Worst TV Show of the Week Brought to you by the Parents Television Council WARNING: Graphic Content!!! Do NOT push play if you don't want to see the explicit video!!!

Supernatural on CW

For the second straight week, this column highlights the extreme level of violence being shown over broadcast airwaves.   This week the CW network is being singled out for something other than teen orgies and illicit drug use.  The October 9th episode of Supernatural (Thursdays, 9:00 p.m. ET), which graphically depicted cannibalism, has been named Worst TV Show of the Week.

It certainly has been a banner month of television for connoisseurs of the forbidden flesh.  Roughly four weeks ago, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia kicked off its fourth season with Dee and Charlie hankering for some human “meat.”  The October 13^th episode of CSI Miami depicted a man going “Mike Tyson” on a Russian mobster’s neck.  The medical examiner discovers a hunk of swallowed meat in the victim’s stomach; the meat happens to be inked with Russian mob tattoos.  The most graphic depiction of cannibalism, however, comes from the October 9^th episode of Supernatural.

The CW’s Thursday Sci-Fi block is anchored by Supernatural, which follows two demon-hunting brothers – Dean and Sam - as they drive around in their ‘67 Chevy Impala, ridding the world of wendigos, tulpas, shtrigas, and other demons that have escaped from Hell.  In the offending episode, the boys hunt down a rugaru – a creature from Native American folklore that dines on human flesh.  The boys’ mentor, Travis, explains that rugarus start off human, but undergo a metamorphosis.  First, they have an insatiable appetite for everything; then, they zero in on the one thing they truly crave: “long pig.”  Once they take their first bite of human flesh, the transformation is sudden and permanent.  Fire is the one thing that kills them. 

Jack, the budding rugaru, licks his chops when his wife cuts her finger.  As his hunger intensifies, he stalks a young woman, but musters enough strength to fight his cravings.  Travis captures Jack and his pregnant wife in their home and proceeds to apologize profusely while he douses the carpet in gasoline.  Jack breaks through his handcuffs and pins Travis to the ground.  He exposes Travis’ neck as the sound of a heartbeat echoes in the background.  Jack can no longer fight his cravings.  He digs his teeth into Travis’ jugular, rips out a mouthful, and chews slowly, savoring the flesh.  The heartbeat slows to a crawl until it is dead silent.  Jack dives in for seconds when he remembers that his horrified wife is watching.  She runs out of the house in terror.  Jack returns to Travis – the carpet around his neck soaked in blood – presumably, to finish his remains.

The show normally relies heavily on special effects to handle the violent, frequently otherworldly fight scenes.  This episode, however, had a sense of realism that made it all the more disturbing.  Between the bloody imagery and the squishy, gurgling sound effects, the show reached disgusting new lows.  If Gossip Girl is “mind-blowingly inappropriate,” then this episode of Supernatural is nauseatingly so.

For extremely graphic violence, Supernatural has been named Worst TV Show of the Week.