Monsters of Television

“Man, I hate camping.”

You get a twofer this week since I’m feeling generous. And because what I could say about one episode I could pretty easily say about the other, so it just made sense to combine the two into one post. This isn’t a bad thing, either. Both episodes reflect what I can only assume is the template for most of the upcoming episodes, and it’s a template I’m perfectly happy with.

As I mentioned in my thoughts on the pilot, the I like Supernatural‘s procedural aspects, which should come as no surprise.I like the bits of gumshoing around that Sam and Dean do to sort through that week’s mystery, tracking down clues and looking up references and using newspaper archives to sort through the information. Indeed, their use of newspaper archives seems almost quaint now, even 4 years after the show’s premiere. (How did it play then?) At the same time, this pretty low-tech approach to demon hunting works for the show. They don’t have much money, so using local resources, like libraries, makes sense.

And it’s the idea of the local that I think I really like, and is probably the primary reason I preferred “Dead in the Water” to “Wendigo.” The former has a comparatively stronger sense of place than the latter does. Those woods could’ve been any woods in Canada passing off as Colorado, but “Dead in the Water” gives us a town, with locations and a history built through places, like houses, the lake, or the library Sam and Dean visit for information. Narratively, it’s a much richer experience and visually it gives me more to look at than just trees.

Also connected to this idea of the local are the spirits themselves, which I also like. Stories like wendigos (wendigoes?) and women in white are told in cultures around the globe but are connected to the location in very sensible ways. “Wendigo,” again, stands out as being counter to this idea, but the show could’ve addressed it in a very interesting way, albeit one that they’re probably not all that interested in. Dean mentions that wendiogs stay in very particular areas, and so to have one in Colorado is a bit odd. Here’s an exciting chance to make a correlation between urban myths traveling and urban development forcing those myths to other locations. I like the idea, and had hoped it would’ve been discussed a little more, but alas, no.

But I’m willing to let that kind of interesting thing slide in the early going because instead of focusing on something as amorphous as that idea, the episodes instead give us a chance to see the brothers begin their re-bonding process as well as allow their personalities to come forth. Sam’s emotional and empathetic, with a seemingly natural ability to get people to talk (like the old man in “Wendigo”) while Dean is a little smoother with the conning and far more interested in the ladies (“We’re allowed to have fun, you know. And that’s fun.”). Padalecki continues to bore me, but his is the less flashier role, and playing the straight man is difficult.

Ackles, on the other hand, I could watch that guy on TV all day. He’s charismatic and smarmy without coming off as a tool. His work with the kid in “Dead in the Water” is both believable and touching, which is nice to see. I’m sure that, after Supernatural wraps up, someone’s going to make him a show vehicle. Or maybe he can just become a recurring character on Castle. Or keep doing voicework.

Closing thought, to wrap up that discussion of local. As I watched both of these episodes, I made the, I think, fairly logical connection in saying, “These are looser, a little less dramatic episodes of The X-Files.” Now I understand that the show’s creator had been pitching the show up and down Hollywood for 10 years prior to it finally getting picked up in 2006, but even that overlaps with The X-Files‘s seasons.

But X-Files was also a show about the local, about two out-of-towners who come in and fix that town’s problem. Even on macro structural level, both shows deals with a search for a truth (sister abducted by aliens; missing father and demon who killed mom). I’m interested to see how, if at all, Supernatural steps away from feeling like a well-tailored clone of X-Files. I’m not saying I’d stop watching if it didn’t, but the air of Mulder and Scully hangs over Dean and Sam.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Shouldn’t be too surprising, my X-Files connect. Kim Manners was heavily involved with both shows, after all.
• That (rightfully) angry white spirit tried to kill Amy Acker. Why does everyone try and kill Amy Acker?!
• Park Services ID? These guys are like Batman-levels of prepared.
• That wendigo ate Finn! Awesome!
• “Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy.” Indeed. If there’s a key-ish difference between X-Files and Supernatural, it’s the lack of a legitimate Scully.