Pilot (Supernatural)
Encyclopedia
"Pilot" is the first episode of the television series Supernatural
. It premiered on The WB
on September 13, 2005 and was written by series creator Eric Kripke
, and directed by David Nutter
. The Supernatural pilot
introduces the characters of Sam
(Jared Padalecki
) and Dean Winchester
(Jensen Ackles
), brothers who travel throughout the country hunting supernatural creatures, as they battle a ghostly Woman in White
(Sarah Shahi
) while searching for their missing father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan
).
Kripke had been developing the concept for ten years before it was greenlit as a television series. Before it could be filmed, the script underwent numerous revisions. It was produced in Los Angeles, though future episodes were filmed in Vancouver
, British Columbia, to save money. The episode established the series' tradition of a rock-music soundtrack, and included background music scored by Kripke's friend Christopher Lennertz. The series premiere received mixed reviews, with critics praising the horror elements but having varying opinions of the lead actors' performances.
(Morgan), is awoken by her screams and finds her pinned to the ceiling with a slash across her stomach. She bursts into flames, and John is forced to evacuate the house with Sam and his older son, Dean.
Twenty-two years later, Sam (Padalecki) and his girlfriend Jessica Moore (Adrianne Palicki
) celebrate his high LSAT
score. Later that night, Dean shows up at Sam's home. Though the brothers have not spoken in years, Dean comes looking for help in finding their father, who disappeared while hunting a supernatural entity. After Sam hears a voicemail from his father that contains electronic voice phenomenon
of a woman saying, "I can never go home," he agrees to help Dean in the search. The brothers head to John's last known whereabouts—the town of Jericho—where he had been investigating the disappearances of young men along a single stretch of road over ten years. Sam and Dean discover a local legend of a murdered girl who has returned as a homicidal, hitchhiking ghost. Research points to Constance Welch (Shahi), who jumped to her death off a nearby bridge after drowning her children. While they stakeout the bridge that night, Sam tells Dean he does not want to return to hunting supernatural creatures. He points out that finding whatever creature killed their mother—a task their father has dedicated his life to—will not bring her back. The two are interrupted by a ghostly woman jumping off the bridge. Sam and Dean later check into a local motel, and discover their father is also renting a room there. They break into it and discover his research scattered all over the room; all his findings point to Constance being a woman in white
.
When Dean leaves the room to get food, he is arrested by the police, who believe he is connected to the disappearances. At the police station, they show him John's journal, and he notices the message "Dean 35-111" written inside it. As Dean is interrogated, Sam tracks down Constance's husband (Steve Railsback
), and learns the locations of both her grave site and the house in which she drowned their children. Sam then fakes a 911 call so Dean can escape the station. However, Constance targets Sam in his car; she attempts to seduce him and requests he take her home. Sam acquiesces, and she attacks him once they arrive at her old house. Dean forces her to temporarily dissipate by shooting her with rock salt, and Sam uses the opportunity to crash the car into the house. Constance reappears and attacks them, but the spirits of her children confront her. They embrace their mother, and the family disappears.
Dean deduces John's message was coordinates to where he has headed. Sam still does not want to join the search, so Dean drops him off at his apartment. Lying alone in bed, Sam discovers Jessica pinned to the ceiling with a slash across her stomach. She ignites into flames as Dean breaks in and rescues Sam. While firefighters attempt to put out the inferno, Sam decides to join his brother in the search for their father and the creature that killed their mother and Jessica.
had previously written for the WB series Tarzan, and was offered the chance to pitch show ideas to the network. He used the opportunity for Supernatural, a concept he had been developing for nearly ten years. Kripke envisioned Supernatural as a road trip series, deeming it the "best vehicle to tell these stories because it's pure, stripped down and uniquely American... These stories exist in these small towns all across the country, and it just makes so much sense to drive in and out of these stories." Though the network rejected his initial pitch—a tabloid reporter investigates supernatural occurrences throughout the country—they were still interested in a series featuring urban legends. Kripke quickly suggested a Route 66
-style series, and the network loved it. Filming was greenlit after director David Nutter
, who previously had worked with Kripke on Tarzan, signed on.
