With the Sixth Season of SUPERNATURAL gearing up to blast the CW, you may be brushing up on previous seasons of the fantastically supernatural show featuring one of the most badass brother duo this side of the pearly gates. That’s right, I’m talking about Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles), and thanks to Titan Books and Nicolas Knight, there’s no better way to really get into Season 4 of the series than to dive into the Official Companion of Supernatural: Season Four (BUY IT HERE).
Being a recent convert to the show, I found the S4 Companion to deliver the goods in terms of providing all the background information you could ever want on the show’s two main characters, as well as dive into a number of themes that are transfused in the series (S4 was all about Angels, both good and bad). The Official Companion features interviews with series creator Eric Kripke,as well as the director of photography, a few of the directors from a number of episodes, and a handful of interview with the cast themselves, including Jared and Jensen.
But does The Official Companion the ultimate companion to Season 4? Sure… why not. It dives deep into both the highlights and the lowlights of the season, and (my personal favorite) it provides which rockin’ tracks are played in each episode. So if you’re itching to know what that AC/DC or Lynard Skynard tune was during whichever said episode in Season 4, The Official Companion will hook you up and then some, giving you the opportunity to put together your won SUPERNATURAL mix tape of sorts.
The only downside I found with the book were the pictures. The Official Companion has A TON of pictures; however, about 95% of them are in Black & White (with a tiny section of images in Color), and I found that a few images were repeated in different spots of the book. This may not bother everyone, especially if you’re a die-hard fan of the show, but I still would have liked to see more color in the images used and less repeats. I mean, there’s an entire season of images at their disposal–no reason to re-use any of the images. What can I say, I’m a child at heart when it comes to books: while reading is fine and dandy, what I really want are glossy colored photos, and lots of them. Call me crazy…
But when it’s all said and done, the question is simple: should you go out and buy this book? If you’re a fan of SUPERNATURAL, a fan of Season 4 of SUPERNATURAL, and a fan of Official Companion Books to TV shows, then YES–pick this sucker up right now and read along as you plow through Season 4 on DVD. However, if you’re a casual view of the series and you’re not familiar with Season 4 and you don’t particularly like Official Companion Books to TV series or seasons, then I wouldn’t suggest picking this sucker up. It won’t convert you to the series, to the season, or to this type of book as it’s about standard and simply plays to the fans (which is perfect since that’s who will be picking this sucker up in the first place).
Grade: 3 / 4