This premiere reinforces and explores...

This premiere reinforces and explores haunted folklore from the get-go, warning within minutes that you should, of course, be afraid of the dark. WB's own brothers grim, Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki), journey together in search of their missing, ghost-hunting father. The clunky context of the show and the brothers' baggage are dumped on us immediately, with much to sort through. Perhaps Supernatural's creators could take a tip from programs like Alias and Lost and dole out the drama-heavy background on a need-to-know basis. Or use more discretion when measuring the amount the first 15 minutes were chock-full. These poor boys, following the demonic and fiery death of their mother, were raised by a their ghoul-obsessed dad in a dark world filled with silver bullets and weapons training. They were "raised like warriors." OK. I get it. Please stop.

Still, the folklore aspect is great, in a cheesy kind of way. I actually screamed, and even clutched a pillow at one point the terror moments are fantastic. And, according to our own Fall Preview, each episode is based on "actual folklore." (Is it just me, or is that an oxymoron?) This week we meet the myth of the Woman in White, a creepy corpse whose motions remind me of the well-dwelling Samara from The Ring. You know, where it looks like the ghost has jumped a couple of frames in the picture? Anyway, I remember the tale from sleep-away camp, but I never realized its complexity. I just thought she was a dead, grieving mother. But Supernatural sheds light, or speculation, on this and teaches me that she drowned her own children due to her husband's infidelities. And, I learn, the WIW lures unfaithful men to their doom. Guess I heard a variation of that story. And most important, I now know that "Will you come home with me?" probably means "Are you ready to die, you cheating jerk?"