Episode 5 finally put the gang face to face with the Akrida and started putting together more pieces of the puzzle, while simultaneously giving Ada’s character more development with the revelation that she has a son. Ada’s son, Tony, revealed that his djinn blood allowed him to hear a strange sound coming from Lawrence, which is what drew him to the area.

This confirms that the Akrida’s leader is possessing a human and working at a radio station for sinister reasons, and explains why monsters from all over the globe are suddenly popping up in the United States. Episode 5 also powered-up the Akrida even more by showing viewers that the spider-like creatures have spines they use to torment and kill humans.

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Having one of these creatures get inside Mary’s mind was a great way to make the Akrida a more tangible threat to the gang by putting her life at risk, and opened the door for another touching moment between her and John. Things are definitely heating up in the series as the stakes continue to get higher, and John is finally starting to confront the feelings he has for Mary.

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John’s mother Millie pushes him to tell Mary how he feels, and in typical John Winchester fashion, he doesn't do so. Episode 5 very delicately builds upon the budding romance that’s gluing the entire series together, and does so in an incredibly nuanced way.

The real artistry in this episode is revealed when Mary asks Ada if she’d do her past relationship over again, knowing that they came from separate worlds. This moment put John and Mary’s relationship into more perspective, stacking them up against another couple that was forcefully separated when one died, leaving their child to deal with the fallout.

Not only do John and Mary have a similar story to Ada and her first love, as depicted by Supernatural, Mary’s decision to seek Ada’s guidance reveals the true nature of their romance. The Winchesters puts the couple in different stages of life, with John trying to enter the world of hunting to chase his father’s memory, as Mary hopes to find her father while he’s still alive so that she can leave monster hunting behind.

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Even though John and Mary seem like they want to be together, their different ambitions make the possibility of having a real future together incredibly difficult. As Supernatural revealed, divine intervention was responsible for their eventual union because the universe needed Sam and Dean to be born. Without the meddling of these cosmic forces, it’s very likely that John and Mary wouldn’t have ended up together.

Even with Ada encouraging Mary to follow her heart and Millie encouraging John to talk to Mary about how he feels, they’re struggling to be honest with each other and consider the possibility. Although there’s still plenty of time left in the series for them to do so, John and Mary aren’t necessarily the most compatible people because of their differing end goals.

So for those who haven’t seen Supernatural, John and Mary’s story in The Winchesters might seem like a true love tale, where two people defy all odds and manage to form a romantic relationship in spite of the cards stacked against them. But for those who have seen the original series, the tale of John and Mary is a gut-wrenching tragedy, because they know the two were forced together by higher powers, and they very likely would’ve had completely different lives otherwise.

Ada tells Mary that following her heart is always a good choice. However, Ada was able to make the choice to be with a djinn of her own free will, whereas Mary’s choice to be with John isn’t entirely her own, as established by the canon of Supernatural.

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The feelings John and Mary have for each other appear to be genuine in certain moments, like when John entered Mary’s mind to help her confront her worst memories at the end of this episode, but those who watched the original series are unable to escape the dark reality of what Supernatural already told them.

The subtle exploration of John and Mary’s feelings toward each other is what makes episode 5 such a great one, because it ultimately takes on a drastically different tone for people, depending on what they’ve seen of the SPN universe. Overall, John and Mary’s journey in episode 5 is a great representation of the prequel series as a whole, because it proves that everything in the Supernatural universe is incredibly complex.

The themes of love, family, and fighting for the good of humanity present in Supernatural are all undercut by a layer of calamity, which has carried over into The Winchesters. When these shows are boiled down to their cores, John and Mary’s relationship is a great example of how the Winchester family story is packed with moments of happiness and unending tragedy.

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