Supernatural Season 1
DVD | Blu-ray
Created by: Eric Kripke
Starring: Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles
Warner Home Video
Release Date: June 15, 2010

Almost everyone who will be purchasing this Blu-ray already knows what Supernatural is about because we are now waiting for a sixth season. Well if you don’t know anything about Supernatural then you should definitely start here. A great description would be a mixture between Route 66, X-Files, and Charmed. It brings together all the best of these shows and leaves all the worst behind. It is a love letter to horror movies and family problems.

There are two brothers named Dean Winchester, played by Jensen Ackles from Dark Angel, and Sam Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki from Gilmore Girls, who travel across the country fighting demons and monsters. In this first season we are introduced to them and to the world of Supernatural which is also a character in itself. I say this because where you would normally expect monsters and demons to be a certain way, they are not necessarily that way in this world. Vampires are not the same, werewolves are not the same, pretty much nothing works the way we have been trained by media to believe it does.

Throughout the story we are introduced to these different situations with the brothers and find out fairly quickly about who they are and how they deal with what they’re up against. Their reasoning behind hunting the supernatural starts off as simply about finding their dad John Winchester, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan (who is one of my favorite actors) and evolves into much more than that as time progresses. Overall this is a story about family, fun, and fear, which to me is very original and extremely entertaining. The characters are very compelling and you come back each week waiting to see what will happen to the brothers next.

Some of my favorite things about the show is the different guest roles such as the aforementioned Jeffrey Dean Morgan and another favorite character of mine that is introduced at the end of this season Bobby Singer, played by Jim Beaver. These strong talents alongside the wonderful team of writers, directors, producers, and crew just make for an amazing adventure that is great through and through.

I watch an overabundance of science fiction and fantasy shows with low budget effects and have done so for quite some time and I am always amazed at how well they can pull off a lot of these creatures in Supernatural. I am not extremely hardcore into how the things are done, but when you can see these practical effects working and realize what that can take, sometimes it really amazes me how well done a lot of the make up and costuming is done. There is a small amount of shakiness in the CGI, but considering the fact that it is the first season, that does not surprise me. Overall though the special effects are pretty darn good.

The most important person that I definitely want to bring to the forefront is Eric Kripke, the creator of the show. From the beginning he has set out to write his story about these two brothers and has done so very successfully. I have very seldom felt such a strong connection to characters as I do with Sam and Dean. I can just feel love coming from each script and the care going in to each moment of interaction between anybody and the brothers. I cannot applaud Kripke enough for doing such an outstanding job writing these characters and doing so in such a unique and interesting situation.

If you need something new now that you have finally finished watching seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or however many countless seasons of Charmed, then look no further because this is your show. I definitely recommend it to everyone I talk to and have even convinced many of my close friends to check it out and got them addicted as well. So give it a shot and see what you think.

I give Supernatural Season 1 on Blu-ray a 5 out of 5.

Blu-ray Quality

Now being that this is a re-release of season 1 in Blu-ray there is the question of how well the high definition works. I would definitely say that the picture was very well done. The picture is crisp and the darkness of the show really comes across a lot better than what it did in standard definition. I actually prefer the Blu-ray to the regular DVD for this very reason.

The only weakness of the high definition is the sound. I may be a little to picky from watching too much Lost on Blu-ray, but I really think the sound quality could have been a lot better than what it is. It is a simple Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack which seems to be the same across the board for Warner Home Video releases. Otherwise the entire high definition experience is great and I give the Blu-ray Quality a 3.75 out of 5.

Special Features

DISC 1

*Commentary on Pilot by Eric Kripke, David Nutter, and Peter Johnson

*Commentary on Phantom Traveler by Jarod Padalecki and Jensen Ackles

*Deleted/Extended Scenes from Pilot, Wendigo, and Phantom Traveler

DISC 2

*Deleted/Extended Scenes from Hook Man, Home, Scarecrow, and Faith

DISC 3

*Blu-ray Exclusive: Paley Festival Panel Discussion Featuring The Cast and Creators

This was a great panel with an equally amazing Q&A session. Not only did you get to see the moderator ask some pretty darn good questions, but you also got to see a great group of fans ask some awesome questions as well. It was fun to see what everyone thought so early on in the show and where they predicted to be going. I really enjoyed this feature.

*Deleted/Extended Scenes from Nightmare

DISC 4

*Blu-ray Exclusive: The Devil’s Road Map – Interactive U.S. map guide to urban legends and factoids featured in episodes of season one.

This was one of the best special features you could ask for. It had interviews about each episode from all sorts of different cast and crew members, as well as tons of reference material for real urban legends from around the area. The third part of the map actually has the story behind the inception of the Journal and how and why it was used. If you look very carefully there is a secret interview you can unlock by quickly finding the skulls and pressing ENTER on them. This was a very fun and innovative special feature.

*Day in the Life of Jared and Jensen

This was so much fun. It really gives you a look into how Jared and Jensen act when the cameras are off. It really makes you appreciate the on-screen relationship of the characters even more. If you don’t watch this special feature, you are definitely missing out. You follow both actors through the beginning process of their day before they get on set, through all their hijinks and how much food they really do eat.

*Supernatural: Tales From The Edge of Darkness

This special documentary style interview talks about the mythos of Supernatural and how it came about. The best thing is to learn how they decided to incorporate all the different urban legends and exactly which ones were used. Sometimes multiple urban legends were mixed to make the legend on the show. It really was interesting and fun to watch.

*Gag Reel

This is pretty self explanatory. It was great to watch all of the slips and practical jokes.

Overall the special features were a lot of fun and I really enjoyed them. I especially was impressed by the interactive road map. My only gripe is that there was only two commentaries out of about 20 episodes. I can’t say that this completely ruins the special features, but I still think it would have been simple enough to add one or two more of them. I also can’t really blame the show since almost everything from the network seems to have the same issue. Overall the special features get a 4 out of 5.

Final Verdict

Overall I really enjoyed the re-release on Blu-ray of Supernatural Season 1 and I would give the Blu-ray a total of 4.25 out of 5. Go check it out if possible. If you are a fan go buy it just for the road map feature, one of the best exclusive content inclusions I have seen in all of the Blu-rays I have bought for a while.