Review by Anne Wollenberg
Stars Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Rob Benedict,
Mischa Collins, Mark Pellegrino, Mark Sheppard | Created by Eric Kripke
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £29.99| Runtime 443 minutes | Directed by Robert Singer& others
If you’ve stuck with Supernatural since the early days, you’ve probably got one of two opinions. Maybe you’re pleased that a show initially billed as little more than The X-Files-with-eye-candy has transcended its basic monster-of-the-week format and became something much richer and more compelling.
Or maybe you think it’s really pushing it now. Because while the show has always demanded you tolerate some silliness, like the number of times Sam and Dean Winchester have managed to escape from the police, and the way everyone seems to do the Hokey Cokey in and out of hell, there’s now been more mythology heaped onto the series than it can really handle any more. At the beginning of season 5, it feels like it’s coming apart at the seams.
Because the thing about Supernatural is that its initial formula worked really well. As a monster-of-the-week show, it hit the spot. If they weren’t brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester would be the best bromance on the box, and their antics were always the ideal mix of dramatic and giggle-inducing. The longer-running story arcs were good for added value – Sam’s fraught relationship with his dad always made for nice emotional scenes – but by letting the mythology take centre-stage, Supernatural turns itself into a soap opera for a good four episodes of this season.
Luckily, Sam and Dean are hunting again by episode five despite the impending apocalypse and other pressing concerns. And that’s when things start to get really good again. Murders apparently committed by dead celebrities and Paris Hilton, urban legends coming true, a poker-playing witch, the return of the Trickster, another go at mocking the fourth wall like they did in season 4 as Sam and Dean attend a Supernatural convention with people who think they’re just made-up characters.
This is what Supernatural’s good at: good stories about Sam and Dean turning up to hunt and fight things. While the mythology initially enhanced the show, back when it was a case of being leisurely drip-fed the family drama and other Winchester issues, now it’s just imploding into itself. It feels a little like someone, somewhere, wants to fix something that isn’t really broken. Sam and Dean should keep on hunting, just as Mulder and Scully should have kept on investigating X-Files. And there is no excuse whatsoever for using a “Speak of the devil...” puns five seasons in.
EXTRAS ★ One commentary, one deleted scene – while Warner half-season releases tend not to be steeped in extras, there’s still nothing at all super about this.