Almost three years ago, the CW network concluded the story of two brothers fighting monsters across America. Sam and Dean ended their journey on a high note, but did anyone seriously believe that the CW would leave the project that had fed them for 1...

The series was, perhaps, the flagship of the CW catalog. It aired for fifteen seasons (from 2005 to 2020). During this time, the Winchester brothers gained an army of fans worldwide, defeated countless enemies, including the main boss, and retired with their heads held high. They were given a logical and quite worthy ending to the story. Then the 'flagship' status passed to the Arrowverse, limping on its last breath (this year 'The Flash' ends with season 9, and the universe is closing). This meant the TV channel again needed to work on creating something new to stay afloat and attract (retain) an audience. This scheme apparently didn't suit the CW, so here are 'The Winchesters' — a spin-off of 'Supernatural' about Dean and Sam's parents.

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What's the Plot?

1972. Young infantryman John Winchester (Drake Rodger) returns from Vietnam to his hometown of Lawrence, Kansas, to his mother Millie (Bianca Kaelik). Upon arrival, John decides to search for answers about his long-missing father, following a lead from a mysterious stranger who gave him a letter from his parent with an unknown address.

Arriving at the indicated place, Winchester meets an unfamiliar man with black eyes, clearly unfriendly, but the guy is rescued by Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly) — the girl the 'soldier' bumped into as soon as he arrived in town. It turns out the attacker was a demon, and Mary is a monster hunter. Her father recently went on a hunt and didn't return (oops), so she is following his trail, hoping the search will end well, after which the girl can start a quiet, ordinary life without daily battles with supernatural creatures.

Learning that there is some connection between their fathers, John offers to help Mary search for her future father-in-law, hoping to distract himself from his PTSD and learn to deal with monsters. The young huntress reluctantly agrees. Joining forces with the girl's friends — supernatural theorist Latika (Nida Khurshid) and flamboyant homosexual Carlos (JoJo Fleites) — the group follows the trail of Samuel Campbell.

During the operation, the teenagers are joined by novice witch Ada Monroe (Demetria McKinney), who is acquainted with both missing fathers. Uniting, they discover that Mary's father was trying to protect Earth from an invasion of the Akrida — crab-like creatures from another world seeking to destroy humanity. Well, they'll have to combine a search expedition with saving the planet, because that's the routine work of hunters.

Then

The love story of John and Mary initially didn't align with the canon of the original series.

Firstly, according to the plot of 'Supernatural', Winchester had no idea about the existence of the supernatural world or his wife's activities, which she inherited from her father. John only learns about everything in 1978. Then Sam and Dean traveled to the past to save their parents from the angel Anna, but the archangel Michael, possessing the brothers' father, erased his memory (so formally, this case doesn't count). The truth was revealed to John a second time only after Mary's death at the hands of the demon Azazel in 1983. After that, he became a hunter of supernatural beings, while also taking on the upbringing of his two sons. The series 'The Winchesters' ignores these facts, so John and Mary are already hunting together in 1972, saving the world.

Secondly, Sam and Dean's father and mother initially couldn't stand each other, but Heaven decided to unite the families of the Enlightened (Keepers of Knowledge) and hunters, so the heroes fell in love thanks to a sent Cupid. In the spin-off, the spark between the characters appears almost immediately, so the relationship becomes only a matter of time.

Thirdly, in 'Supernatural', John's father disappeared due to time travel. He was fleeing from the Knight of Hell named Abaddon and ended up in 2013, where he met his grandchildren. Unfortunately, Henry Winchester never returned to his own time because he was mortally wounded in battle with Abaddon. He died in his grandchildren's arms, who buried him with the other Enlightened. In 'The Winchesters', the viewer is offered a different version. Sam and Dean's grandfather and his comrades died at the 'hands' of the Akrida, which is why he couldn't return to his son.

There are other moments where the spin-off contradicts the original series. For example, the existence of the Ostium — a box capable of transporting monsters and objects from one world to another (the brothers had never even heard of it) or the appearance of Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) in 1972, when he first met John in 1973, advising him to buy the legendary Chevrolet Impala 1967 for the universe. Throughout 13 episodes, the creators pretend not to notice the violations of canon, until in the finale they decide to explain why the new project contradicts the original so much. And everything immediately falls into place.

