Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an ongoing TV series that began in 2005.
It follows two 20-something brothers, who, following in their missing father's footsteps, travel across the United States to fight monsters and other supernatural villains, while trying to avenge their mother, who was killed by a demon when the younger of the two brothers was still an infant. The series' developing family drama and the emotional connection between the two brothers hides under a tough, roadtrip-and-rock'n'roll macho exterior.
The show is something of the anti-Buffy, where the men fight the monsters and dead women serve as their motivation (the heroes' mother, Sam's girlfriend) or living women act as their support (Ellen Harvelle and her daughter, Jo Harvelle). Although the series makes a few attempts at avoiding the damsel-in-distress cliché in its weekly storytelling, it is unabashedly patriarchal in its premise, and male-centered throughout the series. (There was even an episode that openly mocked Buffy fandom, by including clueless male geeks who wondered what Buffy would do in a given situation.)
Several fan writers have taken to slashing the two brothers, who are played by very handsome actors and share an intense relationship onscreen.
While a significant proportion of episodes (8/22; 11/22; 7/16; 9/22; 8/22; 7/22 - total, 50/126 or 39.6%) have been written or co-written by women, the producers have done a much poorer job of hiring women directors -- only one woman, Rachel Talalay, has ever been hired to direct an episode of Supernatural, in all 126 episodes.
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Characters
Regulars
- Sam Winchester, the younger brother, played by Jared Paladecki
- Dean Winchester, the older brother, played by Jensen Ackles (previously from Dark Angel)
Recurring
- John Winchester, the father, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan
- Meg Masters
- Ellen Harvelle
- Jo Harvelle
- Ash
- Bobby Singer
- Gordon Walker