...how underwhelming both of them are as hunters.
I mean, they are the titular protagonists that can kill almost anything with enough research, ingredients, and bravery to face insanely overpowered threats head on. The greatest hunters in the world, the vessels for the two most powerful archangels, and killers of all things that go bump in the night and bite your ass off. But half of that is also the stupidity of their enemies and the sheer amount of luck and glaring plot armour involved.
They aren't proactive in their approach to hunting at all. They don't prepare before hand and stumble into things head first.
I mean a few things couldve been done at the very least.
•1. Iron and Silver rings. Hell even just simple rings embedded with rock salt as gems. A few of those in their fingers and almost half of everything they face in the filler monster of the week episodes are either revealed from the get go or killed in most cases.
•2. Tranquilizer Gun and Darts. These babies would be deadly if loaded with the right liquids for the jobs. Deadman's Blood for Vamps, Borax for the Leviathans, Silver Nitrate for Wolves and Shifters, and even a simple solution Salt dissolved in Holy Water for Demons and Hellhounds and many more.
•3. Permanent Paint Devil Traps layered in Epoxy. I think we can all agree that devil traps made using simple paint, chalk, and almost everything else that's easily erase with steps or dripping water is simply asking the demon trapped to kill you. Period.
•4. Inlayed, Permanent Paint Wardings all over Houses and Cars. Especially those Wardings used by castiel on the boys in their bones and that pretty women of letters lady in the ww2 submarine.
•5. Using Shapeshifters to control narrative around dead bodies. Because why not? Force a shifter to shift into you, then kill it, then have it stashed around in case you need to use a disappearing act from everything.
And so much more that I am too tired and uncreative to imagine.
...Anyway, I love the series and have rewatched it a few times over the last few years, but still some things just stick out as missed opportunities to show how smart Sam and Dean could've been presented as
