The Nitpicker's Guide to "Supernatural™"
"A series hasn't succeeded, until the fans pick it apart"
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WARNING: The very nature of this part of the site indicates it will contain spoilers, so if you do not want to be spoiled, avoid all of the "nitpickers" pages!
The following are what we feel are various technical or continuity discrepancies we’ve noted in the CW® series, "Supernatural"™. The owners of this site are medical professionals, so you will see medical discrepancies mentioned as well. We will also make note of any neat little trivia present in an episode, as well as when the writers get it (very) right.
Please feel free to correct, or contribute to the nits. Your input, if posted, would be credited to you (or not, at your discretion):
nitpickers@supernaturalusa.net or post to the newsgroup: alt.tv.supernatural. If the newsgroup is not on your Usenet server, ask that company to add it. Most will do so, even if only one person requests it, but unfortunately, not all ISPs offer newsgroups (AOL does not, for instance). If you need a newsserver, we can direct you to free ones.
There is an unmoderated news group, alt.tv.supernatural
Season One
(Click titles to jump to episodes)
Pilot Wendigo Dead In The Water Phantom Traveler
Bloody Mary Skin Hook Man Bugs Home Asylum Scarecrow
Faith Route 666 Nightmare The Benders Shadow Hell House
Something Wicked Provenance Dead Man's Blood Salvation
S1 - Pilot
1.
The nit in this one that doesn’t track from the start? Mary burning to death on
the ceiling, and John not being accused of her murder. Fire
investigators very carefully look at burn patterns, positions of bodies, and
whether accelerant was used, especially with a fatality. There’s no way
the police would just dismiss that case as “accidental” especially with her
abdominal wound (though it’s possible she was totally consumed by fire, so the
cut may not be visible). They certainly would investigate such a strange
death much more vigorously than they would most cases, so:
2.
Sam being able to maintain good enough grades for a Stanford scholarship,
despite being on the move as much as they are is a big stretch, but
may be possible.
3. Re: The bridge scene: Why do people on TV and movies run straight ahead when
being chased by a large object, when all they have to do is jump to the side?
4. A big nit throughout the entire series? Why are ghosts corporeal? The most
logical theory about ghosts in general (that we have seen), is Arthur C. Clarke's
take, that if ghosts do exist, they are a projection of a telepathic message from
the spirit. The receiver is actually projecting the image to their own brain. This is the
most rational thing we could
consider, since ghosts are not seen naked (do clothes have a soul and/or
spirit?). With that in mind, this show’s portrayal of corporeal ghosts makes
suspending one’s disbelief a little more difficult; but not impossible,
obviously. Perhaps they're not meant to be considered actually solid, but a mass
of telekinetic energy.
5. The “death” of the ghost in this one was bizarre. Innards? Weird.
Last, but not least: Sam’s girlfriend dies in the exact same way his mother
did, and there are no investigations of, or warrants for, either Sam or John.
These weird and identical deaths would certainly have the police on their tails,
especially since they occurred within the same family; you guessed it:
In fact, this would have been a great introduction to "Victor Henriksen."
S1 – Ep. 2: “Wendigo”
1.
Dean tells the girl, “That’s the most honest I’ve ever been with a
woman...ever.” This gets shot down in “Route 666” –He was way more honest
prior to meeting this girl. It had to be prior, since he was still working
with John at the time he met “Cassie”...er...: Ackles clearly has a cold in this one,
but what a trouper!
2. That the creature is immortal can be believed within the realm of the occult,
but if he has a humanoid body, there is no way that little bit of fire could
destroy him, even when engulfed, since the creature was pretty much unclothed.
Perhaps we are to believe the Wendigo is a combination of spirit energy and man?
S1 – Ep. 3 “Dead In The Water”
1.
The opening scene rips off “Jaws”.
