The Top Twenty Episodes of Supernatural (Part One)

I love this show. It does actually seem to be the one show that never gets dull, and that's down to Jared Padalecki (Sam) and Jensen Ackles (Dean), as well as Eric Kripke, Robert Singer, and, well, basically everyone who works or has worked on the show, such as Misha Collins (Castiel) or Jim Beaver (Bobby).

This list turned out to be one of the most difficult lists I ever decided to do. Namely because I loved so many episodes. At one point I had forty episodes on this list, and I hadn't even focused on Season Five yet.

So I've decided to do the only thing I can do, rather than do a top ten, I've decided to do a top twenty. I've also split the lists, to give you a break. I've also only gone over Seasons one to five. I'll probably do a top ten/twenty of seasons six and seven later, but for now here's the first part of my top twenty episodes of Supernatural.

20. The Magnificent Seven (Season 3, episode 1)

And we start off with Azazel's plan coming to fruition. At the climax of season two, the gates to Hell have been opened and hundreds, if not thousands of demons have been let loose onto the world. And seven of those demons are the original seven sins.

That's right, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Pride, Greed, and Sloth have come to Earth and are eager to stretch their legs. Sloth makes a family sit down and never get up, Gluttony makes another hunter drink bleach, while Envy is coincidentally in a shop when one woman kills another over shoes.

I suppose what makes this episode one of my favourites are the Seven Deadly Sins themselves. Unfortuantely we don't really get much personality from all of them, in fact Envy seems to be the only one who has a majority of the lines, while the other six only have a few. We do get some personality, just not a lot, like Pride living up to his name and Lust, who inhabits a female body, wants to get it on with the Tamara. Unfortunately this does not happen.

We also get a last stand finale which I do love. We are also introduced to the demon Ruby (Played here by Katie Cassidy) who saves Sam by killing three of the Sins with her demon killing knife, and in a way that almost ruins it. Rather than the Winchesters, Tamara and Bobby overcoming the Seven Deadly Sins, a McGuffin walks in through the front door. But it's still an enjoyable episode.

19. In My Time of Dying (2.01)

At the end of the first season, Sam and Dean had just rescued their father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) from a horde of demons, only to find that he was possessed by the Yellow-Eyed Demon, Azazel. Instead of shooting a kill shot with the Colt (The only gun capable of killing, well, anything), Sam shoots him in the leg, freeing him from Azazel who flees. The Winchester family flee as well, only to be hit by a truck, being driven by a demon.

This episode follows on immediately afterwards, and while Sam and their father John survive the crash, Dean is in a coma and is having an out of body experience. He then finds that he's being hunted by a reaper, a creature that works for THE Grim Reaper Death.

This episode shows what family means to the characters. John gave up his life and the Colt in order to save Dean, selling his soul to Azazel (Played for the first time by Fredric Lehne). It goes to show, no matter what has happened between the Winchesters, family is always important to them.

We also get Dean falling for what he believes is another dying person, Tessa, who is being hunted by the reaper, but then it turns out she IS the reaper. Dean is obviously shocked by this as Tessa explains to him the natural process of things, that there is no other way. And when Dean is ready to pass on, Azazel turns up, takes control of Tessa and returns Dean to his body, leaving him no memory of what has happened. John dies shortly thereafter, leaving the Winchesters heartbroken and wondering why he's dead. They do figure it out but the emotional and desperate situation make this one great episode.

18. Scarecrow (1.11)

The brothers have had a fight and split up, Sam finds Meg (Eventually revealled to be possessed by Azazel's demon daughter) (Nicki Aycox) while Dean comes across a town that love couples but hate him. Dean then finds out that the town sacrifices couples (A man and woman) every year to a Pagan God that has taken the form of a scarecrow.

The scarecrow itself was the main reason why this episode was intriguing. We don't see a lot of it but it the design, background, and what it actually does make it a fantastic monster. The scarecrow, since it's a God, is virtually unstoppable, everything Dean throw at it bounced off like he was firing paper balls at it.

The townsfolk also give a memorable performance, mainly because of the way they treat the sacrifices like spoilt kids while treating Dean like he carries the plague. Like the council in 'Hot Fuzz', they're only thinking of the greater good, but admit that they try to ignore the screams of the sacrifices, indicating that they feel guilty about what they're doing. It was also interesting to see how the brothers act without each other, it's not like they'll do that again in a hurry.

