Also a song, written by Vic Chesnutt and performed by the band Live at an MTV Unplugged gig.

At the close of this soulwrenchingly beautiful song, Ed Kowalczyk mentions, in his brief way, who wrote the song and that it's "absolutely the most beautiful song ever written by a human being." If you mean his version of it (though I haven't heard any other), I'll add my vote to that.

The lyrics by themselves don't even come close to doing it justice, but they are, I think, very nice on their own as well. Parts of it remind me of that numinous feeling you get when coming out of general anesthsia:

"It was an out of body experience
yes i flew around
a hospital room once
on intreveneous demerol
you weren't supernatural"

This use of copyrighted lyrics is for archival, appreciation and commentary uses, which is fully covered under fair use provisions--even *after* the DMCA gutted them--so you can stop being paranoid now.

The definition of supernatural is not circular, but it is not coherent either.

Questioner: What is supernatural?
Physicist: The word is defined as "above or beyond natural".

Q: You mean beyond scientific laws?
Physicist: Yes. "natural" is a word with a lot of meanings, but for me "natural" as opposed to "supernatural" means "allowed by the laws of the physical universe". However everything that happens obeys the laws of nature.

Q: Do you mean that science has a complete picture of reality? Your laws don't explain everything.
P: No, we can't explain eveything yet. There's the actual laws of nature, and then there's the approximations and parts that we know about. But we keep trying to make our picture more complete. The aim of physics and of all science is to observe reality in order to understand it. It's a process as much as it is a product.

Q: What if something "supernatural" or "impossible" were to happen? What if there was scientific evidence that it had happened? Would it be natural then?
P: Yes. If an event happens, it is by definition natural and possible. Impossible and "above the laws of physics" events do not happen, by definition. All that would have happened would be that our theories of what was impossible would have been proved incorrect. Reality behaves in predictable and understandable ways, it is not random or inexplicable. There is always a scientific way to describe all things that happen, even if we don't know it. Yet.

Q: But ESP is proven! So then ESP and other supernatural occurrences are scientific?
P: Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof and the proof for ESP just isn't there, despite a lot of trying. I think that ESP is just wishful thinking, but I'm willing to take a skeptical look at any evidence if I think it's worth my time. That's what science is all about.

Q: What about other supernatural interventions?
P: Some people like to believe that a "higher power" intervenes occasionally to cause events to happen that are not in accordance with the normally observed laws of physics, or do not have any natural cause. If we saw that, it would be natural by definition, and a theoretical framework could be built up to describe and predict such occurrences. The universe that is, is in principle understandable. But such occurrences have not been systematically observed.

Q: But people have seen all kinds of things.
P: People claim, and even believe that they have seen all kinds of things. That's not the same as those things existing. Human perception and memory are highly fallible. We have high standards of proof. Independently verified, measurable evidence is required.

Q: So what is supernatural?
P: The idea of a "supernatural occurrence" is meaningless.


Another writeup-as-reply (to a writeup that has been deleted).
The physicist in my writeup does not speak with exactly my voice, but with a part of it. I wanted to give a more sensible answer than artfuldodger did, in line with the scientific worldview which I felt was being misused as a straw man.

Currently Airs:
The CW Network; Thursdays 9:00PM ET, 8 CST.
(formerly on the WB)

Premiered:
September 13, 2005

Cast:
Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester

Supporting cast
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as John Winchester (Dean and Sam's father)
Nicki Lynn Aycox as Meg Masters
Samantha Ferris as Ellen Harvelle
Alona Tal as Joanna Beth "Jo" Harvelle
Chad Lindberg as Ash
Jim Beaver as Bobby Singer

The basic premise of Supernatural is about a family that hunts and kills demons, monsters, and other things evil, this pastime spurred on by the death of the matriarch of the family at the hands of a particularly nasty demonic being. The rest of the family, consisting of the father and two twenty-something brothers, embark on a quest to find and kill that demon, hunting and killing all sorts of other kinds of baddies along the way - including your typical horror genre creatures like werewolves, ghosts, and vampires. This quest facilitated the need for fine-tuning an evil-hunting skillset which includes extensive knowledge of the lore of each creature and exactly what weapons, if any, will kill them. At the beginning of the series the brothers are also on a quest to find their father who went missing when he was finally hot on the trail of their mother-killing demon.

