Here's the thing about Supernatural...it is the longest running Science Fiction show on the air. And it's still going. It's currently on its 14th season.
I need to pause here for a minute to simply state a few things for the record. And it's just my opinion. A show that runs for 14 seasons will inevitably suffer in its quality. To maintain momentum for that long is extremely difficult. There are very few shows that are able to end on a high note, while peaking in its quality of storytelling and character development. For example: Breaking Bad. I also feel like Buffy the Vampire Slayer accomplished this. (Don't mention Lost in my presence. Ever.)
Supernatural should have ended a long time ago. The writing has gone downhill, the storylines are tired and recycled, and the character development is scant. The show also has a nasty habit of killing off any new good characters that would bring a much needed dynamic to the world. It's filled with missed opportunities and great ideas that are not necessarily fleshed out. The show is in desperate need of fresh writing and a revised story arch.
That being said...Supernatural is still bad ass. The beginning seasons were incredible. The episodes literally feel like miniature horror movies. And some of the original monsters that were written for the show are phenomenal. Okay, rant over.
Sam and Dean Winchester are hunters. They track and kill monsters of all kinds. "The Family Business" they jokingly call it. This results in a life on the road by way of stolen credit cards, and crappy hotel rooms as they hunt a wide spectrum of beasties.
To give you a quick backstory- their mother, Mary Winchester, was killed when the boys were small by a demon named Azazel. Years ago, she made a deal with the demon to save the life of her husband, John Winchester. The demon wanted her second born child. Mary agreed. When Sam is born, Azazel comes to collect on the deal. Mary use to be a hunter. When the demon demands that she stand aside, she fights back (naturally). Azazel kills her. When John walks into the nursery he finds Mary pinned on the ceiling, a grisly gash across her abdomen. Blood drips from the wound. And then flames engulf her, quickly spreading through the home.
John is able to get both boys out. But this event changes the course of all of their lives. John becomes a hunter, determined to find and kill the demon that murdered his wife. And the boys inevitably follow in his footsteps.
The episode I want to share with you is called: What is and what should never be, Season 2, episode 20. It aired on May 3, 2007. It was written by Eric Kripke and Raelle Tucker. Directed by Eric Kripke.
The boys are in Illinois, tracking a djinn. The episode begins with Dean driving, on the phone with Sam, who is back at the hotel. They are discussing lore. Sam is in research mode. There are several books sprawled open on the small hotel table, and his laptop is on, images of djinn on the screen. There have been a lot of missing people in the area and the boys are trying to narrow down where the beastie could be hiding. Sam mentions they normally choose ruins of some kind, because there are lots of places to hide.
Dean mentions that he saw an abandoned warehouse not too far back and will go check it out. Sam insists that Dean return to the hotel to pick him up first. Dean states he will be fine, it will be quick and he will be back soon.
I know right? Classic ominous statement.
Dean pulls up to a old dark warehouse and proceeds to search the inside. His weapon of choice: A silver blade dipped in lamb's blood, one of the only ways to kill a djinn. Mmmm! I love the original lore. It's so scrumptious.
Dean slowly and carefully searches the inside of the warehouse. Its dark, dirty, filled with innocuous rusty objects that are scattered about. You know...creepy.
Dean is passes by a frosted glass window, and a blurred figure appears on the other side. Dean senses a presence, and quickly turns around the corner, knife raised but it's empty. The djinn suddenly appears behind him. They struggle, ending up on a stairwell. The knife is knocked out of Dean's hand in the scuffle. The djinn pins him onto the stairs and raises his hand. Blue flame appears in his eyes and gathers in his palm. He presses his hand to the side of Dean's temple and Dean's eyes go opaque.
I want to take a moment to applaud how the SN team designed the appearance of the djinn. They are bald, covered in intricate tribal looking tattoos. And the blue flames that appear in their hands and eyes are super cool.
The last thing the audience sees is the djinn touching Dean with his blue flame. The next scene cuts to Dean waking up beside a beautiful girl wearing nothing but bed sheets. This is when the genius monster awesomeness happens...
The djinn in SN are so evil! But the writing is very clever because the story plays on what we already know about Genie's...that they grant wishes. A hero rubs a lamp, poof! Wish granted (no wishing for more wishes). Aw, that's adorable.
But no, no, my darling. Not here. These Djinn read a person's mind and are able to discern their deepest wishes. They then use their supernatural powers to transport their victims into a fantasy, one that takes place within the mind. It's like a hallucination on steroids...touch, smell, everything feels incredibly real. The victim is in a dream world, one in which their hearts deepest desire has been made real. Meanwhile in reality the djinn are slowly killing their victims by drinking their blood. Remember that creepy warehouse? Well several humans are strung up inside, hands bound above their heads, dirty bare feet barely touching the grimy cement floor. A thin needle is in their neck, attached to tubing, and a blood bag. The Djinn keep them "asleep" inside the fantasy while they drain the life out of them.
Now that you know the score, let's check in on Dean shall we?
The audience gets to see something significant about this character. Dean is not a touchy feely guy. He is a soldier through and through, the strong silent type. But this situation has afforded us a peak into his deepest wish: which is a world in which his mother is still alive. It is a little heart breaking to be honest. You know he is in trouble, strung up somewhere in a dark warehouse, getting fed on. But at the same time you feel captivated and intrigued to learn about his ideal world.
In this fantasy universe, Dean lives with his gorgeous girlfriend Carmen. His mom is alive. Their childhood home is still standing, filled with photos and intact memories. Their father has passed, but from a stroke, dying peacefully in his sleep. Sam went to college and is going to marry his dream girl, Jess (who in reality was killed by Azazel in the same way as his mother (brutal).
