User:OberMegaTrans/ss2023/Supernatural

Supernatural is an American dark fantasy drama television series created by Eric Kripke. It was first broadcast on September 13, 2005, on The WB, and subsequently became part of successor network The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the two brothers as they hunt demons, ghosts, monsters, and other supernatural beings. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Television, in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision. Along with Kripke, executive producers have been McG, Robert Singer, Phil Sgriccia, Sera Gamble, Jeremy Carver, John Shiban, Ben Edlund, and Adam Glass. Former executive producer and director Kim Manners died of lung cancer during production of the fourth season.

The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and surrounding areas. It was in development for nearly ten years, as creator Kripke spent several years unsuccessfully pitching it. The pilot was viewed by an estimated 5.69 million viewers, and the ratings of the first four episodes prompted The WB to pick up the series for a full season. Kripke planned the series for three seasons but later expanded it to five. The fifth season concluded the series' main storyline, and Kripke departed the series as showrunner. The series continued on for 10 more seasons with new showrunners, including Sera Gamble, Jeremy Carver, Robert Singer and Andrew Dabb. With its eleventh season, Supernatural became the longest-running American live-action fantasy TV series. The series was renewed for a fifteenth and final season that consisted of 20 episodes, and premiered on October 10, 2019. The series concluded on November 19, 2020, with 327 episodes aired.

Synopsis

Supernatural uses the familiar combination of thematically independent “Monster-of-the-Week” episodes and the pursuit of a central theme, which The X-Files were first known for. The plot partly refers to well-known urban legends and myths of various religions.

The show focuses on two brothers, named Dean and Sam Winchester, whose mother was killed by a demon when they were still kids. Their father, John Winchester, raises them to become hunters to defeat all supernatural in order to get revenge on his wife’s murderer. The brothers travel across all over the United States, hunting down various creatures whilst saving several lives. However, this is not all to the storyline as they start recognizing their true role in the world and find out that there are not only demons, ghosts, or werewolves, but even bigger and more powerful things existing in their universe.

Main article: List of Supernatural episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired			Rank	Average viewership (in millions)
			First aired	Last aired	Network
1	22		September 13, 2005 (2005-09-13)	May 4, 2006 (2006-05-04)	The WB	165	3.81
2	22		September 28, 2006 (2006-09-28)	May 17, 2007 (2007-05-17)	The CW	216	3.14
3	16		October 4, 2007 (2007-10-04)	May 15, 2008 (2008-05-15)		187	2.74
4	22		September 18, 2008 (2008-09-18)	May 14, 2009 (2009-05-14)		161	3.14
5	22		September 10, 2009 (2009-09-10)	May 13, 2010 (2010-05-13)		125	2.64
6	22		September 24, 2010 (2010-09-24)	May 20, 2011 (2011-05-20)		209	2.42
7	23		September 23, 2011 (2011-09-23)	May 18, 2012 (2012-05-18)		176	2.03
8	23		October 3, 2012 (2012-10-03)	May 15, 2013 (2013-05-15)		152	2.52
9	23		October 8, 2013 (2013-10-08)	May 20, 2014 (2014-05-20)		141	2.81
10	23		October 7, 2014 (2014-10-07)	May 20, 2015 (2015-05-20)		156	2.02
11	23		October 7, 2015 (2015-10-07)	May 25, 2016 (2016-05-25)		131	2.81
12	23		October 13, 2016 (2016-10-13)	May 18, 2017 (2017-05-18)		132	2.62
13	23		October 12, 2017 (2017-10-12)	May 17, 2018 (2018-05-17)		166	2.32
14	20		October 11, 2018 (2018-10-11)	April 25, 2019 (2019-04-25)		159	2.07
15	20		October 10, 2019 (2019-10-10)	November 19, 2020 (2020-11-19)		131	1.63

Season 1

Sam has sworn off his old life as a hunter some time ago and now lives a quiet life as a law student with his girlfriend Jessica. However, when Dean shows up one day and asks for his help to find their father, who has not been home in a couple weeks, he agrees to hit the road with him one more time. When Sam returns home after a few days of searching to no success, he has to witness how Jessica is killed by the demon that is also responsible for his mother, Mary Winchester's, death. Seized with a desire for revenge, Sam continues to accompany Dean on their journey to find their father in order to try killing the yellow-eyed demon (demons normally have black or red eyes in the show) together, which killed both Jessica and his mother.

