Supernatural: The Complete Fifth Season Blu-ray delivers stunning video and decent audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Sam Winchester grew up hunting unearthly horrors. But now law school and a normal life beckon. That is, until Sam’s estranged brother Dean appears with troubling news: their father has disappeared, a man who’s hunted evil for 22 years. So to find their father, the brothers must hunt what he hunts... and Sam must return to the life he’d rather leave behind.
Think about it. Michael, the big brother, loyal to an absent father. And Lucifer, the little brother, rebellious of Daddy's plan. You two were born to this, boys! It's your destiny. It was always you. As it is in Heaven, so it must be on Earth.
Sam and Dean Winchester have been to hell and back. Literally. But in Supernatural's fifth gripping season, the Brothers Grimm don't have to go very far to battle the worst of the fire-n-brimstone brigade. With Lilith gone and the Seals broken, Hell and its keepers are loosed on Earth, the Four Horsemen begin sharpening their blades, bloodthirsty angels and demons prepare for war, and the baddest of the bad, Lucifer himself, rises with a serious score to settle. It's the End of Days, the ultimate eschatological showdown, the capital-A Apocalypse. The sort of overwhelming, otherworldly odds that would send even the most unshakable heroes scurrying for cover; the sort of odds the Winchesters and the Supernatural showrunners tackle head on. Not that I wasn't worried. I seem to inch toward every season of creator Eric Kripke's smartly penned CW series with irrepressible reservations. "Walk away," the devil on my left shoulder coos. "Kripke and his meat suits are about to let you down." You'd think after four seasons I would have learned to trust the series' writers -- to Let Go and Let Kripke, as it were -- but doubts surge every summer. (Even now, I find myself wondering if the upcoming sixth season will be one too many.) Well, I'm glad I don't listen to that bastard beastie. Supernatural gets better and better with each passing season, and its fifth hunt is its best yet.
Sam and Dean add the angels to their hit list...
This is one little planet in one tiny solar system in a galaxy that's barely out of its diapers. I'm old, Dean. Very old. So I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you.
I should probably begin with the obligatory spoiler warning. If you haven't seen Supernatural's first four seasons, turn back... you're going the wrong way. All clear? When last we left the Winchester boys, Lilith was bleeding out, Dean (Jensen Ackles) had just offed Ruby for her treachery, Sam (Jared Padalecki) learned he had been duped into breaking the 66th Seal (turns out the seal was Lilith all along), a searing white light announced the coming of the Fallen Morningstar, and Lucifer (Lost's resident Island Savior, Mark Pellegrino) was about to ascend from the depths of Hell. Season five picks up right where season four left off, but only lingers there for a moment. Without warning, Dean and Sam are whisked away from danger and Castiel (Misha Collins) is miraculously resurrected after dying at the hands of the Prophet's temperamental archangel. But who -- or what -- saved them? Certainly not the war-mongering angels. Zachariah (Kurt Fuller) is only interested in taking advantage of Dean's destiny, and Sam is of little use to him anymore. God? While the question is posed, the Big Guy isn't exactly available to answer. Lucifer? An Earth-bound archangel (Demore Barnes) suggests as much at one point, but it doesn't really suit Satan's style. Season five suddenly becomes many things: a search for God, a round of Name That Horseman, the culmination of the Winchesters' fates, and a race to kill one of the most powerful beings in all of creation. Along the way, Sam and Dean have to contend with legions of Lucifer's finest, many of Heaven's power players -- Michael and Gabriel (Richard Speight Jr.) among them -- and the fabled Four Horsemen, War (Lost's Man in Black, Titus Welliver), Pestilence, (Matt Frewer), Famine (James Otis) and Death (a pitch-perfect Julian Richings).
Wow. Running from angels. On foot. In Heaven. With out-of-the-box thinking like that, I'm surprised you boys haven't stopped the Apocalypse already!
Everything that's made Supernatural one of television's most unexpected must-see successes for five years running returns in full force. Yes, things get off to a relatively slow, somewhat anticlimactic four-episode start -- Kripke and his writers have to slam on the mythos breaks to effectively reorient Sam and Dean to the trials ahead, set the stage for Armageddon, and drop several devastating bombshells that make the Winchesters question their role in the whole shebang -- but it's well worth it. The series' quick wit and devilishly delicious dialogue are as funny and effortless as ever, and the dramatic pulse beating beneath every sarcastic comeback and rapidfire pop-culture reference is as strong as it's ever been. Ackles and Padalecki strike a tricky balance between Sam and Dean's underlying conflicts, individual personal struggles, and deep-seated motivations, making every joke and jab a defense mechanism and every hint of vulnerability a window into a fully realized soul. Sam isn't just recovering from addiction (to demon blood, no less), he's at odds with his nature; consumed by a self-destructive anguish Padalecki weaves into the very fabric of his finely tuned performance. His character may be the series' bouncing-baby Skywalker, but Padalecki sidesteps melodrama with the sure-footed grace of an actor twice his age. Dean, meanwhile, refuses to accept his fate, a decision that pits him at constant odds with Heaven, Hell and all that lies between; a spine-shattering burden Ackles shoulders with control and confidence. His purpose-driven Winchester may be a cold-cast reflection of the hunters' father, but Ackles channels Dean's desperation to succeed where his father failed and orchestrates a turmoil-ridden symphony with his once three-note character.
