Did the Winchesters "Jump the Shark"?
After several long weeks we finally got a new episode of Supernatural last night! Here's my thoughts on the episode. I focused more on Sam and Dean's actions than actual events in this episode.
Last night’s episode was not what I expected when I was accidentally spoiled a couple months ago. I was set to really dislike Adam and the entire storyline. And while I can’t say I fell in love with the character, or the idea that there was another Winchester out there for the last 18 years, I didn’t hate the storyline as much as I thought I would.
This blog is going to be set up a little differently from my usual Supernatural blogs. It was the easiest way I could think of to organize my thoughts on the episode and each of the brothers’ reactions.
Dean’s initial reaction was predictable. Dean’s blind faith in his father extended to not wanting to believe that John could have fathered any children without Sam and Dean knowing about it. I can’t blame him for immediately thinking that this was a trap. And, ironically, it turns out that he was right. Of course, so was Sam.
I loved Dean’s obvious jealousy while looking at the picture of John and Adam at a baseball game. Here was this kid who Sam and Dean have never met, and John treated him like a normal son. Aside from the picture taken with Mary outside the old house, do Sam and Dean even have a single photo of John? Adam got to have a normal life, and a normal father, or so he thought, so naturally Dean is jealous of that life.
Sam on the other hand, is perfectly willing to accept that John had this huge secret in his life and never told his boys about it. As Sam pointed out, John wasn’t a monk. It’s not that far-fetched to believe that he would have slept with other women and one of those women could have gotten pregnant.
I think Sam and Dean’s reactions after accepting the truth about Adam were even more interesting than their initial reactions. I think their initial reactions were predictable. Dean went with instinct and distrust, Sam with logic and looking at the evidence. However, their reactions after the fact are the ones that are a little less predictable.
Dean, who used to consider hunting the “family business” does not want this kid involved. He decides if John didn’t want them to know about Adam then it was for a reason, so that Adam wouldn’t get sucked into the life. And Dean felt they needed to respect that wish.
Sam on the other hand, the one who used to long for a normal life, is the one who decides to take Adam’s normal life from him and initiate him into life as a hunter. As Sam starts showing Adam some things about being a hunter, it’s amazing how much like John Sam has become. He has the same, narrow-minded focus on the hunt. Sam actually seemed to enjoy teaching Adam about hunting. As Dean points out, Sam even gives Adam the same lecture John gave Sam right before Sam ran off to Stanford. Sam has become John.
I think Sam embodies all the more negative aspects of John: the obsession, the focus, etc. Whereas I think Dean may have inherited some of John’s more positive aspects, which it why Dean was able to see why John never told them about Adam and why Dean wanted to keep him out of hunting too.
Of course, these arguments are irrelevant as we soon learn that Adam isn’t Adam, and Sam and Dean were actually both right in their initial reactions to the news. While Adam is really their brother, his call was also a trap.
I think I had it all worked out a few minutes before Adam’s “mom” appeared and Dean found the bodies in the crypt. However, despite the fact that I was fairly certain Sam was right about that woman not actually being Adam’s mother, there were a couple seconds where I was worried Sam was wrong and would be killing a human. Something he doesn’t seem as worried about these days; or maybe he’s just gotten so sure of himself that he didn’t even consider the fact that she could be human … something that might have given him pause a couple years ago.
It was good to see Dean coming to Sammy’s rescue again. The look in his eyes as he realized what was happening, that Sammy was in danger and he was trapped … it was really good to see all that; to see that the differences between Sam and Dean lately haven’t shut down Dean’s big brother instinct. Of course, I was a little surprised Sammy needed to be saved. Perhaps all the demon blood wore off? Or do his powers only work against demons? I kept expecting him psychically to throw them against the wall or something. Watching them slice Sam up and drink his blood made me cringe. Every time. Poor Sammy!
“Adam was our brother. He died like a hunter, he deserves to go out like one.”
