The Periphery of the Mind

A while back I said I was picking up Season 1 (and 2, since it was a good deal) of the show Supernatural. I'd heard from friends it was really good, and since they liked the same shows as the Professor and I, she and I assumed we'd enjoy it as well. Well, we were half right.

The show is basically about two brothers, trying to find their father and the supernatural force that killed their mother. In the meantime the brothers travel the country fighting ghosts, monsters, and demons, saving lives and killing evil critters. None of this is really new to our TV watching. The Professor really enjoyed Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. But this show is much more horror oriented, and to be honest tends to be slicker looking all around, including the monster effects. As such, the Professor is fairly well good and scared after watching an episode or two, and has now decided that she doesn't like to go upstairs after I go to bed. And the references to demons and spirits doesn't help much.

"If you don't watch the violence, you'll never get desensitized to it" to quote Bart Simpson. But seriously, if she can't handle it she can't handle it. It's a really good show, and we're close enough to the end of the season that the story arc is kicking in. Which means if she doesn't quit watching now, she'll probably continue to get scared. But if she does quit she'll never find out what happens to the brothers as the story evolves.

On my end I'm surprised at just how good the show is. First, the soundtrack is excellent, with songs from Metallica, Kansas, and the Blue Oyster Cult used to great effect. The chemistry between the two leads is good as is their characters; I can forget I'm looking at a couple of male pinup models and actually buy these two guys are supposed to be brothers with personalities and histories. And it actually has monster hunters that have some idea of what they're doing. Not only do they keep a small armory of various weapons and tools for fighting specific monsters hidden inside their car trunk, they also tend to think act as if they were in a horror show. Sure they'll go alone into a dark basement, but they'll be armed with shotguns, holy water, and maybe an improv flamethrower. They know they're fighting monsters, and they prepare for it with gear and a healthy dose of paranoia. All that said the show doesn't really scare me, but then again my fears drift more towards economic and crime related issues that could happen rather than zombies or werewolves.

So, anyway, too scary and evil for the Professor, but otherwise a really groovy show.

Labels: TV