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captain-sodapop · 5 months ago

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The Winchesters: A Post-Mortem

Endings are hard.

I’ve been dicking around, and as I wrapped up another Supernatural rewatch, I finally decided to follow through on something I’ve been threatening to do for a while: watch The Winchesters. Since the show is dead, done, and dusted, I feel okay about it because now it feels like it’s just some obscure piece of lost media and I’m not actually, you know, supporting it.

I think we have a hard time letting stories end, especially when they have been with us for so long. We live in an age of reboots and endless spinoffs. The Winchesters is an interesting case because when the flagship show ended, viewers had all their own feelings about it, but it was over and they knew it was over. Dead, done, and dusted.

Not so much.

As you know, on June 24th, 2021, about seven months after the end of Supernatural, Jensen Ackles announced his spinoff The Winchesters, produced by his and his wife’s new production company, Chaos Machine. Robbie Thompson would be heading the project, and it would be telling the “epic love story” of Sam and Dean Winchester’s parents. We’ve already established that there’s no story here, and no matter how you twist it you will never convince me there is – at least, not in the way they wanted to tell it. Diehard fans and conspiracy theorist Hellers seemed to end up being its primary audience, but considering its low viewership numbers, I don’t think it ended up attracting many people outside of the established fandom, and was thus canceled.

This was not a story people cared about.

This fact did not seem to matter to the good people at Chaos Machine and The CW.

Luckily for me, there are only thirteen episodes, and I have nothing better to do, so I am here to present my autopsy of The Winchesters.

The pilot moves so fast.

The Winchesters begins with Samuel Campbell, Mary’s father and Sam and Dean’s grandfather, who we know from the original show. In the prequel, he’s played by Tom Welling, not Mitch Pileggi, but he’s a mere shadow when we first see him, so we can’t tell yet how poor the casting is. All that matters is that we know he’s gone missing, and Mary wants to find him.

Immediately, the cold open of the pilot pales in comparison to the flagship program’s pilot. It really does feel like a cold open to any run-of-the-mill episode of Supernatural. It doesn’t create that same intrigue as the Supernatural pilot does.

But that brings us to one of the show’s central problems, and it’s something that shows up almost immediately: it is a poor attempt at rehashing the original, filled with Easter eggs that the casual viewer wouldn’t have gotten or cared about.

Right after that, we get the copycat title card and then a sort of awkward transition to John’s homecoming. He’s having PTSD flashbacks to his time in Vietnam, his tour having just finished, and goes home to see his mother (whose name I don’t even think is mentioned in the pilot, not until the second episode, so I think anyone wasn’t isn’t familiar with the original show might be a little confused.)

But this is where we hear him: Dean Winchester.

“March 23, 1972. The day Dad came home from the war, and the day he met Mom. Now I know this story might sound familiar, but I'm gonna put the pieces together in a way that just might surprise you. And in order to do that, I have to start all the way at the beginning.”

Um. Okay.

I’m going to tell you what this is, and it’s really very simple: it’s a justification.

Genuinely, I think these voiceovers are one of the worst things about the show. Now, Dean isn’t exactly a poet, and even Sam teased him for some of his corny lines, but these bookends are…beyond poorly written. Just strings of cliches put together, and the first one is the worst one because what it is attempting to do is justify this show’s existence within its very text.

As anyone who is familiar with the situation knows, when the prequel was announced, there was very public backlash – including from Jared Padalecki, who not only played protagonist Sam Winchester in the original show, but was not looped into any of this…at all. He found out at the same time the rest of us did, and it was pretty clear from the reaction that his was the majority opinion.

The thing about this little intro from the pilot is that it’s not really Dean talking here – it’s Jensen. It’s Danneel Ackles and Robbie Thompson trying to justify the fact that this show even exists. That exact sentiment showed up in several press releases and interviews for the show. Whoever was being spoken to, they’d be like “Oh, we’re gonna surprise you! It’s not what you think!”

The thing is, the prequel is:

Not surprising

Doesn’t exactly start at the beginning. That’s misleading.

(“I’m gonna put the pieces together in a way that just might surprise you.” Jesus Christ, shut up.)

The pilot does do something I appreciated, though, which was to acknowledge that John enlisted underage by forging his father’s signature. This could have been interesting, but they drop it pretty fast.

I know pilots sort of need to hit the ground running to prove their case, but if we’re going to use the original show’s pilot as a point of comparison, it’s incredibly weak. Not only were there rumored production issues and they apparently had to do reshoots, forcing them behind schedule for the rest of their run and putting immense pressure on the cast and crew, but it’s simply lacking. In the original pilot, we are given enough glimpses of the Winchester backstory to make the rest of the pilot interesting. Sam and Dean are brothers and therefore have history, a dynamic – though strained at the time – and an undeniable chemistry that intrigues us enough to keep us watching. With the Woman in White, we get an idea of what it is the family does and what Sam has run away from, while giving the episode a plot that isn’t yet mired in the show’s mythology.

The Winchesters doesn’t have that. What we have is John and Mary, and while a lot of people were rightfully confused as to why they – of all the characters on the original show – would be the ones to get a spinoff, the fact is that they did. Truthfully, while they would not have been my first choice, if treated properly, I believe John and Mary’s lives before the show could have potential.

What we know about John and Mary from the original show is that they were brought together by a Cupid from Heaven in order to ensure the birth of Sam and Dean, so that Michael and Lucifer would have vessels for the Apocalypse. In fact, the Cupid states that John and Mary couldn’t stand each other beforehand, but I guess when they bumped into each other outside of Slaughterhouse Five (which does happen in the spinoff’s pilot), I guess we’re to assume that’s when Cupid’s arrow struck and they fell in love.

Basically, their love is…not natural. It would not have been something they chose for themselves without divine intervention. The prequel doesn’t hint at this at all. Instead, the prequel has John and Mary immediately thrust together and John introduced to the world of the supernatural and the Men of Letters and on his first case all in those 42 minutes.

These are not John and Mary. Not the ones that we could be made to truly care about.

