Saving people, hunting things, the family business

One of my favorite TV-series of all times is the American The CW-show Supernatural. Like the name already suggests it mainly belongs to the fantasy genre though it also contains much action, horror and humor from time to time. Supernatural first aired on September 13, 2005 and The CW currently shows the ninth season. It focuses on two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester (played by actors Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles), who are hunters of supernatural creatures, such as demons, ghosts, werewolves, vampires, and many other monsters. Their mother, Mary, was killed by a demon when both of them were young children causing their father, John, to start hunting. While Dean always followed John’s guidelines and rules and took up hunting at an early age, his younger brother Sam refused to do so and went to university to study law instead. At the beginning of the first season John disappears and Sam’s girlfriend Jess dies the same way their mother did, so Sam rejoins Dean in order to hunt down the demon that killed Jess and their mother and find their father. 

For every season there is a different main story arc, such as finding their father in the first one, but there are always smaller subplots. Though the brothers are the only constant main characters, there are a handful of others who play major roles throughout the series and there is a number of constantly changing supporting cast members. Next to Sam and Dean the most important figures are Castiel (played by Misha Collins), a fallen angel who joins them in the fourth season when they fight the apocalypse, and Bobby (played by Jim Beaver), a hunter who was friends with the father of the brothers and helps them whenever they are in trouble. The most consistent bad guy is a demon called Crowley (played by Mark Sheppard) who also thinks of himself as King of Hell. The brothers are sometimes forced to work with him to fight common enemies which is always very troublesome.

Dean, Sam and Castiel (from left to right)

While monster stories predominated the first three seasons, most storylines now involve religious themes, starting off with the approaching apocalypse and the introduction of angels and the devil in the fourth season. Still, Supernatural always tries to work in new legends and creatures to keep it original and fit in some humorous episodes between the dark and serious ones, which is a reason why I love the series so much. They manage the perfect balance between horror, drama and comedy. Although some episodes are shocking or sad, there are always others that make you laugh. It’s sometimes really comedic, but without being silly or unrealistic. But my favorite aspect overall is the relationship between Sam and Dean. It’s enjoyable to watch, because they have an authentic sibling relationship and bicker about little things, but they always have each other’s back when something bad happens. And it’s also refreshing that the series doesn’t focus on romance and the main characters love lives unlike many other TV-series. 

After the ninth season of Supernatural, show-runner Jeremy Carver has a tenth and final one planned. In summer 2013 The CW announced that there was a spin-off of the series in the works with the 20^th episode of season nine being the back-door pilot for it. 

All in all I would recommend Supernatural for everyone who likes fantasy and horror movies or TV-series, because it has likeable characters, thrilling storylines and a tad of humor that makes it very fun to watch.