and Han Solo
of Star Wars
. Padalecki knew executive producers McG
and Nutter, the former convincing him to audition for the role. He was excited to play "the reluctant hero", and compared Sam to The Matrix
s Neo
. However, Nutter also asked Ackles to audition for the role of Sam. Nutter and Kripke found themselves in a predicament, as they felt both actors were great as Sam. To remedy the situation, Warner Bros.
president Peter Roth
suggested Ackles instead audition for Dean. Kripke agreed, believing Ackles' "smart-ass attitude" made him "born to play" the Harrison Ford
-like character, and Ackles preferred the character of Dean after reading the script. Both actors were the only ones to audition, and network executives instantly noticed a brotherly chemistry between them. Evil Dead
-actor Bruce Campbell
was Kripke's first choice to portray John Winchester
, father of Sam and Dean. However, Campbell was unavailable, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan eventually landed the role. With Morgan's scene taking place 22 years before the series, he expected to be replaced by an older actor for subsequent episodes, and was surprised when he was later asked to reprise the role.
For the role of Constance Welch—the Woman in White—production set out to find the "perfect actress". Nutter, a fan of The L Word
, had watched an episode featuring actress Sarah Shahi
one night during the casting process. He felt she was "really sharp" and a "fine actress", with a "seductive quality about her". Surprised when she came in to audition the following day, he knew she "had the job when she walked in the door". Because the scene involving Constance's husband Joseph Welch merely discusses Constance's backstory, the scene hinged on the actors' performances. Seeking a "great actor", Nutter recalled his previous experience working with Steve Railsback
, and offered him the role. Other guest stars include Adrianne Palicki as Sam's girlfriend Jessica Moore, and Samantha Smith as Mary Winchester. The latter felt she landed the part due to her joking around with Nutter during the audition.
A gas-station scene within the episode was meant to establish what the brothers and the series are about—bantering, credit card scams, and classic rock; Kripke feared that it would be cut because it was character-based and did not further the episode's plot. He also did not want the series to feature ballad music typical of The WB network, and forced the use of classic rock for the soundtrack by writing the music into the script. For the episode's villain, Kripke used the well-known urban legend of the vanishing hitchhiker
, but combined it with the Mexican legend of La Llorona
to give the spirit more motivation and characterization. The ghost was younger in an earlier version of script, and murdered her parents instead of her children; this was revised to allow for the casting of an older actress.
Originally, the studio did not want Kripke to kill Jessica at the episode's end, but rather keep her as a recurring character in the series. Kripke felt this would not fit the series's format, and decided to have her revealed as a demon, with the revelation prompting Sam to join Dean in hunting. However, with only a short amount of screentime available to depict this, Kripke believed it would be a "tough aspect to sell". Because Luke Skywalker only begins his journey after the deaths of his aunt and uncle, Kripke found it more appropriate for Sam's motivation to be Jessica's death. Thus, the character is killed in the same manner as Sam's mother, making the deaths the "right bookends".
for the pilot took place in Los Angeles
, though subsequent episodes of the series are filmed in Vancouver
, British Columbia
to save money. The bridge sequences were shot at Lake Piru
, near a War of the Worlds
filming location, and the library and phone booth scenes were filmed at an elementary school. Triplet babies portrayed Sam in the episode's teaser, and production found it difficult to get them to cry on cue. Though a real house served as the first-story level in the teaser, the upstairs was constructed on a sound stage
because of the special effects required for Mary's fiery death. Script rewrites for the opening sequence—a better introduction for Sam was needed—required reshoots on the set of The O.C.
two months after principal photography.
