Significant Mothers of Supernatural, Part One:
One-Hit Wonders
We survived again! Officially less than one week to go in this long, long hiatus. My goal during Hellatus was to contribute more than the one measly piece I did, but that clearly didn't happen. The one thing everyone knows about me (and my family) is that we have ridiculously bad luck and thus, as usual life had other plans for me, food poisoning being at the top of the list (seriously, one year we rented a cottage on our first vacation in nearly seven years - and EIGHT tornados touched down where we were staying). So, when the many crises were abated, I sat down to write one article and instead found myself with multiple points of interest, leading one article to become one of three instead. So here we go: Part One of the Mother series.
Mother is a word that we use in many contexts. It can mean the woman who birthed us, or Mother Earth, or it can be used as a verb, such as "you're mothering me" or it can be an adjective to describe a relationship other than parent-child. The world of Supernatural has explored many mothers throughout the series, good and bad, both desperate and strong. For the most part, these have been powerful characters with a significant role to play, regardless of their actual screen time. That said, this article trilogy intends to explore the significant maternal figures on the show.
First, I'll start with the Honourable Mentions. These were individuals who were mothers in some senses, but their specific impact on going-ons and/or character development wasn't as strong. Note that none of these are in order of favouritism, but rather appearance:
[Editor's Comment: As Sam and Dean's mom, Mary Winchester was a beloved character in Supernatural for the first eleven years of the series. With her reintroduction to the story in season 12, she has become a great deal more controversial. Guest writer Gail Martin reflects on Mary's life, examining the emotions and perspectives that may be influencing Mary's decisions after her reunion with her sons. - Nightsky]
Mary’s comment to Dean about him not being a child and his response about not needing her to tuck him in--as though an adult doesn’t need a parent--really bothered me. Then I thought about it—Mary lost both her parents in 1973 when she was 19. John’s father disappeared when he was a young child, and there’s not much mention (any?) of John’s mother.
Something old - something new - something borrowed - something blue
Did you know that there is an animated version of Supernatural? Several people showed interest in learning more about Supernatural: The Animation so I was thinking that during this hellatus I could pull back the curtain a little bit on the series as I have watched all the episodes.
This is the first part of five articles about the animation. In this article I will briefly introduce the characters and their backgrounds. First, though, I will start by defining animation.
Episode 12 crossed the mid-season point in season 11's 23 episode series. Curiously named “Don’t You Forget About Me”, I have to wonder what else in season 11 are we being told not to forget? So after a quick review of this stand-alone story, let’s revisit some of the season’s earlier threads to see if they now have deeper meaning.
“Screaming like a Banshee”. I’ve heard and said that phrase my whole life but never knew it had its roots in folklore. I guess you really do learn something new every day – especially from Supernatural!
