I’m Calling Your Bluff, Supernatural
Supernatural is known for a lot of things; an amazing soundtrack, lots of wonderful, brotherly angst, great meta episodes, an absurdly handsome cast, and the list goes on and on. There are, however, a few things that Supernatural has also come to be known for that leave me scratching my head. I love all of these qualities because they are what makes Supernatural the show we’ve come to know and love, but they certainly aren’t logical!
Grave digging
I don’t care how many graves Sam and Dean have dug in their lifetime, there is no way they can dig a perfect, coffin-sized rectangle with those shovels. Even if they did manage to perfect the shape of the hole, how do they always line it up so perfectly with the coffin? Is there some kind of above ground coffin detector I’m not aware of?
Injuries
Can we even count the number of head traumas these guys have had? It’s a miracle they can complete a sentence. Not to mention the number of times Sam has been choked which is a little ridiculous by the way. They’ve had broken bones, gunshot wounds, they’ve been stabbed and beaten beyond recognition and they still look pretty damn good.
Hunter’s dress code
Has anyone else ever noticed that all hunters are dressed the same as they lurk around in dark corners cleaning their gun? If nothing else, don’t they want to try and be inconspicuous? I feel like the monsters they hunt would see them coming from a mile away. “Just look for the surly man in plaid. Yeah, the one who looks like he could use a hug.â€
Muscle cars
Speaking of remaining inconspicuous…
I love Baby, and I wouldn’t change her for the world but she doesn’t make the best traveling companion when it comes to trailing people. How many times have Dean and Sam followed someone at a close distance with Baby purring like a kitten. Wouldn’t it be easier to fly under the radar in, like a honda or something?
Aliases
These boys and their aliases. John Bonham and Stewart Copeland, Agent Angus and Agent Young, Wedge Antilles, the list goes on…Don’t get me wrong, because I love it. Especially in the time travel episodes when they really get to have fun with it. But in all these years I can only recall one time that they get caught. In the season one episode “Scarecrowâ€, Dean gets called out for using the alias John Bonham. But that doesn’t stop him from using it again in season five.
Physical fitness
Again, NOT complaining. Not at all. But for two guys who spend the better part of the day in the car or in front of a computer, they are in amazing shape. Sam has always been a bit more sensible with his eating. We’ve seen him order salads, refuse gas station food and not expect pie with every meal. So he should have a bit of an edge on Dean, right? Nope, they’re both Greek gods.
http://youtu.be/vdzsmTwNMIo
Hunting history
Isn’t it crazy to think that Mary Winchester hid the fact that she was a hunter from John? If they had just run away together that would be one thing. But the circumstances in which Mary finally left the life were crazy. How did she explain her father’s death to John? He woke up in Mary’s arms, her dead father laying next to her. That’s a lot to explain away! I wonder if she slept with a gun or holy water by her bed the way Dean did during his year as a civilian? I would think that would raise a few suspicions!
Mary’s bad memory
Maybe this is just me not understanding how these events played out, but how did Mary forget about her deal with Azazel? He told her he was coming to collect something in 10 years. Mark your damn calendar! Not to mention that Dean told her not to get out of bed. And it wasn’t something he nonchalantly mentioned in passing. It was more like tearful begging. To be fair, I believe that all memories of Dean were wiped from John and Mary’s minds. Which explains why John doesn’t remember that Dean is the reason he bought the Impala. But does that mean that Mary doesn’t remember making a deal with yellow eyes?
Pilot
I do realize I’m getting pretty specific with this last one but it bugs me everytime I see it. And since it’s in the pilot I feel justified in mentioning it. At the end of the pilot episode, why does Dean come back for Sam? It just doesn’t make sense and they never explain it. Dean drops Sam off at his apartment and drives away. Sam walks in grabs a cookie, lays on his bed and then feels the blood hit his forehead. So if I’m going to be anal about this, and I am, that’s at least a solid minute between Dean driving away and Sam screaming. So there’s no way Dean heard Sam scream yet he busted through the door as if he knew something was wrong.
So what do you guys think? Are there any recurring themes or tropes in Supernatural that have you confused? Do you have any good explanations for anything I listed above? Somebody please explain that scene in the Pilot to me. It’s been bothering me for years!