, and was then ignited on a fake ceiling. However, the room quickly caught fire, forcing an evacuation. Green screen
coincided with the visual effects for the ghostly Woman in White, and executive producer McG
chose to make the imagery of her death sequence an homage to Chris Cunningham
's Aphex Twin
video "Windowlicker". Japanese horror
also influenced the scene, such as the school uniforms worn by the ghost children, the water cascading down the stairs, and the Dark Water
elements.
together, and worked together on various projects afterwards. Lennertz described Supernatural as "one of those dream situations where you get to work with someone who you admire, but also have a relationship with already", and noted he and Kripke "were already on the same page without even talking about [the series' music]".
For the scenes involving Mary and Jessica's deaths at the hands of the demon Azazel
, Lennertz used a piano solo with discordant notes and reverberations to create a "really nasty" sounding echo effect. He would later reuse this theme in the season one episode "Nightmare". The episode also included a number of rock songs, which would become a tradition for the series. Kripke wanted to feature the song "Enter Sandman
", but Metallica
would not grant permission.
, who was "hooked right away", gave the pilot episode a score of 8.5 out of 10. She felt it began "heartbreakingly", and the "genuinely scary" death scenes of Mary and Jess "will haunt...the viewers". Steenbergen praised both the writers and the lead actors for making the "[exposition scenes] still feel natural, for the most part", and noted Ackles and Padalecki were "instantly convincing as brothers". Also credited for this "well paced" episode was director David Nutter, who did an "excellent job of setting up the atmosphere and tone of the series". Likewise, BuddyTV
's Don Williams posited, "It's about as good as a pilot can get." He ranked it ninth out of his favorite episodes of the first three seasons, believing it introduces the characters "in a memorable fashion" and "wonderfully" establishes the show's universe. Robert Bianco of USA Today
deemed the series as possibly "the simplest and the scariest" of the season's new dark shows, and wrote, "It wants nothing more than to frighten you — and tonight, it does." He noted the episode "[pulls] off a few surprises" and "works its way to an ending that lives up to Dean's 'no chick-flick moments'". However, Bianco criticized the "pauses for comic relief"; he felt Ackles' "comic touch" was "not yet as skillful as it needs to be", with Ackles' attempts at being "humorously annoying" leaving him "simply annoying". Despite the episode having a somewhat unoriginal villain and a "relatively simple" solution, Brian Lowry of Variety
deemed the series' debut as "a promising plunge into the darkness". Lowry applauded Ackles, who "brings an easygoing charm and engaging wise-ass personality to the absurd notion of traveling the country with a trunk full of wooden stakes and holy water".
Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times
found the first half of the episode "quite effective", with the "camera angles, spooky music and jumpy sequences...[being] as frightening as those found in any horror movie, with an added twist of suspense". However, she deemed the depiction of the ghostly villain as "pretty silly", and noted the second half "stops building suspense and turns predictable". Calling the series "Ghostbusters' Creek", Stanley felt the episode "reverts to a WB family drama about the bonds between two mismatched brothers and their father". Similarly, Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe called Ackles and Padalecki "generic cuties who hold their lips together tightly, except to utter the word Dude". Although Gilbert noted there are a couple "moderately creepy" twists, he found there to be "nothing about the central family story in Supernatural or its bland actors that makes it addictive".
Work on the pilot episode garnered two Emmy Award
nominations in 2006. Lennertz was nominated in the category of "Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Dramatic Underscore)", and the sound editorsMichael Lawshe (Supervising Sound Editor), Timothy Cleveland (Sound Effects Editor), Paul Diller (Sound Effects Editor), Marc Meyer (Sound Effects Editor), David Lynch (Sound Effects Editor), Jessica Dickson (Dialog Editor), Karyn Foster (Dialog/ADR Editor), Chris McGeary (Music Editor), David Lee Fein (Foley Artist), and Jody Thomas (Foley Artist) for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series".
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
. It premiered on The WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
on September 13, 2005 and was written by series creator Eric Kripke
Eric Kripke
Eric Kripke is an American television writer, director, and producer. He is best known for creating the television series Supernatural.-Biography:...
, and directed by David Nutter
David Nutter
David Nutter is an American television and film director and television producer. He is best known for directing pilot episodes for television series, being known as "the pilot whisperer."-Career:...
