In the Hunt: Unauthorized Essays on Supernatural Read online

“Don’t be afraid of the dark?” What, are you kidding me? Of course you should be afraid of the dark. You know what’s out there! (“Pilot”)

  -DEAN WINCHESTER, “Pilot”

  From the first episode of Supernatural one thing is clear: evil is real. A shadowy figure stands over a baby’s crib; a young mother is pinned, bleeding, to the ceiling; a fire erupts and destroys a home; and a previously ordinary family takes to the road to fight “what’s out there.” In the world of Supernatural, evil is no mere illusion, not simply the absence or distortion of good. As Missouri Mosley told the adult Sam and Dean Winchester, “All those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house” (“Home,” 1-9).

  While it might be expected that in a show called Supernatural this real evil would be just that-supernatural-the philosophy behind the show is that evil is caused by human choice. This is most obvious when the beings committing acts of evil are human: Ansem Weems, Gordon Walker, Ava Wilson, Jake Talley. But it is equally true when the being perpetrating evil is supernatural.

  The pilot sets up one of the show’s constants: angry spirits are created by violent death. The angry spirits are responding to violence done to them-as with Peter Sweeney, haunting the men who accidentally drowned him (“Dead in the Water,” 1-3)-or are continuing in death violence committed in life-as with both Preacher Jacob Karns (“Hook Man,” 1-7) and Dr. Ellicott (“Asylum,” 1-10). As Dean says of Nurse Glockner, “In life, she’s a vigilante. In death, the same thing” (“Folsom Prison Blues,” 2-19). Sometimes the spirit is more confused than angry, and can be convinced to let go of life and move on, as with Molly (“Roadkill,” 2-16) and Father Thomas Gregory (“Houses of the Holy,” 2-13).6 Dean was himself once in danger of becoming an angry spirit, having to choose between accepting his death and moving on, or continuing to fight death and haunt the hospital (“In My Time of Dying,” 2-1).

  Other supernatural evil is also the result of human activity. Wendigos are created when a human turns cannibal (“Wendigo,” 1-2). The curse on Oasis Plains, Oklahoma, is a response to the slaughter of the Euchee Tribe (“Bugs,” 1-8). The “ghost” of Mordechai Murdock, and the deaths he caused, was created by a group of students who made up a ghost story and posted it online, after painting a Tibetan spirit sigil on the wall of an abandoned house (“Hell House,” 1-17). The “overnight successes” killed by Hell Hounds were slaughtered because they had made deals with a demon (“Crossroad Blues,” 2-8), and Ruby became a demon because as a witch she had also sold her soul (“Malleus Maleficarum,” 3-9). Most of the evil the Winchesters fight, no matter how supernatural its presentation, is the result of a human choice. And that evil is defeated only when other humans make a choice to fight it.

  “THEY’RE EVERYWHERE”: AZAZEL, LILITH, AND OTHER DEMONS

  NANCY: When I was little I would come home from church and talk about the devil. My parents would tell me to stop being so literal. I guess I showed them, huh? (“Jus in Bello,” 3-12).

  The one exception to this explanation for evil appeared to be demons. When demons possess humans whatever havoc is subsequently wreaked is the fault of the demonic possessor rather than the human possessed (“Born Under a Bad Sign,” 2-14). Yet as the Winchesters have fought their personal nemeses-two named demons with definite Judeo-Christian roots7-it has become evident that demons, too, are beings whose evil results from human choice.

  The Winchesters’ quest, and thus the impetus for the series, was initiated by an evil that attacked their family and killed the mother, Mary. We, together with the remaining Winchesters, gradually learned more about that evil, until the father, John, came face to face with the demon who murdered his wife by summoning him with the sigil of Azazel, the first hint of who this demon truly was (“In My Time of Dying”). Finally, Dean discovered the demon’s name: Azazel. As a possessed Casey asked Dean, “What, you think his friends just called him Yellow Eyes?” (“Sin City,” 3-4).

