#01x18 Something Wicked

[soulmates-for-real]

01x18 Something Wicked

[connielovescas]

Don't tell me that John didn't send Dean back in Wisconsin after all these years in "Something Wicked" just to punish him for letting him down on this one job. Just so Dean could watch how many kids could have been hurt because of the Shtriga they never killed so many years ago because of Dean's mistake.

That's exactly what John does. He blames his mistakes on others. He blames it on his children.

He blames it on little Dean that couldn't have been more than 12 years old back then. On Dean that was left once again to protect his little brother alone with only the bare minimum of food.

[monstermoviedean]

this is not new information but the fact that dean felt so guilty over the shtriga incident that he committed every tiny detail to memory so he wouldn't make that mistake again is soooooo bananas given the post-purgatory memory rewrite. if it's his fault he'll remember every tiny detail and if it's not, he'll make it his fault so he can review his perceived failures under a microscope.

[deandaydreaming]

I was just watching a serie and suddenly I flinched because of a gunshot scene which was so loud, and then I suddenly remembered the way dean talked to that kid in season 1 episode 18 (something wicked) :

We won’t shoot you, we’re good shots. But the gun shot will be a lot louder than in the movies. Cover your ears and don’t come out til we say so. You sure you want to do this? It’s okay, I won’t be mad.

Have I mentioned how much I love Dean Winchester??? The way he puts the child’s feelings and wishes first, and made sure to let him know that he wouldn't get mad at his choice, respecting him in a way that his own father often couldn’t or didn’t. And the way he made sure to warn him about the loud noise so he wouldn't get scared!!! God these little things made me fall so hard for him and I'm still falling!!

Excuse me while I go drown in my dean feels😭

[fallcolorspringrapid]

so. Something Wicked. 

i love the theory that John left his kids as shtriga bait. i’m thinking he was hoping they would just be back-up bait, that he could catch the thing before it got to them. i don’t think he intended for Dean to get bored enough to leave Sammy alone, though. he really meant his order for Dean to stay in to protect Sammy and he was genuinely upset and angry that Dean had disobeyed

Dean’s guilt over his failure to protect Sammy is so crushing, no wonder he doesn’t want to talk about what happened until he absolutely has to. Sam is surprisingly patient and understanding once he catches on to the whole deal, but before that there’s a really interesting tension between the brothers, Dean hiding things and Sam being kind of contrary for no apparent reason

other notable things: - classic homophobic child. i can’t lie, i love the ‘two queens’ joke - it’s night when they confront the old woman at the hospital, can’t be too late as we see Dr. Hydeker being told good night by a nurse, but it’s morning when they get back to the motel. fanfiction gap! where did they spend the night? - Sam’s smirk after Dean grumbles “oh god, kill me now”, it’s a real ways to look at your brother moment

[samclownchester]

Supernatural Rewatch 01x18

Something Wicked

(Next Episode | Masterlist | Previous Episode)

This episode is the first time we get a glimpse at the boys’ childhood. Sitting in a motel room, watching Thundercats and eating cereal. Dean, who is probably around 9 at this point, is a very serious little boy. While his dad is going over how he can stay safe Dean protest “you know I’m not stupid.” It hurts, that even back then Dean felt like he was seen as dumb. But, more importantly in that scene we get the often quoted.

JOHN: Lock the doors, the windows, close the shades. Most important....

YOUNG DEAN: Watch out for Sammy.

Dean’s main job in life is to watch out for his little brother. He’s known this since he was 9, he probably knew it even before then, when he carried Sam out of their burning house in his little 4 year old arms.

There’s this little moment with the young brothers that breaks my heart in an odd way. Dean has warmed up some spaghettios for Sam, but Sam, who is like 5, wants Lucky Charms. Dean voices that he hasn’t had any luck charms yet and there’s only enough for one bowl, but gives in, throws away the spaghettios (What a waste) and gives Sam the Lucky Charms. And just when I’m about to yell “what a spoiled brat!” Sam stops, reaches into the cereal box, and offers to prize to Dean with the most innocent and kind expression on his little 5 year old face.

Maybe there’s not much to analyze there, maybe their dynamic as children doesn’t entirely translate to their adult lives, but essentially the pattern we are introduced to here is that Dean is willing to make sacrifices for Sam to be happy, and while Sam will accept those sacrifices he doesn’t want Dean to end up with nothing. He wants Dean to have good things in his life too. (Time will tell how well Sam really accepts some of those sacrifices. As I said, not a perfect parallel).

We also see how much guilt and responsibility Dean is carrying.

DEAN: He looked at me different, which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order and I didn’t listen, and I almost got you killed.

SAM: You were just a kid.

DEAN: Don’t. Don’t . Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it.”

Which, first of all, how weirdly passive aggressive is that? To essentially say to your son “Hey, remember that terrifying thing that happened when you were 9? Well, I still think it was your fault and now here’s your chance to prove yourself worthy,” or something like that? Why is John Winchester like this? Once again I am drawn to the weird similarities between John and Chuck, the manipulation, the idea that they send the boys places with a purpose, without clearly communicating what that purpose is.

