When I started this blog I thought it would just be a fun way for me to write about things in pop culture that I’m passionate about. But thanks to my readers, friends, and family it grew into something more. Now we have Podcasts, videos, guest writers, and more! It’s been a lot of fun, but I felt it went beyond my personal blog. So I decided to change the name to World’s Best Media. As we continue to grow, I wanted a simple name that people could remember which holds everything we do under one umbrella. This won’t change anything for my subscribers, you’ll be getting the same content at the same web address. I appreciate all the support and hope you all continue to read, listen, and watch all the content we’ll be providing at World’s Best Media!
Tonight was the Season 6 premiere of Arrow, the flagship show of The CW’s DC Universe. Season 5 of Arrow was by far one of the shows strongest with a deadly and vicious villain in Prometheus. A man who always seemed one step ahead of Oliver right until the very end. After the mess that was Season 4, the show smartly went back to basics, telling grounded, gritty stories (I feel like there’s a contingent that felt Season 3 was weak as well, which I don’t get because I thought it was great).
Anyway, this new season is a milestone for the show because they wrapped up the five years of flashbacks that showed us bratty, playboy Oliver Queen turned into the borderline psychopathic vigilante we see rescued in the Pilot. The show has come full circle. I’ve heard that the flashback won’t be gone completely. We may get flash forwards or flashbacks for other characters on the show. If this first episode is any indication, we should be in for another strong season of vigilante action from Arrow.
One of the big questions going into the premiere was: Who, if anyone, died in the explosion on Lian Yu in the Season 5 finale? I won’t spoil the answer here, I’ll just say you won’t be shedding any tears for the bombing victims. I suppose you could criticize the show for not making a risky choice by killing off a popular character, but I don’t really give a shit because I really like the characters who survived (2 of the survivors were spoiled over the summer when it was announced that Wild Dog and Dinah “Black Canary” Drake were being made series regulars). This episode saw the team facing down a familiar enemy and dropped a few clues at a larger game in play and we’ll have to see how this plays out.
The episode opens with a terrific action sequence that sets the tone for the quality of the episode going forward. Like the excellent VFX we see of The Flash, Arrow consistently has some of the best stunt work and fight choreography on TV. The opening action sequence and the highway fight that closes out the first act were big highlights. This is even more impressive when you consider that they only have a week to lock down these sequences for each episode. A show like Daredevil is shot more like a film which gives them more time to get stunt work and hand to hand combat down pat. So kudos to the Arrow stunt team once again.
DC comics fans like me always enjoy the cool Easter Eggs, big and small, on all of the CW DC shows. One of my personal favorites that we get to see throughout the episode are Curtis’ “T-Spheres”, the circular high tech drones that “Mr. Teriffic” uses for offense and defense in fights, data scanning, and hacking into other electronics (and it looks like they’ve received an upgrade this season).
( T-SPHERES!!!!!!)
The elephant in the room is that Oliver is a father, his adolescent son William living with him now. (This should be another big clue about who didn’t make it off the Lian Yu alive) It was nice to see Rosa, Oliver’s Russian nanny growing up who he had a special bond with, return to the show. I think this is the first time we’ve seen her since Season 1. Having her looking after William, much like she did for Oliver was a nice touch. I imagine being a Superhero/Mayor doesn’t leave a ton of Father/Son time available.
Characters like William can easily drag down a show like Arrow. The writers will have to be very careful how they use him. He’s only in a few scenes, but the sullen pre-teen act doesn’t help his cause. I can see myself wishing William will meet a tragic end in a short amount of time unless they do something unpredictable with him. If they do the whole “Father trying to win over the son he never knew he had shtick”, this isn’t gonna work. As of right now, my stance on William is that I hope he’ll be taken hostage by some psycho and join the long list of loved ones Oliver just couldn’t save.
(FUCK YOU, William! I don’t need you fuckin’ up my stories with your moody bullshit)
One very welcome return was Manu Bennet as Slade Wilson. It was great having him fight on Oliver’s side in the season finale last year and it looks like he’ll be sticking around for the foreseeable future. He was always one of the shows best characters, so it’s a real pleasure to see this “Not Bat Shit Crazy” version of Slade part of the series again.
