Supernatural Season 1

[jetpack_monkey]

I dug it.


The boys were very pretty and they made a balanced team. Both were intelligent, capable fighters and neither one was necessarily "weaker" then the other. Certainly they were different -- Sam was more sensitive and bookish, Dean was more "streetsmart" and closed-off. I liked that they were both prototypical guys and that the writers showed them as emotional creatures through their guyness, not despite it.

My favorite part of the series, though, was that it was a horror series. Buffy and Angel are about vampires, certainly, and they were both scary in places, but they were paranormal action-adventure soaps with very witty dialogue. The travel in Supernatural keeps things fresh. The faces change, the fears alter just a little. We're only have Dean and Sam (and occasionally John) as points of recognition and they can't be everywhere at once. There were more moments that freaked me out or just jolted the heck out of me in that first season than in the entire run of Buffy (excepting Hush, because OMG).

I didn't love it, though. The writing is solid, but it rarely entranced me the way Joss and company do. Plus they hit a lot of major urban legends already, and one wonders how much farther they have to go before they start repeating themselves. Of course, they could always segue into a more character-driven show, but they'll lose a lot of the edge that makes the horror element so potent.

It remains to be seen whether I'll be staying with the show in its second season. What else is on the schedule at the same time will affect my decision a great deal.

Comments

[midnightfae.livejournal.com]

Question: Could the reason you're more entranced by Joss and company be because Buffy and Angel are more character driven? Just curious, since you're worried about Supernatural losing it's horror-edge by becoming more character driven, but at the same time you are more entranced by a character driven show.

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

I refer more to the dialogue, really. Sometimes it's funny, and sometimes it's genuine, and sometimes it's just there.

[bellatemple]

Honestly? I sincerely doubt that they'll end up running out of urban legends or ghost stories any time soon. As someone who sort of collects those things, they've barely scratched the surface.

My worry is more than they'll get sucked in too much by an over-arching plot that they can't keep up with as writers, and end up losing the monster of the week creeptastic edge (poor, poor Sliders. And X-files. And most other shows that started out with a fun premise and then never fulfilled their potential according to me. . . .)

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know there's a ton of urban legends and myths to dig from. My issue is that a lot of them look and sound alike. Further hundreds of dozens are cute stories that probably couldn't sustain an episode of a television series (poodle in the microwave, anyone?).

We shall see.

[bellatemple]

But some variations on a theme would still make for interesting television. Cases like the Hookerman, Native spirits and curses, Bermuda triangle-esque locations, all exist as stories in the United States and all have potential for use in a series like that one.

I wouldn't say they'd be likely to be able to draw it out past, say, another season, but, yes, we'll see.

[qkellie.livejournal.com]

I have the same problem with the writing -- it just doesn't sparkle for me. We're spoiled from Whedon.

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

Damn you JOSS! KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!