The Winchesters Fans Are Pointing Out A Major Monster Parallel To Supernatural In Episode 5

"The Winchesters" shows how hard it is to keep a good horror franchise down. The "Supernatural" spin-off series has only just begun to tell its story, but it's already being well-received by fans and critics alike (via Rotten Tomatoes). Furthermore, with producer and narrator Jensen Ackles' assertion that nothing is off the table with regard to fan-favorite characters returning, it looks like there could be some fun surprises ahead for viewers.

Following the monster-hunting adventures of John Winchester (Drake Rodgers) and Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly) before the birth of their sons, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Ackles), "The Winchesters" is a prequel set on laying out the groundwork for the world fans already know while building out and expanding the "Supernatural" universe along the way. However, fans of both series have already noticed a dichotomy between "Supernatural" and "The Winchesters" in terms of a certain childhood trauma that was visited upon characters in both timelines.

In Season 1, Episode 5 ("Legacy of a Mind"), viewers are taken down the rabbit hole of Mary's subconscious and learn some devastating things about her past. With an Akrida stinger embedded in her, it's up to John to sift through Mary's memories in hopes of sorting things out and preventing further corruption, but he sees something within that takes fans down memory lane. Specifically, that Mary's greatest trauma was finding out that monsters are real.

Fans of "The Winchesters" were quick to note how this similarity jives with Sam and Dean's childhood trauma. "The fact that John knew Mary's biggest trauma was learning as a kid that monsters are real, and yet he did the exact same thing to his own sons," tweeted @CasIsLoved. The user is referring to a notable moment in "Supernatural" where Sam recalls telling his dad, John, that there's a monster under his bed and being sent back to his room with a gun to take care of it.

While Dean was able to acclimate to John's tough love approach, Sam was more shaken by it, just as a young Mary was. @HelloImCindy noted the echoing trauma as well, tweeting: "Seeing Mary as a kid like that makes me think of Sam and Dean as kids and how it's so heartbreaking that it's just a terrible cycle." While trauma can reverberate across multiple generations of a family, it seems that the latest episode of "The Winchesters" has touched on a nerve in a sense, and fans will no doubt be watching for similar echoes in future episodes.