  Azazel is mentioned in Leviticus as a wilderness-dwelling being.8 There is no other mention of him in the Bible, but in the apocalyptic book 1 Enoch, written between 200 and 60 B.C.E., Azazel is one of the two hundred angels who saw and lusted after the beautiful daughters of men and as a result fell from Heaven. It was Azazel who taught humanity to make swords, daggers, shields, breastplates, bracelets, and ornaments. Azazel also taught humanity about cosmetics.9 In The Apocalypse of Abraham (circa second century C.E.) Azazel is described as the fire of Hell and apparently carries Hell about with him. He is also identified with the serpent that tempted Eve, and is described as a great dragon that devours the wicked.10

  While Azazel was the Winchesters’ adversary for over twenty years, and the repercussions of his actions still affect them, after his death their more immediate problem became a new power (“Malleus Maleficarum”). This power is named, by the demon Ruby, as Lilith; she typically manifests herself as a rather frightening little girl who can apparently vaporize a police station and everyone in it with her glowing white eyes and a wave of her hand (“Jus In Bello”). Like Azazel, Lilith comes from Judeo-Christian mythology. She is a night demon, referenced in the biblical book of Isaiah,11 and she is possibly also the “terror by night” mentioned in the Psalms.12 Again, like Azazel, she has a much more detailed history in apocryphal literature. In Jewish Aggadah, Lilith was Adam’s first wife. Made, as Adam was, from the dust of the ground, she demanded to be equal to her husband and flew away from him when it was denied her. In punishment three angels killed her demon children, and in revenge Lilith injures babies-boys until they are circumcised at eight days old and girls until they are twenty days old.13 Like Azazel, Lilith then developed a fascinating mythology in post-biblical literature. Also like Azazel, Lilith was once good, and chose her evil path.

  In Judeo-Christian myth most demons are fallen angels.14 They were not created evil, they “fell.” While Supernatural is a world without “angels,”15 its demons are also fallen beings. To Dean’s surprise and horror, Ruby revealed to him that demons, “every one I’ve ever met,” were all themselves once human. Going to Hell literally causes humans to forget who they once were as the torments of Hell burn away their humanity (“Malleus Malficarum”). The suggestion that Supernatural’s demons are fallen humans is worrying not only for Dean, who has sold his soul and at the end of season three was dragged to Hell, but for Sam, who may also have a demonic future.

  “LUCIFER ACTUALLY MEANS LIGHT BRINGER”: SAM WINCHESTER AS THE MORNING STAR

  How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

  (Isaiah 14:12, KJV)

  Trapped in a basement in “Sin City,” Dean found himself having a surprisingly civil and informative conversation with a demon. “Casey” tells Dean the legend of Lucifer, once the most beautiful of all God’s angels. “Casey” has faith in Lucifer, the “higher power” that “they say” made demons what they are and will one day return to them.

  Throughout the series there have been hints that Sam Winchester might be the being in whom Lucifer will be incarnated. Meeting Sam in a dream at Cold Oak, Azazel explained that he was looking for the best and brightest of the psychic children of Sam’s generation to lead Hell’s army and showed Sam a vision of an infant Sammy being fed Azazel’s blood (“All Hell Breaks Loose [Part 1],” 2-21). As the possessed Casey herself told Dean, “Sam was supposed to be the Grand Poobah and lead the big army, but he hasn’t exactly stepped up to the plate, has he?” Other demons have also recognized in “little Sammy Winchester” a potentially powerful evil being: the prodigy, the boy-king, the Antichrist. Sam was shown that Mary knew Azazel (“All Hell Breaks Loose [Part 1]”) and Ruby went even further, revealing that everyone who had ever known Mary had been “systematically wiped off the map” to cover up what Azazel had done to Sam (“The Kids Are Alright,” 3-2). There is something “special” about Sam, beyond his psychic abilities; Dean’s conversation with “Casey” gave an explanation.

  According to legend, it was pride that caused Lucifer’s fall. 16 D
emons think pride is Sam’s weakness, too. In “The Magnificent Seven” (3-1) it was Pride who led the attack on Sam. Similarly, “Father Gil” told Sam that, “Somehow I see you out in front of the pack. You could do some great things” (“Sin City”). While demons have tried to tempt Dean into the sin of despair by suggesting that his family doesn’t need him,17 they have tried to tempt Sam into the sin of pride by suggesting that he doesn’t need his family. The Crossroads Demon suggested that Sam would be relieved when he no longer had to take care of “desperate, sloppy, needy Dean” (“Bedtime Stories,” 3-5). The Trickster told Sam that Dean was his weakness (“Mystery Spot,” 3-11).

