Unmasking Monsters of Meaning in the ‘Narrative Complexity’ of Supernat

The subjects of this study, The X-Files (Carter, 1993-2002) and Supernatural (Kripke, 2005-), can be seen as innovative pioneers of ‘Narrative Complexity’ and of the ‘monster-of-the-week’ concept. The X-Files stars FBI agents, Mulder and Scully, as they take charge in investigating the X files (cases that occur through unknown phenomena). Mulder, the believer, and Scully, the sceptic, face corrupt government officials, monstrous mutants and phenomena that cannot be explained. The episodic and formulaic series allow Mulder and Scully to face phenomena after phenomena while being spliced with a greater ‘mytharc’ concerning government corruption and of the alien colonisation of earth. Supernatural stars Dean and Sam Winchester, brothers in arms, who also, within formulaic and self-contained episodes, hunt monsters and creatures of folklore, urban legend and myth. Supernatural features arcs every season that take Dean and Sam searching for their los t father, preventing a demon apocalypse and do battle with Satan and God’s Angels. American television has, since its very first broadcast, twisted and changed to cater towards its ever-growing and ever-changing audience (Mittel, 2007, p.162-163). Narratives, structure styles, special effects, characters and themes have developed and changed, been tested and tried. Mittel identifies the three notable structures of the television: the anthology, the serial and the series (2007, p. 163). For this study, we are more interested in the serial and the series for its crossover in narrative complexity. Mittel states that ‘narrative television offers ongoing storyworlds, presenting specific opportunities and limitations for creating compelling narratives’ (2007, p.163). The ‘episodic series’ is bro... ...d Everyday Life in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In: M. Hammond and L, Mazdon, eds. 2005. The Contemporary Television Series. Edinburgh: Edinburg University Press, pp.159-182. Hodges, L., 2008. Mainstreaming Marginality: Genre, Hybridity, and Postmodernism in The X-Files. In: J. P. Tellote, ed. 2008. The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader. Kentucky: Kentucky University Press, pp.231-246. Mittel, J., 2007. Film and Television Narrative. In: D. Herman, ed. 2007. The Cambridge Companion to Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.156-171. Mittell, J., 2006. Narrative Complexity in Contemporary American Television. The Velvet Light Trap, 58(32), pp.29-40 Nixon, N., 1998. Making Monsters, or Serializing Killers. In: R. Martin and E, Savoy, eds. 1998. American Gothic: New Interventions in a National Narrative. Iowa: Iowa University Press, pp.217-236.