So yesterday I posted part 1 of the Supernatural Season 1 awards, as awarded by me, Kara and Tiny! An indepth look at what makes Season 1 special to us. Well tonight, I present, part 2 where we get right into the nitty gritty of our favourite episodes, character moments and brother moments. So here it is, the final piece of the puzzle, part 2 of....The Supernatural Season 1 Awards!
Best Character Moment
KARA: The book ended moments. The Pilot and Devils Trap had mirrored scenes first it was Sam saying, “Killing this thing isn’t going to bring Mum back” and then it was Dean saying “Killing this thing isn’t going to bring Jess back.” Their reactions were the same. It just showed how both Sam and Dean had changed, how they both viewed what happened and what they were once willing to give up and what they were no longer willing to give up.
AMY: When Dean finally stands up to John. He does it twice. The first time in Dead Man’s Blood when he tells John, “That’s a bunch of crap” when John says he’s trying to keep the boys safe by not allowing them to fight alongside him and the second time is when his dad takes him to task for not calling him when Sam started to have nightmares. I loved seeing Dean do this. I think being with Sam, Sam’s influence and being a big brother again, finally gave him the chutzpah he needed to do it. I love that Sam and his relationship with Sam had, by this stage, become more important to him that bowing down to his father.
AMY: When Dean finally stands up to John. He does it twice. The first time in Dead Man’s Blood when he tells John, “That’s a bunch of crap” when John says he’s trying to keep the boys safe by not allowing them to fight alongside him and the second time is when his dad takes him to task for not calling him when Sam started to have nightmares. I loved seeing Dean do this. I think being with Sam, Sam’s influence and being a big brother again, finally gave him the chutzpah he needed to do it. I love that Sam and his relationship with Sam had, by this stage, become more important to him that bowing down to his father.
TINY: Dean in Something Wicked -- This was when we started to see Dean's true colour, we were slowly seeing his emotion and weight on his shoulders. He isn't just the smartass, womanizer, there is more about Dean, kudos to the writers and Jensen Ackles for bringing the awesome character to life. I love the flash back scenes in Something Wicked, we saw young Dean was given the responsibility to look after Sammy. The whole getting-approval-from-his-father aspect has been a recurring struggle for Dean throughout the show. I mentioned about Dean's Hero Syndrome before, Something Wicked definitely showed us how it all started.
Biggest Foreshadowing Moment
KARA: “I’m Sorry.” When Mary said that, man who would have guessed the magnitude of what she was really saying? That everything was partially her fault.
AMY: For me, this is a toss up between Home and Faith. Home when the spirit of Mary says "I'm sorry" to Sam and we don’t find out until Season 4 that it was Mary who made the original deal with Azazel, which sealed Sam’s and her fate and set the whole damn thing in motion. Faith where Roy tells Dean he is a young man with an important purpose, a job to do and we don’t find out until season five that Dean is the sword of the Archangel Michael. Or then again it could be Devil’s Trap when the YED tells Sam he’s special and he has plans for him and the other children like him. It’s all pretty good stuff. Really hard to pick.
TINY: In Home, when Mary said to Sam, "I am sorry." Eric Kripke is a genius! It’s simple amazing how three words can tie everything together!
Most Underrated Episode
KARA: The Benders -- That episode freaks the hell out of me. But that’s not why I think it’s underrated. People often forget about this episode, its got humans as the bad guys, but it shows that monsters don’t just come from Hell.
Honourable mention: Nightmare-- Dudes this whole episode set up the season two plot of ‘The special children’ and also hinted (through Johns reaction in Salvation) that John seems to know what Yellow Eyes had planned.
Honourable mention take two: Faith-- The reason why I didn’t say it was the Most Underrated Episode is because I believe in the confines of the season there is an excuse to say there is a reason that it is underrated, but in the bigger view of series Faith being unjustly underrated.