The kid, "Lucas" looks eerily like the late Sam Kinison, but we digress. Speaking of
“Lucas”, his drawing skill is much higher than age 4, but Dean told him he saw
(presumably his mother’s death) “something” when he was “Lucas’” age. That kid
looks way older than 4, even if he were tall for his age, just in maturity
alone. (Dean was reportedly 4 at the time of his mother’s death).
2. If a young, strong man like “Will Carlton” couldn’t pull himself out of the
water in a sink, there is no way Sam could have pulled “Andrea” out of
the tub alone. 3. And, even a heavily traumatized kid, who still communicates physically, would
certainly yell, etc., if his mother were drowning. For “Lucas” not to utter a
sound is truly B.S. If he were totally incommunicative, maybe, but he was “there”
enough to have spoken, or at least screamed.
S1 – Ep 4 “Phantom Traveler”
1. We're no pilots, but it seems unlikely to us that a plane’s attitude (not altitude) could not be adjusted fairly easily, if a person (somehow) manages to open the escape door in-flight. But even if that’s not possible, there is just no physical way, even being possessed by a demon, that a human could have opened that door. The pressure alone would have ripped his arms from their sockets, and the door still would not open. It’s not a matter of a demon being strong enough to push or pull the door open, but that the vessel’s bones and joints would simply give. We’ve seen irreparable damage to numerous bodies on this show ("Meg" for example). Apparently, demons give the vessel's body motion, but not healing or durability - they even inhabit dead bodies. 2. Perhaps those in the airline industry can corroborate this (or debunk it), but we strongly doubt that flight attendant would have let anyone, especially guys talking as cryptically/strangely as Dean and Sam anywhere near the cockpit; especially post 9/11! Whatever disguise they wore wouldn’t be accepted as gospel, either. Anyone of any occupation can go nuts (or be enemy agents) At the very least, the plane would have done an emergency landing to investigate these guys.
S1 Ep 5 “Bloody Mary”
1.
The girls are playing their game quite within
earshot of the dad (who even tells them to keep it down), and vice versa.
The older (kind of nasty) sister is ascending the stairs while dad is being
“attacked” by our girl “Bloody Mary” - and yet he doesn’t utter a peep.
Everyone else screamed or moaned - something. Even if dad was very macho, he should have at least yelled
in pain/fear, and the girls certainly would have heard him. Not logical.
Wouldn't have helped him, though.
2. The friend of the girls, “Charlie” confronts Sam and Dean about who they really
are, and threatens to scream if they don’t tell her. If they were
criminals, they could overtake her so quickly that she wouldn't have time to
scream. She took a
really stupid safety risk by confronting them alone, but the females on this
show don't seem to have any street smarts at all...more on that in future eps.
S1 Ep 6 “Skin”
1.
Only one big nit with this one : When Dean becomes a fugitive, we doubt
nobody would have recognized him immediately as the killer; Ackles has very unusual features. But then, somehow
nobody ever recognizes Sam and Dean, even with the most serious crimes.
No "America's Most Wanted" in this universe, apparently.
2. Small (medical) nit: Even within the realm
of science fiction/fantasy, physiologically, the shape shifters could not absorb
the memory of the person it replicates. The only way to do that is to
absorb and process the limbic system, which is very complex at best, especially
in light of the shape shifter’s brain functioning concomitantly. The shape
shifter is supernatural, but the subject replicated is human. It just
doesn’t track.
S1 Ep 7 “Hook Man”
No real gripes here, other than the girl not being arrested for murder; then there's the whole corporeal ghost thing, but that’s throughout the series.