Can see your points on the firsts… But…
Mary’s memory was wiped by Michael in The Song Remains the Same,
As for the last, what big brother in the life wouldn’t drive around the corner, park, and check, just in case?
In the pilot a scene was deleted when it aired. It shows Dean looking at the clock or radio in the Impala and it has stopped working. He takes it as a sign that something supernatural is going on and he turns Baby around and goes back to Sam.
Grandpa Campbell’s death was explained as a heart attack.
Mary’s mind is wiped as she does not remember the message to not go in the room, I seem to remember that from a scene, but maybe I think I remember seeing it.
The perfect shape of the grave has always made me lol. As well as Dean seems to have a lighter and Sam uses matches early on.
Winchesters are good at keeping secrets- is it any wonder Mary hid her background from John?
Season 7 the aliases were the Smiths-like the cough drops?
Dead Men don’t wear Plaid so that explains the hunters’ choice in shirts- it is too emulate hunting animals, it is to act as camouflage except to the knowledgeable amongst us and then it is an ID of sorts-like a fraternity thing.
And the scars…. from cutting to prove not a shape shifter is up there with the blows to the head and ribs. They are great healers. I seriously want their diet and exercise program as yep, they are worthy of objectification.
This season Dean developed an allergy to cats? And where does Sam sleep in the bunker? He has bedhair so?
What really makes me say huh- Baby is parked outside the bunker entrance. Does anyone in Lebanon Kansas(the geographic center of the lower 48 states) ever notice the two good looking guys who park it there? And how does Dean carry around that large key in the wooden box that opens the bunker? Does Sam have a copy or must one stay home if the other goes off? And BIG Gersons is pronounced Biggersons LOL. What happened to BIGAZ’s food stop? Enough for now. Thanks for filling some time in a humourous way/
Don’t forget, Dean did get a physical clean slate when Castiel pulled him out of Hell. ::snort laugh:: re-himenated!!
But thanks for this. This is a fun article. 🙂
My thing about the grave digging is that we never see them get caught. According to their arrest record, they do, but we never see it. I walk NEAR a graveyard at night and cops come PDQ. Also, they slice and dice their arms to hell, get shot, stabbed, beaten, and none of it is reflected on their bodies. No broken noses, cracked cheek bones, scarred skin… I grant that Castiel heals them frequently, but STILL. Also, if Castiel raised Sam, wouldn’t he have had a palm mark somewhere? If so, wouldn’t the guys have noticed it and thought an angel rescued him from the Cage? Ugh, there are a lot!
i’ve always wondered about the perfect grave digging too – a little to anal and squared-corners to be real. the scene in the pilot has always had me wondering too – i’ve seen the deleted scene where Dean looks at the radio, but i don’t really see anything happening that would cause him to turn around. i wondered if it was supposed to have something to do with it being the anniversary of Mary’s death? although they don’t mention that either …
the clothes thing has never really bothered me, i always assumed they just all wanted to look like hunter-hunters as opposed to supernatural creature hunters – and they’d probably all shop at the Army-Navy surplus or a Good Will/Salvation Army type of place.
the miracle healings need to be more realistic. silly to see them beat to hell in one scene then perfectly fine in the next. and finally; Sam, we see exercising from time-to-time, but Dean should realistically be a pasty faced, fat blob, with spotty skin and no energy to speak of … but i’m glad to let that one go …
Lee Chambers, Richie and Kubrick seemed to have been the only hunters who dress outside the flannel norm.
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Lee_Chambers
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Richie
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Kubrick
I’ve wondered about all those things but the thing that I always laugh about is the perfectly pressed FBI suits. They don’t even carry them in garment bags. Wish I knew that laundry secret! Lol
Fun article, Sofia!
I usually tend to let this kind of stuff slide-especially with SPN, although shows like CSI don’t get the same courtesy because, really, how they are able to turn grainy surveillance footage into near-HD quality stuff that they can ID vics off of..anyway.
When I first watched that deleted scene from the Pilot, my thought was that Dean realized it was the anniversary of Mary’s death and turned around, just to make sure.
