Review by Justin Bateman
Stars Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Mark Pellegrino, Misha Collins | Created by Eric Kripke
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £39.99 | DVD Region 2 | Discs 6 | Directed by Various
For the uninitiated, Supernatural concerns the Winchester brothers, Sam (Padalecki) and Dean (Ackles) who are experts in hunting demons, ghosts and monsters while masquerading as FBI agents. This is the fifth season of the horror action drama thriller and although creator Eric Kripke always planned to call it a day at the end of season five, good television ratings and pre-existing contract agreements meant that a sixth season has also been made.
At the start of this season, Sam and Dean are in the throes of trying to stop Lucifer from causing the apocalypse. This means fighting angels (of which Lucifer is one) and demons (of which there are many) and along the way exterminating ghosts and banishing the undead with a combination of silver knives, holy water, wooden stakes, big ass shotguns, and good old-fashioned bare-knuckle fighting.
Supernatural is pure escapism but despite the ridiculous events which take place, everything occurs within a carefully constructed and consistently devised world, with its own rules and logic. The action is frenetic, the gore plentiful and the drama unrelenting. Padalecki and Ackles are amiable, good-looking screen presences and deliver the sporadically witty script with a knowing grin.
Unusually, the underlying story about preventing the apocalypse is picked up and dropped again as the episodes go by but it doesn’t really matter as pop culture references and a neat variety of situations and styles are played with to good effect. The Winchester brothers have a certain amount of existential angst, what with it being their duty to save the world an’ all, but this isn’t deeply philosophical stuff. While it’s not meant to be it does mean that it can’t really be considered classic television. Still, it’s well-made, entertaining stuff and for fans of the show certainly has a humdinger of a season finale.
EXTRAS ★ Just a gag reel.