What Happens After ‘Obsession’? The Answer Lies In A 2008 ‘Supernatural’ Episode
When Obsession (2026) arrived in theatres, it turned a simple premise into one of horror's most disturbing stories. The film follows Baron "Bear" Bailey (Michael Johnston), who's secretly in love with his best friend Nikki Freeman (Inde Navarrette). After buying an occult toy called the One Wish Willow, Bear wishes for Nikki to love him more than anyone else in the world.
His wish comes true almost instantly. But instead of finding happiness, Bear watches as Nikki becomes controlling and violent. By the time he realizes what he's done, reversing the wish isn't nearly as easy as making it. If that premise sounds familiar, there's a good reason for it. In 2008, Supernatural explored almost the exact same idea in Season 4, Episode 8, titled "Wishful Thinking."
The story follows Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) as they investigate a fountain that's been granting the deepest desires of everyone in a small town. Dean immediately tests it by wishing for a sandwich. When the brothers realize it works, they decide to pose as health inspectors to drain the magical fountain.
They eventually notice an ancient coin at the bottom of the fountain. But when they try to pick it up, the coin refuses to budge. Sam does a little digging and finds out that the coin is cursed by Tiamat, a serpent deity of primordial chaos. And the only way to stop the entire town from being wiped out is to find the first wisher, who is the only person that can move the coin.
'Wishful Thinking' Takes 'Obsession's Biggest Idea Even Further
Just like Obsession, the person who first wished on the cursed coin is Wesley Mondale (Ted Raimi), who wanted the very out-of-his-league Hope Lynn Casey (Anita Brown) to love him. After he throws the coin into the fountain, Hope suddenly agrees to marry Wesley. And for a while, it looks like his life is everything he always wanted it to be.
But the episode slowly reveals the same uncomfortable truth that drives Obsession. Love created through supernatural means isn't really love at all. Hope isn't choosing Wesley. She's reacting to the curse because it has removed her agency. Once Sam and Dean destroy the ancient Babylonian coin, Hope doesn't even remember who Wesley is.
Their relationship disappeared because it never genuinely existed in the first place. That idea of fake happiness extends beyond Wesley and Hope. A little girl gets the living teddy bear she always wanted, only for him to develop an existential crisis. Another child wishes to become strong enough to stand up to his bullies before becoming the one everyone fears instead.
But unlike Obsession, which focuses almost entirely on Bear and Nikki, "Wishful Thinking" treats every resident as another example of the same lesson. The cursed wishing well (technically fountain) doesn't create people's problems. It simply gives them exactly what they think they want and forces them to deal with the reality of it all afterwards.
Undoing the Wish Doesn't Undo the Damage
One thing Obsession and Supernatural's "Wishful Thinking" understand is that breaking the curse isn't the same as fixing the damage it causes. By the time their characters realize they've made a terrible mistake, they've already crossed a line they can't completely come back from. The supernatural element may eventually disappear, but the consequences don't.
That's especially true for Wesley. Removing the cursed coin restores Hope to the person she was before, but it doesn't fix Wesley's life. That's arguably a much harsher ending because it confirms that the relationship Wesley had with Hope was an illusion. Obsession arrives at a similarly bleak conclusion for Bear. But his half-hearted attempt to reverse his wish only makes things worse.
By the time the curse is finally broken, Bear is dead, and Nikki is left surrounded by the destruction she caused while under its influence. As Bear's victim, she has to live with the trauma and consequences of what was done to her, which is extremely unfair if you think about it. And that conclusion essentially adds to the horror that is Obsession.
That's what makes Supernatural's "Wishful Thinking" feel like such an interesting companion piece to Obsession. Both stories begin with the fantasy of getting everything you've ever wanted. But they don't leave their characters in the same place. Wesley loses the life he imagined, while Nikki loses the life she actually had. That's a much crueler ending.