The John and Mary we know are much more complex. They are interesting, and flawed. We know from season 12 that Mary was sometimes sneaking out on hunts, even after Dean was born. We know that John and Mary would sometimes separate for a few days at a time, maybe even longer, probably because what they had for each other was not true love, but something divined by Chuck/God and the angels in order to carry out their plans. They were pawns, especially when it came to them as a couple. A story where Mary is struggling to keep her former life a secret while John is dealing with his post-service life, all while trying to be a couple and having these moments of realizing they don’t really know or love each other could have been a good premise. Instead, what they present is instead just sort of…confusing.

After the pilot, there are a series of Monster of the Week episodes. This is all supposed to be John’s intro to hunting and the true coming together of the Scooby Gang. This version of John and Mary are thrown together with Latika (she’s the pacifist who does all their research), Carlos (he’s the stereotypically slutty, sassy bisexual), and Ada (the wannabe witch who’s older than them and I guess sort of a mentor? Maybe?), and along with John’s mom, Millie, we’re told that they’re this big, happy found family.

Lots of telling and not showing here. In all honesty, John and Mary don’t have great chemistry, and that is not intentional. (I’m actually not gonna blame this one on the acting, at least not wholly, but I’ll get more into that later.) John is saying that he can’t live without Mary within something, like, three episodes. Honestly, he’s got better chemistry with Latika in the pilot than he does Mary. Actually, I’d say he has better chemistry with pretty much all the other main characters – Latika, Carlos, and Millie – than he does Mary, and that is interesting. Ya know why? It’s because it makes John feel like the protagonist. And John is the closest thing to a Sam-like character we get in this show.

We learn early on that the Big Bad is something called the Akrida, which are these weird, poorly CGI’d spider-looking things (all of the budget on this show went to music and reshoots, I swear), and they are out to destroy the universe – and not just this universe; all the universes are at stake, so it feels like the show is trying to play off what the original program was doing in its last few seasons. (Which, weren’t all but Earth One destroyed anyway? Or something like that?)

This is a big thing. It feels…too big. The first season of the original show did a good job of building to the reveal of Yellow Eyes, and they let that story breathe with the Special Children in the second season. We saw that while Sam and Dean were experienced, they were still novices in a sense, in over their heads, and did a lot of learning and had to figure out how to work together again. We don’t get that feeling here. They’re too good too fast.

xXx

In the tenth episode, John and Mary go up against a Golem. The Golem is under the control of a former Man of Letters who performed experiments on humans, and under the guise of helping them defeat the Akrida, he wants to use John and Mary to bring back what the Akrida took from him: his wife, who was killed by them in the late fifties.

When John and Mary dispose of the bodies at the end of the episode, John thinks what the Man of Letters was doing was out of love, trying to bring her back, but Mary says that he was only doing it for himself – that he was being selfish. And then she asks John if she thinks they’ll ever turn out like that.

Immediately, this seems to be an assertion that what Mary did in the original show – making the deal with Azazel after he killed her parents and John to bring John back – was this awful, selfish thing. That saving the only person she had left, the only person she could save (because she wanted Azazel to bring back her parents, too), was inherently wrong. This seems to ignore the fact that Mary had no idea what the repercussions of the deal would be. All she knew was that the demon was going to “pay her a visit”, whatever that was supposed to mean (probably assuming he would come to collect her soul as usual), and all she wanted was to save just one person, and that was the man she believed she loved.

I know we’ve established that John and Mary’s love was contrived, but to Mary, she believed she did love him, and it is ridiculous to think that her saving him was something that makes her inherently bad, or selfish, or unloving, as the prequel seems to imply. She could not have known that Azazel would do what he did to her, to Sam, and to their family. She didn’t even know there would be a Sam and Dean! She was nineteen years old!

And yet, the prequel takes this opportunity to vilify her. The fandom already did enough of that. When Mary made her return in season 12, her character endured endless misogynistic takes. When even Dean said it was ridiculous of him to expect her to tuck him in and make his lunch, the fandom still didn’t want to accept it.

Mary is a complex character. She was dealt as shitty a hand as any other character, but still had to absorb a lot of blame. Oh, god forbid she struggle to adjust to the 21st century, and having adult children, and not being dead anymore, and learning what the consequences of her actions were. She clearly felt immense guilt for the hurt that was brought on her family, which was something she would have never intentionally done. She wanted her and her family to be safe and did the best she could with the information and resources she had. God forbid a woman be complex or have flaws or be anything less than the perfect mommy to her adult sons. (Who – again – were not as upset about that as the fucking fandom was.)

And now the prequel is piling onto her, too. Our Mary is better!! Shut the fuck up.

xXx

The prevailing sentiment I had when watching this show was that none of it mattered. The plot, the characters, the monsters…none of it mattered. Not as a story, and not as it related to the original show. It doesn’t even really succeed at doing what it really set out to do, but we’ll get to that later.

Like I mentioned, the Akrida feel like a really big Big Bad for the first season of a show. Ultimately, what the Akrida are, are a failsafe for Chuck. Basically, they were his backup plan if he were to ever cease to be and they would carry out his plan to finish destroying all the universes he had created. I guess those of us who watched the original show are supposed to gather that he created these Akrida sometime around season 15, when he started getting rid of all those other universes. And, since the Winchesters and Jack defeated Chuck at the end of season 15 and Jack took over as God, these creatures are supposed to come in and finish what Chuck couldn’t.

Alright. A little convoluted, but I can follow it. It’s how the spinoff attempts to connect itself back to the main show’s plot.

But, wait a second – I thought this was the epic love story of John and Mary!

Let me just say this: this is not a love story. The love story in the show is pretty weak. Like I mentioned earlier, the show moves so fast, which means John and Mary’s relationship moves incredibly fast, and the show makes no indication that this is because of any Cupid effects (but maybe they knew the clock was ticking and they didn’t have a good chance at renewal.) We get no sense of how much time has passed here. I’m being told I should care about this relationship, but I don’t because of how little effort the writing puts into not only developing this relationship, but the characters themselves. So it’s hard for me to say that the love story matters in any way.

