Supernatural 9.20: Bloodlines
Andrew Dabb
Robert Singer
Let’s play a game. Try to guess which CW spinoff I’m describing:
a genre series set in a major US city where factions of “monsters” vie for
control, while the humans just try to survive with their unlikely non-human
allies. Clearly this is The Originals, right?
That was my first barrier to entry for this
backdoor pilot for Supernatural:
Bloodlines. That concept was hard
enough to wrap my head around when it was supposed to be the status quo of New
Orleans in the Vampire Diaries
universe. For it to also be the premise
in Chicago in the Supernatural
universe is a harder sell, if only because one would think that all the events
over the past several years would have either undermined or exposed the monster
gang war taking place.
“Bloodlines” felt like the original Supernatural pilot tossed in a blender
and given a dash of minority and female representation. I should be charitable about that, given how
criticized Supernatural has been over
the years for the lack of diversity, but this felt all too calculated. Especially when I’m not entirely clear on how
the casting process was conceived, given that none of the new faces have the kind
of chemistry that made the Brothers Winchester work from the word “go”.
Focusing just on the new characters, Ennis (Lucien
Laviscount) is effectively the “Dean” of the proposed series, with the typical
desire for vengeance, living in the shadow of an absent father. Of all the new faces, he’s probably the most
capable, though he doesn’t quite emote without visible effort. Dave (Nathaniel Buzolic), the shapeshifter
from the family of shapeshifters that don’t “work” at all like those previously
seen in the franchise, is actually terrible as the “Sam”. Half of his dialogue sounded horribly off,
and his tone of voice seemed to lack a certain confidence. Violet (Melissa Roxburgh), Dave’s werewolf
ex, is only marginally better. (I
personally liked the awkward and completely unrealistic pose she gave while
supposedly knocked out and chained to a post.)
What is perhaps most surprising is that this
proposed spinoff not only follows in a similar vein to last season’s The Vampire Diaries/The Originals, but also recalls some aspects of the Buffy/Angel spinoff scenario. And in that case, the comparison is
particularly harsh; much of Angel’s
pilot was far superior. On the other
hand, it cannot be forgotten that the backdoor pilot for The Originals was easily the worst episode of that season for The Vampire Diaries, and left a lot of
longtime fans with a very bad impression of what to expect. One year later, both parent and spinoff are
hitting roughly the same stride.
- At least it wasn't a comedy
- The new cast is overeager and lacks chemistry
- The setting is all too familiar
- The pilot failed to sell the audience on why the show should exist