Creator
Eric Kripke
Cast
Jared Padalecki Sam Winchester
Jensen Ackles Dean Winchester
DVD Release Date: September 11, 2007
Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 903 Minutes on 6 discs
The Show
Sam and Dean Winchester are brothers that lost their mother when they were very little. It wasn’t as if they lost their mother in the most normal way either because she burned to death in their home after being thrust to the ceiling with her stomach cut open by some unknown force. Their father John has searched since she dies for her killer. John knows that it was some sort of supernatural force and he has vowed to make it pay for his wife’s death. But to make sure the rest of is family would always be safe, John taught his boys the same kind of supernatural hunting abilities he uses.
Now Sam and Dean use their powers to not only help find the killer of their mother, but to also help other innocents being tormented by the forces of evil. And due to circumstances out of their control, the boys will do anything to get their father back from the same demon that took their mother’s life so long ago. Their travels take them all around the United States and face-to-face with new monsters and villains that are out to take them down for good.
Here is a show that isn’t necessarily the most original idea in the world, but it does it very well. When looking for another series to compare it too, Charmed is obviously the first choice. They both have a couple siblings looking to fight the forces of evil by tracking them down and defeating them so they can’t harm any more people. Hell, both shows even had the authorities after them at one point or another hoping to bring them in because they thought of them as a menace to society. Yet there is a big difference and it’s that the Winchesters don’t have magical powers like the Halliwell sisters. Sure they have some psychic abilities, can hunt demons, and know how to kill evil creatures; but they can’t conjure spells or anything.
Supernatural is a series that is right up my alley because it goes away from the one thing that truly turned me off about Charmed by not being too friendly and bright. Here is a show that is dark, creepy, and dwells almost in the same realm as horror films do. The Winchesters don’t deal only with demons but also face such classic monsters as werewolves and vampires. It is a nice change from having just random demons from hell constantly try to take them down. After only seeing a few episodes from season one, it is clearly evident that the bar was taken up another notch for season two and the gamble paid off. Supernatural has some great characters involved in wonderful storylines and done in almost flawless execution.
Episodes
Disc One:
In My Time Of Dying: After the car crash (end of season one), Dean is on the brink of death. His spirit wanders around the halls of the hospital as a Reaper tries to lure him to his eternal rest. The boys’ father realizes what must be done in order for another member of his family to not die before their time has come.
Everybody Loves A Clown: The Winchesters must deal with an evil clown that is really a Hindu cannibal. The clown scares children into letting him into their home so he can murder their parents. The boys also meet others like themselves after coming into contact with a woman named Ellen.
Bloodlust: A hunter named Gordon is after a vampire who has been tracking down other vampires that have sworn off of human sacrifices. The brothers decide to help Gordon find his prey, but soon realize that he may serve as big a danger as the one he’s hunting.
Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things: While visiting their mother’s grave, the Winchesters find a nearby grave that has evil powers killing all life near it. The grave belongs to that of a college student’s girlfriend who died in a car accident and his efforts to bring her back to life backfired horribly. This is an excellent episode and one of my favorites from the season.
Disc Two:
Simon Said: Researching cell phone messages forcing innocent people to kill lead Sam and Dean to come across a slacker named Andy, a man with the same psychic abilities as Sam.
No Exit: Jo causes problems for the Winchesters by disobeying her mother and going along with them on the hunt. But this hunt is extremely dangerous as the ghost of the first known serial killer in the United States is back for more.
The Usual Suspects: Being at the scene of the crimes to figure out what happened has finally caught up with the boys as they are arrested on the scene of the crime where a lawyer and his wife were murdered. Dean ends up becoming the chief suspect because he also was caught red-handed, literally in blood.
Crossroad Blues: A seductive demon with the power of making people’s dreams come true for the price of their soul is trying to work her magic on Same and Dean. As they protect others who have fallen victim to her power, Dean gets an offer he may not be able to refuse.
Disc Three:
Croatoan: A small town named Rivergrove is overrun by a weird series of violence from all the townspeople upon each other. Sam soon becomes affected by this rage virus that Dean finds out may be something far worse, demonic possession.
Hunted: Gordon the vampire hunter is back and who is hot on the tail of Sam who is out doing some hunting of his own. Sam has split from Dean and wants to find others that have psychic powers like him.
Playthings: The boys meet Tyler, the young daughter of a haunted hotel owner named Susan. After looking around some, Dean and Sam realize that Tyler’s imaginary friend Maggie may not be as innocent as an invisible playmate but a demon with a taste for murder.
Disc Four:
Nightshifter: Dean and Sam are on the tail of a shape-shifter after they realize that some bank robbery suspects all end up dying. That leads to the boys being held hostage with a bunch of other people as a SWAT team surrounds the outside.
Houses Of The Holy: A series of murders are running wild by people who claim angels have told them to get rid of the evildoers once and for all. Dean doesn’t believe in angels and thinks it is a spirit looking for revenge, but Sam isn’t so sure after being visited himself.
Born Under A Bad Sign: Sam’s darkside may have finally emerged after Dean finds him covered in blood in a hotel room. Sam has no memory of the past week or where the blood came from, but their investigations unveil some horrifying suspicions.
Tall Tales: Strange occurrences and superstitions are coming true on a college campus and thanks to some research by the Winchesters and Bobby, they realize it is the work of a Trickster. That same Trickster may be the reason that Dean and Sam are constantly at each other’s throats.