. The Supernatural pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
introduces the characters of Sam
Sam Winchester
Samuel "Sam" Winchester is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of The CW Television Network's Supernatural along with his older brother Dean. He is portrayed by Jared Padalecki.-Background:...
(Jared Padalecki
Jared Padalecki
Jared Tristan Padalecki is an American actor. He grew up in Texas and came to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in several Hollywood films, including New York Minute and House of Wax...
) and Dean Winchester
Dean Winchester
Dean Winchester is a fictional character from The CW Television Network's Supernatural, portrayed by Jensen Ackles. He hunts demons, spirits and other supernatural creatures with his younger brother Sam.-Background:...
(Jensen Ackles
Jensen Ackles
Jensen Ross Ackles is an American actor. He is known for his roles in television as Eric Brady in Days of our Lives, which earned him several Daytime Emmy Award nominations, as well as Alec/X5-494 in Dark Angel and Jason Teague in Smallville...
), brothers who travel throughout the country hunting supernatural creatures, as they battle a ghostly Woman in White
La Llorona
La Llorona is a widespread legend in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Central America. Although several variations exist, the basic story tells of a beautiful woman by the name of Maria killing her children by drowning them, in order to be with the man that she loved. When the man rejects her, she kills...
(Sarah Shahi
Sarah Shahi
Aahoo Jahansouz "Sarah" Shahi is an American actress and a former NFL Cheerleader. She is probably best known for starring in The L Word as Carmen de la Pica Morales and in Life as Detective Dani Reese...
) while searching for their missing father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is an American actor, best known to television and movie audiences as Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy, patriarch John Winchester on Supernatural, and as The Comedian in the 2009 superhero film Watchmen....
).
Kripke had been developing the concept for ten years before it was greenlit as a television series. Before it could be filmed, the script underwent numerous revisions. It was produced in Los Angeles, though future episodes were filmed in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia, to save money. The episode established the series' tradition of a rock-music soundtrack, and included background music scored by Kripke's friend Christopher Lennertz. The series premiere received mixed reviews, with critics praising the horror elements but having varying opinions of the lead actors' performances.
Plot
In Lawrence, Kansas, Mary Winchester (Samantha Smith)investigates a sound coming from her infant son Sam's nursery. She sees a figure standing over his crib, and confronts him. Her husband, JohnJohn Winchester (Supernatural)
John Eric Winchester is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series Supernatural, and the protagonist of the comic book spin-off series Supernatural: Origins. Developed by series creator Eric Kripke, the character is mainly portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan...
(Morgan), is awoken by her screams and finds her pinned to the ceiling with a slash across her stomach. She bursts into flames, and John is forced to evacuate the house with Sam and his older son, Dean.
Twenty-two years later, Sam (Padalecki) and his girlfriend Jessica Moore (Adrianne Palicki
Adrianne Palicki
Adrianne Palicki is an American actress best known for her role as Tyra Collette on the NBC television series Friday Night Lights.-Early life:...
) celebrate his high LSAT
Law School Admission Test
The Law School Admission Test is a half-day standardized test administered four times each year at designated testing centers throughout the world. Administered by the Law School Admission Council for prospective law school candidates, the LSAT is designed to assess Reading Comprehension,...
score. Later that night, Dean shows up at Sam's home. Though the brothers have not spoken in years, Dean comes looking for help in finding their father, who disappeared while hunting a supernatural entity. After Sam hears a voicemail from his father that contains electronic voice phenomenon
Electronic voice phenomenon
Electronic voice phenomena are electronically generated noises that resemble speech, but are not the result of intentional voice recordings or renderings. Common sources of EVP include static, stray radio transmissions, and background noise...