As I watched Sam and Dean burn Adam’s body, I felt kind of sorry for them, that they never had a chance to meet this other brother of theirs; that they found out about him too late to save him. Kind of ironic isn’t it? John kept Adam innocent, because he doesn’t want to involve him in the life of a hunter and that innocence ends up getting him killed. This was exactly why he trained Sam and Dean, so something like this wouldn’t happen to them. Not that I’m saying he made all the right choices when it came to raising Sam and Dean, I just think it’s a little ironic.
It’s also surprising how confident Dean seemed when he said Adam was in a better place. He never would have believed that even a year ago. It’s amazing how much he’s changed just in the last year, due to his experience with Castiel.
“You know I finally get why you and Dad butted heads so much? You two are practically the same person. I mean I worshipped the guy you know? I dressed like him, I acted like him I listened to the same music, but you are more like him than I will ever be. I see that now.”
I’m not entirely sure Dean meant this as a compliment. I think it bothers him how much like John Sam is, and not just because he’s jealous that he’ll never be like John. I think Dean has finally accepted the fact that his father had many faults, his obsession with the hunt for one, and it’s frustrating to see his little brother becoming exactly like him.
While I wasn’t really sure I liked the idea of a third Winchester brother when I first heard about it, I think this was a really good episode and not a “Jump the Shark” episode at all. It stayed true to the overall series and didn’t re-write history or stretch anything too much. I think they did a good job of making it seem plausible. And while I’m slightly sorry Adam is dead, I’m also glad he won’t be joining Sam and Dean in the Impala anytime soon. Hey, I may be willing to accept the existence of a third brother, but it doesn’t mean I would have wanted to see him around all the time!
PS - To those of you who keep saying it’s Sammy’s turn to die because a Winchester has to die every season, can we please stop that now? A Winchester has died, in the present. Therefore we really don’t need to see anymore Winchester deaths this season, right? I mean technically, this was the second time we saw a Winchester die this season if you count John’s death from “In the Beginning.” So can we stop talking about Sammy dying now? Please?
Last night’s episode was not what I expected when I was accidentally spoiled a couple months ago. I was set to really dislike Adam and the entire storyline. And while I can’t say I fell in love with the character, or the idea that there was another Winchester out there for the last 18 years, I didn’t hate the storyline as much as I thought I would.
This blog is going to be set up a little differently from my usual Supernatural blogs. It was the easiest way I could think of to organize my thoughts on the episode and each of the brothers’ reactions.
Dean’s initial reaction was predictable. Dean’s blind faith in his father extended to not wanting to believe that John could have fathered any children without Sam and Dean knowing about it. I can’t blame him for immediately thinking that this was a trap. And, ironically, it turns out that he was right. Of course, so was Sam.
I loved Dean’s obvious jealousy while looking at the picture of John and Adam at a baseball game. Here was this kid who Sam and Dean have never met, and John treated him like a normal son. Aside from the picture taken with Mary outside the old house, do Sam and Dean even have a single photo of John? Adam got to have a normal life, and a normal father, or so he thought, so naturally Dean is jealous of that life.
Sam on the other hand, is perfectly willing to accept that John had this huge secret in his life and never told his boys about it. As Sam pointed out, John wasn’t a monk. It’s not that far-fetched to believe that he would have slept with other women and one of those women could have gotten pregnant.
I think Sam and Dean’s reactions after accepting the truth about Adam were even more interesting than their initial reactions. I think their initial reactions were predictable. Dean went with instinct and distrust, Sam with logic and looking at the evidence. However, their reactions after the fact are the ones that are a little less predictable.
Dean, who used to consider hunting the “family business” does not want this kid involved. He decides if John didn’t want them to know about Adam then it was for a reason, so that Adam wouldn’t get sucked into the life. And Dean felt they needed to respect that wish.