The demon also killed Sam's fiancée in the pilot episode in the same brutal fashion that he had killed his mother.

Supernatural, like The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Smallville (its current timeslot mate) before it, intersperses "monster of the week" episodes with mytharc episodes, although it differs in that virtually every episode deals with the mytharc in some fashion. This mytharc, as alluded to above, includes the brothers' quest to find the demon that killed their mother but also includes discovering the mystery about Sam's emerging psychic powers and how it is linked to that demon. The storyline is nomadic as you might expect, the monster-hunting taking the brothers many places across the United States like Kansas (their home state), California, and St. Louis - whereupon a fairly important plot development takes place that would affect future episodes where a shape-shifting creature kills and is killed while taking on the likeness of Dean, making him officially a dead murder suspect. At the end of Season 2 a doorway to Hell is temporarily opened in Wyoming!

But this series is about much more than monster hunting and road trips. I would contend that Supernatural is not so much about fighting demons and monsters as it is about the relationship between two brothers and each one's relationship with his father. The target demographic of this show might be male 18-49 (like many WB/CW shows) but the appeal can be much broader to include any boy or man who has a brother and/or a father. Make no mistake, this is a man's television show, a serial the men of the nuclear family can watch and enjoy together. It's about the love between brothers and between sons and fathers that largely goes unexplored because of the typical male machismo but it is definitely there. And palpable.

To add to this male bonding feeling of the show, muscle cars and classic rock tunes abound: Dean's trademark black 1967 Chevrolet Impala, which was passed down to him from their father, is prominently featured, the trunk of which usually contains the various weapons the brothers need in their demon-vanquishing; songs like Kansas' "Carry on my Wayward Son," (several times), AC/DC's "Back in Black," Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper," and Journey's "Wheel in the Sky" decorate the show's soundtrack - amongst many other tunes from that genre. "Carry On..." is probably the closest thing to a theme song the show has, as it has no opening credit sequence. The song has been featured a few times at the opening and closing of the show.

And let's not forget that their last name is Winchester. One would be hard-pressed to come up with many other surnames as manly-sounding.

The monster and demon fighting could be interpreted as a metaphor for the inner demons and conflicts lurking in many brother-brother, son-father relationships that need to be battled often. Dean and Sam would die for their dad and each other and their father would do the same for them (and often they almost, or actually do). Dean's relationship with John is strained even moreso by the fact that since Sam was just a baby when their mother was killed and their house burned down, Dean - who was a toddler then - his burden was always to look after Sam when John was away on a mission and much more was expected of him because of this. The pressure that John put on Dean caused him to have to grow up too fast, something that Dean often resented. Sam was actually allowed to pursue his own life, go to college, get engaged (a road that came to an end when the demon killed his girlfriend Jessica) while Dean never stopped monster-hunting along with their father.

Despite the fantastic premise of Supernatural, the nature of the father-son, brother-brother relationships give an edge of realism to the show and the talented performances of Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Jeffrey Dean Morgan add greatly to this. You really get the feeling as you watch that Dean and Sam are real brothers with a real wayward father. And when Jeffrey Dean Morgan looks at Ackles and Padalecki it seems that he is actually looking at his sons Dean and Sam with the concern and admiration any father would (well, should) have for his boys. And I nominate Ackles and Padalecki for playing best television brothers ever, in any series.

I highly recommend this series and it is truly one of the best on television today if you are into shows about the supernatural or the occult, or even dramas about families or shows with classic rock and roll and cars. Or all of the above. In fact I think the combination the muscle cars, rock music, and horror is a thing of genius on the part of the creator Eric Kripke. But Supernatural is definitely not meant for the little tykes, as some of the scarier episodes can have a level of disturbing horror on par with modern feature length horror flicks, in particular the Bloody Mary episode. Some episodes, however, are as tame as most Smallville episodes. The special effects, in particular the creative method ghosts are depicted (they flicker and pop in and out like bad television reception - probably inspired by The Ring), really ramp up the creepiness of the show.