of a woman saying, "I can never go home," he agrees to help Dean in the search. The brothers head to John's last known whereabouts—the town of Jericho—where he had been investigating the disappearances of young men along a single stretch of road over ten years. Sam and Dean discover a local legend of a murdered girl who has returned as a homicidal, hitchhiking ghost. Research points to Constance Welch (Shahi), who jumped to her death off a nearby bridge after drowning her children. While they stakeout the bridge that night, Sam tells Dean he does not want to return to hunting supernatural creatures. He points out that finding whatever creature killed their mother—a task their father has dedicated his life to—will not bring her back. The two are interrupted by a ghostly woman jumping off the bridge. Sam and Dean later check into a local motel, and discover their father is also renting a room there. They break into it and discover his research scattered all over the room; all his findings point to Constance being a woman in white
La Llorona
La Llorona is a widespread legend in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Central America. Although several variations exist, the basic story tells of a beautiful woman by the name of Maria killing her children by drowning them, in order to be with the man that she loved. When the man rejects her, she kills...
.
When Dean leaves the room to get food, he is arrested by the police, who believe he is connected to the disappearances. At the police station, they show him John's journal, and he notices the message "Dean 35-111" written inside it. As Dean is interrogated, Sam tracks down Constance's husband (Steve Railsback
Steve Railsback
Steve Railsback is an American theatre, film and television actor, born in Dallas, Texas.-Personal life:Railsback was born Stephen Hall Railsback, in Dallas, Texas, the son of Emerett Spencer and Clyde Webb Railsback.-Career:Railsback was a student of Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio and in...
), and learns the locations of both her grave site and the house in which she drowned their children. Sam then fakes a 911 call so Dean can escape the station. However, Constance targets Sam in his car; she attempts to seduce him and requests he take her home. Sam acquiesces, and she attacks him once they arrive at her old house. Dean forces her to temporarily dissipate by shooting her with rock salt, and Sam uses the opportunity to crash the car into the house. Constance reappears and attacks them, but the spirits of her children confront her. They embrace their mother, and the family disappears.
Dean deduces John's message was coordinates to where he has headed. Sam still does not want to join the search, so Dean drops him off at his apartment. Lying alone in bed, Sam discovers Jessica pinned to the ceiling with a slash across her stomach. She ignites into flames as Dean breaks in and rescues Sam. While firefighters attempt to put out the inferno, Sam decides to join his brother in the search for their father and the creature that killed their mother and Jessica.
Development
Series creator Eric KripkeEric Kripke
Eric Kripke is an American television writer, director, and producer. He is best known for creating the television series Supernatural.-Biography:...
had previously written for the WB series Tarzan, and was offered the chance to pitch show ideas to the network. He used the opportunity for Supernatural, a concept he had been developing for nearly ten years. Kripke envisioned Supernatural as a road trip series, deeming it the "best vehicle to tell these stories because it's pure, stripped down and uniquely American... These stories exist in these small towns all across the country, and it just makes so much sense to drive in and out of these stories." Though the network rejected his initial pitch—a tabloid reporter investigates supernatural occurrences throughout the country—they were still interested in a series featuring urban legends. Kripke quickly suggested a Route 66
Route 66 (TV series)
Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America. The show ran weekly on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod...
-style series, and the network loved it. Filming was greenlit after director David Nutter
David Nutter
David Nutter is an American television and film director and television producer. He is best known for directing pilot episodes for television series, being known as "the pilot whisperer."-Career:...
, who previously had worked with Kripke on Tarzan, signed on.
Cast and characters
The pilot stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as Sam and Dean Winchester, whom Kripke likened to Luke SkywalkerLuke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
and Han Solo
Han Solo
Han Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise played by Harrison Ford. Introduced in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca , become involved in the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire...
of Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
. Padalecki knew executive producers McG
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
and Nutter, the former convincing him to audition for the role. He was excited to play "the reluctant hero", and compared Sam to The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
s Neo
Neo (The Matrix)
Thomas A. Anderson is a fictional character and the main protagonist in The Matrix franchise, as well as having a cameo in The Animatrix short film, Kid's Story. He was portrayed by Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Trilogy and The Animatrix. Andrew Bowen provided Neo's voice in The Matrix: Path of Neo...
