1x08
SPN 1x08: Bugs
Ok I know everyone hates this episode but..... FUCK BUGS!! I personally don’t mind bugs other than spiders (CANNOT do spiders) but like a lot of them would definitely be the worst thing. The whole indigenous peoples story is definitely cheesy af (not to ignore how serious the relocation of indigenous people is) but also everything does tie together and the case to Winchester family life connection!! SAM FINALLY GETS AN EPISODE (that’s not all about Jess)!!!!!! I seriously loved seeing both the brothers realizing that they both had the situation wrong and I loved that we got to learn so much about their family history. Back to the whole bugs bit..... nasty bruh and also scary tbh! Unfortunately the climax of the episode was poorly done, since it went from midnight to dawn in like 20 minutes and also no one died even though everyone else prior to that died super fast.
Episode Type and Location: Case; Oasis Plains, OK
Contribution to Season Arcs: At the end of the episode they talk about really wanting to find John.
Contribution to Show Arcs: Sam’s relationship with his father, always being the ‘freak’ of the family, feeling different and like an outcast. Dean’s unjustified commitment towards family regardless of how they treat each other.
Sam: Once again we hear that Sam doesn’t approve of pool hustling and credit card scams as a means of income, lol. Also he felt quite the need to prove himself when Dean insinuated that he was too scared to go down into the sinkhole Dustin fell into. He also didn’t think twice about picking up a tarantula and holding it for a long time....... could not be me...... Aside from all of that, we see that Sam prefers or respects normal, wanted to do normal things instead of learn hunting skills, thinks college is a great option to get away from family, felt like he disappointed his dad, was made to feel like a freak by his dad for wanting normal things, felt thrown away by his father, definitely talked back to his dad, and added to the separation by not answering the phone. However by the end of the episode we see him wanting to apologize to his dad for the stuff he said.
Dean: Dean watches Oprah! And he’s all about fun and easy. He goes for the hustleing/scamming, free food, and messes with Sam by slapping his ass and calling him honey after they were mistaken as a gay couple twice. Other than that, we find out that Dean would prefer his family over an apple pie, ‘normal’ life, any day, and thinks people should respect their parents and stick with family no matter what. He thinks Sam was disrespectful that John was just scared and wanted to protect Sam.
The Bro Relationship: We see here that in regards to family, Sam and Dean are opposites and it causes conflict between them.
Family Background Development: Whew i’m so glad I made this a category.... We learned so much about their family background. First of all, Sam felt like an outcast for wanting normal things, and apparently Dean didn’t really want those same things. Sam and John disagreed often and this is what ended up in Sam leaving for Stanford. John wasn’t proud about the full ride and apparently threw Sam out instead, but as we hear later, he was just scared, not disappointed. We learned that he checked in on Sam (even though Sam wasn’t talking to him) multiple times during his time at Stanford, which completely supports his over protectiveness. Overall, its such an interesting family dynamic and I can’t wait to learn more about it.
Good Writin’: Already mentioned this but the whole parallel between Matt and Sam was some good shit
Other: Why the heck was Sam the one to go down into the sinkhole. HES BIGGER. THIS IS JUST COMMON SENSE. And LMAO at people thinking Sam and Dean are a gay couple! And tell me this bitch Lynda did not just find a PHAT ASS spider on her FACE and just brush it off without a fuss??? Also the skull shaped termite cutouts were absolutely hilarious!!
Death Count: 2
Relation to Future Events:
It’s so crazy that its season 1 and we’re already seeing the connections to things like Dean always saving Sam or trying to find him while Sam is ok with not looking and moving on (Amelia time), and Dean’s obsession with family. God I love this show its so well written and everything connects
SPN 1x07: Hook Man
Honestly, this episode doesn’t have much to it. The urban legend was nice, but the whole small town and greek life was a bit boring. The side character Lori was played by a good actor but the character itself was lame and weird. She was part of a sorority but apparently wasn’t a fan of most sorority girl activities, had some idea of punishing her roomie who seemed really nice, kissed Sam after a huge argument with her dad, and didn’t think Sam was creepy for literally stalking her. But either way we got to see that Sam wasn’t ready for romance, and instead focused on making sure Lori and her dad were ok. Dean was just kinda a perv the whole episode since oooooh college girls. Even with that, the solving of the case was interesting and the climax scene with Lori and the Hookman was quite the thrill!
Episode Type and Location: Case; Ankeny, IA
Contribution to Season Arcs: In the beginning of the episode Sam and Dean talk about how their dad seems to not want to be found.
Sam: Sam’s college experience didn’t involve a lot of partying apparently. He really isn’t ready to pursue romance yet and Lori is really perceptive about that. He still cares a lot about protecting her in an unromantic way though.