TiVo it next chance you get, if you haven't already seen it.

Sources:
http://www.rhapsody.com/playlistcentral/playlistdetail?playlistId=13346934
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_(TV_series)

Before we begin, I would like to make sure one thing is clear: I am a huge fan of the TV show Supernatural. One lazy afternoon, while I was browsing Netflix, this show popped up on my "You Might Also Enjoy..." list and I thought, "What the hell? I don't have anything to do, why not give it a try? Plus, those guys are pretty cute." What I didn't know at that point was that I would then spend about three weeks binge watching the seven seasons (each of which contained about 20 episodes). I honestly still have no idea how this show wormed its way into my life as quickly as it did, but anyway, here's the skinny on Supernatural...

Basic Stats

  • Supernatural is a fantasy television show, currently airing on the CW network (what used to be the WB), that started September 13, 2005
  • So far, there are 9 seasons and they have been picked up for a 10th
  • There are only really two main cast members, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, but three other actors can seen as main cast as well: Jim Beaver, Misha Collins and Mark Sheppard.

Premise

The basic premise of Supernatural can be summed up by one of the show's catchphrases: "Saving people, hunting things, the family business." Sam and Dean are brothers who, after their mother is killed by a demon when they are young, are raised by their father to hunt monsters. The first few seasons mainly focus on urban legends, such as Hookman, Bloody Mary and other ghost stories and urban legends, all while the boys try to hunt down the demon that killed their mother. After season one, the story becomes more layered. I'm not going to go into too much detail about here, because I wouldn't want to spoil anything for anyone on the off chance I've piqued their interest enough for them to give the show a try. (I am going to try really hard to give as much basic information as I can without spoiling anything).

Main Characters

Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki): While studying pre-law at Stanford University, Sam gets drawn back into monster hunting (or as they refer to it in the show, just plain "hunting") by his older brother Dean. He doesn't really enjoy the hunter lifestyle and would prefer to leave that portion of his life behind. When it comes to hunting, Sam is typically the one who does the research on what creature or entity the boys are dealing with, but he is more than capable of handling himself in the actual hunting.

Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles): Dean has been hunting his entire life, first alongside his father, John, and then later with his brother, Sam. He has a very strong connection to the job and he doesn't feel the yearning for a normal life like his brother does. He is more of a "shoot first, ask questions" later type of person, but he is also extremely dedicated to his family, especially his brother, as he had a large part in raising him.

Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver): A fellow hunter and a friend of the family, Bobby is definitely a father figure for the Winchester boys, and as a lot of people in the fandom believe, a better father to them than the boys' real father John. Bobby is a very gruff and cantankerous individual but he obviously cares for Sam and Dean. He runs something like a hunter's operations center, providing research and verification of hunters' various fake IDs.

Castiel (Misha Collins): I'm including Castiel in this list of main characters, even though his first appearance wasn't until season four, because he has become a big part of the show. Unfortunately, if I list even the most basic information about him here, I'll be giving a way a HUGE spoiler, so I'm going to put a basic character summary over in the episode list for season four I'm going to put up.

Crowley (Mark Sheppard): Crowley is an upper level demon who, like Castiel, I consider to be a main character, even though he doesn't first appear until season five. As you can probably tell from his demonic status, Crowley isn't exactly a friend of the Winchester boys and suffice it to say, they have a complicated relationship.

The Impala: As any fan of Supernatural will tell you, the black 1967 Chevrolet Impala that is Sam and Dean's form of transportation is absolutely a main character. The Impala is Dean's prized possession (for obvious reasons of course, I mean it's a badass car). It's also, oddly enough, one of the only constants in the boys' life.

