When I heard tonight’s episode, “In the Beginning,” was going to involve Dean traveling back into the past, I was wondering how that would happen. Normally, time travel is a plot device for sci-fi shows, not supernatural ones. I thought perhaps some sort of spell would be involved, or perhaps the Trickster was going go turn up again. Instead, it turns out an angel did it. Well, that’s one way, I suppose.
I really liked the way they handled Mary and John’s past. From the very first episode, even in flashbacks, John Winchester’s been a seasoned hunter. Mary Winchester was killed by a demon, of course, but it was a case of the wrong place at the wrong time. There was no evidence that she had even been a hunter herself. When Dean met John, it was obvious John had knew nothing about the supernatural. It seemed likely that John would be put on the road to demon-fighting at some time during the episode, but it never even ocurred to me that Mary was a hunter before John was. It made perfect sense in retrospect though (especially in light of how the episode ended).
It was great to see Dean interact with his family. It was kind of odd that he pretty much ignored his dad once he met his mom and his grandparents, though it is understandable given that A) Dean hadn’t seen his mom since he was a child and had never met his grandparents and B) Mary, Samuel and Diana Campbell were hunters and thus far better equipped to help Dean deal with Azazel than John would have been.
One question about the deals that the Azazel was making: Why exactly does he need permission to dose the babies with demon blood? He certainly doesn’t need permission to enter houses in normal circumstances, and it seems unlikely that babies are immune to the effects of demon blood unless the demon gets a parental consent form filled out. I suspect there is something more to it than Azazel was letting on.
I am also wondering about Castiel’s claims about unavoidable fate. At the very least, Dean’s trip to the past did stop Liddy Walsh from making a deal with Azazel. So things probably worked out better for Liddy and her future kid. It is also not entirely clear that Azazel would have ever met Mary in the first place had it not been for Dean. Sure, she was friends with Liddy so, if Liddy told her about the deal, Mary may have tracked Azazel down at some point, but that’s far from a certainty. It could be a paradox: if Dean hadn’t gone into the past to stop the deal, the deal would never have happened and Dean probably would have never become a hunter in the first place.
Whether or not Castiel was right to say the past could not be changed, it was pretty obvious that it would not be in this case. That’s the disadvantage of a TV series. Whenever there’s a chance for something really good, or really bad, that would radically alter the fundamentals of the show; the viewer knows it isn’t going to happen.
I will admit, I was thrown off of Azazel’s trail for a moment. When Mary asked John to take her away, they focused on John’s face for just a second too long once Mary got into the car. I jumped to the conclusion that John was the possessed one at that point. Of course, as soon as Samuel asked Dean if he could see the Colt, I realized I was wrong about John: Azazel was in Samuel.
Though it was obvious that Dean wouldn’t be saving the lives of any family members, or killing Azazel thirty years early, “In the Beginning” was a great exploration of the Winchester past.
Trevor MacKay is the sci-fi/horror/fantasy/cheesy/random geeky stuff guy. If something is geeky and/or unbelievably cheesy, he’s there.
