Supernatural: The Complete Third Season

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1. Storylover

   September 25, 2010 at 7:55 am

   Review by Storylover for Supernatural: The Complete Third Season
   Rating:
   Supernatural is, frankly, one of the more surprising pleasures available on television at this time. When I first heard about it, it was billed as Route 66 meets the X-files. Two guys, on the road together, fighting monsters and investigating paranormal mysteries. A buddy show. Maybe a little horror thrown in.

   Well, this show has turned out to be so much more than that. This show is a family show at its core, but I don’t mean one that you can watch with your whole family–this is only for teenagers and older. The scary monsters that we were promised from the first? Yes, they are here, and they are at times scream out loud scary. I don’t really love horror films, but I enjoy a good scare now and again, and this really fits the bill for me. But about the “Family” show tag I used–the two guys are brothers, and their relationship makes the show. The two are intensely protective of each other, often to their own detriment. Other members of the family are also involved, and there is an extended family of people with whom they work. Monster of the week stories pepper the series, but the show shines best when the backstory, the mythology arc is explored. The mythology is as deep as the X-files ever was, but less confusing and more goal directed. It feels like Eric Kripke (the Executive Producer) has a firm grip on where the overall story is going. Where Heroes (a show which I really do enjoy) often meanders, wandering off in confusing ways, Supernatural keeps serious focus on plot, plot, plot.

   The blu-ray production of season three is a real joy to watch. Blacks are deep but well distinguished one from another, and the picture is very crisp. Sound is good. The special features on this one range from the silly to the funny to the very informative, much like on previous editions.

   If you’ve heard about this show, and wondered if you should give it a chance, yes you should. Start with season 1–it is well worth your time. But season three completely blows previous seasons out of the water with its intense narrative, and performances from the lead actors that are harrowing. The final scene of the final episode of season 3…well, chills up and down my spine is an understatement.

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2. A. Casalino

   September 25, 2010 at 7:48 am

   Review by A. Casalino for Supernatural: The Complete Third Season
   Rating:
   It was with SUPERNATURAL that I discovered the many varied virtues of Amazon Unbox – and I must say that it’s a wondrous thing!

   I don’t usually watch tv, per se. I do, however, love certain network & cable series. To be able to watch them, on my own schedule and at my own whim, right here upon my own computer screen, is just about the closest I’ve ever come to being spoiled in the whole of my existence!

   Now- for this show specifically: Let me just say that I don’t think I’ve ever embraced so whole-heartedly such a guilty pleasure as offered by network tv before in all my history here on earth. In short, I just love this show!

   It’s in essence the ongoing saga of a family – well, two brothers, specifically- Sam and Dean Winchester, whose mother was killed in 1983 in a fire over Sam’s crib when he was six months old, by a supernatural entity. From that moment, Sam’s father, John, has raised his children – Dean, who’s four years older than Sam, and Sam himself- to hunt supernatural things, with the ultimate feat to kill the thing that murdered their mother.

   The allure of this show lies in the dynamics between the members of this fractured little family. Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles play Sam and Dean, respectively. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“Grey’s Anatomy”) plays John.

   There have been recurring characters throughout the three seasons so far, Jim Beaver as Bobby the most notable of Season 3. The acting is simply excellent. There’s quite a lot of mythology drawn into the flow of the storyline, though each episode is like an excellent mini horror movie in itself.

   The finale of this season left a major and most incredible cliffhanger. I am truly all agog for what happens next!

   Finally, if it weren’t for Amazon Unbox, I would not have had the pleasure of viewing each of the episodes of this Season of SUPERNATURAL, as I work evenings and nights. I am most thankful it’s been available!
   

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3. Aurie

   September 25, 2010 at 7:16 am

   Review by Aurie for Supernatural: The Complete Third Season
   Rating:
   The Hollywood writers’ strike put many a fantastic show in trouble this season, and many fans were concerned with Supernatural being able to finish out Season 3. Supernatural – The Complete Third Season is slightly shorter than its predecessors at only 16 episodes, and yet the cast and crew of this amazing series has managed to deliver arguably its best season yet. Supernatural has become epic: an understated show with an audience of devoted fans who manage to do more promotion than its own station. This is a show not only worth promoting, but worth watching. And every episode–even the weakest ones–builds this show up into something great. I’d imagine that for all involved season 3 might have been the hardest yet, both plot wise and with the writers’ strike. But all of the episodes manage a balance between heart-wrenching emotion, comedy and drama that is rarely done well in scripted television. Meanwhile, Supernatural does with such ease it’s easy to see why its fan base is so devoted to its continued success.

