The CW's Supernatural is one of those TV shows that is a bonafide cult hit but not quite on the radar of the mainstream public, particularly those not accustomed to taking in CW shows and/or teen-oriented science fiction or horror (which essentially sums up the vast majority of CW's fare these days, frankly).
I never took the time to see what the fuss was about myself, even knowing that coverage of Supernatural on TV Geek Army always seems to be extremely popular – and additionally it is one of the top added shows on TV show discovery and mobile alerts app Alert Me TV as well (get Alert Me TV for free on Apple's app store or the Google Play Store).
I never took the time… until now, that is. Do the power and freedom brought to us by the good folk at Netflix, the full catalog of Supernatural Seasons 1-8 are available.
I watched the Supernatural pilot over the weekend with the idea of seeing whether or not it's worth the fuss.
And the upshot? Yeah, it just might be.
Supernatural, for those not yet in the know, mainly concerns the doings of brothers Sam and Dean Winchester. Back in the day, 22 years ago to be precise, the Winchesters suffered something of a horrific tragedy when their mother burst into flames after floating up to the ceiling, thus taking out their entire home in the process.
Their father, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan (who I liked quite a lot over two seasons of Magic City), appears briefly in the flashback but is central to the inciting incident for the series in present day. Sam's a prospective law student for a hot minute, but is waylaid ahead of an all important law school interview by brother Dean, who convinces Sam to hit the road with him as he explains, "Dad's on a hunting trip, and he hasn't been home in a few days."
The tone of the series begins to take shape as the brothers Winchester hit the road. I appreciated that the pilot took the time to establish brotherly banter and conflict between the series' main characters. For example, later in the pilot when Sam offers a heartfelt apology to his brother, Dean cuts him off with, "No chick flick moments." Lines such as this deliver a noticeably lighter tone for the show than might exist on a show about supernatural murder and paranormal mayhem. It works, however, and helps build interest in the early going.
The mix of good looking actors (even the undead seem to be off-the-charts attractive and, in the case of Woman in White Constance Welch, wielding a libido for their ghostly exploits), fun background music (a refreshingly non-stale by TV standards mix of rocked up guitar-driven tracks), sharp dialog, and well executed action sequences made this a very watchable pilot that makes me want to see more.
On that last note, the sequence in which Constance Welch attempts to get Sam to "take her home" is exciting and suspenseful and scary. As Constance transitions from sexy seduction to zombie assault mode, the special effects are terrific and the camera direction expert as Dean comes to the rescue.
The plot lays out well for future adventures, with poppa Winchester a few steps ahead of the boys in his supernatural investigations (he uses "marine crap" coordinates to leave clues as to his whereabouts for Sam and Dean, in this case "Dean 35-111").
I'm looking forward to seeing more of Supernatural, and as it turns out I have 200+ additional episodes to spin through in future if I'd like.