(“Sure you killed my Mom and everything, but it’s all good Slade. You were on some hardcore drugs at the time.” Arrow: a show about forgiveness)
The episode ends on a pretty major cliffhanger which will have huge ramifications for the team and Oliver in particular. I’ve heard there will be multiple major villains this season including the great Micheal Emerson (Ben Linus from Lost). All in all this was a great season premiere that wrapped up the loose ends from last season’s finale and set up some interesting storylines for the season going forward. Unless some of the show’s minor issues turn into big problems, we should be in for another solid season of Arrow.
EPISODE SCORE: (with William) 8 out of 10
(without William) 9 out of 10
Thanks for reading!
-Paul
(I don’t know why I put this here. What to you think of the outfit? Stupid? Cool? Let me know in the comments)
Tonight was the much anticipated Season 4 premiere of The CW’s hit show The Flash. I love the “CW DC Universe”, The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, etc. and at certain points over the last 3 years, The Flash was my favorite out of all of these shows ( I’m not crazy about Supergirl, but I do watch it). The Season 4 premiere is a bigger deal than usual because after 2 amazing seasons, Season 3 of The Flash was a much weaker show than previous seasons. So a lot of the viewers, myself included, were tuning in to see if The Flash got his grove back. The answer is… too soon to tell. I think we need to see a few more episodes before we can determine if the show has improved significantly over Season 3 and so far all the pieces seem to be there for a return to form. Having said that, Episode 1 of this season “The Flash Reborn” had some big problems.
Last season ended with Barry trapped in The Speed Force, possibly forever. The Speed Force exists outside time and space, so for characters like Iris, Joe, Cisco, and Wally it’s only been 6 months, but to Barry, millennia could have gone by. Kid Flash and Vibe (Wally and Cisco respectively) with Iris running the team out of S.T.A.R. Labs, have been protecting the city in Barry’ absence. That is until Cisco finds away to get Barry out of his Speed Force prison, but there’s something wrong with Barry when he returns. His brain is scrambled from all that time in another reality. There’s a lot I’m leaving out, but that’s pretty much the set up of the episode.
I don’t necessarily have a problem with Barry being brought back so quickly. Barry made a lot of mistakes over the last few seasons and had a lot to answer for. So this was a good way to give Barry some redemption and give the show a clean slate going into this new season. I’ve heard this season will be lighter in tone, closer to Seasons 1 and 2. Season 3 was pretty dark and that’s more Arrow’s territory.
The main issue that hurt this episode was the writing. I understand that Barry is the star of the show and they need to find a way to bring him back, but this just feels like lazy writing. A new generic villain comes to town and demands “Bring me The Flash or I’ll destroy Central City!” Wally and Cisco should have this easily covered. In the comics, Barry sacrifices himself to the Speed Force in a famous DC story that the show has been hinting at since the Pilot, which was similar to last year’s finale. Following Barry’s absence in the comics, Wally was The Flash for decades of storytelling. Arguably becoming a better and more beloved Flash than Barry Allen. In those stories, he managed to protect the city all by himself. He didn’t have Cisco AKA Vibe, one of the most powerful meta-humans on the planet, backing him up. Not to mention what’s left of the S.T.A.R. Labs team and Joe and the CCPD. Wally and Cisco should wipe the floor with this D-list villain!
I love Barry and I’m happy too see Grant Gustin back playing the character, but it feels like the show put almost no effort into crafting a believable and compelling reason for the team to pull him out of the Speed Force.
By the end of the episode we’re introduced to what we’ve been told is the “Big Bad” for the season, The Thinker. I’m the biggest comic book geek you could find. I’m literally surrounded by comics as I’m writing this (many of them Flash comics) and even I had to look up who the fuck this guy was.
I was thrilled when the show runners announced the Big Bad for the season was not a speedster (one season too late in my opinion). Reverse-Flash: the first and the best, Zoom: damn near close to Thawne as the shows best villain, Savitar: started off very weak, but ended strong. The Flash has the best villains in the DC Universe besides Batman. We finally get a season without a speedster and the best they can do is The Thinker?
