Supernatural!

Last year I was really addicted to LOST. The ongoing mystery and last spellbinding minutes of each episode had me hooked. This season's episodes in contrast have been spread a little thin by the number of story lines they are following. I came to realize a couple of weeks ago that I really do not care about the characters as far as who lives or dies or hooks up with whom, just how they are related to the overarching mysteries. (I also read a disappointing interview with the creators lately where they stated they don't plan to ever answer the question of why these people all seem to be connected in the past, grrrr.)

There is another show, though, that combines the mysterious aspects of LOST with better character development and less "soap opera" aspects. It is called Supernatural and airs on Thursday nights at 9pm E / 8pm C (yes, against CSI and Grey's Anatomy) on the CW (formerly on the WB). Supernatural follows two (handsome) 20-something brothers, Sam and Dean, whose paths in life were set in motion by the horrific loss of their mother at the hands of a demon when they were young. This tragedy led their father to become a sort of vigilante, hunting down evil and destroying it while seeking the demon that killed his wife. The first season follows the brothers' search for their missing father and their difficulty reconnecting as brothers as Sam had rejected the family's way of life to be normal and attend college. The second season follows the brothers dealing with loss, dealing with the implications of their discovery that the demon has plans for the many children with special gifts whose mothers he murdered, and struggling to protect one another. All of this is set against the backdrop of the brothers' travels around the country, saving innocent families from real life horror stories and urban legends. The show is dark, not campy, though they do a good job balancing the suspense with comedy in the form of brotherly snarkiness and great cultural allusions. (See example at end of this blog.)

After watching so many shows lately with casts so large you never see any of the characters very often (eg. LOST, Heroes, etc.), it is refreshing to see a show centered entirely around just the two brothers. The creators of the show have taken advantage of this to give real depth and growth to the characters as they come to know each other, and themselves, better.

The episode of Supernatural that has inspired my gushing review is one of their most recent ("Born Under a Bad Sign") in which Sam mysteriously disappears for several days, only to reappear with no knowledge of what has happened or what he has done. As the brothers reconstruct the details of those missing days, it becomes clear that something else was controlling Sam, possibly the beginning of the demon's plan for him. I won't give away what happens, but the show had me on the edge of my seat for the full hour. When what is going on is finally revealed, you realize that the writers and the actors had given you all of the clues you needed to discover it for yourself but had skillfully kept you feeling as out of sorts about the ordeal as the characters. For this I give them a huge "Bravo!"

If you'd like to catch up, now is the perfect time. Unlike LOST, most of the episodes are fairly stand alone, the exception of which are the last 3 or so episodes of the season. Between now and mid-April there is only onetwo new episodes on March 15th and 22nd. In between they are showing repeats of other episodes from this season. This gives ample time to find out who these characters are before the final sprint to the end of the season. The last four aired episodes are available streaming (free & no few ads!) at cwtv.com. To see how far the story has progressed, the first season is available on DVD, and the full second season (up to current episode) is available on I-tunes and Amazon.

Great Quote:
From "Croatoan":
Sam spots a word carved into a telephone pole.
Dean: Croatoan?
Sam: Roanoke? Lost colony? Ring a bell?
Dean looks blank.
Sam: Dean, did you pay any attention in history class?
Dean: Yeah. The shot heard 'round the world, how bills become laws…
Sam: That's not school; that's Schoolhouse Rock.
Dean: Whatever.



Sam and Dean Winchester

For another Wisconsinite's "photo introduction" to Supernatural click here!