Episode Guide

I have attempted several times to summarize all the seasons of Supernatural but each time I've deleted each attempt in frustration. There is quite frankly too many seasons and too many opportunities for spoilers for a flat out summary of each season so, after a suggestion from mad girl's love song, I've settled on using an episode guide. Each season's episode guide will have the name of the episode, the episode number and a short...teaser I guess would be a word for it, for each episode (kind of like those descriptions on a TV guide). This way you get an idea what the episode is about and I don't feel guilty for spoiling anything with too much information. I will caution you that if somehow I've piqued your interest and you want to start watching, I would advise against peeking at the episode guides from season 4 on. There's a major storyline addition in the first episode of season 4 that kind of changes everything in the Supernatural universe and if you already know about it, the well written build up to the reveal would seem pointless and that would be a shame.

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

 

Fandom

Alright, one of the other things that I feel needs to be mentioned when discussing Supernatural is the fandom. The fandom of Supernatural, while very small when compared to other shows, is one of the most interesting that I have ever seen. These fans are extremely dedicated and enthusiastic. (Please note: I'm not really including myself in the fandom per se, not because I would be ashamed to be included, but because I don't engage in even a quarter of the shenanigans that these people get up to, and I mean that with the deepest respect. I don't feel I've earned my place in the main fandom). The actors on the show who attend the fan-organized conventions have said that they did not expect the fans to be so enthusiastic and they actually enjoy going to the events and meeting everyone.

I will admit I've watched some panels from Supernatural conventions where the actors were asked questions by the audience and I genuinely believe they were having a good time with it. (Some of those panels get pretty wild, I laughed my ass off watching some the antics these actors get up to.) I've also noticed this fandom is very into charity. This may have a lot to do with actor Misha Collins promoting charitable organizations such as Random Acts, which the fans have embraced with gusto. Now I'm not saying that this fandom is better than any of the other TV show fandoms (I'm not trying to call out the Trekkies or the Whovians here) I'm just saying that I seem to enjoy this fandom because of its unique quirks.  

Personal Opinion

As I stated at the beginning, I love this show. I love the premise, the storylines (well, most of them) and the quirks. One of the things that I think make this show enjoyable is that you can enjoy watching it but it's also fun to make fun of. Even though I'm a big fan, I will be the first one to point out the show's flaws and plot holes, and I'll admit that the show isn't great 100% of the time. I wasn't a fan of season 7. If you haven't seen the show and want to start, I'm going to warn you it's a bit hard to deal with Season 7, but you have to muscle through to season 8 and things get better. (To those who liked Season 7 and would like to give me a piece of their minds, feel free to message me and tell me how in the world that season made sense to you).

It's definitely a show that grows on you. In the back of my brain, I know that if I hadn't been drawn in by the interesting storylines and well written episodes in the first couple seasons, I wouldn't be watching it today because quite frankly there are quite a few more misses than hits in the later seasons. And yet, despite the show's flaws, I find myself waiting for each new episode every week, cursing the multiple hiatuses and counting the days until the new season premiere.

Su`per*nat"u*ral (?), a. [Pref. super- + natural: cf. OF. supernaturel, F. surnaturel.]

Being beyond, or exceeding, the power or laws of nature; miraculous.

Syn. -- Preternatural. -- Supernatural, Preternatural. Preternatural signifies beside nature, and supernatural, above or beyond nature. What is very greatly aside from the ordinary course of things is preternatural; what is above or beyond the established laws of the universe is supernatural. The dark day which terrified all Europe nearly a century ago was preternatural; the resurrection of the dead is supernatural. "That form which the earth is under at present is preternatural, like a statue made and broken again." T. Burnet. "Cures wrought by medicines are natural operations; but the miraculous ones wrought by Christ and his apostles were supernatural." Boyle.

That is supernatural, whether it be, that is either not in the chain of natural cause and effect, or which acts on the chain of cause and effect in nature, from without the chain. Bushnell.

We must not view creation as supernatural, but we do look upon it as miraculous. McCosh.

The supernatural, whatever is above and beyond the scope, or the established course, of the laws of nature. "Nature and the supernatural." H. Bushnell.

 

© Webster 1913.

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