"Supernatural: The Official Companion Season Seven" Book Review

Written by A Girl Named Ed

Published by Titan Books

Cover

Written by Nicholas Knight
2012, 157 pages, Reference
Released on November 27th, 2012

Review:

Supernatural: The Official Companion Season Seven looks just like its predecessors but with season seven stuff.  So first let me save you some time. If you liked the season six companion, you’ll enjoy this book, the reverse is also true.

The book launches straight into the “Forward” written by Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loftlin; both deserve awards for ass-kissery and bad puns. Before the episode recaps begin, there is a nice summary of season seven in a section called “Pasteurizing Supernatural”. The title alone is a nice nod to the role of the Leviathans over the course of the season. This section consists of quotes from executive producers Sera Gamble, Robert Singer, and Phil Sgriccia as they explain the thinking behind the newest bad guys and give a nice overview of how things are going for the main characters as they face more adversity than ever before.

The largest portion of the book is dedicated to individual episode coverage. Each episode is given equal attention with the exception of the season finale “Survival of the Fittest”, which goes a bit more in depth.  There are quotes, pictures, and insights smattered throughout each episode summary along with featured music lists and interesting, funny, and occasionally lame trivia. My favorite bit of trivia is: “Misha Collins says that in preparing to play Crazy Castiel, ‘sleep deprivation is the most effective tool.’”  That sounds about right.

We get “A Closer Look At” some of the seasons more memorable villains, including Osiris and Chronos scattered throughout the episode summaries. These sections give more specific information on each baddie, including pictures and quotes from the show. The Leviathans get a nice two-page section with even more detail and quotes from Kevin, Sam, Bobby, and Chet the Leviathan.  

Sam Winchester starts off the “Characters” section with four pages of season seven Sam followed by the same for Dean.  Kevin Tran, my favorite new addition, finishes off the recurring major players, which begins with Castiel, Bobby, and Crowley, followed by other fan favorites like Garth, Becky, Rufus, and many more.  This section is topped off with “Meet the Crew”

No, they didn’t forget the 16 pages of full-color photos. Those are shoved right in the middle of Dean’s character section.  Included are the standard promotional photos and production stills. Among the props photos you’ll find the “Pepperjack Turducken Slammer” sign and a small photo of Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie Draw Your Worst Fear featuring one creepy assed leprechaun.

The book wraps things up with “Share Your Worst Fear”, a page dedicated to the episode “Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie”. On this page I learned that I’m not alone in my irrational bird fear. And finally, the book ends with “Supernatural Reaction”, a two-page summary of awards the show has won and listing several new tie-in novels that have been written to coincide with the season seven timeline.

I recently had the opportunity to watch season seven and despite it being fresh on my mind, there were things in the book that I missed or had forgotten. The behind-the-scenes shenanigans are fun to read about, and add in the photos and trivia tidbits and you’ve got a must have book for the avid fan or the casual viewer. The overall quality is great. Fear not, there will surely be more books to come. The back half of season eight is currently airing and unless you live in a box, you already know that season nine is a done deal!

To sum it all up, I’ll use my words from a previous review because I can’t say it any better. Supernatural: The Official Companion Season Seven is an excellent guide if you’re a fan of the show.  It’s great for reference, trivia, and behind-the-scenes information that you never knew you wanted to know.  If you missed season seven and use this book as a replacement then you’ll be well informed and well spoiled to all the good stuff (but first, go watch the show, jerk!).

Four out of five stars. Half a star off because of the irritating, overly ass-kissing “Forward” and another half off because it didn’t come with the real-life, non-emo older Winchester brother.

Grades:

 
Overall: 4 Stars

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