Croatoan Review

December 7, 2006: Croatoan I was hoping we'd get the answer to what John told Dean in the hospital, but we didn't. We got that killer cliff-hanger instead — the one we're going to have to live with for who knows how long. Stupid hiatus. My thoughts were kind of everywhere with "Croatoan" — hence, my column's pretty much going to be the same way. How great was the "previously"? The whole "special" Sam montage that led into the whole scary Dean section? Very cool. How great were Sam and Dean in this episode? Brotherly love abounded. It's always at the core, even when the two are making each other angry. All it takes is a scene like the one wherein a possibly infected Sammy tells Dean to leave and keep going. Dean states: "Who says I want to?" Yeah, I was pretty much done right there. There were so many good moments between the Winchester boys. That's what I want to keep seeing as the season continues. Never veer too far from that, and I'll be a happy camper. How about when Dean threw Sarge the keys to the Impala and decided to stay with his brother? For some reason, I really liked the part where Dean locked the door. It just seemed to me that if Sam was going out, Dean wanted to as well. Did you hear the music playing underneath this scene? That was the music that played in "Devil's Trap" when they first got to the cabin, and Dean opened up to Sammy about how it scared him what he was willing to do for his family. Well, here's Dean again, and he's got this "If he goes, I go" mentality. He's even willing to give up the life he loves in order to keep Sammy safe. I think Dean's suggesting a break or his saying that he's tired of this life is more for Sammy's benefit. I think he just wants to hide Sammy from what's out there and what's after him. Maybe there's some truth to what he was telling Sam about wanting to see the Grand Canyon; but to me, it was all for Sammy's sake. Yeah, Dean can get very scary. At times it's really painful to watch. I kept thinking that when he shot the wife. Of course, that's after he shot and killed her husband first. I know, they were infected, but he does tend to switch into robot-mode often. Sammy's needling Dean with questions and trying to get him to open up has been a consistent thing this season. I love how Sammy jokes about it, but in a serious way, as if he were saying: "I'm gonna get to the bottom of this sooner or later, so might as well tell me now and save us all some unnecessary pain." My sister e-mailed me immediately after she watched "Croatoan" to tell me that she's convinced Sammy's part demon. It got me thinking. Look at some of the evidence: 1) He's immune to this demonic virus; 2) He's not susceptible to mind control; 3) In a very extreme case, he's exhibited some telekinesis tendencies; and 4) He's got those "weirdo visions," as Dean affectionately likes to call them. Makes you wonder. Has the last year been one big test? Maybe that's what killing Jessica was all about, to see how he'd react. If he didn't have Dean, he probably would have reacted in a different way, in a way the Demon would have preferred. However, the brothers ground each other; why do you think Dean didn't end up shooting male Meg? Although, he'll probably shoot himself if he ever finds out how close they were to another one of the Demon's henchmen. At one point during the episode, Sam asked Dean to give him a gun so he could off himself: "Dean, I'm not going to become one of those things." Me thinks Sammy may not have any choice in the matter, what do you think? How great was the twist that this whole demonic germ warfare stuff pretty much seemed all set up to test Sammy? Will he be immune to this demonic virus? The answer is yes, he's immune, and now the yellow-eyed Demon knows, thanks to the male Meg. Speaking of the late demoness... How great is it that John Shiban wrote the episode? It's fitting. After all, he did write "Scarecrow" — the one where we first met Meg. And what did she do at the end just before credits popped up? She speared a trucker's neck, let the blood pour into the chalice or whatever it was, and "spoke" to the Demon. Again, consider me slow, but I did not see that guy being under the influence like that. The blood-swirling was a lot more believable this time around, but I gotta say, I'm upset he took out poor Bobby Hosea like that. Speaking of the former Pensacola Wings of Gold actor... How great were his scenes with Jensen? They had some good comic timing between them. The scene where they had the guns trained on each other was hilarious. They just seemed comfortable in their scenes, and I really wanted Hosea to become a recurring character. Of course, all those hopes were dashed! How great was all the gunplay we got? They were all over the place — in Sammy's visions, in the clinic, in the Impala, at the Tanner house. But better than all the gunplay? The Impala in action. I felt like I was watching the Turino from Starsky & Hutch make a quick getaway from the bad guys. I also liked how Sammy flashed back to his vision after Dean asked him how sure he was that the town they were looking for was in Oregon.

CW Goes Digital With itunes

CW goes digital with iTunes

'Supernatural,' 'Veronica Mars' make debut online By JOSEF ADALIAN, BEN FRITZ

Three months after its launch, the CW is finally embracing digital distribution. In the past week, two of the net's signature dramas -- "Supernatural" and "Veronica Mars" -- made their debut on iTunes, marking the first time CW skeins have been available for sale via the Internet. Other skeins from the netlet are expected to follow soon.

