As sad as it makes us, we’re now entering the final season of The CW’s Supernatural, which is ending its run after an impressive fifteen season. Since the show’s been on for so long, it naturally has a tried-and-tested format it makes use of each season, but you’ll be intrigued to know that every season so far has certain aspects that have never changed.
These elements of the show are the reason why Supernatural has been so successful, although there are chances you might not have noticed all of them. In order to make your rewatches more memorable, check out these 10 things you’ll find in every season of Supernatural.
The Road So Far
By this, we mean specifically everyone’s favorite reprise of “Carry On My Wayward Son,” which precedes the season finale. First used in the penultimate episode of the inaugural season, the song has since become a staple for the show, as the last episode of every subsequent season has seen a lengthy recap.
These are edited in a way to highlight the most important parts we’ve seen in the last year, saving the biggest question everyone has on their minds for the finale as the final shot of the song.
Major Sam And Dean Argument/Falling Out
The most recent seasons haven’t given us the falling out portion as much, but you can bet each season has occasions where both the brothers get on each other’s nerves. In fact, from Season 4 to Season 10, there was at least one issue so huge that the brothers cut each other off indefinitely, with only other factors making them reconcile.
No matter how much they seem to be on the same page, there’s always something that these two disagree on; most of the time, it’s Dean wanting to make a rash decision and Sam attempting to argue against his wishes.
A New Recurring Major Ally
You can take your pick over who you found to be the best ally the Winchesters had, because there have been plenty. Most of these new characters would go on to become part of the external family for the protagonists, with Castiel, Jody, the Harvelles, and Charlie all evolving into mainstays for the show.
More often than not, even former villains transition into becoming allies, such as Balthazar, Crowley, Ketch, and even Lucifer for some time. Whenever there’s an episode where you see a new character being more efficient than usual, it’s a safe bet they’ll be reappearing soon enough.
Dean’s Goofy Antics
This started out in little quantities in the first few seasons, but is now featured in almost every episode. Dean might be the angry Winchester, but he’s also the source of comedy for the show. A lot of the jokes come at his expense, though, as Dean is shown making goofy faces whenever he’s overexcited or when he can’t process something.
Recent seasons have focused on this quite a lot, with the Scoobynatural episode even having Dean close out the story by using Scooby-Doo’s catchphrase, then being made fun of for acting like an idiot.
At Least Two Main Antagonists
Just one villain never cuts it on Supernatural, and it’s a trait of the show to have the Big Bad be featured much less than the secondary antagonist, who fills in the role of the villain until near the season finale.
It’s a style that works too, as the secondary villain is usually a henchman of the main baddie — such as when we had Edgar do Dick Roman’s dirty work, or when Meg antagonized the Winchesters repeatedly because Azazel had sicced her on them. It also helps that all these villains are unique on their own, meaning you never feel as if you’re waiting for the main villain.
Impersonating The FBI With Creative Names
Due to Dean’s love for music, he takes to using the names of musicians as the fake identities the brothers use when posing as the FBI. It doesn’t even matter if the names sound stupid, as we’ve seen Sam and Dean pose as “Agents Spears and Aguilera,” while Castiel got away with the alias of “Agent Beyonce.”
This motif is a wink toward how dumb the authorities usually are on TV shows, with the main characters noting how something so silly ended up working. As fans have taken a liking to these moments, newer seasons have upped the ante with the outlandish FBI names the Winchesters come up with.
Travelling To Multiple Cities
From Season 1 to Season 8, Sam and Dean never had a stable location, and each episode saw them in a new place and staying at a different motel. After they got the Men of Letters HQ as their home, we’ve seen almost every episode open up there. However, that doesn’t mean these two don’t travel.
Unless there’s a major storyline, you’ll be finding Sam and Dean in a new town solving a unique case. Major cities aren’t excluded either, as we’ve seen Los Angeles and New York City be featured on the show as well. Then again, since Hell and Heaven have also been seen, having different cities doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, does it?
Sam And Dean Separated In At Least One Episode
While Supernatural counts on Dean and Sam’s dynamic to keep things interesting, not all the episodes in a season have these two together. On at least one occasion, you can count on seeing the brothers separated, either due to solving different cases with different people, or being apart due to the actions of the baddies.
Whatever the case, these episodes usually focus on a major issue the two might be having with each other, as their companion for that episode weighs in on the problem as well. With the increase of supporting characters, the show now has quite a few episodes without having the heroes share scenes.
Cool Dean Winchester Kills
Sam doesn’t get as much love as Dean does in the villain killing department, as the elder Winchester brother is responsible for bumping off almost all the main antagonists. Even when it’s not the Big Bad he’s besting, Dean still gets the kills.
His kill list is almost endless, as we’ve seen him slice off heads, burn bodies, and stab angels clean through the head. Maybe it’s because he has some badass line to accompany these moments, but it’s a seasonal habit of the show to hand Dean these cool kills.
A Sad Finale
The closest to a happy finale we’ve had was in Season 2, where the boys were at least together — although there was the revelation that Dean only had one year to live. Other than that, each season has had things in dire straits for the heroes.
In fact, Supernatural has a habit of alternating season finales, where either something villainous like the Darkness or Lucifer is released, or a situation occurs where Sam and Dean have separated. This practice has gone on without fail for fourteen years. If the sequence is followed in Season 15, then Sam and Dean will not be ending the series together.
