Supernatural: The Complete First Season Blu-ray delivers great video and decent audio in this overall recommended 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.
When there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Until two years ago, I would have screamed "Ghostbusters!" right along with you. Today? Nostalgia notwithstanding, the Winchester boys, not Peter Venkman and his crew, would be at the top of my speed dial. Cry blasphemy all you want, but Supernatural's brutal beasties have dragged the series' brazen demon hunters through more Hell than Gozer the Gozerian and her ungodly ilk could dream up; more unholy fire and brimstone than Vigo Von Homburg Deutschendorf could unleash on New York and its Boroughs. And the Winchester brothers? Over the course of five seasons (soon to be six), Sam and Dean have gutted, decapitated, perforated, eviscerated, torched, exorcised, shot, impaled, electrocuted and stabbed more nefarious night denizens than the Ghostbusters have crammed and recrammed into two containment units, all with that patented Winchester wile, wit and style. Granted, creator Eric Kripke's debut season isn't quite as inventive or captivating as later seasons, but it does provide an addictive introduction to the series' tone, characters and mythos sure to convert many a newcomer to the Supernatural fold.
On the case...
Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) first encountered evil at a very young age when their mother (Samantha Smith) was murdered for no apparent reason by a mysterious, malicious entity. Whisked away to safety as their house burned to the ground, the boys were raised as hunters by their vindictive father, John (Watchmen's Jeffrey Dean Morgan), learning the skills necessary to survive their family's newfound trade. But while Dean willingly follows in John's footsteps, Sam isn't interested in spending his adult life stalking the shadows. That is until his father disappears and his girlfriend (Adrianne Palicki) is killed in the same fashion as his mother, driving Sam to join his older brother in a search for both his father and whatever creature has been targeting the Winchesters. Setting off across the country in Dean's black 1967 Chevy Impala, the determined hunters trace John's movements and try to piece together the chain of events that led to his disappearance. Along the way, they battle a steady stream of monstrosities; unearthing living nightmares, helping innocents in need, and honing their craft as increasingly dangerous obstacles present themselves.
In season one's twenty-two episodes, Sam and Dean have to contend with the spirit of a woman who drowned her children, a demon with a penchant for possession, a clever shapeshifter, a swarm of otherworldly insects, ghostly boys with a score to settle, a bloodsucking witch, a nasty poltergeist, another demon (Nicki Aycox) intent on causing division in the Winchester ranks, a fertility demigod, a temperamental teen with telekinetic powers, a family that hunts people for sport, a haunted painting (of all things), and a hateful arch-demon named Azazel, not to mention a few more traditional monsters of legend like Bloody Mary, an ancient wendigo, a hook-handed killer, a rawhead, and a pack of vampires. But as Sam begins to have strange premonitions and a powerful artifact is placed under the brothers' protection, Hell's gates are opened and a more sinister threat is revealed. Thankfully, Supernatural avoids the mundane villain-of-the-week pitfalls that have hampered series like Smallville. By tossing the Winchesters in a car and leading them from hotspot to hotspot, Kripke sends Sam and Dean -- and by extension his audience -- looking for each baddie rather than concocting endless reasons why trouble oh-so-conveniently finds the brothers. It's a subtle difference, but it goes a long way.
Kripke also gets a lot of mileage out of the series by infusing familiar genre staples with smart, unpredictable twists. Evil is rarely as simple as it initially seems in Supernatural, and Kripke and his writers go to great lengths to keep viewers guessing. Digging up lesser known legends, culling creatures from obscure mythologies, and experimenting with old horror favorites, they make each episode worth savoring. Moreover, whether by careful planning or meticulous narrative control, the writing team manages to lay significant groundwork that pays off tremendously in future seasons. Suffice to say, once you reach the end of season one, you'll be itching for season two (and it doesn't disappoint either). But I don't want to heap all my praise solely on Kripke's shoulders. Padalecki and Ackles effortlessly transform the Winchester brothers into damaged yet likable protagonists saddled with emotional turmoil, brimming with sarcastic angst, and primed for countless conflicts. Their humor bleeds through Sam and Dean, permeating every line of dialogue and fueling every impulsive decision they make. That's not to say every decision the actors make is a wise one -- their early-episode performances are sometimes prone to the same sort of impulsiveness that drives the Winchesters -- but they nevertheless come across as believable human beings in a world plagued by ghosts and goblins. No easy task.
