Yeah they are. Exactly!

I'm not too keen on the spinoff so far, judging by the character bios. It looks like the demographic they are targeting is completely different than the Supernatural fanbase (although that could be what they want to do). I mean the characters are rich young adults mixed up in big-city monster family drama and forbidden love - whereas Supernatural is about two dirt-poor hunters traveling from little town to little town - and we're expected to believe that Sam and Dean, who will let the protagonist know about all these monster families later this season... are letting them all live peacefully in Chicago? It might as well be a completely different show and universe!