. However, Nutter also asked Ackles to audition for the role of Sam. Nutter and Kripke found themselves in a predicament, as they felt both actors were great as Sam. To remedy the situation, Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
president Peter Roth
Peter Roth (executive)
Peter Roth is an American television producer, currently serving as the chief executive of Warner Brothers Television.-Career:Roth graduated from Tufts University in 1972 and began his television career in 1976 as manager and later director of children's programs and VP of current programming for...
suggested Ackles instead audition for Dean. Kripke agreed, believing Ackles' "smart-ass attitude" made him "born to play" the Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
-like character, and Ackles preferred the character of Dean after reading the script. Both actors were the only ones to audition, and network executives instantly noticed a brotherly chemistry between them. Evil Dead
The Evil Dead (franchise)
The Evil Dead is a trilogy of horror films created by Sam Raimi. The films focus on the protagonist, Ashley "Ash" J. Williams, played by Bruce Campbell, who deals with "deadites", which are undead antagonists created by the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. The film series has since expanded into other...
-actor Bruce Campbell
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...
was Kripke's first choice to portray John Winchester
John Winchester (Supernatural)
John Eric Winchester is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series Supernatural, and the protagonist of the comic book spin-off series Supernatural: Origins. Developed by series creator Eric Kripke, the character is mainly portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan...
, father of Sam and Dean. However, Campbell was unavailable, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan eventually landed the role. With Morgan's scene taking place 22 years before the series, he expected to be replaced by an older actor for subsequent episodes, and was surprised when he was later asked to reprise the role.
For the role of Constance Welch—the Woman in White—production set out to find the "perfect actress". Nutter, a fan of The L Word
The L Word
The L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood...
, had watched an episode featuring actress Sarah Shahi
Sarah Shahi
Aahoo Jahansouz "Sarah" Shahi is an American actress and a former NFL Cheerleader. She is probably best known for starring in The L Word as Carmen de la Pica Morales and in Life as Detective Dani Reese...
one night during the casting process. He felt she was "really sharp" and a "fine actress", with a "seductive quality about her". Surprised when she came in to audition the following day, he knew she "had the job when she walked in the door". Because the scene involving Constance's husband Joseph Welch merely discusses Constance's backstory, the scene hinged on the actors' performances. Seeking a "great actor", Nutter recalled his previous experience working with Steve Railsback
Steve Railsback
Steve Railsback is an American theatre, film and television actor, born in Dallas, Texas.-Personal life:Railsback was born Stephen Hall Railsback, in Dallas, Texas, the son of Emerett Spencer and Clyde Webb Railsback.-Career:Railsback was a student of Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio and in...
, and offered him the role. Other guest stars include Adrianne Palicki as Sam's girlfriend Jessica Moore, and Samantha Smith as Mary Winchester. The latter felt she landed the part due to her joking around with Nutter during the audition.
Writing
The episode was written by series creator Eric Kripke, who described its creation as a "very difficult, birthing process" due to the numerous rewrites required. The original version did not feature the Woman in White, and John Winchester died in the teaser. In the revised script, Sam and Dean Winchester were raised by their aunt and uncle instead of their father. Because of this, Sam is unaware that supernatural beings exist, and Dean must convince him of the truth when he asks for help. Kripke realized this made the backstory too complicated, and reworked it with co-executive producer Peter Johnson so that their father raised them to be hunters like him. This decision granted the brothers proficiency in both fighting and swindling people. Other revised concepts included Sam believing Dean to be a serial killer who murdered their father, and John dying instead of Sam's girlfriend Jessica. The scene in which the brothers discuss their childhood and delve into their backstory was rewritten 20 to 30 times, and the final version was heavily trimmed.A gas-station scene within the episode was meant to establish what the brothers and the series are about—bantering, credit card scams, and classic rock; Kripke feared that it would be cut because it was character-based and did not further the episode's plot. He also did not want the series to feature ballad music typical of The WB network, and forced the use of classic rock for the soundtrack by writing the music into the script. For the episode's villain, Kripke used the well-known urban legend of the vanishing hitchhiker
Vanishing hitchhiker
The vanishing hitchhiker story is an urban legend in which people travelling by vehicle meet with or are accompanied by a hitchhiker who subsequently vanishes without explanation, often from a moving vehicle...
