The Supes Are Alright

Supernatural creatures are where the money's at. Current zeitgeist is all about the supes. You can't click through channels without tripping over an actor in eye-warping lenses.

I've got nothing against humans, but in a way, human characters have become the straight man, filling empty spaces in the frame like onscreen pot plants. (Plot plants would be more accurate, since they do move around, make noise, and give the narrative some motion).

Right now, the passion and psychotic unpredictability that can make television delicious is firmly in the clutches of the supes in the cast.

Supernatural creatures allow for unusual character motivations and different ethical perspectives, without insulting anyone in the real world. You can infer metaphor-for-minorities, but frankly, eternal beings have weird thought patterns that occasionally make for fantastically volatile television.

The Gates is a new show for America's ABC Family, obviously designed to appeal to audience members who can't, or won't, pay for the vamp tramp pleasure of True Blood. While promotional imagery seemed to push the bloodsucker angle, there's a whole lotta supes here. Werewolves, a woman in thrall to an artifact (Warehouse 13, anyone?), good witches, bad witches and a budding succubus. Overachieve, much?

Not a rousing ratings winner, The Gates is still an interesting attempt to marry elements of the mundane and the supernatural. Some subplots are more successful than others, but overall, the show is worth a look, especially with a number of narrative threads becoming more complex, and therefore more engaging, in recent episodes.

To label The Gates another True Blood is a misnomer. The Gates is relatively tame, inferring violence rather than visually revelling in it. If you removed the graphic violence, sex, drug references and bloodshed from True Blood, each outing would last around seven minutes. Rather than a season of television, twelve episodes would view more like a short film festival.

The Vampire Diaries, on the other hand, could be labelled True Blood Lite. Firmly focused on the teen market, there's no denying the vamps inject a rabid (excuse the pun) energy to the script. There's also no denying the human characters, in general, are portrayed as dull as dishwater.

Supe TV isn't just about those on a haemoglobin diet. Right now, werewolves are beginning to counter the vampire overload on television. Werewolves are rugged and earthy, vamps are violent and sleek. In simple terms, an easy way to divide up, balance out and diversify a program's hottie ratio.

The only (television) humans holding strong against all the supe competition are Dean and Sam from Supernatural. Even the ecclesiastical troubles of sidekick angel Castiel can't hold a candle to the complex psyches of the Winchester brothers, and their convoluted sibling relationship. Oh, the humanity.