CW
(Season 4, Episode 3)
After two weeks that gave us a look at what the future holds for the Winchester boys, it’s time to look back at the past. We’ll be traveling back in time to Lawrence, Kansas, circa 1973. There, we’ll run into young Mary (Amy Gumenick) and John (Matt Cohen). If that’s not enough for you, Sam and Dean’s grandfather, Samuel (Mitch Pileggi) also makes an appearance. He’s not so keen on the idea of John and Mary getting together. And he may just hold a secret that will shed some light on things in the present day. I’ll be back later (much later, given that I’m on the left coast) with a full review. Until then, feel free to fire away in the comments.
My, oh my. Where do we begin after that? How about the casting? I was impressed with all of the guest players this week. As far as I can tell, this is Amy Gumenick’s first role, on anything of note. What a way to make a debut. I totally bought her as young Mary, and yes, she is a babe. And since she’s not my mother, it’s not creepy for me to note that, but it was a bit for Dean. I’ll look forward to seeing her in guest spots on all the other Canadian productions.
Matt Cohen (South of Nowhere) had a tougher gig, because this was such a departure from the John we’re so comfortable with. “John Winchester mixing it up with spirits… can you imagine that?” Still, he did a nice job giving us the early John. The big star of the show, though, was Mitch Pileggi. Just perfect casting. He was great as the crotchety old hunter that didn’t trust anyone, and just as good for his stint as Azazel. Also worth noting is Allison Hossack (Reaper). It was a small part, but it is always good to see her.
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Getting to the story, I started this week with some reservations. Not that they did anything wrong, but whenever anyone wants to go messing about with time, warning bells go off. I have a general rule for TV that the only one who should play willy-nilly with time is Dr. Who. Everyone else should tread lightly. Thankfully, the powers that be had Castiel waiting at the end with an explanation. Destiny can’t be changed. That’s a solid working rule moving forward with Supernatural.
In the end, it all served as a big history lesson for Dean, and the viewer. I expected that would be the case going in, because if Dean was to alter anything in the past, it would wipe out the last three years of the show. Again, this is why only the Dr. messes about with time. It was quite a history lesson.
To start: Mary, ass kicking hunter. When she put the boots to Dean I was caught completely off guard, but as we got the closeup of the bracelet, it all came into focus. It was a very cool twist. And as we learned more about her, it answered some old questions. Why she recognized Azazel in the nursery. How Azazel was picking his “psychic kids.” And, most importantly, how Sam got on that list. What it didn’t tell us was what his endgame will be. Something we’ll be getting to work on next week, it would seem.
Along the way, the episode was just filled with great lines, and great scenes. Things like Dean convincing John to buy the Impala. Or Samuel’s reaction to Dean, “You seem like a nice kid Dean, but yeah, you’re crazy.” And the scene where Azazel is revealed in Samuel’s body. As soon as he asked to hold the gun, you knew. The best of it all though, was the moment that Mary and Dean shared. Her telling him how she wants out of the hunting life, and Dean pleading with her to stay in bed on Nov. 2, 1983. It was very moving.
We were quite nearly Sammy free in this one, only seeing him race off in a Mustang with Ruby. I think we can assume they were heading out to go after more demons, but Castiel’s warning that Sam is “headed down a dangerous road” did sound ominous. I can’t wait to see where that all goes.
At the end of the day, I can’t think of any way this episode could have been better. We had loads of Winchester history as the backdrop to revealing just a little more of Castiel’s mission. And the fact that it is going to tie in with what Azazel was doing with all those kids is fantastic. Season four is off to a tremendous start.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Oct 02, 2008 @ 21:00 EST5EDT
I miss your comments on TV Squad! I had the little box module on My Yahoo so all I had to do was scroll and click on it. I’ll be back for the full review. I’m just wondering, I know you still post on TV Squad, why’d you switch the Supernatural recaps to this website?
*POST AUTHOR*
Manal,
Joel explained in this post on TV Squad that changes are being made there. Among those, is a change in what shows get reviews. Supernatural didn’t make the cut, so I’ve continued with it on CliqueClack.
Hey, thanks for answering. Love the recaps, a little surprised it didn’t make the cut. Thanks for continuing them here, I always looked forward to reading them after the show.
Sorry, forgot to add, did Amy Gumenick remind you of Jo at all in the episode? The whole time I was watching her, I thought she looked so much like Jo. I put their pics side by side so you can see the comparison.
https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff72/meme_1226/AmyGumenickAlonaTal.jpg
By the way, she’ll be in tons of guest spots coming up, including Greek. (Yes I just went to her website.)
put me on the list of people who don’t like the changes going on at tv squad.
anyway, this episode was great. i loved the back story. i think the best/funniest part was when dean said his mom was a babe & that’d he’s going to hell for thinking that… again.
i’m so glad there is still somewhere i can read supernatural (& hopefully smallvile) reviews.