S1 Ep 8 “Bugs”
1. The general premise of this is sound; there are flesh-eating bugs in the world. What doesn’t track is how quickly the bugs kill their victims. These creatures have very small mouths, no matter how sharply they can pierce flesh. It takes a great deal of time to burrow through human tissue, even the brain. Then there’s the viability of the bugs once they penetrate the flesh. (and presumably the bones). Once inside the head, these critters would have to burrow extremely quickly and powerfully to take down a human being, before pretty much drowning in bodily secretions. Humans are tougher than we look. It would simply take way more bugs, and said bugs would have to be quite focused. 2. This show has a propensity for featuring characters who assume Sam and Dean are gay and say so (which is ridiculous for a female character - just not usually wired to make that assumption, and if they do, they would not allude to that conclusion) Even if someone does suspect they're gay, to mention it would be very inappropriate at best, especially in a customer service setting. It's a very delicate distinction, and if the guys turn out to not be gay, which of course applies to Sam and Dean, you'll have probably offended them. (not to say all guys are insecure regarding their sexuality, but it's probably safe to say most straight guys would not appreciate such an assumption) 3. How the heck do Dean and Sam get the vacant house to have working utilities? Even if you know how to switch the utilities on, the company would immediately pick up on that. The power/water could have been turned on by the realtor, but this usually is done when the home is completed. We didn’t see any completed homes other than the realtor’s family and the sales woman’s. We could have missed this, though.
S1 Ep 9 “Home”
1. Biggest nit for this one? That woman’s extremely trusting nature with 2 (then 3) strangers who show up on her doorstep. They could have planted those pics in that house as an “in” before actually showing up face-to-face. Dumb move, especially with her children present. Then later she leaves her home to the same strangers. There’s no way she could have known whether they had engineered the threatening incidents themselves. Dumb move, the sequel. Sam, Dean and "Missouri" could have been killers. Sure, weird things were happening, but she should have been much more careful. All of the things she saw could have been done by humans. (mom didn’t see the flaming spirit, and did not believe the kid) 2. Writers of all movies, TV shows really, in our opinion, need to abandon the sassy-black-female-sidekick-with-the-white-male-platonic-friend scenario, as well. It's such a cliché (this comment is from a black female) 3. Mary’s cryptic “I’m sorry” doesn’t get explained until 3 seasons later, so that was really annoying through season 3. Building suspense is one thing, but the interval between hearing that line and finding out what it meant was rather long. 4. Speaking of Mary, she was burned to death, so how can her spirit be present? Just because there was no salt? That doesn't track, (mild spoiler ahead) because in the 3rd season ep "Long-Distance Call" The boys can't figure out how the psycho chick haunted the guy in the opening scene, since she was cremated.
S1 Ep 10 “Asylum”
1.
Dumb teens in a dangerous situation, again, but at least Dean calls the idiots
on their behavior.
2.
Corporeal and superpowered ghost; not only that, but when his body is destroyed,
the spirit turns to stone...WTF?
3.
This episode seemed to only have been made to show how conflicted Sam really is,
because the rest of it is pure pulp. But what’s a first-season ep of
"Supernatural" without some Sam angst?
S1 Ep 11 “Scarecrow”
1.
The main absurd nit in this one, is that if couples kept disappearing each year,
the F.B.I. would be all over it. They’d search that whole area, and question all
the locals. These people are very lousy liars - they’d be found out.
2.
It was dumb for that couple to not be suspicious of how the townspeople are
treating Dean. Without explanation, they make him leave the restaurant.
3.
Fashion nit: The hair on “Meg” is just horrible! It looks totally artificial;
they didn’t even bother to brush it.
4.
Troll logic: “It’s murder!” Yeah, when it’s one of theirs.
S1 Ep 12 “Faith”
1.
From a medical standpoint we don’t see how Dean could have awakened from
electrocution with heart damage so severe that he was terminal. When
someone has an electrocution injury, a number of things may happen. The heart
may actually be thrown into atrial fibrillation, which, by the way, is the only use for the
paddles - TV and movie writers love to write that in for a freaking stopped heart!
It’s not for that at all in fact, you’ll kill a cardiac arrest victim
by “zapping” them! At first this was just an annoyance for us, but now
that people can buy their own defibrillators, it's downright dangerous.
