The WFB Crew Review: Supernatural 1.01 “Pilot”
2) What do you see differently in the pilot now that we know more about where things ended up?
Elle – Certainly it’s easier to see the breadcrumb trail of character development and/or plot arrows than it was as a naive first time viewer. Flickering lights might be ominous on a first watch, but now they mean, almost guarantee, demonic activity (or supernatural in the very least). Not to say it wasn’t subtle – but now that we know what to look for, it’s much clearer.
Elle2 – For the longest time I wondered why Mary didn’t shout for John to come with her when she realized someone else was in Sam’s nursery, but then it hit me, could her hunter instincts have kicked in and she realized that, Marine or not, John wasn’t ready for a supernatural showdown and her skills and past as a hunter would serve her best alone? Granted, when she rounds the corner at the top of the hallway she calls out for Sammy, but it isn’t until she screams that John actually awakens and comes to investigate. By then, it was all over. Family always tries to protect: Mary was trying to hide from hunting, protect herself from her past, and protect herself by never revealing it to John, but it came for her anyway. Sam tried to leave hunting and it’s hunted him down each time: Stanford as well as in Season 8 when he left it all behind, yet he couldn’t really leave it when his attempted normal life with Amelia ended with her presumed-dead husband returning and him returning to Rufus’ cabin, and running into Dean. Also, for all Dean’s bravado that hunting is what he loves and normal isn’t in the cards for them, which is present in the Pilot, he really does long for normal. We saw it in What Is and What Should Never Be, as well as Dark Side of the Moon and Dream a Little Dream of Me, even his time with Lisa. But he knew, he always knew the hunting life would come back for him.
Metamorphic Rocks – Sam’s choice to hunt with Dean after Jessica died, which initially seemed so fateful in the pilot, doesn’t really have the consequences we initially thought it did, now that we know so much more. Originally it appeared that if Sam never went with Dean on that night, then he wouldn’t have been taken by The Yellow Eyed Demon, he wouldn’t have died, Dean wouldn’t have had to sell his soul to bring Sam back so Dean wouldn’t have gone to Hell, Sam wouldn’t have started the apocalypse, and so on.
However, as we find out in later seasons, even if Sam didn’t get pulled back into hunting, it was Sam’s destiny – of sorts – to be immersed in this life. It turned out that Sam was being manipulated by demons since he was six months old, being groomed from very early on to become Lucifer’s vessel (just as Dean was meant to be Michael’s), so that initial choice he made in the pilot isn’t as critical as it once seemed.
Percysowner – I think I answered this, but the big thing is I now see Mary’s reaction differently. Suddenly her not screaming for John and confronting, what we now know is Azazel, by herself. She must have seen John as not being able to handle what she was about to confront, while she had hunter’s knowledge and at least John wouldn’t get himself killed again.
My favorite scene…the moment it started to the moment it ended. 🙂
Aw I love the pilot. Sure it’s a teeny weeny bit clunky in places but the guys sell it. The entire heart of the show is right there. And ACTUAL horror (ah the good old days)! Scary girl is scary, creepy branch shadow moving impossibly across the side of the house, the two principle women in the boys’ lives to that point both killed so awfully. Revenge now required by the brothers – Dean for his mother and Sam for the mother he never had the chance to know or be nurtured by, and for the woman he loved *cries*. The sheer cuteness of the brothers in the first scene they ever shot together (y’all know which one 🙂 ). The fight on the bridge! Someone should do a retrospective of ‘important brother moments on bridges’ I believe there are a few. If you include ‘important brother moments beside water’ there is a whole thesis to be written.
I love the escape from the police of half of the Hardy boys due to the quick thinking of the other half, and the later rescue of said other half by couple of devious (and illegal) phone-calls. Actually if they broke phones as often back then as they do now the show might have stopped right there.
The lighting and sets were great, the music was great, the atmosphere was great. The guest-stars were great – hey there’s Duane Barry!
I like the pilot a bit (does it show?).
I absolutely love the pilot. It wasn’t my 1st introduction to the brothers. I had seen a episode from season 2 that caught my interest while channel surfing. I thought it was pretty awesome and went out and bought the S1 DVD and sat all weekend long catching up. The pilot has a special place in my heart because it was the birth of an incredible TV show and introduction to two wonderful actors that I love more each year. From the dark grittiness of the lighting to the great music, coupled with an exciting, surprising story I was instantly hooked. The chemistry of Jared and Jensen just jumped off the screen. I wondered for years what Mary meant by “it’s you” and later by her “I’m sorry Sammy” and I am still impressed that it was all explained years later. Sam and Dean look so very young and fresh faced back then.
I very much enjoy these Crew Reviews. Good to see Percysowner included this time. Thanks Nate! BTW where are your thoughts?
I really enjoy these WFB Crew Reviews and am glad you’ve continued them. Nate – why didn’t you chime in with your thoughts? Logged on to the WFB site this morning and it’s nice to get away from the Sam vs. Dean wars taking place in the 10.12 About a Boy synopsis article. I thought the pilot episode did a great job of setting up the series. There were a couple of rough patches – the exposition scene on the stairs was a little clunky, but then again, they had a lot of ground to cover in a short scene. And, at the end, it never made sense why Dean came back to Sam and Jess’ apartment, but I recall later seeing a deleted scene on DVD which explained it; not sure why they deleted that but, again, a lot of ground to cover in that episode.
The one scene that set things apart, at least for me, was the scene of the brothers researching the case, the way Sam pushed Dean out of the way to take over at the PC. It was a very brotherly thing to do, even for brothers in their 20’s, and wasn’t that important in the grand scheme of things. But you could see that the actors “clicked”, and that attention to small details stood out, at least to me.
[quote]Nate – why didn’t you chime in with your thoughts?[/quote]
I’ve been busy and not much to say about the pilot other than “like it”. 😉 Doesn’t mean I won’t chime in in the future.
“What one thing introduced in the Pilot do you wish we had more of these days, (i.e. rock-n-roll, bitch/jerk, urban legends, seeing them scam for cash, be it poker or pool)?”
Haha! ALL of the above! Classic rock for a scene, as in “Renegade” and “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. The brotherly teasing, as when Dean is covered in smelly muck and Sam says
“You smell like a toilet!” LOL.
Would love to see them scamming for cash as it seems there is no need to do since they found the dragons’ cache of gold. They could show them pawning off bits and pieces of it so we know
that is how they are surviving. It was a huge pile and gold is extremely valuable! Always longed to watch Dean hustling pool with some tough guys who would probably want to take his head off later. We did see Sam doing a great job hustle with the poker Witch! Loved that! ALMOST got one of Sammy hustling pool in “I Know What You Did Last Summer” but it was cut way too short when Ruby showed up.
And more urban legends please. Am really tired of dick angels in particular, none have been interesting since Zachariah (great actor). Metatron anybody? And some more disguises than just FBI. Used to be different in almost every episode.
Loved the pilot! Still love it every time! (The boys really WERE boys back then, weren’t they? So damn cute!):o:p:p;););)