In the Hunt: Unauthorized Essays on Supernatural

by Supernatural. tv,

  But a quick reminder: John also thought that his youngest son might need to be killed if he became the Antichrist. He even saddled Dean with that responsibility when he died, believing the danger that Sam posed was very real. And Gordon believed that John would have done what Dean refused to do:

  Here’s the thing: It would have wrecked him, but your dad, if it really came right down to it, he would have had the stones to do the right thing. You’re telling me you’re not the man he is? (“Hunted”)

  The thought that anyone needs to die for the “greater good” is stomach-turning, especially if that particular “anyone” is a character, like Sam, we like. But imagine if the world of the Winchesters was our world instead, and then think about all the innocent people who ended up dying because Gordon was stopped. Had Gordon succeeded in eliminating all of the “special children,” Jake the Marine wouldn’t have opened the portal to Hell and all of those pesky demons wouldn’t have escaped. Think of the innocent folks who died despite never being part of the fight, and then add to them the number of people possessed by demons, their independence and identities ripped away in order to give those demons legs and arms and voices. Then, add on the murders and torment by pint-sized superdemon Lilith, made even worse by Sam’s continued status as possible demonic leader because she didn’t like the idea of competition.

  None of that would have happened had Gordon been allowed to succeed in his task. Knowing all the awful results of opening the gate, all of that pain, that torture, that death, his motivation to kill the lot of them starts to make a little more sense.

  BECOMING THE MONSTER (FOR REAL)

  “You got a lot of people fooled, but see, I know the truth. I know what it’s like. We’re the same now, you and me. I know how it is walking around with something evil inside you. It’s just too bad you won’t do the right thing and kill yourself. I’m gonna … as soon as I’m done with you. Two last good deeds. Killing you and killing myself.”

  -GORDON WALKER, “Fresh Blood”

  Gordon’s fate was certainly ironic; after all, he became the creature he hated most. As his actions pushed him further and further from his own humanity, it was fitting that he eventually lost it altogether and became an entirely new kind of hunter. And it was only as a monster, not as a man, that he could be defeated and eliminated by the brothers Winchester.

  Yet even as a monster he held on to one thing from his old life: his mission to kill Sam, hunting him with single-minded determination that would make any obsessed vampire proud. Was it that his goal was so monstrous that made it easier to retain so entirely? He was certainly monstrous in his efforts to complete his mission, ripping out the heart of his buddy Kubrick so that he could continue tracking Sam and then kidnapping a girl to serve as Winchester bait.

  Or did he believe that his goal was so important to the world that even his new vampire self accepted the mission, willingly allowing it to take precedence over the hunger for new prey? Sam leading a demon army might not bode any better for vampires than for humans.

  In Supernatural’s world, vampires aren’t mindless killing machines. They appear to have free will in addition to their blood hunger. As a vampire, Gordon didn’t have to pursue people who knew how to kill his kind. He could have started his life (well, an undead one, anyway) anew, leaving his responsibilities behind. He didn’t. He chose the much more dangerous course: to hunt a hunter.

  GORDON: You have to let me do one last thing first.

  KUBRICK: What?

  GORDON: Kill Sam Winchester.

  KUBRICK: Gordon.

  GORDON: It’s the only … it is the one good thing to come out of this nightmare. I’m stronger, I’m faster. I can finish him. (“Fresh Blood”)

  Of course, he didn’t. And in the end, the only appropriate candidate for killing Vampire Gordon was Sam, his longtime prey. Had Gordon not been turned, the brothers might have let him live yet again, despite their previous attempts to control him (leaving him tied to a chair for a few days and sending him to jail) not having been all that successful. Had Sam killed him as a human, he would have taken a step toward becoming the same sort of monster Gordon was … although Sam did seriously consider killing Gordon even before they knew he had been turned, both a testament to how bad Gordon had become and a reflection of how much Sam had changed. Plus, from a pure storytelling perspective, we do like to see the pursued turning the tables on their pursuer, even if Sam did say during his and Gordon’s first meeting that “decapitations aren’t my idea of a good time” (“Bloodlust”).

