Supernatural
WB Tuesdays, 9/8c
Premiere Date: September 13, 2005
Supernatural knows how to get to the point – seeing a woman scale the ceiling and burst into a demonic flame within the first few minutes of the pilot hits just the right note. This single event also rumbles the very core of the show, which the series then moves twenty years into the future as the basis for its continuing story, and that note is sustained quite nicely, for the most part, through the remainder of the pilot episode.
Supernatural succeeds with a relatively simple premise: Mom dies at hands of the supernatural, family hunts the supernatural to solve the mystery of, and eventually avenge, her death. Boys are on opposite roads of life, come together because they share a common bond (Dad), and their polarized personalities lead to conflict (and a few laughs). “Hunter” premise sets up monster-of-the-week approach, all strung together by a thin, but admittedly curious, recurring plot line. It’s what Hollywood calls, “high concept.”
The children, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) Winchester are now young adults but are living separate lives. Sam is taking his college studies seriously, and seems to have settled down with his girlfriend. Dean, however, still is reckless, unfocused, and clings onto his father’s pursuit of the demonic force that stole away his mother. The father has gone missing during his latest hunt, and the boys go on a weekend search-and-rescue mission to bring him home.
How Supernatural pulls this off is mostly due to its visual appeal. Executive produced by McG, written by Boogeyman scribe Eric Kripke, and brought together by WB alumni David Nutter, “high concept” is married with “high production” to give this show a “high gloss”. How much of McG’s involvement is not known, but his trademark of “borrowing” from his many influences is evident. The show basically rolls like a mix tape of horror movies – every quality movie scare and spooky set piece is brought together and intertwined with the escapades of Sam and Dean with vibrant energy.
The main problem with the story is that it hits all the right scares, then brings it home with some lame adolescent comment mostly from the annoying and smart-aleck Dean. As a matter of fact, the only thing really standing in the way of this series working is Dean’s character. Frankly, he’s unlikable and annoying, always wearing a face that would better belong standing in the corner. At the complete opposite, Sam is the voice of reason, the one with his head on straight. The one who looks toward the future. It only makes sense for the audience to gravitate toward Sam, and that makes Dean inconsequential. Not a good thing when half of your lead characters can be so easily disliked. This leads to another problem – there is not a quality adult lead character among the cast. The father is MIA throughout the pilot, and although the potential is there for him to join the cast as a regular at some point in the series’ future, the show could very well use a chaperone, so to speak.
Of course, these problems are things which can be corrected through character development as the series progresses. Supernatural is the darling of the WB’s fall lineup, benefiting from a huge publicity campaign. Although its timeslot is crowded, it will no doubt attract a respectable audience in its target market, and retain that audience week-to-week with its many popcorn scares. This is good news for the future of the show, as it would most likely be afforded the time it needs to mature.
After the cancellation of Buffy and Angel, the short-lived Roswell, and the failed Birds of Prey, the WB may have the perfect companion hit to Smallville.
You, obviiously, have never watched the show or read any message boards. It just so happens that Dean is a favored character and it happens to be his sarcastic and smart-aleck remarks and his the looks on his face that make him a favored character. Sam, on the other hand, is opposite which also makes him a favored character. So, your report is wrong. Both characters are favored, neither over the other…they are favored equally!
This is an excellent show with a dedicated following. Dean’s character is exactly what it should be and Jensen Ackles does an amazing job every week. Both Jared and Jensen have a loyal fan base and I have no doubt that this show will be renewed…
Ok first of all you have no right to say any of that cause its a crock of crap.
I love his smart-ass remarks and his dorky faces, and so do thousands of other ppl. Him and Sam both holod this show together and he is not stopping it from making it through the cut. He is helping it
Have u even been to a fan board and read anything cause if you did u would know that ppl love him and when you diss him you got some shit coming at you.
Jensen is a great actor and i think he plays dean very well. Sam would be nothing without him . So next time get god damn facts right.!