AMY: People put a lot of crap on Bugs but I don’t think it’s that horrible. It’s got some good moments. There’s some nice conflict between the brothers, where we see their different views on their dad and how they were raised and then of course there’s Dean in the steam shower with a towel on his head….hmmm? I think Route 666 with the stupid racist truck concept is way worse. Anyhoooo… Most underrated? I always really enjoy The Benders. I’m not sure if it’s underrated, but it’s one that you don’t often hear people talking about. I love how Dean is so desperate in his search for Sam and like I said earlier, I enjoy deputy Hudak. I love that the monsters turn out to be humans, reinforcing that humans can be just as monstrous as the things of our worst nightmares. I love how kick-ass Sammy is when he finally gets out of the cage and I totally love Sam and Dean’s little banter at the end and how Sam teases his big brother…. DEAN: Never do that again. SAM: Do what? DEAN: Go missin’ like that. SAM: You were worried about me. DEAN: All I’m sayin’ is, you vanish like that again, I’m not lookin’ for ya. SAM: Sure, you won’t. Nawwww! Adorable.
TINY: Something Wicked. I am a lover of all Winchester family episodes such as Home, In the Beginning and The Song Remains the Same. I think Something Wicked isn't getting the love it should. It has a lot of great stuff that helped developing characters, the brother relationship and the mythos of the show.
Favourite Sam and Dean Moment
KARA: This is going to sound like a weird one. But in Devils Trap where Sam and Dean go to save John and Dean makes the off the hand comment about how Dean used to always want to be a fire fighter. In that one moment I believe Sam saw Dean in a new light, that he didn’t see Dean as just an extension of John, but that Dean was like him. Dean wanted the normal life, but he chose to stay with John. I donno maybe I am just looking too much into a throwaway line. I blame the amazing acting.
AMY: I’m going to cop out here and say the whole of Something Wicked. Every moment in this episode whether in the present or in the past reveals something about the brother’s relationship. We see so much of what makes Sam and Dean, Sam and Dean. We see so much of why Dean is how he is with Sam. We understand them better because we see what they went through as kids. It’s no longer an abstract concept, and Dean finally get’s to rescue Sam from the creature he failed in killing when they were children. The whole thing is a great big wonderful dollop of Sam and Dean brotherness from whoa to go.
Honourable Mention: Home. When Dean tells Sam he carried him from the house on that fateful night and Sam says, “You did?” There’s just something so beautiful, innocent and intimate about that moment between them. I don’t know; it just grabs my heart every single time.
TINY: In Devil's Trap, when YEDJohn told Sam to give him the Colt but Dean told Sam that he wasn't their father. Sam chose to trust Dean. As much as John Winchester was their father, Dean was more a father figure to Sam than John ever was. Sam looked up to his big brother the most. Sam trusted Dean more than anyone. This moment really showed how close the brothers were.
Favourite Comedic Moment in an Episode
KARA: Can I just say Hell House? That whole episode was full of comedic moments, but gotta love the itching powder.
AMY: Cassie’s acting in Route 666? You’ve got to admit, it’s hilarious! Ok, ok. I always giggle at Dean humming Metallica on the doomed plane in Phantom Traveller. I also like Sam’s very loud radio prank on Dean in Hell House. I love both Sam and Dean’s reactions to that one. But I don’t think of Season 1 as being very comedic. There are plenty of snappy lines, but outside of Hell House, there really isn’t much big comedy.
TINY: In Phantom Traveller, when revealed Dean was afraid of flying. He was so scared he was humming Metallica during the flight! What I really love about this is that it was a well thought-out detail that tied up Dean, the Impala and the style of the show. Not only it was hilarious, it also explained why Dean drove everywhere and it further supported the fact Supernatural was like a road movie, the brothers travelled in the Impala across the country week in week out, and sometimes they were on the run from the authorities. Air travel was too luxury for them and did not fit into the mythos of the show.
Supernatural really gave Jensen and Jared numerous opportunities to shine as actors. Moments like this really showed their chemistry and comedic side.
