CW’s ‘Supernatural’ Presents Biblical Ideas in Dark Melodrama

Conservative critics of U.S. television programming are correct to observe that TV drama and comedy fiction series have seldom had clergy as positive characters during the past couple of decades. However, that does not mean that network series television has treated religion in a uniformly hostile manner. In fact, in recent years the treatment of religion, especially Christianity, has often been quite positive.

One of the most interesting programs in this regard is the CW Network show Supernatural (2005-present). The show follows the work of twenty-something brothers Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, respectively), who wander the nation hunting down supernatural evils that must be destroyed to stop the monsters’ nefarious work of killing humans.

Working from a diary left by their father (who died at the beginning of season 2 (“In My Time of Dying”), the pair use the means described in it to dispatch ghosts, werewolves, and even demons, while seeking the demon that killed their mother while Sam was an infant and killed Sam’s girlfriend in the series’ pilot episode. (more…)