Here’s a scenario: In the comics, villains like Captain Cold and Weather Wizard are known as The Rogues. In the show and the comics, Captain Cold and Mirror Master are rivals for control of The Rogues. So far The Rogues that are still alive and in play on the show include Captain Cold (technically dead, but that hasn’t stopped him before), Heat Wave, Mirror Master, The Top, Weather Wizard, Golden Glider, The Trickster, Magenta, Tar Pit, Pied Piper, and Captan Boomerang, and much more. Have them each pick sides: Cold or Mirror Master and do a full on Rogue War! That would be amazing and definitely large enough of a threat to take up a whole season. It’s like a mob war with super powers. Hell, with Caitlin’s power set and her intimate knowledge of the team’s strengths and weaknesses she could be a Big Bad all on her own. Hopefully The Thinker will exceed my expectations and we’ll have a really cool new villain (they’re off to a bad start though with his cheesy faux-futuristic lair though).
Despite my issues with the season 4 premiere of The Flash, there were some great parts. First, I forgot how much I missed this show and how much fun it is watching all of these characters together again. Seeing Cisco, Joe, Iris, and Wally trying to take down meta-humans and protect the city brought a smile to my face. One of the shows biggest strengths has always been it’s excellent VFX and one scene in particular where Barry is chasing the Robot Samurai that has Iris hostage (what a ridiculous sentence) was exceptional even by this show’s high standards. Oh and before I forget to mention it, I really dig the new costume. I love how it evolves a little each season.
All criticisms aside, it’s great to have The Flash back, warts and all. It seems like they learned from some of last seasons mistakes and hopefully we’ll reach the heights of the first two seasons again. I know I’ll be watching. Because a weak episode of The Flash is still a whole hell of a lot of fun.
Today was the New York Comic Con and one of their biggest panels was a discussion with one of DC’s greatest writers, Geoff Johns about his epic new series Doomsday Clock which features characters from the classic graphic novel Watchmen, crossing over into the DC Universe. Some of you may be immediately turned off by that sentence, but give me a chance to make a case why I think this is going to be really cool. I have some great stuff here to get you excited for Doomsday Clock!
Below, I have all of the covers that have been released for the 12 issue series so far. Plus, a special sneak peek at the first six pages of issue number one which comes out in November. The art by Gary Frank is fantastic. One of the best in the business. I’m also using this opportunity to premiere a new mini podcast I’ll be doing from time to time where I talk exclusively about comics. I was so excited about Doomsday Clock,I figured this would be as good a time as any to finally start with a great topic to discuss. So, this first episode will be me talking about Doomsday Clock and why I think it’ll be pretty cool. It runs a little longer then these mini episodes will normally be, but that’s just because I had to plug some other things we’re working on. Now please enjoy your first look at Doomsday Clock and the first episode of “Paul Talks Comics” or I’ll come up with some other fucking title, who knows… You know what? Actually “Paul Talks Comics” blows as a title. I’ll figure something out, so stay tuned!
The Covers:
The First 6 Pages Of Doomsday Clock #1:
Note: I have a strong feeling that is not Walter Kovacs under that mask
The First Episode Of “Paul Talks Comics” ….it’s a working title:
Paul, here. Darren Aronofsky is a fascinating director, responsible for such masterpieces as Requim for a Dream and The Wrestler. His new film “mother!” ( The exclamation point is part of the title) has been controversial more for it’s bizarre nature than anything truly extreme in the film. I haven’t seen it, but I was really interested to get a point of you on the film from somebody I trust. So we sent one of our best men, Mr. Timothy Cuff , into the field to review this controversial movie. Even if you have no intention of seeing the movie, this podcast is definitely fascinating and Tim explaining his point of view on the film is entertaining in and of itself. So please enjoy! Also available on iTunes:
Recently, it was announced that a FIFTH Game of the Thrones spin-off is in development over at HBO. I’m likely to give them all a try, but if we’re looking at it being franchised to that level, I have something very specific I would like to see happen, and I think you’ll want to see this too.
