I decided to do a trial of HBO Max through my Amazon Prime. This was originally so that I could watch Fringe without having to switch discs or dig my set out of where I have them stored. I know lazy. LOL
However, this turned out to be a good thing because I discovered “The Winchesters” Season 1 was also on the streaming service. Last year I had heard bits and pieces about this show. That Dean was going to be telling the story of his parents before the boys were born, that it wasn’t a series set before the show “Supernatural” but a spin off that happens in at alternate universe.
The fact that this is a what if scenario has seemed to pass over a lot of viewers heads. I went to Rotten Tomatoes to do a review there. A lot of viewers were bitching about how young the actors are, how John doesn’t act like he did in the original series, how Mary doesn’t act like she did in the other show, how John wasn’t supposed to know about Hunting until after Mary dies, or how he was never supposed to know about his father and the Men of Letters.
People, People, People… Ya’ll need to remember a couple of things, well other than that this is set in an alternate universe, John Winchester and Mary Campbell didn’t just slide out of the womb as fully developed balanced people. They had to experience life, love, loss, and a whole host of other things to become the characters that we met in the original series. As I have watched the series (I haven’t finished the season as of yet) I have seen the connections, the paths that they are traveling that would see them becoming the people we met in the original series with some changes of course because this is an alternate universe.
The first few episodes were a little cringe worthy, but, as the character opened up and the plot developed it’s just become fun to watch. It’s not as dark as the original show, but, it doesn’t have to be. As I reminded people in my review on Rotten Tomatoes this tale is told by Dean Winchester. The same Dean that loves rock music, pranks, Scooby Doo, and can be super goofy when he is able to relax. Why would a dude like that tell a tale of his parents journey like he is reciting a Stephen King novel? Especially when the brothers had some super goofy and weird adventures when they were hunting even when they were trying to save the world?
I am glad they are handling John, Mary, Carlos, and even Lata the way they are. The story is set in a time within America that was a huge time for change. The culture in the States shifted massively in the wake of the Vietnam War. The fact that they are allowing John’s character to show even SOME of the issues a lot of vets had when coming back from Vietnam is awesome. It allows us to see him fighting to come back home mentally, see him work through the trauma and become a better man. When it comes to Mary we are seeing her working through what she wants in life. Have the same issue that her sons had at times when it came to hunting, leaving hunting, etc. A lot of people don’t like the obviously gay Carlos. My guess is they don’t like how flamboyant he is. I love how sassy he is and he isn’t actually gay. They have subtly established that he is bisexual though I can see why it would be hard for people to get that. I know of men just as sassy as Carlos that were actually straight. Now, Lata is a mystery. She is hiding something from everyone. She seems genuine, kind, caring, etc. But, there have also been things going on in the show that make me think that she isn’t what she seems so I am going to hold judgement over her character until the secrets are revealed.
I really do think that if this show is allowed to continue that it will grow and change into a very interesting series. I would love to see where it will go since we all know that Dean is born in 1979 and the current year in the show is 1972. That gives the show writers 7 years of adventures to work with. Who knows maybe something will happen to force Mary and John out of hunting. Maybe their minds will get wiped, maybe John gets hurt and Mary makes the deal with yellow eyes to save him before settling down, the possibilities are endless on what could happen. This may even be an alternative universe where the boys are raised as hunters and Men of Letters by both their parents.
If you haven’t watched it yet I say take a shot. If you didn’t get past the third episode then you need to try again with an open mind. There are some woke messages in the writing, but, it isn’t in the entire episode so far so it is easily ignored.
Derek's Mindscape 