IR TV Review: THE WINCHESTERS - EPISODE 1 (“Pilot”) [CW]
The context of origins has always been of specific interest especially where a larger world is concerned. "The Winchesters" uses that as the basis of the creation story of "Supernatural". The first episode explores how the two parents (John Winchester & Mary Campbell) meet but rapidly fall into a shared fate. The show is narrated by an uncredited Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) who speaks of certain key points that begin to define what he and his brother came to be. Mary (Meg Donnelly) crosses paths with John (Drake Rogers) in a sense of shared destiny but she supposedly has always been on the run fighting monsters. It was the crux of her father and the society that he paid respect to. John Winchester is newly returned from Vietnam and he doesn't know his father though there have been rumblings for years of what happened to him.
His mother is hard as nails but understands that he needs to explore his heritage (even those she dissuades him as much as she can). She wants him to have a normal quiet life but circumstances say different. The first episode leads John and Mary on a path together which Mary too tries to dissaude him from. She doesn't want him to live the life she has had and believes he is being naïve. However once the puzzle pieces start coming together and the monsters start emerging in the different forms and possessions, their path seems true. Because it is the early 70s, there is that early flavor though it is fairly surface as the mindset of everyone comes off more modern basically by the style of play. Nika Kurshid & Jojo Fleites (who play Latika and Carlos respectively) bring that team element and dynamic which feels oddly reminiscent of "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer". The texture isn't forced but it is in their nature. When an omen speaks to where their journey is taking them, the die is set which leads to where the rest of the season will take them. B
By Tim Wassberg
