It was the summer of 2005. I was home on break from college, being a little lazy between shifts at the movie theater, and a preview for a new series starting that fall caught my attention on TV. It was going to be called Supernatural, about two brothers fighting evil across the country.

Having been a huge X-Files, Buffy, and Angel fan, I remember being very excited at something new finally coming along to fill that gap in my life. While I knew I probably wouldn’t get to watch the show right away, as I never had real access to television in college, my interest was immediately piqued.

Of course, there was one problem, I thought to myself, “if only they were cute”.

Yeah, I really thought that. I claim temporary insanity.

But I wasn’t wrong that I would end up not watching the show, nor would I really remember it existed until my then fiancé got Season 1 of Supernatural for his birthday the summer of 2007. Suddenly, I remembered that summer two years prior when I had wanted so desperately to watch the show, and I was very excited to finally have the chance, especially since it came so highly recommended.

Needless to say, my now husband and I were hooked the moment these words left Dean’s mouth as he held up a hand to stop his brother Sam from apologizing:

“Dude. No chick-flick moments.”

We finished the first season before Season 2 came out on DVD. We then bought Season 2 and blew through it in less than two weeks in preparation for Season 3 that was about to air, which we could actually watch this time when it was on TV.

My husband and I have been hooked ever since, and neither of us have any regrets. We await Season 5 now, no doubt the final season of this epic show, premiering THIS WEEK Thursday at 9/8 Central on The CW. I am beside myself with excitement. No, really, I can practically turn and see myself sitting beside me on the couch. My expectations are high as I anticipate sheer genius to finish off this amazing series.

So for those of you who may not know Supernatural, or for those who know it well and simply love hearing its merits extolled, I am going to give a brief summary of what the show is about, while straying away from the larger spoilers for anyone new to the franchise.

The first episode begins with a flashback to November 2, 1983. John Winchester is helping his wife, Mary, put their two young boys to bed—Dean, who is four, and Sam, who is but a wee six months.

In the middle of the night, Mary is woken by Sam crying and goes to check on her son, only to see that her husband has already gone in to take care of him. She realizes her mistake when she goes downstairs and sees the real John asleep in front of the TV. Mary runs back to Sam’s nursery only to end up burned alive on the ceiling, the truth of what happened to her or to the baby Sam remaining a mystery for many seasons.

After the tragedy of Mary’s death, John Winchester becomes a hunter of supernatural creatures in an attempt to uncover her murderer, training his sons likewise for many years. The meat of Season 1 then joins the now 26-year-old Dean going to get a 22-year-old Sam from college to help track down their missing father who may be honing in on their mother’s killer. Of course, Sam, who left the life of a hunter to go to school and become a lawyer, does not want back into that life, and only truly joins Dean after his girlfriend, Jessica, burns alive above his bed just like their mother did years before.

Thus begins the epic as the brothers hit the road together, living out of motels and their father’s 1967 Chevy Impala, with enough classic Rock and Metal to blow out a modern car’s speakers.

The search for their father, John, and their mother’s killer is only the beginning of this epic tale, however, leading Sam and Dean to many ghost and monster hunts throughout the seasons, as well as to demons, to the truth behind what happened to Sam when he was a baby, and to all of the Winchesters’ roles in the coming Apocalypse that comes to a head this season with the premier, “Sympathy for the Devil”.

You understand now why I can’t wait for Thursday, right?

From the beginning, we see Supernatural’s version of ghosts, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, demons, gods, and even angels. This is much heavier than the seasonal Buffy and Angel apocalypses we once enjoyed. This is a one-time deal. And while the humor of Supernatural greatly reminds me of Joss Whedon and warms my Whedonite heart, I proudly wave my Eric Kripke flag because Kripke, the creator of Supernatural, while not coddling his characters by any extent, does not have to see them suffer just for the sake of no one ever being happy. There is purpose to everything. I don’t know if we’re going to get a happy ending after this season, but we are certainly going to get a good one.