Disease gets a bad rap, don't you think? For being filthy. Chaotic. But really, that just describes people who get sick. Disease itself? Very pure. Single-minded. Bacterium have one purpose. Divide and conquer. That's why, in the end, it always wins. So you've got to wonder why God pours all of his love into something so messy... and weak. It's ridiculous. All I can do is show him He's wrong, one epidemic at a time.
Padalecki and Ackles' fifth season supporting cast licks bloodier lips and bears sharper teeth as well. When Sam and Dean aren't tracking Lucifer, they're either hiding from a sadistic angelic horde, fending off legions of cavalier demons, or going toe-to-toe with the various freaks and monstrosities drawn to the chaos springing up around the world. Like every season of Supernatural, Kripke and his writers avoid villain-of-the-week monotony by subverting genre convention and toying with long-established tenants of mythology. War isn't a lumbering brute and Death isn't an agent of God or the Devil; Lucifer prefers arriving with a whisper rather than a storm; Zachariah is one of the most insidious creatures the Winchesters have faced; skewed incarnations of mythological evils delight and surprise (Odin, the Whore of Babylon, Kali and others); and Castiel earns laughs and respect as carefully deployed comic relief and an invaluable ally, joining Sam and Dean on their fool's errand with renewed conviction. Even the Prophet (Rob Benedict) -- the author of the fourth and fifth season's oh-so-risky story-within-a-story -- is used to mine untold riches from trampled holy ground before evolving into Kripke's most ambiguous vehicle of change. Kripke has a penchant for casting, and it shows in the talent he assembles from week to week. (The fourth-tier hellions that sometimes flank higher ranking demons look as if they stumbled off the House of the Dead 3 lot, but there's a reason extras are called "extras." Kripke can't work miracles, you know.)
Think of the million random choices that you make, and how each and every one of them brings you closer to your destiny. Do you know why that is? Because it's not random. It's not chance. It's a plan that is playing itself out perfectly. Free will's an illusion, Dean. That's why you're going to say yes.
Seeing as this is Kripke's last season as Series Overlord, an all-important question remains: is Sam and Dean's swan song a satisfying one? Does Kripke's final twenty-two episode run tell a riveting tale, complete its creator's five-season arc and give his writing staff an exciting new direction to follow this fall? The answer is a resounding "yes." Sam, Dean, Bobby, Castiel, Chuck and the whole of the mythos comes to a climactic yet inevitable crossroads, and walks away better for it. Not every storyline is resolved, not every loose end is tied up, not every character escapes the Apocalypse unscathed. Instead, Kripke closes one chapter and points to another; one we'll all have the chance to see come September. Will it be as fascinating? As funny? As fresh? The fact that the writers are making a few back-to-the-drawing-board declarations is a wee bit disconcerting, but if I know anything about Supernatural's creative engine, it's that it hasn't run out of steam yet. Not even close. Frankly, even if season six fails, Kripke's five-year run stands on its own and ends on a fitting note. Even if the CW had canceled the show, even if Kripke had decided to close up shop altogether, I have a feeling the vast majority of Supernatural fans would be pleased with the series' Apocalyptic endgame as is. If the world ended tomorrow, I know I would be.
Every season of Supernatural released thus far has arrived with a striking, altogether faithful video presentation, and The Complete Fifth Season is no exception. If anything, Warner's latest 1080p/VC-1 encode raises the series' bar even higher, all but eliminating many of the fleeting issues that cropped up from time to time in previous transfers. Serge Ladouceur's stark, shadowy photography is bound to Kripke's intentions, yet primaries retain their power, black levels are deeper than the darkest pits of Hell, skintones are relatively lifelike, and contrast, though largely dependent on each scene's lighting, remains strong and stable throughout. The series' at-times coarse graininess and noisy disposition has been perfectly preserved as well, and detail is spectacular. Crisp, well-resolved textures transform many a shot into a shining example of what a television transfer should offer, and sharp, clean object definition blesses most episodes with remarkable depth and dimensionality. Moreover, any edge enhancement that's been applied has been applied carefully and judiciously, significant ringing is nowhere to be found, and DNR isn't something any Supernatural zealot need fear. Artifacting and banding? None that I noticed. Aliasing or other strange anomalies? Only one brief shot caught my eye -- as the camera pulls back to reveal a devastated cityscape in "The End," the computer-generated destruction is slightly pixelated -- but the visual effects, not Warner's proficient transfer, is to blame. In fact, crush is the only lingering issue worth mentioning, and its roots are as tangled within Kripke's vision as ever. As far as I'm concerned, The Complete Fifth Season's high definition presentation is stunning.
