I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters...: Supernatural: Lucifer Rising

Thursday, 4 February 2010

Supernatural: Lucifer Rising

Oh.My.God! What an amazing 45 minutes of television and the cliffhanger-to-end-all-cliffhangers... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Sam is off with Ruby, tracking down Lilith and securing his supply of demon juice, and Dean is whisked away to Heaven's Baroque "green room", with its endless supplies of beer and chesse burgers, by Castiel and Zachariah (from It's A Terrible Life).

While Sam - egged on by Ruby - is edging closer and closer to becoming the monster everyone feared, Dean begins to learn the truth behind what is going on and the startling revelation of the angel's complicity in the unfolding events.

Only one seal remains before Lucifer is freed - will Sam be able to stop Lilith in time? Will Dean be able to stop Sam before he does something he'll regret for the rest of his life?

Written and directed by show creator Eric Kripke, Lucifer Rising is an incredible feat of storytelling, dovetailing events and plot threads from the show's four-year run into this single moment of terrifying genius; everything from Azazel's initial interest in Sam (way back at the genesis of the series), through Ruby's involvement and the actions of the angels comes together in a perfectly interlocking jigsaw.

Although it had been edging that way for quite some time, Supernatural has finally leapfrogged over Buffy The Vampire Slayer to become my favourite televisual, urban fantasy/horror serial.

As much as I love Buffy (and always will) it had its faults and most stemmed from the simple reason that, from day one, it didn't take itself seriously. That's why, when it tried to tackle serious subjects (from Willow's "magic addiction" to Spike's "attempted rape of Buffy and his redemption") it always wobbled, stumbled and stretched credibility.

Conversely, Supernatural has always treated its subject matter with respect and taken it seriously - which allows it to have the odd comedic story and moments of naturalistic humour without losing sight of the gravitas of its verisimilitude.

Sure, I'd have liked Supernatural's demons to manifest themselves in more Buffyesque ways (i.e. prosthetic demon masks) than just the simple black smoke, but on the other hand the black smoke works in the Supernatural ouevre where sometimes the demon masks in Buffy did get a bit silly.

I am childishly excited to see where this series goes next and I only have to wait until Wednesday for Season Five to kick off on satellite channel Living.

4 serfs have something to say about this!:

kelvingreenFeb 4, 2010 12:45 PM
With respect, I think you're a bit off with your assessment of Buffy's faults. The two instances you mention were due to dodgy writing, both at a point in the series when it had clearly gone beyond its natural end and ideas were stretched thin. Consider the alternate reality story you mentioned a few days ago, the episodes surrounding Buffy's mother's death (SPOILER!), and that one with the silent monsters. All played dead straight, and all among the best the show had to offer. I can't make any comparison with Supernatural because I've never seen it, and of course if you prefer the latter show, then you're perfectly entitled to, but I feel you're selling Buffy short. Yes, it was sometimes quite poor, but that wasn't to do with an inherent misjudgement of the concept of the show, but to shaky writing by an individual scribe at the time.

There's also a wider point that the horror works best when coupled with light-hearted banter, shades of light and dark and all that, but I think I've said enough, and I don't want to offend the host! ;)
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kelvingreenFeb 4, 2010 12:46 PM
And on a more positive note, I've been enjoying these reviews of Supernatural, and they've made me want to slap the DVDs on my Lovefilm list to see what all the fuss is about. So consider that a sale!

Well, rental, but you know what I mean.
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The Acrobatic FleaFeb 4, 2010 12:57 PM
Have no fear, you won't offend me :) My issue, these days, with Buffy - now I've had time to take off the rose-tinted fanboy glasses is that Buffy was very uneven. Of course it had its highs - and when it was good, it was very, very good (e.g. Hush, The Body, Once More More With Feeling and many others etc), but it also had a lot of dismal lows.

On the other hand, Supernatural is very, very consistent and I get the feeling that showrunner Eric Kripke has a firmer hand on the tiller than Joss did with Buffy.

That's not to say I'm binning all my Buffy RPG books, action figures, graphic novels and books... no way. Buffy has been a big part of life for years and there's no way I'm kicking her to the kerb now. I'm just trying to put my adoration for her show into some sort of perspective.

I'm glad you've enjoyed the reviews by the way. That's you and Rob Rogers I've converted to the way of the Winchesters then :-)
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kelvingreenFeb 5, 2010 12:13 AM
showrunner Eric Kripke has a firmer hand on the tiller than Joss did

I'd agree with that. Buffy was at its worst when Whedon's attention was elsewhere (series six and seven, when the low points you mention occurred, for example), but I don't think that's a problem with the general format or tone of the show itself.

Yes, now I want to give Supernatural a try, but it's a matter of finding the time!
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