  But Sam has changed. Sam from the first season might not have been able to slowly decapitate anything, let alone someone who used to be a human that he knew; that was a disturbing death even by Supernatural standards. In the end, Sam did what he had to do, and we’ll never know if he would have done the same had Gordon still been human.

  The hunter becoming a monster might have happened most literally to Gordon, but he isn’t the only one we have to worry about. In season three, both Winchester brothers were on a slippery slope to monster-hood themselves. As of this writing, we still don’t know if Sam is the Antichrist or not, and although his powers are not of his choosing, how he uses them will be. There could be a monster waiting within him, one with the power of our old buddy Yellow Eyes, the one creature that Sam hated most. And Dean has been dragged off to Hell, on the way to becoming a demon himself-exactly what he hates most-thanks to the bargain he made to save his brother. The demonization was a surprise, but Dean probably would have taken the bargain even if he’d known, so long as it saved Sam. Gordon showed us the path, but the brothers walked it all season long.

  As for Gordon Walker… . He was a guy with morally questionable hunter policies, there’s no denying that. But he did try to save the world in his own twisted way. To Gordon, saving a hundred people’s sisters was worth the collateral damage his hunting caused, and destroying monsters like the ones that destroyed his life excused his destruction of anyone who stood in his way.

  Here’s the point that Gordon missed: If you lose your humanity to defend humanity, you’re not much better than the vampires and demons that you fight. Becoming a monster for the “right” reasons still makes you a monster. Gordon knew that some of what he did was wrong, but he was a soldier in a war, and he was willing to get his hands dirty in order to serve the greater good. To save humanity, he was willing to lose his own, and losing his humanity, literally, by becoming a vampire, underlined that point. He chose actions that he thought best served the big picture, no matter how each individual action might be judged. But do we know for certain that he was completely wrong?

  Freelance columnist AMY BERNER is obsessed with television. Although she spends most of her time as an event designer and planner, she pops up in various places with reviews and essays, primarily covering science fiction and fantasy television, film, and novels. She co-authored the book The Great Snape Debate, and she has appeared in several Smart Pop anthologies including Five Seasons of Angel, The Anthology at the End of the Universe, Alias Assumed, Farscape Forever, Getting Lost, and Neptune Noir. She lives in San Diego, California.

  The Trickster’s brand of whimsical justice is the basis of one of season two’s funniest episodes, “Tall Tales.” But by season three and “Mystery Spot,” that whimsy had taken a darker turn with the Trickster returning to teach Sam a valuable lesson that could ultimately save his life-but only by sacrificing Dean’s.

  Maria Lima examines Trickster lore and the way in which it has been incorporated into Supernatural’s ever-evolving storyline, and how the Winchester boys still haven’t learned the lesson the Trickster’s been teaching.

  MARIA LIMA

  ANOTHER ROADSIDE ATTRACTION

  The Role of the Trickster in Supernatural

  TRICKSTER: Sam. There’s a lesson here that I’ve been trying to drill into that freakish, Cro-Magnon skull of yours.

  SAM: Lesson? What lesson?

  TRICKSTER: This obsession to save Dean, the way you
two keep sacrificing yourselves for each other? Nothing good comes out of it. Just blood, and pain.

  -“Mystery Spot” (3-11)

  What I really dig about the Trickster … is that we didn’t put a unique spin on him. We were faithful to real characterizations of trickster gods throughout history.

  -ERIC KRIPKE, Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 2

  MAKING MISCHIEF

  As with all of the monsters, demons, and weird occurrences in Supernatural, the Trickster, a character who first appeared in “Tall Tales” (2-15), is based on genuine myths and legends from around the world. Every culture has a Trickster figure, whether it’s Loki, Anansi, Puck, Br’er Rabbit, Raven, Crow, or Coyote. Modern times have their own manifestations in Captain Jack Sparrow, Wile E. Coyote, Mr. Mxyzptlk, and arguably the most well-known of all: Bugs Bunny. This demigod immortal prankster exists to create chaos, and by doing so, teaches important lessons to those affected. From his introduction as the jokester/mischief-maker in season two’s “Tall Tales” to his darker incarnation as the Chaos-bringer in the episode “Mystery Spot,” the Trickster plays a seminal role in the mythos of the show.