Also, Dean doesn’t want to accept excuses for himself. He blames himself, even though it was honestly out of his control, and he carries that with him.

Someone else already wrote a post about this, but I also want to explore the possibility that John was using his sons as bait. We have this exchange between the brothers:

SAM: You wanna use the kid as bait? Are you nuts? No! Forget it. That's out of the question.

DEAN: It's not out of the question Sam it's the only way. If this thing disappears it could be years before we get another chance.

Given the fact that Dean tends to approach problems more like John, it’s not too ridiculous to imagine that John had a similar thought process when he was hunting the Striga 17 years before. As was mentioned in the other post, if a father wanted to keep his sons safe from a child-hunting monster, wouldn’t he send them far away from it? Wouldn’t he leave them at Bobby’s or send them to Pastor Jim’s while he tries to catch the monster? That’s what he ended up doing after the Striga came for Sam. But why not do it earlier? Why leave them unattended for a few days in the vicinity where you know the monster is?

Then, when the Striga did come, how did he get there so fast? Did it really just happen to be the time that he was coming home? Or was he waiting outside for something to happen?

The only answer that makes sense to me is that John was using his sons as bait. It’s hard to watch the home of every family with children in town, much less get access to kid’s bedrooms to wait for a monster to attack them. People would think he was crazy and creepy. The best chance he had would be to let the striga come for his own sons, so he could kill it and save all the other kids. But he wasn’t about to tell them that. How do you tell your 5-year-old son that? Likely he was expecting Dean to be there, to make some noise, to alert him that the striga had entered the room. But Dean was late, so John was late to react. And when he did react it didn’t go as he had planned. So, he blamed Dean. He took his anger and frustration and fear out on Dean, and Dean internalized that, when in the end it wasn’t his fault. It was John’s for thinking it was OK to use a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old as bait in a hunt.

The last thing I wanted to mention was the fact that Dean’s parallel in this episode is a kid named Michael. And older brother named Michael, at that. It’s just … interesting.

[aborddelimpala]

#MySPNLittleMoments 32/365 Classic brothers 😊

[arwenadreamer]

Recognise that lady from 01x18 "Something Wicked"? It's Erica Carroll who later plays the angel Hannah. She also played a receptionist in season 1 episode "Faith". #spnSummer2019 #spnRewatch

[howmanyangels]

I keep thinking about this post which mentions how these resemble those child abuse awareness posters (which I can't seem to find examples of but I know I've seen them before). In the context of this episode especially (01x18, Something Wicked) it's a very interesting comparison

[soulmates-for-real]

01x18 Something Wicked

[prince-aly]

John Winchester Character Analysis

Disclaimer: This is not intended to disrespect Jeffery Dean Morgan. This is about the character he played on Supernatural. I am not trying to disrespect anyone who has a Tumblr dedicated to bashing John. I note these (not by name) to make a point. Apologies if this offends anyone. 

Edit: I finally figured out how to use Tumblr, so the whole essay is here. No more of that part 1 and part 2 stuff. Maybe a Part 2 if “The Winchesters” gives some new inspiration...

John Winchester is a controversial character in Eric Kripke’s Supernatural. There are fans who like him, and there are fans who despise John so much they dedicate entire Tumblr blogs to posting hate about him. John is a complex character with actions that were good, bad, and ugly.

Before John Winchester made such horrible choices that severely damaged his sons, he was an optimistic young man returning from the Vietnam War. John did not show any obvious signs of Depression, Anxiety, Traumatic Brain Injury, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that are common in war veterans; although, this does not mean John was free of these illnesses, or any other mental illnesses for that matter. According to Mental Health America, “mental illnesses can be caused by a reaction to environmental stresses, genetic factors, biochemical imbalances, or a combination of these.”

The unexpected death of his wife was the trigger for John’s behavioral shift as noted in the Supernatural episodes and written works. His mental state does not excuse any of the abuse he did to his sons. The youngest age Dean was seen being left to look after Sam in the show and in John Winchester’s Journal is when he was nine years old. Sammy was not even five years old! Considering how accustomed Dean was to his father’s orders, this was not the first time the boys were left alone. Sam and Dean technically were not on their own; John appearing just in time to stop the Striga from getting Sam suggests he was nearby and watching the whole time. John Winchester used his nine- and four-year-old sons as Striga bait[1]. On the slim and highly unlikely chance that John did not use his sons as bait, John still left a nine-year-old alone to take care of a four-year-old for several days without enough food or money to take care of themselves.

[1] In the episode 01x18 “Something Wicked,” Dean and Sam use a young child, Michael as Striga bait. The main difference between the brothers and their father is the brothers asked Michael if he would be willing to act as bait and explained their plan to him. When Michael first refused, Sam and Dean respected this decision and did not push him.

The Winchesters were in Wisconsin at the time which does not have a minimum legal age for leaving children at home according to the Latchkey Children Age Restrictions. John may not have broken any laws by leaving his young boys unsupervised that time, but he is still guilty of child neglect. Child Welfare defines child neglect as “failure of a parent or caregiver to provide needed food, shelter, clothing, medical care, or supervision to the degree that a child’s health, safety, and wellbeing are threatened with harm.” In the episode “Something Wicked” it is made abundantly clear that Dean and Sam did not have enough food for them both to be well fed and did not have enough supervision to keep them safe from the Striga.

