The WFB Admins’ Top 15 “Supernatural” Episodes List: #7
sweetondean’s #7:
“Pilot”
Why: Because it’s where it all started.
I struggled with trying to figure out where to put the “Pilot”. I knew it had to be in my top 15, purely on the fact that it’s such a sentimental favourite. It’s what started my love affair with “Supernatural”, a show that has forever changed my life and who I am, so yeah, it had to be in here somewhere. Even if I don’t think it’s the ‘best’ episode, it’s a damn important episode and I find myself watching it often.
I remember when I first saw the “Pilot”. It was when the show first started on Aussie TV ““ Monday, January 16 2006 (thanks to Jules at Superwiki for giving me the exact date!). I saw the promo and the next day I was having a coffee with a friend and said, “Hey did you see the promo for that new show on channel 10?” My friend said she had and I asked her if she was going to watch it and she said yes, because it had the guy from Gilmore Girls in it and I was all, oh right”¦because I’d never watched Gilmore Girls so I had no idea who Jared was! But I’d watched Dark Angel and I did know Jensen and he was a big draw for me. But so was the ghost stuff, that looked really cool. I’ve always liked horror”¦my friend, not so much (actually not at all). Anyway we both watched the show and I asked her if she liked it and she said, it was way too scary for her and I said “OH MY GOD IT WAS AWESOME!” So I kept watching and she didn’t”¦and here I am, seven years later, still watching it – and writing about it – and going to conventions! Yeah”¦the “Pilot” impacted my life somewhat!
The first episode of “Supernatural” set up a crazy amount. Admittedly, there is some clunky exposition as the boys talk to each other, basically saying to each other what the other would already know, because they were there! But, aside from that, you get a very clear idea of who these brothers are, what happened to them and what their relationship is.
It’s important to remember that when we meet Sam and Dean, they’ve not seen each other or spoken for 2 years and yet, they fall into an easy rhythm as if no time has passed at all. There’s an obvious big brother/little brother vibe. It’s clear that Dean embraced the life and Sam did not. We find out that John turned his back on Sam when Sam chose college over hunting, which sets up the brothers having very different relationships with their father, personally and emotionally. You get a good sense of each brother’s personality. It’s established early that Dean has a smart mouth and that Sam is a thoughtful brain (later we discover Dean is brainy too). Dean is happy to break the law, live on credit card fraud, use fake IDs, at this stage Sam is not. He’s the empathetic one, Dean is the cocky one. But the big thing that I’m always struck by”¦and maybe this is affected by hindsight, but you can see how close they were and still are. The little jibes, the jostling, the affectionate, easy understanding of each other.
The tone of the show is set early on with the use of a classic car and classic rock music. Kripke famously put in the script: “Cue music. And you can take your anemic alternative pop and shove it up your ass.” The transition from Troy Squire becoming blood splatter in his car on the bridge, to the boys at the gas station with “Ramblin’ Man” playing, to this day is one of my favourite transitions and music cues. We even got a couple of ACaDaCa tracks! That goes straight to an Aussie gal’s heart let me tell you.
It’s great to watch the “Pilot” with all the knowledge we have now. To know what the YED is doing over Sam’s bed. To see Mary’s face when she sees the YED and knowing that there would’ve been a moment of recognition and understanding. To know that Sam goes through the same thing with Jess as his dad did with Mary and that Sam’s university life was not what he thought it was. To see wee Dean carry his baby brother out the door, protecting him and telling him it’ll be ok, something he’s never stopped doing, trying to take care of his little brother. We’ve heard him tell Sam “It’s okay, Sammy” on more than one occasion.
It’s all there in the “Pilot” so much of what the show became, so much that is later referrenced, is all there in the very first episode. The show has come so far, with the boy’s acting, the depth of the story, the special effects but seldom have I watched a pilot of a new show and felt I understood it and the characters in it, so well.
Favourite Quote: I love many quotes in the “Pilot” but how could I go past,
“House rules, Sammy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.”
Honourable mention goes to “No chick flick moments.”
Favourite Scene: Tricky.
I love Sam and Dean elbowing each other in the library – this was the first scene shot by the way.
