Supernatural: S08E01 - We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Right, context. I hate Supernatural. It's a classic example of how wrong the American TV system is. Supernatural is a show not with a large fanbase, but a consistent one and has been dragged through the dirt for as long as the production companies and networks can manage because of this, it may not have as high ratings as other shows, but they at least know they wont lose several million viewers from episode to episode. Seasons 1 - 3 were all brilliant, season 4 played out like it was the last season for the show but it got renewed again and by now the sense of scale for the show was much too large for the shows budget and the whole thing just fell apart, after three truly terrible seasons, Supernatural is back and I'm once again sat hoping to God it gets good again. This time the difference is, I'll be reviewing it. Enjoy!


So yes, as stated, Supernatural has been going for seven years, Kripke, the shows creator original wrote a three season long story, eventually expanding it to five where the shows main story officially finished and Kripke now simply produces the thing. Only problem is, it kept getting renewed thanks to consistent viewing figures with the possibility that the current storyline (if you can call it that, more like a chaotic mess of characters and concepts that drop in and out of the show with little purpose or reason that pads out the running time) could last up until season 10, Jesus Christ.

So it would appear season 8's big bad is...Crowley? On the one hand it's nice to know that Supernatural isn't adding more to the melting pot to further confuse and contradict itself but on the other, demons are like the spiders of the Supernatural world by now. I remember when one demon was a major threat, now some guy off the street can take down a group of them with barely a sweat broken. I mean hell, Crowley is the king of hell and even he provides little threat or tension. Oh well, Supernatural has known to get through several Big Bad's in one season so who knows.

We need to talk about Kevin opens a year after the end of the last season. Dean is back from purgatory and came loaded with a vampire - how humans can carry monster souls is hopefully going to be explained later in the season or it could just become another of Supernatural's many plotholes. By now the whole 'brothers reunited at the start' is more of a grating cliché than a plotpoint. The boys have died, gone to hell, gone to heaven, lost their souls and who knows what else I've forgotten, I bet when Dean went to purgatory Sam just shrugged and got on with things, he knew Dean'd be back and perfectly fine next season anyway. Dean is clearly keeping some elements of his holiday to himself but I find it hard to care because none of this will even matter halfway through the season anyway. Sam is also no longer a hunter so the two fight like teenage girls. This leads the brothers on the trail of Kevin Tran. As it turns out Kevin has been reading a Word of God on demons providing the Winchester's with a way of wiping every demon off the planet, sending them back to hell and keeping them there. I'd do the same if I could stop spiders coming in my room. Just a shame the relevance of demons in the Supernatural world is just so diminished now.

Although Sam being a whiny bitch was annoying as fuck... I must admit, I did like the whole 'Evil carries on but it isn't my problem' thing, because that was always a big issue I had with Supernatural. The world always felt so small. It's originally suggested that there are hunters and monsters everywhere, an ongoing, endless war...except when the Big Bad steps up, then there is only one at a time and no one bothers to come help the brothers...bullshit! So it's nice to know the monsters didn't just stop and wait for the Winchester's to get back in action before unleashing another world ending plot.

And to be fair to the episode, the action and special effects are great. I have long complained of bad CGI and all the contact lenses and fake nails but by this point, it's just Supernatural's look, it isn't going to change, so I just sat back and enjoyed the action. The death animations are just as cool and flashy as they always are in this show and it all leads to a flashy, visceral brawl with some demons which was a fun way to end the episode. I'll be looking forward to finding out more and more about Dean's year in purgatory. Sam's flashback provides the narrative thrills and Dean's the visual thrills.

Overall for an opening episode, it could have been worse. The opening was clichéd as hell for this show and I'm not sure I agree turning Sam back into the little bitch he was in the first few seasons was the kind of back to the glory days thing I was looking for but the action was solid, it was a nice flashy episode and I'll be interested to see what they do with the demons. And if nothing else the season will be worth watching to see what happened over the last year in Purgatory.

Pros;

• I think both of the brothers have the chance for interesting backstory and will be looking forward to learning what happened to them over the year, throughout the season.
• It looks good. I'm still annoyed Supernatural looks like a student film for the most part, but there is still no denying that the action is visceral fun and when monsters die, it's always really flashy.
• At least tackling an existing threat keeps things simple, I suppose. 

Cons;

• But still. Demons, really?
• Does every season have to start the same way? At least let these world changing things shape the bloody characters.
• Why is Sam such a bitch in this episode?

Think About It!

-Locke