Supernatural

Well I'm stuck waiting until the 25th of August for the 3rd Season of Supernatural to be released on Dove-Eh-Durr over here in Blighty, and if I'm honest that's a little too long to wait. But I'm going to.

I went into watching Supernatural with a bit of a negative view of it, not so much that I wasn't going to give it a chance to win me over but I wasn't totally thrilled with the concept and cast. I've since watched the first two seasons and I must confess it's grown on me quite a bit now.

I talked a bit about the show before here, and I'm going to try and avoid repeating myself. But I'm still drawing parallels in the feel of the show between it and Millenium. Which is nothing but a good sign. The first season finished with a spectacular finale and the second season carried on. Providing consequences, continuity and just generally has a show that contains a reality that you can immerse yourself in because it feels real and alive. Even if you are left wondering why on Earth the authorities don't have a branch to deal with all the ghouls and ghosts... Where's my Delta Green?

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles have both grown on me as the leads. I was initially concerned that the show had such a small cast it would be hard to threaten them properly and create a level of tension. Especially as the Winchester family is so small, there's little for them to lose beyond that which they've already lost. And this problem remains a concern, but if you can put aside the fact that it's almost impossible for one of the starring characters to get dropped without ending the show; you have a fantastic duo of actors that really play off each other exceptionally well. Jensen as Dean is the more entertaining of the pair, he's also oddly the more authoritive and knowledgable. Which is unusual for a character who's such a 'rebel' character type.

I do still find myself wishing that the cast was a tad larger, but the fact that Sam and Dean are pretty much indestructable is pretty entertaining. They have plenty of time to laugh and quip in the face of the wierd and downright nasty and it's this level of die hard humour that turns the show from being something normal into something a bit special. I mentioned before that the show really has a genuine sense of humour about itself, it's willing to point out the absurdities and has the characters highlight them in a wonderfully ironic fashion. The Hollywood episode in season 2 is a great example of this, both paying subtle homage to the Evil Dead series while also parodying the entire LA Horror Business at the same time. The scenes where the movie directors discuss how ridiculous salt and shotguns are as weapons against spirits are particually great.

All in all, I think Supernatural is actually an excellent show. Season 1 is available from Zavvi and Play for £18 and Season 2 can be had from Play for £18 as well. It's 22 Episodes per season and each episode is about 40 mins long. So that's some great bang for the buck.

I'd say if you enjoyed Angel, Buffy, Millenium, The X-Files or you're a fan of the Horror Genre and have a sense of humour about it you should check out this show.

Oh and I noticed Ben Edlund has written some of the episodes as well (2nd and 3rd Season), so I guess if you like The Tick or Venture Bros you should watch it too. :P

Speaking of which, Venture Brothers is on tonight. WOOT!