‘Supernatural’ review: Was there enough Sam and Dean in this experiment?

Ever since Wednesday night’s new episode of “Supernatural” first started to air, we began scouting the internet just to see what everyone’s reaction to it would be. After all, executive producer Jeremy Carver took a massive risk in airing an episode that was largely “found footage” a la “Cloverfield,” but also chose to make Sam and Dean Winchester supporting characters in a story about three college students who started to discover a dark secret that was surrounding their college community. It was part horror, part history, and of course a little bit of a comedy.

So did this episode really work? Most fans online didn’t think so, mostly due to the lack of Winchester action compared to the past few weeks. However, we were actually really digging this hour early on thanks to the mere risk of it all. We liked that the show didn’t just do the same thing that it has done over the past few seasons, and it showed that the writers are still not afraid to mix it up. However, what we did not so much enjoy was seeing the show take some creative liberties when it came to the style. If you are going with footage that Sam and Dean found on a computer, you have to go all the way. With that, seeing another camera angle come in was distracting. In addition to that, we really just didn’t know the characters well enough to fully invest in them, and there did need to be a little bit more Sam and Dean (even if they did not necessarily have to be the leads).

We’ve said this quite a bit over the years, but we would rather see a risk on a show fail than something that goes down the middle of the road. “Supernatural” has had so many successful risks over the years, it deserved to give this a shot. Ultimately, though, this will probably go down as an hour that most fans will probably try to forget. It just didn’t keep enough of the spirit of the show to justify the changes. Better luck next time? Let’s hope.

What did you think about this episode, and was it a worthy risk in your eyes?