Season 1 of introduces a fun trend of using interesting aliases, but one reference to fellow hunter Bobby Singer creates a plot hole for the series. In a classic monster-of-the-week storytelling, follows brothers Dean and Sam as they try to rid the world of as many paranormal threats as possible. Over the course of the show, they come in contact with a number of other “hunters” in the business, including Bobby Singer. Bobby, an old friend of the boys’ dad, becomes an important asset to them as they take on the family business of hunting monsters.
The as they investigate paranormal activity are usually pop culture references, but season 1, episode 4, “Phantom Traveler” goes a different direction. The pseudonyms they use while they impersonate homeland security, Robert Singer and Jerry Wanek, are actually the names of one of the show’s producers and the show’s production designer. This creates a problem later on once Bobby’s name is given to another character.
Supernatural’s Bobby Singer Plot Hole Explained
During “Phantom Traveler,” however, Bobby Singer wasn’t intended to be any character’s name, which is how the plot hole happened. loved to get meta, even going so far as to have an entire episode that takes place on the real-world set. It’s no surprise that the crew’s names would make appearances. was originally supposed to share a surname with Kim Manners, another of ’s producers, and Robert Singer’s first name. ‘s creator, Eric Kripke, had to change the plan last minute due to legal issues, so Singer lent his entire name to the character.
The real reason that Sam and Dean use Bobby’s name in “Phantom Traveler,” is that the name was never meant to be important. Dean and Sam briefly show the fake credentials to gain access to a plane wreckage, and only Dean’s ID (Jerry Wanek) can be clearly read. The other ID (Robert Singer) isn’t clearly shown in the final cut of the episode but was featured on the show’s website. While this only affects eagle-eyed fans who remember the name once Bobby Singer’s character is introduced, it’s still a strange move for Bobby’s real name to have been used as one of the boys’ fake IDs.
Why Sam & Dean Really Use Bobby’s Name As An Alias
It’s possible that Sam and Dean just figured the name would be safe to use for such a quick job, and just picked the first names they thought of. This episode is heavy with mentions of their missing dad, so it wouldn’t be crazy for them to pick the name of one of their dad’s friends in an effort to feel a connection to him. The name Jerry Wanek doesn’t reappear in the show as a character, so it’s unclear if the brothers knew someone by that name, but ’s history of emotional moments implies that it wouldn’t be an out-of-character move for them to make after reminiscing about .
Whatever the reason for Sam and Dean’s fake ID names, it’s just a good thing that they weren’t caught in this episode, or Bobby would have caught some unwanted attention from the authorities. With all the help he gives the brothers throughout , Sam and Dean couldn’t afford to lose such a valuable monster-hunting asset or emotional support. Luckily, they refrain from using fellow hunters’ identities in their investigations moving forward.
Source: om.412lala.com
