Head of the Broken Family: John in the Pilot

John Winchester dominates the first season of Supernatural, though he appears in only seven of the twenty-two episodes. Much of what we learn about him we learn indirectly, through what others (mostly his sons) have to say about him. Sam and Dean in particular are unreliable narrators where John is concerned, so John’s appearance and actions in the pilot episode are important in establishing who he really is.

In the pilot we see John only in the “twenty-two years ago” flashback. There is a great deal of emphasis on John’s background as a Marine. There’s a photograph of him in uniform and he’s wearing a USMC t-shirt when we first see him. There’s a war movie on the television. Later in the pilot Dean refers to him as an ex-marine, just in case the audience didn’t get it from the first three hints. This is a huge part of John’s identity. Why is this important? There’s a conceit that “once a marine, always a marine” in a way that’s more true for the Marine Corps than it is of other military services. Though it’s not directly stated in the pilot, later in the series it’s confirmed that John served in Vietnam. These clues establish things about John and the kind of person he is that a non-American audience won’t pick up at first; as a British viewer who has no empathy for the military culture, it took me a long time.

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Crossposted from my blog at Devil's Trap. You can comment here or on the blog.

Not Normal, Safe: Sam in the Pilot

There is a mystery surrounding Sam Winchester from the very beginning.

When we first see him as a baby, he is the centre of his family – a new baby always is. Everyone else is gathered in Sam’s nursery to put him to bed. The nursery is a testament to how important Sam is to his family: the sheer number of cuddly toys, for a baby still too young to play with them, the depth of affection with which each of the others wish the baby good-night, even the baseball-themed mobile above the crib shout aloud that the baby is very much loved.

With the baby left alone for the night, we see the mobile above the crib begin to move, apparently all on its own. Is this the first sign of a supernatural presence? Or is baby Sammy somehow making the mobile move? Perhaps it’s only the wind.

Even taking the pilot alone, with none of the revelations we’ve seen since, there is little doubt that Mary’s death centres around Sam. There’s the mysterious figure beside the crib, whom she at first mistakes for John. Mary dies on the ceiling, directly above the crib; indeed, when John first bursts into the nursery it looks as if baby Sammy is quite entertained by the sight. Blood drips from Mary’s wound to fall right beside Sam’s head; only John’s hand prevents the second drip of blood from touching the baby. And then there’s the fire which so-quickly filled the nursery. It seems certain that, had John not been present, Sam would have died with his mother.

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Crossposted from my blog at Devil's Trap. You can comment here or on the blog.