Then there’s John and Mary’s searches for their fathers. Those of us who have seen the original show know that Henry Winchester died in the future killing Abadon. We also know that Samuel Campbell first died when he was killed by Azazel in 1973, and then in season six after being resurrected by Crowley to help him search for alphas. After the show opens with Samuel going missing and Mary starting the search for him (which just doesn’t pack the same punch as the search for John), Samuel’s presence in the show after they find him is negligible. For one thing, he’s not a great portrayal of Samuel, and doesn’t even look like him – not a bit. That part isn’t as important, of course, but it does still take you out of it a bit. This Samuel is still sort of a jerk, but it just feels like he’s sort of…there. So when they find him, it doesn’t feel like a big deal.

John’s search for Henry is carried out a little better. The reason for John deciding to go home to Lawrence after returning from Vietnam is because a Mystery Man (who we all know is Dean) gave him a letter that Henry had left for John before his passing. It leads John to finding an old Men of Letters clubhouse in Lawrence, which he and his new friends use as a base throughout the show and is a resource for them in learning about and fighting the Akrida. When John finally does see Henry as a ghost (the result of a séance similar to the one Sam and Cas perform to contact Bobby in season 10), Henry is once again portrayed by Gil McKinney, like he was in the original show. That does help. Henry is mostly there to give them information to help them with the Akrida, but it does give John and Millie a sense of closure, unlike in the original show, where John spent his whole life not knowing what happened to Henry and hating his guts.

This all happens in the seventh episode – the show’s midseason finale: both John and Mary get answers on their fathers. It’s supposed to be the episode where all these things start to come together. Mary finds Samuel, John and Millie find Henry (sort of), we get some answers on the Akrida, and John and Mary kiss. Woohoo.

After that, there are another few Monster of the Week episodes with Big Bad plot running alongside it, just like in the original show. It follows a similar structure. The episode with Richard Speight, Jr. as Loki (not sure if it’s supposed to be the real Loki or Gabriel as Loki, but probably the latter?) is maybe the worst one. Loki/Gabriel just comes off as an annoying caricature, the plot and his scheme are just sort of confusing, and there’s just…way too much singing. Part of Carlos’s story is that he wanted to be a musician, and he and his former bandmate do some singing, and the songs don’t even sound as if they fit the time period, so. That’s awesome.

Carlos is also subjected to more humiliation when in an episode with vampires – and I’m sure those in the know already know where this is going! – he has Latika douse his hair in holy water and he whips it around to splash it on the vampires. Like…since when are vampires affected by holy water? Not only is the physics of it stupid (it would be so inefficient to have to be constantly whipping your head around, just fucking squirt them with a water bottle or the water gun Carlos used in the pilot), it’s just not even right. It’s incorrect within the show’s own mythology.

The penultimate episode is a creepy clown episode. I will say, the clowns are sort of creepy, but maybe that’s just because I agree with Sam about clowns just being inherently creepy. It’s an okay case, I guess. This is also the episode with Rowena. Ada is trying to find some sort of magical way to deal with the Akrida, and she stumbles into a witch club where Rowena finds her. Ruth McConnell does what she does, and it’s hard to complain about Rowena because she always plays her well. She does give Ada the magic to use against the Akrida in return for a bonzai tree that has a demon trapped in it (I know, I know) because the bonzai demon has information on her son. (Who we know is Crowley, but he doesn’t get a namedrop here, and there’s no further explanation there. I guess it’s possible Rowena could have known in the seventies that Crowley/Fergus was a demon or otherwise had something to do with demons and hell, but when she sees him in season 10 for the first time, she doesn’t recognize him. I do think that can be written off as him just being in a new vessel, though, so I’ll give this one a pass.) Of all the guest stars they brought on from the original show, Ruth/Rowena is by far the best, both in performance and purpose. She shows Ada how to kill Akrida using magic, but doing so kills off a bit of her soul, similar to the magic used to resurrect Jack in season 14.

And then it’s the finale. Just like that. In the final episode, they go up against the Akrida and their queen. In order to kill them, they either need to use the magic Rowena showed Ada, or they need to use something from another world. They connect with a hunter, Joan Hopkins, who has been in contact with Dean/Mystery Man, who she has thrown into the portal and destroyed after months of him staying ahead of her, and no living thing can survive the portal (the portal being the thing that the Akrida use to destroy worlds.) John and Mary find out this hunter is actually the queen. She and her family have hunted with the Campbells for generations, and we find out that Joan was actually born in 1673 and after losing her entire family and her husband, she turned on humankind and imbued herself with monster essence. She claimed monsters weren’t the problems, but humans for always needing saving, making it so hunters always paid the price for protecting them. She was made the Akrida queen when she was cast out of her world, and she is helping them carry out Chuck’s final mission of wiping the universe of universes of humanity. And now, Joan/the Queen is at full power, and will open up the portal to finish the destruction.

In the end, there’s this battle, and all our new friends are there fighting the Akrida, and they use this thing called the Ostium in an attempt to summon something from another world to kill the Queen, the Ostium being the only thing known to be capable of doing such a thing. They use Dean/Mystery Man’s journal to try to summon him, but nothing happens at first, leading them to conclude that the Mystery Man is dead.

And then – as we all know – the Impala appears.

Mary realizes the Impala is not from their world, and therefore can be used to kill Joan. With the portal open, she runs Joan over with the car, but also ends up accidentally going through the portal, which as we know, no living thing can survive. Womp-womp.

But wait! The Impala reappears, and inside it is a living Mary – and Dean Winchester.

Apparently, the Impala somehow protected her (I don’t know how, it’s not explained, don’t ask me), and Dean tells them all he’s already dead, so it’s not like it could do anything to him, and I guess that tracks. He was stuck in between worlds after being tossed into the portal by Joan, waited by the portal, and gave Mary a ride out.

I’ll let Dean explain the rest:

“I'm a Hunter, just like you. But I'm not from this Earth…When I died, I made it to heaven. And [the Impala] was waiting for me. So I went for a drive, and then I took a little detour. Through the multiverse…I was looking for my family. See, I come from a long line of Hunters. I guess I was hoping that somewhere out there was an Earth that had a version where my family had a shot at a happy ending. When I was driving, I caught wind of the Akrida. Turns out that they were one of Chuck's last creations...basically, he's a real dick. He left the Akrida behind to wipe out all of existence in case he failed. Well...he failed. Eventually the Akrida were going to make their way to my world, and I got family there, so I couldn't let that happen…I took my little detour. The rules were simple. Don't mess with anything. Well…I gave it a little nudge. Thought it might need a little help. Looks like it worked out pretty well. So now that the Akrida are gone, you all can choose your own destiny. You can write your own story.”