I should clarify that, obviously, we don’t know how the original series is going to end, and at least a couple of the spin-offs have been called prequels. We don’t know who will survive the final season, whether Westeros will be alive and well, severely damaged, or a White Walker infested hell-scape. Because we have no clue what’s coming, keep in mind that my pitch, which is a spin-off taking place after the events of original show is contingent on at least two of the characters surviving.
After the winter is over, or however the show ends, I want to see a spin-off starring Tormund and The Hound. We’ve now had 7 seasons, with all kinds of amazing speeches and conversations, and other character interactions, and I can honestly say none of them have entertained me more than the ten minutes of screen time that Tormund and the Hound shared in the season finale.
This two minute interaction, is essentially the trailer for the show I want to see, throw in a bit of their brutal battle scene, and you get the exact reason why I think this show would be incredible.
These two are a buddy comedy, THE buddy comedy, we’ve been waiting for. They are the Murtaugh and Riggs, or the Foley and Taggart, of gritty fantasy, or really of all fantasy. They have the necessary grit that’s been lacking in a lot of buddy comedies, the reluctance of the Hound to like Tormund, they’re perfect!
My idea, is that Tormund and The Hound (Sandor Clegane) walk the countryside after the great war, and end up defending villages and towns from all kinds of Westerosian danger. Structurally, think about Hercules: The Legendary Journeys starring Kevin Sorbo. In that show, Hercules and Iolaus, traveled around in the same manner, in this show however, Tormund isn’t a trusty side-kick, but rather a kick-ass partner to The Hound. In addition to the title characters, I think occasionally they would run into Brienne of Tarth, who would be this show’s Xena. As on GoT Tormund would pursue Brienne and lightly antagonize The Hound, and the show in the tone that those ten brilliant minutes of screen time have created.
The Hound’s desire to get himself killed, to just keep doing whatever he thinks is right until the day comes when someone or something ends his life, really means that if he doesn’t die in the finale of the show, it’s likely he’s going to go about doing this anyway, whether it’s alone or with a partner. Tormund on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily seem to seek death, but seems to find an excitement (to really live) by facing down those he opposes. The interesting nature of having two people approaching the same problems in the same way, for completely opposite reasons, would make for a lot of interesting character work and potentially some awesome philosophy to be interweaved into this tapestry.
I don’t know how many seasons this structure could run for without getting old, but I would think if you did at least one for every land mass or if you introduced seasonal story arches to go with the serial style of the episodes, you could probably make the show go for a little while, and personally I think most good drama or comedy/drama shows are doing shorter runs, and so I think ‘Tormund and The Hound’ is the winning formula for HBO to go with for their 6th spin-off (unless they’ve already thought about it and it’s one of the first 5).
It.Is. ONNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!! Oh, to be a fly on that wall…
Hey guys, considering how many Game of Thrones podcasts and articles there were following the season finale, Tim and I didn’t want to add to all of that bullshit noise, so we decided to wait a while before we gave our epic Game of Thrones season seven retrospective. We talk about what we loved, what we didn’t like, and a whole bunch of other shit! This is some good podcasting, folks! Give it a fucking listen! Also available on iTunes:
I’ve always said that one of my goals when I started this website was to increase awareness of comic books to the general pubic. Comics aren’t a genre, they’re a storytelling medium, like film or books. In recent years comics have begun to receive more respect, but I still try to do my part to fight the good fight on behalf of comic books.
This week Marvel Comics released Marvel Legacy #1, it was an extra long special issue to set up important characters and storylines in upcoming Marvel books. Lately, if you were to pick up a comic featuring one of Marvel’s most famous characters, the person you’re expecting to see probably isn’t the star of the book. For example, Captain America was Sam Wilson A.K.A. The Falcon, Thor is Jane Foster, Thor’s ex-girlfriend, Spider-Man is Miles Morales, and that’s just naming a few. Iron Man and The Hulk also feature different characters than Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. In my opinion, almost all of these are excellent books and have been richer reading experiences by not having the “classic” version of the hero as the star of any of these given books. Don’t get me wrong Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Peter Parker and all the rest are still banging around the Marvel Universe in some for or another. But it’s been a period of “passing the torch” to another generation while the traditional Marvel heroes take a step back or take on other roles.
