Supernatural: Damned by a Bullet
My main gripe with the series is that they introduced a super weapon called the Colt which is already down to one bullet and it’s only Season Two! Because they have only one bullet left means that either they’re going to avoid this creature until the series’ finale or somehow find a way to manufacture more colt bullets. The one bullet scenario is an example of half-hearted writing which is thrown out more often than this week’s garbage.
Obviously the boys, Dean and Sam, are going to face this creature multiple times before the final showdown, so what will the writers have them do until then? They can’t run from it for the rest of the series because that would be laughable. Besides, Dean and Sam aren’t the type to run from a fight and to do so would be uncharacteristic of them. Add to the mix that this creature is the strongest aspect of the series, so the writers can’t have it disappear for large amounts of time. The fans want the boys to confront it or for it to stalk them which it has been doing because the encounters are unforgettable.
In their last encounter this creature possessed their father, gutted Dean, and mocked Sam the whole time. So obviously the writers need to interject the series with visits by this piece of work. But therein lies the problem. How will they fight it? It is immune to holy water and uses telekinesis to toss people aside like playing cards. They can’t waste that bullet since its long missing maker is the only one who knows how to make more bullets. The writers’ decision to leave Dean and Sam with one bullet so early in the series removes any practical ways of battling the creature.
To give Dean and Sam the option of creating more colt ammunition would remove the struggle that endears them to us fans. Dean and Sam have limited resources, so limited that they often use fake credit cards to rent motel rooms and fill up on gas. Because their mother was killed they never experienced normal, happy childhoods. Fans appreciate their life and death struggle so much more knowing that at their darkest hour, they triumph with the world completely oblivious to their service. The idea behind giving the boys only five bullets was to create a struggle, forcing them to pick wisely because once the bullets are gone, that’s it; the gun becomes useless. With one bullet remaining and the series only in its second year, comes the ugly possibility that the writers will change their minds and either have the boys locate more bullets or even learn to manufacture bullets themselves. If that happens, goodbye struggle.
The boys, despite combat and gun training, are only human which puts them at a great disadvantage against creatures with super hearing, super speed, and resistance to fire and guns. Every week comes the possibility that either one could die. If it can happen to Superman, every hero is mortal. Watching the boys get kicked around provides suspense for everyone watching. Giving them the ability to make more bullets for the Colt aka “Monster Slayer” would erase the suspense since all it takes is one well-placed shot to send any creature to hell. Giving them more bullets makes them the equivalent of Buffy whose powers placed her well beyond the majority of her enemies. Fans watch Supernatural because they want a more realistic character than Buffy. They want to see characters that can be injured or killed at any moment. If the writers decide to undo the “five bullet scenario,” the boys will breeze through the monsters taking away all of the suspense which makes the series fun.
For reasons of practicality and quality writing, the writers should have saved the gun for a later season. Because this gun is the only thing to date that can kill the demon, the writers should have built up to it instead of revealing it so soon. There is an unwritten rule that you save a hero’s most powerful weapon until later years or risk damaging that hero’s credibility. By giving the boys such a powerful weapon, the writers have thrown away the weapon’s credibility. We already know it exists, thus it’s a letdown. Had the writers saved it, it could have been one of the greatest moments in television history. Not to mention that it will be pretty hard to top. A writer should always be looking to top themselves, but by creating and unveiling such a weapon, the writers can’t possibly top that. It also makes the demon look bad because now it can be killed. Good writers would have made the demon look unstoppable until the last year when they would turn the tables on it by revealing this super weapon giving the beast one hell of a mortality check.
If I were Supernatural’s executive producer, I would have alluded to the gun and had the boys embark upon a quest to find it, thus providing it with an elaborate history as well as unusual creatures also racing to find it. By doing that it notches up the suspense by creating the possibility that something evil might find the gun. Which in turn begs the question, “What would it do if it found it?” From here plenty of possibilities are open including the possibility that the gun would be used on a human. “Would it destroy the human’s soul like it would an evil creature’s,?” would be one of the many questions that would have fans buzzing.
The gun, if it had been used properly by the writers, could have led to many remarkable moments. The writers nixed this by having the boys plow through the ammunition in only three episodes. By doing this the writers may be forced to disregard their own writing by having the boys discover more ammunition or learn to make more, damaging the suspense created with the discovery of only five bullets. To flip-flop like that on a pivotal story element says only discouraging things about the writers’ dedication and skill.
