TV: “Supernatural” Wins in the Spooky Category
By stephanie - Tuesday, October 11th, 2005
What with all my focus lately on finding the latest “alien invasion” I totally missed any buzz on what was happening at The WB. And let’s face it…The WB has a reputation for being a bit teen-oriented, so no wonder it passes under my 30something radar.
But for whatever reason, I accidentally stumbled upon “Supernatural” last week. In that episode, a demon was infecting air passengers and causing plane crashes. It was one of those things I started off not paying too much attention to (I had missed the beginning), but by the end of the show I was stuck to my seat, waiting to see what happened next.
In the latest episode, we find that the old childhood scary superstition about saying “Bloody Mary” three times in a mirror is now coming true. Having played that “game” when I was a child (and it scared the begeezus out of me then), I was absolutely fascinated by this modern rendition of it. The actual ghost was very frightening and something out of the Ring or the Grudge – not bad for primetime TV.
I’ve now watched two episodes of “Supernatural” and I am completely hooked. Sure, it’s just “X-Files” with ghosts, but I’m liking it. I especially like the two hunks they have as leads (score one for the teenage network, obviously appealing to a young girlish fanbase).
The other “X-Files” rip-off (actually being produced by former “X-Files” folks) is “Nightstalker,” which is a remake of “Kolchak the Nightstalker” (some old 70s show I’d never heard of before). I’ve only seen one episode of “Nightstalker,” and it was OK…something I’d definitely watch if it was on and I’d happened to be around, but nothing I’d go out of my way to view.
“Nightstalker,” like “Supernatural,” is about the investigation of strange phenomenon. “Nightstalker” so far appears to be less about ghosts and more about bizarre grisly deaths. There does seem to be an interesting back story to “Nightstalker” that could become more fascinating as the show progresses (watch for the strange squiggle mark on people’s wrists). Stuart Townsend does a fine job as Kolchak, but Gabrielle Union as his female counterpart is a little too wide-eyed for me at this point. She’s definitely no Scully.
All in all, they beat reality TV.