Then Bobby and Jack show up. We already saw Bobby at the beginning of the episode, and he more or less feels like Bobby, but it’s still like…what are you doing here. What’s going on here. This scene at the beginning of the finale shows us when Dean gave John that letter from Henry, when he’s dressed like a Bond villain, setting the story in motion. Bobby reminded Dean then that they weren’t supposed to meddle, but Dean is Dean and does whatever the fuck he wants, apparently, and Bobby says he’s off to get the cavalry, a line I’m still not completely clear on because who is the cavalry in this situation? Is it Jack? Can’t be Gabriel/Loki because they’re dead, can’t be Rowena because not only is she Queen of Hell in the main timeline, but nothing about her appearance here suggests that she was the current iteration of herself from the original show. So I don’t know who the hell the cavalry is in this context, but I’ll let Jack and Dean take it from here:

JACK: Dean. DEAN: Yeah. No, I know. I know, Jack. JACK: When I restored things, I wanted mankind to make their own fate. That meant no interference from on high, anywhere...no exceptions. DEAN: I couldn't let our world get destroyed. Sam's still down there, okay? He deserves a good, long life. Hell, they all do. So, if you want to cast me out of heaven...so be it. BOBBY: If we're taking a vote, I'd say you give the guy another chance. JACK: There's always another case with you Hunters...even in death. Well...if you're going to meddle in things, finish what you started. After this...it's time to get around to the..."there'll be peace when you are done"…part of the song.

Jack then hands Dean the journal he had been writing in and the Colt. Yes, the Colt. Dean gives them to John and Mary, telling them to use the Colt if a Yellow-Eyed Demon ever comes to them, and to use his journal to help guide them as hunters. The journal is what we see Dean with in the final episode of the pilot, and what he says in voiceover at the beginning and end of each episode (which are just these platitudes and cliches about hunting and family) are written in that journal. They ask his name, Dean tells them it’s James Hetfield (founding member of Metallica), and then he, Jack, Bobby, and the Impala disappear.

The episode ends with all of them happy the Akrida are gone and free to make their own decisions about their lives. John plans to keep hunting with the gang, but Mary isn’t sure. She got into Kansas State earlier in the season, but she needs time and space. But she does show up at the Winchesters’ repair shop at the end, and she and John go on a drive while “Ramble On” plays over a montage of scenes from the show.

And that’s it.

xXx

Okay.

What becomes abundantly clear at the end of this show is that all that mattered – all that ever mattered – was what the fuck Dean was doing. It wasn’t John and Mary’s love story, it wasn’t the search for their dads, it wasn’t the question of whether to hunt or not, it wasn’t the Scooby Gang’s found family. It was just…Dean.

Now, don’t get me wrong: I love Dean. I think he’s an interesting character. I also think his death was appropriate. But one person was so frustrated by his ending that he decided he needed to do something about it.

The logistics of the finale are…weird, to say the least. I can understand the logic behind the Impala being capable of killing Joan based on the show’s rules. It’s of another world, and Joan really gets her shit rocked by it, like Regina George getting hit by that bus, so I can buy it killing her. Sure. And I guess Dean waiting by the portal in the space between spaces or whatever is…plausible, I guess, since we don’t know how anything works between universes, so I’m willing to buy that. (Notice I’m not buying anything here with much enthusiasm, however.) But what the fuck does Dean mean, he heard about the Akrida while he was driving around? What does he mean, he took a detour? Did Jack tell him what was happening? Was he the one who set the rules? If so, did he not take care of the problem himself because of his own self-imposed resolution to not meddle? Did Jack want Dean to give John the letter? I don’t think he did because Bobby seemed to think that was meddling, which Dean was expressly told not to do, but how does any of this work without some level of meddling? And speaking of Bobby, I know we see him in the original show’s finale, but what the hell is he doing this whole time? Did he get caught by Jack doing something offscreen that we’re not told about, or did he run to him and tattle? (Super out of character for Bobby to be a narc, by the way, if that is the case.)

Or, maybe I’m supposed to interpret this another way, as something Dean stumbled upon while he was taking his Heavenly drive. He said he took a little detour and went looking for his family. That he was hoping there was a version out there that had a happy ending. Maybe he somehow found this potentially happy version of John and Mary and learned their universe was being threatened by the Akrida when he did? I don’t know.

I am baffled. Befuddled, even.

This episode is the only one to acknowledge Sam, and what’s funny about that is that for as much as the show excluded him, it inadvertently reinforces the idea of Sam as protagonist. Dean wants to stop the Akrida not to save this universe, necessarily, but because he’s worried about the Akrida getting to Earth One and getting to Sam. He did it all for Sam. It’s fucking poetic, is what it is, and I don’t think they did it to be poetic. I think they did it because they knew that:

They were stupid to leave Sam out of it in the first place, and

They had to justify this whole thing somehow.

In the end, none of it mattered.

xXx

At the beginning of this, I mentioned how hard it can be to let things end. While we can joke about how ridiculous Carlos whipping his hair back and forth to spray vampires with holy water is, or how Mary was dressed like a knockoff Claire Novak in the pilot, or the vanishing Impala, or how bad the Akrida looked, or how convoluted the premise of the whole show is, I think there’s something more we can take away from this: The Winchesters is a study in both vanity and poor media literacy.

Dean Winchester dying at the end of Supernatural makes perfect sense within the text of the show. This is a tragic character completing his tragic arc. His death also symbolizes the end of an abusive cycle, but in order to acknowledge that, you have to acknowledge that something very complex exists within Dean’s character. Many fans do not want to acknowledge that Dean continued the familial cycle of abuse. Do I believe he loved Sam? Absolutely. Do I believe he was unfairly parentified? Yes. Do I believe he was also a victim of neglect? One thousand percent. But that doesn’t change the fact that Dean continued these harmful cycles. That’s part of the tragedy. His death made it possible for Sam to break those cycles and live a life he had been continuously guilted and shamed and ostracized for wanting to live, and while that’s in a sense a win, it comes about in a tragic way.

