How can I possibly choose only 15 episodes out of 15 seasons and 326 episodes? Sam and Dean Winchester have gone through quite a ride since their first case of the woman in white.
I love looking back at episodes when a show comes to an end. It’s bittersweet. The 15-year journey comes to an end on Thursday, November 19. I usually do top 10, but I thought 15 was a more fitting number.
Here are my favorite episodes of Supernatural:
15. “The Rupture” (Season 15, Episode 3)
Season 15 has been one of the best. The writers are going all out to give us a fitting ending. “The Rupture” was a huge story arc from the season 14 finale where Chuck (Rob Benedict) opens up hell and lets all the spirits out.
This episode is on my list because, like her son Crowley (Mark Sheppard), Rowena (Ruth Connell) sacrifices herself for the boys. Rowena started as an enemy, but she grew into something more, an ally. She even taught Sam (Jared Padalecki) everything she could before she passed.
Luckily as we find out later, she’s the Queen of Hell, which was a glorious surprise.
14. “Wishful Thinking” (Season 4, Episode 8)
“And on Thursdays, we’re teddy bear doctors,” says Dean (Jensen Ackles). “Wishful Thinking” has me laughing out loud every time. It’s one of the most bizarre cases they encounter. They even had to question if they needed to kill a giant teddy bear. But as usual, there is always a simple explanation, and this one was a wishing well. Never before has the phrase, “be careful what you wish for,” been more true.
13. “Raising Hell” (Season 15, Episode 2)
Kevin Tran (Osric Chau) is back to help Sam and Dean as a ghost. He escaped from hell just like all the other spirits. It was sad that the boys couldn’t save him, but it was great to see him one last time.
Also, Dean got to take on the spirit of Jack the Ripper. I’m not sure there is a more notorious serial killer to get a chance at killing their spirit.
12. “Baby” (Season 11, Episode 4)
Supernatural has done many experiments over the years, and “Baby” was one of the best. The impala has become a character in the show. It seemed only fitting to have an episode in her point of view. She got beat up as she does in so many cases, and it made for an interesting perspective to see the episode from her eyes.
11. “The Real Ghostbusters” (Season 5, Episode 9)
Season four, Supernatural, went meta and leaned into it throughout the series. Sam and Dean show up at a Supernatural convention in “The Real Ghostbuster” to find people dressed up like them, Bobby (Jim Beaver), and the monsters they have killed.
It’s hilarious watching the boys see everyone dressed up as their lives and solve a case with a cross playing Sam and Dean. What’s not to love?
10. “Fan Fiction” (Season 10, Episode 5)
“Fan Fiction” continues the meta-ness with an all-girls school putting on a production of Supernatural. It was a full-on fan service episode. The girls threw in a lot of fan theories, Destiel, and even added music. So much fun!
9. “Good God, Y’all” (Season 5, Episode 2)
Ellen (Samantha Ferris), Joe (Alona Tal), and Rufus (Steven Williams). It’s nice when we get a good team-up, and in “Good God, Y’all,” they took out the first horseman. And in great Supernatural fashion, War drove a red mustang as his horse.
I also loved when Ellen slapped Dean for not calling her to tell her they were alright.
8. “Hammer of the Gods” (Season 5, Episode 19)
We were definitely in need of a fun episode when “Hammer of the Gods” aired. This was one of those fun ones that meshed with the story arc.
Dean and Sam were stuck in the middle of multiple gods trying to figure out how to handle the Apocolapse between Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino) and Michael. Not only that, Gabriel (Richard Speight Jr.) comes back to save the boys. And leaves his farewell message in a porno.
7. “Moriah” (Season 14, Episode 20)
The ending to the season 14 finale was the most epic in Supernatural history. Chuck has been pulling strings since day one. And Sam and Dean are done playing his games. Chuck kills Jack (Alexander Calvert), and Sam shoots him. It’s all insane. Then, Chuck says game over and opens the gates of hell, and all the spirits rise. They are also in a graveyard, so the spirits enter all the bodies, and we are left with Castiel (Misha Collins), Sam, and Dean preparing to fight all these Zombies. It showed us what to prepare for in the final season.
