Sympathy For The Devil...

Well, last week saw the return of The CW's brilliant Supernatural from it's mid-season break. It's now entering the second half of it's fifth season in which the complex storyline that has been built up over the last four seasons will be resolved. The show has a huge cult following on both sides of the Atlantic but its basic premise of two brothers hunting supernatural beings could so easily be poorly done, so what is it that makes Supernatural such a brilliant show?

The success of any show invariably hinges on its main characters and Supernatural is no exception to this. The relationship between Sam and Dean Winchester carries the show and is fraught with twists, turns, laughter and tears, all portrayed brilliantly by actors Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Series 4 saw the arrival of the angel Castiel (Misha Collins), considered by many to be the third main character and he has quickly become a fan favourite for his deadpan delivery and flecks of near-autistic angelic naivety.

The show weaves it own mythos from every corner of urban legend and mythology- pagan, christian, ancient or modern- and has succeeded in creating a rich tapestry of characters and creatures and has put a new spin on several traditional monsters. The majority of the episodes in each series are self-contained meaning that new viewers can simply drop-in, however the writers are still able to carry the overall story arc throughout, with a handful of episodes solely dedicated to this purpose.

The show has an incredibly distinctive style, most episodes taking place along the backroads of small-town America (though principal photography takes place almost exclusively in Canada) and a number of key elements have become every bit as legendary as the characters and the creatures they hunt. Perhaps the best examples of this is Dean's 1967 Chevrolet Impala, which is the brothers' primary method of transportation and has as much a right to be considered a star of the show as any of the characters and the Colt, a legendary gun forged by Samuel Colt capable of killing anything... well, almost anything- turns out that there are five things in creation that it can't defeat (one of which just happens to be the most nefarious arch-villian of the show).

There too is a brilliant sense of humour and fun throughout Supernatural and even in the most dire of circumstances, the Winchester boys usually have a quip or two up their sleeves. Dean has the lion's share of memorable lines, but each episode remains endlessly quotable and a number of supporting characters provide their fair share of hilarity (Castiel's reactions to human quirks are invariably priceless and cult author/prophet Chuck Shirley provides a number of hapless laugh out loud moments). There's a self-awareness to the show too, something which I always consider a valuable quality for any TV programme to have. It's not afraid of poking fun at itself and at its legions of loyal fans (a recent episode centering around a Supernatural convention was a clever example of this), which can only be a good thing.

It also features one of the best TV soundtracks in living memory. An exceptional original underscore is married with a smattering of classic rock hits from bands such as AC/DC, Blue Oyster Cult, Foreigner, Lynyrd Skynyrd and many more. The music is the underlying foundation of the show and a constant frame of reference for Dean, creating an endless source of jokes, aliases and arguments on the subject.

In short, it's a remarkable show that takes the ideas of horror (that Hollywood constantly grapples and often fails with), comedy (ditto) and good old fashion brotherly love and melds them into 40 minute rollercoasters of laughter, fright and action that exists within its own fully-fledged mythology. In complete layman's terms, think Dukes of Hazzard meets An American Werewolf In London meets Wanted Dead Or Alive by Bon Jovi and your a little way towards understanding what I'm on about.

From the moment I saw the opening few minutes of the pilot episode, I knew it was going to be a good show, by the end of the twelfth episode 'Faith' (which remains one of my favourite episodes of any American series) I knew it was going to be a great show and after four and half series, it has sustained this high quality wonderfully. This fifth season has often been touted as the last, the big finale, the final showdown, but rumours have surfaced of a sixth and both Ackles and Padalecki have options for a sixth on their contracts, however this is purely conjecture (but if it is true, feel free to say you saw it here first...). It is in my eyes one of the best-written and best-acted shows on television and is not as recognised as it surely deserves to be. So, do yourself a favour and pick up the Season 1-4 boxset now, it even has a nice picture of the Impala on the box. What more could you want? (Don't answer that, I just thought it'd be a snappy ending)




Things I Also Watched Recently...
As well as Supernatural, I caught up with plenty of films that I should have watched a long time ago, these included: The Damned United (touching romantic comedy about Brian Clough and Peter Taylor...), Hellboy II (del Toro is an unadulterated genius- the King Midas of film making) and The Wrestler (during which I nearly had a bit of a weep, in a totally manly way...).