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Warning: The following contains spoilers from Tuesday’s The Winchesters premiere. Proceed at your own risk!
John and Mary certainly have their work cut out for them after The Winchesters‘ series premiere, which told a much different story about how Dean and Sam’s parents met from the one viewers heard on Supernatural.
Over the course of the episode, John returned from the Vietnam War and literally bumped into Mary outside of a movie theater showing Slaughterhouse-Five. It wasn’t long before a letter from his MIA dad led him to the abandoned Men of Letters bunker and a run-in with Mary, who informed him of the existence of demons. But it’s the presence of a monster called the Akrida that is far more troubling for our new Scooby gang. Described as a malevolent force not of this world, the Akrida have been trying to invade for centuries and want to wipe out everyone, including demons and monsters, from our world. And Mary’s dad went missing while searching for a box that can kill the Akrida.
“What they didn’t know was that the Akrida weren’t just a threat to Earth, but to all of existence,” Dean writes in a journal at the end of the pilot. “Like I told you, there’s going to be some surprises. Hell, I’m still trying to find all the puzzle pieces myself. But I’ll explain everything. And until then, I’ll keep picking the music.”
Below, showrunner Robbie Thompson answers our burning questions about Dean’s mysterious whereabouts, what the episode’s Supernatural nods mean and just how much we’ll be seeing executive producer/narrator Jensen Ackles.
TVLINE | We see, at the end of the pilot, Dean writing in his journal, and he’s driving off in his car. Where is he in terms of the Supernatural timeline? Is this before he died?
Where Dean is is a mystery for now. We’ve provided some clues in some of the visuals that I think some fans have already picked up on and have some theories on where he is. But we will definitely resolve where that handsome young man is in relation to the final seasons of Supernatural.
TVLINE | I was also thinking there’s a chance that he might be writing this from Heaven, possibly.
These are all wonderful theories I can neither confirm nor deny. But we will be resolving that in our first 13 episodes, 100 percent.
TVLINE | They introduced, basically, a Supernatural multiverse in the show’s later seasons. We found out there are other Earths with other Sams and Deans, which made me want to confirm this is the John and Mary that we know from our Earth.
[Laughs] I’m trying to be very politically correct here… That is a wonderful question. I think what I would say to both your readers and you and everybody watching is that everything, as far as people’s theories are on the table, I’m neither going to confirm nor deny any theories, but I will say that we will resolve everybody’s questions and concerns by the end of the first 13 [episodes].
It’s not just to be coy and cagey and things like that. I’m a big fan of just stories being able to unfold on their own. I understand that there are people that are concerned and want to make sure that we’re not stepping on continuity, and I 100 percent understand that concern, and all I can say is that we will not be undoing anything and not be deleting anything or changing anything, frankly, if we’ve done our jobs right. But the way in which we do that will be a mystery for now. I promise we will resolve any and all questions, but for now, it’s just about going on the journey with us and seeing where we go.
TVLINE | Is Jensen narrating in every episode?
You will be hearing the incredible voice of one Dean Winchester in every episode.
TVLINE | I’m guessing we won’t see him in every episode, though.
We won’t be able to see him in every episode. Jensen is quite [busy]. But we will be hearing him. It’s one of the really wonderful perks of this job is when we’re getting to that part of a script, you can say like, “I wonder what Dean would say?” and then I can just text Dean Winchester and talk to him. Jensen is a wonderful partner because he’s able to both play the history and think about the future. We go over [the voiceovers] word by word, letter by letter, and really shape them together. I’m just really excited for people to hear that voice again. I know, for me, it was like, “Holy smokes!” We needed a temp piece to figure out what we were cutting to, and we were shooting, and he sent it to me, and it was a recording — I still have it on my phone — of him doing an early version of one of the voiceovers, and it was the voice, you know? [Laughs] It was Dean Winchester in my earbuds in that moment, and it was like one of those real “pinch me” moments. Like, “Wow, this is really happening. We’re doing this.”
TVLINE | Speaking of voices, is that Gil McKinney that we heard reading Henry’s letter?
Yes, that is 100 percent Gil McKinney. Gil is a wonderful person [and] a terrific actor, and one of the fun things about working in this world was figuring out who we might be able to work with again. He was just a great partner and came in and recorded that for us. He was terrific.
