[TV Review] Supernatural (2005-2020)

Once Joss Whedon’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer aired its final episode in 2003, there was a large monster hunter hole left in the supernatural genre of television. That was until two years later when two extremely easy on the eyes brothers burst onto our screens, complete with a sexy 1967 Chevrolet Impala, husky smouldering voices and plenty of demons and creatures to satiate any fan of mythologically inclined soap operas. 

With a very similar episodic layout to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, with “monster of the week” whilst following an underlying storyline, Supernatural portrays brothers Dean and Sam, played by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padlecki respectively, as they travel cross country on the hunt for demons, ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Throughout the fifteen series, Sam and Dean Winchester battle yellow eyed demons, heaven and hell and pre-biblical primordial monsters, as well as their personal demons that haunt them in their personal lives. Dean is the older wisecracking brother whose emotional growth has been stunted by his inherent need to constantly look out for and protect his younger brother. Sam is the younger sibling who after initially hoping he could live a normal life, soon gets drawn back into the family business that their widowed father brought them up in. 

The first two series sets up the family dynamic of the Winchester brothers, and introduces audiences to their world. Being raised by an emotionally damaged father who constantly abandoned them to hunt for the demon that murdered their mother, Dean and Sam are psychologically complex, basically traumatised by the huge amount of responsibility placed on their young shoulders. As well as depicting the turbulent familial layout, the initial series sets out the rules of the hunt. Salt and iron are the safest bets when dealing with most creatures, including ghosts who can be destroyed by salting and burning their remains, and nothing can kill demons apart from a mysterious colt. 

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From season three, things take a biblical turn as the Winchester’s realise they are caught in the middle of a momentous, earth-shattering battle between heaven and hell, devil and angel. More side characters are introduced such as the angel Castiel who goes on to become the brothers’ guardian, Crowley the crossroads demon and Chuck the prophet. The boys’ stand-in father figure Bobby Singer has more character development and a greater role in the Supernatural franchise.  As the series develops, it becomes more than a little predictable as Sam and Dean alternatively take turns in dying and then being resurrected through various forms of pacts, holy help and magic. Despite this repetitiousness, Supernatural more than makes up for it with it’s comedic charm, the main characters’ extreme likability and enough folklore origins to keep serious monster nerds happy.

The trait in which Supernatural excels is that as well as being thoroughly entertaining and addictively binge worthy, it also explores non-supernatural themes that are on more of a relatable emotional level. Its portrayal of loss and grief, not only through death but also through absent parents is painful and Padlecki and Ackles are thoroughly convincing as men who have had to grow up far too soon, not being given the opportunities to explore or express their grief and trauma. Dean in particular represents the type of masculinity shaped and defined by a society which dictates that men are not allowed to display their feelings, and vulnerability equals weakness. This constriction of masculine oppressiveness on Dean’s part culminates in the older brother’s borderline alcoholism, serial womansing and unsympathetic aggression when hunting. Sam, initially, is quite the opposing personality to Dean’s alpha male bravado. Sam is bookish, sensitive and sensible, finding empathy with the monsters they hunt and feeling comfortable expressing a whole range of emotions. Sam fights back against Dean’s blind loyalty to family, taking the rightful stance that it's ok to forge one’s own life path and cut ties with toxicity. 

Supernatural currently holds the record as the longest running sci-fi and fantasy series in the USA, spanning an impressive fifteen years, and it’s clear to see why it has earned that accolade. Easy to digest, and proving to be a rewatchable comfort show for fans, its relatability, it's fantastic flair for storytelling and its ability to at times be downright scary, makes Supernatural a firm favourite amongst genre fans. 

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