The tragedy is the point. The hurt is the point.

But Jensen Ackles just didn’t like that. Of all the people on the cast and crew, he was the only one who it didn’t seem to click with, and look – I can understand that maybe he needed to take some time to sit with it because he brought that character to life for fifteen years and that character has a rough end, and it also marks the end of fifteen years of his life. It’s tough stuff. But what Jensen and the producers of The Winchesters did didn’t add to Dean’s story or his character, it didn’t add to the original story, it didn’t improve upon anything, or clarify anything, or rehabilitate anything.

It was Jensen’s attempt to get the last word, and it failed spectacularly.

I said earlier that I don’t want to blame a lot of the show’s problems on the acting, and I think that’s true. The main cast are young actors who haven’t been in a ton of projects (Meg Donnelly, who played Mary, has the most experience with ABC’s American Housewife and Disney’s Zombies movies), and I don’t want to blame cast and crew for just wanting to get work, and the main case certainly isn’t unwatchable. They have to do and say some pretty cringy shit at times, but that’s not on them. The supporting cast is generally serviceable to forgettable, and only truly bad a couple of times (the guy who plays Ada’s half-djinn son is…not great. He sounded like he was having lines fed to him and wasn’t comprehending any of what he was saying). Carlos and Latika aren’t particularly bad characters or poorly portrayed or anything, even if they do rely on some stereotypes (again, not on them), and might be fine in another context.

I will also say, though, that while Meg Donnelly isn’t like…a bad actor, she’s not a good Mary. The Mary we know from the flagship program is sweet, and hopeful, and resourceful, and very capable. I could absolutely believe that the Mary portrayed by Samantha Smith or Amy Gumenick could both kill a monster and struggle to break out of the life she was raised in, and absolutely, 100% want out of that life and apply to Kansas State University behind everyone’s back (just like someone else we know!) Donnelly’s Mary just feels like a Claire Novak rip-off. Which was a weird choice to make, and I guess they could try to justify by being like Oh, well this is a Mary from another universe, but that’s not gonna fly. We got a Mary that could certainly kill monsters, but otherwise doesn’t really feel like Mary Winchester at all.

Then there’s John, portrayed by Drake Rodger. He was my favorite of the main cast, and the one who seems to be the true protagonist, which I noted earlier. Rodger had mentioned having watched the original show, and he has that sort of gentle giant quality that Sam had, and even does a good job of picking up on some of his mannerisms that make him at least feel like a Winchester. Does he feel like John? I mean…that’s harder to say than it was with Donnelly’s Mary. We know from the original show that John before hunting was a pretty different guy. He was probably struggling with PTSD after his tour, but Mary repeatedly refers to him as a sweet, open person, so I can believe that this John could be more like Sam: generally a very nice, gentle guy who you need to watch out for when he’s angry or scared. As far as performances go, he did pretty well – or, as well as he could, considering the writing.

So, yeah, I’m not gonna pin the show’s downfall on the acting because that wasn’t it. And I’m not gonna pin it on the crew, either. Sure, the special effects and editing weren’t always great, but they weren’t always the best on the original show, either.

This is a project that never should have been greenlit, for one reason because it would have saved that crew member from getting struck by lightning. The crew member sued, naming Ackles and the other producers in the lawsuit along with the network for not following proper safety measures. Director John Showalter, a Supernatural alum, decided he wanted a scene shot in the rain, even though there was lightning in the vicinity. The show had already dealt with reshoots and short filming windows, so Showalter, the producers, and the network decided to risk everyone’s safety, and a crew member literally got struck by lightning and woke up in the emergency room. I hope he gets a giant settlement.

It also shouldn’t have been greenlit not just because it was apparently poorly run and unsafe (which, really, is the worst thing about all this – the show’s not even good, and you’re endangering people for it), but because it was a petty little vanity project. Jensen Ackles just couldn’t let it go, couldn’t stand that he wasn’t the protagonist, and had to try to get in one last word.

But he couldn’t do it. He was never going to be able to do it. This wasn’t a project driven by love of storytelling, but by spite. He wanted everyone to be thinking Where’s Dean? How does Dean fit into this? What’s he doing there? He didn’t want to explore this weird, difficult relationship, or the original show’s major theme of autonomy; he just wanted attention. That’s what comes through in all of this because the story itself doesn’t matter. If these characters don’t reveal anything about the original characters or story, then it doesn’t matter, and it’s certainly not written or performed or produced well enough to make it matter. Why should I care about this John and Mary? I don't know, and the show doesn't, either.

And the kicker is that all of Dean’s voiceover bits are stupid cliches, it doesn’t make sense how he even got himself into this mess, and it all still comes back around to Sam in the end, anyway. So there was literally no point. It was all a waste of time and money and a man got struck by lightning.

This show was doomed from the start. Dead, done, and dusted before it even made it to your screen.

#supernatural #spn #spn prequel #the winchesters #spn meta #jensen ackles #john winchester #mary winchester #dean winchester #sam winchester #that's right I'm putting this in the main tags #idk if anyone will be interested in this or not but here it is #I know it's long but there was quite a bit to say #and I had nothing better to do #abby speaks

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s4wdvator · 5 months ago

Text

˙ . ꒷ 🧁 TEENAGER LOVE . 𖦹˙—

━━━━ 𖹭 THE STORY TAKES PLACE IN THE 90s

𓂅 ꒰ PAIRING : teen cowboy!jensen ackles x fem!reader

𓂅 ꒰ WORDS: 3,8K

𓂅 ꒰ SYNOPSIS : Childhood. Something Jensen and y/n always had and shared—even him being 2 years older than her—while they were growing up together, was something platonic. But as childhood fades and passion rises, everything changes in their relationship.

𓂅 ꒰ WARNINGS : friends to lovers, Jensen and reader's childhood, smut, morning n protected sex, p in v, oral sex, reader having a crush on Jensen over the years, lots of fluff, mention of the reader sleeping with Jensen, and maybe more stuff!