Hell yeah, this was a really awesome episode, loved it! This is exactly why I love TV so much, for episodes as good as this one was.
https://tvoholic.com/episode-reviews/supernatural-in-the-beginning/
So, anyone else is wondering whether or not Ruby had been working for Azazel all this time ?? I mean, she’s interested into Sam, into helping him develop his “abilities”… couldn’t she be part of the plan, whatever that plan is?
Dean’s real purpose for being pulled from Hell is starting to take form.
My favorite lines:
When Dean realizes he’s gone back in time, he asks if “angels got their hands on some Deloreans.”
When Castiel shows up in the passenger seat of the pinto, Dean asks if this means “God’s my co-pilot.”
And someone please tell me why every time someone travels back in time, there’s a reference to Tab. Is that the universal sign of time travel?
I had to gasp when it came out that Mary’s family were hunters. Didn’t see that one coming.
I loved when Dean found out the names of his grandparents…although, why didn’t he know that before, most people know their grandparents names even if they have never known them personally.
Mitch Pileggi is a wonderful actor, they couldn’t have found anyone better to play a good guy and bad guy in the same episode.
I hope the writers and Kripke can keep up the writing and storyline and it doesn’t just come down to good Dean vs. evil Sam though. I hope they keep that sense of “I would do anything to save you, brother”
I thought this was one of the all time top episodes of the series. When it was over, I just thought – WOW!
And then I thought of my sister. She called me to whine that her boyfriend was watching football downstairs, and she wanted to watch both the debate and Supernatural (but the girl has NEVER had her TiVo hooked up to watch one thing but record another). She chose the detate. Oops!
It makes sense that Dean didn’t know about his grandparents. From what I can gather, until Mary was killed, not even John knew they were a family of hunters. That’s another backstory we are need of at this point. I can’t imagine what the hell the poor bastard must have been thinking. Well, he took over and lead the charge against demons going forward, so I guess I DO know what he was thinking.
YAY!!! I love this show so much, and when they pull off a great espisode like last night, I feel so justified in my love for it (other than the 3-man sandwich I also imagine in my mind, gotta remember John!).
I just wanted to say “Thanks” Brett for giving us reviews of “Supernatural” here. It’s one of my favorite shows and I really missed the reviews “over there”. A lot of people will be really happy that you’re reviewing this wonderful show.
*POST AUTHOR*
You’re welcome Franklin. And thanks for stopping by to check out the new site!
I loved this episode. It was great to get some backstory. Finding out that Mary and her family were hunters was a big shock.
However, it also raises some questions. For one thing didn’t Mary have a brother? Back in episode four of season two (Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things), the boys were at their mother’s grave, and Dean said that the stone was erected by an “uncle they had never even met”. I guess it’s possible that the uncle was John’s brother, but it’s kind of weird for him to put up a gravestone for his dead sister in law, when there wasn’t even a body left isn’t it?
Also, how did Mary explain to John why her father was lying dead next to them when he woke up if she didn’t tell him about the whole demon thing? How did she and John explain it to the authorities? They obviously came up with some explanation, given that they were living in the same town ten years later.
Here’s another thing, Dean told Daniel Elkins that the Colt would be at the Campbell’s in Lawrence so he could retrieve it. But Dean had it in his possession right before Castiel appeared and took him back to present time. What happened to the gun? Did dean take it with him or did it land there on the street where he was standing? If that’s the case, how did it get back to Campbell’s so that Elkins could retrieve it? Why didn’t Azazel hop into someone else’s body and pick it up? Mary didn’t know about the gun. She wasn’t there when Dean told Mary’s parents about it. So how would she know to bring it back to her house? This is kind of crucial because if Elkins didn’t retrieve the gun, then John couldn’t steal it from him in 2006, which means Dean never got it, which means Dean never killed Azazel.
OK, I’m making myself dizzy here. The most tragic thing about this episode was the scene where Dean watched Mary make the deal with Azazel. You could see the sorrow and disgust on his face. I think it forever changed the way he thinks of her. For Dean, his mother always represented this pure, angelic type person who was untainted by hunting and that life. Even in her horrific death, she was only a victim. Now Dean has to face the truth that not only was she a hunter, she may have damned them all.
great episode!!! i’m really enjoying these new site too.