Now it seems that Marvel is bringing the “classic” versions of these heroes back to the forefront in a big way, with Marvel Legacy #1 leading the charge. Now, it’s definitely not the best book for someone whose never picked up a comic books before. It’s a little crazy and all over the place, but I say dive in head first and get lost in the crazy-ass Marvel Universe. If you’re a little confused, just go with. Over the next few weeks and months Marvel’s going to be relaunching a whole bunch of new books featuring both the “classic” versions of Marvel’s heroes and the new characters we’ve come to love (or in the case of someone like Sam Wilson, a classic character returning to his traditional role, The Falcon). Those books are likely to be much more accessible to new fans. They’re fresh start books, a place for new readers to catch up. For those of us, (like myself) who love the new characters who’ve taken up the mantle of iconic heroes, I’m happy to report that they’re not being pushed away or forgotten about. Marvel is just bring back some of our old favorites back to join in on the fun.
There are some great moments in Marvel Legacy #1 including this teaser of what’s inside, because who doesn’t want to see the very FIRST Avengers team? The AVENGERS OF 1,000,000 B.C.!
(Team roster, from left to right: The First Iron Fist, Starbrand: Earth’s built in defense system, The Phoenix, a young Odin holding the mighty hammer Mjolnir, The First BlackPanther, Agamotto: Earth’s First Sorcerer Supreme, The Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance riding a fucking Mastodon)
If you’re not that familiar with comics, but maybe have seen some of the movies or TV shows, pick a couple of characters that you like most and pick up their new books spinning out of Marvel Legacy #1. That’s what’s great about going to your local comic book store, sure you can download books on your tablet through apps like ComiXology, but at your local comics store, the people who work their can help you find the perfect book for you. They can be your guide on this great adventure and believe me reading comics feels like an adventure in the best way.
So either go to your local comic book store or download it on ComiXology, but read Marvel Legacy #1 for all it’s craziness and then go read the new book featuring your favorite heroes.Because there are some great books coming down the pipe. Here’s a look at some of the books Marvel is putting out after Marvel Legacy#1 as well as the full list of new and relaunched books coming up this fall (Note: Don’t be intimidated by the issue numbers on the covers of these books, they might as well be #1, they’re fresh starts, but Marvel wanted to honor the legacy of these books by bringing them back to their original numbering. Trust me, it’s not as confusing as it sounds)
Here’s the full list of the new Marvel books and stories debuting in the coming weeks and months:
I was a 90’s kid. The movies and TV shows of that era hold a lot of nostalgia for me. But one show in particular was a fucking revelation: Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I can only think of it happening a few times. Being exposed to a piece of fiction that completely blows your mind. The giddy delight of “I have NEVER seen ANYTHING like this before and it’s fucking AWESOME!”.
One other time a piece of fiction completely changed my life was reading The Dark Knight Returns for the first time. I was 13 or 14 and this book was like something handed down from God himself. Reading scenes like Batman beating the Mutant leader, his final confrontation with The Joker, and of course watching a human being kick the ever loving shit out of Superman, those were all “Holy Fuck!” moments for me. When I was finished, my mind reeled. “What the fuck did I just read?” It changed Batman forever. It made me look at the world differently. Other people thought they knew Batman, but I fucking knew Batman! It was like reading scripture.
I think it was a few years before reading The Dark Knight Returns that one night on a whim, because nothing else was on, my brother and I watched an episode of what we thought was a silly sounding show called Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It was season 2, the episode was “Halloween” (one of my favorites). Like reading The Dark Knight Returns, watching Buffy for the first time was another pop culture come to Jesus moment for me. Holy Fuck! That fucking ruled!
Buffy is and was fucking SICK. It was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen. I loved the characters. The fact that they were only a few years older than me helped. The characters, not the actors, the actors were old as fuck. The mythology, the monsters, the drama. I couldn’t wait for Tuesday nights, my favorite night of the week because Buffy was on. There had truly NEVER been a show like this before. To say that it was groundbreaking is an understatement. It elevated genre entertainment and was one of the few stories where the hero saving the day was a badass girl. I also loved the spinoff Angel. Which was in many was superior to Buffy, but that’s a column for another day.
