The following article contains spoilers for episode 2 of The Winchesters.The Winchesters fully captures the essence of the 70s this week with communes, acid trips and Fleetwood Mac as the crew takes their journey to Topeka, Kansas. Episode 2 features all the horrifying monsters and violence that Supernatural fans are used to and has begun to settle into the rhythm of the first season.
“Family Matters” feels like it was plucked right out of the SPN series and introduces a type of monster that fans of the SPN universe haven’t seen before. Even after 15 seasons of encountering new types of spooky creatures, The Winchesters keeps things fresh by playing with compelling new lore.
The show also offers a fresh perspective on witches by giving them a more positive reputation complete with potions, spells, and protective herbs. Sam and Dean sporadically encountered witches throughout the duration of Supernatural, typically only bumping into them for a single episode at a time.
This occasionally happened multiple times a season, but the witches were almost always meant to be the bad guys. Even recurring characters like the witch Rowena still weren’t portrayed in the best light, although they often became popular among audiences.
Ada Monroe redefines what it means to be a witch in the SPN universe by allying herself with John, Mary, Carlos and Lata. She shows off her magical skills more than once in episode 2 and will surely prove to be a formidable ally as the series progresses.
She even tried to smooth things over between Millie and John, who experienced a new side of hunting this week. John embraced his first false identity to get close to the families of the victims by posing as a college student.
These moments were always a high point in Supernatural that provided a lot of laughs in between moments of chaos, and The Winchesters hit the nail on the head. John and Mary weren’t playing priests, FBI agents or teddy bear doctors like Sam and Dean have done, but their fake names were still designed in true SPN fashion.
Mary identified as Christine McVie while John became Mick Fleetwood, pulling inspiration from iconic musicians like true Winchesters. As for their romantic relationship, feelings are slowly but steadily growing. They found comfort in each other after John fought with his mother, and are on their way towards a slow-burn romance that’ll eventually lead to the birth of Sam and Dean.
Their relationship with each other is meant to be the backbone of the series, and even though everyone knows they’ll wind up together in the end, it’s nice to see them learning how to work together as friends, allies, and hunters before the sparks really begin flying.
This does bring up the questionable canon contradicting Supernatural, however, because the two were said to dislike each other when they first met. Evidently, they’re getting along much better than SPN led fans to believe and there doesn’t seem to be any tension between them at all.
Perhaps they’ll butt heads down the line, given that they’re both incredibly stubborn, but that could create even more timeline issues. Supernatural established John was ready to propose to Mary by 1973 and The Winchesters is set in 1972, proving that their relationship is moving pretty fast. Driving a huge rift between them would make getting back to the Supernatural canon fans are hoping for even harder.
At the very least, John and Mary’s characterization seems more accurate in episode 2. Mary is the same fearless, skilled fighter she was when the yellow-eyed demon took interest in her in 1973. John’s headstrong nature is evident when he fights with his mom and he seemed more like the “shoot first, ask questions later” kind of guy he came off as in Supernatural.
Episode 2 closes by bringing all the characters together and establishes the plot lines that’ll drive the rest of the series. The focus of season 1 will be for them to learn more about the Men of Letters, figure out what happened to Henry Winchester, stop the Akrida, and find Mary’s missing dad. The introduction of a mysterious hooded figure at the end will surely come into play, as well.
The Akrida are another new monster that Supernatural fans haven’t seen before, and they’re supposedly capable of wiping out everything on Earth, alien invasion style. There will have to be more of a build and a bigger spook factor to make them a worthy threat, but thankfully there’s still plenty of time for The Winchesters to properly develop this new big bad.
There’s a very clear-cut direction for the remaining episodes, and all the separate stories are intertwining seamlessly so far. After a decent premiere and a strong second episode, The Winchesters could easily become a massive success if things continue blending together in a meaningful way.