Supernatural: Let's punch some ghosts and talk about our feelings

[Drasiana]

Do you like ghosts, werewolves, vampires, and demons? Do you like dudes that make a living by punching ghosts, werewolves, vampires and demons? Do you like classic rock, classic cars, and classic grade-A badass snark? Then look no further, you've found your show.

 

 

I started watching Supernatural with the first and second seasons, and then stopped for some reason. Now, years later as it creeps into it's ninth season, I realize I am wholly unsatisfied with literally every other hybrid-format horror/fantasy show in existence right now, and that maybe I was hella dumb for dropping off the wagon. Thus I rebooted, have jetted through up to (as of tonight) the midpoint of season six, and hot damn have I been missing out.

 

Look, I didn't have high hopes. At best I was looking for something to poke fun at while I watched it in the background as I worked. Unfortunately, that rapidly degraded into doing no work and scream-crying over fictional characters. But hey! It hurts so good. Seriously now, folks, the writing is stellar, and even the shakier points come with a hilariously dry sense of self-awareness. The show knows what it is and drives that to max capacity in the most glorious manner possible, plus includes some of the most lovable characters I've seen on television for a long time. It will having you laughing your ass off one minute and ripping your heart out and throwing it out the window the next. Just how I like it!

 

Now, what the hell is this show about?

 

Family, freaks, and fucking shit up: Sam and Dean Winchester are brothers raised from a young age to run the family business, and that business is hunting. Hunting monsters, of course. They start off searching for their fellow-hunter father and shit escalates fast into an all-out war of the worlds between Heaven, Hell and everything in-between. Let's meet some of the key players:

 

 

Dean Winchester: Big brother. Shoots first, asks questions later, confuses porn with reality and calls people dickheads as much as I do. He usually does the right thing and smirks like a smarmy son of a bitch the entire time. Will do anything for Sam even if it's fucking stupid. Manly as all hell despite spending roughly 85% of the time crying. The Impala is his, and so is the rest of his family...whether he likes it or not (he does).

 

 

Sam Winchester: Little brother. The sensitive one, except in the worst possible way because the guy is harboring a shitton of well-intentioned crazy. Nerdosaurus. You can tell what season you're in by how long his hair is, because it never stops growing, nor does the rest of him because he's like a million feet tall. Always looks upset about something. The sane one, except for when he isn't. May or may not have secret freaky psychic powers.

 

 

Castiel: An angel, but because this is Supernatural, that means he's a terrifyingly overpowered celestial g-man born and bred to follow the orders of a militarized Heaven. It turns out he has a heart, though, which he uses to risk his wings and help the Winchesters thanks to a weird mancrush on Dean and an unusual determination--and often dangerous desperation--to seek the truth. Talks like Nolan!Batman, does not understand personal space, porn, most technology, how to wear fitting clothing and the entire concept of being subtle, but he does understand alcohol and is beginning to understand friendship. I think. Aw.

 

 

Bobby Singer: Sam and Dean's father figure, a friend of their real father who did the dad job job better. Exactly the kind of dude you'd expect a semi-redneck scrap-dealing monster hunter to be, though he does care about the boys and will often hilariously call them out for being self-absorbed whiners while giving them all the info and excuses they need to work their cases. About a third of his dialogue is comprised of yelling "BALLS" or muttering "idjits" in the Winchesters' general direction, and you usually agree with him.

 

 

The Impala: A Really Goddamn Cool Car that the bros ride around in. More important than you probably think. Still looks nice.

 

There are also:

 

Demons: Characterized by colour-changing eyes, freaky powers, smelling like sulfur and being gigantic dicks. Here to fuck the Winchesters up, except for when the Winchesters are fucking them up first. It's kind of self-perpetuating, unfortunately. They are terrible but are also awesome so hey.

 

Angels: Characterized by being emotionless, unwavering weirdos with one-track minds and being as big of dicks as the demons are, just with twice as much smug self-righteousness. These aren't your angels from Sunday School, kiddo. These are real, mythological, horrifying god-beasts, and there is a grand total of one of them that really wants to help--and I already talked about him.

 

Hunters: Other dudes that fight monsters. They show up occasionally to help out or redshirt their way out of the series, but hey, we can't all be that cool.

 

So, comedy, drama, suspense, horror, love, pain and plot twists: this show does 'em and this show does 'em well. Even the special effects do a good job, being surprisingly understated for what it is, choosing to show little instead of subjecting us to a bunch of mediocre monster effects that plague shows like Grimm. The actors are brilliant in every regard and are generally irreplaceable, and while the fandom scares the shit out of me, I really do understand why it exists.

 

Watch this show. Freak out with me. Suffer as I have, in the best possible way.

 

 

 

 

 

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Redeemer]

Yes. Just. Watch it. Just do it already why are you still on SFO just GO ALREADY.

[Faisul]

I like all of these things :>

[CrypticQuery]

The Impala: A Really Goddamn Cool Car that the bros ride around in. More important than you probably think. Still looks nice.

 

 

Late 1960s model by the looks of it.

[Drasiana]

 

Late 1960s model by the looks of it.

 

Yep. 1967. I want it.

 

Yes. Just. Watch it. Just do it already why are you still on SFO just GO ALREADY.

