3/5
For the first time sinceSupernaturalaired in 2005, Dean Winchester is back without the company of his brother Sam in the CW’s new showThe Winchesters.The prequel dives into the story of John Winchester and Mary Campbell before they were married, before the birth of the infamous Sam and Dean, and picks up shortly after John returns from the Vietnam War.
The Winchestersopens with a mystical underground ritual gone wrong, keeping with theSupernaturaltradition of monsters picking off an unsuspecting victim in the first few minutes of an episode before Sam and Dean step in. There are plenty of SPN references to be found in the series premiere, from trauma bonding in the front seat of an old car to familiar symbols like the devils trap, but the most notable similarity is the motive behind John and Mary’s quest.
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John is chasing the legacy of his father while Mary is trying to save hers from demons, mirroring the journey Sam and Dean went on in their ownpilot episodeto find their own absent dad. When it comes to nostalgia for the show that began it all,The Winchestersis packed with referencesSupernaturalviewers will surely appreciate.
With that being said,The Winchestersdisrupts the canon ofSupernatural, which a lot of fans aren’t happy about. Series creatorJensen Ackleshas spoken about the prequel and promisedThe Winchesterswill eventually line up with the story that was created inSupernatural.
Ackles is narratingThe Winchestersfrom the perspective of his character Dean, who also acknowledged the discrepancies between what fans know fromSupernaturaland what they’re seeing inThe Winchesters.Dean claimed he’ll be putting the pieces of John and Mary’s story together in a way that’ll surprise audiences, but encouraged everyone to stick with him while he uncovers the truth.
So according to both Ackles and Dean, there will be some sort of answer as to why John and Mary are hunting together in the 70s, whenSupernaturalsays John didn’t start hunting after Mary’s death in 2005. After receiving so much love forSupernatural,altering the origin story and doingmajor retconis a big risk, meaning the explanation will have to be both believable and interesting enough for die-hard SPN fans to be satisfied with the change.
Ackles has put an incredible amount of time into creatingThe Winchestersand has publicly expressed how proud he is of the work he’s done on the prequel, so viewers are putting their faith into him as much as they can. Ackles spent 15 years playing Dean in theSPN universeand seems to be takingThe Winchestersvery seriously, so hopefully his vision for John and Mary will continue to keep fans interested.
The anticipation behind that explanation makes it hard to fully enjoyThe Winchestersin all of its glory, and there’s been a few other changes that don’t make a lot of sense. For starters, demons now speak with a strange auto-tuned voice that’s meant to make them sound scarier, but it’s a little jarring forSupernaturalfans. John Winchester is also painted in a much more sympathetic light, a creative decision that has viewers divided.
Some people are happy to get a deeper look into the life ofJohn Winchester, but others are struggling to let go of the negative waySupernaturaloften portrayed him. John was a no-nonsense, alcoholic drill sergeant in SPN. He trained his kids to be hunters for the sake of enacting his revenge on the demon that killed Mary, a selfish decision that put Sam and Dean in danger since they were children.
Needless to say, John Winchester wasn’t known for his A-plus parenting and Sam and Dean each had a ton of issues with how he treated them, so it’s definitely strange to see John as a lost kid with PTSD that’s still desperately searching for his own father. It’s funny at times, like when he received a crash course in demons from Carlos, especially since John was held up as this all-knowing, best-of-the-best hunter inSupernatural.
On a positive note,The Winchestershas stepped up to the plate in terms of diversity.Supernaturalreceived a lot of backlash for how the show treated characters that were women, people of color, or members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and it took years for the show to start being more inclusive.The Winchestersdoesn’t seem to have that problem.
As far as pilot episodes go,The Winchesterswasn’t bad. There’s a lot of nostalgia forSupernatural, andit has a great collection of characters that offer more representation. Thelack of canonstill looms over the series, but it definitely has great potential, especially with Jensen Ackles running the show.
Depending on how the rest of the season plays out,The Winchesterscould be immortalized as the prequel Sam and Dean fans didn’t know they needed, or will join the ranks of theSupernaturalseries finale, which audiences are still desperately trying to forget.
