Fall TV 2007: Supernatural

There are some story ideas that do not necessarily translate easily onto film. Sometimes it does not matter how good your writers are, how realistic your special effects are, or even how believable your actors are - it can be very difficult to have viewers take your storyline seriously, especially in the genre of horror/supernatural. Take for instance, a recent film about a flaming skeleton on a motorcycle. No matter how much money the producers dump into it, it will always be about...a flaming skeleton on a motorcycle.

CW's Supernatural comes up against this hurdle as well. With the premise of two brothers hunting vampires, demons, and ghosts out for vengeance, the risk of producing an hour a week of ridiculous and cheesy spirit-battles is high. This is exactly the reason that Supernatural has exceeded all my expectations. The main characters are well-developed, the angry spirits are genuinely frightening, and most importantly, the storyline progresses linearly as the seasons go by.

One thing every viewer will appreciate about this program is that it does what it sets out to do: it puts you on the edge of your seat. It makes you jump when something come up out of the darkness. It makes you uneasy about turning off the lights when it is over. And although the brothers fight some reoccurring evil dudes, such as the yellow-eyed demon, most of the Undead creatures take on a variety of interesting and terrifying forms: the trickster who can take any shape and deal out eye-for-an-eye justice, the serial killer whose execution earlier in the century didn't quite take hold, the misguided deceased minister trying to "clean up the neighborhood", and others. And even during the most heart-pounding episodes, there are wonderful little moments of comic relief.

With all this, a weekly serial featuring this search and destroy action would make me more than happy, but Supernatural takes the story a step further. This past season has really developed the characters of the brothers, Sam and Dean, in the form of a battle with destiny. They have discovered the Sam belongs to a group of psychics that apparently have one thing in common - they have been singled out by the powerful yellow-eyed demon to fight on the side of evil in what seems to be a coming war. While still trying to rid the world of wicked spirits, the brothers also seek to find out more about the psychics and what the demon is planning. Despite Sam's unpleasant prospects, Dean refuses to leave his side. The powerful bond between the two brothers is, in my opinion, one of Supernatural's strongest points.

In the current season, it will be interesting to see how this relationship develops. There seems to be some question of whether or not Sam is still himself after his near death, or more correctly, actual death experience. Is he the same old Sam that we know and love, or is he under some kind of evil influence? Will he be able to save Dean's life with the help of his mysterious blond friend?

The wonderful thing about Supernatural is that if you have never seen an episode, you can start watching right now in the middle of the season and still be able to follow the story. Even with the over-arcing storyline, each episode features an exciting ghost/demon/vampire hunt that doesn't require any knowledge of background information. So just turn out the lights, lock your doors, and get your wooden stakes and silver bullets ready...