I love the scene where Sam and Dean talk about how they were raised, that John gave Sam a .45 to protect himself from the thing in his closet.
I love the scene where Sam tells Dean that he can do it alone and Dean says, “Yeah, but I don’t want to,” speaks VOLUMES about Dean.
I love the end, with the shot up from the Impala’s trunk where Sam says, “We got work to do” and slams the trunk cutting to black (which was repeated at the end of season 2). This is how I want the series to end (wibble), how it begun, we got work to do, trunk slam, cut to black, cue classic rock, sweetondean goes into the fetal position for, oh, no more than a week or two!
But”¦if I must pick one favourite scene, it’s probably the gas station/Impala scene. That just sets up so much about who the brothers are. I love how Dean gets really bad food for breakfast and checks if Sam wants anything. I love the shotgun shuts his cakehole line. I love how Sam tries to get Dean to stop calling him Sammy (never gonna happen Sammy), I love how Dean turns up the music and pretends he can’t hear his brother and then they roar off in Baby. Still makes me grin from ear to ear. Nice.
Phew…so there’s our number 7 picks! Tomorrow….it’s number 6….we’re getting close!
sweetondean-Hee, looks like I became a fan just a few short months after you did, on Thursday, August 10 2006 (Yes, I know the exact date, too which I came across randomly one day while looking at something unrelated).
I watched most of season 2 before I got to go back and watch season1, but I love that scene where they shove each other in the library. They just really look like brothers. In just that scene, you could believe they grew up together, so when I found out Jared and Jensen hadn’t even met before the show, I was even more impressed.
Oh, man I so want the series to end that way too, except I want to it go a little further, they slam the trunk, get in the car, turn on the music and drive off into the sunset.
P.S. Still enjoying all the picks!
I think you girls are doing a great job of selecting your top 15 episodes… I made my short-list today and I’m currently sitting on 43 episodes, so I’ve got a bit of work to do before I can whittle it down to my top 15. In the meantime I’ll keep enjoying reading your selections.
I’m really glad that you picked ‘The Pilot’ sweetondean because I would also include that in my top 10… it never ceases to amaze me when I re-watch it just how many things from that episode have become so iconic over the years including those two quotes you mentioned: ‘Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole’ and ‘No chick flick moments’. I really love it!
Totally agree with those picks… almost…
Weekend at Bobby´s is ne of my alltime favorites and one of those, I can watch over and over again. And again for good measure. Because it´s just that good and Bobby is just THAT awesome.
The Pilot is not. I´m doing a rewatch right now and had to laugh out loud at the boy´s acting in the scene at Sam´s dorm room… talk about awkward.
The episode itself is not bad, but not the big moment it´s for others.
Pilot with me is replaced by Wendigo and Dead in the Water.
I love those episodes to pieces! Wendigo has absolutely awesome moments between the brothers and Dead in the Water… Dean and the kid and Sam´s expression in the background.. man it breaks my heart everytime!
Ardeo, I’m so glad you picked “Weekend at Bobby’s”, what a great episode. I love Jim Beaver, he elevates every scene that he’s in, and this was a full Bobby episode, I was so stoked. 😆 My favourite scene was the montage of him doing research with Kris Kristofferson playing in the background. No wonder the boys always got great information, look at the time spent on it! Bring Bobby back!!!
And Sweetondean, thanks for putting the “Pilot” on your top 10, it certainly is on mine. I got myself a t-shirt with the quote “Diver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole”, cause that’s exactly how I feel when I got Zeppelin cracked up and my passenger asks me to turn it down. No friggin way! 😉 My favourite scene from the episode is the beginning when Dean creeps in and he & Sam get into a fight. Everything was perfect, and the fact that they repeated that exact same scene in “What Is and What Should Never Be” just brings it full circle.
The pilot was definitely a good one, and I can see why it would earn a spot for introducing an amazing show. For me, not even on my top 30, but it is a more a testament to the quality of the episodes that beat it. 🙂
In fact, no episodes from the first season made it on my list, but I must say that I do miss having scary episodes once in a while. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that as the show goes on, there is less of the atmospheric spookiness that the first few seasons offered. Even into the fourth and fifth, Lucifer and Lilith and the demons were still a bit frightening. Don’t get me wrong, I think the show is improved in countless other ways, but I would love to see one or two episodes a season that had a more unknown, suspenseful atmosphere. You wouldn’t know that looking at my top 15 list, which heavily favors the humorous episodes, but I do miss the chills too!
