List of Love - Supernatural 1.01 Pilot

Ten Things I Love About Supernatural's Pilot
        …and the moments that hurt
                …because the two are frequently one and the same

…oh, who am I kidding? I was never going to be able to confine myself to ten. Let us see just how long the list gets before it's done…

In no particular order.

1. "Easy, tiger." I love the scene where the brothers are first reunited, after Dean has broken into Sam's apartment rather than ring the doorbell. Maybe he didn't want to risk Sam slamming the door in his face. I love this scene for a lot of reasons, all of them woven together to form a seamless whole.

I love that chop-socky silhouette fight, followed up by the way they verbally dance around one another, each in his own way testing the lie of the land. I love how the fact that Sam really is not the tiniest bit pleased to see his brother contrasts so strongly and painfully with the fact that Dean very clearly is happy to see Sam. Because Sam can't deal with his two worlds colliding in this way, is completely unprepared for it, so his reaction is knee-jerk anger and denial. But Dean, who needs to keep the people he loves where he can see them if at all possible, is just relieved to have his little brother in sight once more, after a lengthy estrangement that wasn't of his making. I love the way Dean is so deliberately nonchalant and laid-back, carefully not making a big deal out of his coming to Sam for help, when every single thing we've learned about the character ever since this episode aired has taught us how anxious and distressed he must actually be beneath the surface. And I love the way Dean leers at Jessica with one breath, because she's hot and Sam's girlfriend, and then completely shuts her down with the next, because she's an outsider, not part of his world. And...that was a lot of things to cram into one point!

2. "Take your brother outside as fast as you can. Don't look back. Now, Dean, go!"

Let's face it: this is the single most important formative moment of Dean's life, a moment that resonates throughout the series. He's been looking after Sam and trying not to look back at what he's lost ever since this night. Plus, he was kind of a cute ickle wee kidlet!

3. I love the way Sam's hand snakes out of the motel room to grab Dean's collar and haul him bodily into the room. Makes me grin every time.


4. "I can't do this on my own."
"Yes, you can."
"Yeah, well, I don't want to."
Introduction to Dean in one easy sentence. 'Nuff said. And so easily overlooked at the time, but it's probably the most honest thing he says about himself for most of the season if not ever. On the surface of things he's the stereotypical brash, cocky ne'er-do-well, the nonconformist rebel, but even here at the very start of the show we can see the first hint of how much deeper his character runs

5. I love that John has a photo of himself and the boys when they were young stuck in the frame of the mirror in his motel room. The fact that he has it up there on display, his boys, where he can see them, instead of stuffing it away in a wallet, out of sight. I need little details like that to soften my reaction to his frequently incomprehensible behaviour.

Even if the kids they've used as the boys in the photo look nothing whatsoever like their adult selves.

6. I really appreciate how Dean's casual dismissal of Sam's Monday interview as skippable contrasts so sharply with the emphasis Sam places on that same interview as holding the key to his entire future. Sam can't take his eyes off tomorrow; Dean lives in the now, and lets tomorrow take care of itself. It's one of the earliest scenes in the show, but lays out so clearly for us just who these characters are and what they each consider important.

7. I love the creepy ghost shots, now you see her, now you don't, when that would-be stud picks up the Woman in White. Gorgeous, evocative cinematography.


8. I love Sam's smile. We don't get to see it often enough. And I love that we get this one episode of College!Sam, light-hearted and relaxed and willing to give his brother this one weekend of his time, before tragedy hits and he gets buried beneath the weight of his own grief and rage.

We don't get to see Dean's smile all that often, either, for that matter. Not a real, genuine smile, anyway. So we must appreciate every glimpse we get, from both of them!

9. "I swear, man. You've gotta update your cassette tape collection."
"Why?"
"Well, for one, they're cassette tapes. And, two: Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica? It's the greatest hits of mullet rock."
"House rules, Sammy: driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole."
"You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old. It's Sam."

'Nuff said. And I love that classic rock was written into the script so that the network couldn't stop them using it.

10. I really love about the brothers' confrontation on the bridge how clearly the years of pain and bitterness shine through, on both sides. The weight of their shared history. They've been estranged for a long time, and they have both been hurt by that fact, as well as by everything that lies behind it. And just about every single episode that's aired since then has added layer upon layer of depth and significance to the scene, and to others like it. Plus, it's really beautifully shot.


11. I love that Dean carries Sam out of a fire twice in the course of one episode, every inch the Big Damn Hero.


12. I love Dean's idea of breakfast – candy and soda. Healthy diet, there!

13. It's really striking how easily Sam slides back into the routine of hunting, even after his years away. Speaks volumes for just how thoroughly John trained his sons. For all Sam's resentment and anger, the work comes naturally to him, second nature, and he's good at it, and I love that about him. Even though he probably doesn't like it about himself, not at this stage, anyway.

14. Confidence is key – got to love Dean's oh-so casual impersonation of a federal agent. And the way he can't quite swallow his inner smartass even to stay in character as long as five minutes.


15. I love Sam stamping on Dean's foot to shut him up, and Dean scurrying to catch him up, covertly checking that no one is watching, then smacking him upside the head in retaliation.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Why'd you have to step on my foot?"
"Why'd you have to talk to the police like that?"

Brothers!

