Sunday, February 20, 2011

Reasons I Love Supernatural

Sometime before Christmas I got it in my head that I should watch Supernatural. I don't remember if someone suggested it or if I read something or saw an ad and decided it would be up my alley. Which is funny because from what I had gathered it's about ghosts/urban legends/scary stuff in general and 1) I am nyctophobic (afraid of the dark), which leads to 2) I am weary of all things that go bump in the night. Just go ahead and try to tell a ghost story around me and see how fast I shove my sock in your gob! But you all know me and once I get my teeth into something I'm a little like a pitbull; I'm not letting go until I'm damn good and ready. So I asked the hubby to get the series for me for Christmas. He didn't. So, seeing as he was away for the whole month of January; I got it myself and started watching. And now I am hopelessly addicted.

Beyond here there may be spoilers.

Supernatural is a show about two brothers, Dean and Sam Winchester, who travel the country hunting and ridding the world of the things nightmares are made of. Their relationship is not an easy one. Hunting is a family business and Dean accepts the family legacy, balls to the wall. Sam, on the other hand, has almost succeeded in escaping the family business and the family, for that matter. He's off at college, has a girlfriend and is resolutely ignoring anything that reminds him of his past, white picket fence in sight. Until he's awoken by a bump in the night. He investigates, discovers someone lurking and ass kicking ensues. The lurker turns out to be Sam's big brother, Dean. Dean tells Sam their father has gone on a hunting trip, hasn't returned and he needs Sam's help to find him. Sam reluctantly agrees as long as he's back in time for the interview of a lifetime. They go, they search, they hunt, they rid a town of "A Woman in White"(the pilots creepy du jour). Sam returns home in time for his big interview only to find his girlfriend draped to the ceiling, her midsection sliced open. The ceiling catches fire and Sam's girlfriend is consumed. This is the exact same way Dean and Sam's mother died 22 years earlier. Sammy has the carrot he needed to begin hunting again and Dean has his brother.

Eric Kripke, the shows creator, has said he wanted each show to be "a different horror movie every week". For the most part he succeeded. There were many a night the bathroom light was left on. Initially, I could have started watching anytime and would have had no problem following along. There's a backstory, of course, but I didn't need to know it to enjoy. It quickly evolved though and it became necessary to know the backstory to understand what was going on much of the time. Which is fine by me, because I watched the entire series in about 3 weeks (plenty of late nights and bleary eyed mornings), so I'm in the know.

Let me tell you about the things that got me hooked. Besides the actual story, because that's pretty good but I think if you took any of the following away, I wouldn't enjoy Supernatural nearly as much as I do. More or less in order of importance.

The Soundtrack
The soundtrack kicks all kinds of classic rock ass! Zepplin, AC/DC, Cream, Nazareth and so, so many more. My Dad would love it. It's the soundtrack to my childhood and my informative years. Every once in awhile I'll hear a song on the show I had completely forgotten about. I have stopped the show to YouTube whatever has caught my fancy. Fanfreakintastic! Season 6 is coming up a little short, though. The ear candy has diminished and that makes me sad. For your listening pleasure (also, the Ginger in the video? Oh God, The hair! Wow! And the lead singer? Does he remind you of this guy?)




Jeffrey Dean Morgan
I know, I know! He's already gone. And that is tragic. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is talented, adorable and oozes charisma. On the show he played Dean and Sam's Dad, John Winchester. John's idea of parenting makes me quiver. The therapy bills that would be the result of being reared up by him would make a wealthy man weep. In his single minded determination to find the demon responsible for his wife's death he's used one son's unquestioning devotion to turn him into an obedient little soldier (Dean says Yes, Sir, more times that I'd like, and I cringe, every time). The other son, he's alienated all to hell (heh). Sadly, the powers that be felt the need to have his character bite the dust. And I know why. Javier Bardem. Jeffrey Dean Morgan got a job Javier Bardem didn't and SeƱor Bardem couldn't have that, so he hired a hit and Jeffrey Dean Morgan is hiding out. <--- The previous statement is not in the least factual.

Misha Collins

Misha Collins plays Castiel, the angel that pulled Dean out of hell and occasionally divinely intervenes. His character amuses me greatly. As an angel, he's often ignorant/envious of the ways of humans or "hairless apes" as humans are endearingly called by the majority of the celestial inhabitants. His deadpan is fantastic. One problem and it has nothing to do with the show. When I was "doing research" for this post I checked out the actors I wanted to write about. Sometimes, I find it difficult to separate the person from the talent. Misha Collins played Paul Bernardo in a movie called "Karla". That strikes a chord. I was born and raised in Toronto. I was a teeny-bopper during Paul Bernardo's reign of terror. I remember the fear The Scarborough Rapist incited. I remember watching or reading the words of the parents of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. I'm not sure a movie about Karla Homolka needed to be made. And I'm having a hard time reconciling an actor I like with a role. But he Tweets. A lot. So, that's something.

Jim Beaver
Mr. Beaver plays Bobby Singer, fellow hunter and father-figure to Dean and Sammy. You know why I like him so much? His character is the shit. He's all full of wisdom and snark and love. Awww. Need some info on some obscure demon? Call Bobby. Need to be ripped a new one? Bobby will do what needs doin'. Need to be reminded why you're fighting the good fight. Bobby knows and he's got no problem bringin' your ass up to speed. Mr. Beaver seems like he's pretty fantastic in real life too. Father, author, actor and he still seems like the kind of guy you could invite into the backyard for a beer and shoot the shit for an hour or so. And he Tweets, too. Also, he's wearing a Sturgis hat.