Now

We won't spoil the method of patching up the plot discrepancies, but take our word for it, it looks extremely silly. Of course, such a technique is very popular now, but here it only causes hysterical laughter and bewilderment. In essence, it's a confession that 'The Winchesters' exists solely for purely mercenary reasons. Think about it, why did the CW suddenly decide that the story of John and Mary was even worthy of adaptation? Their love and relationship were well explored in the main series. Enough time was allocated to their storyline. Everything the viewer was supposed to know was shown long ago. So why was the spin-off made at all? The project completely doesn't fit into the universe, but the creators were ready for any trick, just to grab another piece of profit from the world of 'Supernatural'.

It's funny to see Jensen Ackles among the showrunners of the spin-off, along with his wife Danneel Ackles. He played Dean for 15 years, was aware of the canons, and still created a series that destroys the 'happy ending' he and Jared Padalecki had. Ackles returned to his old role without even telling his on-screen brother about the project and without even inviting him. Jensen, why all this? Tell us honestly, what is the goal? To expand the universe with a new story or to squeeze the last cream out of it, spitting on the reputation earned over the years? It seems the second option is closer to the truth. At least everything points to it.

It's noticeable how the spin-off wants to play on the nostalgia of fans. 'The Winchesters' even starts like 'Supernatural', only this time there are two missing fathers. Couldn't they find a better setup? And phrases like: 'There are no secrets in our family' evoke not a nostalgic smile, but an involuntary chuckle. Mary is desperate to find her father, ignoring the opinions of others. She has a car similar to the 'Impala'. All this looks like a secondary, unoriginal carbon copy, imitating the original series.

The new monsters are uninteresting, the old ones are boring. The roles are the same, only the characters are different. The stakes are the same, but the division is lower. It's like we've been reset to factory settings. Dean and Sam had everything more justified. They were helped by meta-episodes, years of accumulated experience, and, let's face it, strong friends. They played in the major league, while the spin-off team looks much weaker.

The project lacks self-irony, and it's impossible to take it seriously. Viewers are tried to be convinced every episode that the Winchester brothers' parents are in mortal danger, but practically everyone knows their story (the main audience should be about 95% fans of 'Supernatural'), so no one will worry about the characters. Prequels and spin-offs about familiar characters should distract attention from the fate of the characters known to viewers in advance (see ), but unfortunately, 'The Winchesters' is not capable of that.

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The Journey So Far

Visually, the series also looks extremely cheap. Sometimes the level of special effects is slightly better than in 'Power Rangers'. CW projects have never been particularly expensive, of course, but to treat the graphics so sloppily... Slapdash and done. Fans will eat it up, right?

As for the characters, the main highlight here is not John and Mary, but Latika and Carlos. They are more or less interesting to watch, they have interesting personalities, and Nida Khurshid and JoJo Fleites play their roles quite well. Also, a pleasant bonus will be the appearance of characters familiar from the universe (we won't spoil the surprise), although not all cameos evoke joyful feelings. Again, because of the problematic finale.

'The Winchesters' sparkles with modern agenda, and sometimes it seems very inappropriate. It's bad when authors insert characters just for show, to avoid getting extra offense from modern society. But the main laugh is Tom Welling as Samuel Campbell, Mary's father. The actor looks like one of the versions of Peter Parker from the animated film 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'. Stubble, disheveled look, dirty clothes, and a beer belly. What happened to the Man of Tomorrow? It seems the former Clark Kent is a prisoner of the CW. Mr. Welling, at least give a sign, you'll be rescued.

The only thing that brightens this picture is the fact that by the end of the season, you can still get a little attached to the characters (thanks to Lata and Carlos) and slightly absorb the atmosphere of 'Supernatural'. A small spark shines somewhere in this pitch darkness. It's a pity, of course, that it's unlikely to ever ignite a fire.

What's the Verdict?

'The Winchesters' is an openly shoddy and secondary project that will appeal only to the most ardent fans who don't care what they do to the universe — as long as they are fed something. The series fails to be independently interesting, and as part of 'Supernatural', it is frankly bad. Whether the love story of Mary and John will get a second season is a big question today. Maybe all these characters just need to rush along endless roads in a car without our close attention?