17. No Rest For the Wicked (3.16)

During the season two finale, Sam is also killed. Dean, still suffering from the guilt that his father sacrificed himself for Dean, decides to visit a crossroads demon to make a deal; Dean for Sam. The demon agrees, but only gives Dean one year left to live rather than the ten she normally offers. Dean accepts. Now that year is up and the Hellhounds will be coming. Sam and Dean find that one demon holds Dean's contract, the new Queen of Hell Lilith (Sierra McCormick).

Dean, Sam and Bobby go to take on Lilith and her group of demons, but the episode doesn't quite work out the way they wanted it to. Lilith, under the guise of Ruby, gets the drop on the Winchesters and escapes, but not before she set her Hellhounds on Dean, ripping him apart and sending him to Hell.

Another against the odds episodes, this is one of the episodes where the hero doesn't win, and that's probably the reason why Supernatural continues to entertain people, because it's not just the heroes wins every single time, sometimes the heroes fail, sometimes they win but at a price. And the image of Dean in Hell is one that will stick with you for all time.

16. Sin City (3.04)

Elizabethville has turned from a nice peaceful town into the new Las Vegas. Suspecting demon trouble, the Winchesters head over. Upon arriving they meet Richie, a hunter who Dead has worked with before but will be killed off by the possessed Casey (Sasha Barrese).

Dean works out what happens and manages to trap Casey in a Devil's Trap (A demon holding cell if you will), but she also traps Dean, leaving them trapped together. Casey reveals that she has a partner, so it now becomes a race as to who will get to them first, Sam or the other demon.

Basically it's the chemistry between Dean and Casey that makes this episode great. They're forced to talk to each other to keep themselves occupied, and this actually generates a bond between the two, which is odd for Dean since he keeps saying how working with Ruby is a bad move. In fact, when they're finally rescued by their respective partners, Casey manages to persuade her partner (Father Gill, played by Robert Curtis Brown) not to kill Dean, and Dean tries but fails to persuade Sam not to kill them.

15. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester (5.07)

Now this was a fun episode to watch. A twenty-five year old has died of old age after aging rapidly, and Dean, Sam, and Bobby learn that there's a powerful warlock in town who is gambling years. Though it makes you wonder what the twenty-five year old was gambling for. Bobby gets to him first but, feeling useless since he was confined to a wheelchair (Back in 'Sympathy For the Devil', first episode of season five) he decides to take a risk and try and reclaim his legs. Bobby instead loses and is now dying.

Dean decides to play the warlock, named Patrick (Hal Ozsan) to reclaim Bobby's years (Cashing in twenty-five on the spot for him) and goes on with another twenty-five years at risk. Dean loses and ends up as an old man.

Basically, it's down to two people, Patrick and old Dean (Chad Everett). Of course the episode being written well helps but really it's the chemistry between Bobby, Sam and old Dean and the villain that make this entertaining. Everett really does make you believe it's an aged Dean. Patrick meanwhile isn't your typical villain. He's sure won a lot of games to be over 900 years old, but he's not a monster, if he sees someone desperately needing a new lease on life he will give them the years, he did it twice in the episode. In fact, we feel sympathetic towards him when his girlfriend of a few centuries gets sick of watching loved ones die and loses a game on purpose to Patrick.

14. Wishful Thinking (4.08)

Now THIS was a fun episode to watch. The Winchester's travel to Concrete, Washington to investigate a ghost who apologised for peeping in on a woman who was showering. They later learn that Bigfoot stole alcohol and porn mags from a shop, or rather a little girl's teddy bear who is now huge and alive has come down with depression. It seems people's wishes are coming true, and it's tearing the town apart.

Firstly, this episode was hilarious. To have so many random things happening in one place, Dean even gets beaten up by a kid who wished for super strength so he can take on his bullies. But it's also an episode which tells you to "be careful what you wish for", especially since the thing behind these wishes make them bad.

