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This Film On

Supernatural: The Complete First Season

Urban legends and archetypal mythology go out for a horror spin in Supernatural, a one-hour drama created by Eric Kripke (Boogeyman) for The WB (now the CW). Though the series' mythology is distinctly dark, there's also plenty of fun to be had in the relationship between the leading men and the unusual circumstances they face.

Brothers Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles) grew up in Lawrence, Kansas under traumatic circumstances: their mother slain by a supernatural entity and their earnest and often absent father a "hunter" of same, particularly driven to find the being that killed his wife. Determinedly on that mission, John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has disappeared, causing Dean, 26, to chase down Sam, 22 at Stanford University. Having adopted a life of normalcy--including girlfriend Jessica (Adrianne Palicki of Friday Night Lights)--Sam is reluctant to join Dean as a partner in hunting, but circumstances find the two hitting the road together in the car John gave Dean: a black '67 Chevy Impala.

The oeuvre is all dive motels and greasy spoons, head-banging classic rock (Metallica, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC), and buried secrets as the boys respond to cryptic messages from their father (or so they hope) that send them on errands to vanquish evil supernatural forces. Older brother Dean, who follows his father's orders unquestioningly, tends to take the lead, while "puppy dog" Dean--who has always chafed under John's gruff, no-questions-asked regime--proves useful in sweet-talking skeptics to do what they have to do to help the boys defeat evil. The series' mythology resists the heavy-handed, with almost all of the first season episodes perfectly functional as "stand-alones." Nevertheless, we get the introduction of the demonic Meg Masters (Nicki Aycox) and the Colt revolver, made by Samuel Colt himself, that can mystically harm or kill their enemies, including malificent ghosts, vampires, and demons.

Shot in Canada, Supernatural has much in common with The X-Files, including directors (Kim Manners and David Nutter) and writer-producers (John Shiban). In season one, Supernatural even introduced its own version of The X-Files' "Lone Gunmen" (the three stooges of conspiracy theory); the episode "Hell House" introduces comically uninformed webmasters Ed Zeddmore (A. J. Buckley) and Harry Spengler (Travis Wester) of "Hellshound Lair," who eventually become the paranormal investigators of TV's "Ghostfacers." Other season-one guest stars include Julie Benz (Dexter), Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica), Alden Ehrenreich (Tetro), Cory Monteith (Glee), Amy Acker (Dollhouse), Loretta Devine (Boston Public), Dan Butler (Fraser), Daniel Hugh Kelly (Hardcastle and McCormick), Nicolas D'Agosto (Heroes), William B. Davis (The X-Files) and R.D. Call (Stephen King's Golden Years).

Supernatural gets off to a rip-roaring start in its first season, and makes great dramatic hay of the occasional presence of Morgan. Further seasons refined the show's formula, adding more comedically adventurous outings, but the first season lays a strong dramatic foundation without forgetting to indulge a little gallows humor.