Though a staggering number, 15 seasons was vital to Supernatural’s success. Here’s why.
Besides soap operas like Days of Our Lives or reality shows like Keeping Up With The Kardashians, most TV series don’t move into the double digits, season-wise. A show’s popularity doesn’t necessarily come into consideration unless the audience increases substantially. But shows that make it past the 10-season mark have dedicated and passionate fans, increasing the likelihood for more seasons. Shows like Supernatural offer a rare insight into the decisions studios and writers make for beloved characters.
Sam and Dean Winchester are the sons of Mary and John. They are thrust into the life of hunting gods, demons, vampires, and other scary creatures after their mother dies in a fire. Since the series had 15 seasons, Supernatural gave fans an in-depth study on religion, myths, and conspiracy theories with as much humanity as possible. The gods, demons, angels, and other creatures they battle lead up the ultimate showdown between man and God. Some may argue that the show could’ve wrapped up in half the time, but plenty of questions would’ve been left unanswered.
Religion vs Urban Myth vs Conspiracy Theory
Supernatural’s lengthy run allows for every question about religion, urban myths, and conspiracies to be thoroughly vetted. Urban myths like tulpas or Bloody Mary are debunked. Conspiracies like the government and corporations working together was a main plot point for the Leviathan’s return to earth. The minor stories and major plots give Dean and Sam every ounce of intel for them to take on the big dogs of the world.
Hunting Family
Mary (Samantha Smith) and her husband John Winchester (played by Jefferey Dean Morgan) have two boys, Sam and Dean. Both boys were named after Mary’s parents, Samuel and Deanna Campbell. Mary comes from a long line of hunters and was raised as a hunter. She desperately wanted to get out of the life and have a normal family. John was a military vet who had no idea about her family’s true occupation.
For nearly a decade, Mary and John lived a life without monsters or hunting. But when Azazel murdered Mary, John left their home and raised their two boys as hunters. Dean and Sam are some of the best hunters in the world, legends according to other hunters they encounter. Sam, like his mother, wanted out of the hunter life and for four years lived peacefully, but it wasn’t until Dean died that he was truly able to have his dream of a family while being a hunter on the side.
Monsters All Around Us
While angels, demons, gods, and God are a primary focus of Supernatural, the first four seasons center especially on monsters. Anything that creeps, crawls, or lurks is hunted. Most of the monsters can be stopped by salt or pure iron and killed by silver. Vampires, Eve’s monster experiments, Jefferson Starships, and Leviathans are the exceptions to these rules. While Vampires are turned into humans, monsters like Wendigos, Ghouls, and Wraiths, are turned by blood transference. Eve’s monster experiments were created out of retaliation and could only be killed by electricity. Another creation of Eve’s are the Jefferson Starships, named by Dean, as Entertainment Weekly recaps.
But Leviathans were created by God and placed in Purgatory. Each monster, regardless of how they came to be or how they come to pass, is a threat to humanity. But Sam and Dean eventually learn that some monsters aren’t all bad. Like when Dean befriends Benny, a vampire from Purgatory or when Sam learns his first real crush is a Kitsune, a relative to the werewolf. They even let Garth (DJ Qualls), a hunter-turned-werewolf, live and have a family because he chooses to abstain from hurting humans. The best hunters in the world change hunting to be compassionate towards the monsters they were raised to hate.
The Devil is in the Details
Sam Winchester’s (played by Jared Padalecki) life has been in utter chaos since he was six months old. His mother died the day he turned six months old and was raised on the road under the supervision of his brother Dean. When he is 22, his long-time girlfriend, Jess, dies the same way his mother does. The reason these women were murdered was due to a demon named Azazel (Fredric Lane), one of Lucifer’s generals set out to find special children for Lucifer. When Sam was a baby, Azazel fed him demon blood.
Eventually, Sam learns that he is Lucifer’s chosen vessel and just as angels manipulated Dean, demons manipulated Sam. Though he was followed and watched over throughout his life. Unlike angels, demons can possess anyone they wish without consent. If they are exercised they go back to hell. Though much like angels, demons were created to serve their creator, Lucifer. Since Lucifer was locked in a cage, a demon named Crowley (Mark A. Sheppard) turned hell into a deal-making business thus crowning himself King of Hell. Hidden Remote explains that the book Good Omens inspired Supernatural creator Eric Kripke to include Crowley in the show.
Angels We Haven’t Heard on High
Angels are thought of as perfect beings with two wings, created by God to watch and not interfere with humankind. Yet Supernatural takes a more biblical approach mixed with some business aspects. Mythology Explained describes the hierarchy of angels as well as what they look like. Some angels have six wings, while others have multiple faces or are animal-human hybrids. In Supernatural, Zachariah (Kurt Fuller) tells Dean that in his true form, he has six faces one of which is a lion. Angels must also ask permission before taking over a human body, which is how Castiel inhabits a man named Jimmy.
The conflict between Dean and the angels is that it’s his destiny to accept the archangel Michael to bring about Armageddon. Zachariah is towing the company line, manipulating Dean into saying yes through physical and psychological torture. Each angel in Supernatural tows the company line, except Castiel. His love for Dean causes God, Crowley, and other angels to resent him.
By Gods!
Every god imaginable encountered the Winchesters. From mythology to religion, deities of all kinds appeared on Supernatural. Each deity has a human form as their true form would make them stand out or kill people. For instance, the Winchesters stumble into a deity convention before the apocalypse. The attendees are gods like Odin, Ganesh, Zao Shen, and Kali. According to Hinduism, Kali is the most powerful goddess.
In Supernatural, Kali (Rekha Sharma) and Baldur, the Norse god of light, lead the deity convention to stop the apocalypse. Even though Sam and Dean (Jensen Ackles) didn’t kill any of the gods, Lucifer was easily able to do so, despite being an angel. The Winchester’s run into Osiris (Faran Tahir), the Egyptian God of the Underworld, whom they killed with a ram’s horn. Each god, just like every monster, can be killed by something, except the Judeo-Islamic-Christian God. After all, God (Rob Benedict) created the other gods to make himself more likable. While Sam and Dean couldn’t kill God, several gods were rooting for them to take him down.
