"Supernatural" Television Series Review

Since the beginning of man people spent time sitting around campfires, in the middle of tents, in the center of living rooms during sleepovers telling ghost stories passed down from one generation to the next without actually believing in the story itself; however, what would happen if the stories had basis in truth? What would happen if those scary things going bump in the night were more than the creative imagination of a child's mind?

The truth of the ghost stories and stories of equally frightening monsters is the life led by Dean and Sam Winchester. The Winchester family lived a horrendous mystery steeped in tragedy and filled with knowledge that the things that go bump in the night were not creations of a child's imagination. Those bumps were real and they were trouble. One of the monsters, the yellow-eyed monster took the boy's mother in a fire that started in Sam's nursery but not before the father, John Winchester had the chance to give baby Sam to Dean and order him to take his brother out of the house without looking back.

The incident 22 years earlier put John Winchester and sons Dean and Sam on a quest to find the demon that took the life of the boys' mother and John's wife. Sam had a falling out with his father, which caused him to leave for Stanford University, a normal life, something resembling a normal career, and a beautiful girlfriend. The man, no longer a child, wanted a normal life where he could leave all the horrors of his youth behind him. He tired of playing soldier and moving from place to place without time to have friends or live somewhere stable.

The dream life Sam wants come to an end as he hears a crash downstairs in the other room along with floorboards creaking. He sees a man's shadow go into another room. Sam grabs the man. They fight one another before the other man pins Sam to the floor and we can now see his face in the light.

"Whoa, easy tiger,.. Dean smirks.

"Dean,.." Sam responds in surprise as his brother laughs.

"You scared the crap out of me,..." Sam exclaims breathing heavily from the fight that ensued.

"That's cause you're out of practice,.." Dean smarts off again letting his guard down enough for Sam to flip his brother over with Sam now sitting atop Dean pinning him down.

"Or not... Get off me."

The boys get off the floor. Sam inquires as to why Dean is breaking into his house in the middle of the night.

"We gotta talk," Dean explains with an air of seriousness in his voice.

"Uh, the phone?" Sam responds with an inquiring but irritating glance.

"If I'd have called, would you have picked up?"

The light comes on in the room and Jess calls out to Sam with concern.

"Jess, hey. Dean, this is my girlfriend Jessica," Sam explains.

"Wait, your brother Dean?"

"I love the Smurfs. You know I gotta tell you, you are completely out of my brother's league," Dean scoffs admiring Jess in a short slinky nightshirt with a picture of the Smurfs on the front.

"Just let me put something on."

"No, no, no., I wouldn't dream of it... Seriously. Anywho, I gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business, but, uh, nice meeting you," Dean continues with a semi-playful yet somewhat serious tone.

"Whatever you wanna say you can say it in front her," Sam responds.

"Okay. Um... Dad hasn't been home in few days."

"So, he's working over-time on a "Miller Time" shift; he'll stumble back in sooner or later," Sam smugly replies though hiding something ominous behind the lie.

"Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days," Dean says again, this time with a more serious tone.

"Jess, excuse us. We have to go outside," Sam tells Jess in a manner that is certain that he does not want her to hear the truth after all.

The brothers discuss other hunting trips. Sam makes comments about how their father always manages to come home eventually. Dean hides his emotions well but it is clear this time he worries something went wrong, terribly wrong. Dean says everything he can think of to get his brother to come with him to find their father; nothing works. In fact, it does nothing more than angers Sam further.

"I swore off hunting for good," Sam huffs in Dean's face in a matter of fact tone.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad," Dean replies strongly.

"Yeah? When I told Dad when I was scared of the thing in my closet he gave me a .45."

"Well, what was he supposed to do?" Dean asked as if he honestly did not understand the reasoning behind his brother's hostility over the incident.

"I was 9 years old! He was supposed to say,.. Don't be afraid of the dark," Sam responds in futile frustration with his brother.

:Don't be afraid of the dark? What, are you kidding me, of course you should be afraid of the dark! You know what's out there!"

"Yeah, I know but still... the way we grew up after mom was killed, and Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her, but we still haven't found the damned thing, so we kill everything we can find," Sam continues.

Sam finally relents and the boys go on the road together in search of their father with Dean's memories of the thing that took their mother. It is only when Sam returns that he learns the demon who took his mother has taken Jess. Now he understands the frustration, the hatred, and the need to hunt that possessed his father all those years.

In episodes over the next few seasons we watch as the brothers battle the real demons behind urban legends such as Bloody Mary, The Lady in White, The Grim Reaper, and even the demon that rumor says Robert Johnson traded his soul for to play the guitar. The Supernatural version adds to the original story except the person who summons the demon must place a picture or personal item into a box and bury it in the center of a demonic crossroads. The person waits until the demon shows to make the pact. Once the pact is complete, the person has ten years of his/her wishing until the hellhounds come to collect the person's soul for the devil.

Each episode deals with stories from famous, infamous, and small-town legends dealing with evil spirits, demons, cursed spirits, and those who wish only to have their deaths avenged. Along the way, we learn bits and pieces about the boys and why the Winchester family, especially Sam is so important to what will happen in the future.

Each episode of Supernatural deals with real urban legends, the history behind them, and some manner in which to stop the massacre or deaths from occurring. Over time, we learn that Sam is special and has a special gift just as other children who are around Sam's age. The story remains enough of a mystery to hold one's attention from week to week with more controversy, brotherly bonding, brotherly angst, and occasional truths when the boys bear all to share their truth brotherly feelings toward each other.

Supernatural is not a show for children but if anyone has a love of the unknown, an open mind to what could be, and a slight interest in science fiction then Supernatural is one series you should check into watching. The program keeps getting better and better with every new episode and each new season.