Hunt Initiation Log (Season 4)

The purpose of the Hunt Initiation Log is to track the source of the hunts Sam and Dean Winchester undertake. Sometimes they find hunts themselves, sometimes other characters give them information. Some episodes are more personal, with no clear hunt. This provides one more means of analyzing the characters. For example, it reveals that while Dean is the quintessential hunter of the family, Sam actually more often instigates the hunts, and that Sam gradually takes a more active role in that regard.

The Hunt Initiation Log has been divided up into seasons due to length:

• Hunt Initiation Log (Season 1)
• Hunt Initiation Log (Season 2)
• Hunt Initiation Log (Season 3)
• Hunt Initiation Log (Season 4)
• About the Hunt Initiation Log

4.01 Lazarus Rising

Comments: Dean wakes up in his own grave, four months after he was sent to Hell. After digging himself out and finding Bobby, he tracks down Sam - who is staying in a hotel with a girl not far from where Dean was buried. Dean is livid, thinking Sam has done something to get him out of Hell, but Sam assures him that's not the case - he's hunting migrant demons. Dean and Bobby decide to summon whatever pulled Dean out of Hell, while Sam continues to hunt the demons (trying to learn the same thing).

Dean gets a point for initiating the hunt to find whatever pulled him out; Sam gets one for being on a hunt before Dean and Bobby show up.

Initiator/Method: Dean/John's journal; Sam/tracking omens

Tally for 4.01: Dean 1; Sam 1

Tally, season to date: Dean 1; Sam 1

4.02 Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester

Comments: At Bobby's bidding, the boys investigate a hunter who has gone off the radar - an oddity, according to Bobby. They discover that she has been brutally murdered in her own home. Further investigation reveals that other hunters in the area have been killed in the same way.

Aside: This is an interesting hunt, because while Bobby definitely initiates it, it is Castiel who reveals what the MotW is (Lilith, with the raising of the witnesses). Whether this will become a regular occurrence is yet to be seen.

Initiator/method: Bobby/phone call

Tally for 4.02: Bobby 1

Tally, season to date: Dean 1; Sam 1; Bobby 1

4.03 In the Beginning

Comments: Castiel sends Dean back in time (and space) to Lawrence, Kansas, 1973. There, Dean learns that his dad was a Trekkie, his mom was a hunter, and he was named after his grandmother. Castiel tells him to "stop it," though he is not very clear about what "it" might be. Dean introduces himself to young John Winchester and the Campbells as "Dean Van Halen," and tells the Campbells that he is also a hunter. Samuel Campbell doesn't trust other hunters and refuses to let Dean help him investigate a haunted farm, taking Mary instead. Dean beats them to the farm and soon realizes it's not a haunting - it's the Yellow-Eyed Demon who is making deals left and right, planning to collect in ten years.

When Castiel returns Dean to the present, he shows him where Sam is, with Ruby, depossessing a demon. Once again, the angel bids him to "stop it."

Initiator/Method: Grandpa Samuel/research; Dean/his own knowledge (gleaned from John's journal)

Tally for 4.03: Dean 1; Grandpa Samuel 1

Tally, season to date: Dean 2; Sam 1; Bobby 1; Grandpa Samuel 1

4.04 Metamorphosis

Comments: Dean and Sam's altercation regarding Sam's use of his powers is interrupted by a phone call from a hunter named Travis. Travis has information about a hunt and wants the boys to investigate it. They aquiesce and head to Carthage, Missouri, to check out this supposed rugaru.

This hunt is reminiscent of the early Season One hunts, where John sent the boys messages about hunts he wanted them to investigate.

Initiator/Method: Travis/phone call

Tally for 4.04: Travis 1

Tally, season to date: Dean 2; Sam 1; Bobby 1; Samuel 1; Travis 1

4.05 Monster Movie

Comments: The boys investigate a "black and white" case involving movie monsters, a kickass lady, and Oktoberfest. This hunt unequivocably belongs to Dean, from the cheesy silver screen format to the Big Lebowski reference to getting the girl at the very end. It's too bad there's no awards for the damsel saving herself, because Jamie certainly deserves one.

Initiator/Method: Dean/newspaper research (presumably)

Tally for 4.05: Dean 1

Tally for season: Dean 3; Sam 1; Bobby 1; Samuel 1; Travis 1

4.06 Yellow Fever

Comments: The boys (and Bobby) are after a ghost that seems to kill jerks/dicks/etc. with fear. This one is difficult to decide - the episode starts in the middle of the hunt - but from the sound of things, this is a shared hunt between Dean and Sam, with Bobby doing a little extra research to supplement. Points to the boys for their first shared hunt of the season.

Initiator/Method: Boys/unknown

Tally for 4.06: Boys 1

Tally for season: Dean 3; Sam 1; Bobby 1; Samuel 1; Travis 1; Boys 1

4.07 It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester

Comments: Sam and Dean think they're hunting witches, but it turns out to be a demonic duo bent on bringing Samhain to life. Meanwhile, Uriel and Castiel show up, intending to raze the town in order to stop the seal from being broken. This one also starts off in the middle of a hunt, and it is never declared which brother initiated it. After some discussion, a point in favor of a shared hunt.

Initiator/Method: Boys/unknown

Tally for 4.07: Boys 1

Tally for season: Dean 3; Boys 2; Sam 1; Bobby 1; Samuel 1; Travis 1

4.08 Wishful Thinking

Comments: Dean and Sam investigate a town where everyone's wishes seem to come true, until they go horribly awry. This is another case of Dean being extremely gung-ho about the hunt and Sam just going with it (much like in "Monster Movie"). Though they are both involved in the investigation, it is clear Dean is the one who found it.

Initiator/Method: Dean/unknown

Tally for 4.08: Dean 1

Tally for season: Dean 4; Boys 2; Sam 1; Bobby 1; Samuel 1; Travis 1

4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer

Comments: Ruby brings information that a girl, Anna Milton, has pinged the radar of the demon hordes. She strongly suggests that Sam and Dean do some investigating. This is the first case brought to the boys' attention by a supernatural being; it will be interesting to see if this continues to happen.

Initiator/Method: Ruby/demon radio

Tally for 4.09: Ruby 1

Tally for season: Dean 4; Boys 2; Sam 1; Bobby 1; Samuel 1; Travis 1; Ruby 1

4.10 Heaven and Hell

Comments: Since this is a continuation of "I Know What You Did Last Summer," there is no real hunt for the episode. However, Sam is the one who does the research about Anna and figures out that there's something strange about her family history (and he later finds her grace), which is worth a point.

Initiator/Method: Sam/research

Tally for 4.10: Sam 1

Tally for season: Dean 4; Boys 2; Sam 2; Bobby 1; Samuel 1; Travis 1; Ruby 1

4.11 Family Remains

Comments: A completely straightforward, good old-fashioned Season 1-style hunt. Dean finds the newspaper article about the murder in the old farmhouse, and the boys investigate. No question about it, Dean gets this one.

Initiator/Method: Dean/newspaper

Tally for 4.11: Dean 1

Tally for season: Dean 5; Boys 2; Sam 2; Bobby 1; Samuel 1; Travis 1; Ruby 1