Besides Buffy, the other genre TV show that was huge and groundbreaking in the 90’s was The X-Files. I like The X-Files a lot, but I was never a super fan. I watched it sporadically, but particularly loved the standalone “Monster-of-the-Week” episodes. Like Buffy, the impact The X-Files had on genre TV was massive. Buffy and The X-Files paved the way for a lot of shows that would never had existed otherwise. One of those shows is Supernatural, one of my all time favorite shows and the show I’m going to talk about in this article.
I remember Supernatural premiered on The CW shortly after Angel had been cancelled (Buffy ended it’s 7 year run on it’s own terms the year before). Buffy and Angel had a very specific style of fighting monsters. They never, or very rarely for most characters, fought the bad guys with modern weapons. It was all swords and crossbows and axes. I got used to that. THAT was how you fought monsters and demons. I remember seeing the promo for Supernatural and seeing these two pretty boy leads using GUNS to fight monsters, “fucking amateur hour”. Or so I thought. I blew the show off as a pale imitation of the BuffyVerse (I was still mourning Angel’s cancellation), but one day The CW caught my attention by showing the first 5 minuets of the pilot for Supernatural. I didn’t know what I was watching at the time, but it caught my attention. Here it is:
They had my curiosity, but now they had my attention to paraphrase Calvin Candy (A horrible human being, but the man could turn a phrase). That’s a solid, horror, cold open. Not at all what I thought the show would be.
All right so what the hell is this show about? Supernatural follows two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester as they drive across the highways and back roads of America in their 67 Chevy Impala, hunting monsters, demons, ghosts, and any other kind of nightmarish thing you could think of, all set to a GREAT classic rock soundtrack. With the help old hunter and surrogate father Bobby Singer and fallen angel Castiel, the brothers have faced Heaven, Hell and everything in between.
(Sam and Dean on the road in the Impala)
I didn’t fully commit until season 3. I had seen a few “monster of the week” episodes and really liked them. So I bought the first 2 seasons on DVD as a Christmas present for my Dad and we ripped right through them. By the time season 3 premiered I was a full blown fan. Seasons 1 and 2 of Supernatural are solid and entertaining with a few excellent standouts. Nothing reinventing the wheel yet. The first 2 seasons serve best to let you get to know Sam and Dean very well and set up mythology that comes into play later in the series. You do not need to watch every episode in the first 2 seasons, I’ll have a list of the essential episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 at the end of the article. Season 3 is where Supernatural really comes into it’s own in a big way. Now that I’ve given you the set up, I’m going to tell you what makes this show great.
(Jeffery Dean Morgan as John Winchester)
When Sam was a baby and Dean was young boy, a demon came into their home one night and horribly murdered their mother. Their father John, a former marine, became obsessed with finding and hunting down the thing that killed his wife. I think John is definitely eligible for the ‘Terrible Fictional Father Award”, he basically raises his sons on the road, teaching them the same monster hunting skills he learned after his wife’s bizarre death. Going from town to town, living out of motels, constantly changing schools as their father goes off to hunt gods knows what that goes bump in the night. Get some fucking therapy and raise your goddamn kids! Don’t raise them in some horrible world of death and nightmares in your suicidal quest for revenge! Just become an alcoholic like a normal person!
(That’s a lot of fucking weapons there, John)
Anyway John is played by the excellent Jeffery Dean Morgan (he played The Comedian in Watchmen and Negan on The Walking Dead), he’s only on the show for the first 3 seasons and I always wished they brought him back for an episode or two. He always seemed open to it. *UPDATE! Jeffery Dean Morgan did indeed return to the series for the show’s 300th episode, the excellent and heartbreaking “Lebanon”. Sam and Dean are played by Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles respectively, who are like 7 years younger than Jeffery Dean Morgan in real life, which is kind of funny. In the first season, we find out that the younger brother Sam got out of this life. He left his father and brother behind, went to Stanford with the intention of going on to law school, and had a beautiful girlfriend. Until one night his brother Dean comes knocking on his door, not having seen Sam in years. He tells Sam that Dad went on a hunting trip and hasn’t been back in a few days. Basically John went missing chasing down a lead on the thing that killed his wife. So Dean drags a very reluctant Sam back into a life he thought he’d left behind in an attempt to find their missing father. But that’s just an excuse for the show get Sam and Dean on the road. Saving people, hunting things, the family business. The actors have great chemistry with each other, which I think is one of several reasons for the show’s longevity. Apparently they’re extremely close friends in real life (It would be very hard to do a successful show for almost a decade and a half if you fucking hated the guy you’re in almost every scene with). Sam and Dean are incredibly dangerous and gifted hunters even though they’re only in their 20’s when the show began. They were essentially raised to be hunters, their Dad taught them every trick in the book.