If you are not a fan of Supernatural, but have caught a moment or two, you may have noticed some familiar faces. Everyone from the main actors to the guests have fairly large track-records, many with other supernatural related shows under their belts, and many veterans of The CW.

Jensen Ackles who plays Dean Winchester has been on Days of Our Lives, Dark Angel, Dawson’s Creek, Smallville, and was recently seen in the film My Bloody Valentine. Jared Padalecki who plays Sam was in Gilmore Girls, joined Paris Hilton in House of Wax, and only a month after My Bloody Valentine came out in theaters was in the reboot of the Jason franchise, Friday the 13th.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the wonderful Comedian in Watchmen this past March, played Sam and Dean’s father John Winchester, even coming back for a few cameos. There are also a number of familiar actors of the horror and sci fi genres who found their way into episodes, such as Linda Blair and Ted Raimi.

Kim Manners, one of the most beloved directors of Supernatural episodes, who unfortunately passed away this year, was one of the directors who made X-Files such a hit in its hay-day, along with a number of other significant accomplishments.

This is no amateur team.

Now, I know exactly what you’re thinking despite the show’s virtues: this show is on The CW, an almost automatic deal-breaker.

The CW used to be known as The WB, known best for shows like 90210, Melrose Place, Gossip Girl, Dawson’s Creek, and Smallville, which I keep telling everyone to STOP WATCHING because it SUCKS and should have gone off the air seasons ago.

But remember that Buffy and Angel were on The WB too, and while the network is more often a breeding ground for airhead teenagers, that is not a fair assessment of all of its viewers, nor is it a truth about the quality of shows The CW is capable of.

Okay, so The Vampire Diaries that will be airing before Supernatural on Thursdays instead of Smallville is a blatant appeal to the idiots who like Twilight, a truly unforgivable turn of events, but give Supernatural its due. Up against impossible odds and surrounded by shows that do not even come close to matching it for intelligent writing and layered plot, and lovable, believable characters, it has persevered and has only gotten better as it has progressed.

One undeniable thing that Supernatural has done like no other show before it is the reciprocating relationship it has created with its fans. The show interacts with us. Certainly, Kripke and the other writers of Supernatural do not give the fans everything they want—that would be disastrous—but they do listen, they respond, and they even tease on occasion with nods and acknowledgments in episodes that let us know we are truly appreciated.

The fans may get upset, we may howl and wail when the characters’ lives are going to Hell, but at the end of the day I have never been truly disappointed with this show, and that is a true first.

Okay, one episode disappointed me. But just one. Jump the Shark. If you do not know the show and want to spoil things for yourself, go ahead and look it up, but I doubt it would have the same impact as on someone who adores the show as I do. For me it was a pointless episode that ruined the integrity of one of the characters, but with no true purpose, because it is never touched on again by anyone in the show. Ever. Still, it was only one mistake, one flaw in a huge, beautiful tapestry. Not even Joss Whedon managed that.
 

Ahem.

Anyway, I think it is fairly obvious that this is my favorite show on TV, and may be my favorite show ever. It is funny, clever, the characters are so easy to love and hate at the same time, the monsters are always unique and come with twists and surprises, and the plot still has me on the edge of my seat here on the start of year five.

I will admit, however, that I hope this season is indeed the last. Kripke said he had five seasons planned, and considering we are dealing with the apocalypse I just don’t see where the show can go from here without ruining itself. I would hate to see it become another X-Files, hanging on long after the show was really good when it might have gone out on top, and instead floundering and dying off slowly like an old man with an incurable disease whose last wish was that he could have gone out fighting.

But this is so much more than just a show at the peak of its success. There are several accompanying books that fill in gaps in the story, merchandise such as John Winchester’s journal that the boys use for looking up monster lore, conventions several times a year all over the world where fans get the chance to meet and ask questions of the actors and creators, and of course creations of the fans themselves that come to us in fiction and art.

