The Winchesters episode 9 showed John Winchester having a storyline similar to one his son Dean had in Supernatural, with both having dangerous run-ins with vampires. While the storylines play out differently, there is a glaring similarity between the father and son’s run-in with vampires. However, both survive their encounters in different ways, highlighting both men’s intelligence and ability to adapt to dangerous situations.
While Dean Winchester would ultimately die in a fight with vampires in Supernatural season 15, but not by getting bitten. Dean has killed many vampires before, with them being one of the few monsters that showed up in almost every season of Supernatural. The Winchesters episode 9 showed John’s first run-in with the monster, but this time introducing a cult-like nest. While vampires generally live in nests, this one was different from those seen in Supernatural because this particular nest lived based on an amulet that showed the leader who in his nest had to live or die for the nest to survive.
John And Dean Winchester Both Survived Vampire Bites
Both John Winchester and his son Dean were bitten and survived vampire bites, though in very different ways. John was bitten in The Winchesters episode 9, “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” whereas Dean was bitten by a vampire in Supernatural season 6, episode 5, “Live Free or Twi-hard.” Unlike his father, Dean actually turns into a vampire in the episode and is later given a cure by a soulless Sam and their revived grandfather Samuel Campbell.
The episodes in which the different Winchester men get bit are also different. In The Winchesters episode 9, John is bitten at the end of the episode and is saved by Mary Campbell and Millie Winchester. However, in Supernatural Dean Winchester is bitten by the vampire within the opening minutes. Additionally, Supernatural season 6, episode 5 was the first time he realized there was something off about Sam. It was later revealed that Sam let Dean get bit because he didn’t have his soul.
John Stops His Heart To Use Dead Man’s Blood
The Winchesters episode 9 showed John and his friends trying to find a way to cheat fate. When it became evident that John and Millie were trapped in the room where John was fated to die they came up with a smart workaround to make John’s fate their own. Because it was John’s first time encountering vampires, he had been reading up on his lore and was acutely aware of how to fight a vampire.
John had Millie electrocute and kill him so when the vampire bit John he’d be drinking dead man’s blood, which can stun a vampire. Luckily Mary Campbell and Millie Winchester were able to resuscitate John, but it was this kind of in-the-moment thinking that is really reflective of his sons in Supernatural. Dean and Sam constantly improvised when their backs were against the wall. It was a subtle call-out to where Sam and Dean got that trait from.
John Purposely Got Bit & Sam Let Dean Get Bitten
In The Winchesters episode 9, John knew he couldn’t escape getting bit by the vampire, but inspired by his mother, he chose to make his fate his own. In reality, if the dead man’s blood plan didn’t work, John would’ve died anyway, so he had nothing to lose. While John couldn’t avoid getting bit by the vampire, his innovative thinking saved not only him but also Mary and Millie, whom the vampire would kill next.
While in Supernatural Dean Winchester didn’t get bitten intentionally. Sam did let it happen to him. Because Sam was soulless and had no real attachment to Dean, he let him get bitten to see if Samuel’s cure would work on Dean. While things ended up being okay, the experience wasn’t great for Dean. Not only did he have to fight the urge to drink blood, but he also had to go undercover in a nest to find the Alpha vampire.
While both John and Dean Winchester got bit by vampires and survived, the circumstances they got bit couldn’t have been more different. John’s getting bitten couldn’t have been avoided, but Dean’s would’ve been prevented if Sam had stepped in. Despite this, traits of each other shine through in the respective episodes of The Winchesters and Supernatural making the episodes feel like a natural pairing.
It's great to see The Winchesters executive producer Jensen Ackles bring parts of his beloved Supernatural character into The Winchesters. While the character of Dean is being teased to show up in The Winchesters, episode 9 felt like the show was reacquainting viewers with Dean and Supernatural. When and if Dean shows up in The Winchesters has yet to be revealed, but hopefully there will be more connections made between Supernatural and The Winchesters as the series continues to air.