SUPERNATURAL SEASON ONE: EPISODES 11

SUPERNATURAL Season One - Episodes 11 through 22
By Ken Leicht

Supernatural Esp.# 11- 22

#1.11 – “Scarecrow” ---Sam and Dean come to an out of the way farm town where innocent passersby are served up to an evil scarecrow in exchange for an endlessly bountiful harvest. The plot is nothing new but it’s still creepy anyway. When is a killer scarecrow not? Nice cameo from William B. Davis(aka the Cigarette Smoking Man) from the X-Files. 3/5 stars.

#1.12 - Faith

When Dean is seriously injured, Sam takes him to a faith healer who can mysteriously cure the dying. When Dean is miraculously cured, the brothers quickly realize that supernatural forces are at work. It turns out that no less than death himself is involved. This episode's plot, and several others of this show seem very reminiscent of the Friday the 13th TV series from the 80’s. That’s not such a bad thing as that show’s “use the devil’s objects and you will be rewarded until heroes come and start messing things up” stories were always really cleverly done. It’s too bad that show had to labor under the misleading Friday the 13th title as it was very cool. In this case the faith healer’s wife is the one using powers for evil. And she pays dearly. 3/5 stars.

#1-13 --- Route 666

A demonic truck is running black men off the road to their deaths. Sam and Dean arrive and have to contend with an ex-girlfriend and a terrible secret that has many in town in its grip. Sort of a Christine meets Mississippi Burning type vibe at work here. We see how “hunting” has affected Dean’s personal life for the first time as he tries to make nice with his ex .who is very pretty. As usual though, the personal lives of the characters are never as interesting as I would like them to be. It’s not quite looking at your watch type stuff, but its close. 3/5 stars.

#1-14 --- Nightmare

A mysterious death seems to be connected to a boy with telekinetic powers. Sam tries to save the boy who has had similar circumstances to him from being overwhelmed by his powers. Sadly, it can’t be done. I remember little else. 2/5 stars.

#1-15 --- “The Benders”

Sam is captured by a backwoods family that hunts people for sport. This episode is Supernatural’s leap in the Chainsaw Massacre/crazy family genre. The results are fairly effective. Some great violence and nice support from the deputy whose brother was once a victim of the twisted clan. 4/5 stars.

#1-16 --- “Shadow”

Sam’s hitchhiker hottie friend Meg reappears in the same town where mysterious deaths are occurring. Sam sees this as suspicious but Dean doesn’t take him seriously…until they are both captured and come to the realization that Meg and whoever she serves are after their father. This episode finally brings father and sons together albeit temporarily. Realizing they’re in less danger apart than together, they make their peace and move on after getting away from Meg who falls to her temporary death. While the melodrama with the characters often fails to inspire, here at least there has been a satisfying emotional payoff of some sort. 4/5 stars.

#1-17 --- “Hell House”

Sam and Dean face off against a haunted cabin in the woods while having to get around an annoying pair of would be cable access ghost hunters. The humor on the show is by and large fairly decent and subtle. But the goofy ghost hunters were way too trite and unfunnily over the top. The ghost story itself was so so. 2/5 stars.

#1-18 --- “Something Wicked”

Sam and Dean battle some strange witch creature that comes into kids’ bedrooms and sucks the lives out of them. Great premise with a few genuinely scary moments. 4/5 stars.

#1-19 --- “Provenance”

Sam and Dean try to stop a haunted painting from causing any more deaths. This is one of the better episodes. I like this show better when they get some interesting supporting characters and show they react to being in Sam and Dean’s world. For a second, Sam may have a shot at a girlfriend but then it’s back on the road. 4/5 stars.

#1-20 --- “Dead Man’s Blood”

The prequel to the season ending two parter has a group of rock and roll vampires take out a hunter who has a Colt 45 pistol that supposedly can kill anything supernatural. News of this reaches Sam and Dean’s dad who teams up with them to get it back. This episode tips its hat to a lot of the modern vampire films like Lost Boys and Near Dark. Sadly I was annoyed by the vampire stuff because they took the path I like least…the “everything you know about vampires is wrong” path where crosses don’t work, etc. etc. Look, one of the reasons why horror is scary is because the world and society we live in have sets of rules and morals. Horror is what emerges from the darkness created when those rules break down or are deliberately broken. While throwing out the rules can work, often it’s just lame or too clever for its own good. As if Buffy and Angel didn’t make vampires boring enough. Anyway…after it’s over, at least Sam, Dean and Dad gang together to go after the demon. 3/5 stars.

#1-21 --- “Salvation”

Sam has a vision of where the Demon will strike but the family is sidetracked by Meg who says she will kill all of their dad’s friends if they don’t turn over the colt. Deciding to trick Meg, Dad brings a fake gun while Sam and Dean go after the demon. 4/5 stars

#1-22 --- “The Devil’s Trap”

In the season ending conclusion of a two part story, Meg and another demon capture Dad and threaten to kill him if the boys don’t cough up the gun. The boys attempt to shoot the demon and fail. After killing Meg by exorcising the demon within her, Sam and Dean rescue their father only to find that he is possessed by the Demon. The Demon basically mocks them and tells them he has plans for them. After the demon flees, the family hits the road only to be hit by a truck driven by a possessed driver.

The season ended rather well save for the annoying cliffhanger. And did we really need another one of those rule breaking “holy water doesn’t work” moments? This show works best with its story arcs in the background. I would hope that in year two, there is a hair less of the annoying dad conflicts (these always seem so forced) and more straight up monster hunting. And if you are not going to kill the main villain demon for a while, let’s have his appearances be once in a great while only…say.... once a year until you have a really juicy and satisfying final confrontation. Because this poor man’s X-Files never ending back-story stuff is just a big bore. That said, I’m glad the show got renewed. The best and only survivor of all the supernatural shows that got on the air, Supernatural deserves a healthy run. Looking forward to season 2.