iconic pilot episode. so many spn fandom reference from just 43 minutes.
as supernatural is one of my all-time favorite tv series, i've re-watched season one upwards of 6 times now (most before i joined trakt) and there's just so much about this episode that helps set the stage for the rest of the series and also characterization of sam and dean. sam is pulled back into the hunting life by his brother after yet another tragedy. the 'short-term' conflict (finding their father) is set and the 'long-term' conflict (figuring out who/what is responsibile for their mother's murder) is also set. there's immediate engagement from the audience in trying to pre-emptively answer these two questions.
it's clear the brothers have a lot of conflict even beyond what is going on with their father. dean has followed in his dad's footsteps and sam took his own path. a lot of this first episode seems to be them working through some of this conflict and learning to work together again. this is really important for the rest of the season (and the rest of the series.)
coming back and re-watching the earlier seasons is also a reminder that this is supposed to be a horror show. it doesn't really feel so much like horror later in the series but these earlier episodes definitely have an ominous mystery feeling to it that's reminiscent of ghost/exorcism movies like 'the conjuring.'
Review by ShayBlockedParent2021-05-14T00:03:02Z
iconic pilot episode. so many spn fandom reference from just 43 minutes.
as supernatural is one of my all-time favorite tv series, i've re-watched season one upwards of 6 times now (most before i joined trakt) and there's just so much about this episode that helps set the stage for the rest of the series and also characterization of sam and dean. sam is pulled back into the hunting life by his brother after yet another tragedy. the 'short-term' conflict (finding their father) is set and the 'long-term' conflict (figuring out who/what is responsibile for their mother's murder) is also set. there's immediate engagement from the audience in trying to pre-emptively answer these two questions.
it's clear the brothers have a lot of conflict even beyond what is going on with their father. dean has followed in his dad's footsteps and sam took his own path. a lot of this first episode seems to be them working through some of this conflict and learning to work together again. this is really important for the rest of the season (and the rest of the series.)
coming back and re-watching the earlier seasons is also a reminder that this is supposed to be a horror show. it doesn't really feel so much like horror later in the series but these earlier episodes definitely have an ominous mystery feeling to it that's reminiscent of ghost/exorcism movies like 'the conjuring.'