A ‘Supernatural’ Shocker That Nobody Saw Coming
Warning: Spoilers may be exposed throughout this article.
The final seconds of Supernatural‘s twelfth episode, “About A Boy,” left fans (and even Sam Winchester) staring blankly at Dean Winchester, as that classic Impala drove off into the sunset with the older brother of the legendary duo jamming to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.”
Fans can take most things with a grain of salt. A hero that bears the Mark of Cain, an angel with virtually no concept of pop culture references, and an amiable King of Hell are just some of the things Supernatural fans have come to accept and love about the show, but some things are just considered sacred. Dean always drives that classic ’67 Impala, family always comes first, and Dean is a hardcore classic rock fan.
Even Sammy knows not to touch that dial. Of course, there have been some exceptions to these rules in Supernatural‘s ten year run. Most notably, there was a time, during the threat of the deadly leviathans, that Dean Winchester was forced to give up his Impala and drive whatever clunker the two Winchester brothers could lay their hands on, but, even then, those anonymous stolen vehicles were always tuned into vibes from the likes of Alice Cooper, Kansas, and AC/DC.
Not anymore.
To be fair, this was not the typical “hunt ’em and kill ’em” episode, varying somewhat from the usual fare Supernatural fans have come to expect. This episode stepped into the realm of another popular supernatural-themed show’s realm with a plot centered on one of the classic Grimm’s fairy tales — Hansel and Gretel, to be specific. Deviating from the original plot, the evil witch, foiled by better protections of children in the 21st century, found herself forced to turn adults into children for her cannibalistic stew, reports Cinema Blend.
Thus, viewers were treated to a teenaged Dean Winchester, again played by returning guest star Dylan Everett, who finds that, in addition to going through puberty all over again, 14-year-old Dean Winchester no longer bore the Mark of Cain. In addition to hormones that were even more out of control than usual, viewers learned that the Supernatural hero wasn’t always as devoted to the rock gods of old.
“There was a Taylor Swift song on the bus that I hopped to the motel, and, um… I liked it Sam. I liked it a lot,” teenaged Dean tells Sam.
By the end of the episode, everything was back to normal between the two brothers, according to Hypable. The villain was foiled, Sam and Dean took time for a heart-to-heart in true Supernatural style, and the Impala rode off in a trail of dust…with Taylor Swift singing her heart out. It seems ironic that the chosen song was “Shake It Off,” because that’s exactly what that last shot did for longtime Supernatural fans and maybe that’s a good thing.
“Shake It Off” appears on Taylor Swift’s fifth studio album, 1989, and was written by Swift, Max Martin and Shellback. “Shake It Off” is most notable for its style, differing from country-pop genre for which Ms. Swift is more widely known. Premiering through a Yahoo! Live Stream on August 18, 2014, its release was accompanied by the release of the song’s music video on the same day. “Shake It Off” is Taylor Swift’s second number one single but it is also notable for having been the 22nd song to debut in the number one slot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It seems Dean Winchester isn’t the only one taking notice of Taylor Swift. Madonna recently gushed over the young pop star’s style, making Ms. Swift swoon over the attention.
