Supernatural (or SPN) is a vary popular show with an impressive fan base, but even so, the show itself failed to impress me. And here's why.
My main problem with the show is that, especially in the first episodes, it is terribly predictable--it's almost painful. Now I don't consider myself particularly smart, so when I just make ridiculously random predictions of what is going to happen--pretty much just saying things just to say them--and then I'm actually right...that's just kind of sad.
Please note that I am speaking from a position of not having seen the entire series, only most of the first season and some of the second, so you will have to take what I say with a grain of salt. This is, in any case, my own humble opinion.
The layout of the plot is kind of strange. There is a huge emphasis on the brother's relationship with each other and their dad, but this does not appear to immediately drive the action. Instead, we are taken through various episodic missions to destroy supernatural beings, while trying to maintain a sort of tension between the brothers, which I think was a mistake. The show tries to be episodic AND linear, which didn't work for me at all; I don't think it succeeded very well in either category. The missions or "hunts" seemed too shallow to me (as apparent by their painful predictability). They started getting better towards the end of the first season, but I still found them somewhat lacking. This might be forgivable if something else was happening with the emotional/family plot between the brothers and their father, but even this side always left something to be desired.
Besides the predictability of the episodic side-plots, there are a lot of elements that resurface in each episode. For instance, there is ALWAYS the damsel in distress (unless it is the family themselves who are in trouble). Always. Someone correct me if I'm wrong (and I really hope I am).
Here's a synopsis of the plot (compliments of Wikipedia) for the first season:
"The series follows the brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, who travel across the country in a black 1967 Chevy Impala investigating and combating paranormal events and other unexplained occurrences, many of them based on folklore, myths, and American urban legends, as well as classic supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. The plot of the series has evolved over time, beginning initially with the Winchester brothers, Sam and Dean, looking for their father throughout most of Season One."
Additionally (and I'm surprised Wiki didn't divulge this), Sam and Dean's mother was killed by some supernatural thing when they were young (well, Dean was young and Sam was a baby). This is what got their dad (and them) into hunting the supernatural.
Maybe it is simply because I haven't watched enough of it to where you get more explanations, but some things, like certain characters actions or motivations, seemed really ridiculous (in the stupid kind of way) sometimes. Other times I just got mad wonder WHY THE HECK a character wouldn't say or do this or that...or would say or do that and this. Especially when I can see a solution (usually a painfully obvious one).
On the positive side, I liked the music. There were a few episodes where the music was unique, which surprised me (pleasantly), but there were quite a few episodes where I also didn't notice the music at all, so it's a give and take kind of deal. I think the acting was all fairly well done also. I don't know enough about the art of acting to say if it was great or not, but I can tell if it's really bad, and it wasn't that bad. The scripting/dialogue was pretty good too. Again, I don't know how great it was, but I think it worked for the characters. The boys are fun and snarky. Even though I can see they were trying to not turn the boys into stereotypes, I look at them stereotypically in my eyes. Sam is rebellious against his father, while being more obedient to, say, the law, while Dean is obedient to his father while being otherwise a rebel. Dean acts like the tough guy, but you know he has a soft spot, while Sam is the more sensitive one but is more callous towards certain issues. Sam is a more open-minded, shades of gray kind of guy, while Dean is hardened and sees things in black and white. You can see where I'm going with this. There's a little mixing up here and there, but not much. Each character pretty much sticks to his type and they are very easy to read an understand.There isn't a whole lot of mystery or intrigue to their characters, but I like characters to be at least a LITTLE mysterious, so that was a disappointment to me.
It was because of the lack of intrigue in their characters that I felt the brothers were just a pair of pretty faces with amusing dialogue.
Because of the shallow plots and the empty feeling characters, I felt that this was simply a show for teeny boppers to oogle hot guys. I mean, seriously...look at them.
Yes, they can act, and yes they can act well, but it was just a little hard to take them seriously.
Well okay, it was really hard to take them seriously...
It just seems so, for lack of a better word, juvenile to me. Maybe it's just because since the main characters are both young so we're only getting the younger person's perspective, but I can't help but think "this is totally directed towards teens/young adults" when I watch it.
Maybe it feels too scripted, too predictable, or seems too much like it really IS directed at an audience (too hammy?). Whatever it is, I just can't BELIEVE it. I simply can't take it seriously enough to really get into it. When I watch the show, I FEEL like I'm watching a show, if that makes any sense. I don't get lost in it. To me, a good show makes you forget that you're watching it because you just get so absorbed into the story and the characters. SPN doesn't do that to me at all.
I just wanted to post my opinion about this, not an official review, but for the heck of it... I give it three stars.
It is not something I would necessarily recommend, but depending on whether you like this type of show or not then it might be worth checking out. I don't absolutely hate it, but it is not my first choice of things to watch. I probably wouldn't watch it on my own. But that's just me.
SPOILER QUESTION/RANT FOR WATCHERS OF THE SHOW!!!
Why don't the demons just possess Sam, Dean, and their father all at once? They possessed the dad at least once and I know one of the brothers gets possessed at some other time, so seriously, what's the problem? It would solve sooo many problems for the demons. Can they not do it for some reason? With all the demons possessing people, you'd think they could handle three guys. Honestly. Is the Winchester family protected from multiple possessions somehow??? If not...
then why are the demons so STUPID?!?!?! You'd think being these near-immortal beings, having lived for so long, they would have had the time to cultivate some common sense and practicality. Do they even think at all, or do they just throw tactics and strategy out the window?
They must be the worst demons ever.
...PEACE!