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Released by: Warner Brothers
Released on: 9/7/2010
Director: Various
Cast: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles
Year: 2009
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The Series:
Created by Eric Kripke and having just been renewed (at the time of this writing) for a sixth season, Supernatural looked like a teeny bopper show. The fact that it debuted in 2005 on the WB network, a channel infamous for lame teen centric programming, didn't really bring it to the attention of the older audience to which the series is geared and it's kind of been lumped in with a lot of the substandard WB programming for some time now. Surprisingly enough, however, Supernatural is not only well made but genuinely interesting and suspenseful as well. There are moments where melodrama takes over and some of the subplots can border on hokey, but fans of The X-Files and similarly themed shows should find a lot to like here. By the time the series gets to the content included here, it's fifth season, it's actually a really well established show with some interesting characters and fun storylines.
The set up? Sam and Dean Winchester (played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles respectively) are a pair of hunky, dreamy young men who have spent their lives hunting demons and monsters after their mother was murdered under some very unusual circumstances. This unorthodox childhood has lead to an unorthodox adult life in which the brothers have to balance their 'real lives' with their past and what would seem to be their fate. As adults, through some odd circumstances the brothers decide that they really have no choice but to team up and try to track down their dad, well aware that in order to find him they're going to have to take up his reigns and get on down with some monster/ghost/demon hunting action of their own. That's the basic premise right there sets up the series but there's more to it than just that.
In this ninth season, Sam and Dean are more than just generic monster hunters looking for dad. When this season begins there's a whole lot going on - Lilith, from the earlier seasons, is gone and the Four Horsemen are bringing about the end times. Sam manages to open up Lucifer's prison and in turn, the gates of Hell itself, while he and Dean set about trying to find an angel's sword so that they can stop the devil from doing all those evil things that the devil likes to do. It gets more complicated than that as the series progresses - early on Sam decides he's done with monster hunting and wants to live a normal life, leaving Dean holding the bag but after a five year time shift, they're reunited again. Things start to go wrong in Nebraska when practical jokes kill innocent people while a guy named the Trickster is killing people in ways obviously inspired by old TV shows. Things get self referential to an extent when Sam and Dean head to a hotel to attend a Supernatural Convention, while an aging monster hunter named Martin asks the two brothers, who are put off by the fact that he lives in a mental hospital, for help with a very real problem.
If it sounds complicated, that's because it is. If you haven't seen seasons prior you'll be pretty much completely lost as even the self contained episodes in this season build off of what came before it in a big, big way.
The complete list of episodes that make up this set are presented in the following order:
Sympathy For The Devil / Good God, Ya'all / Free To Be You And Me / The End / Fallen Idols / I Believe The Children Are Our Future / The Curious Case Of Dean Winchester / Changing Channels / The Real Ghostbusters / Abandon All Hope... / Sam, Interrupted / Swap Meat / The Song Remains The Same / My Bloody Valentine / Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid / Dark Side Of The Moon / 99 Problems / Point Of No Return / Hammer Of The Gods / The Devil You Know / Two Minutes To Midnight / Swan Song
There's a lot to like this time around if you know what's going on. The show continues to feature some really clever plot devices and really strong writing while various characters who shift in and out of the show manage to keep things interesting as well. The supernatural elements that give the series its name have been turned up a fair bit to the point where this is now considerably more than an X-Files style/paranormal investigator show, and hey, Matt Frewer from Max Headroom pops up as Pestilence - that in and of itself is pretty cool. The series does get pretty dark as it progresses, playing with apocalyptic themes and flaunting some welcome horror movie influences as the story unfolds, which is something that the camera work really starts to reflect in more and more obvious ways.
This season builds a little slowly but once it picks up steam and starts moving along, it really doesn't let up at all. There's maybe a few times where there's more emphasis on style than substance and yes, the two leads are frequently made up to look like pretty boys in order to catch that ever important teenage audience, but don't write the show off based on looks or marketing campaigns. There's enough cleverness here that, mixed with some strong performances, makes the show a lot of fun - so long as you're up to speed by the time it starts, otherwise you'll have no idea what the Hell is going on.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The VC-1 encoded 1.78.1 1080p anamorphic widescreen transfers given the episodes in this set do a really good job of showing off the series' intended look. Detail is very strong, better than the broadcast versions ever were. There are some minor problems with mpeg compression artifacts and aliasing but no heavy edge enhancement while black levels stay strong and shadow detail remains consistently impressive. Skin tones look nice and lifelike, never too pink or waxy, and never showing off any problems with the authoring or encoding. The discs have been encoded quite well, generally speaking, and the picture quality is strong enough.
Supernatural arrives on Blu-ray with a standard definition English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix, with optional Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo tracks provided in Spanish and French. Subtitles are offered up in English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, and Finnish. It would have been nice to see a lossless option provided here, but at least the 5.1 track has some good ambience. Channel separation isn't a constant but there's enough of it here to ensure that you'll notice it. Dialogue is clear enough and the levels are well balanced. There aren't any specific problems with the mix to note, but as you listen to it you'll notice instances where a lossless track probably could have offered up more punch.
First up is a featurette entitled Apocalypse Survival Guides: Bobby's Exclusive Video Collection which is basically an interactive guide to the fifth season that, as the title implies, is hosted by Bobby. It's not the best laid out extra you'll ever see and the interface takes some getting used to but the content is pretty cool as it unlocks a load of behind the scenes clips and interviews - roughly two hours or so worth of content is hidden away here.
Season Five also contains a commentary on episode four, The End, courtesy of executive producer Ben Edlund and producers Eric Kripke and Bob Singer. This is a pretty active discussion that not only dissects this particular episode but which also provides some insight into how the series is planned and put together. Between this track and the interactive feature we get a good feel for what it's like on set, how these episodes are shot, and what the cast and crew are like to work with.
Rounding out the extras is Ghostfacers: The Web series (an amusing ten part series that originally aired online and which is quite amusing), a two minute unaired scene from episode nine, The Real Ghostbusters, and a gag reel. Animated menus and episode selection are also provided. All of the extras in this set are in high definition except for the unaired scene.
The Final Word:
While it's a damn shame that, once again, Warner Brothers couldn't be bothered to put a lossless audio option here, this is otherwise quite a nice package. The series continues to be an interesting and engaging watch and the transfers and extras wind up making this quite a strong release for fans of the series.