𓂅 ꒰ NOTES : If any of the topics discussed bother you, I recommend you leave to avoid discomfort. Remember, English is not my first language, so sorry if I make mistakes in words and etc... maybe will have a part 2 if u guys wanted! AND YES!!! I finally come back to post this one!!

1990 —

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ THE GOLDEN TEXAS SUN was rising over the horizon, gently illuminating the vast Ackles family farm. The clear, cloudless sky seemed to promise another warm and peaceful day, while the aroma of fresh coffee and freshly baked apple pie filled the house, creating a familiar and welcoming atmosphere. It was a morning like so many others, but for Jensen and Y/N, that day had a special meaning.

Outside the house, the sound of laughter echoed through the orchard. Jensen and Y/N, as always, were together. He, with his messy blond hair and bright green eyes, was leaning against one of the trees, counting to ten. She, with her heart racing, was hiding behind an apple tree. Her chest rose and fell quickly from the running, and a mischievous smile adorned her lips. They were playing hide and seek, as they had done since they were children, but now, there was something different in the air, something more intense that neither of them could fully explain.

Y/N tried to contain a nervous laugh as she spied Jensen from afar. However, he was always smart, perceptive like no one else. Hearing the familiar sound of her laughter, he smiled at the corner of his mouth, that smile she knew so well, and began walking towards the tree where she was.

"Damn it," she hissed through her teeth, realizing he had already found her. Jensen was there, right in front of her, smiling as if he had known he would win the game from the start. Slightly irritated, the ten-year-old girl came out of her hiding place and crossed her arms, staring at him with a sullen expression.

"That wasn't fair, Jay," she protested, her voice childish and slightly breathless. He laughed, a cheerful sound that always made her heart beat faster, even if she didn't yet understand why.

"You're just saying that because you don't know how to lose," he retorted, the provocative tone evident.

Y/N huffed, rolling her eyes. She hated to admit it, but he was right. He always was. It irritated her to no end, but at the same time, she loved how Jensen always seemed to be one step ahead of her.

"Idiot," she muttered, staring into his green eyes, which shone in the sunlight. Jensen let out another laugh, a genuine one that made her chest warm in a strange, new way.

"Deal with it and it'll hurt less, brat," he teased again, with that smug smile she loved to hate.

She narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms tightly. “You say that like you’re not only two years older,” she retorted, the stubbornness evident in her voice. She hated it when he called her a “brat.” Two years was nothing, and she couldn’t understand why he insisted on it so much.

Jensen just shrugged, muttering a casual, "Whatever." He always did that, making her even more irritated. Regardless, the two of them began walking together back to the house, where Jensen's mother called them for breakfast.

After eating, Y/N and Jensen went to his room, as they did almost every morning. The space had the typical smell of clean sheets and a light woody essence, so characteristic of him. They were sitting side by side on the bed, the comfortable silence filling the room. Y/N looked at him curiously, as if she wanted to unravel the thoughts that were going through his mind. In turn, Jensen looked back at her, arching an eyebrow, as if wondering why she was watching him so much.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he finally asked, his tone slightly amused.

"I don't know," she replied with a shrug, but a smile played on her lips. "Maybe because you're fun to watch."

Jensen narrowed his eyes, pretending to be offended. "Funny? I'm a lot of things, Y/N, but funny is definitely not one of them."

She laughed, shaking her head. "If you say so, Jay."

1993 —

Jensen’s room had that familiar smell of youth: a mix of freshly washed sheets, cheap deodorant, and something that was all his own, a scent Y/N had known since they were kids. She was sitting on the corner of his bed, her hands clasped in her lap, her bare feet swinging as she took in the scene before her. Jensen was leaning against the headboard, a smug smile playing on his lips while his new girlfriend, Sarah—or was it Samantha? She didn’t care to remember—was cuddled up next to him.

They kissed. Not a discreet kiss, but one that made uncomfortable noises and made Y/N want to roll her eyes until the limit. She felt out of place, as if she had been thrown into a scenario she shouldn't be in.

Why had Jensen called her here? For this? To watch him and Sarah kiss like they were in one of those teen movies she hated? It didn’t make sense. They always did everything together: played video games, listened to music, laughed at the stupid jokes that only they understood. But lately, everything was different. He was different. Jensen was fifteen now, and it seemed like suddenly girls like Sarah were more interesting to him than the best friend he’d known all his life.

Y/N felt something strange in her chest. It was like a tightness, an discomfort that she couldn't name. Part of her wanted to yell at him, ask him why he was acting like this, but another part knew she had no right to do that. After all, he wasn't hers. Right?

She tried to ignore the sound of their kissing and focused on a poster on the wall of a band they listened to together. But it was no use. Every muffled giggle from Sarah or the way Jensen mumbled something that made her laugh only made her angrier. The comfortable silence she always felt in his room now felt heavy, suffocating.

Finally, Y/N couldn’t watch any longer. She jumped up from the bed, her hands shaking and her face red, but not from embarrassment. It was anger. It was sadness. It was… jealousy?

"Where are you going?" Jensen asked, pulling his lips away from Sarah's long enough to look at Y/N with a confused expression.

She turned to him, her eyes flashing with frustration. “To my place,” she said, her voice more sharp than she intended. “I don’t want to stand here and watch you kiss someone.”

The room fell silent. Sarah looked at Jensen, then at Y/N, her eyebrows slightly raised, as if she was enjoying the scene. Jensen, on the other hand, seemed genuinely lost. He blinked a few times, as if he hadn't realized until that moment that Y/N's presence there was, at the very least, uncomfortable.

"Y/N, wait..." Jensen began, but she was already at the door, her hand on the handle.

"No, Jey." She turned away for a moment, her eyes fixed on him in a way he didn't recognize. "You should have asked me to play video games or something, but not for this. I don't have to stand here and watch you..." She gestured vaguely with her hands, indicating Sarah, who seemed to be enjoying the drama. "Doing this."

Before he could respond, she left, slamming the door behind her. Jensen sat up in bed, his lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. Sarah tried to pull him back to the moment, but he couldn’t stop staring at the closed door, his mind spinning over what had just happened.

