Supernatural (review)

This show, which started in 2005, is probably one of the longest running of contemporary times (bar soaps and stuff). It's kind of in the fantasy adventure genre, but based in mythology, legends and religion as far as its fantasy elements are concerned (as opposed to a space based fantasy like Doctor Who). It's about two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, who are 'hunters' and whose lives revolve around finding monsters, ghosts, demons and the like and killing them. As the famous moniker of the show goes "saving people, hunting things - the family business".

So the show is currently shooting its 9th season and as is typical of a show of its length, its nature has shifted across its seasons. In the beginning it started off very episodic, with each episode featuring a new monster and a new town, with each season tied with some vague overarching plot. As the show progressed it took the natural path of delving more into the characters - their back stories, the changing nature of their relationships with each other, with outsiders and even more basically their shifting and maturing identities. Also the seasons became a lot more plot driven, less randomly occurring monsters and more recurring characters... some of which, admittedly, were monsters.

As it goes on it also blurs the lines between 'good' and 'evil', which is probably a good things from a moralistic point of view. Teaching viewers not to judge solely on appearance or upbringing or what have you. That said, it is quite a violent show. Not every episode features some, but there is lots and lots of violence. When I first got hold of one of the DVDs, and this was after I'd already seen most of the seasons, I was actually surprised that it was rated MA. 

For those not familiar with the Australian rating system, have a handy diagram. 

So basically, pretty darn restricted. I guess by the time season 7 rolled around (which is when I guiltily actually got the DVD for it) I was totally desensitised to all the violence. And, I mean, it's pretty central to the story, what with them being hunters and all, so it's not shied away from. The main characters both actually at different stages torture people (or monsters, but still). So kind of heavy. But with a premise like that you've got to go in expecting some moral questioning, whether that be within the show (plenty of that), or what you as a viewer are prompted to question about the show.

And actually on that notion, and linking back to the theme of character development, it was so great seeing Dean and Sam shift away from their almost stereotyped beginnings. Dean was the hunter-at-heart type, "shoot first, ask questions later" as they'd say frequently on the show, whereas Sam was very very much driven by his heart and moral compass, wanting to avoid the killing as much as possible and frequently questioning Dean's methods and ethics. The main character interplay is between the two brothers so it's interesting to see their relationship shift over the 8 seasons. It's always got the same core components to it, just with different specifics which I don't want to get in to for fear of ruining the story.

I started watching this show because it seemed to have a really dedicated audience, and for a show to have 8 seasons in itself marks it as something to look out for. I was initially held back by my inability to deal with horror and scary things. I actually think I tried maybe twice on the pilot before I managed to watch the whole way though. Tip for the faint-hearted like myself, watch during the day, preferably with people around. But as I said, the nature of the show shifted and I think it realised it was more about characters and less about scary. It actually became quite comedy driven, not in the sense that you could put it in the comedy genre, but every now and then there'd be an episode pretty purely created as a light-hearted break from the intense emotions of the show (and really, if you think too much about the lives Sam and Dean have had then it's quite heartbreaking). Also there tend to be little moments of comedy in each episode, and there are running jokes too and character catch-phrases and things.

Now I have to admit, before I started watching the show I had ideas about what it'd be like. I'd seen photos of the two leads and, upon deciding they were both very attractive (and I mean just look at them) - and what I'm about to say is probably offensive to people in the business of acting - I feared for the quality of the acting. But geez did I not have to worry about that at all. The standard of acting, especially from Jensen Ackles (Dean) and Jared Padalecki (Sam), was amazing. I love it. Each character has their own mannerisms and distinct physicality and it's just great to watch. Totally puts you right into their world. It's amazing. And I grew a real appreciation for the subtlety of their acting, particularly with the emotional scenes which offered a perfect contrast to all the action that goes on around it. Not that I'm an actor or anything, but I think when we pretend that we are (and honestly, who doesn't?), there is a tendency to overact things. Although that might be coming from my involvement in musical theatre... anyway, point is, bravo to the actors and by extension the casting directors. Good job guys.

Here is a collection of things that amuse me about this show:

• Once every 4 episodes one of the brother's feels the need to proclaim they are "so tired of this weight on my shoulders". This does decline in frequency over the shows course.
• The amount of classic rock in the first 2 seasons is phenomenal and the entire time I was watching I kept thinking they were going to run out soon. And indeed, as time went by, classic rock became less utilised, replaced by sometimes over the top horror style music (although this sometimes was used humorously which I applaud).
• For a show with two virile-men as the leads, there sure is an awful lot of crying. 
• Supernatural doesn't have a theme song in the sense that one plays in the opening credits, but it does have a song, and that's Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas. They use it when they do season summary montages before the big finale episodes ("the road so far" as they say) but I always find them hilarious because it's just this total template rock song but the montage has all these intense emotional clips of the brothers killing monsters or characters dying etc and it just makes me smile every time.
• The DVD covers are very distracting. Geez. Couldn't have it sitting face up for my own sanity.

Something that bugs me about this show though is that there is a severe lack of recurring female characters. Sure, there were a rare few, I think 5 maybe, that managed to stretch more than one season (and that's not to say they were in every episode because they weren't). And there seems to me to be this silly trend of bringing them back in for an episode just to kill them off needlessly. Like if there character had been male, I'm pretty sure he would've somehow survived whatever situation he'd been in. And just other little things like derogatory terminology that's sadly as common in real life as in the script (e.g. "bitch") and plenty of suggestive costuming and such. I mean, I guess a certain amount is to be expected seeing as the two main characters are single, white, attractive males who exude masculinity. I think maybe that a lot of it comes down to the kind of 'hunter' lifestyle of the show and how it's almost separate from current social trends and what not (and here I am kind of blurring reality and the world within the show). There are, of course, nods here and there to a more liberal society, such as gay characters, non-nuclear families etc, but still. Pretty much every female one the show a) has some kind of romantic storyline, and b) ends up getting killed.
 

But that’s only one irritation from 8 seasons of happily watching a show.

In case you couldn't tell, I really, really enjoy this show and the whole world it has created. I finished season 8 and wanted to just go straight back to the beginning and watch them all over and I went to sleep thinking about the show and creating episodes in my head and trying to trick my brain into dreaming about it. Here's the thing though, for someone who hasn't watched it from the start, it can be very very overwhelming to jump on board now. And that's purely because there are 8 seasons with an average of 22 episodes, each of which runs for 40 minutes. So you're going to be dedicating a large chunk of your time to it. I aligned my watching with a 2 month holiday that I had, and even averaging 3 or 4 episodes a day, it took me more than the 2 months to watch it all. But seriously, I've enjoyed it so much. I really think it's a fascinating show to get into. You know what would be good? Get a bunch of friends together, order lots of pizza and just watch a whole lot in one go. I think you'll really love it.

Until next time.