6. “Jus in Bello” (Season 3, Episode 12)
I loved that Katie Cassidy played the first Ruby. She’s in a handful of episodes during season three. Lauren Cohan also appears in this season. In this episode, Lauren’s character, Bela, sets the boys up, and Ruby saves the day.
Sam and Dean are still wanted by the police, and now they are locked up when Lilith is coming after them. They had to convince everyone first that demons are real and then protect themselves and everyone else. It was a very intense episode that never gets old.
And in the end, Sam and Dean are “officially dead” to law enforcement, so they don’t have to be running from the law anymore.
One of the things I love about Supernatural is how Sam is always thinking out of the box. In this episode, he used the intercom to exorcise the demons.
5. “The Magnificent Seven” (Season 3, Episode 1)
Dean is destined for hell, and they just accidentally let thousands of demons out of hell. Bobby, Sam, and Dean take on the seven deadly sins with hunter friends of Bobby’s. Demons were still pretty scary back in season three, but I think that even in season 15, these ones would be bone-chilling. They are the first demons and were not easy to take care of. Ruby makes her first appearance in this episode and helps Sam take out a few of them.
I also love episodes where Bobby is helping the boys, and this is one of the best.
4. “Swan Song” (Season 5, Episode 22)
“Swan Song” was originally the endgame. I’m so thankful we got so much more. But it was an intense battle. Dean wouldn’t let Sammy die alone, so even though Sam had taken in Lucifer, he was going to be there until the very end. Cas and Bobby try to help, and both end up dead. Cas is blown apart, and Bobby’s kneck twisted. Dean lets himself be beaten up, telling Sam that he’s not going to leave. Then, Sam sees out of the corner of his eye a toy soldier in the impala, and all the memories are brought back of them growing up in Baby. Sam overpowers Lucifer and jumps into the cage.
It was so sad, but it had to be done. And luckily, Chuck brings Castiel back to life so he can bring Bobby back and heal Dean. Then almost everything is right in the world again, when Cas brings back Sam, just he messed up and left his soul in the cage.
3. “Abandon All Hope” (Season 5, Episode 10)
Sam, Dean, Cas, Ellen, and Jo were going after the Devil, and it had a very this is the end feal to it. We didn’t know it then, but it was the end for Ellen and Jo. Two characters I really liked. Jo gets badly injured by a hell hound and can’t be moved, so she buys them more time. Ellen stays behind because she can’t let her daughter die alone. Sadly, Jo doesn’t last long enough to pull the trigger. It’s all for nothing when their precious gun can’t kill Lucifer. As sad as this episode is, it’s still a great watch because of its intensity. And to remember what heroes Ellen and Jo were.
2. “Changing Channels” (Season 5, Episode 8)
There’s so much to love about this episode. The boys are stuck in TV Land. It all starts with a spoof of Grey’s Anatomy, which is amazing. They go through a cop show, a sit-com, a game show, and a medication ad for genital herpes. It brings back the Trickster, which we find out is actually the Archangel, Gabriel. It’s one of the most fun episodes of the series, even though it has an edge of seriousness to it.
1.”It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester” (Season 4, Episode 7)
It may have aired over 12 years ago, but “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester” is my most watched Supernatural episode. It was always going to be my number one.
Not only are all these great episodes on my list, but they are also all my most-watched, other than more recent ones.
Season four, episode seven, was sadly the only Halloween episode of a very fitting show for the spooky holiday. But it was great. We have Sam and Dean taking on Samhain, Dean eating candy. And Sam doing what he always does, use an educated guess to save their asses.
It’s a classic Supernatural episode that I will continue to watch over and over again.
Bonus: “Inherit the Earth” (Season 15, Episode 19)
The Penultimate episode of Supernatural was one of its best. Sam, Dean, and Jack were facing living out their lives as the only people on Earth, but the boys do what they always do, find another way. It was a perfect way for them to save the world one last time. And Jack became the new God, too. I’m not sure the writers could have done this episode any better.
What are your favorite episodes of Supernatural? Tweet me @MandyTTCarr or comment below.
Supernatural: The Long Road Home airs on The CW, Thursday, November 19 at 8 pm ET, followed by the series finale, “Carry On” at 9 pm ET.