Season three of "Mars" is already an online hit, ranking ahead of season one of NBC's red-hot "Heroes" late last week on iTunes.

Creation of a CW page on iTunes means all five broadcast nets now are offering their wares on Apple's site. Rick Haskins, exec VP of marketing and brand strategy for the CW, said the iTunes launch is the beginning of a major digital push.

Later this month, Web site CWTV.com will begin beta-testing a new videoplayer that will stream full-length episodes of CW skeins, with commercials. Player officially launches in January.

Net is still finalizing which skeins will be streamed, but it's a safe bet "Supernatural" and "Veronica Mars" -- both produced by CW co-owner Warner Bros. TV -- will be among the offerings. Studio is letting CW stream its fare in exchange for the right to sell downloads of episodes.

"Everybody Hates Chris" and "America's Next Model" also might end up on CWTV.com. While the CW is still tweaking its videoplayer, Haskins said the net's goal is to give users maximum flexibility.

In addition to streaming full episodes, users will be able to take out one- or two-minute clips to email to friends. CW also will offer the ability to "tear away" episodes so Web surfers can watch while leaving the net's Web site to engage in other activities, like email or instant messaging. The CW now offers behind-the-scenes footage and short clips on its Web site and lets users mix clips to make their own promotions for its programs.

"We want to be where our viewers are, and they're everywhere," Haskins said. CBS, NBC and ABC already stream a handful of shows on their own Web sites for free, while Fox does the same on News Corp.-owned MySpace and through some of its affils.