Supernatural's 640kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track isn't timid, but it does tend to retreat rather than stand its ground and fight. Dialogue is clean and intelligible, and lines are rarely lost, even in the midst of the fifth season's most chaotic scenes. Still, prioritization and vocal timbre is far from perfect -- in one of the more problematic scenes on disc one, Ackles' voice is dull and muffled while Padalecki's is crystal clear... during the same conversation -- and overall dynamics are a tad thin. The LFE channel mounts an admittedly decent offensive whenever archangels throw a tantrum or demons give up the ghost, sure, but it never really resonates or, for that matter, leaves a lasting impression. Likewise, the rear speakers tiptoe into battle and fail to fully engage the listener or create a reasonably enveloping soundfield. Ambience is ever present, but noticeably subdued; commendable acoustics enhance the series' eerie atmosphere, but surge and relent as they please; and directionality is adequate, just not worthy of any high praise. In fact, the entire mix plods along and never poses any real sonic threat, roaring from the shadows without ever actually attacking the listener. It isn't bad per se, it's merely average. Would a lossless track improve matters? I can't imagine it wouldn't. If nothing else, dynamics, immersion, low-end oomph and overall fidelity would receive a welcome boost. Alas, Supernatural fans will have to wait and see if things change by the time The Complete Sixth Season arrives next year. Perhaps by then, Warner will have finally decided to pay television releases the respect they deserve.
Ah, the Law of Diminishing Supplemental Returns. It seems most every season of a television series arrives on home video with fewer and fewer special features. The Blu-ray edition of Supernatural: The Complete Fifth Season doesn't buck that trend completely, but does assemble some solid material including an interactive experience that houses a wealth of behind-the-scenes videos and production featurettes.
Apocalypse Survival Guides (HD): Like The Complete First Season's "Roadmap" guide, this generous interactive experience, courtesy of good ol' Bobby, is a bit cumbersome to navigate, but yields hours of extensive behind-the-scenes videos, production featurettes and other worthwhile goodies, all presented in high definition. Two hours in, I still haven't exhausted all of its captivating content. Enjoy!
Audio Commentary: Executive producer Ben Edlund and executive producers Eric Kripke and Bob Singer dive right into the thick of Supernatural's fifth season, explaining the show's latest direction, their approach to the Apocalypse, the characters' individual and collective evolutions, and the episodes' thematic progression. Their chat is tacked onto "The End" (the fourth episode on disc one), but the trio train their sights on the whole of the season and series, and deliver a satisfying overview of the creative process. Additional commentaries would have certainly been welcome, but as single tracks go, I couldn't ask for much more out of a forty-two minute discussion.
Unaired Scene (SD, 2 minutes): A lone commentary, and now a lone deleted scene. The Supernatural showrunners have either become incredibly efficient or the series' special features producers simply threw their hands in the air. Ah well. It's a funny scene -- one from "The Real Ghostbusters" in which the Prophet awkwardly fields questions at a convention -- just all too short.
Ghostfacers (HD, 32 minutes): Behold, Ghostfacers! The terribly amusing, ten-part web series in all its glory! I laughed out loud on more than one occasion, and I have a feeling most of you will too.
Gag Reel (HD, 10 minutes): Last but not least comes this decent collection of outtakes.
Yes, Warner continues to deprive television audiences of lossless audio tracks, and yes, the Blu-ray edition of Supernatural: The Complete Fifth Season would benefit from several more audio commentaries, but even an average Dolby Digital mix and a limited supplemental package can't spoil this one. Kripke's fifth foray is a fantastic one, Warner's video transfer is as close to perfect as "near-perfect" comes, and the whole of this 4-disc set overcomes its missteps to deliver a television season worth owning. Supernatural devotees shouldn't hesitate to add The Complete Fifth Season to their carts. Newcomers? Newcomers should start from the beginning, but fix their eye on this prize. Kripke's final hurrah is a brilliant little beastie; one fans will be eager to track to the very end.
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