(Some of the show’s really creepy monsters)
John’s terrible parenting skills gives the show the opportunity to introduce fellow hunter Bobby Singer. Since the show takes place mostly on the road all over the country, the show isn’t much of an ensemble. But there are a few characters other than Sam and Dean that become integral to the story and are beloved by fans. One of them is Sam and Dean’s surrogate father and veteran hunter Bobby Singer. Bobby is the father Sam and Dean never had, the one they deserve. When they were kids John would often drop them off with Bobby, taking off for weeks at a time to hunt monsters or ghosts. Bobby views Sam and Dean as his surrogate sons and would do anything for them (he’s also a pretty badass hunter). As adults, Bobby is frequently off hunting with the boys. When Sam and Dean are in a tough spot, it’s often a clutch eleventh hour rescue from Bobby that saves the day. Since his introduction at the end of Season 1, Bobby has been a fan favorite.
(Dean, Sam, and Bobby out hunting)
First of all, I think Supernatural was a turning point for The CW. You can definitely see the “CW Formula” in the first season and a half. “The CW Formula” is basically getting really attractive young actors on genre shows that are pretty much soap operas with a large focus on romance. Supernatural really bucked this trend or subverted it at least. The show never had any major love interests for Sam and Dean (However, there are a few notable exceptions). The show is by far one of the darkest and bloodiest show on any non-cable network. This show is bleak as fuck at times, bloody as hell, and the story goes to some deeply dark places. Some of the episodes work as very creepy and effective mini horror movies. This approach results in some genuinely scary episodes.
One of the big standouts of the show is the music. From the first episode, Classic Rock is in the DNA of the show. AC/DC, Metallica, Boston, Kansas, Queen, Blue Oyster Cult, Bon Jovi, Styx, and many, many more. Music is an extremely effective tool in giving a film or TV and identity when used the right way and the show’s classic rock soundtrack is just one more thing that makes the show unique. Fun Fact: the favorite band of both the creators of the show and the character Dean Winchester is Led Zeppelin, but they could never get the rights to use their songs because the they’re too expensive.
Supernatural is very strong when it comes handling it’s mythology. Unlike a show like The X-Files that felt like it was just throwing stuff at the wall to see what stuck, the mythology of Supernatural always builds on itself and ads up to something. The Winchesters have come against ghosts, vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, hell hounds, and literally hundreds of other creatures and spirits. But the show really excels in it’s use of Biblical lore and putting their own spin on it. In Season 4 the stakes are raised in a huge way, when Sam and Dean find themselves smack dab in the middle of The Biblical Apocalypse. This is where the show becomes much more serialized. Demons are attempting to set Lucifer free from his cage in Hell and when that happens, either God’s Archangels will attempt to kill Lucifer and level most of the planet in the process or Lucifer wins and it’s literally Hell on Earth. Anyway you slice it, humanity is fucked in this situation. This is the storyline where Supernatural went from very good to excellent. Demons are bad enough, but Angels haven’t walked the Earth in thousands of years. The Angels are portrayed as alien and terrifyingly powerful celestial beings who are more of less indifferent to mankind’s survival in a fight that they believe to be preordained by God. I won’t spoil why, but they’re very interested in Sam and Dean and not for anything good. Demons and Angels aren’t physical beings on this show, so they need to possess a human “vessel” or “Meatbag” (as a Demon would say) to manifest physically on Earth. The writers didn’t necessarily intend for the show to go in that direction, but they retroactively took seemingly small details, characters, and events from the first few season and made them the building blocks of The Apocalypse storyline. It gives the impression that the show has been building towards this story from the very beginning.