Coming in at #7, I got “Monster Movie”. This is one of those episodes that I didn’t love the first time I watched it, because it occurs so early in season four. At that point, I was hooked on the mythology and on the edge of my seat to get more, so I was a little impatient for an episode that didn’t reveal much in that sense. Now, each I watch it, I love it a little more! It’s so unique and so well done – Todd Stashwick was an excellent Dracula. And like someone said, it’s zany! I love zany!
“Tell me… Is there garlic on this pizza?” – Dracula
“The Pilot” is also in my top five, sweetondean. So thanks for that one.
In fact, every episode in season one is in my top five with the exception of only 3, and they are in my top ten. As you can guess, I’m loving season one. Love the spooky plots that we don’t see much of any more, and the young brothers? Love the shoving and the snark and the cocky Dean and moralistic Sammy and his disapprovals. Can’t get enough of “those” boys!
And, sweetondean, I agree with your wish for the finale of the last episode. I want them alive, together, and jonesing for the hunt. Back to the “Saving people, hunting things, the family business”, which has gotten lost among the “saving the whole world” for the last 3 or 4 years. When they would exorcise demons without killing the hosts, and really regret it when that was not possible.
Don’t get me wrong. Still love those awesome brothers and always will, but a little of that “Saving people” could go a long ways about now. :-*
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Don’t get me wrong. Still love those awesome brothers and always will, but a little of that “Saving people” could go a long ways about now. :-*
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I agree with you there! They kill so easily now… I’m hoping that gets brought up and resolved. Saving people is part of the family business, too, and they should try a little harder to do so!
Thanks again, ladies. Loved all these episodes too – and hey the Pilot is even in my top 15 – so yes, finally starting to match up with you all. I have the Pilot as number 1 because it totally hooked me. The chemistry was there between the brothers right off the bat, and it was beautifully directed. The silhouette scene where they are fighting in Sam’s kitchen is gorgeous.
Oh, I do love the pilot episode! This is the introduction to the greatest story every told.
I would have put the pilot in the top 5 but #7 is close enough. The entire episode encompasses 22 years in a mere 43 minutes. You learn and understand the dynamics of these brothers and their dysFUNctional family.
I love the total look of defiance on Sam’s face while standing next to Jess, when he says, “No what every you want to say you can say in front of her”, but once Deans says” Dad is on a hunting trip and has not been home in a few days” everything changes.
The look on Sam’s face and then “Jess excuse us we have to go outside”. As badly as Sam does not want to help find Dad, Dean is able to talk him into. “In almost 2 years I have never bothered you or asked you for a thing” OMG for some reason this line kills me
The fight on the bridge,explains why Sam wanted out, he does not even remember what mom looks like, and no matter what they do it will never bring her back. Dean on the other hand does remember Mom and will do what ever it takes to find out who/what killed her.
The motel room “No Chick Flick Moments” (Dude 5-0 take off), the fake 911 call…if you screwed up my car I am going to kill you. This episode has some of the most memorable lines in the history of the show, Driver picks the music… and lets not forget Sammy is a chubby 12 year old, it’s Sam. (I am 51 and my family still calls me by a nickname by Dad gave me when I was 2, I feel your pain Sammy 😀 )
At the end when Dean drops Sam back at Stanford and tells him they made a good team. Sam agrees and says maybe we can hook up later. This goes against everything Sam said in the beginning “he wants out”, but because Dean asked he is willing to help when necessary.
The expressions on their faces when Dean pulls away is very touching. This is also the beginning of “Dean to the rescue”.
We get to see the emotional side of Dean when he looks at Sam (after Jess is dead) while they are at the trunk of the car and Sam is loading a shot gun and is crying. You don’t know who to feel sorrier for Sam or Dean at that moment.
Love this episode!
Monster at the end of the book is like my all time top 5 fav!! It was truly a genius idea to have Chuck the Prophet on the show!