In fact, Kripke's first season only has one major weakness: it's fairly formulaic. A television show needs a hook; a gimmick that can deliver from week to week, indefinitely if necessary. And Supernatural has a sharp hook, an effective hit of broadcast nicotine that's proven most effective over the last five years. But it's one that's been around for decades. One that was arguably perfected when The X-Files left its calling card embedded in the forehead of TV junkies the world over. To Kripke's credit though, it amounts to a short-lived criticism. By the end of season one, the formula begins to evolve. By the end of season two, then three, and soon enough four, the formula has been left by the side of the road, replaced with something far more engrossing than the creature-to-creature hopscotching of the series' opening twenty-two episode volley. All things considered, Supernatural's first season is a strong, satisfying introduction to the Winchesters, their bloody quest, and their search for answers to a slew of frightening questions.
More menacing than Supernatural's most devilish beasties? Eric Kripke and DP Serge Ladouceur's grim-n-gritty genre photography, near-impenetrable shadows, and eye-piercing respites in the white-hot sun. Don't get me wrong: the series' visuals are terribly effective -- particularly when bolstered by such a striking, technically proficient 1080p/VC-1 transfer -- but viewers shouldn't expect to peer too deeply into the darkness. Thankfully, black levels are inky, contrast is strong and stable (albeit quite hot at times), and the image isn't plagued by any significant artifacting, banding, ringing, or DNR. And while Ladouceur's dim palette and stark skintones bobble between bleak and bleaker, blood and brain matter still soak the screen with gruesome reds, the stubble-cursed Winchesters look relatively healthy, and the occasional sun-streaked backdrops are brimming with vibrant greens and blues. And detail? Startlingly refined. Granted, every shot isn't razor sharp -- a few sequences are downright soft and murky -- but it's clear that Warner's presentation isn't to blame for the shortcomings that do arise. Not only does each episode appear to cling to its creators' intentions, crisp textures lend realism to many a scene and, far more often than not, closeups look fantastic. If anything, surging noise and detail-hampering crush hold the picture back from perfection. Supernatural is meant to be a grainy show draped in swampy shadows, yes, but be warned: these aesthetics produce a few distracting anomalies throughout the first season, few of which will go unnoticed.
Be that as it may, I can't imagine the series' debut episodes netting a better transfer. Whether you've followed the Winchester boys to hell and back for five seasons or just recently decided to take the plunge, brace yourself for a big, toothy grin.
Like a rotting, reanimated corpse, standard Dolby Digital audio continues to claw its way across the Blu horizon, given everlasting life by the well-intentioned wizards at Warner Brothers (one of the few, if not only, studios hellbent on using lossy mixes whenever possible). I know, I know: Supernatural is a five-year old niche series, not to mention one that's carved out a comfortable home on a lesser network. But four years into the high definition revolution, I've come to expect lossless audio from Hollywood's major players, especially when struggling independent studios manage to conjure up DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD tracks for their humblest releases. Ultimately, if studios want TV titles to earn the attention they deserve among Blu enthusiasts, such fundamental elements simply must be in place. Sigh... I digress. For what it's worth, The Complete First Season's 640kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track is decent enough, lending screams, tearing flesh, roaring engines, and gunfire semi-respectable kick. Dialogue is fairly clean and well-prioritized (even if too many lines are lost during the Winchesters' most dangerous romps in the dark), LFE output is passable (albeit too thin when ghostly chaos ensues), and rear speaker activity is adequate (just not entirely immersive). Acoustics and ambience are acceptable as well, modestly enhancing the tension and atmosphere of each episode accordingly. But while the experience does sound marginally better than its DVD counterpart, I can only imagine the level of clarity, sternum-cracking power, and hair-raising chills a lossless mix could afford a fierce, at-times unruly horror series like Supernatural. Ah well. Perhaps 2011 will finally be the year lossy audio becomes the relic the overwhelming majority of studios, large and small, have already declared it to be.