TVLINE | Are there any other Supernatural actors/guest stars coming in from the original series?
Absolutely. We will see some Supernatural faces. I’m not at liberty to say who just yet, but in the back part of our first 13 episodes, you will definitely see some familiar faces, which I’m super, super excited about.
TVLINE | Can you talk a little bit about what you were going for in terms of the Big Bad, and what we can expect as the season progresses?
We were really looking for something to differentiate from Supernatural, something we hadn’t seen before. Obviously, there’s some demons in the pilot, and we’ve dealt a lot with demons on Supernatural. But we really were excited about trying to find a new monster, a new Big Bad, and even within the course of episodes, trying to find some new monsters for our heroes to be fighting. Honestly, a big part of it was just, how do we differentiate ourselves from the mothership, give our heroes something to fight against that was more personal to their story and to this new group outside of just Mary and John to tackle for the season?
TVLINE | What should we be reading into the movie marquee displaying Slaughterhouse-Five?
[Laughs] That we did our homework. I know that this has also been a source of some theories, as well. Again, I can neither confirm or deny, but obviously, that was the story that Dean relates to his mom [on Supernatural] to prove he knows a thing or two about her. I think that was in Season 12. It was just to kind of evoke that, and it was one of those moments we hear about it on the mothership, but then we never see it, and to see it… Glen Winter, who shot the pilot, did a beautiful job of of revealing it visually. We were shooting up in a little town called Amite, just about an hour away from New Orleans, and the whole street is decked out like 1972, and the camera comes up for that reveal, and it was really, really exciting. It was like you were stepping into history, in a way, and I was literally wearing a Slaughterhouse-Five t-shirt that I brought with me for the occasion. [Laughs]
What did you think of The Winchesters? Grade the premiere below, then hit the comments!
Can’t wait for more and to see where this story is taking us. Really glad they’ll be answering the big questions within the 13 episodes
Just finishing watching this and I want more.
So we had that vampire mafia, Romeo/Juliette backdoor pilot and the Wayward Sister’s backdoor pilot and now this, it was ok but I would I preferred the Wayward Sister’s.
I agree. I still don’t understand why Wayward Sisters wasn’t picked up.
I think Kathryn Newton was the deal breaker, if she was involved they would have picked it up.
Yup. She wanted a part time role, and the net wanted a show that was basically her character and some other randos. And the fans wanted a show that centered on the adult ladies, and the net didn’t want that.
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There were three visions of this show, and they were essentially incompatible. But Newton was, and is, on the verge of big things in the entertainment world. She didn’t want to be tied down to doing 20+eps of this show for the next half decade or more. I think she envisioned a scenario where she was in about half the shows in a given season, with 1/3 of those being minimal appearances (over the phone, she’s leaving on a hunt, etc). And the net wanted her prominently featured in every ep with her in the majority of very shot.
They wanted it Newton and her sister plus the surrogate mom on hunts not moms, sisters with the occasional appearance from Newton.
I don’t either. I would like to see a spin-off that didn’t involve the Winchester Family. They need to go beyond the Winchesters & explore new characters.
Just when I thought I was out they pulled me back in. Really likable cast
Looking forward to the premiere. I’ll be watching in an hour & a half.
I won’t abandon it right out of the gate. We’ll see where it goes 👍
So this article was a bunch of nothing…you have to watch the last episode and then all will be revealed.
This was even better than I hoped and I had pretty high hopes because I’d already become attached to the very personable cast and new how much passion Jensen Ackles and Robbie Thompson had put in it. But this is genuinely really good, I love the new characters, Latika and Carlos are so loveable. I love John and Mary. You can already see Dean and Sam in both of them. Love them as group. And I can’t wait to find out where the mysteries both them in the past and Dean in his time are going.
I love how this begins with a search for dads, since the very first season of “Supernatural” began with the boys searching for John. It’s interesting how everything comes full circle.
This whole “you need to watch until episode 13” sounds so desperate.
I think in the era of streaming and binging it’s just a reminder to ppl, especially those that assume they know how everything is going to work from the beginning based off of assumptions and therefore won’t watch it, that stories take their time to get to revelations. They can’t answer all questions or address every point of contention/anxiety if that means they have to ruin the flow of the season.