16. Sam shoving Dean's chair aside to take control of the computer. "Such a control freak." Yeah, he is; they both are, in their way. And it's so fluid and natural, the bickering, so brotherly and so real. And they've been estranged for a long time, don't really know one another that well any more – Sam certainly doesn't understand who his brother really is, beneath the surface, not at this stage of the series. But they both fall so easily back into the familiar and comfortable fraternal patterns and habits of 18 years spent growing up together in close quarters.

17. Dean's face is a picture when Sam compliments the girl on her necklace and starts lecturing on the nature of pentagrams. My brother, the ginormous geek, and it is good to have him back. Fantastic.


18. The looks on both of their faces when the Impala starts up by itself and the driverless car makes to run them down. More pretty, pretty cinematography. I love the use of silhouettes, and I love that the show always looks so good. It's gorgeous.


19. I love how pretty Dean is throughout. Oh yeah. Deep as a puddle, me.

I loved Jensen Ackles way back in Dark Angel, and first watched Supernatural just to see his new role – that was the hook, and the show itself then reeled me in but good – and damn but he's maturing nicely!

20. I love the brief little establishing shot of the Impala driving along with only one headlight working, having been driven through a wall. It's a really pretty shot, again. And it's the brothers back on the road, except that this is still a temporary and almost concluded state of affairs at this stage, and the car is slightly damaged, collateral damage in the ongoing war against supernatural evil, when the car means so much, to Dean especially, and he already threatened Sam with mortal peril if he damaged it, but he's all talk where Sam is concerned, because little brother has him wrapped around his little finger…


21. The way Sam laughs out loud with relief when he sees his brother crawling out of the water, safe and sound, after Dean has dived right off the bridge into a dangerous river known to be a suicide hotspot in order to avoid being run down by his own driverless and ghost-jacked car. Just another day in the life, really…

And, really, for all that Sam is good at this, and for all that he's enjoying spending the time with his brother, and for all that he shares Dean's concern over John's disappearance, it isn't hard to understand why he wants out, why he can't stand the thought of this being his forever. When your definition of 'normal' includes jumping off bridges and almost being run down by your own car with a ghost at the wheel, you know your luck isn't going to last forever, and it's got to do weird things to your head. This family is so screwed up, and Sam at this stage has not come to terms with any of it.

22. "I'm super." Dean crawling out of the river covered with mud, looking thoroughly fed up, and Sam's reaction. "You smell like a toilet." Hee.


23. Dean stalling the cops to give Sam time to make a clean getaway.
"Fake US Marshal. Fake credit cards. You got anything that's real?"
"My boobs."

Every time Dean has a run in with the cops, throughout the show, he reacts in the exact same way: brash, cocky bravado that's almost designed to put their backs up and make things worse for himself. It's defensive behaviour, and he just can't help himself.

24. I love that Dean uses a paperclip to get out of his handcuffs, and then steals a gun from the police station on his way out. And that he has John's journal stuffed down the back of his pants to climb down the fire escape. And the way he just drops the last, what, about twelve feet when the ladder runs out. And that wannabe law-abiding citizen Sam provided him the distraction to enable his escape.

I am easily pleased.

25. "What were you thinking, shooting Caspar in the face, you freak?"
And that the gun was loaded with bullets and not rock salt because he'd stolen it from the cops. God bless continuity and logical plotting.

26. I love the way the show twists standard norms, that law-abiding Sam is the rebel black sheep of the family, because he wanted to be a lawyer and ran away to achieve it, while itinerant outlaw demon-hunter Dean, scruffy and ill-educated and always in trouble, is actually the brother who religiously tows the family line.

27. Man, but Dean's disappointment really hurts when he realises that Sam isn't going to continue to help him with the search for their absent father after the weekend is over, especially the way he tries not to let it show. He is absolutely crushed but keeps trying to play it cool, and it just kills me every single time. The way he looks down and looks away, and just nods to himself, as if he'd expected nothing better, deep down, whatever brief flicker of hope he might have allowed himself to entertain. And he just lets it go without a word of argument, lets Sam have his own way even at his own expense. How many times have we seen that happen now, in the course of the show?

It's the contrast between what lies ahead for both of them at this stage that really cuts to the core, that Sam is returning to happy, stable normality with a bright future ahead of him, while Dean is left completely alone in the world, with nothing but danger and loneliness to look forward to, when all he really wants from life is companionship, to not be left alone. Dean always seems to get the short end of the stick, and the fact that he never complains about it, always just quietly sets his own needs aside in the interests of others, that makes it worse. Unless it's forced out of him, he'd never dream of saying aloud 'please don't leave me,' because for it to mean anything they'd have to stay with him out of choice, not because he asked. And on the rare occasions that he does bring himself to ask for something, the answer is almost always no, something else is always more important. John and Sam both look outward, measuring their contentment in external factors - vengeance, success - while Dean looks inward, measures his contentment against the safety of his family and how much they do or don't need him. It's the reason why it is so easy for them to hurt him without even noticing, because they constantly look out while he looks in.
Not that Sam's happy, stable normality is going to last much longer, but they don't know that at the time…

28. The looks on both of their faces right at the end, after Jessica's shocking death. Dean just has no idea what to say to Sam, knows there's nothing he can do to fix this, and Sam is just so grim and resolved and in shock, swallowing his grief and burying it beneath layers of rage and determination. He's his father's son, all right.

"We've got work to do."