Dean: Dean loves college girls, lol, but is able to rip himself away from them to dig into a grave and burn some bones. He also may bitch a lot about Sam’s college studying but he definitely is good at that research.
Good Writin’: I liked how we ended up finding out that the spirit was actually feeding off of Lori’s emotions instead of her father’s.
Death Count: 2
And if I had told her, I could have saved her.
1x06
SPN 1x06: Skin
This ep really has all the nasties... I think its really good though. I love the beginning where they show Dean doing bad things, and I like the premise of the shapeshifter. We get to see gross shapeshifter skin shedding, and a really bad scene where shifter!Dean assaults Becky and is also makes her sexually uncomfortable. I thought the shifter’s background was quite interesting, about just wanting to not be alone, and it was interesting when it got compared to Dean’s loneliness (although it was really awkward because he was just begging for attention and Becky was not having it LOL). We all know Dean would never do that shit even if he is lonely though lol. And the law thinks he’s dead lmao!
Episode Type and Location: Case; St. Louis, MO (MY HOMETOWN!!)
Contribution to Show Arcs: Loneliness. But at least they have each other.
Sam: Sam thinks its reasonable to keep in touch with his friends from Stanford, and uses his bitch face for one of the first times to get Dean to drive them back to St. Louis. He genuinely cares for his friend and tells a lot of lies and puts in a lot of effort to help her out. Unfortunately that backfires when Becky actually looks into the lies and tells Sam to fuck off. However it was saved when Becky was told the truth. Becky asks if Jess knew and we can see Sam’s inner guilt about all of that get brushed off a bit.
Dean: Dean passive aggressively tells Sam that having friends isn’t really a thing in the hunting life, and Sam calls him antisocial. He flirts with Sam’s friend Becky of course. While the shifter is using Dean’s face, we see that Dean’s very protective of his car and takes it quite personally that the shifter is doing bad things on his behalf. The shifter also reveals a lot of stuff about Dean that may or may not be true, but the most believable thing Dean gets described as is lonely, since both Sam and his dad left him. He ends up getting all the murders blamed on him and also he’s technically dead in the eyes of the law. Quite convenient for them!
The Bro Relationship: We don’t know if any of it is true but the shifter talks about how Dean is jealous of how Sam went to college and got to follow his dreams for at least a little bit. Dean feels left behind and like a freak. And apparently, the shifter thinks Sam doesn’t appreciate Dean enough. Also we get a real close up glance at the Samulet in this ep!
Good Writin’: I loved how they played us by showing Dean cutting up Becky in the beginning, then going through the entire plot for us to find out that it wasn’t really Dean.
Death Count: 1
Relation to Future Events:
I can’t wait for Henriksen to come in and debunk Dean’s death in this episode lol.
1x05. The truth behind Jessica’s death.
SPN 1x05: Bloody Mary
Honestly, this episode is pretty boring up until the end where we get some Jess drama mixed in and Sam finally comes to terms with the Jess situation. Regardless, I liked the side characters, and I liked how the brothers took Charlie seriously the whole time and ended up helping her out (which ended up helping Sam out).
Episode Type and Location: Case; Toledo, OH
Contribution to Season Arcs: In the end of the episode we find out that Sam had dreams about Jess dying before it actually happened.
Contribution to Show Arcs: Dean really wanted to help Sam get over the Jessica thing, and he really didn’t like the idea of Sam baiting Mary with himself.
Sam: Sam was pretty good at consoling Charlie in this episode, and gave her some wise advice which we see that Sam takes himself. At the beginning of this ep, Sam is still having nightmares, and as we find out later, blames himself for Jess’ death. Before this episode it was a reasonable type of guilt, since he wasn’t there when she died, but now we find out that Sam had dreams about her death and ignored them, which adds a new layer to his guilt. However, he forgives himself by the end of the episode. He seems to finally be over it which is symbolized in Jessica appearing and disappearing in a white dress at the end of the episode.
Dean: Dean didn’t really have much in this episode, but we did find out that he gets money from poker, wants Sam to open up about his problems, and wants to protect Sam from being Bloody Mary Bait.
The Bro Relationship: By the end of the episode, Sam still hasn’t told Dean all about the Jess issue. But Dean tries regardless and shows he cares in that way.
Good Writin’: The parallel between Charlie’s boyfriend’s death’s circumstances and the Jess situation allowed us to hear some advice that applied to both situations and helped Sam finally get through his problems.
Death Count: 2
Other: Lord the special effects are so cheesy, like when Mary comes out of the mirror and when she dissolves into purple liquid.
Relation to Future Events:
Here we see the first of Sam’s visions. He doesn’t tell Dean about them but that won’t last very long. I wish he wouldn’t ignore them like this.
Back when the Winchesters thought demons were a big deal...
If Dean went to college, he’d go for engineering.
1x04