Dean was awake and aware, not wearing oxygen, not even having trouble
breathing. He would not be terminal in that instance. He would probably need
heart medication the rest of his life, and he certainly could no longer be as
active as he had been. Even if the electrocution managed to fry part of his
heart (thus killing the tissue, causing a heart attack), he still wouldn’t be
terminal. His lifespan would certainly be shortened, however, but not anywhere
near what that doctor said, so for that whole thing,
.
Then, of course, he’s cured by stealing another life (unbeknownst to him), so
whatever shape he was in prior to that supernatural event would be irrelevant.
S1 Ep 13 “Route 666”
1.
Sam and Dean are usually in very deep cover. We doubt “Cassie” would have a
current cell phone number for Dean. Who gives their ex current contact info,
anyway?
2. Just as with the corporeal ghosts on this show, how the heck can a spectral
truck make a dent?
We can see it scaring the driver off the road, but the dents
trigger the B.S. meter.
3.
It was pretty ridiculous for the Mayor to dismiss the two identical murders. At
the very least, he should have had that stretch of highway patrolled 24/7. Of
course,
we know it’s a ghost, but it could also have been some white supremacists’
hunting ground.
S1 – Ep 14 “Nightmare”
1.
The one big nit in this one for us, is that the (incredibly) unlikable “Max”
could have been overtaken easily by both Sam and Dean. All of the lore
we've seen on
telekinesis indicates that if one can move an object with their mind with
control over said object, the individual has to be totally focused on moving
the object. The individual whose telekinesis is involuntary, could not target
specific victims, and they would be moving a number of things at once in a
scattershot fashion. We’re to
believe that “Max” can control numerous objects at once, as with the piece of
furniture that pinned in Sam, while simultaneously controlling the gun. We
suppose the show’s mythology can stipulate that since “Max’s” power was
demon-given, the rules change. We can live with that, but it’s still, well, you
know...
S1 Ep 15 "The Benders"
1. Big nit here? There is no way
those yahoos could have gotten away with all of those abductions/murders without
being caught. The F.B.I. would certainly have figured out their game.
To have succeeded in those murders would have meant those scumbags had to keep moving,
just as Sam and Dean have been doing. Getting rid of a human body is way more
difficult than it may seem, so at the very least, the Feds would have found
remains in that area.
S1 Ep 16 "Shadow"
1. If John was so good at dodging the
yellow-eyed demon, then why did he fall for so obvious a trap? Sam and
Dean had already been told the demons were after John. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Getting the hell out of there seemed to be the thing to do.
2. Women do not usually
undress in front of windows (either open or closed), male fantasy notwithstanding.
S1 Ep 17 "Hell House"
1. We don't recommend doing the things Dean does to Sam while driving. The similarities to Rashomon notwithstanding, we get the stereotypical nerds. Unfortunately, the most interesting thing about this one was that Sam and Dean were playing pranks on each other throughout. It would have been much more interesting to see a group of serious ghost hunters (preferably adult) joining up with the boys. That would have been a good way to examine the Winchester ghost hunting methods vs. say, a university's parapsychology department's approach (in our opinion, of course).
S1 Ep 18 "Something Wicked"
1. How could the girl's father (or any of
the other parents) not hear the screams? *Medical people nit alert* A C.D.C.
field doc/technician anywhere near the age of the
Winchester boys is extremely rare. Any competent nurse would have been
very suspicious of two young guys claiming to represent the C.D.C. Dean
mentions a "G.P." - that is a very obsolete term; pretty much dead, actually.
Now, primary doctors are way more specialized - Family Practice, Internal
Medicine and Pediatric are the main primaries. Despite public perception,
Family Practice involves specialized training as well. No doctor
practices "general" medicine anymore. Incidentally, to debunk another medical myth -
cold weather in and of itself does not make you ill. It's just that certain bugs
thrive in cold temperatures. For instance, being locked in a freezer
wouldn't give you a cold, but being outside in a snowstorm could. The
freezer would only cause hypothermia. (assuming it's not harboring bacteria or
viruses, of course) Hopefully, TV. and movie writers will learn this. OK,
minor nit, but why
does young Dean throw out the Spaghetti-Os? There's a refrigerator, so why
didn't he put it there? The Winchesters aren't exactly rolling in it.
