Big Picture Big Sound

The Series

Supernatural, now in its fourth season on The CW network, is a series that follows in the footsteps of shows like The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it's probably the strongest series on the network at this point. Anyone into horror and sci-fi should find something to like here.

In the previous two seasons we were introduced to the brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) Winchester. The two were raised by their father John (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to be what are referred to as "hunters," the few humans who are aware of and hunt down supernatural phenomena like demons, vampires, witches, pagan gods, and the few deadly urban legends that are actually real.

Thrust into the life when a yellow-eyed demon killed the boys' mother by burning her to death when they were children, it is eventually found out that Sam is a chosen-one among certain humans who have been endowed with demonic powers.  A yellow-eyed demon wants Sam to lead an army from hell that is to be unleashed upon the world.

Season Two saw the brothers unwittingly opening the gateway to hell and unleashing hordes of demonic creatures upon the world in a showdown that saw them finally kill off The Yellow-Eyed Demon. Throughout the course of Season Two, Dean made a deal with a crossroads demon to give up his soul in order to save Sam's life, during one particularly grueling test staged by The Yellow-Eyed Demon.

Season Three picks up with Dean having only one year left to live and the brothers simultaneously trying to find a way out of his deal and battling new, more powerful demons that escaped through the gate. They also introduce a new character, Bella, a beautiful supernatural artifact hunter who obtains powerful objects for clients and sells them to the highest bidder. She throws a wrench into the brothers' plans at every turn. Although the season was cut short to only 16 episodes due to the writer's strike, it feels whole and culminates in a grand cliffhanger that should leave viewers eager for the start of Season Four.

The series brings together all the best elements of The X-Files and Buffy, even using some veterans of X-Files behind the cameras. Certainly, the series' tendency toward comedy-horror is its closet tie to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Episodes such as "Bad Day at Black Rock," which sees the brothers go through a string of unfortunate events after taking possession of a "lucky rabbit's foot," and "A Very Supernatural Christmas," in which the brothers battle the pagan gods of Christmas who live like they stepped out of a 1950's sitcom, are straight comedy-horror -- with all the gore to boot.

The show's writers skillfully employ dialogue that interweaves pop-culture references and clever banter between both the brothers and the brothers and their adversaries, meaning the show is never dull and rarely feels silly, even during some of the most fantastic moments. It may not be a series that appeals to everyone, but it is easy to get caught up in this show. Watching this Blu-ray release, I eagerly  went from disc to disc, and I felt a little sad when I finally reached the end.

The Picture

Supernatural comes with a 1080p/24 1.78:1 VC-1 encoding that averages 20Mbps. The series has a purposely-muted color palette and most scenes take place at night. The transfer's black levels are solid, consistent and deep, perfectly capturing the gloomy look of the series with wonderful shadow detail that rarely crushes. From the dark shadows of graveyards at night to the Winchester brother's shiny black, '67 Impala, this release has some of the best black levels I have ever come across on a Blu-ray Disc. In the series' occasional bright, daylight scenes, the flesh tones become more natural and colors are more vibrantly saturated. Two episodes in particular stand out for displaying these superbly saturated colors: "A Very Supernatural Christmas" and "Mystery Spot," which both have a large portion of their scenes take place during the day.

The detail extracted from the series' original 35mm film negatives is rich, and nearly three-dimensional. Clothing, stubble, and all manner of objects look refined and organically textured. There is a fine level of the original grain structure apparent that is neither distracting nor too soft.  Supernatural is one of the better looking television series on Blu-ray Disc I have seen from Warner.

The Sound

Warner has crippled yet another Blu-ray release by providing no better than English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby 2.0 audio options. When other studios can consistently provide uncompressed PCM or some form of lossless audio on all of their BD releases, it is perplexing why Warner feels the need to provide only lower-quality lossy options on so many releases, particularly television series.

Complaints about the absence of a lossless option aside, Supernatural's mix has plenty of reverberation mixed into its surround channels with occasional discrete atmospheric sound effects also placed in the surrounds, particularly during scene breaks.  The mix is effective, but the soundstage is somewhat shallow and the high end slightly grating. Dialogue is intelligible, but occasionally shows the effect of compression with some harshness and less than full, natural sounding voices. Listening to the competent and entertaining mix, it's impossible not to wonder how much better it would have sounded had PCM, TrueHD or DTS- Master Audio been provided.

The Extras

Each disc in the set comes with a certain amount of bonus materials, the bulk of which is dedicated to brief making-of featurettes on specific episodes.  Although none of the material offered as absolutely critical to gaining more enjoyment of the series, fans of the show will probably appreciate the inside looks at one of their favorite series.

The extras available on this release are:

Disc 1:

• A series of making-of featurettes:
  • Supernatural: The Magnificent Seven with Director Kim Manners (1.78:1/standard definition)
  • Supernatural: The Kids Are Alright with Creator/Executive Producer Eric Kripke (1.78:1/standard definition)
  • Supernatural: Bad Day at Black Rock with Writer Ben Edlund (1.78:1/standard definition)
  • Supernatural: Red Sky at Morning with VFX Supervisor Ivan Hayden (1.78:1/standard definition)

Disc 2:

• Two making-of featurettes:
  • Supernatural: A Very Special Christmas with Creator/Executive Producer Eric Kripke (1.78:1/standard definition)
  • Supernatural: Jus in Bello with Writer Sera Gamble (1.78:1/standard definition)
• Ghostfacers! Confessionals (4:3/windowboxed/standard definition) -- This featurettes extends the "Ghostfacers!" episode with character confessionals from the faux paranormal reality show's characters.

Disc 3:

• From Legends to Reality: Supernatural Effects (1.78:1/standard definition) -- A look that the visual effects of the series.
• Supernatural Impala Featurette (1.78:1/standard definition) -- This is all about the classic 1967 black Chevy Impala featured in the series.
• Gag Reel (4:3/windowboxed/standard definition) -- Bloopers and outtakes.

The release also contains a voucher for access to a free digital copy of every episode which can be transferred to a Mac/PC, iPod or WMV-compatible portable device.

Final Thoughts

Supernatural is a cleverly written series that is a worthy successor to the horror/fantasy shows that have gone before it. The strength of the series itself combined with the superb video transfer makes this Blu-ray disc a highly recommended purchase, despite its lossy Dolby Digital soundtrack.

Where to Buy

• Supernatural: The Complete Third Season

Product Details

• Actors: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles
• Audio/Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Danish, Portuguese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: Not Rated
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: November 11, 2008
• Run Time: 651 minutes
• List Price: $79.98
• Extras:
  • From Legends to Reality: Supernatural Effects
  • Supernatural Impala Featurette: A Look Inside the Classic
  • A Closer Look: Short Segments Showcasing Favorite Aspects of Specific Episodes
  • Ghostfacers! Confessionals Minifeaturette Gallery
  • Gag Reel
  • Digital Copy of the Entire Season (iTunes and WMV)