunting and we woulda had Max's childhood’
Dean’s reassurance to Sam ‘As long as I’m around nothing bad’s gonna happen to you’
Then he tries to lighten Sam’s mood by suggesting they go to Vegas knowing that will annoy Sam out of his funk
  1. The Benders
Boys wear law enforcement jackets when asking questions at beginning
Bar is ‘Kugel’s Keg’
Dean has to go to cops for traffic cam info-when do they learn how to hack them?
Dean’s record of murder and subsequent death shows up when Kathleen runs check on Sam Winchester
When it’s all over Dean orders Sam ‘Never go missing again’-oh Dean…
  1. Shadow
This episode recap is first one that does not start with ’22 years ago’-focuses on ‘have to find dad’ comments
They wear alarm system uniforms which Dean complains about buying
How did Dean know to the connect the blood spots in that specific pattern? They could have been connected lots of ways…
First episode where we see Dean actively being a horndog (with bartender; he also brags about getting it on with lady cop)
Dean says he called Caleb for info
Because Dean is written as horndog this episode he discounts Sam’s suspicions of Meg and thinks Sam is covering up wanting to get it on with her
Sam climbs 7 story elevator shaft-wow-without Meg hearing-double wow
In sync talking-‘Dude I gotta talk to you’ when each learns something different
Dean is wearing the red plaid shirt of angst again
When they realize this could be connected to the demon Dean quietly freaks at being in charge of handling this and calls his dad-glimpse that Dean, for all his cockiness about being a bad-ass hunter, still wants/needs his dad to give orders
Sam says he wants to go back to school when it’s over-Dean: ‘You and me and Dad- I want us-- I want us to be together again. I want us to be a family again.’ Sam: Dean, we are a family. I’d do anything for you. But things will never be the way they were before.’ Dean: ‘Could be.’ Sam:’ (Poor Dean, hearing Sam doesn’t want to be with him-poor Sam, still thinking he can get normal)
Smart Sam figures out to light flare to disable daevas
Dean realizes they are John’s weak spot with the demons and makes John go against Sam’s protests
  1. Hell House
Back to ’22 years ago’ recap
Still using Sam and Dean when introducing themselves (as reporters this time)
Prank war episode
Inform viewers that EMF meters don’t work around power lines
Jeans are a little less baggy now
Boys immediately work off each other when playing Ed and Harry-a thing of beauty to watch
The girl dies because she won’t stand down from playing ‘truth or dare’ while Sam ignores Dean’s double-dare to drink from one of the disgusting jars-a subtle comment on peer pressure vs maturity there?
Dean hates rats
We get Sam in a towel
  1. Something Wicked
‘I’m the oldest which means I’m always right’
They have new crappy suits
Unusually, Dean’s instinct about the old woman in the hospital is wrong
In flashback Sammy is watching Thundercats-my kids watched that!
Whippet shirt appears again
Dean to kid Michael-‘I can promise you it’s not your fault’-he can tell others to forgive themselves but can’t do it himself
Michael to Dean: ‘You’d do anything for your brother?’-oh boy…
Dean’s very visible relief when it’s over
Sam says he wishes he could have innocence about what’s out there and Dean says he wishes it too
  1. Provenance
Another episode where Dean wants Sam to get laid so they start by showing Dean picking up 2 girls at the bar to prove his horniness and justify his bugging Sam
Second time they show Dean stuffing his face because food is there
They use their first names with a fake last name
The disco motel-simultaneous ‘huh’ upon entering
Sarah Blake is awesome (she doesn’t deserve what happens to her!)
Boys do a sophisticated B&E, cutting alarm system which they didn’t do in ‘Bloody Mary’ (when did they pick up that skill?)
Dean fakes losing wallet to obnoxiously get Sam and Sarah together again
Simultaneous shutting of car doors
Dean finally drops the teasing and talks to Sam: ‘I don’t know what it’s like to lose somebody (Jess) like that…but I think she would want you to be happy’
Ghost gets distorted face treatment
Ghost goes up in fire
  1. Dead Man’s Blood
Recap is all about finding Dad again
Smart Dean-figures out scratches in floor are a message
Smart Sam-figures out numbers are a mail drop
Proof Sam and Dean had not encountered vampires before-John says he thought Elkins and others had wiped them out, had not told boys about them
Sam drives
Sam mad at Dad again and asks Dean ‘Are you cool with falling into line and letting him run the whole show?’ Dean: ‘If that’s what it takes’
Big side-of-the-road fight between Sam and John-Sam’s got to know what is going on, John won’t tell them to ‘keep them safe, they don’t need to know’-Dean’s agitation at them palpable-he sees both of them as wrong, tells them both to knock it off
Vamps make victims ingest blood to turn them
John gives them the story behind the Colt
John confesses to Sam ‘This is never the life I wanted for you’ and says that he started a college fun for Sam, admits to becoming their drill sergeant instead of their father-when Sam said he was going to college John was afraid for him (and he spent the college fund on ammo)
Preparing for vampire fight John says he’s leaving after to keep them safe-Dean: ‘With all due respect, sir, that’s a bunch of crap’-John and Sam are stunned that Dean is not falling in line-Dean argues that as much as John needs them safe, they need him safe
  1. Salvation
The first ‘The Road so Far’-set to ‘Carry On’-focus on getting mom’s killer, Sam’s visions, John
Hi Pastor Jim-bye Pastor Jim…
Hallowed grounds not enough protection against Meg’s level of demon
Jim says he hasn’t spoken to John in over a year
Demon pattern revealed-nursery fires at 6 months started up again this year; cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms-all happened in Lawrence and in Palo Alto
Dean hits on the hospital receptionist
When John says they should have called him about Sam’s visions Dean blows up and John says he’s right…but John doesn’t like his new tone
John says Meg is a demon OR possessed by one
Iconic bridge shot when they are saying good-bye to John
JDM looks sooo different-very round-faced, practically looks like a different person
Sam tells Dean thanks for always having his back and Dean gets pissed at speech that sounds like Sam is expecting to not survive-‘nobody’s dying tonight’
Dean picks Sam over killing demon-Sam is pissed, wanted revenge-Dean says Mom and Jess are gone, never coming back-Sam: ‘Don’t you say that!’-this is exact reverse of what was said in pilot
Dean confesses he is barely holding it together
To Be Continued at end
  1. Devil’s Trap
‘Road So Far Again’ recap to ‘Fight the Good Fight’ focuses on last episode
Dean when Sam is pushing to go after demon: ‘Everything stops until we get him (Dad) back’
Bobby!
Last time Bobby saw John he was pointing a shotgun at him
Bobby says a normal year has 3 demon possessions, there have been 27 so far this year
Dean absolutely refuses to believe Meg when she says Dad is dead
Bobby points out the girl will die if Meg is exorcised
Sam keeps stopping the exorcism, Dean orders him to finish it
Dean: ‘Well, you and Dad are a lot more alike than I thought, you know that? You both can’t wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But you know what? I’m gonna be the one to bury you. You’re selfish, you know that? You don’t care about anything but revenge.’
Sam thinks to check for possession of John with holy water before untying him (unfortunately demon later says he’s too powerful for it to affect him)
Dean shoots his first human and is not so much feeling guilty about it but scared by ‘the lengths I’d go for this family’
Dean knows it’s not Dad because ‘Dad would tear me a new one’ for wasting a bullet
Phrase ‘meatsuit’ used first time
YED reveals Sam was shopping for rings for Jess and that he has plans for children like Sam
If I had been watching this as it originally aired I would have cursed my TV at the ending…

On to Season 2...

rewatch, season 1

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