So I’m a late-comer to “Supernatural.” I don’t know why it
didn’t register with me when it first premiered. Maybe because it seemed like
some derivative teen-centric version of “The X-Files.” For whatever reason, I initially
skipped this show about monster-hunter brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, and
didn’t think anything of it for years. It’s not exactly a zeitgeist show. But I
ended up having to check it out for work midway through season 7. And to my
surprise, it was pretty darn entertaining.
I’ve read that it was initially more of a
monster-of-the-week procedural in the first few years. But by the time I
started watching, it had developed a pretty complicated mythology, much of
which was initially lost on me. But that didn’t matter because, while I’m
generally a serial/mythology enthusiast, that wasn’t what hooked me.
I liked the clever mix of genuinely creepy scares and sarcastic,
quippy humor. It was the closest thing to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (all hail
Buffy!) that I’d come across in the years since that show ended. I’m not suggesting that it was anywhere near the quality level of "Buffy." But just as Johnnie Walker Black can’t compare to Johnnie Walker Blue, a scotch fan isn’t likely going to object to the former.
Eventually I got into the mythology a bit more. It was
probably fresher for me than for some who endured multiple iterations of one
Winchester brother or the other dying/going to hell/becoming a demon/losing
his soul, etc. But that’s not what kept, and keeps, me coming back.
Instead it’s three things:
The willingness to go to truly dark places and let horrible
things happen, even to characters I grew to love, like Bobby (may he rest in
peace) Charlie (may she rest in peace) and Kevin (may he rest in peace). In
fact, a recurring theme seems to be that for anyone who enters the Winchester
brothers’ inner circle, no good deed goes unpunished. Many of them have died,
some horribly. And Sam and (especially) Dean are well aware of the curse their
friendship seems to bring.
The other main draw is the humor. Supporting characters like
Crowley, Castiel and (perhaps my favorite villain) Dick Roman all got to have
fun even as they wreaked death and destruction. I’m not a big fan of Rowena but
not every baddie is going to be a winner. Beyond the recurring characters,
there’s always Dean, who I find to be the funniest character on a show that’s
not a straight out comedy.
Lastly, what I like about the show is its willingness to
take risks, even if they don’t always work. A few seasons ago, they did a found footage episode in which the brothers were only secondary characters. It
wasn’t great but I appreciated the effort.
Last season, they did a special musical episode to celebrate
the show’s 200th episode. While not very scary, it was funny, heartfelt and a little mysterious.
And just last week they did it once again, with an episode
called “Baby,” told exclusively from the perspective of Dean’s 1967 Chevy Impala. The entire story took place either in or right next to
the car. It was
a pretty standard, monster-of-the-week episode that only marginally moved the
season-long arc forward. But it was creative and so well done that it took me a
while to figure out what they were doing with the car.
I appreciate that a series in its 11th season can
still find new and different ways to explore its world without feeling hack-ish. It’s not “Breaking Bad” or “Lost” or “Buffy.” But if you’re looking for
a show that effectively brings the dark and the funny in equal measure, you
could do a lot worse. Although I’ll still never forgive the producers for
killing Charlie.