Jared Padalecki
Jared Padalecki is a cutie-patootie. And he has a gorgeous smile. And he's possibly half-giant. He's 6'4, fercryinoutloud! That's an inch shy of a foot taller than I am. Geez. Jared plays one half of our dynamic duo, Sammy. The little brother. He's a sweet boy, the rational one, the one with the conscience. The one that was fed demon blood as an infant (about a minute and a half later the demon doing the feeding pins Mommy to the ceiling, rips her open and sets her ablaze) and so, he has a freak streak a mile wide. And he is just tormented because of it. Which is my chief complaint with Jared's character. Sometimes, I wanna slap him he's so whiny. And then he went and lost his soul for a little while and he was kind of fun (what? I got a bad boy thing, alright?). And then he got his soul back and he's whiny again. And maybe it's just me, because I've been around the military so long now, but he ALWAYS has his hands in his pockets. And he slouches. Lots of tall dudes do, a bad habit formed when they were taller than everyone else in 7th or 8th grade, (and I imagine he is still taller than everyone else) but still. I wanna ask him if his hands are cold? And tell him "Take your damn hands out your pockets and stand up straight, son" (and now, I'm my mother). I didn't get the sex symbol thing either. I mean he's adorable, but that's just it, he's got a baby face. And then I saw this on an episode not long ago and I did a spit-take. Coffee everywhere. Cause the last thing I was expecting was for him to invoke anything other than "Awwww". You see the hips? You see the grooves? What are they called? I only know the dirtiest name for that portion of a fit mans anatomy and I'm feeling a little like a prude (a very little) just now so, I won't write it. But SWEET JESUS. Have some bloody mercy, would ya? It's not so easy to get coffee off a monitor and outta the keyboard. The keys stick.
Oh and just for fun, Sammy's last words are going to be "Dean, I get it. I do. But..."


And last but most definitely not the least,

Jensen Ackles
Jensen Ackles is a whole lotta pretty. Distractingly so. But I'll get to that. Jensen plays Dean. And Dean is a bit of a badass. He drives the hottest car since The General Lee (no, The General Lee didn't do it for you? How 'bout Nic Cage's Eleanor?)He's kicking ass and taking names. He's getting down to business. He's lovin' 'em and leavin' 'em (well, mostly). And he's dripping with sarcasm the whole time. But he's got a soft spot (mostly for Sam, don't get me started on the co-dependance/unintentional homoeroticism. The show actually makes fun of itself, regularly). I adore him. Lately, he's softening up a little more, which I can dig because you know, he's been through a lot, but if he turns into Sam, I am going to cut someone. Be warned. Back to the pretty. There are a dozen or so parts of this mans anatomy that I could sing the praises of. The eyes, the lips, the teeth, to name a few. But the sexiest thing he possesses? His voice. Oh. My. God. It's aural orgasm. Seriously. Move over Sean Connery, you've been replaced as the man with the sexiest voice alive. It's that good (my husband disagrees, to which I say; Oh reeeeeally?). So, um, I got a birthday coming up (I'll be 33 on Thursday *pout*) and if anyone knows how to get this boy to call me, I'm all ears. I don't even want to talk to him. I want him to leave me a message. A long one, but that's it. And then, I can listen to it whenever.... um, later. I can listen to it later. And as many times as I want. And now I've said too much. A girl can dream, right? Here, have a listen. It's not all Jensen, but it's fun anyway.


Friday's a new episode folks! The boys will be in an alternate reality where they are Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. Too meta? Jumping the shark? Or, pretty freakin' funny? I think y'all know where I stand.

I almost forgot. Jensen Ackles should play Eddie Dean in The Gunslinger. He's essentially got all the character traits down. But can he play a strung-out heroin addict? I have faith. From my lips to Ron Howard's ears or Stephen King's. Whatever gets the job done. Also, I don't think Javier Bardem should play Roland. Not because I'm Team Jeffrey or anything, I don't think either of them should. I don't think either is right for the part. I'm going to go with the majority on this one and throw my vote in for Viggo Mortensen. I'll get back to you with my opinion on who should play the balance of the characters in My Favourite Book Series.

7 comments:

  1. I do not watch ... 'cause I would never sleep again if I did ... bit of a woosie that way ... buuuttt ... those boys are HAWTT!

    Might have to agree with hubs still on the whole Sean Connery as the reigning sexiest voice on the planet ... but Jensen's not bad ... not bad at all!

    All in all, I give it a "Nummers, but no thanks"

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  2. Hot damn, I may need to revisit my horror/bump in the night aversion..yummy...

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  4. I should point out that Supernatural isn't so heavy on the creepy right now, they're fleshing out a whole religious thing. I feel a "9 circles of hell" thing comin' on. But then again I may be wrong, but I don't want to get spoilery. To sum up, watch it!

    "Nummers, but no thanks" Oh, Miss Dani D. My heart! It breaks ;)

    AA- I know, right?

    Also, cause it's gonna make me bonkers; it's The Dark Tower series, but y'all knew that right? RIGHT?

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  5. *looks around, shyly*
    Sorry Eyvi, no.
    *runs away*

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  6. I loved this initially - I still love 'dean'. but later on, it got pretty predictable. all the ghosts appear,disappear,haunt and perish in the same way; a couple of the episodes do stand apart though. But I do not watch it as often now. its sort of a last resort.
    thanks for kindling the love all over again :)

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