Super Natural Creator Share's More Of Season 2

Supernatural's Creator Shares More Season 2 Secrets by Angel Cohn Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, Supernatural And you thought last Thursday's "Burning Questions" feature had satisfied your thirst for Superscoop.... When last we tuned in to CW's Supernatural (Thursdays at 9 pm/ET), Sam and Dean were still reeling from the death of their father and trying to figure out what to do about the demon that killed him. But along the way they'll be fighting some other otherworldly evildoers. TVGuide.com caught up with Eric Kripke, aka one of the coolest show creators around, who was more than excited to preview what to expect this season. TVGuide.com: Loving the show this season. It seems like you are keeping with more of a steady story line, rather than with standalone episodes.Eric Kripke: We're actually going to be doing a little bit of everything. We're still planning on doing more of what we did the second half of last season, where we sort of caught our stride and figured out what the hell we were doing. It’s a mix of standalones with ongoing mythology. Right now, coming off of the dad's death, there are such major emotional story lines to play that it will be emotionally continuous. In terms of the mythology and hunting down the demon and what the demon's plans are as far as Sam [goes], those are things we'll be touching on every three or four episodes. But there is a lot to play with the boys and how they are so wildly dysfunctional and dealing with their dad's death in the most unhealthy way possible. TVGuide.com: They were more physical about their emotions in last Thursday's episode. Kripke: I am so proud of that episode. When we first started working on this story line, the first image that popped in my head was, "I can't wait to see angry Dean." In "Bloodlust" we really see him unleash his fury. From the pilot, what was always so great about Dean was that he shows up and he's a little dangerous and a little unpredictable and you don't quite know what he's capable of. We always liked that, but we got away from it a little bit, because the more you learn about the guy, the more you understand him. [We're] trying to return a little danger to the character. You still love him, but every so often he just does something that you are like, "Whoa, that guys hard-core." We're not interested in him hand-wringing or dressing in black and listening to Morrissey. If the character acts hard-core now and then... I mean, hell, they do it with Jack Bauer. Why can't we do it with Dean? TVGuide.com: I'm so glad to see the car back.Kripke: No one needed to worry about the car. Coming off the season finale, hilariously, some people were concerned about whether the Winchesters survived and everybody was concerned about whether the car survived. I'm a bigger fan of that car than anybody. I'd never let anything happen to it, not really, not forever. TVGuide.com: The people may not be safe....Kripke: But if anything, that car is going to outlive us all. I just love that car. It was always the plan that after an acceptable amount of time for Dean to rebuild it that it would come back bigger, stronger, faster, and it did. TVGuide.com: A lot of fans are upset that John is dead. But since this is Supernatural, we see him again in some form?Kripke: In some form or another. No one stays dead on Supernatural. For now he's dead — we couldn't have made it more clear with them burning his body — and for a lot of reasons he needs to stay dead because the boys need to deal with the issues that come out of it. For the show it is good drama because they are alone and scared and outgunned, and the odds are stacked against them. This is not the last we've heard from John Winchester, but for now he's gone. TVGuide.com: Am I right in guessing that the whispered words between Dean and John were about Sam and the others like him? Kripke: Yes. TVGuide.com: Will we ever find out what those words are? Kripke: Yes! I'm rewriting that script [now]. It comes out mid-season. We don’t even leave that hanging until the end of the year. TVGuide.com: Are you happy with how your show is doing, considering that you are up against a lot of big shows? Kripke: Um... I'm happy, but I wish I was happier. We're hanging in there, and that's a testament to the fans. Under extreme competition from the No. 1 [Grey's Anatomy] and 2 [CSI] shows on television, we're sticking in there with comparative numbers to what we had last year. And that's in a much more brutal time slot and on a new network with not nearly the level of marketing that we had last year. All things considered, we're doing well. For the show to be the six-/seven-year player that I want it to be, we need to do better. We need to say to the fans and to the converted, "Spread the word." People catch on by word-of-mouth, so the best thing I could ask from the fans, as a personal favor to me, is to tell people about it. TVGuide.com: Besides, they can TiVo those other shows. Kripke: They can always TiVo Grey's Anatomy. All they are going to do on that show is have sex in a hospital. TVGuide.com: And CSI is just about another dead person. Kripke: Right. What do you want? Forensic fingernails, sex in a hospital, or good ol' red-blooded, classic-rock demon fighting? TVGuide.com: Are Ellen, Jo and Ash recurring characters? Kripke: Yeah. We're excited about fleshing out the world of the show. We've always thought this was such an interesting universe of hunters who live just beneath the surface of America. We started expanding that world and bringing characters in, which we started to do last season with Bobby. TVGuide.com: What good, creepy creatures do you have up your sleeve this season? The clown was terrifying. Kripke: [This week] we're doing Pet Sematary-style zombies, and in Episode 9 we're doing a big 28 Days Later sort of town overrun by zombies, which is really, really fun because we've got our own unique twist on it. We've got more demons of course, and we're bringing back the shape-shifter from "Skin." Every so often we figure out a way to do a philosophical episode. We had "Faith" last year, about who deserves to live and who deserves to die. We have an episode coming up where the boys are hunting something of supernatural origin, but then come to believe that it may or may not be an angel. They have to decide whether they are supposed to hunt it or let it be. Sam thinks it might be an angel and Dean, who doesn't believe in those sorts of things, says "absolutely not." I'm excited about that one. I like to do a classy episode about Dean — he believes in evil, but does he believe in good? TVGuide.com: Do you have a stockpile of urban legends? Kripke: If you came to the writers' room, we've got a whole board. "Unnecessary surgery," different monsters and spirits, the urban legend called "The Licked Hand," and all sorts of creepy words that signify a potential episode that one of these days we'll get around to. This year we get into the Robert Johnson legend, selling your soul to the devil at the crossroads, into the lost colony of Roanoke, into H.H. Homes, the serial killer from Devil in the White City, America's first serial killer and his spirit.... Not only do we get to delve into urban legends, but we're starting to get into American history and classic folklore. At the end of the day, damn it, I want this show taught in schools. TVGuide.com: With a warning for the faint of heart. Kripke: Right. Watch out for the hand getting ground up in the disposal, but otherwise it is very educational. TVGuide.com: Speaking of the scenes that make me cover my eyes, how do you know when to pull away from the action?Kripke: When the lawyers make us. [Chuckles] We have no interest in making a splatter film, we're always trying to search for a way to do it elegantly, but the fact is that what you don't see is worse than what you do. It is just scarier. What we care about is being as scary as possible, that having been said, when it is time to see something, we try not to shy away from it. I can only think of one occasion when the lawyers said absolutely not. I'm kind of amazed at what we do get away with. Last year in "Home," when they put the hand in the disposal, we had this shot where it was the bottom pipe of the disposal where you saw all the blood and goo coming out. We were like, "Never in a million years are they going to let us use this shot," and we put it in as a joke, and no one ever said anything. TVGuide.com: How are you coping with Jared Padalecki's injury and working that into the story? Kripke: Ah, Jared. We're making it work. Luckily, he gets in fights every episode so it is easy for him to break his hand. It turns out the zombie breaks his hand. I'm glad he's OK, and I'm glad it all worked out, but I do have to say there is a part of me that wished he broke his hand a little earlier because it would have made so much more sense to come out of the car crash with the broken arm. He survived getting T-boned by a semi going full speed, but a zombie broke his hand? We do what we always do — we made a joke out of it and we had Dean give a funny reaction. Not once does it get in the way of the story.