I think a lot can be said about any fandom judging off of the type of fanfiction written and the sheer volume of art created. Fanfiction, or fan-written stories about the series in question, is vast for Supernatural, ranging from stories about when Sam and Dean were kids to risqué love scenes between the brothers (or others) regardless of actual evidence of any elicit relationship in the show. That’s just slash for you, folks, just inevitability. If it exists, it will be slashed. In this case they call it ‘wincest’.

Slash, as a quick side-note for the unfamiliar in this territory, derives from the slash mark (/) placed between character names when writing who the couple is in a given story. So if I wrote a story and put ‘Sam/Dean’ somewhere in the summary, you would know that they are either a romantic couple in the story, or at some point they have sex.

Yeah, I know, naysayers, but it is just one of those things that will always exist when something gets popular. Slash is a part of life, and the fandom of Supernatural is filled with a large amount of fiction and art that is mostly of a slash nature. That really isn’t all that surprising since a large majority of the fans are female, and the main characters are two incredibly handsome young men.

See my article “Girl Who Like Boys Who Do Boys Like They’re Girls” for further information on this phenomenon.

I can admit that I am one of the culprits for creating slash for this fandom, though wincest is not quite my cup of tea. For me it began with a redhead who started knocking at the back of my mind while watching Season 1, and by the end of Season 2 I had a fanfiction ready to be written.

I spent two years on Incubus, in which Dean and Sam are joined by an incubus who falls in love with Dean and changes the course of their lives forever. That may sound a bit cheesy, but it is the fact that the show spurned me to write something so epic, for so long, that proves what an impact Supernatural has had not only on me, but on all of the people who write and read the fanfiction that is out there.

Supernatural is more than the typical show. Besides dealing with monsters and ghosts, and being in the midst of the apocalypse, it also confronts issues of family, coping with loss, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the meaning of forgiveness, life, and faith. These characters are put through the ringer more than once, and are somehow expected to keep coming back, while also saving the world and somehow finding a way to still be brothers.

This is also one of the only shows to ever really attempt having only two main characters. While there are recurring roles, this is not an ensemble cast. This is about Sam and Dean, “The Epic Love Story of Sam and Dean,” to be exact, as was jokingly said by one of the writers, Sera Gamble. And if Sam and Dean, Jared and Jensen respectively, weren’t able to draw their audience in from day one then this show would have stood no chance of lasting so long. Yet here we are, four years later.

Even if the supernatural is not your usual genre of choice, or if you don’t like scary shows (and there are some scary things that pop up in this show, as well as gore, despite it being on TV) I still recommend giving Supernatural its fair chance. It is about so much more than monsters. And unlike other CW shows, it is about so much more than money, sex, and privilege.

If for nothing else, watch for the relationship of Sam and Dean, brothers who act like real brothers, and like actual guys, complete with teasing remarks and calling each other names. This may be the last season, the end of a great show, but it certainly will not be one I ever forget, or one I would ever tire of watching again. There is really only one other word to describe Supernatural. As Dean would say:

Awesome.

On Friday I shall be doing something special, a retelling of how my husband and I came to be and the many geek aspects that are incorporated in our lives and our relationship’s many stages. “How Geeks Get Married.” With pictures.

Thanks for tuning in.

Images taken from:
http://www.davidjderus.com/blog/?cat=20
http://www.freewebs.com/nikykil/jjpg36.htm
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/supernatural-viewing-party/images/6477462/title/11-mary-dean-john-winchester
http://www.hunkpedia.com/2009/04/dean-winchester.html
http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=277925&page=6
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/supernatural/images/2584690/title/407-great-pumpkin-sam-winchester-episode-stills
http://emilylistfield.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/the-godfathernyc-prepgossip-girl-connection/
http://www.browncoats.com/index.php?ContentID=42e83eab0f566
http://www.tvfanatic.com/gallery/sam-and-dean-winchester/

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