Canon Discrepancies
Contents
How long did Sam spend at Stanford?
One of the most frequently debated potential canon discrepancy. Here're the facts:
- In 1.01 Pilot, Dean says that he hasn't spoken to Sam in "nearly two years".
- In 1.07 Hookman, Dean says "So this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?" when they are researching in the library.
- In the 1.01 Pilot, Sam is about to be interviewed for Law School, which could work on the assumption that he's just about to finish a bachelor degree (4 years).
- Eric Kripke acknowledged during a panel at the 2006 William S. Paley Television Festival that they made a mistake in the script - initially Sam was meant to be 20, then they aged him up to 22, but neglected to change Dean's line from "two years" to "four years". I.e. The creators' intention is that Sam has been at college for four years.
Regardless of intentions, there is a school of thought that disallows such retconning external to the text itself. That is to say, once the episode has been aired, whatever has occured in it becomes part of the canon, no matter how much the production crew say "we didn't mean it that way" - it's essentially out of their hands.
With this line of reasoning, it's possible to read this particular issue as not contradictory at all - Sam has spent four years at college, but it has been only two years since he's had contact with Dean.
Dean's Police Records
Both of the police records for Dean we have seen onscreen (in 1.15 The Benders and 2.08 Crossroad Blues) have been inaccurate:
- In his "Benders" record, Dean is listed as being 6' 4", the same height as in Sam's police record, though Dean is clearly several inches shorter than his brother.
- In his "Crossroad Blues" record, Dean's height is correct (6' 1"), but his eye color is listed as brown (whereas in the "Benders" record it was correctly described as green).
Hunter's Blog
The Hunter's Blog on the official website appeared before Season 2 started airing, and the content on it changed as time went on. Currently, Jo's blog is the only one accessible.
You can read a transcript of Jo's Journal on her character page. You can see the different versions of the journal there.
In Jo's Journal she refers to Ash as 'Miles'. This was Ash's name in earlier scripts for 2.02 Everybody Loves a Clown.
Miscellaneous
- Sam's driver's license (as seen on the Official Site) lists SEX: F