I’m pretty sure Michael did wipe Mary and John’s memories in TSRTS. I was wondering if maybe it was wishful thinking on Mary’s part, since I don’t think she knew exactly when or what YED was coming for, just that he was.
One thing I remember that bothered me was at one stage Bobby seemed to be able to receive pictures sent from Dean’s phone in zero seconds flat on a crappy computer and what looked suspiciously like a dial-up modem!
Hehe this was a fun article! Hmmmm… about the graves; well we know John was a stickler for detail, maybe he trained them early on to be precise with the holes that they dig. And I’ve always wondered… why don’t they put a salt ring around the grave when they were digging? It would keep the ghosties off their back while they are otherwise occupied.
I don’t think Mary forgot really… I think she just got caught up in her life. We learn in season two that when she realizes who’s in the room with baby Sammy she says “It’s you!” showing that she remembers who she’s dealing with even though Azazel is now inhabiting a new body; I actually thought, given that he looks totally different to the last time she saw him when he was wearing her father, that she figured out who it was pretty quick.
About the pilot. As debbab already mentioned there is a deleted scene that shows Dean in the Impala driving away when he realizes his watch has stopped and this makes him turn around to check on Sam. He’s especially reactive I think given that the date is May 2nd, the day Mary died. We know this because the show made a point of beginning the pilot on Halloween and then the boys spend two days together with Sam returning home near in the early morning hours on Nov 2nd. That day looms large in the boy’s history. The scene that was cut was literally 7 seconds long. I wish that they had left it in, as it provided much needed continuity for Dean’s actions and showed better why he would turn around to check on Sam.
And on a purely shallow note; in that Pic from Free to Be You and Me with Sam and Lindsay surrounded by all of the other hunters (in plaid!) I noticed two interesting things about that pic. One Sam ISN’T wearing plaid, but all the other hunters are. If plaid is the hunting uniform, Sam has clearly taken his off. And two, Sam looks like a greek god standing there. He’s a glorious giant in that photo.
Opps that’s Nov 2nd, not May 2nd in my post above. Sheesh. Proofread, always proofread.
A laugh and a coffee in the morning, nothing better. Thanks Sofia. 😆
It’s a good thing we love this show, otherwise we wouldn’t forgive all these little inconsistencies. My worse one has always been the fact that they when they investigate a case suited up then have to go somewhere else, whether it’s urgent or not, next scene they are always dressed in their hunter garb! 😮 What, you took time out to go change??? 😕 And what about scars? I know we can’t have these beautiful faces marred, but a couple of body scars wouldn’t hurt, just look at Stephen Amell, looks pretty sexy to me. 😳
And why is it they always have wifi everywhere? I have trouble connecting in every hotel room even in the middle of San Jose California! And I lose cell service all the time while driving major highways! I so jealous!
Thisoldbag
No. 13 Love this one!
Haha, I actually laughed out loud at the first one. And funny enough I literally just finished re-watching the pilot and had the exact same thought about why Dean came back. Not half an hour before reading this so yes I laughed even harder. I guess the point is that you totally can poke holes but we don’t sweat it cuz we luv it. I think the show sort of gets that too since they did the fan convention episode where the fan guys have a hard time digging the hole and even lighting the lighter.
I love these sorts of games 😀 I have already posted at length about how Funions are not a vegetable so I won’t do it again :-* I have a few points, which I have mostly noticed because they are in my favorite episodes so I am not dissing the episodes:
1) In the Usual Suspects it is all fine to say that the guys’ stories match to the last detail. But some of the details are very specific. I want to see the planning session that decided exactly what they were looking for in the office for instance? A photo from Paris? What?
2) Also anagrams don’t work with spare letters. You can’t have an anagram with spare letters (ok that one is really picky).