Biggest Unanswered Question
KARA: This is going to sound petty, but season one was the season of ‘We will see you soon’s and then we never see that character ever again. So my biggest unanswered question is what the hell happened to Missouri?
But really, How much did John actually know?
AMY: Easy, why on earth would Cassie dump Dean? Ok, ok. I’d always wondered how Dean knew to come back for Sam in the Pilot. But just the other day I read that there was a scene before that scene, which was cut. In it Dean notices his watch has stopped and hears static on the radio and he heads back on a gut feeling. So I guess that’s no longer unanswered! Oh I know! Why do Dean’s eyes bleed in Bloody Mary? What was his secret where someone died?
TINY: Why did Mary apologise to Sam in Home? -- The answer was finally given/ explained in multiple episodes in season four and five when the show revealed Mary made a deal with YED and it was never Mary's intention to raise her children as hunters. I love how Mary was never really there, but she was the missing puzzle of the whole picture.
Favourite Episode
KARA: This is a hard one, season one was full of really strong stand alone episodes. I really enjoy Dead Man’s Blood and Devils Trap, but I think I will say Home. Home is just a beautifully written and acted episode. We saw just how that one night effected Dean with his reluctance to go back. We heard about the steps John went through between the death of Mary and then going out killing every supernatural monster he could find. We saw the first signs of Sam’s psychic powers. We also saw that John was very much alive and keeping away from his boys.
That John Winchester, I could hit him with a spoon.
AMY: Faith, as you’ve probably guessed! I think Faith is an incredibly important episode. It establishes another world beyond the ghosts, monsters and demons by introducing the concept of the Reaper, which essentially introduces the concept of an afterlife and a world beyond which the boys had previously dealt with. It also poses the question if there’s a Reaper and an afterlife, is there then a God? It was the first time we saw the boys face a life or death decision by being forced to choose one life over another. We hadn’t seen this kind of moral conundrum before. Previously, good and evil, live or die and been cut and dried, but not in Faith. It was the first time we saw how little Dean values his self. It was the first time we saw Sam step up and take on the role of big brother. It sets up later mythology by revealing Dean has an important purpose, a job to do. It’s the first time we see Dean as vulnerable as this and it’s the first time (and only time) we see him in a hoody....sorry, had to be said! It was also the first time we saw the notion of a binding spell, something that would be later used in the series by the Devil and by the Winchesters on poor old Death…some synergy here don’t you think? It’s beautifully shot. I love the grade on this episode. The colours are muted. It’s filmic. I adore the use of (Don’t Fear) The Reaper and the scene it accompanies. I love everything this episode stands for, so much of which the brother’s have to embrace later in the series. Even Eric Kripke loves this episode. He says in the Season One Companion; "It's when I first realised what the show was capable of. Here's this episode about: Is there a god? What's meant to be? And is there free will? And is your life worth the cost of someone else's life? It's a metaphysical and moral study of the boys' universe.” I think Faith is as close to perfect as this show gets and they managed to get there just 12 episodes in. Awesome.
TINY: Home -- It is one of the most watched Supernatural episodes on my TV. It was second episode with all four Winchesters in it since the Pilot. It took the audience and Dean and Sam back to the origin of the story -- Lawrence, Kansas. It has one of the biggest foreshadowing moments in the history of the show. It was the first time Sam found out it was Dean who carried him out of the house during the fire. It was the first time Sam met Mary. It has one of the very few scenes where Dean and Sam interacted with their mother, and she wasn't possessed or an evil clone. John's "I can't see my children until I find out about the truth" really got us all hooked about the family past, the story and the evil that killed Mary. Just when you thought it was just a random evil-killing-mum story, Supernatural showed us beyond the obvious, the mythos got stronger and stronger throughout the series. To me, it all began with Home.
