Best Supernatural episodes: 15 top episodes, ranked
By Louis Skye
9. Best Supernatural episodes: Lebanon
If 200 episodes is an achievement, 300 is a truly spectacular feat. Supernatural celebrated its 300th by going back to its roots—the Winchester family at the heart of the show.
When Sam and Dean accidentally bring their father, John, to their present, they realize they’ve changed the timeline by doing so. Though John has to return to 2003, the family share one last meal together in their hometown of Lebanon, Kansas.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s John Winchester hadn’t been part of the show since the earliest seasons, but he returned for ‘Lebanon’.
Samantha Smith’s Mary Winchester, despite having been an integral part of the show’s mythos, had never shared screen time with Morgan, so this episode gave us all four Winchesters together for the first time.
If that isn’t a kick in the feels, I don’t know what is. Plus, seeing John’s pride in his sons was wonderful, and Sam finally getting closure with his dad had been long overdue.
Not many of the best Supernatural episodes are as quiet as ‘Lebanon’, but it’s so heartfelt and touches the core of the show that it couldn’t not be included.
8. Best Supernatural episodes: Swan Song
Season 5 was supposed to be the end of Supernatural and it’s no surprise that ‘Swan Song’ is one of our favorite Supernatural episodes.
This finale was the culmination of five seasons of lore, foreshadowing, and relationships which made every moment bittersweet and poignant.
In the episode, Sam decides to say ‘yes’ to Lucifer so he can fight him from the inside, while Dean and Castiel find a way to send Lucifer back to Hell. Adam (Jake Abel), the Winchester’s younger half-brother, is possessed by Michael and plans to fight Lucifer even if it decimates the world.
Nothing really goes to plan but Dean refuses to give up on his brother, eventually leading to Sam rejecting Lucifer. Unfortunately, Sam, Lucifer, Adam, and Michael all end up in Hell, with Dean being left to live a life without any living relatives.
And then the final shot of the episode shows Sam, alive and well—or is he?—watching over Dean from a distance. Need we say more about this episode’s inclusion on the list?
7. Best Supernatural episodes: Wayward Sisters
Ah, the show that could have been. There aren’t many fans who weren’t crushed by the news that the Wayward Sisters spin-off was canceled. This backdoor pilot episode focused on Sheriff Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes) and Donna Hanscum (Briana Buckmaster), and Jody’s foster children searching for the Winchesters when they go missing.
Jody, Donna, Claire Novak (Kathryn Newton), Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen), Patience Turner (Clark Backo), and Kaia Nieves (Yadira Guevara-Prip) each brought their own unique set of skills to locate the Winchesters. And they made a great team.
One of the greatest drawbacks of Supernatural has been its overly male cast and a general air of misogyny, which made this episode a breath of fresh air. It still rankles that the CW decided not to pick up this series.