, but combined it with the Mexican legend of La Llorona
La Llorona
La Llorona is a widespread legend in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Central America. Although several variations exist, the basic story tells of a beautiful woman by the name of Maria killing her children by drowning them, in order to be with the man that she loved. When the man rejects her, she kills...
to give the spirit more motivation and characterization. The ghost was younger in an earlier version of script, and murdered her parents instead of her children; this was revised to allow for the casting of an older actress.
Originally, the studio did not want Kripke to kill Jessica at the episode's end, but rather keep her as a recurring character in the series. Kripke felt this would not fit the series's format, and decided to have her revealed as a demon, with the revelation prompting Sam to join Dean in hunting. However, with only a short amount of screentime available to depict this, Kripke believed it would be a "tough aspect to sell". Because Luke Skywalker only begins his journey after the deaths of his aunt and uncle, Kripke found it more appropriate for Sam's motivation to be Jessica's death. Thus, the character is killed in the same manner as Sam's mother, making the deaths the "right bookends".
Filming
Principal photographyPrincipal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
for the pilot took place in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, though subsequent episodes of the series are filmed in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
to save money. The bridge sequences were shot at Lake Piru
Lake Piru
Lake Piru is an artificial lake located in Los Padres National Forest of Ventura County, California, created by the construction in 1955 of the Santa Felicia Dam on Piru Creek which is a tributary of the Santa Clara River. It is situated downstream from Pyramid Lake and can be accessed from Piru...
, near a War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds (2005 film)
War of the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction film adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It is one of three film adaptations of War of the Worlds released that year, alongside The Asylum's version and...
filming location, and the library and phone booth scenes were filmed at an elementary school. Triplet babies portrayed Sam in the episode's teaser, and production found it difficult to get them to cry on cue. Though a real house served as the first-story level in the teaser, the upstairs was constructed on a sound stage
Sound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
because of the special effects required for Mary's fiery death. Script rewrites for the opening sequence—a better introduction for Sam was needed—required reshoots on the set of The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
two months after principal photography.
Effects
To depict the supernatural aspects of the show, the series makes use of visual, special, and make-up effects, as well as stuntwork. Businesses, such as visual effects company Entity FX, were contracted for production of the pilot episode. Subsequent episodes were filmed in Vancouver and required a new crew that works exclusively for the show. Mary Winchester's death scene, which had the character pinned to the ceiling and burning to death, required actress Samantha Smith to lie on a floor with two propane pipes spouting fire approximately five feet away from her on either side. For the actual burning of the character, a fake body the crew named "Christina" was made out of wire and papier-mâchéPapier-mâché
Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....
, and was then ignited on a fake ceiling. However, the room quickly caught fire, forcing an evacuation. Green screen
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
coincided with the visual effects for the ghostly Woman in White, and executive producer McG
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
chose to make the imagery of her death sequence an homage to Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham is an English music video film director and video artist. He was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1970 and grew up in Lakenheath, Suffolk....
's Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
video "Windowlicker". Japanese horror
J-Horror
Japanese horror, or J-Horror, is Japanese horror fiction in popular culture, noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre in light of western treatments...
also influenced the scene, such as the school uniforms worn by the ghost children, the water cascading down the stairs, and the Dark Water
Dark Water (2002 film)
Dark Water is a 2002 Japanese drama-horror film directed by Hideo Nakata, the director of Ring and Ring 2. Dark Water is based on Floating Water, a short story by Koji Suzuki. Its Japanese name is Honogurai mizu no soko kara , which is also the name of the horror anthology by Koji Suzuki...
elements.
