Warning! SPOILERS AHEAD for Episode 3 of The Winchesters. Go banish some demons and come back when you’ve caught up!
The Winchesters has been rolling right along on the 2022 TV schedule when it comes to bringing both O.G. fans and newbies into this creature-filled world, and one thing it’s already done quite a bit of is changing the details of John and Mary’s romance. The third episode introduced some potential barriers to that coupling with unexpected additions to The Winchesters cast, and showrunner Robbie Thompson has explained why the show wants to “mess with expectations” when it comes to breaking Supernatural canon.
Why Is The Winchesters Messing With The Expectations Of Supernatural Fans?
While the spooky series has already given viewers a very different look at how Sam and Dean Winchester’s beloved parents got together, it turned out that there were even more surprises on the way, as it now looks like the fast friends/demon-hunting partners might become romantically entangled with two different people. Thompson spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the shocking move, and said:
When we first first talked about the show, we asked, 'What are the things that we can do to mess with expectations and also just play the history of what these kids' lives were.' They weren't just sitting at home every Friday night when there wasn't a monster case. What was life like for them? That's where Kyle and Betty came in very early in the process. We just started talking about: what is the world that John left behind and what is the world that Mary has been ignoring and longing for? And those two characters stepped very quickly into the picture.
When we were first introduced to Betty (Andrea Londo), a young cop in Lawrence, it was pretty obvious that she and John had some history. By the end of the episode, fan suspicion that they were more than old buddies was confirmed, when Betty returns the engagement ring that John had given her before leaving for Vietnam. And, seeing as how Mary had a bit of a breakthrough in the episode (realizing that even though she really wants to stop hunting it’s also all she’s ever known and the idea of a normal life scares her), she appeared to decide to give regular life a try by the end, and agreed to see a movie with Kyle (Ryan McCartan), a guy she met while in line to get her ticket.
There’s no doubt that these episode-ending moments probably gave Supernatural fans some big “Uh, oh” vibes, but considering how the fantasy has switched things up so far, it makes sense to bring in these two new characters. It seems perfectly reasonable that John would have dated, even seriously enough to propose, before he left for active duty, just like it’s understandable that Mary would try to really get a taste of the normalcy she’s been craving for most of her young life. With that, you can bet that we’ll see more of Kyle and Betty, as Thompson noted that each will be in future installments.
You can see how this all comes together when The Winchesters airs, Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.