The Nostalgia
KARA: The Nostalgia. To explain this I feel like I should explain how I first started watching Supernatural. I had just finished high school and I was going on schoolies (those who don’t know what schoolies is... look it up) Anyway I was nursing a hangover, which is really what the mornings during schoolies is for. My friend, which I was sharing the house with brought the first two seasons of Supernatural and was shocked when I told her I hadn’t seen it before. We powered through the first disk and since then I had been hooked.
But back to the Nostalgia. Bloody Mary will always hold a special place with me. It was the episode that my whole house sat around the small TV and watched it while eating burnt barbeque meal from the night before. And then came that scene when Mary came out of the mirror everyone was drawn in. It was awesome.
AMY: Wow, can I say the whole of the season? There’s definitely a different vibe to season one, but that goes without saying. It was the beginning and for a lot of us, it’s where we fell in love with Supernatural and fell in love with Sam and Dean Winchester. The whole of the Pilot and Wendigo make me nostalgic, so many great lines, so many wonderful brother moments. Then there’s Dean allowing Sam time with the girls in Hookmanand Provenance. Looking out for his little brother. Then there’s Sam telling Dean in Something Wicked that Dean was just a kid and that he should forgive himself. Looking out for his big brother. There’s an innocence to Sam and Dean’s relationship in season one, in the way they banter and take care of each other. It’s not that they don’t love and look out for each other now, it’s just now they do it so vehemently and with such intensity it has sort of transcended love! Back in season one, it seemed all so simple; their relationship was simple, or at least as simple as the Winchester’s relationship can ever be. So I guess for me, it’s Sam and Dean’s relationship that smacks of nostalgia. As much as I love and adore the later seasons with the rich mythology, as much as I love and adore how deep and complex the brothers have become, I often find myself pining for just a little of who Sam and Dean were to each other back in season one, before God, the Devil, the Demons and the Angels screwed it all up for them.
TINY: Home -- This will always be the one episode I talk about when referring to the core theme, season one and Supernatural as a series. This is one of my ALL-TIME favourite episodes. Home is the reason I became a superfan and the reason I am in love with Supernatural.
AMY: Wow, can I say the whole of the season? There’s definitely a different vibe to season one, but that goes without saying. It was the beginning and for a lot of us, it’s where we fell in love with Supernatural and fell in love with Sam and Dean Winchester. The whole of the Pilot and Wendigo make me nostalgic, so many great lines, so many wonderful brother moments. Then there’s Dean allowing Sam time with the girls in Hookmanand Provenance. Looking out for his little brother. Then there’s Sam telling Dean in Something Wicked that Dean was just a kid and that he should forgive himself. Looking out for his big brother. There’s an innocence to Sam and Dean’s relationship in season one, in the way they banter and take care of each other. It’s not that they don’t love and look out for each other now, it’s just now they do it so vehemently and with such intensity it has sort of transcended love! Back in season one, it seemed all so simple; their relationship was simple, or at least as simple as the Winchester’s relationship can ever be. So I guess for me, it’s Sam and Dean’s relationship that smacks of nostalgia. As much as I love and adore the later seasons with the rich mythology, as much as I love and adore how deep and complex the brothers have become, I often find myself pining for just a little of who Sam and Dean were to each other back in season one, before God, the Devil, the Demons and the Angels screwed it all up for them.
TINY: Home -- This will always be the one episode I talk about when referring to the core theme, season one and Supernatural as a series. This is one of my ALL-TIME favourite episodes. Home is the reason I became a superfan and the reason I am in love with Supernatural.
THE END!
So that's it! Part 2 of the Supernatural Season 1 Awards. If you missed part 1 it's here. I really hope you enjoyed it, that it made you think about how wonderful this show is, how wonderful the writing is, how wonderful the brothers are and all the characters that proliferate their Universe. Maybe it even made you want to go back and rewatch the series from the beginning. I'd love to hear what you thought!
Thanks to my buddies Tiny and Kara. You ladies are AWE-SOME!
And special thanks to Supernatural Wiki for being the amazing reference source it is.
I'll see you next time for my review of "Adventures In Babysitting."
Thanks for reading! -Amy
