The Winchester Family Business

I so love when I get to do this!  This two part article, Supernatural's Best Geek Ever, is another great guest submission, this time from Elena M.  She's no stranger to the craziness here and had decided to join in on the fun with a rather unique take on the dorkier side of Supernatural.  This is part one, part two will be posted sometime tomorrow.  Enjoy!

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We Supernatural fans, like Dean Winchester, have a soft spot for geeks. As genre fans, some of us no doubt fall somewhere on the spectrum, from a hidden geeky streak to full-blown Sheldon Cooper. I know I do! The idea for this list came from Faellie’s piece on Supernatural Mini-Marathons. I thought it might be fun to do a “Geek Week” marathon, celebrating some of our most beloved one-timers and recurring characters. But I had more than seven, so it turned into a Top Ten list, because I never get tired of them! I hope you’re not, either—Hey, Letterman’s been doing one a night for how many years? Seems to be working for him. Not that I’ve got the comic flair of a late-night writing staff, or Alice, or Randal, or Ardeospina  . . . but it’s Hellatus AGAIN, so I went ahead and put this together, in the hope that it helps keep the blues at bay!
 
I’m using the word geek in a very broad sense here, the common denominator being eccentricity or awkwardness.  It’s also very subjective and arbitrary, especially with regard to the order—just my humble opinion. In case you’re wondering about the title, in college I’d study with some mindless TV going, like VH1’s “Best Week Ever.” I can’t resist a bad nineties reference, or eighties, the cheesier the better!   You’ve been warned. So here goes:
 
Honorable mention: Gary Frankel
 
Claim to geekdom: Where to start . . . Gary’s an amalgam of geek stereotypes.   A part-time employee of Patriot Burger (possibly an allusion to Fast Times’ All-American Burger?), Gary sports an astronaut on the wall, comic books in his bag, and a wardrobe of retro Star Wars shirts that immediately cause Sam to conclude he’s a virgin. He never skips his AP classes, and suffers from asthma and gluten-sensitive enteropathy. If he’s cheating on his diet (common for teens with that condition), it might explain why he’s a pasty 98 pounds of nothing. But his violent reaction to one bite of toast--not something you usually see with this disease--makes that unlikely. Excuse me, now I’m the one geeking out.


 
So what’ll it be, Spicoli?
 
Initially Gary was #10, mostly because at the time I needed a number 10.  Besides, with one lousy spell and a dart gun full of horse trank (I’m assuming, since it made the massive Sam fuzzy enough to hop into a police cruiser), Gary successfully pops into a Sam suit, something freaking LUCIFER has not managed despite months of scheming. He earns an HM for that.
 
Favorite quote: The entire teaser!   “Excuse me, barkeep . . . “


 
I admit I liked “Swap Meat” better than most, plotholes and all. Generally if you give me demons I’m happy.
 
10. Demian and Barnes


 
Claim to geekdom: LARPing
 
Why they’re #10: Demian and Barnes, named for a couple of moderators at TWoP, were kind of “meh” characters for me.  I liked them all right, I just didn’t find them as engaging or memorable as some of the characters farther up, so they get the 10 spot.   After all, these guys did save the Winchesters’ lives. More importantly, they saved Sam’s hair, which came perilously close to being scalped by those bratty ghosts. I also liked their moment with Dean, helping him see some value in his life. They showed him that his heroism and sacrifices mean something and inspire others. Sadly, this much-needed boost was quickly decimated by the events of “Abandon All Hope.”
 
Favorite quote:


 “If all these people are seriously in trouble, we gotta do something.”

“Why?”

 “Because that’s what Sam and Dean would do.”

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