Because Dean is afraid of flying, he also prefers to drive long distances in his car, a 1967 Chevrolet Impala. All over the United States, they are always hunting and eliminating supernatural phenomena such as demons or ghosts. In defeating all evil forces, the diary of their father is of great importance and help, as it provides all of John’s information to eliminate the supernatural. During the first season, Sam discovers to be gifted a special ability which allows him to predict the death of certain people he seems to be connected with in some way.

After the brothers are reunited with their father, they continue their fight against all supernatural side by side and finally track down the yellow-eyed demon. Like all demons, Azazel can possess almost all human beings which makes it difficult to point him out. Additionally, he is only able to be killed by a special gun manufactured by Samuel Colt, which Sam and Dean were able to bring into possession earlier.

Once they get the chance to kill Azazel, Sam does not manage to shoot him, because the demon has possessed his father, meaning Sam would kill John as well. The demon then manages to escape and leaves behind John and Dean in badly injured.

On their way to the hospital, their car is hit by a truck whose driver was possessed by a demon, which leaves them unconscious and severely wounded in the car.

The names of the characters Harry Spangler and Ed Zeddmore in episode 17 of the first season (‘Hell House’, as well as in season three episode 13, ‘Ghostfacers’) is a reference to the two characters Dr. Egon Spengler and Winston Zeddemore from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters.

Season 2

After the severe car accident in the season one finale, Sam, Dean and their father are hospitalized, where Dean’s state is declared hopeless. John, therefore, makes a deal with the yellow-eyed demon, that he hunted for a long time to take revenge for his wife’s death: he offers the colt as well as his own life in exchange for Dean's. Afterwards, Sam and Dean have to cope with the death of their father and go back to hunting all evil to continue their father's work

Sam discovers shortly after that many other people his age also have supernatural abilities related to the yellow-eyed demon. The latter plans to raise a demon army with the help of the psychics. Some time later, Sam suddenly disappears and finds himself in an abandoned village with other people with mental abilities.

The yellow-eyed demon Azazel plays them off against and gets them to kill each other with the goal to give an important task to the last survivor. Once there are only Sam and Jake, an American soldier, left alive, Dean appears. However, he does not manage to prevent Jake from stabbing Sam, who flees afterwards. Dean cannot accept the death of his brother which is why he makes a deal with a crossroad demon, who gives Dean one more year to live but brings Sam back to life. In the meantime, Jake is, as ordered by Azazel, on his way to a cemetery that lies in the middle of a huge devil’s trap built by Samuel Colt, and there he puts the Colt, which is also a key, in the lock of a gate to the underworld.

Jake is then confronted and shot by Sam and Dean. They get help from Bobby and Ellen, two hunters and good friends of the brothers. The gate to hell is already opened, though, and several demons can escape. Additionally to the demons, John Winchester's soul manages to escape as well, with whose help Dean finally succeeds in shooting Azazel with the colt; the gate to hell therefore closing again. Although the yellow-eyed demon is no longer alive, his army stands put. Sam promises Dean to free him from the deal he made with the crossroad demon.

In season two episode seven, ‘The Usual Suspects’, Linda Blair, who gained popularity through her role in The Exorcist, plays a supporting role as a policewoman.

During episode 18 ‘Hollywood Babylon’ Sam and Dean take part on a movie studios tour. Right before they get off, one can hear the guide say that they are going to pass by the set of Gilmore Girls and may see one of the main leads if they are lucky. (Jared Padalecki was part of the show for a longer period)