Showing off the brotherly dynamic with all its love and fights is one of Supernatural's main themes, Sam comes off as the brains while Dean is the brawn. But that isn't necessarily true. If Dean Winchester weren't smart, he would have been killed years ago by some monster. Dean is in fact a pop-culture whiz, a talented mechanic, an expert lore researcher and one of the best hunters ever.
Sam's college years and penchant for academics make him come off as the smart brother but Dean is a genius in his own right. His intelligence is not just "street smarts" - it is thorough, logical, tactical, and practical knowledge. It's a shame Dean never realized just how smart he was - but at least the fans and his brother know.
While working their first demonic possession case together, Dean checks for electromagnetic frequencies among the wreckage of a plane that crashed under "mysterious circumstances." A young and patronizing Sam describes it as "a busted-up Walkman," and that is exactly what it is because Dean made it himself.
Sam isn't impressed with Dean's homemade EMF meter but fans certainly are. Over the years, Sam relearns how smart his brother actually is. Dean often has to remind him that he is not an idiot, especially in this episode when Sam 'reminds' him that the Name of God in Latin is "Christo" - a trick against demons that is never used again until season 14 by Jack.
In the show's very first episode we are introduced to the genius brain of Dean Winchester in very subtle ways - while Sam is studying law at Stanford, Dean uses his intelligence to hunt down monsters. While working on hunts by himself - a feat that is in no way easy - John goes missing and Dean enlists his brother's help.
In the last call John made to his eldest son, Dean notices EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) on the recording. Using audio editing software, he is able to unscramble the ghost's message showing just how smart Dean is, especially during hunts. This leads the boys to solve the case and many more after that for years to come.
Charlie is an LGBTQ+ icon who helped Dean unleash his inner geek - by watching Game of Thrones or LARPing in the park. With a great relationship that epitomizes the big brother/little sister dynamic, Charlie and Dean are one of the best team-ups in Supernatural.
Dean and Sam find Charlie again following the very strange deaths of some LARPing friends. Though she is a Queen, she is having difficulty winning battles. Fortunately, Dean's intelligence comes to the rescue with his brilliant tactical analysis to help "fight the warriors." Though this is for LARPing, he shows he has a mind for battle strategies - an important trait needed for hunting and saving the world from evil.
Becoming a hunter at the age of just four when his mother is killed by a demon, Dean was groomed by John Winchester into being the perfect soldier and "Daddy's blunt little instrument." While Castiel's speech towards the end of the show, one of the best things to happen to Dean, finally teaches Dean to look past it, his childhood will sadly never be repaired.
He could shoot a gun by the age of 6 or 7 and by the time he was in Sixth Grade (aged 11-12), he made his own sawed-off shotgun - a feat that is both incredible but also tragic. Throughout Supernatural, Dean has been shown to be an expert in weapons - especially with Samuel Colt's demon-killing gun, grenade launchers, and his favorite stainless steel Colt M1911A1.
Sam may be the more literary-inclined of the brothers, but it doesn't mean Dean doesn't love books too. While often denying being a geek like his brother, Dean also has to remind Sam that he does in fact read. Before becoming God, Chuck Shurley was considered a Prophet of the Lord who wrote 'The Supernatural Books,' which in the latest draft he wrote himself into.
Comparing it to the styles of American writer Kurt Vonnegut, Dean immediately questions which novel it's like and Sam is utterly gobsmacked realizing how well-read his brother really is. Though continuously underestimated, it should be no surprise considering Dean's pop culture references often include literature - even to the extent of classics like Tolstoy.
In one of Supernatural's most re-watchable episodes, Sam receives a vision about The Darkness from a mysterious entity - later revealed to be the return of Lucifer - wearing the younger version of John Winchester (Matt Cohen). When he wakes up in the back seat of the Impala, Dean is still awake and they share a tender heart to heart.
The entity tells Sam "God helps those who help themselves" making him wonder if these visions are coming from God himself. Dean is quick to dispel these suggestions as God has never answered their prayers and he never even said the famous quote. Sam is shocked at the depths of Dean's knowledge and is clearly reminded never to underestimate his older brother.
Rock salt shotguns are a key staple of Supernatural. Though it can't kill ghosts, the shotgun shells act as "a spirit deterrent" and are very helpful when fighting them. They are a genius weapon that is a permanent part of the arsenal kept in the trunk of Dean's Chevy Impala. Over the course of 15 seasons, however, fans might have forgotten that the Winchesters did not always use them.
In fact, rock salt shotgun shells weren't used until the seventh episode of season 1 when they were shown to be ingeniously designed by Dean Winchester himself. Sam himself thought the idea was brilliant and applauded his brother for it. In this instance, Dean correctly reminds his brother that "you don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius."
Season 7's "Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie," one of the best Sam-centric Supernatural episodes according to Reddit, is dedicated to the younger Winchester's phobia of clowns. However, Dean shines through in this hilarious episode as well. The moment Dean looks at the corpse of an employee from the eponymously-named children's fast-food chain, he knows that the bites are from a shark.
Not only that but almost immediately, he is able to estimate the radius of the wound and figure out the size of the shark. The quick calculation is impressive and shows he has a better understanding of mathematics than his GED leaves people to believe. His knowledge of sharks comes from his love of Discovery Channel's Shark Week which is a love shared by Jensen Ackles and his wife Danneel.
Dean Winchester has a record number of big bad kills over the course of Supernatural. One of the most ingenious methods was used to kill Eve (the Mother of All Monsters) in season 6. Despite being surrounded and clearly outmatched, Dean stays resolute against teaming up with the Monster impersonating his mother. He even goes as far as antagonizing her repeatedly which ends with her leaning over him and warning Dean not to test her.
In a very Dean Winchester moment, he tells her to bite him, which she actually does. Staggering back, Dean reveals he ingested phoenix ash (the only thing that could kill Eve) with alcohol seeping into his bloodstream for when Eve bit him. An impressive and innovative method that was executed brilliantly thanks to Dean's genius.
If there's anything in this world that Dean Winchester could love as much as his brother - it's his car. Affectionately called Baby, he knows her better than the back of his hand. Taught by his father who once worked as a mechanic before he dedicated his life to hunting, Dean likely learned about cars through fixing up his Dad's 1967 Chevrolet Impala that was passed over to him for his 18th birthday.
He shows just how well he knows cars when he teaches Sam how to fix Baby before he goes to Hell. From learning about cars from such a young age, he becomes a master mechanic - a skill needed for when monsters wreck Baby. Dean has also shown to be gifted at engineering, and if he applied or even went to college like his brother - it would be no surprise if he could get into the likes of MIT considering his gifted mind and his genius talents.
Comments
Post a Comment