Outside, Y/N walked quickly down the sidewalk, the cold night wind blowing against her face. Her eyes felt stinging, but she refused to cry. What was happening to her? Why was this bothering her so much? Jensen was her best friend, and it was normal for him to have a girlfriend. Right? So why did it feel like something inside her was breaking?

She kicked a rock in her path, frustrated with herself. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe she should have stayed and acted like she didn’t care. But she did. And that scared her.

As she crossed the street to get home, a memory came to her: Jensen, at nine years old, holding her hand as they climbed into the tree house he had built with his father. He had promised that they would always be best friends, that he would never leave her behind. "You're my partner in everything, Y/N," he had said, with that boyish smile that she had never forgotten.

But now, he had Sarah. And for the first time, Y/N felt like she might not be his partner in everything anymore.

Back in the room, Jensen was still lost in thought. Sarah, realizing he was no longer paying attention to her, sighed and started playing with her hair. "Your friend is a bit dramatic, isn't she?" she commented, with an irritating tone that made Jensen frown. .

“Don’t talk about her like that,” he replied automatically, his voice more serious than Sarah had expected. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing. Jensen, in turn, got up from the bed and walked to the window, looking out at the dark street. He knew he had done something wrong, but he couldn’t put it into words. Y/N looked… hurt. And he hated that.

Maybe he had been selfish in inviting her here. He thought it would be normal, that she wouldn't mind. After all, they always did everything together. But now, he was starting to realize that not everything was the same. Things were changing, and he didn't know if he liked it.

Jensen sighed, running a hand through his messy blond hair. He knew he needed to talk to her, to explain himself. But deep down, he was afraid that even if he did, something between them would have changed forever.

1995 —

The day dawned with the sun shining high in the sky, as if even the universe wanted to celebrate Y/N's 15th birthday. The weather seemed perfect for outdoor parties, and her house was full of family and friends, all busy with laughter, conversation, and of course, eating the delicious treats her mother had prepared. Colorful balloons were scattered around the yard, and a large banner read: *"Happy Birthday, Y/N!"*

Y/N was excited. Her radiant smile and infectious energy made everyone around her feel good. She had that gift. With every congratulation she received, she thanked them with a hug or a kind word, but deep down, all she wanted was to see one specific person: Jensen.

Jensen Ackles. The boy she had known for as long as she could remember. Her best friend, her partner in all her adventures, and now, the guy she was starting to kiss in secret. Their relationship had changed in the last few months, and Y/N knew it. She also knew that she had played an important role in this change. After all, she was the one who insisted that something happen between them, so that he would stop putting up so many barriers and just admit what they both felt.

She chuckled to herself as she remembered their first conversations about it, a few months ago. Jensen, at seventeen, had seemed genuinely terrified of the idea of getting involved with her in a different way. He’d said something like, “You’re fourteen, Y/N. This is wrong. I’m going to get arrested!” And she couldn’t help but laugh so hard she cried. It was hard to take Jensen seriously when he said things like that, especially since deep down, she knew he wanted that too.

But he had resisted. For weeks. Maybe even months. Until finally, he had given in. Jensen had always been stubborn, but Y/N was even more so. And once she had made up her mind that she wanted something more with him, there was no way she could give up. The first time he had kissed her, it had been quick, a little awkward, like he was afraid someone would see them. But after that, things had started to flow between them. They weren’t officially dating—not yet—but what they had was special. And she knew it.

Y/N walked around the yard, greeting the guests, but her eyes were always searching for him. Where was Jensen? He promised he would come, and she trusted him. He never let her down.

Finally, she saw him. He was leaning against the fence at the back of the yard, wearing a black T-shirt that showed off his broad shoulders and strong arms. His blond hair was messy as always, and he had that signature smirk that made her heart beat faster. He looked a little out of place in the middle of the party, as if he didn't quite know where he fit in.

She smiled and walked towards him, the flowery dress she wore swaying gently in the breeze. When she got close enough, she stopped, crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow.

"You finally showed up, huh?" she said, her tone playful, but with a touch of lightness that only she knew how to use.

Jensen looked at her and chuckled softly, scratching the back of his neck like he always did when he was a little nervous. "I was here the whole time. You were the one busy being the star of the party."

"Oh, sure," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Like you didn't know I was looking for you."

He smiled, and that damn smile made her legs go a little weak. Jensen had that effect on her, even if he didn’t know it—or pretended not to.

"Happy birthday, Y/N," he said finally, his voice low and husky. He stepped forward, pulling something out of his pocket. It was a small, poorly wrapped package, as if he had packed it in a hurry.

"You brought a present?" she asked, surprised. "Jensen Ackles, you're getting sentimental."

"Don't say that out loud," he teased, handing her the package. "It'll ruin my reputation."

Y/N laughed as she carefully unwrapped the gift. Inside was a small necklace, simple but pretty. The pendant was a small silver star. She looked at it in surprise, and then at Jensen, who looked slightly uncomfortable, as if he was afraid she wouldn't like it.

"It's... just something small," he said, shrugging. "I saw it at the store and... it reminded me of you. Always shining and everything."

For a moment, Y/N was speechless. Not because the gift was grand, but because it was so... Jensen. He always knew how to make something simple seem special. She smiled, placing the necklace around her neck.

"It's perfect," she said, her voice soft. "Thank you, Jey."

He gave her a shy smile, but before he could say anything, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. It was quick, but enough to make Jensen blush slightly.

"Come on," she said, taking his hand. "Let's get out of here. This party is boring without you."

He hesitated for a second, but in the end, he followed her. They walked to the back of the yard, where there was a small swing hanging from a tree. It was a place they had visited so many times as children, and it felt natural to be there now.

Y/N sat on the swing, while Jensen leaned against the tree trunk, watching her with that look she could never fully decipher. She swayed slightly, her feet touching the ground.

"You know I like you, right?" she said suddenly, her tone casual but her heart racing. She wasn't good at keeping things to herself, especially when it came to Jensen.

He looked at her, surprised, but said nothing for a moment. Then he sighed, crossing his arms.

