The Winchesters

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Fandom
Name: The Winchesters
Abbreviation(s): spnwin
Creator: Robbie Thompson, Jensen Ackles
Date(s): October 2022 to present
Medium: television
Country of Origin: America
External Links: CW Streaming
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The Winchesters is a spin-off of the long-running Supernatural. Initially billed as a prequel focusing on John Winchester and Mary Winchester, it was eventually revealed to take place in an alternate universe where Dean Winchester is meddling with the timeline after his death.

Canon

After returning home from the Vietnam War, John Winchester is given a letter by a mysterious stranger from his father. Upon reading it, John decides to return home where he stumbles upon Mary Winchester and gets tangled up in the world of monster hunting as both him and Mary search for their missing fathers and try to stop an alien threat known as the Akrida from destroying the world. Helping them along the way are Carlos Cervantez, a musician who became a hunter when ghouls killed his parents; Latika Desai, a pacifist lorekeeper; and Ada Monroe, a witch of uncertain origin. Millie Winchester, John's mom, is also a prominent character in the series and several characters from the original show appear in The Winchesters, including Rowena MacLeod and Loki. In the season 1 finale, Bobby Singer and Jack Kline appear along with Dean Winchester.

Despite being initially billed as a prequel, it was revealed in episode 8 of season 1 to actually be a sequel taking place in an alternate universe with Dean having traveled from the original show's timeline, post-finale, to find at least one universe where he an save his mother. It follows the monster of the week format coined by the original show, with the Akrida serving as the show's overarching villain for the first season and the search for Mary's missing father driving much of the early season.

History

On 24 Jun 2021, Deadline announced that a prequel to Supernatural (SPN), called The Winchesters, was in the works from Jensen Ackles and Danneel Ackles.[1] Upon the announcement that a SPN spin-off would be helmed by Jensen Ackles and focused on the John Winchester/Mary Winchester relationship, fans were largely confused or upset because this followed the CW declining to pick up Wayward Sisters, the spin-off fans created and campaigned for.[2] Fans were primarily confused that a SPN spin-off would choose to focus on John Winchester, a somewhat divisive character in the SPN fandom due to his A+ Parenting and potential abuse of the main characters,[3][4] rather than any of the characters that fans liked better and would rather see the stories of.

This news and the ensuing chaos caused SPN to trend for a number of days, as documented by whyissupernaturaltrending.[5][6][7][8][9] There was also drama in SPN fandom, due to the fact that Jensen apparently pitched and got this spin-off greenlit without the knowledge of Jared Padalecki, his co-star of over a decade[10] and from Misha Collins teasing that his character, Castiel, might appear on the show.[11] There was also These events led to June 24 being an important date in SPN history, much like November 5.[12][13][14]

Post Premiere

The Winchesters did not do particularly well upon its premiere in terms of overall TV viewership, but did manage a decent number of viewers for a CW show.[15] Fan reaction was mixed, with many simply wondering if Castiel had appeared yet,[16] and most of the nonfannish reviews were middling[17] to poor.[18][19] Among the many complaints was that the show didn't seem very historically accurate and it was basically a rehash of SPN. The tune of these reviews changed as the show progressed and the nature of the plot was revealed.[20][21] Obviously, as the show is a spin-off from SPN, unhinged-jackles started using the I Love You Meme to relay facts about The Winchesters to the larger SPN fandom and Tumblr as a whole.[22]

There was also lots of speculation within the fandom when the title of the season finale episode, "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," was announced. Many fans thought that it might be a reference to the "goodbye" between Castiel and Dean in the original show, with many Destiel shippers ready to put their clown makeup on if there was a reference to that in the finale.[23][24][25]

Post S1 Finale

Despite the fact that Castiel did not appear in season 1 of The Winchesters due to scheduling conflicts with Misha's work on Gotham Knights,[26] fans generally reacted otherwise positively to the season finale, particularly the reveal that it takes place in a fully alternate universe with a kinder, softer John who is working on his anger issues.

wow, john actually being open to therapy and meditation? this really is an AU

- disasterbijedi [27]

honestly shoutout to jackes cause if i could go back in time and make john winchester get therapy and prevent supernatural from ever happening i would've done it in a heartbeat as well

- starkstieI [28]

Jensen Ackles and Robbie Thompson sat down and said “what if John Winchester got therapy.”