  Though he only appears physically in these two episodes, the Trickster’s role goes beyond providing humor to acting as a catalyst, bringing realization through upsetting the norm. As in the many myths and stories, Supernatural’s Trickster is a transformative character who by his actions changes the primary characters at an essential level. In a DVD extra for season two (“Tricksters: Lore & Legend”), Dr. Timothy R. Tangherlini, UCLA Professor of Folklore, states, “Tricksters will often target people who are getting too big for their own breeches. [They] … look at cultural norms, if someone is trying to pull themselves up, outside the community, at the expense of the community, the Trickster will often recognize that person and in some ways, undermine what it is that they’re up to.”48 Both of the Trickster episodes used this conceit as the reason the Trickster showed up in the first place. In “Tall Tales,” the Trickster stated, “Those people got what was coming to them. Hoisted on their own petards.” In “Mystery Spot,” he specifically told Sam that he’d been trying to teach him a lesson.

  The key question is, why has he targeted the Winchester brothers? There must be more to his interference than simply serving a comeuppance to the offenders. Supernatural isn’t solely about the urban legends, nor the scary demons, nor the vampires or succubi or ghosts who populate the episodes, nor is it primarily about the hunt for these creatures: it’s also about Dean and Sam Winchester and their relationship as brothers, as family. How does the Trickster fit in to the overall story arc? To find out, let’s take a closer look at the way Supernatural’s Trickster embodies the historical Trickster legends.

  TALES AND STORYTELLING

  In “Tall Tales,” those affected by the Trickster were each taught a “lesson” through the pranks: the married Morality and Ethics professor who lusted after a luscious coed fell to his death from a window after taking the girl to his office, echoing a local urban legend; the obnoxious fratboy who humiliated pledges with hazing rituals got abducted by aliens, probed, and forced to slow dance; the professor who experimented on animals was eaten by an alligator.

  The story itself was lighthearted (despite the two deaths), and the Trickster seemed to fulfill the same role as Puck, as Br’er Rabbit, even as Star Trek: The Next Generation’s own beloved Trickster character, Q. The tricks remained jokes-amusing, yet also chaotic and insane in a boyish “I’m just having fun” way. In “Tall Tales,” the Trickster could easily have been Bugs Bunny, watching the craziness he’d caused, sitting back, chomping on a carrot, saying “What’s up, Doc?” This was especially evident in the episode’s final confrontation scene, as the brothers burst into the university theater. The setup was so over the top, it was unbelievable (two hot girls in lingerie lounging on a bed under a disco ball, telling Dean they’ve been waiting for him, Barry White’s “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” playing in the background). We got those same ridiculous scenarios throughout the episode (the frat boy slow-dancing with the alien abductor to “Lady in Red”). Bobby, as wise father figure, picked up on this as soon as the brothers explained what had been going on: “And if you two bothered to pull your heads out of your asses, it all would’ve been pretty clear… . You’ve got a Trickster on your hands.”

  This Trickster creates illusions straight out of the Weekly World News: a huge red flag to the boys, if they were thinking logically and working together, but they weren’t. Why? Because although he often plays the Fool, the Trickster isn’t much of a fool. Not only did he manufacture the silly scenarios on campus, he also messed with Dean and Sam. Sam’s laptop was missing, after having been frozen on bustyasianbeauties.com-something Sam thought Dean did. Dean believed Sam let the air out of the Impala’s tires. These pranks reduced the brothers to childish bickering (a staple of the show), and they reached the point of actually wrestling with each other like a couple of pre-adolescents. Bobby told them, “These things create chaos and mischief as easy as breathing. And it’s got you so turned around and at each other’s throats, you can’t even think straight… . It knows you’re onto him. And it’s been playing you like fiddles.” He was absolutely on target.

  By dividing Sam and Dean’s attention, the Trickster was free to continue to play his tricks. This foreshadowed what we saw later in the series, and in many folktales-that together, the heroes are greater than the sum of their parts; that divided, they must fall, must fail. It wasn’t until they began to work as a team (again) that they could defeat the Trickster … or defeat him as much as the Trickster actually allowed. In “Tall Tales,” the Trickster’s role as mischief-maker, playing tricks and games with Sam and Dean, illustrated that things are not always as they seem, and reminded the brothers that in order to survive, they needed to stick together.

