Supernatural didn’t break new ground when it debuted but it did fill the niche recently emptied by the close of Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The adventures of two brothers charged with the investigation of the spooky and the slaying of the demonic instantly attracted the attention of an audience starving for more. That’s about where the fairness of the comparison ends. Even in the final days of Buffy and Angel the writing retained its razor edge while simultaneously injecting the proceedings with a tinge of humanity in worlds of hell spawn, ghouls and who knows what else – Supernatural just isn’t on the same playing field. Blessed with their own sense of humor, the Winchester brothers have survived for a fourth season only to face an oncoming Apocalypse. To the series’ credit, it might not be the best thing on television, but it’s very easy to get caught up in it all quite quickly.
When last we saw Dean (Jensen Ackles), his innards were being torn asunder by a hound from Hell. That’s a ridiculously poor position to be in, and consequently he died from the whole experience. Whodathunkit? Suffering in the bowels of the underworld, Dean’s every moment feels like a millennia; but little does he nor anyone else expect that he’ll soon be rescued from his hideous fate by an unknown benefactor. Dean claws his way back to the land of the living and gasps as takes his first breath of fresh air since his agonizing screams at the hands of Satan’s pooch. He’s alive – but with handprint-shaped scars on his shoulders and a horrible supersonic ringing that seems to follow him wherever he goes. Dean quickly reunites with his psychic-powered brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) and, after the requisite round of “how are you still alive” questioning that’s actually pretty comical, they move on to find their third, Bobby (Jim Beaver). How is Dean alive? Well they quickly answer that question and set up the premise for the season: the angel Astiel (Misha Collins) wrenched Dean from the grips of Hell so that he could play his part in the final days leading up to the Apocalypse.
So, no pressure, right?
Like any good season of television, there are a select group of episodes whose stories directly relate to the Apocalypse plotline and another which are little more than fun Supernatural single servings. This was always the pattern of Supernatural (and the two aforementioned series, and even X-Files, the further relevance of which we’ll discuss momentarily). Supernatural has retained the funny rapport of the lead trio (jokes about pie still occur) and made the plot work for the characters and not vice versa – which is something a great many shows forget to do as seasons go on.
The influence of X-Files has always been very obvious in Supernatural and the writers finally took an entire episode to make a brilliant homage. Taking a cue from an episode in the fifth season of the X-Files (“The Post-Modern Prometheus”), the black and white episode “Monster Movie” takes everything the show stands for and reviews it from a purely satirical light. It’s a brief respite from the more serious story of the season, but it’s also a perfect example of why the show remains popular amongst its fans – it isn’t ashamed to play to its classic B-movie roots. There are other tip of the hat episodes including a nice nod to Back to the Future, though it still manages to tackle an important part of the show’s mythology (which, to re-emphasize the X-Files connection, happens to feature Mitch Pileggi).
Padalecki and Ackles remain charming. They deliver the comedy of the series just as well as could be hoped for. Where the series suffers though is not in the comedy or even their performances, but the extensive amount of expositional dialogue used to keep the audience up to date on what weapons work on which enemies, who is evil, who is good, etc. It’s useful for the audience, but having to hear them rehash it just sounds so unnatural and forced – but I suppose with everything going on we have to allow for a little bit of it. There really is too much though.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
You’ll find the traditional TV on DVD extra feature cocktail here: a fairly funny gag reel, audio commentaries on a meager three episodes and some deleted scenes. Of the three the gag reel is the only one worth spending time on as the commentary isn’t all that enlightening and the deleted scenes don’t reveal all that much. The real meat and potatoes of the set are a three-part featurette collection which details the show’s mythology and examines it from different perspectives. It’s a great complement for the season’s story and should be watched.
Hey, when you name an episode “Criss Angel is a Douchebag”, you’re doing something right.
"Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season" is on sale September 1, 2009 and is rated NR. Action, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Horror. Directed by Philip Sgriccia, Kim Manners, Robert Singer, Charles Beeson. Written by Eric Kripke, Sera Gamble, Ben Edlund. Starring Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Jim Beaver.
