September 14, 2005

Supernatural

When a genre show gets buzz, I pay attention. So despite the pretty-boy casting typical of the WB, which exists in a universe populated by catalogue models and pin-ups, I tuned in for the premiere of Supernatural. And the jury's still out. The characters are a little too pat, for one thing. There's the dutiful older son (Dean) faithful to his father's demon-hunting obsession, and the reluctant younger son (Sam) trying to live a normal life only to get sucked back into the hunt against his will. The irony is that the family's descent into the supernatural is all about Sam, although he doesn't know it yet-- and I don't think the viewers are supposed to have sussed it out either. Sam's mother, y'see, was killed when Sam was just a baby. She stumbled across something-- from the back, seemingly just a guy in a trenchcoat-- standing over Sam's crib, and next thing you know she's plastered to the ceiling, then immolated. Twenty years later, Sam's girlfriend is killed in precisely the same way. Something out there seems a touch jealous. In the pilot we also learn from a spirit that Sam will someday be unfaithful, perhaps (and I'm just guessing here) triggering the creation of a vengeful spirit who travels back through Sam's life, murdering all the women who ever loved him.

The thing is, we'll probably never know. It's exactly the kind of mystery shows like this dole out in tiny scraps over the course of the series, stringing the viewer along with a promise that is never fulfilled. If the show succeeds the mystery gets stretched on to infinity (c.f.: The X-Files). If it fails, no resolution is ever forthcoming (John Doe). It's a Kobayashi Maru test for the viewer, and like global thermonuclear war the only winning move is not to play. So you have to tune in just for the episodic goodness and treat the overarching story as a bonus, an after-dinner liqueur compliments of the house. Supernatural did manage to pack some decent chills into its first hour, so I'll give it a few more tries before I decide if it makes the cut.

It's got some tough competition for the 2 Tuesday at 9 TiVo slots. The Amazing Race has one of them locked. That leaves a three-way battle between Supernatural, House (which I didn't watch last season but have heard raves about), and Commander-in-Chief starring Geena Davis as the first female president which premieres later this month. We'll see what makes the cut, and what makes BitTorrent.

Posted by Peter at September 14, 2005 10:50 PM | TrackBack
Comments

>It's got some tough competition for the 2 >Tuesday at 9 TiVo slots

I am considering getting a third Tivo for this very reason. Tell me that's not a sign of some sort of sickness, please? You are the only person I know who likes TV as much as or more than I do. :-)

Posted by: jodi on September 15, 2005 12:32 AM

I've got 2 TiVos myself but have decided that for the one or 2 shows that I almost kind of want to watch I can either use a VCR or just skip them.

As for House - I tried it in the first season and didn't like it. It seemed to be the same thing every episode - bring someone sick in, treat him incorrectly until he almost dies, then cure him. Tune in again, same time, same day, same thing, next week.

Posted by: larry on September 15, 2005 5:38 AM

I miss the east and west coast feeds I used to have on my satellite feed--I lost them when I officially moved out of the mountains of NH and to Athens, GA . That made it much easier to catch everything on 2 DVRs. I just added a third DVRs to help ease the pain (and to provide sat TV in my home away from home in Macon). I was underwhelmed by Supernatural for many of the reasons you mention. I like the actor playing Sam (Jared Padalecki (best known for playing a character named Dean on Gilmore Girls)) but the writing needs to get a hell of a lot better for this to become a keeper. I enjoyed Nathan Alderman's rip on Supernatural on Teevee.com. He points out that they really don't "solve" anything. to quote:

    A girl they meet tells them exactly what’s doing the killing. A suspicious sheriff literally hands Ackles their father’s clue-packed diary. And the vengeful ghost shows up in Padalecki’s headlights, plunks herself in his back seat, and pretty much insists on being his next passenger. It’s not that they solve the mystery so much as have the mystery solved in their general vicinity. Even the gang from Scooby-Doo had to work harder than this.

BTW, did anyone else catch Bones with David Borneaz? Writing was also "eh" but might be worth a few more. In January it is scheduled to move to 9 p.m. and compete with all of these.

I hope I, too, make Jodi's list of people who watch (and enjoy) way too much TV.

Posted by: David S. on September 16, 2005 6:59 AM

I have three TiVo DVRs at home, but then again, I work for them. :)

Posted by: zeigen on October 22, 2005 5:29 PM