Pilot

So, this episode was interesting enough. However, the whole time I was acutely aware that this was an episode designed to get the brothers together as a team, ready to kick supernatural butt. Therefore, the story felt a little contrived. The fact that Sam is roped into this by the death of his girlfriend, rather than naturally making the choice or learning what his true calling is - I didn't love that.

Ghosts aren't the most original idea, but at least they put a nice little spin on it. The show is a little darker than I expected, talking about child murders and whatnot.

I enjoyed the Nutty special effects. At times it looked really trippy.

The chemistry between the brothers is good. However, casting guys that are so handsome is a little distracting.

The dialogue felt a bit clunky and forced at times. Hopefully that gets smoothed out in later episodes.

Does this mean Sam isn't going to law school?

If only I knew the absolute carnage and betrayal I would feel while watching this show from start to finish. I will never get to experience all of the emotions I did while watching this series and I'm glad that it's a special experience only for Supernatural. No other show had broken me, picked up the pieces, glued them together and then smashed them over my head before.

Yet I absolutely love it, this show was apart of my adolescence and it is still apart of me to this day. I remember being absolutely terrified of their older episodes and scared for the characters future in later ones. Just one word about Supernatural will bring me to my knees in the middle of Walmart. But this show will be forever apart of me, the good and the bad it has shaped me to be the person I am today. It is the type of show I will never forget. Thank you and goodnight.

Wow, this new TV-series seems to be created especially and entirely for me ... as well as for all you other fanatics of horror, occult, monsters and suchlike types of evil, of course! "Supernatural" finally is a properly budgeted and professionally scripted TV-series revolving on two young brothers battling all kinds of malevolence they encounter during the search for their vanished father. Sam and Dean Winchester aren't easily shocked, as they literally grew up fighting monsters. When they were little children, an unidentified evil force burned their mother alive and ever since their father raised them to search & destroy evil all around the United States. This pilot-episode merely just introduces the characters, but still there's room for an intriguing type of malice, namely the Woman in White. Dean – the oldest brother – comes to visit Sam at university and informs him their father is missing. Sam is reluctant to join Dean on his search, as he finally hopes to live a normal life. Of course Dean convinces him and the brothers soon confront a beautiful white appearance in the dark night. The Lady in White represents the restless soul of a deceived woman, forced to commit murder and suicide and forever doomed to dwell around to kill unfaithful men.

The first episode of "Supernatural" is excellent, but not entirely flawless. The two main characters are introduced as likable and identifiable guys, but the inevitably remain stereotypes. They're brothers but with severely opposite characters. Dean is a witty daredevil, always fearlessly facing danger and providing the show with the obligatory sense of humor. Sam on the other hand is a shy guy, happy with his girlfriend and his anonymous life as a student. Probably because this is the pilot, and most of attention went to the character drawings & theme-introduction, the mystery surrounding the Lady in White remains rather vague and unsolved. That's a crying shame because it's a fascinating topic and it could have resulted in a petrifying little horror tale. The rushed finale also immediately exposes what presumably is the series' biggest weakness. Less than one hour of playtime isn't always suffice to resolve a supernatural case and/or to defeat a complex & powerful enemy. Hopefully this will be different in the next couple of episodes, when it's no longer necessary to show flashbacks about the boys' childhood. I already saw episode two – The Wendingo – and it definitely showed improvement. Even so, the pilot episode is hugely atmospheric and often chilling. The special effects are pretty amazing and far better than the visuals used in the majority of nowadays released horror movies. The creative mind behind "Supernatural" is Eric Kripke. He didn't really impress me with his "Boogeyman", but this TV-initiative is more than promising.

Without revealing too much, the pilot's ending assures the collaboration between the two brothers and even offers Sam a morbid motivation to carry on exterminating evil. Now I just hope the TV-stations in my country don't decide to prematurely cancel the airing due to disappointing viewer ratings....

I love supernatural 1-5, stopped watching it at 9, it loses its charm a bit but well saw the newish scooby doo episode and with the series ending i thought why not just watch the whole thing. Babyfaced Dean and Sam try to find their dad, have some brotherly squabbles, Sam seems like the center of the show whereas Dean seems like the goofy sarcastic confident guy who is there for laughs and giggles, he really has the best one-liners. We get backstory of their family, a bit cramped up but ok its the pilot they gotta introduce stuff fast. The ghost is average but well its hard to make a truly frightening horror tv show, spn shines in its bond and comedy. The ghost starts off promising though the end is ehh. Its enjoyable and makes the time pass and you have a mystery you are invested in, the premise also sets up our characters well with the little info we get. The start of a legendary show.

Pilots generally try to do a few things: they introduce audiences to a new world; they establish the tone, pace & stakes, they build-out characters and character-dynamics, and they try to hook a viewer into coming back. Supernatural is successful on every count.

The directing and cinematography of this pilot stand out from the get-go. The first 3 seasons are shot on 35mm film, which really adds to the dark, gritty, horror-esq vibe of the show. And the pilot encapsulates good cinematography. You can tell shots are well thought-out in a way that contributes to the story and the narrative tone. The scene framing was aesthetically interesting to look at, but in a way which helped draw you into what was happening (instead of distracting you from the story at hand).

The acting is good, but does leave room for improvement. This isn't a critique on Jensen or Jared's talent, but they're still feeling out their characters at this point-haven't quite settled into their roles, and the trust that's built up between between actors which can (and will) take scenes to the next level isn't there yet. The bridge scene argument where Dean lunges at Sam in anger feels a bit contrived, for instance. But that said, they overall do nice job.

For a pilot, the writing is pretty decent and very smart. Starting a story is hard. They work a lot of exposition and backstory into 40 minutes, in ways that loop back into the plot. For ex: they address 'how do they pay for hunting?' pretty quickly, but then it comes back around in a way that helps advance the search for their father. From a writing standpoint, there's a nice parallelism in what happens to Mary Winchester at the start of the episode & what happens to Jess at the end of it.

The episode ends by coming full-circle, allowing for the real story to begin. You leave with a sense of who Sam and Dean are as people, with a sense of their complicated relationship with each other and their father, and with a sense of mystery to bring you back. Which-as far as pilot episodes go-is the ultimate success.

Overall a strong pilot, and a compelling introduction into the world that will take over millions of viewer's hearts for the next 15 years.

-Violet Vance.