Supernatural Season 4, Episode 19 recap: When the series jumped the shark

Supernatural Season 4, Episode 19 took the chance to jump the shark in an episode aptly titled to give it all away. Did it work for the series and what exactly happened?

The term “jump the shark” is used in TV when the show starts to go on longer than it really should. A new family member is added in an attempt to add vigor to the series. Coined after Happy Days, Supernatural Season 4, Episode 19 took it to a good extreme.

Deciding to mock itself in a way, the episode aptly titled “Jump the Shark” brought in Sam and Dean’s younger brother. Well, half-brother.

And yes, you read that right. After three and a half years of watching the Winchesters as a duo, we suddenly found out they had a younger half-brother, Adam Milligan.

Learning about Adam

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It all starts with the brothers getting a call on one of John’s cells that Dean always keeps charged. Adam Milligan is looking for his dad. Yep, his dad.

So, the Winchesters drive to Windom, Minnesota and along the way, Sam checks up on this guy. He’s a real person, alright, and there’s a mention of the place in John’s Journal from 1990. Pages after that have all been ripped out.

Dean, who always takes the stance of being suspicious, immediately believes they’re dealing with a demon or some supernatural monster. However, the usual tests do nothing to Adam and it means one thing: this is their brother.

Soon, they learn that Sam was born on Sept. 29, 1990, nine months after John visited the area. It wasn’t until Adam was 12 that he had any contact with Adam. And much to Dean’s jealousy, Adam had a fairly normal relationship with his dad. He went to ball games and just hung out.

Why Adam called John

So, what made Adam suddenly call John? His mom was kissing and he thought John might be able to help. At the house, Dean finds scratch marks under the bed leading to a vent and there are human remains within that vent.

Kate isn’t the only person who has gone missing. A local man called Joe Barton has also disappeared. He happened to be the police officer on the grave robbery cases from 17 years ago, which had brought John to town. In fact, Joe helped John kill the monster responsible for the robberies.

Dean realizes that John wanted to keep Adam shielded from hunting and would like to keep it that way. Sam, on the other hand, wants to train Adam in all things hunting. And that’s exactly what happens so Dean heads to the graves to investigate new grave robbings.

While searching the graves, Dean is trapped and wakes up to find the bodies of Joe and Kate in a crypt. Then he finds the body of Adam Milligan. Ghouls killed the two out of revenge for John killing their parent. That means the Adam they’re dealing with is actually another ghoul, who had tried to lure John to town to kill him. Shame the monster didn’t know John was dead.

With John dead, the ghouls (the other one appears as a now-found Kate) decide to kill Sam and Dean instead. As one ghoul attacks Sam and starts to drain his blood, Dean returns and kills the two ghouls. The real Adam is given a hunter’s funeral at Dean’s insistence.

What did you think of the jump the shark moments in Supernatural Season 4? Did you realize it would play a bigger role later in the series? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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