"Supernatural" Pilot (2005)

Director:

David Nutter

Writers:

Eric Kripke (creator)
Eric Kripke (written by)

TV Series:

"Supernatural" (2005)

Original Air Date:

13 September 2005 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

After two years, Sam Winchester is suddenly visited by his big brother Dean, who insists he helps look...

Plot Keywords:

California | Ghost | Arrest | Poltergeist | Kansas

Cast

Jared Padalecki	...	Sam Winchester
Jensen Ackles	...	Dean Winchester
Sarah Shahi	...	The Woman in White / Constance Welch
Adrianne Palicki	...	Jessica Moore
Samantha Smith	...	Mary Winchester
Jeffrey Dean Morgan	...	John Winchester
R.D. Call	...	Sheriff
Ross Kohn	...	Troy Squire
Steve Railsback	...	Joseph Welch
Derek Webster	...	Deputy Jaffe
Jamil Walker Smith	...	Luis (as Jamil Z. Smith)
Elizabeth Bond	...	Amy Hein
Miriam Korn	...	Rachel
Cletus Young	...	Motel Clerk
Robert Peters	...	Deputy Hein

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:TV-14 | Netherlands:12 (cut TV version) | Netherlands:16

Company:

Kripke Enterprises

Trivia:

In one version of the pilot script that Eric Kripke turned in to the studio, the episode ended with the Winchester boys finding their dad dead on the ceiling. In another version of the pilot script, Sam suspected Dean of being a serial killer, and of murdering their father.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Dean gets arrested his coat collar jumps up and down.

Quotes:

Sam Winchester: [to Dean] You smell like a toilet.

Soundtrack:

Speaking In Tongues

Brothers against Evil: The Lady in White

Wow, this new TV-series seems to be created especially and entirely for me ... as well as for all you other fanatics of horror, occult, monsters and suchlike types of evil, of course! "Supernatural" finally is a properly budgeted and professionally scripted TV-series revolving on two young brothers battling all kinds of malevolence they encounter during the search for their vanished father. Sam and Dean Winchester aren't easily shocked, as they literally grew up fighting monsters. When they were little children, an unidentified evil force burned their mother alive and ever since their father raised them to search & destroy evil all around the United States. This pilot-episode merely just introduces the characters, but still there's room for an intriguing type of malice, namely the Woman in White. Dean – the oldest brother – comes to visit Sam at university and informs him their father is missing. Sam is reluctant to join Dean on his search, as he finally hopes to live a normal life. Of course Dean convinces him and the brothers soon confront a beautiful white appearance in the dark night. The Lady in White represents the restless soul of a deceived woman, forced to commit murder and suicide and forever doomed to dwell around to kill unfaithful men.

The first episode of "Supernatural" is excellent, but not entirely flawless. The two main characters are introduced as likable and identifiable guys, but the inevitably remain stereotypes. They're brothers but with severely opposite characters. Dean is a witty daredevil, always fearlessly facing danger and providing the show with the obligatory sense of humor. Sam on the other hand is a shy guy, happy with his girlfriend and his anonymous life as a student. Probably because this is the pilot, and most of attention went to the character drawings & theme-introduction, the mystery surrounding the Lady in White remains rather vague and unsolved. That's a crying shame because it's a fascinating topic and it could have resulted in a petrifying little horror tale. The rushed finale also immediately exposes what presumably is the series' biggest weakness. Less than one hour of playtime isn't always suffice to resolve a supernatural case and/or to defeat a complex & powerful enemy. Hopefully this will be different in the next couple of episodes, when it's no longer necessary to show flashbacks about the boys' childhood. I already saw episode two – The Wendingo – and it definitely showed improvement. Even so, the pilot episode is hugely atmospheric and often chilling. The special effects are pretty amazing and far better than the visuals used in the majority of nowadays released horror movies. The creative mind behind "Supernatural" is Eric Kripke. He didn't really impress me with his "Boogeyman", but this TV-initiative is more than promising.

Without revealing too much, the pilot's ending assures the collaboration between the two brothers and even offers Sam a morbid motivation to carry on exterminating evil. Now I just hope the TV-stations in my country don't decide to prematurely cancel the airing due to disappointing viewer ratings....