Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.
SUPERNATURAL has spawned several novels, magazines, comics, games and an anime series and stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as Sam and Dean Winchester, with Misha Collins as Castiel. Season Thirteen also stars Mark Pellegrino as Lucifer and Alexander Calvert as his son, Jack. Created by Eric Kripke, the thirteenth season of the hit series was executive produced by Andrew Dabb, Robert Singer, Phil Sgriccia, Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming and Jeremy Carver. Produced by Kripke Enterprises, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Their universe is in danger! And the Winchester brothers continue on their journey to save the world. Last season, the Winchesters were reunited with their resurrected mother, Mary, who joined forces with the British Men of Letters. But things turned from bad to worse, with the return of Lucifer and the surprising revelation that the Devil was expecting a child with a human mother. In Season Thirteen, Sam and Dean find themselves facing Lucifer’s offspring, a creature of almost unimaginable power – one that could save the world… or destroy it.
Supernatural: The Complete Thirteenth Season introduces Jack who also happens to be Lucifer and and Kelly Kline’s son. Sam and Dean end up adopting the powerful Nephilim who ends up being nothing like his old man. This season also revisits Apocalypse World where Mary Winchester (Samantha A. Smith) is still trapped and fighting along side some human rebels against the archangel Michael (Christian Keyes) who is hellbent on destroying this world as well as the one Sam and Dean lives in. There’s also Bobby (Jim Beaver) who makes his triumphant return and is fighting alongside Mary in this epic battle against the powerful archangel. The brothers are also dealing with Lucifer who starts out this season powerless but he finds a way to get his strength back and becomes the same old wisecracking sinister force of evil he’s always been and this time he wants a relationship with his son – kind of.
Now, while Lucifer is away from hell, Asmodeus (Jeffrey Vincent Parise) takes the throne and the minions discover that he’s not as easy to work with as Lucy is. The mischievous archangel Gabriel (Richard Speight, Jr.) also returns from the dead and ends up becoming a trusty ally in Sam and Dean’s neverending fight against evil. Somehow, Rowena (Ruth Connell) even returns from the dead, and when she finds out Crowley died by the hands of Lucifer, she joins Sam and Dean’s fight for good and to keep Jack away from his father. What happens is, Sam and Dean end up battling it out with Michael who finds his way to Earth (thanks to Lucifer) but Jack shows everyone just how powerful he is when the archangel attempts to hurt his friends. This is where Lucifer makes his move but standing in his way is Dean who ends up taking one for the team once again but unfortunately it leaves him in an altered state in the cliffhanger.
The stories for Supernatural continue to be fresh and entertaining after all these years that find Sam and Dean going up against sinister new threats season after season after season and there’s always a little humor, good eating and beer drinking to go along with it. Dean still has a healthy appetite and continues to drink cold beer whenever he’s given the chance. He’s also pretty good with the ladies and this season he gets a crush on Daphne from Scooby-Doo. I have a lot of favorite episodes from the past thirteen seasons but the live-action/animated mashup episode “Scoobynatural” that introduces the Winchester brothers (and Castiel) to Mystery Inc. clocks in as my all-time favorite and is one of the major highlights this season.
Sam on the other hand continues to stay focused and keeps his head in the game – most of the time. He makes a few bad choices this season but he always has good intentions. There’s also the FBI gags that have been going on since the series first started and those awesome “rock star” names never get old. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles continue to do an amazing job as Sam and Dean Winchester plus they still get to drive around in that cool ’67 Impala aka “Baby.” I love that freaking car! Misha Collins makes his return as Castiel but unfortunately Crowley didn’t return from the dead this season. To go along with all of this, Supernatural continues to feature menacing monsters and creepy creatures along with some impressive looking special effects that features both practical and visual.
The packaging comes with a nice slipcase – the same kind all of the other home video release like this from WBHE come in. The front features the artwork you see up top and the back includes season twelve details, some images and list of special features. There’s also an insert inside that includes a list of the episodes with synopsis, original airdates, more images, and series credits. All four of the Blu-ray discs also include artwork that features Sam and Dean Winchester. Inserting each disc, the menu screens were simple and easy to navigate. The picture and sound quality for this high-definition release were crisp and clear. I didn’t have any issues with the video and audio.
Bottom line is, Supernatural: The Complete Thirteenth Season ended up being another fun season even though it may have stalled just a little over the years. You have to think, the writers are still able to come up with fresh new stories for these wonderful characters that are so much fun to follow on their adventures. Supernatural has always kept this simple formula that has made it such a success with the fans over the years and that’s keeping it story and character driven and letting the special effects serve as a support tool. There’s also some awesome classic rock tunes that fit right in with the storytelling. The series has always been about the battle of good versus evil, and even though Supernatural gets a little repetitive with its cliffhangers, it’s still an entertaining watch that’s full of attitude, humor and action. This season introduced Jack who really fits right in with what’s going on plus we got to see a lot of familiar faces throughout the season and it’s always great to see some of these fan favorite characters make their return. I’ll have to admit that I missed Crowley this season so maybe he’ll make his return from the dead next season. Maybe? Supernatural: The Complete Thirteenth Season is now available on a 4-disc Blu-ray set (plus Digital) and is worth checking out.
Distributor: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Run Time: 4 Discs / 23 Episodes / 969 Minutes
- Lost and Found
- The Rising Son
- Patience
- The Big Empty
- Advanced Thanatology
- Tombstone
- War of the Worlds
- The Scorpion and the Frog
- The Bad Place
- Wayward Sisters
- Breakdown
- Various & Sundry Villains
- Devil’s Bargain
- Good Intentions
- A Most Holy Man
- Scoobynatural
- The Thing
- Bring ’em Back Alive
- Funeralia
- Unfinished Business
- Beat the Devil
- Exodus
- Let the Good Times Roll
Rated: Not Rated
Blu-ray Video: 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.78:1)
Blu-ray Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio for English 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish
Special Features: Good Stuff! The extras include over three hours of bonus content – with three all-new featurettes including the epic Making of Scoobynatural, audio commentaries, the show’s packed 2017 Comic-Con panel, eleven deleted scenes and a priceless gag reel.
- Mystery Mash-Up: The Making of Scoobynatural (22:12)
- Into The Apocalypse: A World Without The Winchesters (09:33)
- The Winchester Mythology: Rise of the Nephilim (19:33)
- Kansas – Carry On Wayward Son: Performance at 2017 San Diego Comic-Con (08:55)
- Supernatural: 2017 Comic-Con Panel (41:52)
- Audio Commentaries
- Deleted Scenes – Located on each disc with the episodes.
- Gag Reel (10:32)
- Digital Copy