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!
Comments
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?
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/
But thanks for this. This is a fun article. :)
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 ...
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 usually tend to let this kind of stuff slide-especiall y 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!
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.
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!
No. 13 Love this one!
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!
- 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)
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!
pay no attention to the stab wound.... ;) tis but a flesh wound lol
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 embrace 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 both psychological and very real 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 his 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 powered by HIM 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.
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????
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.