  The possibility that Sam might be Lucifer does not make his fall inevitable. Lucifer, the Light Bringer, the Morning Star, is not simply a demonic figure. The Morning Star is also a title for Jesus.18 Thus if Sam is a “Lucifer” figure, he could just as easily be a Christ-figure as he could be an Antichrist. One (human) attacker even pinned Sam to the ground in the position of crucifix-ion, nails restraining his hands, providing a visual representation of Sam as Christ (“Dream a Little Dream of Me,” 3-10). Sam is an unfallen Lucifer-figure, and he has the potential to choose either good or evil.

  Yet Dean is also a Christ-figure. In the alternate world created by the djinn, in a graveyard at night, Dean asked his absent yet intimately present father, “Why is it my job to save these people? Why do I have to be some kind of hero?” Dean echoes the questions Christ asked his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. And Dean ends his dialogue by accepting the need for sacrifice, just as Jesus did: “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matthew 26:42) Dean then goes to kill the djinn with a silver knife dipped in lamb’s blood, further hinting at a connection between Dean and Jesus, the Lamb of God (“What Is and What Should Never Be,” 2-20).

  Sam and Dean have the option of choosing between good and evil because, while Supernatural is unambiguous about the existence of evil, it nevertheless hints at the existence of good. Supernatural good is as much a part of the world of the Winchesters as supernatural evil. And like evil, it is a result of human choice.

  “IF YOU KNOW EVIL’S OUT THERE, HOW CAN YOU NOT BELIEVE GOOD’S OUT THERE, TOO?”

  SAM: [I]f you know evil’s out there, how can you not believe good’s out there, too?

  DEAN: Because I’ve seen what evil does to good people. (“Faith,” 1-12)

  The theology of Supernatural is the reverse of popular religion, which postulates the idea of “the Devil” as a way of explaining the existence of evil in a world created by a supposedly all-powerful, all-good God.19 In the Supernatural universe, the tangible presence of demons is not matched by the equally discernible presence of angels, and a higher power of good can only be hypothesized. Evil is a matter of empirical knowledge, of what Sam and Dean can see with their own two eyes; good is a matter of hope, a possibility that keeps them fighting.

  The first episode of Supernatural hinted at the existence of good. Sam told a girl wearing a pentagram necklace, “A pentagram is a protection against evil. Really powerful. I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing” (“Pilot”). Since Sam obviously knows supernatural lore, the implication is that pentagrams work. There are other hints that there is a higher power of good that cooperates with humanity in hunting evil as well. The demons the Winchesters hunt all flinch at “Christo,”20 are burnt by holy water,21 and can be exorcised by the Latin Rituale Romanum (“Phantom Traveler,” 1-4), while evil spirits cannot cross the hallowed ground of a church (“Route 666,” 1-13).22

  There are the events that might have been coincidence, were it not that, as Bobby Singer says, “I believe in a lot of things. Coincidence ain’t one of them” (“The Magnificent Seven”). In the Winchesters’ hometown of Lawrence, for example, little Sari was scared by a figure of fire in her closet-at the exact moment that her mother Jenny found a collection of Winchester family photographs in the basement. When Sam and Dean turned up on Jenny’s doorstep and Sam used their real names, Jenny responded, “That is so funny. You know, I think I found some of your photos the other nig ht” (“Home”). She then invited them in, two strangers who just happened to be able to protect her family. That the figure of fire Sari feared in fact turned out to be Mary Winchester demonstrated that the sequence of events was more than just a coincidence.

  Another such “coincidence” was Roy Le Grange’s decision to heal Dean because he looked into Dean’s heart and saw a young man with an important purpose, an unfinished job. While Roy’s ability to heal came, without his knowledge, from his wife’s maleficent binding of a reaper, again it seemed to be more than just coincidence that Roy chose Dean, a young man with a destiny (“Faith”).

  The life and work of Pastor Jim Murphy was also a hint that good might be tangible. An old friend of John Winchester (“Asylum”; “Something Wicked,” 1-18), Pastor Jim was first seen standing in his church, leafing through a Bible, a chalice at his hand. A young woman entered, looking for help, and Jim offered it: “I like to say, salvation was created for sinners” (“Salvation,” 1-21). Sadly, the young woman was Meg, a woman possessed by the daughter of a powerful demon. Undeterred by the church being on hallowed ground, “Meg” killed Pastor Jim to send a message to John Winchester. The very fact that Jim Murphy was both hunter and pastor, someone who knew exactly what was out there, had the weapons to dispatch it, and yet still apparently believed in good, offers hope for the existence of supernatural good as well as supernatural evil.