  Our Trickster was already on the scene when the brothers arrived at the unnamed university, working in the guise of a janitor (the one holding the physical, as well as metaphorical, keys-in fact, in several scenes, there were close-ups of the Janitor/Trickster’s hands scraping the overladen key ring). Throughout the episode, in a narrative structure similar to that of the X-Files episode “Bad Blood,” the story is told from each brother’s point of view. Like in the X-Files episode, the details of the story changed depending on who told it, Sam or Dean. Through this conceit, we, the audience, learned about the strange happenings centered around Crawford Hall.

  This narrative structure itself can be seen as homage to Anansi, the Spider, a Trickster in the West African folktales of the Ashanti who was transported to the New World along with African slaves. One of Anansi’s many roles is that of “King of the Stories,” a role that Anansi won due to his trickery and mischief. Ellen Kushner, in her popular NPR radio series Sound & Spirit, explains that in the beginning, all stories belonged to the sky god Nyame. Anansi wanted the stories and asked if he could be King of the Stories. The Sky God asked Anansi to bring him Snake. Then, by trickery, Anansi tied up Snake and delivered him, thus gaining mastery over stories.49 This homage may not have been deliberate on the part of Supernatural’s creative team, but considering the care its writers take with research, it’s possible that the idea of the unusual storytelling portion of the narrative grew from the legend. During a teleconference about the show, Eric Kripke himself mentions, “The rule in the writer’s room, with all our brilliantly talented writers, is no one is allowed to make up anything out of whole cloth. You have to have your references; you have to do your research.”50

  At the end of the episode, it was evident that the Trickster’s had played the role of lesson-bringer not just for the episode’s victims, but also for Sam and Dean. In her 1995 article about the Trickster, Terri Windling quotes noted fantasy author Alan Garner: “[The Trickster is] the advocate of uncertainty… . He draws a boundary for chaos, so that we can make sense of the rest. He is the shadow that shapes the light.”51 In “Tall Tales,” the Trickster cause
d bad things to happen, but in doing so, forced the brothers to realize that together they were stronger than either was individually. By the end of the episode, this lesson was obvious to viewers, if not to Sam and Dean. “Supernatural Woman,” a blogger on TVGuide.com, describes this lesson thusly: “One can argue the unhealthy aspects of codependency, but that is better left to psychologists, in the Supernatural universe, it’s all about love, devotion, loyalty and the consistent thread of ‘united they stand, divided they fall.’”52

  Together, the brothers complement each other. Sam is Dean’s grounding force, his conscience and tie to humanity. Dean frees Sammy, liberates him to pursue the hunt, yet enjoy each day as it comes-and in season three, this part of Dean’s personality was on full display, given that he only had a year to live. In “Tall Tales,” the two POVs illustrated this duality through exaggeration. In Sam’s version of the story, Dean was all desire, lust, greed, and impulsiveness taken to the max, letting his base nature skew the investigation. In Dean’s account, Sam was a prissy complainer, too anal, too conservative, ignoring the good things in life in favor of facts, figures, and data-a brain with no emotions. An over-the-top rendition? Sure. But an effective, if simple, depiction of the two brothers’ personalities. Even at the denouement, when the Trickster conjured up busty beauties in a red silk bed to entice Dean, the writers continued to reinforce these character traits.

  NUGENT. TED NUGENT.

  In some Native American myths, Coyote Trickster is not necessarily portrayed as an actual animal. His counterpart, the “real” coyote, is seen as a relative. In stories, they often address each other as “elder brother” and “younger brother”-another convention of the legend that parallels the show. Is the reality of the Winchester that they themselves also act as Trickster figures in the overall myth-arc? Certainly, they bring chaos and uncertainty to the demon world, to the world of the “other” that threatens humanity, threatens life as we humans know it. During an appearance on Sound and Spirit, Bill Harley, a noted storyteller, explains, “[The] important thing about trickster stories is not where they’re going, but how they get there.” Could this not also be said about Sam and Dean’s own journey?53