As you can imagine, Dean is confused. The world around him is incredibly real. He remembers his last few moments in the warehouse with the djinn. So what the hell happened? He knows the djinn is involved somehow, but what did it do? Dean sees a piece of mail in his kitchen, with his old childhood home address on it. He rushes in the car and drives there. When he knocks on the door, his mom answers. She is alive. The look on his face when he sees her is gut wrenching. It's a mixture of disbelief, awe, and a rush of love. He asks her specific questions, to make sure it's really her. When she answers them correctly, he is overwhelmed and then insists on staying the night in his childhood home.
Oh Dean, but you know it's not real. He ignores his instincts for a bit, and who can blame him? Maybe the djinn isn't evil and it actually granted his most coveted wish. The next morning, he mows the lawn for his mom. I love this scene. The sun is shining as he cuts the grass, he waves at neighbors, and then cracks open a beer when he is finished.
Ah, the simple life. Dean continues to go through the motions within the fantasy, attending his mother's birthday dinner with Sam, Carmen, and Jess. However, he begins to see a vision of a young woman in a white dress. She appears to him briefly and then disappears. The next time she manifests, her appearance has deteriorated. She is pale, with chapped lips. And the third time Dean sees her, the poor girl looks like she is on the brink of death.
And then, while at home, he sees two corpses hanging inside his closet, their hands bound above their heads. The corpses disappear, just like the girl. Dean can no longer continue to ignore his gnawing suspicions that the djinn did something to him. And that they are in fact evil. The visions of the girl and corpses make him feel that he is possibly seeing flashes of reality, and that he is most likely tied up somewhere in the warehouse. He comes up with a plan. Dean knows what he must do. But before setting out, he stops at his father's grave.
He looks at the headstone, and with tears in his eyes says: Course, I know what you'd say. Well, not the you that played softball, but... So, go hunt the djinn. It put you here, it could put you back. Your happiness, for all those people's lives? No contest. Right? But why? Why is it my job to save these people? Why do I have to be some kind of hero? What about us, huh? What, Mom's not suppose to live her life, Sammy's not suppose to get married? Why do we have to sacrifice everything, Dad? It's...yeah
In the real world, Sam and Dean have saved a lot of lives. And they will continue to save lives by hunting monsters and killing them. But Dean is so tempted to stay in the fantasy created by the djinn. Of course he is. His mother is alive. His brother is happy, about to get married. But staying also means abandoning the mission, leaving people to die. The boys constantly make huge sacrifices to do what they do. For Dean to give up a better life, even if it isn't real, in order to go back to his harsh reality is well...heroic. And damn it pulls on my heartstrings. The Winchester boys have been through hell. There is so much pain in their lives, suffering, heartache. I want Dean to keep his happy dream world. I do. But he can't. He won't.
Dean drives to the warehouse, with fantasy world Sam who insisted on going with him. Dean obtains another silver knife and also lambs blood. With the bloodied weapon in hand, he enters the warehouse, Sam following closely behind. And this is when the djinn really shows what an asshole it truly is. I think it senses that Dean is about to wake himself up. And so it increases its supernatural mojo. Mary, Carmen, and Jess all appear in the warehouse and try to convince Dean to stay. Even Sam begs him not to leave. It's such fucked up psychological warfare. You can see Dean struggling, especially to leave his mother. Ugh! But the hunter in him wins out, and he decides to plunge the knife into his own chest, sure dying in the dream will force him to wake up.
It works (phew) and Dean wakes up. He is tied up, hands above his head, his blood dripping through tubing.
And guess who is tied up across from him? You got it. The girl in the white dress. Sam shows up, thankfully, and unties his brother. The Djinn doesn't like that. No sir. Sam and a very weakened Dean fight it, eventually killing the djinn with the blood soaked blade. Dean walks over to the girl, tears in his eyes as he looks at her. He starts to untie her, and then notices she is still breathing, barely. It gives him a jolt of energy. He quickly gets her down and then cradles her to his chest, telling her that she is going to be okay. His expression is filled with emotion. If he had not said goodbye to his perfect world, she would have died. Its a powerful moment, one that truly shows why he continues to be a hunter, why he will always make the hard choices, and sacrifices.
Later, Sam asks him how he is holding up. Tries to encourage him by telling him that he managed to survive:
Dean: yeah, lucky me. I've got to tell you, though, man- you had Jess. Mom was gonna have grandkids.
Sam: Yeah, but, Dean-it wasn't real.
Dean: I know. But I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay so bad. I mean, ever since Dad...all I...all I can think about is how much this job's cost us. We've lost so much. And we've sacrificed so much.
Sam: But people are alive because of you. It's worth it, Dean. It is. It's not fair, and, you know, it hurts like hell, but it's worth it.
I want to leave you with this: Science Fiction and Fantasy are so very special because they display our greatest strengths and weaknesses as humans. Yes its full of epic bad ass shit and awesome monsters. But at the core- there is always a human story to be found. And it is one that moves us, speaks to us, inspires us. In these stories, our hero is pushed to their limits. Their grit is tested. They pass through evil. Seeing them triumph is why we turn the page and pick up another book. This world is dark. Painful. And I believe with every fiber of my being that Science Fiction & Fantasy, whether is comics, books, TV, or the big screen, provide hope and a much needed escape.
Until next time. Stay weird. If you would like to read my debut novel, it is currently available through B&N! Dark Touch is an Urban Fantasy that is fast paced, dark, and features a big bad you will love to hate! https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-touch-elle-lewis/1129755237?ean=9781684331765
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