  As with evil, the power of supernatural good comes from human choice. Exorcisms work, pentagrams act as protection, holy water hurts demons, and salt repels evil-if a human chooses to use them. Supernatural even postulates that human choice can lead to the existence of angels, holy forces against evil.

  “ANY FLUFFY WHITE WING FEATHERS?”: THE EXISTENCE OF ANGELS

  FATHER REYNOLDS: The Archangel Michael. With the flaming sword. The fighter of demons. Holy force against evil… . I like to think of them as more loving than wrathful, but, yes, a lot of Scripture paints angels as God’s warriors. (“Houses of the Holy”)

  In the world the Winchesters inhabit, demons exist, are everywhere, and can possess anyone. Angels, on the other hand, have never appeared in supernatural form on Supernatural. Dean does not believe in them; Sam only hopes they exist. The only time the Winchesters encountered an apparently supernatural angel, it turned out to be the confused spirit of a Catholic priest who needed help to rest in peace.

  This does not mean that there are no angels on Supernatural. At the beginning of “Something Wicked” a little girl prayed, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Thy angels watch me through the night. And keep me safe till morning light.” Several days later Dean and Sam worked through the night to kill a shtriga, saving the little girl and every other child the shtriga attacked. When morning light came, and the children recovered, the mother of one described it as a miracle. The little girl’s prayer was answered-“angels” came.

  In the oldest Biblical stories of angels there is no mention of fluffy white wing feathers.23 Angels, as the Hebrew malakh and the Greek angelos indicate, were simply God’s messengers. Biblical angels were more likely to carry a sword than a harp; many appeared as warriors.24 They wore no special clothing and appeared in no special way. Those they visited thought that they were human until, having accomplished God’s work, the angels departed.25 They symbolized the fact that humans were not alone, that God’s help was close at hand.

  Sam and Dean Winchester resemble these early biblical angels. In “What Is and What Should Never Be” we saw a world in which the Winchesters did not hunt evil, and it was one in which hundreds of people died prematurely. In the “real world” where Sam and Dean do save people and hunt things, armed with extraordinary knowledge, they often appear without warning, protecting the innocent, acting with courage that seems superhuman. Because of their intervention, children are not orphaned and parents are able to see their childre
n grow up.

  Sam and Dean bring help and hope to everyone they save, including each other. Immediately after Jessica’s death, it was Dean who gave Sam a way not to descend into a pit of anger and sorrow and revenge: “[S]aving people, hunting things. The family business” (“Wendigo”). It was also Dean who convinced Sam that all humans are worthy of protection, that not even prisoners deserve to die at the hands of a vengeful spirit (“Folsom Prison Blues”). Even when John made Dean pledge to kill Sam should it become necessary, Dean refused to believe that Sam was destined to turn evil (“Hunted,” 2-10) and swore that, if it was the last thing he did, he would save Sam (“Born Under a Bad Sign”). It was Dean who promised Sam that Sam would never turn evil: “As long as I’m around, nothing bad is going to happen to you” (“Nightmare,” 1-14), a promise renewed again and again. While at times Sam has wished that something else was watching out for him (“Houses of the Holy”), so far Dean has done everything necessary to keep Sam alive and prevent him from turning evil. No supernatural angel could have done a better job.

  Similarly, at least until the end of season two, Sam acted as Dean’s good angel by opening his eyes to shades of gray and always, always arguing against killing humans. While Dean saw in Max Miller someone “no different from anything else we’ve hunted,” Sam saw a person with whom they could talk (“Nightmare”). It was Sam who pointed out to Dean that their job was hunting evil, not merely anything supernatural (“Bloodlust,” 2-3). Sam reminded Dean of the need to struggle with shades of gray and thus keep their consciences clear even when they were forced to kill (“Croatoan,” 2-9).

  Without the other acting as their angel, Dean and Sam would journey down dark paths. Dean without Sam would resemble Gordon Walker, living in a world of black and white and enjoying the infliction of pain (“Bloodlust”). One of the tragedies of Dean’s deal was that, to Dean’s horror, it changed Sam. As he prepared to live without his brother, Sam no longer argued with Dean about “the sanctity of life and all that crap” (“Malleus Maleficarum”). We have been shown a glimpse of what Sam might be like with Dean gone, and it is a frightening prospect (“Mystery Spot”). Because Sam and Dean are each other’s only angels, because they can only hear God’s message of faith, hope, and love from each other; one without the other is less than human. Angels are vulnerable to falling, and Sam and Dean are no exception.