But to explicitly say on which episode it will be revealed right after/before the premiere? That’s a first.
I gave this a shot out of curiosity but I wasn’t impressed . It’s just missing the spark of the original show and there are way too many discrepancies between what happened on that and whatever this is trying to be. I did like the actor playing John but Mary is nothing like the one we knew from Supernatural. I just don’t understand why they went with this premise when there are a ton of different routes they could have taken. Men of Letters, young Bobby and Rufus, etc. I wanted to give this a shot but there’s just not enough there for me to stick with it. Bummer.
That’s funny, I thought Mary fit Mary but John didn’t have the swagger of John.
A lot of people felt that way about Supernatural in the beginning. I have high hopes for this.
This was a lot of fun & a pleasant surprise. Looking forward to the next episode. Wonder if we’ll ever see Cas, Bobby & Rufus.
Why would we see Cas? This Is like 25/30
year’s bf we see Cas
Maybe dean is trying to find cas in heaven while at the same time telling the story of his parents when they were younger! That’s my theory about Dean ‘s whereabouts!
Not sure what I think yet BUT super glad they’re going to give us answers by the end of the season….because who knows if the new owners will give it a renewal. Since they want to go with reruns of stuff and unscripted shows.
I loved the show, but the voices were low, had to turn up volume to 22. All other shows on CW sound range is 14. Check with stuntman.
VERY ‘Supernatural’-like! Loved it. Terrific cast. I admit, already a bit of a crush on the male lead. Lol. Just hope enough die-hard fans watch, at least to give us one season…before the CW makes its big changes….
Dean died? Darn I shouldn’t have read this recap. I’m in Season 14 of Supernatural right now.
I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this!! The last few seasons of SPN were very much ruined for me (thanks so much, Dabb) but this felt old school Supernatural and I very much approve! Really enjoying the new cast and Drake and Meg are doing a great job of portraying new and younger, less jaded versions of John and Mary. And I literally got chills hearing Jensen as Dean again! I’m looking forward to more!
I’d give it a B+. I enjoyed it a lot. I like the new characters and the diversity. I also enjoyed all of the nods to the original show, even though this show is pretty different. I’ll definitely continue to watch and I look forward to finding out how this story fits into the mythology.
It was just okay for me. It was slow in the beginning a bit, then picked up the last 15 minutes. I’m going to give it a season pass and watch it improve. I really hope they get bobby in there.
I thought it was pretty good but basically unnecessary. I’d rather see a prequel about the grandparents’ era.
As someone who never actively watched Supernatural but being currently interested in what The CW is doing I checked it out live last night and I enjoyed it. Of course I didn’t get any of the Easter eggs and stuff but it was a nice premise with likeable characters. It did feel rushed but then kinda slow at the same time I can’t explain it but I will be tuning in and maybe even check out Supernatural in between!
(Also, I just noticed and love the comment section disclaimer that takes from The Good Place, IYKYK)
Though I’d like to see the wayward sisters, which they can still do, I’m more incline to know more about the back story on the Winchester family.
I am waiting until I can give this my undivided attention to watch the pilot, but from what I have seen (and skimmed over here because I can’t resist spoiling things for myself lol), I am so excited to go back down the SPN rabbit hole. Supernatural is my all time favorite show, and I cannot wait to see where this series fits int
Just finished my first rewatch of the pilot – I guess that says a lot. So impressed. I was all in from the series announcement (Robbie! Jensen! Daneel!) but the frenetic pace of thevpromos had me nervous. I loved the pace of the show, loved the visuals, the characterizations, the music! Mary grabbed me on second watch, John on first and Carlos and Lata still holding up. Dean in Baby? 💓 sigh. Riding this rocket as far as she goes.
I really liked it.
All the characters are unique and bring much to the table.
Loved hearing Grandpa Winchester!!
I see what you did there, Robbie! Yes, I’m SUPER excited about who else will be appearing on the show.
The first episode was very good. I might have preferred a longer build but I am older than the average CW viewer. Loved seeing Dean and Baby again! I’ll be watching this season for sure though I still wish the CW had done “Wayward Sisters”. Welcome back, SPN Family!