I watch a LOT of television, or to be more accurate, I watch an awful lot of television series but I watch them mostly on dvd so I don't catch any of those pesky advert things. Generally I watch the American stuff although I've recently picked up a few more UK series which seem to be adopting the similar production values. I'll watch pretty much anything that doesn't involve members of the public or celebrities, although I tend not to watch sitcoms either at the moment.

Supernatural

I picked season 1 of this show up when it was offered for 8quid and I was sitting around with nothing to do. In less than two weeks I'd watched the first four seasons!

Supernatural: Season 1

How in the name of all that's unholy did I manage to not pick this show up earlier? Why did no one tell me that it was funny and smart and well acted and stylish? This may be the best eight pounds I've ever spent on a dvd and it's a really good job that I was unemployed when I found it otherwise I'd probably have got no sleep at all trying to get through it as fast as possible.
The first season is pretty light on arc story, with the exception of the immense bookends of the start and end most of the episodes fall into the 'monster/urban legend of the week' structure. The important arc of the season though is the audience getting to know the two brothers, and them in turn getting to know each other again following a couple of years separation. For all that Supernatural may appear to be about demons and ghosties and things, it's really about the relationship between these two brothers which is so brilliantly portrayed by the two leads. The depth of the characters is impressive and entirely believable and the gradual reveal of that depth is very satisfying. As the season draws to a conclussion and they are re-united with their father the family feels complete and everything seems to make sense.
The show is brilliant fun to watch, clearly owing a debt to shows like Buffy and Stargate - putting regular people into extremely weird situations and seeing how they cope with it, generally with sarcasm or screaming. It's heavy on pop culture references, but also very aware of its heritage of monster movies. To top it all off there's a hefty helping of style in everything from the saturation of the filming, through the beautiful car and the soundtrack of classic rock.

Supernatural: Season 2

Season two is where the show really comes into its own I think. The characters and ethos of the show are well understood following the careful and considered set-up of the first season and season two focusses more on the big arc storyline. Investigating and battling the Yellow Eyed Demon's plans takes time and brings new problems to the brothers' relationship.
The first season was almost entirely Sam and Dean, with only their father as a recurring character. Losing their father at the start of the season was a blow to this, but he was replaced with several new recurring characters. Bobby is the direct replacement for their dad, and he is a good foil for the boys - gruff, sarcastic and happy to tell them they're stupid, while still treating them as grown-ups. Ellen, Jo and Ash at the roadhouse are also a good addition, and with the other hunters that appear make it seem more like an estranged community. I wish Jo was in a few more episodes, she and Dean had really interesting chemistry.
The end of the season was pretty epic. Of the final three episodes the first revealed a lot about Dean - what drives him and what he wants, while the next reveals more about Sam's destiny. The final episode was just explosive, resolving several stories while setting more up for the third season. I think the first two season form a pretty well contained arc of their own, and I really enjoyed them.

Supernatural: Season 3

This was a pretty painful season to watch thanks to the fact the characters that we've spent two seasons coming to love are pretty systematically broken down. Whether the episode is primarily comedic, action or angst, you're constantly aware of the fact that Dean is under a death sentence and Sam is desperate to save him. The characters shift accordingly and the two actors are beyond superb at portraying the varying levels of denial, acceptance, brevado and terror. It's superb, but extremely depressing.
The show again made an attempt to introduce more supporting characters, two new women joined the cast and I wasn't overly taken with either of them. Ruby the Friendly Demon felt a little too convenient, popping up exactly when needed and lacking any real chemistry with anyone. Bela had better chemistry and an interesting background but the conclusion to her story was awful, possibly a victim of losing several episodes off the season due to the writers strike. Neither worked as well for me as Ellen or Jo did and I missed them. Thank goodness for Bobby who continues to steal every scene he is in and shamelessly tell the boys what "eejots" they are.
Plot wise, there's some great classics in this batch. Despite the depressing overall theme, there's lots of laughter to be had from Supernatural's take on classic TV tropes like Groundhog Dag, a Christmas special and the Ghostfacers reality show. The season opener with the seven deadly sins is a great opener and Jus in Bello is a good mid-season big episode which neatly resolves the FBI plot. There are very few throw-away episodes, even the most 'monster of the week' episodes still have a great mix of fun, action and angst.

Supernatural: Season 4

I promised myself I'd write this review before watching the season 5 premier and that's sitting waiting for me, so I will try to keep this as short as possible as I find it impossible to resist this show. I watched this season in under three days, including a 14 episode marathon to get to the end. That's an indicator mostly of the emptiness of my life and how obsessive I can get, but also of just how astonishingly superb this show is.
The arc and aims of this season are as clear (in hindsight) as the third were. This time it's about taking things to the next level and breaking the boys apart, so having hit rock bottom (hopefully) they can rebuild everything in the (planned to be) final season. And wow, is rock bottom ever a long way down. Again I cannot praise highly enough the acting of the two leads who mostly manage to take what could be a massive angst-fest into engaging, funny, heartbreaking character development.
The supporting characters finally hits its stride and manages to stand up against the calibre of the lead two and Bobby (who is wonderful as always). Castiel is a fascinating character, I wanted to hug him and give him a cookie and yet he was completely disconcerting at the same time. I got on better with Ruby this season as well, maybe the different actress, but mostly I think her character seemed to be less convenient and more understandable. I loved Anna as well and the fire, emotion and humanity she brought.
Story wise, the main arc was impressive in its scope and mostly well handled. The 66 seals gave a bit of form to the monster of the week episodes, but did occasionally drift into just being a handy plot device. Even with all the big stuff there was still time for some well placed humour and referencing with the monster show, hilariously titled 'Jump the Shark' and the Chuck the prophet.
I was really impressed at this season, they've taken the show to a level far beyond what I thought the fun little show of the first season was capable of. They've taken something witty and action packed and made it about the apocalypse without ever losing sight of the wit, action or character development. I can't wait for season 5 and am not sure I'm going to cope with just one episode a week.

Television Series