Disc Five:
Roadkill: The Winchesters team up with a woman named Molly that almost became the next victim of a ghost farmer on a highway that kills someone new on the anniversary of his death each year. They are in a race against time to get rid of the ghost once and for all.
Heart: When a mauled body turns up with its heart missing, Sam and Dean know that can only mean a werewolf. And with a full moon on the way, they do all they can to save a girl from being the next victim.
Hollywood Babylon: Dean and Sam go superstar as a director wants to create some internet gossip about his film so he fakes a supernatural soundstage death. But when the second death is more real, the brothers step in to deal with multiple ghosts.
Folsom Prison Blues: Agent Henricksen finally gets what he wants, the Winchesters in jail on a somewhat bogus breaking and entering charge. Dean and Sam aren’t fond of the frightening characters they meet in jail, but the scarier thing is the spirit killing off inmates one at a time.
Disc Six:
What Is And What Should Never Be: Dean has a run-in with a djinn, a creature that can show him a reality he would have had. In it his mother is alive, has a great job, has a great relationship with a beautiful woman, and he and Sam are no longer speaking. Before slipping too far into it though, Dean must decide which life he prefers. Another fantastic episode.
All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1: Sam is taken with other special children to a ghost town by the Yellow-Eyed demon. Here the demon begins to hatch his evil plans. Dean meanwhile continues a search for his brother that involves a 3,000 mile haystack.
All Hell Breaks Loose Part 2: As the Yellow-Eyed demon starts his plan to unleash the hordes of evil from Hell, Dean is driven to the edge of his emotional sanity. This leads to the ultimate showdown that may draw consequences much stronger.
The Video
The episodes are shown in 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and it is a nice transfer to DVD. Almost every episode is entirely in darkness with nighttime scenes, old deserted home, sewers, forests, and more places that never have a lot of light coming in. It was good to see the darker scenes never too dark where things couldn’t be seen, and when a brighter scene comes up it isn’t blinding and remains crisp and sharp.
The Audio
The episodes are heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and are fantastic. All dialogue can be heard clearly and at a level volume. It is never overpowered by the music which is another great touch because of the choices made. Not only is there generic type mood music which is good, but some classic rock blares from time to time and really makes for a fun feel to the show.
Special Features
Audio Commentaries – Three episodes have commentary and they are: “In My Time Of Dying” with Padalecki, Ackles, and director Kim Manners; “What Is And What Should Never Be” with creator Eric Kripke; and “All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1” with Kripke, director Robert Singer, and writer Sera Gambles. All three commentaries are very interesting and reveal a lot about the insight of the episodes and what kind of things they were exactly going for in each scene to portray to the viewers. I am not sure if it is some type of inside joke or what, but each commentary has the option of “complex Chinese subtitles” which will be displayed throughout on the bottom of the screen. Weird.
The Devil’s Road Map – A really fun feature that takes you on a road map all around the United States. There are push pins in different cities for each place the show visited throughout the season. Cast and crew then discuss the city along with the types of villains they battled in each location. They range in length but are usually around five minutes long.
The Episode From Hell – Listed on the DVD cover art, it is supposed to be the making of the second part of the final episode, “All Hell Breaks Loose Part 2.” But try as I might, it couldn’t be found on any disc until getting to spot # 22 on the Devil’s Road Map and the feature pops up. It’s an eleven minute feature that has cast and crew discussing how important the last episode of the season was and what they were trying to get across with it. Ok stuff.
Jared’s Original Screen Test For The Role Of Sam – For some reason I always enjoy screen tests because it is fun to see the actors in the roles before they actually get comfortable in them for the show. Padalecki played the part of Sam just as well the very first time as he does all the way to the last episode of this season. An eight minute test and fun to watch.
Webisode Gallery – There are three webisodes included which total about thirteen minutes. The first is with VFX supervisor Ivan Hayden and he goes through all the special effects for the show. The writers are the focus of the second feature and they discuss a lot of the villains and sets for the series. Finally, prop master Christopher Cooper talks about the different props in the episodes from food to guns and everything in between.
Gag Reel – Ten minutes of what are quite possibly the funniest outtakes I have ever seen on a TV DVD set or any DVD for that matter. Padalecki and Ackles are hilarious together when not being serious on camera. There is one series of takes where one of them farted in a car and after about ten different takes, they still can’t stop laughing. I was cracking up the whole time.
Deleted Scenes – Four episodes have deleted or unaired scenes throughout the set that are available to view right along with the episode they belong to.
The Inside Pulse
If you’ve never seen Supernatural, now is the time to do so. The series delivers on ever level from making you feel eerily uncomfortable all the way to giving you a sense of relief that things are going to be Ok. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles truly have a good relationship together and work well on screen. A good chemistry gives them the aura of being real brothers right down to the nagging and bickering that comes from being related. They make the episodes better just with their interaction, but it doesn’t take much since they are enjoyable to begin with. The special features aren’t many, but what’s there is really good. Especially the gag reel which honestly had me laughing for ten whole minutes and that is unusual since most gag reels are inside jokes that the viewers never get. Ok, so it doesn’t have the hot women, but it takes all the great things that Charmed did right and does them better. Start with season one because there is a lot of continuity from season to season and one episode to the next, but get hooked on Supernatural now. You’ll thank me later.
