I'd guess that the boys (when younger) typically accompanied their father on the shorter, simpler hunts. Salt'n'burn jobs and the like. In "Something Wicked" it seems like they were mostly left to themselves while John did most of the work on a longer, more dangeroushunt. So maybe their integration into the hunting life took place gradually, with Dean becoming more involved earlier.

If the boys did get longer stretches of time in the same place - say, long enough to get through an entire semester - it would have given Sam more of a taste of a normal life and made for more resentment when he kept being taken away from that. I also wonder how much of their moving around was for the sake of a hunt and how much was because John had acquired his own versions of Agent Henrickson over the years.

You just described the prequel spinoff that I might love as much as the original.

From waaay back, my thanks to lurker and tiggy for filling in the missing seconds on the audio from the panel discussion. I guess since I hear my teenagers insulting each other in that manner on a regular basis, it didn't click as a particularly notable one-liner. In any event, I'm starting to pay more attention to the dialogue (which is something that is easier to do on the third viewing when you are not as startled by the monsters or heartslammed by the angst) and man, this is a quotable show!

I often wonder if they started staying in places for longer once Sam was in high school and demanding more stability.

Dean graduated at 18 (and I'll cut anyone who says he didn't finish school), so Sam would be 14 and just about to be a freshman. Dean would be able to go off with John on longer hunts, probably leaving Sam to fend for himself for days or weeks at a time.

That's my take on it.

Dean graduated at 18 (and I'll cut anyone who says he didn't finish school), so Sam would be 14 and just about to be a freshman. Dean would be able to go off with John on longer hunts, probably leaving Sam to fend for himself for days or weeks at a time.

That makes sense. I would also think that for all that John could be unreasonable and demanding, he probably would want some sort of stability for the boys, or at least make a token attempt at providing it from time to time.

Although, now that I say that, it seems odd that the people Sam and Dean have gone to or thought of for help (Joshua, Caleb, Pastor Jim, Bobby) have all been men. Ellen and Missouri were unknown to the boys even though they could have been of significant help in raising them. Perhaps an unconscious desire to not have them replace Mary with another mother figure?

I definitely think Dean finished high school, mainly because I'm sure John wouldn't have given him an option. I can see Dean arguing about it, saying he doesn't need to learn this stuff if he's going to hunt but John putting his foot down. Or even invoking Mary to convince Dean, "It's what your mother would have wanted." There's no way I can see Dean going against that.

Or even invoking Mary to convince Dean, "It's what your mother would have wanted." There's no way I can see Dean going against that.

In that family, that would have been the neutron bomb of conversation enders, I think.

Talk about your bulletproof guilt-trip material!

Although, now that I say that, it seems odd that the people Sam and Dean have gone to or thought of for help (Joshua, Caleb, Pastor Jim, Bobby) have all been men.

Well, I think that's an artifact of Stupid White Man Syndrome, i.e. the first season's problematic writing; but I would also call it an artifact of road life. Men are much more likely to be mobile, in our society: as migrant labor, as truck drivers, as fugitives. As far as we know, all of the men on that list are also childless, which makes them even more potentially mobile. That John managed to be mobile, and still raise children who know ketchup is not a vegetable, is a miracle of amazing parenting skills, or of optimistic TV writing.

Or even invoking Mary to convince Dean, "It's what your mother would have wanted." There's no way I can see Dean going against that.

In that family, that would have been the neutron bomb of conversation enders, I think.

John: Son, go clean your room.

Dean: I was going to, right after practicing my knife throwing.

John: Now, Dean! It's what your mother would have wanted.

Dean: Shit.

That John managed to be mobile, and still raise children who know ketchup is not a vegetable, is a miracle of amazing parenting skills, or of optimistic TV writing.

Still, there is the issue of giving Sam a gun when Sam was afraid something was in his closet. I don't think Sam viewed John having great parenting skills. I guess I pictured it more like parenting from the school of Sarah Connor.

I also assumed Sam finished high school because of going on to college, but I never assumed Dean did. Sam's reference to Dean paying attention in high school, in Croatoan, was the only reason I thought Dean might have graduated. More likely, I am thinking Dean went until legally required, then on to gambling and pool sharking.

I also assumed Sam finished high school because of going on to college, but I never assumed Dean did. Sam's reference to Dean paying attention in high school, in Croatoan, was the only reason I thought Dean might have graduated. More likely, I am thinking Dean went until legally required, then on to gambling and pool sharking.

I can see Dean graduating. I can also see him, for various reasons (by which I mean, they vary in my head depending on what I'm plotting out), dropping out after he turned 18, and that being one more sort of "I will not be like Dad and Dean. I won't." trigger for Sam.

Dean's far from stupid, but still a likely candidate for high school dropout. And I'm not sure, by that point, all the college money gone to ammo an Dean already in the life, how much it would have really bothered John to have that happen. I mean, by the time Dean was 18, they were over a decade into it.