   Supernatural – The Complete Second Season ended with Dean having sold his soul to save Sam’s life, and the devil’s gate opening…and releasing a myriad of demons out of the depths of hell. Season 3 begins shortly after the devil’s gate opens and from the beginning is clear in its intentions of making Dean and Sam question everything they know about hell and its inhabitants. Previously, Dean and Sam consider demons only as absolutely evil. This season seeks to make its characters and the audience question not only what demons are, but whether or not they are, in fact, indubitably wicked. The question ultimately begins with the introduction of Ruby’s character, who we discover is a demon…who kills other demons. She agrees to help Sam and Dean for reasons she doesn’t divulge, but is she ultimately nefarious or is she truly a “good” demon? Much of the season is also spent reflecting on Dean’s deal with the crossroads demon and the fact that the end of the season marks the end of his time on earth and his descent into hell. Thus, many episodes are spent reflecting Dean’s life and relationship with his brother. Since season one, Supernatural has always focused back on Sam and Dean’s interactions and has successfully managed in every season to make them closer than the previous. Season 3 marks a change in both brothers, where Sam is forced to accept the possibility a life without Dean just as they were reforming their relationship, and Dean begins to contemplate what kind of a mark–if any–he has left in his life (“A guy begins to wonder if he’s leaving behind more than just his car.”).

   This season of Supernatural has its share of laughter and heartache, and actors Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki play their parts to perfection. Their acting and ability to make each scene believable has evolved since The First Season to the point where they truly own their characters. Every facial expression and every reaction is justifiable by some internal, yet unspoken dialogue that these actors manage to convey to the audience flawlessly. It doesn’t hurt that the writers of this show clearly understand each character on an individual level, making them not only truly distinctive, but incredibly realistic. Season 3 has managed to take the characters of Supernatural and put each of them through their own private forms of hell, leaving them vulnerable and visibly exhausted. The evolution of both brothers from beginning to end have them more exposed than they have been in any other season. Emotional over Dean’s fate, Sam aspires to become more like his brother, and throughout the season slowly but surely loses some of the idealism and innocence that marked his character previously. As for Dean, he arcs from making frivolous choices because he believes he has nothing to lose, to being genuinely scared at the idea that he is losing everything. The character development in season 3 is so ideal, so well written, few could pull it off. And Supernatural does it in spades.

   Another noticeable change is the tone. Supernatural has always had a kind of noir feel to its scenes, effectively utilizing dark lighting and colors to set the mood. Season three gets much darker, more emotional, and even a little more bloody. This season deals a lot more with the topic of the uncertainty of death and each episode reflects the race against time as Dean’s end comes closer and closer. Just when the anxiety might become too much to handle, Dean and Sam offer some comic relief to lessen the tension. Each quirky moment comes at just the right moment and despite Supernatural being incredibly dark, serious and even scary sometimes, I don’t think I laugh this much at any other show on television. And that alone makes Supernatural almost indescribably unique: it’s a single television show that might make audience members laugh just as easily as it makes them cry and cringe in fear.

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4. leszlaw

   September 25, 2010 at 6:36 am

   Review by leszlaw for Supernatural: The Complete Third Season
   Rating:
   Despite a few stutters by the writers on racial and gender issues, Supernatural’s third season follows the show’s established tradition of cranking the intensity a notch higher than in the previous season. The crew, as always, have outdone themselves in set design and dressing, locations, props, and camera technique. Lighting, which began the season as the network wanted, brighter and more colorful, was found to be less effective. By mid-season it returns to the familiar moody noir-ish look that provides shadow and mystery to things we never completely see, and is something of a signature look for the show. The effects departments, both physical and digital, are up to their usual standards, always bringing the viewer movie-quality visuals. Veteran directors Phil Scriggia, Robert Singer, and Kim Manners bring their unique styles, perspectives, and knowledge of the world the characters inhabit to their episodes.

   The actors surpass their performances in previous seasons. Ackles, always a gifted physical actor, delivers some of the best facial acting anywhere on film today. And Padalecki, after years as a dependable male ingenue, has matured into his craft. Physically imposing, he uses his body as an instrument, drawing in to present Sam as self-effacing and non-threatening or, where it’s called for, using his height and impressive wingspan to intimidate and dominate. His facial acting has refined with maturity as well, to the point where he can hold the screen with his costar. The emotional reaches these two young actors take their characters are deeply affecting for the viewer, breathing life into characters on a page.

   The themes the series returns to time and again, family, alienation, rescue, surviving in a hostile world, helping the less fortunate, are solid themes whether set in medieval Italy, on a planet in a distant star system, or in an urban sitcom. The background of ordinary, uniquely American life overlaid on an unsuspected realm of myth, legend, and theology is merely the setting for these themes to develop and unspool. This crew of writers, technicians, craftspeople, directors and actors is able to establish and invite the viewer into this created reality. It’s an invitation worth taking.

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