(One of the first times we see Castiel. Not exactly a being with a harp and a halo)
This is also where the show introduces another one of it’s most important and beloved characters, the Angel Castiel. Castiel was an angel assigned to “help” Sam and Dean avert the Apocalypse. Their relationship started out very antagonistic with Castiel blindly following heavens orders. But over time the bond he developed with Dean in particular and his eventual realization that what the angels are doing is really fucked up. His character arc is one of the shows best, he goes from a zealot blindly following order from high above his celestial pay grade to a loyal ally fighting on behalf of humanity. He’s the friend who’s always there for the brothers. Even turning his back on his own kind. Like Bobby, Sam and Dean consider Castiel to be family and like Bobby he would die to protect them both.
Supernatural has a passionate fan base and the show goes very meta in certain episodes. It’s not a show that’s afraid to make fun of itself. There are a lot of fun examples of this, like in the episode “The French Mistake” Sam and Dean are thrown into an alternate reality where they’re actors Jared Padelecki and Jensen Akles starring in a TV show called Supernatural where they play Sam and Dean Winchester. Another episode finds the brothers stumbling upon a copy of a series of books again called Supernatural, with each book chronicling one of their cases. This is during the Apocalypse storyline and author of the books turns out to be a Prophet who gets visions from Heaven to write about Sam and Dean because they’re so central to the fight between Lucifer and his demons and the angels of heaven. They’re fun episodes that display the desire of the creators to tell unconventional stories.
It’s a huge accomplishment for a show to last as long as Supernatural has (Season 13 begins in October), but the standard of quality the series has maintained is truly impressive. Don’t get me wrong, the series definitely has its highs and lows. The series never quite repeats the heights of Seasons 3-5, but Season 11 was one the show’s best. The cast and creators never feel like they’re phoning it in, which would be easy to do after so many seasons. One more key to the show’s continued popularity is it’s ability to be innovative and put out unique episodes. For example, Season 11’s Episode “Baby” is told entirely from the point of view of Chevy Impala that the guys drive around in. They tell an entire episode where the camera never leaves the car and it’s very effective. Since they’ve spent most of their lives on the road, the Impala feels like a character on the show and one of the only “homes” Sam and Dean have ever had. “Baby” stands out as one of the best episodes of the entire series. They never seem to run out material and there is no indication that Season 13 will be the show’s last. Apparently they’re even doing a Supernatural/Scooby-Doo crossover this coming season which should be appropriately insane.
(More crazy fucking monsters)
The heart and soul of the show is the relationship between Sam and Dean and how they’ll do anything to protect each other. No matter how many seasons they end up doing, the show is always about family. They will literally go to hell and back for each other. It may not always be the healthiest relationship, but these guys had a pretty fucked up childhood. The show is at it’s best when it emphasizes the bond between Sam and Dean. Hunting monsters is really cool, but you don’t keep coming back to a show for 13 seasons without having great characters that you’re deeply invested in.
There’s so much more to this show that I could get into (12 fucking seasons and counting is a lot of fucking story), so check it out for yourselves. The entire series is available on Netflix. Below I’ll leave a list of the must watch episodes from the first 2 seasons, after that watch every episode. The Season 5 finale could really serve as a series finale because it wraps up most of the overarching story that had been building since the first episode. Season 7 is probably the weakest, but the show is never less than entertaining. The show becomes excellent again in Seasons 11 and 12, and Season 13 premieres on 10/12 at 8pm on The CW. As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think if you check out Supernatural.
*UPDATE: Supernatural will officially come to an end with it’s record breaking 15th Season. At the time of this update the series is in the middle of Season 14.
-Paul
Season 1
Pilot
Phantom Traveler
Scarecrow
Faith
Nightmare
Shadow
Dead Man’s Blood
Salvation
Devil’s Trap
Season 2
In My Time Of Dying
Simon Says
Crossroad Blues
Croatoan
Hunted
Houses of the Holy
What Is and What Should Never Be
All Hell Breaks Loose Parts 1 & 2
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