- jolauriang [29]

Many fans also were satisfied with the way that the finale retconned parts of the SPN ending, particularly Dean's fate, post-canon.

Dean would’ve rather had Jack 'cast him out of Heaven permanently' for breaking out of Heaven than continue drive around for 40 years.

- mattmaesonnatural [30]

Actually the most Dean-coded thing about Jackles is that he created a prequel JUST to give a version of John and Mary a happy ending. Not a happy ending for Dean, but for his parents.

- aisatsana441 [31]

i know i said i wanted the degradation of john winchester show (and i would still watch it btw) but i got so attached to these versions of the characters that i ended up rooting for them to have a happy future when it was almost impossible, and that finale gave them the chance

- giotheexhausted [32]

Fandom

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the two top ships for The Winchesters on AO3 are John Winchester/Mary Winchester, the canon ship the show is based around, and Destiel, SPN's Juggernaut Ship.[33] Interestingly, the third most popular ship is Carlos Cervantez/John Winchester[33] probably owing the the fact that both characters are war veterans and Carlos Cervantez spends most of the show trying to convince John to attend therapy.

Fanworks

Fanfic

Fanart

References

  1. ^ ‘Supernatural’ Prequel ‘The Winchesters’ In Works At The CW From Jensen & Danneel Ackles. Posted 24 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  2. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 25 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2021.
  3. ^ "Our Dad's a Hero" - John Winchester's Digression from the Champion to the Adversary. Posted 21 Jul 2009. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  4. ^ John Winchester, The Dursleys, and Abuse. Posted 10 Jul 2014. Accessed 8 Mar 2023. Archive Link.
  5. ^ June 24 , 2021 - Supernatural trends as the news of a planned prequel wreak havoc among the fans. Posted 24 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  6. ^ June 25, 2021 - Chaos Machine Productions lives up to its name, because "chaos" is the best word to describe the current events. Posted 25 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  7. ^ June 26, 2021 - Supernatural continues to trend. Posted 26 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  8. ^ June 27, 2021 - After about an hour break when Supernatural wasn't on the trending wall, it's back again. Posted 27 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  9. ^ June 28, 2021 - Supernatural trends fifth day in a row. Posted 28 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  10. ^ Tweet from Jared Padalecki: "Dude. Happy for you. Wish I heard about this some way other than Twitter. I’m excited to watch, but bummed that Sam Winchester had no involvement whatsoever." Posted 24 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  11. ^ Tweet from Misha Collins: "Seems like this show would benefit from a time-traveling angel-in-a-trenchcoat character. Just saying..." Posted 24 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  12. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 25 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  13. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 24 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  14. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 25 Jun 2021. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  15. ^ TV Ratings: The Winchesters Has Decent (By CW Standards) Debut. Posted 12 Oct 2022. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  16. ^ "Is Castiel in The Winchesters" Tumblr. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  17. ^ Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Winchesters’ On The CW, A ‘Supernatural’ Prequel Where Dean And Sam’s Parents Fight Demons. Posted 11 Oct 2022. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  18. ^ ‘Walker Independence’ and ‘The Winchesters’ are far from pioneering prequels. Posted 6 Oct 2022. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  19. ^ ‘The Winchesters’ Review: Pilot is A Supernatural Failure. Posted 25 Oct 2022. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  20. ^ How The Winchesters Gave Supernatural the Finale It Deserved. Posted 7 Mar 2023. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  21. ^ The Winchesters: Season 1 Episode 8 Review. Posted 26 Jan 2023. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  22. ^ "i love you meme" tag on unhinged-jackles Tumblr. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  23. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 1 Mar 2023. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  24. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 22 Feb 2023. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  25. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 22 Feb 2023. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  26. ^ Misha Collins Was Approached to Reprise Castiel in The Winchesters. Posted 8 Mar 2023. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  27. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 7 Mar 2023. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  28. ^ Tweet. Posted 8 Mar 2023. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  29. ^ Tweet. Posted 8 Mar 2023. Accessed 9 Mar 2023.
  30. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 7 Mar 2023. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  31. ^ Tumblr Post. Posted 7 Mar 2023. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
  32. ^ Tweet. Posted 8 Mar 2023. Accessed 9 Mar 2023.
  33. ^ a b The Winchesters (TV 2022) Tag on AO3. Accessed 8 Mar 2023.
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