I just re-watched last week’s amazing episode of Supernatural (the show airs on Thursday nights at 9:00, on the CW channel) and for me, it was definitely the best episode of the season so far, and I also think it was one of the best episodes of the whole series.
I’m a latecomer to the show, but after spending the summer catching up with the series on DVD, I’m hooked. It’s all thanks to Devon, my friend at work and a total fanboy, who spend last season raving to me about the show and trying to convince me to watch it. I told him I had started watching the show when it premiered in 2005, but had missed some of the early episodes, so I gave up on it. He lent me his box set of the first season, telling me he was sure I’d love it.
He was right. Ian and I started watching it in mid-June, and gradually were drawn into creator Eric Kripke’s mythic story of the Winchester brothers – badass Dean and emo Sam – cruising US backroads and highways in a cool ’67 Chevy Impala, on a quest to find their missing demon-hunter father and to search and destroy monsters and creatures of the supernatural.
Every time I saw Devon at work, he’d ask two questions – what episode was I on and what did I think of it so far? We’ve had some good, fun talks about it. And he doled out one set of DVDs after another to me – I told him he was like a dealer feeding crack to an addict! The show is addictive – Ian and I blazed through seasons 1 – 4, well before the season 5 premiere on Sept. 10th. And now, Thursdays are must-see TV nights. I haven’t been into a TV show this much since The X-Files and Sliders in the ‘90s.
The show has been so engrossing, and a welcome distraction from the stresses, frustrations, and uncertainties that seem to crop up in day to day life. And, because I also can’t help but watch with a critical writer’s eye, I’m learning what it takes to create great series characters and story arcs that help build an enthusiastic and loyal audience. I’ve found many websites devoted to the show and its strong cult following. I can only hope that my own writing will inspire readers to have even a fraction of the type of positive reaction and dedication that fans have for Supernatural.
What’s not to love? At its core, the show is family story, and its two leads, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, are perfect as Dean and Sam. Both have grown into their roles as their characters have gotten more complex. Jensen gives Dean a cocky irreverence that hides his doubts and longing for a “normal” life, and Jared’s Sam fears a darkness beneath his sensitivity and intelligence. They share a dysfunctional childhood, a strong sense of justice, a sometimes reckless bravery, a fervent need to honor their father, and an intense brotherly bond. Their family ties are at times nearly pathological, and have been their weakness almost as much as their strength. And did I mention that both guys are hot?!
The show is a great mix of genres – horror, action, drama, comedy, mystery and suspense. The plots are intentionally derivative – they pay homage to classic myths and folklore (such as werewolves, vampires, vengeful spirits, and urban legends) as well as pop-culture icons (like Star Wars, The X-Files, Stephen King, buddy movies, and lots of horror flicks) but with a fresh spin in each episode. Season 4 raised the stakes by adding angel characters to counteract the demons, in a battle of good and evil. Both brothers realized their actions unwittingly helped to bring on the apocalypse, and now, at the beginning of season 5, they have to deal with the ramifications, and face them head-on.
For me, one of the most exciting and interesting things about last season and this season is the exploration into time-travel, one of my favorite themes in storytelling.
In the 3rd episode of last season, titled “In The Beginning,” Dean was sent back to the past, to learn the origins of the Winchester family and how they became demon-hunters. In a Back to the Future homage, Dean met the younger versions of both of his parents, influenced his father to buy the Impala, met his grandfather, and learned that his and Sam’s lives were preordained, by the choices their parents made more than ten years before they were even born. It was an important reveal that added depth and understanding to the overall story arc.
And in last week’s episode, “The End,” after Dean has shunned Sam and said they’re better off without each other, he is sent five years into the future, to a post-apocalyptic wasteland where a deadly virus has turned most of humanity into something akin to zombies; the US is under martial law, decreed by President Sarah Palin; a risen Lucifer is wreaking havoc on the world; and a group of hunters/rebels, led by a future-Dean, live in a wooded compound and have taken it upon themselves to fight evil and battle Lucifer. It’s a horribly urgent wake-up call to present-Dean, and back in 2009 at the episode’s end, he makes amends with Sam and vows that they will not be pawns in the battle of good vs. evil – instead they will make their own future. I thought it was an immensely satisfying episode – and the time-travel was an important device to build the tension and raise the stakes for the rest of the season.
And these two episodes have helped me learn an important thing about using time-travel in storytelling – at its best, time-travel is a literary device that lends weight to a story’s theme, helps develop characters, and is a way for the characters to learn something about themselves and their lives, and gives them a chance to do whatever they can to try to change their present situations. But the characters are most essential to the story – readers must believe in the characters and the reality of their situations, and be invested in going the distance to find out the outcome of a time-travel plot. Otherwise, time-travel is just a gimmick.
In the time-travel book that I’ve been writing, my main character meets up with her past self, and the two of them switch time-frames and lives. Both learn important lessons about making choices, taking chances, and living their lives. And like Sam and Dean, they learn that they have a chance to make their own futures.
I care about my story’s characters and it’s important to make them as well-rounded, realistic and relatable as possible, so any readers will care about them as much as I do. My characters may not be facing the apocalypse, but their situations must be just as important to them within the framework of my story.
In interviews, Eric Kripke has promised to resolve Supernatural's apocalypse story arc by the end of this season. And I, along with others in the show’s strong cult following, am anxious and excited to see how it all turns out. I love spending part of my time in the world of Supernatural, and the show inspires me to want to spend more of my creative time in the extraordinary world of my own time-travel story.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
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