 

What season were you on again omg I need to cry about it to you

 

I like all of these things :>

 

;>

[Redeemer]

Omg I don't even know, I have A LOT to catch up on I know for sure! Last thing I remember... Without spoiling... Sam was being a douche because he was missing something. You're probably farther than that but I just want to make sure I'm not ruining anything.

[Drasiana]

How did you psychically know I was about to make a big post in this thread I haven't touched for a long time? Spoooooookyyyyy. I'm nigh-current on the show so you probably have to worry more about spoilers from me at this point :B

 

So I'm about to finish season 8 and still going strong with my weird unanticipated boner for this show, and a bizarre desire to talk about aspects of and never shut up. I didn't want to be one of "those fans" but the show is so content-dense in such a great way because there's always some aspect of it to analyze, discuss, and just enjoy the existence of. Of course, you know how I get with my endless textwalls so I'll just make a couple points of note for things worth discussing in case anyone is interested:

 

• Mythology is Awesome and So Is the Way This Show Plays It
• Women in Supernatural: An Even Split Between Done Amazingly and Done Terribly and I Don't Know How to Feel
• Dean Winchester Is Actually a Deconstruction of the Trope Everyone Thinks He Is
• Angels Angels Angels Angels Angels Angels Demons Angels
• Wow Look At All These Amazing Supporting Characters
• The Sense of Humor vs Drama and Why It Makes the Show
• Narrative Framework and the Respective Roles of the Brothers
• Potential Hot Angel-on-Hunter Action aka Why the Fangirls Aren't Totally Insane for Once
• Literally anything else you can possibly think about in this show

I have opinions about everything and nothing hurts for once

 

Let's talk about this let's talk about favourite/least favourite characters or story arcs or the sky's the limit IT'S GAME TIME

 

edit: finished s8 meaning five months until s9 meaning nOPES INTO OBLIVION

[Drasiana]

S9 premieres on October 8th for those of you who are still interested :B

[Redeemer]

Not sure if to tune in and feed my hunger or to catch up with it all. ;_;

 

Dying to nerd out about this once I've seen it all. D:

[Drasiana]

PLEASE CATCH UP AHH

 

I was going to list standalone episodes that you can skip for the sake of catching up faster but I seem to have forgotten how many important plot episodes are in seasons 6-8 The show got super serialized when I wasn't looking. Anyway, here's some skippables:

 

S6:

 

6x09 Clap Your Hands if You Believe...*

6x13 Unforgiven †

6x14 Mannequin 3: The Reckoning †

 

S7:

 

7x04 Defending Your Life

7x05 Shut Up, Dr. Phil*†

7x07 The Mentalists

7x08 Season Seven. Time for a Wedding†

7x11 Adventures in Babysitting†

7x12 Time After Time*
7x13 Slice Girls
7x14 Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie*
7x15 Repo Man†
7x18 Party On, Garth†*
7x19 Of Grave Importance†
 

S8:

8x03 Heartache
8x04 Bitten
8x06 Southern Comfort†
8x08 Hunteri Heroici†*
8x11 LARP and the Real Girl†
8x13 Everybody Hates Hitler†
8x15 Man's Best Friend With Benefits
8x16 Remember the Titans

8x18 Freaks and Geeks†
8x20 Pac-Man Fever†*
 

*Not necessary, but an enjoyable episode
†Minor plot elements or featuring a recurring character like Garth or Charlie. Can probably read a synopsis to fill in the blanks.

 

edit: Yes these are all actual episode titles by the way, these writers have way too much fun naming these things

 

edit 2: yes LARP and the Real Girl is actually about larping

[Redeemer]

Oh my god thank you I need dis. ;_;

[Drasiana]

You're welcome :3

 

I'll also make a list of other skippable episodes in the other seasons, for anyone interested in blowing through the series as fast as they can without missing anything:

 

S1 and S2: This is actually a list of episodes you HAVE to watch, because most of S1/2 are comprised of standalone episodes.

 

1x01 Pilot

1x09 Home

1x11 Scarecrow

1x14 Nightmare

1x16 Shadow

1x20 Dead Man's Blood

1x21 Salvation

1x22 Devil's Trap

 

2x01 In My Time of Dying

2x02 Everybody Loves a Clown†
2x05 Simon Said
2x06 No Exit†

2x09 Croatoan

2x14 Born Under a Bad Sign
2x15 Tall Tales (it doesn't initially seem important but it is, trust me)
2x19 Folsom Prison Blues
2x21/22 All Hell Breaks Loose Pt. I & II

 

Okay, now onto the skippables!

 

S3:

 

3x02 The Kids Are Alright†

3x03 Bad Day at Black Rock†

3x05 Bedtime Stories†

3x06 Red Sky At Morning

3x07 Fresh Blood

3x08 A Very Supernatural Christmas*

3x09 Malleus Malleficarum

3x10 Dream a Little Dream of Me

3x13 Ghostfacers*

3x14 Long Distance Call

 

S4:

 

4x04 Metamorphosis

4x05 Monster Movie*

4x06 Yellow Fever*

4x08 Wishful Thinking*

4x11 Family Remains

4x12 Criss Angel is a Douchebag

4x14 Sex and Violence

 

S5:

 

5x05 Fallen Idols

5x07 The Curious Case of Dean Winchester*

5x09 The Real Ghostbusters*†

5x11 Sam, Interrupted

5x12 Swap Meat

5x15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid†*