"I know," he replied finally. "And... I like you too. A lot. More than I should, maybe."

She frowned, tilting her head. "Why more than you should?"

"Because you're 15, Y/N," he said, looking frustrated with himself. "And I'm 17. Do you know what people would say if they knew we were... I don't know, hooking up?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "Jensen, seriously? Two years difference is nothing. And besides, who cares what other people think?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again. She was right, as always. He knew that. He knew she was stubborn, determined, and that in the end, he couldn't say no to her. He never could.

"You're so annoying," he muttered, but there was a smile on his lips.

"I know," she replied, smiling back. "And you like it."

He rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but laugh. And in that moment, as the sun began to set and the golden light illuminated her face, Jensen realized he was completely screwed. Because he didn’t just like Y/N. He loved her. And that scared him more than anything else in the world.

1998 –

That morning, Leitora's room became a temple of passion, where she and Jensen, childhood friends and now lovers, would give themselves to each other without reservations. At 18, Leitora felt that her life was finally beginning, and Jensen's love was the key to unlocking all her secrets.

The sunlight, filtered through the curtains, bathed their naked bodies in a golden glow, highlighting every curve, every scar, every mark of the history they shared. Reader admired Jensen as he slept, his face relaxed and serene, his brown hair spread across the pillow. She felt a love so deep it hurt, an irresistible desire to protect him and love him forever.

Jensen woke slowly, his emerald green eyes meeting Reader's passionate gaze. A lazy smile curved his lips, and he asked, his voice hoarse with sleep, "What are you thinking about, my love?"

"How lucky I am to have you," Reader replied, with a radiant smile.

Jensen approached, wrapping Reader in his strong arms and kissing her passionately. Their lips met in a whirlwind of desire, their tongues dancing in a frenzied rhythm. Jensen's hands slid over Reader's body, caressing her breasts, her belly, her thighs. She felt a shiver run down her spine, and her nipples hardened under the touch of his fingers.

The more Jensen touched her, the more Reader gave in to the moment. She spread her legs, inviting him to explore every inch of her body. Jensen accepted the invitation with a moan, kissing and licking every curve, every crevice.

Carefully, he began to caress Reader's clit, his fingers dancing in circular motions that brought her to the edge of ecstasy. She moaned loudly, and Jensen whispered in her ear: "Shhh, don't make noise, baby. Your parents are sleeping."

But Reader couldn't contain herself. The pleasure was overwhelming, and she gave herself completely to the moment. Jensen continued to caress her, his fingers working masterfully on her clitoris. Then, he pulled the sheets away from their bodies and began to trace hot, wet kisses on her stomach, thigh and groin, she writhed at his touch.

It was too much, he was too good to be true.

Soon, he licked her pussy. Tasting her for the first time was a bit bittersweet, but very good. He could stay there for hours, just drinking her juices and cum. While his tongue worked on everything, he started sucking her clit, while his long fingers were penetrating her, and all of this, made her moan loudly, writhing on the bed.

Her reactions made him happy. He was more experienced than her, and he was happy to give her so much pleasure. After a while of just eating her pussy, she finally came in his mouth. She tasted wonderful.

Reader's body convulsed in spasms of pleasure, and she cried out Jensen's name. He hugged her tightly, kissing her passionately as she recovered from the ecstasy.

After a moment of silence, Jensen pulled away and grabbed a condom from the dresser drawer. He tore the wrapper open with his teeth and placed it on his erect member, his eyes locked with Reader's.

Carefully, he positioned himself at her entrance, feeling her warm, inviting wetness. He looked into her eyes, seeking her permission, and she nodded, her eyes full of desire.

Jensen entered Reader slowly, feeling her tighten around him. She moaned in pleasure, and he began to move in a slow, sensual rhythm.

The more Jensen moved, the more Reader gave in to the moment. She hugged him tightly, her fingers digging into his back as she lost herself in the pleasure. He kissed her, nibbled her, caressed her, each touch increasing her arousal.

"Jensen..." she whispered, her voice thick with desire. "More... please, more..."

Jensen obeyed, increasing the pace of his thrusts. He thrust into her hard, feeling her writhe and moan beneath his weight. He loved her with every cell in his body, and he wanted to make her feel the same.

Finally, they both climaxed at the same time. Reader screamed, her body shaking in waves of pure pleasure as Jensen filled her with his love. They remained embraced for a long time, their bodies still vibrating with the energy of orgasm.

After a moment of silence, Reader pulled back and looked at Jensen with a mischievous smile. “Now it’s my turn,” she said, her eyes shining with desire.

Jensen smiled, knowing exactly what she meant. He lay back on the bed, inviting Reader to do whatever she wanted with him.

Reader knelt before Jensen and took his member in her hands. She kissed him, licked him while she began the soothing movements up and down, just to warm him up and then took him to her mouth. His cock was big and thick. She managed to take half of it, the rest her hands caressed and sometimes, her hands massaged his balls, which were already heavy with the desire for a new release. Jensen moaned in pleasure, feeling Reader's warm tongue envelop him.

She sucked and licked him with fervor, her lips and tongue working together to bring him to the edge. Jensen gripped Reader's hair, controlling his movements as he lost himself in the pleasure.

"Oh..." he moaned, his voice thick with desire. "You're amazing..."

Reader continued to suck him passionately, until Jensen felt like he was going to explode. He warned her what would happen, he was going to cum in her mouth and so he did, she stopped sucking him for a bit and just kept moving her hands, encouraging him to cum right away in her mouth. Her mouth was open just waiting and finally, he was spurting his semen into Reader's mouth. She swallowed it all with pleasure, savoring every drop of his love.

When they were finally done, they were both exhausted but incredibly satisfied. They had explored every corner of their bodies. After the intimate moment, they enjoyed the morning together, eating, watching a movie on TV. But in Reader's mind, it was like she finally felt good, free and at home. The thought of feeling at home with him made her hug him tighter and he smiled.

tag list: @rositaslabyrinth @mxltifxnd0m @figurantedefilme @dolliristel @castiwls @deansbite @deansbeer @rubyvhs @couturewinx @dulcescorderitas

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