DVD Reviews

Supernatural: The Complete First Season – Blu-ray

By Patrick Luce Jul 1, 2010, 14:42 GMT

Bound by tragedy and blood to a dangerous, otherworldly mission, two brothers travel in mysterious back roads of the country in their \'67 Chevy Impala, searching for their missing father--and hunting down every evil supernatural force they encounter along the way. Bring home all 22 episodes of the first season of the thrilling new show, Supernatural along with must-own bonus features. Supernatural is a completely new kind of thrill ride ...more

The first season of the hit television series Supernatural gets a 1080p facelift for its Blu-ray release and it is a nice ride back to where it all started for the show.

The series stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as Sam and Dean Winchester and follows their adventures on the road as the hunt down all the spooky things that go bump in the night and a few that walk around in the daylight.

Although Sam and Dean are the focus of the show, you also have to include their 1967 Chevy Impala since the car feels just as an important member of the cast as any of the supporting actors. They also hunt down the monsters in style thanks to Dean’s impeccable taste in music. 

The series is simply loads of fun (mostly thanks to the tremendous chemistry between Padalecki and Ackles), and at times reminded me of all the classic B Horror films that I grew up watching as a kid.

The series starts off great with Season One, but would honestly get better and more focused towards Season Three and on. This season features the story-arc of Sam and Dean trying to find their father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and the thing responsible for both the death of their mother and Sam’s girlfriend. Later seasons would take on a truly epic scale with good versus evil being played out while Sam and Dean were right in the center of the battle.

The epic quality of the show is for later, and Season One just makes sure to set up the storyline by establishing Sam and Dean as two of the most dysfunctional brothers that television has ever seen.

Sam (who at this point seems the normal one of the family) is in college, on track to become a lawyer, and has a very hot girlfriend (Friday Night Lights’ Adrianne Palicki). All of that good luck changes with the arrival of his older brother Dean.

In true Dean style, Dean pops up in the middle of the night; tells Sam they have to hit the road because their dad hasn’t called and he is out on hunting trip; and makes sure to hit Sam’s girlfriend – who just happens to be standing there in a very tight t-shirt and panties so who can really blame Dean.

Sam agrees to go help Dean find the dad, but only if Dean promises to get Sam back to school in time for an interview he has lined up on Monday. Dean agrees, but it is clear he wants Sam to do something better with his life than just be a lawyer.

The two siblings hit the road, and quickly find out where their dad was hunting. The audience also discovers that by “hunting” the boys mean he was out trying to slay some kind of evil creature. 

The pilot episode does a great job of setting up the series’ basic premise of the boys rolling into town, pretending to be whatever law enforcement or alias gets them through the door (Dean has a nifty cigar box full of badges), and discovering what supernatural force is causing the problem.

The second half of the episode is normally filled with the boys trying to figure out how to get rid of the supernatural force. In between those two points, is some of the best banter that you see on television.

Sam and Dean are brothers, and the two actors truly seem to be siblings. They are constantly trying to one up the other, comparing their daddy issues, and competing for the pretty girl. There is also the constant bickering and taunting that often accompanies brothers.

Sam complains about Dean’s taste in music, the fact he rarely gets to drive the car, and the fact that at times it seems Dean loves the car more than Sam. He also seems to have had a completely different childhood as Dean had, and doesn’t look back on those years as fondly as Dean.

Dean is constantly calling Sam some variant of a girly name, teasing him for wanting to have a normal life (like wasting his time in college), and pretty much confirming that he might just love his car more than Sam.

Dean drives the car because dad left the keys with him. He also demands that his music is what is played on the road trips – which often fit the theme of the show since Dean is fond of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell.

The pilot ends with Sam’s life forever changing after his girlfriend is set ablaze like his mother when Sam was just a baby, and he leaves the college life behind to get revenge on whatever caused her death.

He also agrees to go find dad – since the brothers feel that is the best chance they have of getting to the evil that killed their momma and Sam’s girlfriend. 

The quest to find their dad is the running theme throughout Season One with each episode taking them further in dad’s journal while putting them up against a variety of supernatural baddies – from common ghost with bad attitudes to shapeshifters and bugs. 

The season ends with a hint of how great the show would become, but it is still probably the weakest of the series so far.

Season One does an excellent job in setting up the series’ premise, the chemistry of its actors, and the potential of the show, but I didn’t get really hooked until about halfway through Season Two.

The first season looks sharp on Blu-ray, and I think it is worth the upgrade for fans of the show. The special features are mostly straight from the DVD release, but Warner Brothers did include an all new interactive guide feature called The Devil’s Road Map.

The feature is a fun little guide to Urban Legends and facts from Season One. There is also a panel discussion with the cast and crew from the show. Other features include unaired/extended scenes, commentary, a gag reel, and two featurettes .

Supernatural may not be the best series on television right now, but it is probably one of the most entertaining. If you never had a chance to catch Season One or are a diehard fan of the series, I highly recommend picking up this Blu-ray edition.

Sam, Dean and the Chevy Impala look great on Blu-ray and it is a fun trip back to where it all began.

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