Incidentally (just some trivia), the
motel's exterior has been used in other CW shows, such as "Smallville"™.
Getting back to the C.D.C., there would have been a full team of C.D.C. people
swarming around that hospital. That type of outbreak would make the news, especially
since it has the odd pattern of running through families. Sam and Dean couldn't have pretended to be C.D.C., even with realistic-looking I.D.
The doctor would have spoken in very technical terms that would have left the
boys baffled, as well. So...
S1 Ep. 19 "Provenance"
1. Who falls for the "Hollywood" lines
anymore? Another cliché that needs to die. Here we have yet another overly trusting woman,
"Sarah". She sees
Sam and Dean crash a showing, finds them rooting around the place later, then
finds a body with them, but has no qualms about following them around.
2. It was
obvious the culprit was the kid, as soon as the library guy
said she was adopted. Corporeal ghosts again.
3. How the heck can a razor from a painting become a true lethal weapon? The
kid we can buy (that whole soul thing), but the use of a painting's
razor, no.
S1 - Ep. 20 "Dead Man's Blood"
1. "Elkins" is a veteran vampire hunter, yet he was so easily trapped, he may as well have been an accountant. If he's specifically tracking vampires, it makes sense for him to have a number of anti-vampire weapons on him or easily at hand, at all times - including the Colt. Hard to believe he "taught" John anything. 2. Minor acting nit: John reads "Daniel's" note aloud, but immediately after the first sentence, he says "Daniel" had the Colt all along. There simply was not a large enough interval for his brain to process and repeat what he just read about the Colt. 3. It doesn't make a lot of sense for Sam to ask his dad how he knew they were on the right trail of the vampires. Sam is a guy who was raised by a man who hunts otherworldly creatures - of course he knows what he's doing. Makes Sam look illogically belligerent, but of course we can't have John and Sam in the same airspace without some Sam angst. (mild season 3 spoiler in the next sentence!) According to the story given of the Colt, the gun was made by a mere mortal, yet only a supernatural character later in this series can empower a weapon. Does this mean Samuel Colt was other than human? Maybe a warlock? 4. John goes after the rest of the vamps alone. John knew there were several vamps in that gang; seems too reckless for this character.
S1 - Ep. 21 "Salvation"
1. First, can we have a moratorium on
"Carry On Wayward Son" by the rock band, Kansas? This series has repeated
that song ad nauseum in the "recaps". (in this ep and the next, you get
recaps whether you set recaps on or off, on the DVDs) Ditto "Walk Away" by Joe Walsh.
2. Fashion nit (again) We didn't think it possible, but the hair people
for this show managed to make poor Nicki Aycox's hair look even worse!
Maybe the bad hair was supposed to be part of "Meg's" suffering.
3. In this
one, we get yet another overly trusting female. What mother
wouldn't be totally creeped out by Sam's approaching her, talking about her
baby? That may have worked in the 1950s, but certainly not now. Sam's
carrying a backpack, for crying out loud! (which is an indication, accurately of
course, that he's a drifter) The mom would have gotten away
from Sam as quickly as possible. (she may have still been polite) We think most would call
the cops afterward, and report the strange behavior, so:
S1 - Ep. 22 "Devil's Trap"
1. The demons kidnap John, keep him in a motel, but don't make the boys an offer for his return. No demand for the Colt at all, just as Sam mentioned - so no reason to keep John alive. Sam and Dean should be smarter than this. 2. And when they find John, the first thing he asks is "Where's the Colt?" That certainly should have been the boys' next clue.
(Click titles to jump to episodes)
Pilot Wendigo Dead In The Water Phantom Traveler
Bloody Mary Skin Hook Man Bugs Home Asylum Scarecrow
Faith Route 666 Nightmare The Benders Shadow Hell House
Something Wicked Provenance Dead Man's Blood Salvation
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12/26/2008