This season in Supernatural took us on quite the journey. Like I mentioned last year in my Supernatural Season 7 review, Season 8 built on Season 7 in terms of how good it was. Season 5 is still the best in my opinion. You can't beat the Apocalypse and you can't beat Lucifer as a main villain. But as they said when they were asked what they were going to do next, they just need to go in a completely different direction and that is what they have done. Season 6 I still liked, even `if it may be the weakest of the eight seasons, but season 7 was better than season 6 and season 8 was actually significantly better than season 7. While I really liked the Leviathan theme in season 7 because it showed the intelligence of Supernatural in how they dive into the mythologies of many different cultures, season 8 felt like we got taken back into classic Supernatural.
What do I mean when I say classic Supernatural? Well first of all, the strength of the first three seasons came in the individual "monster-a-week" episodes with a thin over-arching plot that they dove into significantly at the end of the season. Starting with season 4 and moving onto season 5, they got more caught up in the intelligent story line that they came up with and there were less monster-a-week episodes. There were a lot of people that got annoyed with this, but I actually really liked it. As I said, season 5 is my favorite season thus far. Not that I didn't like the format of the first three seasons, because I did, I just always enjoy a TV show that dives into the story more. Season 8, however, goes back to that format and provides a lot more monster-a-week episodes. At the same time, though, it provides the best of both worlds in having a great story to go along with it. And that story is a lot better themed with what Supernatural is all about, that being the focus on Heaven and Hell. Yes, Supernatural deals with a lot of different supernatural creatures and themes - werewolves, vampires, shape-shifters, pagan gods, etc - the main focus has always been on the demons and the angels and the corresponding drama with Heaven and Hell. While I enjoyed the Purgatory and Leviathan themes in the previous seasons, I'm glad we got back to dealing with Heaven and Hell. In general, the big story of this season is them trying to close the gates of Hell forever and while we knew that it wouldn't work out because we still had two seasons left of Supernatural, we began to see an end in mind. It seems like they had a focus in this season and whereas in the previous two seasons it seemed like they were just going without a focus because they didn't want to end things yet. This time they have a focus and while I will be saddened when Supernatural finally ends, I'm excited to continue that journey towards the end because it will be an exciting finish.
Next up I need to talk about the characters in this because that's what really made this season. At the helm we of course have Sam and Dean. With that comes the classic Supernatural debate, who is better, Sam or Dean? Honestly, I really love both of them. They are both great in their own individual way. Most girls will pick Dean because he's the hot one. Since I am a guy, I don't have to deal with that aspect of things. Dean is definitely the more comical of the two, he makes me laugh all the time, but I personally have always given the edge to Sam in this debate. Why? The acting skills of Jared Padalecki are just super boss. Jensen Ackles is also really good, but he's typically the same character in all of the seasons with limited versatility. Jared is super versatile and Sam's character that he has played has been put through a lot of different phases. We had the anti-hunter school boy Sam, the super-devoted hunter Sam, the blood-thirsty demon Sam, the Lucifer Sam, the soul-less Sam, the family-man Sam, and finally the weak and crazy Sam going through the trials. Each phase is completely different and Jared has pulled off each phase brilliantly. But yes, both Jared and Jensen are fantastic and their relationship is really what has carried this series all eight seasons. I won't say what happens in the finale, but that relationship gets taken to new heights and it is really touching.
Before I wrap up, I do need to talk about the other characters that aren't Sam and Dean. Seasons 6 and 7 you started to feel empty as far as the side characters go as one by one all the characters in Sam and Dean's lives had been taken away from them. First it was their Mom and Dad towards the beginning, then it was Joe and Ellen, and finally they recently lost Bobby. Castiel wasn't gone, but he essentially got thrown into a blender as far as his character development went and we didn't know if he was going to even stick around. Starting with Cas, he is back to normal Cas in this season, especially towards the end and that is very good. He will also be back as a regular casted member in season 9, so Misha Collins fans should rejoice. The other side characters brought in were great. The young prophet Kevin, played by Osric Chau was introduced towards the end of season 7, but played a huge role in season 8 and was fantastic. The red-headed sidekick Charlie, played by Felicia Day, was also introduced for an episode in season 7, but was brought back for two more episodes in season 8 and one can only hope that she appears more often because she was also fantastic. The angels are always mysterious, so we can't consider them protagonists, but yet we can't always call them antagonists either. But we had two more main angels introduced in season 8 and both are intriguing characters. We have Naomi, who seems to be the new boss of Heaven and we also get introduced to Metatron, the scribe of God. Finally we have our villains. Crowley is our main villain in this one, and the King of Hell is simply a fantastically awesome and terribly evil villain at the same time. Towards the end of the season we get introduced to Abbadon, a new demon villain that will be contending with Crowley for the power in Hell and the two of them are sure to cause Sam and Dean more problems in future seasons.
Overall, season 8 is a fantastic addition to the great legacy of Supernatural. The finale, which I won't talk about, is easily the best finale since season 5 and I might actually consider it my second favorite finale in all of Supernatural. We are getting more seasons of Supernatural, we knew that really early on in season 8 actually, so the fact that the finale doesn't wrap things up shouldn't be considered a spoiler at all, so let me just say that it was an ending I didn't expect at all and it sets up season 9 perfectly. I am sad that Supernatural is now over for the Summer, but I am already looking forward to the fall when season 9 will begin.
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