Music
The episode's synthesized orchestral score was written by Christopher Lennertz, Kripke's friend and next-door neighbor. The two attended USC School of Cinematic ArtsUSC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
together, and worked together on various projects afterwards. Lennertz described Supernatural as "one of those dream situations where you get to work with someone who you admire, but also have a relationship with already", and noted he and Kripke "were already on the same page without even talking about [the series' music]".
For the scenes involving Mary and Jessica's deaths at the hands of the demon Azazel
Azazel (Supernatural)
Azazel is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama and horror television series Supernatural. He serves as the primary antagonist during the first two seasons. A demon, he feeds his blood to infants so that they will grow up to develop demonic abilities. His endgame of using one...
, Lennertz used a piano solo with discordant notes and reverberations to create a "really nasty" sounding echo effect. He would later reuse this theme in the season one episode "Nightmare". The episode also included a number of rock songs, which would become a tradition for the series. Kripke wanted to feature the song "Enter Sandman
Enter Sandman
"Enter Sandman" is a 1991 song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the first single from their eponymous fifth album, Metallica. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich...
", but Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
would not grant permission.
Reception
In its original broadcast, the pilot was viewed by an estimated 5.69 million viewers. The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Diana Steenbergen of IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, who was "hooked right away", gave the pilot episode a score of 8.5 out of 10. She felt it began "heartbreakingly", and the "genuinely scary" death scenes of Mary and Jess "will haunt...the viewers". Steenbergen praised both the writers and the lead actors for making the "[exposition scenes] still feel natural, for the most part", and noted Ackles and Padalecki were "instantly convincing as brothers". Also credited for this "well paced" episode was director David Nutter, who did an "excellent job of setting up the atmosphere and tone of the series". Likewise, BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
's Don Williams posited, "It's about as good as a pilot can get." He ranked it ninth out of his favorite episodes of the first three seasons, believing it introduces the characters "in a memorable fashion" and "wonderfully" establishes the show's universe. Robert Bianco of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
deemed the series as possibly "the simplest and the scariest" of the season's new dark shows, and wrote, "It wants nothing more than to frighten you — and tonight, it does." He noted the episode "[pulls] off a few surprises" and "works its way to an ending that lives up to Dean's 'no chick-flick moments'". However, Bianco criticized the "pauses for comic relief"; he felt Ackles' "comic touch" was "not yet as skillful as it needs to be", with Ackles' attempts at being "humorously annoying" leaving him "simply annoying". Despite the episode having a somewhat unoriginal villain and a "relatively simple" solution, Brian Lowry of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
deemed the series' debut as "a promising plunge into the darkness". Lowry applauded Ackles, who "brings an easygoing charm and engaging wise-ass personality to the absurd notion of traveling the country with a trunk full of wooden stakes and holy water".
Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
found the first half of the episode "quite effective", with the "camera angles, spooky music and jumpy sequences...[being] as frightening as those found in any horror movie, with an added twist of suspense". However, she deemed the depiction of the ghostly villain as "pretty silly", and noted the second half "stops building suspense and turns predictable". Calling the series "Ghostbusters' Creek", Stanley felt the episode "reverts to a WB family drama about the bonds between two mismatched brothers and their father". Similarly, Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe called Ackles and Padalecki "generic cuties who hold their lips together tightly, except to utter the word Dude". Although Gilbert noted there are a couple "moderately creepy" twists, he found there to be "nothing about the central family story in Supernatural or its bland actors that makes it addictive".
Work on the pilot episode garnered two Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nominations in 2006. Lennertz was nominated in the category of "Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Dramatic Underscore)", and the sound editorsMichael Lawshe (Supervising Sound Editor), Timothy Cleveland (Sound Effects Editor), Paul Diller (Sound Effects Editor), Marc Meyer (Sound Effects Editor), David Lynch (Sound Effects Editor), Jessica Dickson (Dialog Editor), Karyn Foster (Dialog/ADR Editor), Chris McGeary (Music Editor), David Lee Fein (Foley Artist), and Jody Thomas (Foley Artist) for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series".