3) And the headline in the newspaper ‘Man’s throat slit without a trace’ Really? Are there any newspaper people on this site? Would you use that headline? It makes no sense! (also really picky)
4) In the shadow demon episode Dean looks at a bunch of dots, they are just a bunch of dots of blood. That’s all. He could have made a picture of a yak, or the Taj Mahal or the winning lottery numbers, but NO, he makes an occult shape! And then when he is done Sam asks him has he ever seen that symbol and Dean says ‘never’. You know in a comedy that would have been a laugh – line! 😛
But each of these are one-offs and are necessary to get the plot from a to b On an ongoing basis they have a tendency to have loud(ish) conversations about illegal things they plan to do within earshot of people who might care about that sort of thing. The most obvious one being in the pilot where they are sitting in a small gas station, with lots of open windows and doors, discussing EXACTLY how illegal Dean’s credit cards are, but there are plenty of other examples…
Their inability to open doors in factories (I have worked in a lot of factories) … so those sliding doors don’t lock, they slide, they have to actually be locked with a clip-on lock.
And finally (until I think of some more) has anyone noticed how in Supernatural being dead for, say, more than an hour and up to about 12 months seems to be a lot less fatal (Sam, Dean, zombie girl, Castiel, possibly Bobby etc) than only being dead for about 30 seconds (Sarah, the hanged man in the mental hospital, any number of other people none of which I can think of at the moment) it seems like the only person who was dead and came back to life was the little girl in the haunted hotel episode and that was not in any way due to first aid since all they did was stand there and look at her. They all need to learn some first aid!
[quote]And two, Sam looks like a greek god standing there. He’s a glorious giant in that photo.[/quote]
Hee, that’s the only thing I got out of that picture too! Sam is so much taller than anyone and just dominates that picture.
– Graves. I thought the graves are pre shape at the moment of excavation. I went to the Cemetery Tour in New Orleans and they explained how it’s done, with wood on the walls or something like that… did not remember very well, the only thing I remember is that they do that to prevent the coffins to float during floods, like it happened in the beginning of the 1900″s. Yes, that part I remember ’cause the guide told us that people were seeing the coffins floating on the streets.
– Mary’s memories were erased by Michael, maybe he planted a new set of memories to replace all the hunting stuff… That is why Mary did not react to the flickering lights before she went to see the TV on.
– Rock names… I love classic rock, but I don’t know the names of the band members, some of the front men only. Besides, not everybody likes oldies…(like my nephew says)
Ah, this article made me laugh. The grave digging always makes me smile because they are perfect, square holes of ideal size.
Speaking to the hunter wardrobe – I have a theory: flannel must be the least bloodstain prone.
Finally, I fully accept Sam and Dean as Greek gods. To put it plain and simply: YUM! 😆
The explaination is Grandpa Campbell died of a heart attack?
pay no attention to the stab wound…. 😉 tis but a flesh wound lol
Thanks, [b]Sofia[/b] – this was great fun! I’ve always enjoyed these little bits. When they rise to the level of “For crying out loud!’ they go on my “They Did WHAT?!?” list, published earlier!
Dean and his demanding other people get him pie schtick. Its worn itself win. Seriously, Dean except in two episodes Dean has two working legs and his own friggin car. Get your own damn pie yourself. Its gotten so bad that he’s pulled other charectors (bobby,,,charlie) into mocking Sam – which means all research stops – for forgetting the pie to Castiel bodily threatening a halpless convenience store clerk, NOT cool.
Really, Amyh? Come on, why is that wrong? When Dean does the shopping/supply run ( which he certainly did plenty of last season) I am betting he gets Sam his healthy food, so why wouldn’t Sam pick up Dean’s favorite dessert? People who share space and chores always do that. Further – the only reason Charlie knew about it was those idiot books, and it was sweet that Cas was trying to get all the things he thought the brothers would want to make up for his mistakes. Just my 2 cents – this is one schtick that still works for me.
I’ve always wondered what Ruby meant at the end of season 4 when she said, “It was always in you Dumbo, you didn’t need the feather to fly.” At the time (and I wasn’t reading online comments, then, so it was strictly my thinking) I thought she meant that Sam didn’t need to drink db in order to exorcise demons with his mind. He always had the ability. But I never remember any further explanation of this. Then at the end of S5 he needs to drink gallons. Anyone?