Sam on the other hand, the one who used to long for a normal life, is the one who decides to take Adam’s normal life from him and initiate him into life as a hunter. As Sam starts showing Adam some things about being a hunter, it’s amazing how much like John Sam has become. He has the same, narrow-minded focus on the hunt. Sam actually seemed to enjoy teaching Adam about hunting. As Dean points out, Sam even gives Adam the same lecture John gave Sam right before Sam ran off to Stanford. Sam has become John.
I think Sam embodies all the more negative aspects of John: the obsession, the focus, etc. Whereas I think Dean may have inherited some of John’s more positive aspects, which it why Dean was able to see why John never told them about Adam and why Dean wanted to keep him out of hunting too.
Of course, these arguments are irrelevant as we soon learn that Adam isn’t Adam, and Sam and Dean were actually both right in their initial reactions to the news. While Adam is really their brother, his call was also a trap.
I think I had it all worked out a few minutes before Adam’s “mom” appeared and Dean found the bodies in the crypt. However, despite the fact that I was fairly certain Sam was right about that woman not actually being Adam’s mother, there were a couple seconds where I was worried Sam was wrong and would be killing a human. Something he doesn’t seem as worried about these days; or maybe he’s just gotten so sure of himself that he didn’t even consider the fact that she could be human … something that might have given him pause a couple years ago.
It was good to see Dean coming to Sammy’s rescue again. The look in his eyes as he realized what was happening, that Sammy was in danger and he was trapped … it was really good to see all that; to see that the differences between Sam and Dean lately haven’t shut down Dean’s big brother instinct. Of course, I was a little surprised Sammy needed to be saved. Perhaps all the demon blood wore off? Or do his powers only work against demons? I kept expecting him psychically to throw them against the wall or something. Watching them slice Sam up and drink his blood made me cringe. Every time. Poor Sammy!
“Adam was our brother. He died like a hunter, he deserves to go out like one.”
As I watched Sam and Dean burn Adam’s body, I felt kind of sorry for them, that they never had a chance to meet this other brother of theirs; that they found out about him too late to save him. Kind of ironic isn’t it? John kept Adam innocent, because he doesn’t want to involve him in the life of a hunter and that innocence ends up getting him killed. This was exactly why he trained Sam and Dean, so something like this wouldn’t happen to them. Not that I’m saying he made all the right choices when it came to raising Sam and Dean, I just think it’s a little ironic.
It’s also surprising how confident Dean seemed when he said Adam was in a better place. He never would have believed that even a year ago. It’s amazing how much he’s changed just in the last year, due to his experience with Castiel.
“You know I finally get why you and Dad butted heads so much? You two are practically the same person. I mean I worshipped the guy you know? I dressed like him, I acted like him I listened to the same music, but you are more like him than I will ever be. I see that now.”
I’m not entirely sure Dean meant this as a compliment. I think it bothers him how much like John Sam is, and not just because he’s jealous that he’ll never be like John. I think Dean has finally accepted the fact that his father had many faults, his obsession with the hunt for one, and it’s frustrating to see his little brother becoming exactly like him.
While I wasn’t really sure I liked the idea of a third Winchester brother when I first heard about it, I think this was a really good episode and not a “Jump the Shark” episode at all. It stayed true to the overall series and didn’t re-write history or stretch anything too much. I think they did a good job of making it seem plausible. And while I’m slightly sorry Adam is dead, I’m also glad he won’t be joining Sam and Dean in the Impala anytime soon. Hey, I may be willing to accept the existence of a third brother, but it doesn’t mean I would have wanted to see him around all the time!
PS - To those of you who keep saying it’s Sammy’s turn to die because a Winchester has to die every season, can we please stop that now? A Winchester has died, in the present. Therefore we really don’t need to see anymore Winchester deaths this season, right? I mean technically, this was the second time we saw a Winchester die this season if you count John’s death from “In the Beginning.” So can we stop talking about Sammy dying now? Please?