he was born for "saving people, hunting things," which would later become the basis of the Winchester family's motto. With the threat of the Akrida preparing to invade the Earth, John joins Mary and his new friends Latika, Carlos and Ada in searching for Samuel and stopping the Akrida. John and his friends, dubbed the Monster Club, continue hunting for the Akrida and the missing Samuel, coming up against rare monsters from other cultures such as La Tunda and Bori Baba. John's hunting puts him at odds with his mother who fears losing him like she had lost Henry while he continues to grow closer to Mary. John is also reunited with his ex-fiancé Betty, now a Lawarence cop, having apparently ended their relationship before he left for Vietnam. The Bori Baba case brings them back together and they make amends, parting amicably with Betty returning his engagement ring and asking to remain friends. The hunt for the Akrida eventually leads to John summoning Henry's ghost for answers. Just before finally reuniting with Samuel, John and Mary kiss. John later recognizes the man who had given him Henry's letter in one of Samuel's pictures, revealing the culprit to be his son Dean. Characterization Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan deemed John a "tormented soul," motivated by an "equal combination of revenge and protecting his sons." Following the death of their mother, Sam and Dean became secondary to John's quest of killing the demon responsible, although Morgan believed that this aspect changed once John began spending more time with them again. Though he thought that John was not the world's best dad and "definitely made a lot of mistakes," the actor noted that "he did things, even when they were wrong, for the good of his sons." John Kubicek of BuddyTV felt that this reasoning extended to John's decision to hide the truth from Adam to protect him. Kubicek also suggested that John became involved in Adam's life to achieve "some level of normalcy" as a father, an opportunity he had previously lost following the death of Sam and Dean's mother. Overall, Morgan felt that John "loved those kids more than he loved his own life," with the character's demonic pact with Azazel serving as "his way of finding redemption." Regarding his portrayal of the character, Morgan commented, "I played him with extra angst. I think what was on the page, what I