Supernatural – Best TV Show Ever
From left to right: Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester), Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester) Misha Collins (Castiel).
Premise: Two brothers travel the country hunting and killing supernatural creatures and putting an end to paranormal phenomenon. Stay with me on this people, the show is genius.
The Road So Far: The brothers grew up and were trained to be hunters by their father after their mother was killed – burned on the ceiling of the younger brothers nursery when he was 6 months old. The older of the two, Dean Winchester is devoted to his father and his father’s unending search for the creature that killed his wife, the yellow eyed demon. Sam is the younger brother (he was 6 months old when his mother bled and burned above his crib) and has left his father and Dean behind in search of a new life, a normal life that is not steeped in death and the supernatural. This does not work out hence the reason their journey continues. The show has just entered its 7th season and it is still engaging and continuing to evolve.
Throughout 6 seasons the two leads Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) have grown up and matured and become amazingly in-depth characters. They are suffering from the lives they lead and the choices they make or rather the choices that have been preordained for them by higher (Heaven) and lower (Hell) powers. While Sam and Dean are the two leads, they have had recurring sidekicks and enemies throughout the years. Bobby Singer,coincidentally the name of one of the producers, is a seasoned hunter who was friends with their father John Winchester and becomes their closet friend or more like their surrogate Father. Bobby is played by Jim Beaver who previously appeared in the HBO western Deadwood (also a great show as long you can handle f**k being said every second word). In the 4th season a third lead character was introduced, the angel Castiel played brilliantly by Misha Collins. He started out as a fierce creature, not to be messed with but rather to be feared. However, as he spent more time with Dean he started to care for his charge, he became more naive struggling to understand the human race rather than look down on them as mere mud monkeys. This alteration in his character works and Misha Collins does it well.
The first three seasons build up to the revelation, so to speak, of angels and god to counter the demons that have been present from the start of the show. I liked the first three seasons as they developed the characters and brought the sh0w to the point where the fourth season introduces the higher powers that are using the Winchesters as their puppets. One of the many brilliant things about Supernatural is the way that the writers mesh comedy with the seriousness of the show. Even while the boys are facing the end of the world or confronting Lucifer, there is almost always one comedic line. They have done episodes where the comedy helps to move the story line forward while keeping the show entertaining. The best meta episode was in Season 6, episode 15 “The French Mistake”. The characters are thrust into an alternate reality where their lives are the basis for a TV show called Supernatural and their names aren’t Sam and Dean Winchester but Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins is a tweetaholic (he actually tweeted while the episode originally aired). There are jokes about the show being shot in Vancouver BC, Canada (to think it’s only a ferry ride away to where my favorite show is filmed) and about the transition from the shows creator Eric Kripke to the new girl Sera Gamble taking the helm. A humourous episode that any fan will love and appreciate.
Wrap Up: If you haven’t seen, watch it. The first couple of seasons are ok, some of the episodes are kind of cheesy but making it to the third season will pay off. From season 4 on though, the show became my favourite. I have had a fascination with angels and demons for over 20 years and when this show turned in that direction in season 4, I was in love. Imaginative, well written, beautifully directed, great locations and wonderful acting (those boys are pretty and talented). This is one of the best shows on TV today and remains my top pick for TV.
Dawning Creates 