Supernatural Season 5
Created by: Eric Kripke
Staring: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles
Review by Brian M. Sammons
It was about a year ago that I put my preconceived notions about this TV show aside, watched it, and to my great surprise I really liked it. That was Season Four when things were ramping up to a apocalyptic showdown between the very forces of heaven and hell. Well here’s Season Five and the war to end all wars is here and the Winchester brothers are not only right in the middle of it, but they are the cause of it and the only solution for it. That sounds not only like a daunting task but one that could overshadow all the things that make this show good, mainly the humor and the interplay between the brothers Sam and Dean. So, does it?
For the most part all the episodes this season concern themselves with the war between the not so fluffy nor friendly angels and big daddy Lucifer his-own-bad-self. While that is fine for story continuity and feels appropriate for covering something as grand as the apocalypse, it does mean that the standalone episodes, each focusing on a new horror, monster, or legend have kind of been pushed aside. That’s a shame as some of those were some of the best episodes of the show I’ve seen. To be sure, there are some of them in Season Five too, there’s a good episode where the brothers run into famous ghosts such as Abe Lincoln and Gandhi who despite their historical personas are killing people. Another memorable one had Sam and Dean stuck in TV land like the movie, Stay Tuned. Sure, not too original but still a fun watch. However even in these episodes the over arcing plot remains and while it was a fine story, worthy of two seasons being devoted to it, I was glad to see it end here at last, mostly because I’m eager to see where the show goes next. I mean, after surviving Armageddon, what do you do to top that?
Now if you couldn’t tell, I’m purposely being vague about the story there’s a reason for that, it’s very good and I don’t want to ruin it for you. I will give you some highlights such as the brothers are destined to fight each other on opposite sides of the heaven/hell war. Lucifer is tooling around in a hijacked body but he doesn’t seem all that bad and the brothers still have their cranky angel ally, but all other members of the Heavenly Host seem like either Grade-A jackasses or murderous psychopaths. Oh, and did I mention that the Four Horsemen are on the ride?
The Blu-ray by Warner Brothers has the expectant great picture and sound, but what about the special features? Well there’s only one audio commentary track for one episode, so that’s kind of lame. There are the usual deleted scenes and a gag reel that’s amusing to watch … once. However what’s a really neat addition to the show is the weird flash game where you can explore Bobby’s house (Bobby being the Winchester’s surrogate father figure and fellow monster hunter) looking for books and videos to help explain and explore Supernatural’s take on the apocalypse. Equally cool are ten mini episodes of “The Ghostfacers,” a group of ghost hunters, who so desperately want to be like all the other insipid ghost hunting TV shows, only sillier. Well, only slightly sillier than those “real” ghost chasing shows. It’s these kinds of extras that really showcase the series’ fun side and make getting this Blu-ray a no brainer for fans of the show.
If you are a … does Supernatural have a cutesy name for their fans yet? If not, they should. Anyway, if you are a fan of the show then this new BD set is a must. Five seasons in and the show is still firing on all cylinders, which is a rarity that should be enjoyed and applauded. If you’re not a fan, then honestly this may not be best season to jump aboard as the ongoing mythology is thick and deep this time out. However once you do become a fan then by all means pick up this set of BDs. After all, things just don’t get bigger or better than the end of the world.
