There has definitely been a void since Supernatural ended in 2020 and no one has felt that vacuum more than Jensen Ackles and his wife Danneel Ackles who are Executive Producers of the spin-off prequel, The Winchesters on the CW.
Jensen and Danneel Ackles, both starred in Supernatural which aired from 2005-2020. Jensen starred as series lead Dean Winchester in all 327 episodes across 15 seasons. Danneel was a guest star for 5 episodes as the angel Anael.
The Winchesters is “an epic untold love story of John and Mary of how they not only saved their love but also the entire world,” is narrated by none other than Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles).
It should be assumed that Dean must be bored in Heaven and entertaining himself by rewriting the timeline and “starting at the beginning” on the very day his parents Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly) and John Winchester (Drake Rodger) first meet.
In the true spirit of Supernatural, the future parents of Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean are both on their own quests to find their fathers. John literally just got off the bus, returning from the war and Mary is trying to follow breadcrumb clues to her father, which puts them in the same town.
John is looking for clues to his father’s disappearance and demise after receiving a letter with the address to the headquarters of the secret supernatural being hunting society the Men of Letters. Mary’s detective work sends her to the same building, just in time to rescue John from a demon-possessed “burly man” who is trying to get the letter from John.
Mary gives John a really quick tutorial on demon possessions and exorcisms and the two very quickly realize their paths are intertwined and that they are both looking for their fathers. John has the key to the building Mary needs to get into. He lets her in as she denies the existence of the Men of Letters, assuming that she and her hunter friends are the only supernatural being hunters that exist. After she finds what she’s looking for, she tells John to move on with his life and walk away from the world of hunters.
Of course, John doesn’t listen and convinces Mary to take a side quest to try and find a woman they both have in common who might know something about their fathers, however she has since been possessed by a demon herself. Before heading down to Lubbock, Texas, they make a quick stop to the library and we are introduced to another hunter named Latika Desai, played by Nida Khurshid. Mary collects the supplies that she needs and she and John continue on with their road trip to Lubbock.
They are confronted by the same demon who possessed “burly man,” but now the demon is possessing a woman and the two must act fast. Before they can battle the demon, out of nowhere, a van spins a half turn and knocks the demon-possessed woman across the alley and then, the actor who steals the whole show, Jojo Fleites, who plays Carlos Cervantez, effortlessly struts out of the van with his long hair flowing, shows John how to vanquish the demon with a little trial by fire and forces John to say the incantation which removes the demon from the woman.
It is at this point that the whole scooby-squad is together, John, Mary, Carlos, and Latika, who was with Carlos in the van.
The first episode established the premise of the show and introduced the characters of the YA supernatural drama series. While Supernatural was kind of a buddy series, this new series The Winchesters, is definitely more of an ensemble cast. Looking back on Supernatural, the cast was predominantly white throughout the first several seasons, but The Winchesters is more diverse with a Pakistani-American model and actress playing Latikita and non-binary bisexual person playing the non-binary bisexual demon hunter Carlos. The Ackles’ are keeping up with the times and working hard to establish a new audience with new viewers, introducing the Supernatural universe to a brand new generation.
The cast is almost the same age as Jensen and Jared were when Supernatural first began, but Supernatural wasn’t expressly “YA.”
The Winchesters definitely falls into the “YA” category akin to shows like Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The 100, and Pretty Little Liars, while also trying to maintain the already established Supernatural fan base by peppering in Jensen Ackles’ narration and a special appearance of the beloved car Baby.
The new series is remarkably consistent with Supernatural’s storytelling and the demon possessions are consistent with the original show. Skeptics have to agree that this prequel is actually a pretty smooth transition from the original, while also breathing a fresh new life into the storytelling of the original series. The casting is pretty phenomenal and Meg Donnelly has proven herself to be more than the ditzy blonde airhead she played on American Housewife for 5 seasons. Watch the trailer below:
REELated:
Drake Rodger does a great job playing a young man with his own haunted past, who has been thrust into the hunter life after returning home to America after surviving the trauma of war. Nida Khurshid provides the brains of the operation, much like Sam did in the original Supernatural, but the real shining star of the ensemble cast is Jojo Fleites, who will have to work overtime NOT overshadowing their castmates in every scene in which they appear.
Fleites did an impeccable job portraying a person with charisma, and confidence, as they made vanquishing demons out of their hosts, look like an art form.
In the premiere episode, only the base storyline of the future parents of Sam and Dean searching for their fathers has been established, but we should hope to expect that The Winchesters would be similar enough to Supernatural and the supernatural hunter squad would hunt all supernatural beings as they continue their quest to find Mary and John’s fathers, while the two fall in love with each other, and apparently save the world.
The WInchesters is worth the watch and fills the hole left when Supernatural ended. Jensen Ackles is keeping himself busy with his roles on Amazon’s The Boys and ABC’s Big Sky in addition to his reprisal of his role as Dean Winchester on The Winchesters.
The Winchesters is part of The CW’s fall TV lineup, with new episodes airing Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on the CW and streams Wednesdays on the CW app for free with commercials.
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Joia DaVida reports on the entertainment industry in both Chicago and Los Angeles.
