If “Supernatural” has one obvious flaw, it’s the far-from-inspiring marketing scheme that attempted to launch the show. The image of stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, who already resemble GQ action figures, holding really funny-looking swords did little to promote the show. But against all the odds of bad advertising, “Supernatural” has thrived, easily becoming the most successful of the WB’s new shows. And what’s more is most of this success is actually deserved.

Sam (Padalecki) and Dean (Ackles) Winchester are brothers hunting supernatural entities under the absentee guidance of this father, John (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who launched into a crusade against demons after the boys’ mother was mysteriously killed years ago. Sam initially tried to ignore the family business, until his girlfriend Jessica inexplicably dies in the same manner, launching him onto a vengeful hunt with his protective brother.

“Supernatural” is a folklorist’s dream. While “Angel” and “Buffy” had a largely anything-goes policy in creating their monsters, the antagonists of “Supernatural” all have a certain legitimacy to them. From the Bloody Mary and Hook Killer of urban legend to the Windigo and Striga of folklore, “Supernatural” is able to back up its claim with written word. Still, the creatures are rarely scary, and it’s really the characters and the original spin that make the show anything extraordinary.

The acting in “Supernatural” ranges from decent to great. However, Ackles’ Dean seems somehow infinitely more interesting than Padalecki’s Sam, which is a real pain since the show’s creators seem to bill Sam as the main character of the episodes more often than not. This imbalance is sometimes painful to watch, because the audience seems to already know where intellectual and stagnant Sam is going and will do, while the same cannot be said for the sarcastic and unstable Dean.

Often, it feels like “Supernatural” is the successor to “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” that “X-Files” always claimed to be. Although “X-Files” contains a superior story, there’s still something more undeniably classic to “Supernatural.” As the episode begins and ends with the Winchester’s Chevy Impala booming down the road to tunes of classic rock, a certain American ambiance emerges.

Stepped in monsters, music and often the Midwest, “Supernatural” is a speed bump in the night of “Route 66.”