Whoa ok buddy you need to slow down with the judgement of the show, and no I am not just saying that because I love it. I am saying it because you have to right to go bashing one of that main characters. That actually if you haven’t noticed people like. You can say whatever you feel necessesary about how good the show is but, I’ll bet that you haven’t even seen it past the first episode before you made these idiotic judgements about him and what the show is about. I agree that Dean is played very well and the writters would have felt the need to change him or his attitude and lines if they were bad or disliked. I think that the next time you try to mess with the integrity of a show you should try to make some good analogies and not, “Frankly, he’s unlikable and annoying, always wearing a face that would better belong standing in the corner.” that is the lamest excuse for an insult that I have ever heard and I hope that you go stand in the corner and hide your face for this review stupid that you have just done of an amazing show.
The only reason why I started to watch this show was because of Jensen Ackles, and the main reason why I continue to watch the show is because of Dean. He is my fave character in the show, and he constantly makes me laugh
Jensen Ackles does a supurb job at playing Dean and the looks he pulls keeps me enchanted every week….I love it that he can say so much without saying a single thing.
GO Jensen! Go Dean! And Go Supernatural!
Are you sure you’ve actually watched the show? Jensen is a fantastic actor, his character is very well drawn and I would say has more depth than that of his fictional brother’s. And as for “always wearing a face”, umm, I think you’ll find that’s called ACTING. Not that I would expect you to appreciate that. I’m sure you wouldn’t recognise a good performance if it walked up and kicked your ass.
You should really check out the boards and read a little bit of our posts. Jensen Ackles is an amazing actor; he plays Dean Winchester so amazing! There is so much depth to his character and his facial expressions are so amazing! I also love his smart-alec comments, you shouldn’t put that against him.
“Frankly, he’s unlikable and annoying, always wearing a face that would better belong standing in the corner.”
That’s not true! He doesn’t belong standing in the corner! He’s favored by so many fans! You are blind and judge to much abviously. You cant see amazing acting and a amazing character even if it was staring you in the face! And he’s not annoying either or unlikable! You seriously need to get your fact straight before you go and post something like this up on the internet for everyone to see. As you can see..it has caused a little bit of an up roaring for us fans.
I don’t even have to write much because all of these people are right Jensen is a great actor, he makes a perfect Dean, the whole smart-aleck remarks thing is half of the reason i watch the show and the other half is its a remarkable show to watch. So you should watch what you say next time
I love supernatural, and I love Sam and Dean, I think Dean is hot lol. He is a smartalek but I love it. So dont go saying things about Dean, if you know nothing about it. Jensen Acklen (Dean) is a very good actor, and I started watching because of him.
whoooaaa! guy, u better get off ur high horse before someone has to kick u off! just becuz in ur personally opinin, u dont like Dean’s character does not give u the right to go around bashing him! and if im looking at this correctly…i believe it says u wrote this on Aug. 30th! so ALL u saw was JUST the pilot!
You know what your comments are rude and like the other people said Dean is one of the more liked characters!!!Your obviously jealous that jensen has become so famous and your nothing!!!
You have a lot of issues with jensen but you havent even seen the show just the pilot!!!And yes a lot of people watch the show just cause of jensen ackles!!! Jensen everything you wish you were thats why your writing rude and untrue comments!!!Supernatural is a HUGE hit cause of Jensen Ackles and Jared padalecki!!!
And Jensen is HOT!!!!
You need to calm down.You are so jealous that Jensen is a Huge actor and you are nothing. Jensen makes the show worthwhile to watch!!! A lot of people watch the show because of him. Not only is he a great actor but he is also one of the hottest guys around. You dont have to say rude things about him and his character just because you feel like it. Obviously you dont know anything about the show and how many people LOVE his charcter!!! You dont know anything about acting and you should kick yourself in the ass!!! Every bad thing you said about Dean is a load of crap!!!