The Winchesters Season 1 - Pilot

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The Winchesters Season 1 - Pilot! - Review

As a fan of Supernatural I was both hesitant and excited to have this fandom return to tv. Hesitant because I know spin-offs can be hit or miss but excited because Jensen Ackles is very involved and I trust that he knows what he is doing. So, what is The Winchesters? It’s the origin story of Mary Campbell and John Winchester. We saw some of how they met in Supernatural but this takes things up a notch. We get depth and detail all being narrated by Dean himself. And for a pilot and a spin-off, this wasn't bad at all. 

This being the first episode it’s setting up the tone and background for the show. We see how John and Mary meet, establish the underlying plots, and tone of the series. It airs on the CW but so did Supernatural and I think its clear what network it’s on. That’s not bad though because I love many CW shows, like Smallville, Supernatural, and Superman and Lois.

Let’s get this out of the way now, it’s not following the canon from Supernatural at this time. John didn't know about the supernatural until Mary’s death, at least from the supernatural canon, but this was just the pilot and there’s many ways to tie it back. Azazel could easily alter the memories of John when Mary makes the deal to bring him back. An angel could do memory altering as well. I'm saying there are options and I am trusting that Jensen will tie it back to Supernatural by the end of the series. But really that was my only complaint and since this is just the pilot I will be patient and wait to see how this all unfolds and not passing final judgments.

Before we talk about the episode itself I'm going to take a moment to say I really like the casting. Mary does kind of remind of Claire from Supernatural but that’s not a bad thing. I like John and Mary’s actors and the supporting cast so far has been great. 

Now the story. John comes back from the war, Vietnam, and seems to be suffering from PTSD. He gets some note from a guy leading him to something about his father which is how he runs into Mary. They fight a demon together, John brings coffee, they go on a little quest together. John and Mary then find a men of letters bunker which John finds out his dad was a part of and Mary’s dad was looking for or into. Mary is searching for her father but plans to leave the hunting game after, John is helping her. They fight another demon and a loup garu and then we end with Dean narrating and writing in a journal at some point in the future, during Supernatural’s timeline. The tone is a little monster of the week and finding the missing dad, Supernatural season one anyone?

First thing I noticed was that John and Mary resemble Sam and Dean. John is a lot like Sam, especially in the early seasons of Supernatural, and Mary resembles Dean. We see who each kid takes after. I’m not sure if the actors were told, “Hey watch Supernatural and take mannerisms from Sam and Dean” but that’s what it feels like happened. It’s not a bad thing, I suppose now we know for sure which kid takes after which parent.

I enjoyed how they showed John suffering from PTSD. John doesn’t seem to realize he has it, PTSD was relatively new yet, and it was tugging at the heartstrings seeing him hope it was demons and not his own mind. The scene in the car where he shares with Mary that he sees those he couldn’t save during the war, wishing it was demons? My heart broke a bit for John. This was a decent bonding scene for the two because Mary has similar trauma from those she couldn’t save on hunts. Both have suffered loss, seen people they cared about die, and despite their different backgrounds had common ground.

John and Mary are fun character’s as well. Like I said they feel a lot like Sam and Dean in many ways and that’s not bad. It’s not too much where it would be weird but I think for Supernatural fans it connects the parents to the children. But they are still their own characters, there was enough separation, at least for me. Though if anything Claire and Mary are really similar, in personality and appearance.

Carlos and Lata are great supporting characters. I loved them both. Everyone has been different enough but not too outlandish that it doesn’t fit and I love what each character brings to the table. I also loved the way they casually fit in Carlos’s bisexuality, it wasn't the center of his character but they offhandedly threw it in. I always say we don’t have enough bisexual male characters in TV, it’s usually women, so I was happy to see that with Carlos. Though I wish it wasn't having him being shown to be a cheater or overly promiscuous because that’s such an overdone and not great stereotype. Pros and cons.

There was plenty of high action scenes. I loved how they were choreographed. The first fight with John, Mary, and the demon was funny but also well done. Funny because they kept getting in each other’s way, but it was showing us how both are skilled fighter’s in different context and how those different contexts don't necessarily mix. Or don't mix with each other yet. The other big fight was in the men of letter’s bunker. We had Lata, Carlos, and Mary fighting off a demon while John took the loup garu. I loved John’s one-on-one with the loup garu the men of letter’s left as a safeguard, that scene had my attention the whole time. And it was so satisfying when he beheaded the beast. 

I do wonder how someone who has not previously seen Supernatural first would do following this show. They throw in men of letters in episode one and don’t give much elaboration, though anyone who’s watched all of Supernatural knows what the men of letters are. And how to fight the supernatural was a bit rushed in my opinion for those not familiar with Supernatural the show but again maybe people who haven’t seen would be ok. Though this definitely was made for Supernatural fans. That was made apparent by the Sam and Dean traits seen in John and Mary and just the lore itself. I really love that Dean is the one narrating and telling the story. It really does tie in Supernatural with The Winchesters. Which again, this was clearly intended for Supernatural fans.

Overall, I think this is a really good show. I like it a lot. For a pilot it was executed well, I think we get a good idea of what to expect and what the tone of the show is. That might be because Jensen Ackles is a huge part of this series and being Dean Winchester from Supernatural he knows how to properly set up the tone he wants this show to be. I really only have one complaint and that’s how it ties to the canon lore because right now it doesn’t and I admit that bothers me a little bit but it’s only episode one so we have a whole season for them to tie it in. But even if it doesn't tie into canon I imagine this will still be an enjoyable show for what it is. I do hope they tie it to the canon lore and I will be disappointed if they don’t but if they don’t then I will just look at it as a separate thing, and if it stays enjoyable like the pilot was, do my best to just enjoy it separate from Supernatural.

7/10 biscuits