Generally, when earlier seasons of fan-favorite television shows make their Blu-ray debut, they arrive with the same dated supplemental packages as their aging DVD counterparts. Not so with Supernatural: The Complete First Season. While the new 4-disc Blu-ray release features all of the content that appears on the 2006 standard DVD set, it also boasts two notable exclusives: a seventy-minute Q&A event with key members of the series' cast and crew, and an exhaustive interactive "Roadmap" that offers a slew of interviews, mini-docs, behind-the-scenes clips, and other goodies. Neither is groundbreaking, mind you, but both add significant value to a set that might have otherwise induced boredom.
Audio Commentaries (Disc 1): Two commentaries are available on The Complete First Season. The pilot earns an amiable but meandering track with Producer Peter Johnson, Director David Nutter, and Series Creator Eric Kripke, while "Phantom Traveler" rounds up actors Jared Padaleki and Jensen Ackles for a more amusing, rapidfire, and engaging chat (albeit one that tiptoes along before finding its stride). Both will please diehards and both offer a decent glimpse into the process behind the production, but each one is fairly typical of a first season commentary (gushing humility over the success of a new series, long stretches of silence, anecdotal asides, and somewhat aimless tangents abound). Now if only each episode in the set included a track...
Supernatural at the MTR Paley Television Festival (Disc 3, SD, 73 minutes): This exclusive cast and crew Q&A at the Museum of Television and Radio's Paley Television Festival is much more satisfying. Kripke and company seem more focused when being asked direct questions and, as a result, provide a more informative and captivating overview of the show. Just skip through the first five minutes as the gathering's host stares at his notes and explains why Supernatural deserves recognition.
The Devil's Roadmap (Disc 4, HD): An exclusive interactive guide to every episode of The Complete First Season that offers new interviews with various members of the cast and crew, unearthed behind-the-scenes footage, and (yawn) reports of "actual" supernatural sightings from around the country. The interface is easy to navigate, and the content itself is lively, nicely distributed across the map, and quite rewarding. Even after spending several hours in the Roadmap, I still hadn't plowed through all the featurettes and shorts littering the landscape. And yes, each episode has a variety of materials associated with it. Supplemental junkies will be most pleased.
Tales from the Edge of Darkness (Disc 4, SD, 23 minutes): A lengthy, detailed dissection of the series and its creation, development, tone, casting, stories, performances, and more. The only downside? The feature's EPK trappings.
Day in the Life of Jared and Jensen (Disc 4, SD, 11 minutes): Padaleki and Ackles give fans a fun but sophomoric tour of the production, their private trailers, their hair and makeup sessions, and their time on set.
Deleted Scenes (Discs 1-3, SD, 21:10 minutes): A throwaway collection of cuts, extensions, and alternate scenes are also on tap for the pilot episode, "Wendigo," "Phantom Traveler," "Hook Man," "Home," "Scarecrow," "Faith," and "Nightmare."
Gag Reel (Disc 4, SD, 8 minutes): No distracting music, no garish cuts, no cheesy sound effects. Just Padaleki and Ackles being themselves, making their castmates and crewman crack up, and tossing jokes and one-liners to the wind.
Supernatural isn't the tired, derivative genre misfire so many people assume it to be. (Speaking from personal experience, circa 2008.) Smart, inventive, and brimming with unbridled brimstone, it's more akin to early seasons of the X-Files than the sort of programming one might expect from smaller networks like the WB and CW. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray release of The Complete First Season, though well worth Warner's asking price in my opinion, is a bit of a mixed bag. While it boasts a strong video transfer and a solid supplemental package (one blessed with two excellent exclusives), it only includes a standard Dolby Digital surround track. Still, longtime Supernatural fans can finally toss aside their season one DVDs, and newcomers can cross one last excuse off their list and see what all the fuss is about.
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