Prix68:
This is just my opinion, but remember what Ava told Sam right after she killed Andy? She told Sam that he wouldn’t believe how quickly he could develop and improve his power if he would just [i]embrace[/i] the power rather than fight it. I think that is what Ruby was referring to. She was telling Sam that ever since YED bled in to his mouth at age six months, he had been “gifted” with demon power just waiting to bloom and grow if he would let it. Sam didn’t need anything more to develop what was already inside him. However Sam had always feared and rejected his potential powers even though “It was always in you, Dumbo”.
I always thought that forcing Sam to accept drinking the demon blood was Ruby’s way of breaking down Sam’s refusal to accept and embrace his powers. It was a clear break with Sam’s past refusal to embrace “the dark side”. It marked the end of his innocence, a clear departure from his partnership with his brother to fight evil. It was an irrefutable choice that aligned Sam with a known demon. (Granted this change in Sam was very gradual and always seemed like the best choice he could make at that moment.)
IMO drinking demon blood created [b]both[/b] psychological and [b]very real[/b] physiological consequences. Psychologically, it made it much easier for Sam to rationalize embracing his powers. When Sam saw what he could actually do with his powers, he was able to rationalize that it wasn’t [i]his[/i] power but the demon blood making those things happen. Ruby finally ripped aside that veil of self-deceit for Sam. The things he did had all along been [b]powered by HIM[/b] and his own choices not by the demon blood.
Then there were also definite physiological ramifications of drinking demon blood. Cas informed Sam that it would be necessary for him to drink gallons of demon blood in order to “strengthen the vessel” sufficiently so he could contain Lucifer without burning away as Nick did. I always saw that as drinking copious amounts of demon blood made the host more “welcoming” for its demon host – less human, more demon-friendly. And there is no doubt that demon blood had highly addictive qualities (hence all the withdrawal scenes we see for Sam).
I guess you could write a whole essay on the psychological and physiological effects of drinking demon blood. But for me, everything that happened in the SPN episodes made perfect sense and was consistent.
Thanks suzee51
Prix68, she said that when he accused her of being responsible for letting Lucifer out by poisoning him with the blood. She said she just gave him the choice and he made the right one (wrong one) every time. So he did not need her! He made those choices and did it on his own – did not need her to poison him to make the choices that led to Lucifer getting out. Think of Criss Angel is a Douchbag – Sam said he was not going to drink the blood anymore – then decides to do so at the end of the episode so he can win and not be hunting when he is old – wrong choice. She of course was there giving him the option every time – evil demon.
Thanks Grace232
Don’t know if anyone has pointed this out, but in the Pilot, they did shoot a scene where Dean looked at his watch and sees that it has stopped, which caused him to turn back. Unfortunately, that shot got cut, which left the ending a bit sloppy, as you pointed out.
Sam had it in him the whole time leads me to believe that Ruby was breaking the psychological barrier for Sam as drinking blood is a repulsive act of the things he hunts. He just needed a push in that direction. The addiction then became physical as well as justified in Sam’s mind that he was doing the right thing. Once separated from Dean, he lost his moral compass and was intoxicated. Ruby fills him up with gallons of the stuff whether he needs it or not to psychologically break the last barrier- the innocent nurse inhabited by the demon is an innocent nurse when Ruby drains her. He does drink again in the Chris Angel… but also snacks when Famine sends him two demons and he is tied up to the bathroom sink. He does so in order to save Dean from Famine as he has enough mojo to force Famine to explode with a reverse exorcism. He does dry out again in Bobby’s safe room.
And of course Sam always had a choice, but addiction has a way of impeding one’s judgment.
Dean has boozed it up depending on the season to repress his feelings, but his judgment is usually better than Sam;s so Sam has “it: in him . Now after the confession is Sam purified????
Thanks Debbab and all of you that answered. In Dumbo, an all time favorite of mine, Dumbo can fly without the feather (because of his huge ears, which made him a freak among elephants) but the feather gave him the confidence to try and succeed. So, if Ruby meant Sam can exorcise demons without actually drinking db wouldn’t that be a good thing. No addiction, just a tool like the demon knife and the colt. Ruby used drinking db to control Sam but maybe Sam can do it without the drinking and the addiction to db. Did he ever try it without drinking db first? Or the writer used a really poor analogy?
