Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie Review

An unexpected hit, one that gets better with each passing season, hits its stride...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown August 26, 2009

Let's be honest: Supernatural is the sort of television series the uninitiated have and will continue to brush aside in their search for meatier dramatic fare; a seemingly formulaic genre hybrid that runs the gory, convoluted gamut of horror clichés from week to week in its quest to establish a respectable ongoing mythos. However, anyone who actually gives Supernatural a chance might just be surprised by what they find. I know I was. I had written off the series as a gimmick without having sampled a single episode; a desperate attempt by the CW to fill the profitable void left by Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and its successful WB spin-off, Angel. But after avoiding the series for two full seasons (to the dismay of several close friends who share my particular television tastes), I finally broke down and agreed to see what their collective fuss was all about. Suffice to say, it didn't take me long to realize I had been avoiding something special. Something darker, more absorbing, and more intense than I had first suspected.

If it goes bump in the night, the Winchester boys will take it on...

Over the course of its first three seasons, Supernatural put its reluctant protagonists -- demon hunting brothers Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) -- through the proverbial ringer... before pulling them out and tossing them back in again. After searching for their father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), confronting a deadly creature called Azazel (Fredric Lehne), and dealing with a Hell Gate that released a bevy of beasties into the Earthly realm, Dean relinquished his soul to save Sam, a decision that had profound consequences on both their lives. In the series' fourth season, the brothers are tasked with stopping Lilith (Katherine Boecher, among others), a deadly demoness (who also happens to be one of God's original creations) working to break 66 heavenly seals imprisoning the devil himself, Lucifer (Lost and Dexter's Mark Pellegrino). The boys find an ally in Ruby (Genevieve Cortese), a fallen angel who may or may not have their best interests at heart; have to contend with a pair of meddlesome, sometimes vicious angels named Castiel (Misha Collins) and Uriel (The Wire's Robert Wisdom); and fulfill their family's duty by killing a variety of ghouls, monsters, and creatures along the way.

Supernatural works for several reasons, and stands out from its predictable genre brethren for several more. Ackles and Padalecki aren't the only magnetic forces in the series' beleaguered world: each and every demon, reaper, and monstrosity that graces its episodes are fascinating in their own right, giving the Winchester boys plenty of backstory-laden hellfire and brimstone to overcome. Moreover, every actor involved, from the series' mainstays to its many brief guests, craft each hunter and creature into a believable human being (for lack of a better term); each vulnerable man and crimson-eyed demon adheres to their convincing and well-developed motivations, and many of the characters are blessed with smart twists on some very old conventions. Fallen angels aren't as cut and dry as they've been in the past, familiar monsters make some uncharacteristically modern declarations, and the devil's legions are as cunning as they are cruel and corrupt.

Better still, the scripts keep pace with the actors' commanding performances, infusing character with plot, and mythology with philosophy to create something distinct and original. The Winchesters don't often agree, nor do they follow the same paths to accomplish any given task. Their goals are based on conflicting assertions, and their actions are as logical as they are impulsive. But, more than anything, the characters always respond to the story... the story never responds to the characters. You won't find subplots constructed to dampen the series' pre-established rules (ala Heroes); you won't find anyone whose sole purpose is to fill in plot holes (that's right, I'm looking right at you, Smallville); and you certainly won't have to endure extraneous origin stories meant to rewrite series history (ahem... Buffy). The scripts are cohesive, the storylines are engaging, and the episodes are precise and thrilling. Even the villain-of-the-week structure of the tale feels far fresher than it does in other series. With death dropping on most everyone's doorstep, consequence boasts finality and reactions are lent legitimacy.

No, I'm not foolish enough to assume everyone will enjoy Supernatural as much as I have. What I do think is that Supernatural defies the status quo, especially for a CW series, and delivers its grisly goods each and every week, all while injecting a welcome dose of some much-needed unpredictability into a genre rife with age-old conventions and clichés. Perfect? Not quite. Enthralling? Addictive? Exciting? Most definitely. Obviously, Supernatural is best experienced from the beginning -- newcomers should prime their Netflix queues accordingly before tackling this twenty-two episode behemoth -- but those who've been with the series from the start will find The Complete Fourth Season is as strong and accomplished as previous seasons... in many ways, even more so.

Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As grim and grizzled as the series it accompanies, Warner's 1080p/VC-1 transfer is fit, faithful, and full of fire. Those of you who enjoy a slick-n-polished high definition image will no doubt cry foul, but Supernatural fans will rejoice to find every frame of the The Complete Fourth Season has been meticulously rendered, revealing its creators' gritty intentions at every turn. While a moderate veneer of grain and some lowlight noise frequent the majority of episodes, detail rarely suffers -- edges are sharp, textures are refined, and impressive delineation allows viewers to relish in the beasties lurking in the darkest corners. It helps that, despite the show's bleak palette, primaries pop (particularly those oh-so-bloody reds), blacks are deep and well-resolved, and skintones are lifelike and natural. I'm sure some will gripe about intermittent contrast boosting, the errant softness that haunts a handful of scenes, and the appearance of minor edge enhancement, but I found the entire presentation to be as attractive as they come. In fact, nearly every mishap I encountered should be attributed to the original source, not the proficiency of the technical transfer. It isn't hindered by any significant artifacting, banding, aliasing, or noise reduction, and crushing is only apparent in a few fleeting shots.

Make no mistake, any complaints about Supernatural's appearance should be aimed at the series creators, not Warner's impressive efforts. I can't promise everyone will enjoy the image as much as I did, but any fan will be extremely pleased with how wickedly wonderful it all looks in high definition.

Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Brace yourselves, dear readers. Despite promises to the contrary, Warner has cursed yet another new television release -- this time Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season -- with a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track (640kbps); one that's sure to initially disappoint series addicts and audiophiles alike. However, those willing to look past the track's underwhelming tech specs and focus on the experience itself might be pleasantly surprised by what they hear. Dialogue is crisp and clean, prioritization is spot on, and dynamics are relatively strong. Sure, the soundscape inevitably suffers from all the symptoms of compression fever, but the results are nevertheless quite satisfying. Be it the heft of thundering shotguns, the stable swell of swirling angelic power, or the hushed whispers of a cowering child, LFE output is commendable, directionality is convincing, and pans are devilishly smooth. More discerning listeners will certainly miss the presence and prowess a more refined lossless track would have lent to the proceedings, but anyone who isn't sporting a grudge against the studio will find the bulk of their complaints will begin to subside before the end of the first three episodes.

Could it be better? Of course. Could it be worse? Without a doubt. As it stands, The Complete Fourth Season sounds pretty good -- even great by some standards -- and makes it easy to forget that a lossless track would have allowed the series' more harrowing episodes to reach truly staggering sonic heights.

Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Like its standard DVD counterpart, the Blu-ray edition of Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season is a tad light on supplemental material, particularly for a twenty-two episode television release. Moreover, while The Complete Third Season allowed fans to download digital copies of its episodes, The Complete Fourth Season doesn't venture outside of the Blu-box. Still, the 4-disc set offers nearly four hours of bonus features, all of which are presented in high definition. Not too shabby if you ask me.

• Audio Commentaries: The Complete Fourth Season includes three informative commentary tracks -- executive producer Eric Kripke and writer Jeremy Carver discuss "In the Beginning," executive producer Robert Singer and supervising producer Sera Gamble cover "When the Levee Breaks," and Kripke returns to dig into "Lucifer Rising" -- that touch on the production, the cast, the shoot, the scripts, and the series' ever-evolving mythos.
• The Mythologies of Supernatural (HD, 60 minutes): While four separate Gilliam-esque menus make accessing each segment of this lengthy documentary a chore, the content itself provides a fairly involving and extensive overview of the mythologies, philosophies, and supernatural forces that appear throughout the series. Chapters include "The Ageless Unseen War," "Angels and Miracles," "Angels and Archangels," "The Bonds of Limbo," "The Destroyer of Children," "The Sweet Song of Death," and "The Price of Free Will." Granted, the tone of some of the shorts varies wildly, sometimes to the documentary's detriment, but Supernatural fans will enjoy every minute.
• Extended/Unaired Scenes (HD, 23 minutes): Extended scenes are available on "Lazarus Rising," "In the Beginning," "Yellow Fever," "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester," "Heaven and Hell," "On the Head of a Pin," "The Monster at the End of This Book," and "Lucifer Rising;" while full deletions are included from "Monster Movie," "Heaven and Hell," and "The Rapture." The scenes are fairly generic, but still feature plenty of solid character beats and sequences that tie up a few lingering loose ends.
• Gag Reel (HD, 10 minutes):Too long, too unwieldy, and too repetitive. Viewers may be surprised to see how much fun the cast have behind the scenes, but this collection of outtakes grows old fast.

Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I don't even have to trot out the term "guilty pleasure" to admit my love for Supernatural. It isn't a perfect series, but its compelling characters, engrossing storylines, and sharp scripts make it every bit as intriguing as the material and mythologies it draws from on a weekly basis. The Blu-ray edition is worth some attention as well. While newcomers will find it difficult to dive into the middle of an ongoing show, series regulars will be treated to an excellent video transfer, an above average Dolby Digital audio track, and nearly four hours of supplemental content. Yes, lossless audio and some additional commentaries would have made The Complete Fourth Season a more attractive release, but the 4-disc set offers enough value to justify its pricetag. Minor disappointments aside, I'm a happy fan.