There have been times when John did leave enough food, or at least money for food, for Sam and Dean. The most notable instance was a flashback in episode 09x07 “Bad Boys.” Dean was well into his teenage years, a much more suitable age to be looking after his younger brother but lost the money in a card game. Then, when Dean tried to steal food for Sam, he was arrested and sent to a Boy’s home. Dean mentions during one of the “Present” scenes in the episode that John left him in the home for two months as a “punishment,” then did not allow Dean to tell Sam what happened. Dean made a mistake gambling with the food money, but that is what teenagers do; they make mistakes, then they learn. It was not necessary to leave Dean on his own for two months thinking his father abandoned him and took Sammy. Dean did his best to correct his mistake. John should have acknowledged Dean’s efforts, or at least punish him without instilling abandonment issues.

One of the few good deeds John did as a parent was keeping the memory of Mary alive. Their marriage was in a rough patch when Azazel murdered Mary; the couple did not do a good job of keeping this to themselves. Dean, at the age of four, knew that something was going on between his parents and would comfort Mary the best he could (05x16 “Dark Side of the Moon”). John set those feelings aside whenever his sons asked about their mother, and when he was briefly resurrected for the 300thEpisode Special (14x13 “Lebanon”). John made amends with his family. He apologized to Sam for what he said the night Sam left for college; he praised Dean for becoming a skilled hunter; he and Mary could properly say goodbye. It was refreshing to see a side of John that was not Hell-bent on revenge, even if it was short-lived. Unfortunately, it takes more than a few heartfelt apologies to make up for the decades of neglect John inflicted on his family.

[sapphicrowena]

alex rewatches supernatural: a twitter thread

01x18: something wicked

previous 《 start 》 next

[monstermoviedean]

"he looked at me different, you know? which was worse. not that i blame him. he gave me an order and i didn't listen, i almost got you killed." "you were just a kid." "don't. don't. dad knew this was unfinished business for me. he sent me here to finish it." no, john, it's your unfinished business. your son was ten years old and you used him as bait because you thought so little of him that you assumed he'd screw up. and now he's been carrying this guilt for over half his life, and he just told you to leave him to keep yourself safe, and now. now you send him this case as a reminder of what happens when he fails. fuck you. fuck you.

[thescreencapking]

Supernatural 01x18 - Something Wicked

[dean-squad]

The Impala in every episode: 01x18 Something Wicked 

[samclownchester]

Supernatural Rewatch Masterlist

Season 1

01x01 – Pilot

01x02 – Wendigo

01x03 – Dead in The Water

01x04 – Phantom Traveler

01x05 – Bloody Mary

01x06 – Skin

01x07 – Hook Man

01x08 – Bugs

01x09 – Home

01x10 – Asylum

01x11 – Scarecrow

01x12 – Faith

01x13 – Route 666

01x14 – Nightmare

01x15 – The Benders

01x16 – Shadow

01x17 – Hell House

01x18 – Something Wicked

01x19 – Provenance

01x20 – Dead Man’s Blood

01x21 – Salvation

01x22 – Devil’s Trap

Video

 Season 2

02x01 – In My Time of Dying

02x02 – Everybody Loves a Clown

02x03 – Bloodlust

02x04 – Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things

02x05 – Simon Said

02x06 – No Exit

02x07 – The Usual Suspects

02x08 – Crossroad Blues

02x09 – Croatoan

02x10 – Hunted

02x11 – Playthings

02x12 – Nightshifter

02x13 – Houses of the Holy

02x14 – Born Under a Bad Sign

02x15 – Tall Tales

02x16 – Roadkill

02x17 – Heart

02x18 – Hollywood Babylon

02x19 – Folsom Prison Blues

02x20 – What Is and What Should Never Be

02x21 – All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One

02x22 – All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two

Video

 Season 3

03x01 – The Magnificent Seven

03x02 – The Kids Are Alright

03x03 – Bad Day at Black Rock

03x04 – Sin City

03x05 – Bedtime Stories

03x06 – Red Sky at Morning

03x07 – Fresh Blood

03x08 – A Very Supernatural Christmas

03x09 – Malleus Maleficarum

03x10 – Dream a Little Dream of Me

03x11 – Mystery Spot

03x12 – Jus in Bello

03x13 – Ghostfacers

03x14 – Long-Distance Call

03x15 – Time Is On My Side

03x16 – No Rest for the Wicked

Video

Season 4

04x01 - Lazarus Rising

04x02 - Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester

04x03 - In the Beginning 

04x04 - Metamorphosis

04x05 - Monster Movie

04x06 - Yellow Fever

04x07 - It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester

04x08 - Wishful Thinking

04x09 - I Know What You Did Last Summer

04x10 - Heaven and Hell

04x11 - Family Remains

04x12 - Criss Angel is a Douchebag

04x13 - After School Special

04x14 - Sex and Violence

04x15 - Death Takes a Holiday

04x16 - On the Head of a Pin

04x17 - It’s a Terrible Life