It's also sad, because the first wisher, Wes Mondale (Ted Raimi) wished to marry the girl of his dreams, but he's the only one who can stop the wishes, but it will also reverse the wishes, so Wes is a bit reluctant to do so. He realises what he has done when his fiance Hope (Anita Brown) wishes for no-one to come between her and Wes and Sam gets hit by a thunderbolt. Wes reverses what he did, and Hope doesn't recognise him. Wes walks off, alone and miserable, sacrificing his own happiness for the good of everyone else.

I know how that feels. That's probably why I love this episode, it tugs at my heart.

13. The Hookman (1.07)

I'll be blunt, I love the urban legend. And like the scarecrow in 'Scarecrow', the design for the Hookman looks brilliant (If anyone knows how to come by a similar looking hook, please tell me) as was the background to the Hookman.

I loved the humor in this, the horror, the story, everything in this was brilliant. I like how they incorporated other urban legends into this, I liked how the character controlling the Hookman unwittingly sent the Hookman after themselves.

Basically I just loved this episode.

12. Abandon All Hope (5.10)

At the start of this episode, Dean, Sam, Castiel, Bobby, Ellen (Samantha Ferris) and Jo (Alona Tal) are on a high after reclaiming the Colt from Lucifer's main man Crowley (Mark Sheppard) simply gives them the gun, citing that if Lucifer succeeds in killing all of humanity, then demonkind is next on his list, since demons are created from humans and are therefore the next closest thing.

This episode proved to be a kick in the teeth for all the good guys involved.

They discover that Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino) is in Missouri, but upon arriving there they find the town is full of reapers (Though only Castiel can see them, who says that they only gather like this for major events like Pompeii). They eventually learn that Lucifer is planning on calling Death to Earth. The town has been overruned by demons and Meg (Returning from Hell) sends quite a few Hellhounds (Invisible man eating beasts) after our group of heroes, fatally wounding Jo.

Basically at the end of it Jo and Ellen are blown up, the townsfolk are dead, Death now works for Lucifer and we learn that the Colt, humanity's only hope, CAN'T kill Lucifer. The episode starts off with our heroes celebrating, it ends with a funeral.

This episode really should be higher on the list, but here will do. The episode is just superb, the action, the sacrifices, the brutal revelation that killing Lucifer won't be as easy as they thought it would. To be honest, it made the finale of season five look rubbish in comparison.

11. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid/Two Minutes to Midnight (5.15/5.21)

Okay I'm cheating here, but I really couldn't decide which one I prefer. We'll go over 'Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid' first. The Apocalypse is in full swing and in Bobby's home town the dead have been rising...and that's it. These zombies are just returning to their normal lives, they're not that hungry at all. At first. Eventually Death (Who raised them) gives them the signal and the zombies begin their rampage, targeting Bobby because of his connection with the Winchesters.

The fact that the dead were rising from their graves, yet not doing anything, is the main reason why this episode was brilliant, it just adds to the shows humor and makes the characters feel that they're the bad guys for wanting to destroy them, including Bobby's late wife. It's also great to see some background of Bobby, who has increasingly been becoming more involved with the Winchesters, especially after John's death. And then the last stand scenario between the undead and the whole town was fantastic, especially since at the end of it the townsfolk get to see what Bobby actually does and see the hero that he really is (Rather than the town drunk).

'Two Minutes to Midnight' meanwhile finds Death planning a storm to end all storms, wiping Chicago off the map. Crowley takes Dean into Chicago to stop him while Sam, Castiel and Bobby go to stop a shipment of the Croatoan virus (A demon virus which makes people cuckoo). Dean finds Death (Julian Richings), expecting a big battle, but ends up having a calm conversation over the Apocalypse, while Death enjoys Chicago's finest pizza.

Here Dean, and the audience are swept off their feet by Richings performance, who makes you feel that he was born for the role. Death essentially insults everyone, saying how insignificant he finds Dean, how Lucifer is a child having a tantrum, he even says how one day he'll even reap God. Heck, the first time we see Death in this (Coming out of pale white car), that entire scene, Death walking down the road with the song 'O Death', was just immense, it makes a chill go down my spine every time. Death gives Dean his ring to help him defeat Lucifer and spares Chicago because he loves the pizza.

Really, Richings makes this episode, watch it simply because of him.


And there's the first ten of my list, tune in in a couple of days for the top ten.