I thought I should start including
Christmas-themed reviews, but Christmas day obviously wouldn't work.
I decided when I started this blog that, until I completed my initial
list of movies, nothing would interrupt my Monday/Friday schedule.
So, that leaves Christmas Eve, with Demons
as my Christmas review. Hooray! And what better way to share
the spirit than with my own personal Christmas tradition: A Very
Supernatural Christmas.
This
has long been my single favorite episode of the series, and one that
I've returned to far more times than any other. I doubt that
Supernatural fans need
any introduction, but for the uninitiated: brothers Sam and Dean come
to a town where a mysterious creature is attacking people during the
build-up to Christmas. Sam develops a theory that the creature is
some form of “anti-Claus,” Santa's evil counter-part, such as
Krampus or Black Peter.
Normally
with Christmas episodes the story-arc has to be paused for the
episode's story. However, here we have a perfect blend, as the
story-arc kicks off the main personal conflict of the episode: Dean
has sold is soul at this point in the series, and barring a miracle
his contract will expire in the next year. He expects to never see
another Christmas. So, he wants to celebrate, while Sam refuses to
pretend to be happy knowing his brother is dying.
It's a
story that works perfectly for both the casual viewer, and the
hardcore fanboy of this show. It combines with some flashbacks that
make their father's absence on Christmas a major factor in their
childhoods. Ironically, the absence of their father from post-Season
2 episodes probably has more to do with Jeffrey Dean Morgan's film
career, but here it twists our emotional screws perfectly.
It
reminded me of Krampus
(I can't talk about that movie enough), mainly because it felt like a
legitimate Christmas story. While dark and violent, Christmas was
not portrayed as evil itself. Rather, it was portrayed as a shining
light of hope in a black world, being intruded on by darkness. The
ending completely reinforces this.
As
with my Halloween review, I don't want to spoil the ending. I can
only say that you'll enjoy it if you're a fan of dark Christmases,
and bad Santas.
No comments:
Post a Comment