Returning to the lighter side of this thread: where did Dean put his “kick-ass vinyl” all these years? I left a vinyl album in my car for an hour once and it turned into a planter with a nice drain hole in the bottom (and, yes, I really did put a plant in it).
Well, probably with Castiel’s neatly washed and folded trench coat! Lol
To #32Thisoldbag-I’m thinking if Dean has any of John’s traits, he might have a storage facility where he has been storing his vinyls. Of course, the Impala has been their home and perhaps it too has a bubble around the boys’ most valuable memories, the legos in the dask, the toy soldier in the ashtray, Cas’s cleaned coat. Does the trunk have a Tartis like quality so that is has storage space in another dimension? Good fiction does make one suspend one’s disbelief.
To Prix 68 Sam had abilities to dream events before the took place, he also had “feelings” about presences before he drank db from Ruby. His abilities to exorcise demons increased with practice and his nose stopped bleeding as the effort became less and less, now was that due to the db or practice of his skills? Sam thinks its the db, but there in lies the Dumbo analogy and Ruby’s using db to break Sam and take him over the edge. Despite Sam’s heroism, his confidence in himself has not always been high as opposed to Dean’s sometimes fake bravura. So just adding my thoughts.Seems like when Sam puts forth effort to do something for the good of many, he bleeds, either from his nose or coughs up blood. He is so totally tied into blood. And of course the withdrawal scenes lead me to believe it is addictive. Look up the real life saga of a teenager years ago, who though he was a vampire and is now on death row for murders. He says it was a power high psychologically to ingest the blood. The writers do research. truth is often stranger than SPN.
Well, yuck! Enough about Ruby and Dumbo for me. Thanks debbab, for taking the time to reply though. I never cease to be amazed by the wealth of knowledge in the SPN fandom. It’s awesome.
I have since watched the deleted scene in the pilot and can’t understand why they didn’t include it in the episode! It would have saved me years of confusion! Thanks to everyone who pointed it out!
I do have one more little bluff to call: 1958 is not 65 or 70 years ago ( as they mentioned in Everybody Hates Hitler) even tho they specifically said ” circa 1958″. 1958 is exactly 55 years ago, I know this because that’s the year I was born. So if things in the bunker are dated from 1958 and before then the last time anyone would have been in it was 55 years ago. What, Sam can’t do basic math now? Sorry…I feel better now.
[quote]I do have one more little bluff to call: 1958 is not 65 or 70 years ago ( as they mentioned in Everybody Hates Hitler) even tho they specifically said ” circa 1958″. 1958 is exactly 55 years ago, I know this because that’s the year I was born. [/quote]
I can see why that would bug you 😉
[quote]I do have one more little bluff to call: 1958 is not 65 or 70 years ago ( as they mentioned in Everybody Hates Hitler) even tho they specifically said ” circa 1958″. 1958 is exactly 55 years ago, I know this because that’s the year I was born. So if things in the bunker are dated from 1958 and before then the last time anyone would have been in it was 55 years ago. What, Sam can’t do basic math now? Sorry…I feel better now.[/quote]
Yes I caught that math error as well, but it is nice to know that there is someone in my age category who watches SPN for the historical content as well as the other appreciated attributes. Yes I still own vinyl records.:-)
Here is how I have made the grave digging make sense- I figure a grave was first dug with a back hoe, Or whatever that piece of machinery is, and a grave will have straight sides so when re-dug, it would be easy to follow the lines. Really weak, I know, but it bugged me so much I had to come up with something!! LOL. Also, regarding the Pilot, I thought I read/heard that as Dean was driving away his radio started to cut out. Whatever it was, it was cut and that did lead to a lot of confusion over the years.
[quote]Here is how I have made the grave digging make sense- I figure a grave was first dug with a back hoe, Or whatever that piece of machinery is, and a grave will have straight sides so when re-dug, it would be easy to follow the lines. Really weak, I know, but it bugged me so much I had to come up with something!! LOL. Also, regarding the Pilot, I thought I read/heard that as Dean was driving away his radio started to cut out. Whatever it was, it was cut and that did lead to a lot of confusion over the years.[/quote]
You know that makes perfect sense to me 😀 The soil in the grave would be softer and easier to dig than the sides hence a tidy grave.