What...Twenty Thousand To One? - Wow, That's Oddly Reassuring.
Time for baby metaphors!
Watching early episodes is full of firsts, it's about getting to know someone completely new, so whatever they do or say has to be accepted and integrated into whatever else you know about them, while thrilling over all the surprises. Now what's neat about Supernatural, is that since hunting with just Sam and Dean is as new to the boys as it is to us, there's a little exciting game of playing along with the viewers between all the casually tossed off urban legend mumbo jumbo.
One first in Phantom Traveler... Boys in Suits! While by season three other disguises have been left by the wayside *the suits abide* (as I think Barney Stinson would approve). Of course these first suits are black and white, but soon enough, to varying degrees of success, the Winchesters will be mixing fabrics, textures, and patterns like sophisticated or color blind business men.
And the other biiiiig first... Demons. And what's more, like wearing those suits, this is the first time the boys have had to deal with anything like this. Considering all the demonic business that eventually to dominates the series, I think this first portrayal of the Winchesters' Big Bad is fascinating. Whereas later demons are shown with their own motivations and agendas, the boys' initial understanding of demons is less as thoughtful creatures so much as forces of nature. This episode's unnamed demon is all about causing plane crashes, a type of accident that can be alternately blamed on human folly or an "act of god". Thus, from the very beginning demons are positioned as in a grey area between human will or action versus destiny or nature.
This could go into a whole crazy theme about predestination and Sam's relationship to Azazel, but that would take too much time and involve sticking my foot in my mouth more often than I already do.
What I will say about Sam and Demons, is that after rewatching this episode it could very easily be interpreted as a confirmation of Kripke's claims as to having a 5 year plan for the show since it's inception. Considering Sam's later demonic entanglements it seems like more than a coincidence that this episode features two false scares, and in both the instances the potential boogie man is revealed to be ol' Sammy boy.
Scare Uno is the odd introduction of the boys after we see the disaster of Flight 2485. Dean is asleep in bed, and while the camera tracks over his body we hear foreboding music and see a mysterious shadow on the other side of the paneled glass room divider. Dean startles awake, his hand under his pillow (where he keeps a knife), only for the camera to reveal the figure looming at the foot of Dean's bed is in fact Sam smiling and holding cups of coffee.
Scare Dos is as Dean uses his homemade EMP Meter on the flight. He walks slowly down the aisle since anyone could be possessed. As he grows more intense and focused in his search, again the music grows foreboding until it seems Dean is about to come upon something. Somebody touches El Deano on the shoulder, he jumps and turns to find Sam standing behind him.
As Show might say... dun dun dun!
Ahem, and the header from yesterday by clicking below.
Watching early episodes is full of firsts, it's about getting to know someone completely new, so whatever they do or say has to be accepted and integrated into whatever else you know about them, while thrilling over all the surprises. Now what's neat about Supernatural, is that since hunting with just Sam and Dean is as new to the boys as it is to us, there's a little exciting game of playing along with the viewers between all the casually tossed off urban legend mumbo jumbo.
One first in Phantom Traveler... Boys in Suits! While by season three other disguises have been left by the wayside *the suits abide* (as I think Barney Stinson would approve). Of course these first suits are black and white, but soon enough, to varying degrees of success, the Winchesters will be mixing fabrics, textures, and patterns like sophisticated or color blind business men.
And the other biiiiig first... Demons. And what's more, like wearing those suits, this is the first time the boys have had to deal with anything like this. Considering all the demonic business that eventually to dominates the series, I think this first portrayal of the Winchesters' Big Bad is fascinating. Whereas later demons are shown with their own motivations and agendas, the boys' initial understanding of demons is less as thoughtful creatures so much as forces of nature. This episode's unnamed demon is all about causing plane crashes, a type of accident that can be alternately blamed on human folly or an "act of god". Thus, from the very beginning demons are positioned as in a grey area between human will or action versus destiny or nature.
This could go into a whole crazy theme about predestination and Sam's relationship to Azazel, but that would take too much time and involve sticking my foot in my mouth more often than I already do.
What I will say about Sam and Demons, is that after rewatching this episode it could very easily be interpreted as a confirmation of Kripke's claims as to having a 5 year plan for the show since it's inception. Considering Sam's later demonic entanglements it seems like more than a coincidence that this episode features two false scares, and in both the instances the potential boogie man is revealed to be ol' Sammy boy.
Scare Uno is the odd introduction of the boys after we see the disaster of Flight 2485. Dean is asleep in bed, and while the camera tracks over his body we hear foreboding music and see a mysterious shadow on the other side of the paneled glass room divider. Dean startles awake, his hand under his pillow (where he keeps a knife), only for the camera to reveal the figure looming at the foot of Dean's bed is in fact Sam smiling and holding cups of coffee.
Scare Dos is as Dean uses his homemade EMP Meter on the flight. He walks slowly down the aisle since anyone could be possessed. As he grows more intense and focused in his search, again the music grows foreboding until it seems Dean is about to come upon something. Somebody touches El Deano on the shoulder, he jumps and turns to find Sam standing behind him.
As Show might say... dun dun dun!
Ahem, and the header from yesterday by clicking below.