the thing the supernatural-as-meme mentality is that it robs you of the richness of its story. with 326 episodes, there's now way that every single one of them will be amazing, that with 15 seasons all of them will be equally well crafted, but taken in aggregate those 326 episodes across 15 seasons of television tell a story that is so layered and nuanced.
supernatural is a story about recovery, about healing and self-acceptance. about standing up to repressive authority even when it seems hopeless. it's a show that's interested in how people create meaning, not only of the world around them but of their own selves, and how the two relate. constantly, supernatural orbits the tension of the self vs. the other. it asks: what do we owe ourselves? what do we owe each other? what do we owe those who will come after we are gone? and above all: supernatural is a story about the transformative power of love, in all its forms.
the show is tenacious in its themes. it holds on to them even in the face of the limitations of television as a medium, and executive meddling. but you have to do the work. supernatural-as-meme would have you believe anything good about it is coincidence, serendipity. sure, there's quite a lot of serendipity in how some things in supernatural have worked out (how could it not? it's a long-running collaborative piece of art), but at its core, supernatural is very intentional. it weaves a rich tapestry of subtext, intertextuality, environmental storytelling, character acting, etc; and in doing so requires the viewer to do the work of parsing it all out -- with bonus points if you can watch it in context of how television is made.
it's is a show for people who truly, deeply, love stories. people who like figuring out how they work, why they work. it invites you to think about it, all the time, in all its sillyserious, campy, complex glory.
it's a fairy tale, it's a procedural, it's a family drama, it's a romance, it's a myth, it's an epic, it's a comedy and a tragedy. sometimes it's disappointing. frustrating, too. but if i had to say, one way or the other, i'd say supernatural is a damn good show.
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