The Audacity of Supernatural: Top Ten Most Shocking Moments
(SPOILERS AHEAD for Seasons 1-7!!)
It was the winter of 2011/2012, and I was suffering through law school finals (and I do mean suffering). Desperate for distraction and thoroughly bored with my current tastes in television, I began looking through the folders of my favorite fanfiction authors to see what other shows they were writing about. I had been an avid reader and amateur writer of fanfiction since high school, usually getting obsessed with a show for awhile only to drop it like a forgotten penny months later. Most recently was CBS’s “Hawaii Five-0,” which failed to impress me during its second season (hence the boredom). Anyway, one of my favorite writers of H50 fanfiction had a swath of stories for this show called “Supernatural.” Now, I’ve never been a hardcore sci-fi buff, much less a fan of the horror genre. “Supernatural” is not the kind of show I seek out to watch. However, the word ‘brothers’ kept coming up, along with a lot of angst and action stories, and my curiosity was peaked. I found an episode on the internet – I believe it was either the season 6 finale or the season 7 premiere, and was absolutely fascinated by the acting. Because no matter how good looking these actors are, I wouldn’t be able to watch them if I didn’t believe they were who they portrayed themselves to be. But I believed in Sam and Dean and Bobby and the odd, blue-eyed man in the tan trenchcoat.
It’s rare in the days of run-amok reality TV and cheap entertainment to find a show that actually has a message, one that actually stands for something meaningful. “Supernatural” is probably the farthest thing from a family sitcom, and yet, any given episode you will find deep, undercurrent themes of family and friendship. Nor does the show have any kind of religious, philosophical, or political agenda – and yet, almost every episode presents moral and existential questions that exceed the confines of a fictional TV show, not to mention the almost prophetic social commentary. And ultimately, it was the audacity of this show to try on so many hats so fearlessly and so well, that made me into an adoring fan.
The show has demonstrated its audacity on a much smaller scale, as well. Throughout its years there have been numerous instances and plot twists that have completely shocked me, for one reason or another, for good and for bad. Here are my top ten. What are yours?
Comments
Take care,
Jane
i really like your articles all of them are so good
but reading them on black background is so difficult & my eyes going to blind!
if there is possibility to change the background that would be great.
Two scenes in that one....First, Sam having to admit to Dean that he was seeing Lucifer and wasn't sure what was real, and Second, the warehouse scene when we see the absolute panic and confusion of Sam, and Dean trying to reach him.
Those two scenes got to me the most. It was definitely the acting in both... Those, imho, were Jared at his finest. :)
I tell anyone who will listen, that this is the BEST show in the history of television. For these reasons, and a hundred more!! Jensen and Jared being the top two on the list
Your #1 is perfect. I knew there was more SPN when I watched and still was shocked!
Was also shocked when they killed John. After spending so much time looking for him, poof, they kill him! And I even cried when it happened. Now, I think it was just the proof that SPN is daring, not afraid of doing something as big as killing the protagonists' father!
I had been spoilered about Sam's death, so it wasn't the same level of shock.
Death's Door was such a good episode, I think it doesn't fit with the rest of the season. It was very emotional, very human, and gave us so much insights to Bobby's life.
So many awesome memories. I must use this next month to re-watch SPN.
Thanks for the article
I totally agree about Death's Door - one of the best episodes they've done on SPN, and it's not even about a monster!
1) John was YED! And of course followed closely by demon driving semi T-bone. Yikes what a finale.
2) Sam drinking demon blood, did not see that coming.
3) They killed Sam in S2 finale.
4) Actually sent Dean to hell. Damn those finales but I do like to be suprised.
5) Finding out Rudy's true agenda- I was one that bought into her being on the boy's side.
I'm a little harder to shock these past few years but I would love for them to pull a few new tricks out of their bag next season.
The Man Who Knew Too Much may just be my favourite episode of season 6. That scene in the forest is magnificent. I remember being utterly captivated by that it. The two of them are so different (yet somehow quite subtely so) but still Sam. And as if that wasn't enough, Jared added even more nuance with Hell!Sam.
I feel like I saw On The Head of A Pin a bit differently than you, but it's been so long since I saw it last I may have to watch it again.
No matter how many times I watch that end scene from Devil's Trap, it makes me jump every time, even if I brace myself for it.
One scene I thought to maybe add was from The Rapture when Sam succumbs to his addiction and Dean actually sees him chomping on a demon... I was watching that scene through my fingers. What a shocking way for Dean to find out the secret his little brother's been keeping.
Oh, and maybe the one from Jump The Shark when the ghouls sliced open Sam's wrists...I was horrified!
But the most shocking moment of the series to me still has to be the s1 cliffhanger. For what could conceivably have turned out to be the end of the series, that was jaw-droppingly bold.
s7 may have been shorter on the brother moments than I wished, but there are some great ones that hardly get mentioned, and that's one. Dean is still Sam's point of vulnerability, and there's still a part of even the mature Sam of s7, the Sam who wants Dean to be able to work on Dean, wants Dean to unload on him and let him help, who will always instinctively think of Dean as Big Brother and react with terror to the prospect of losing him.
I will now stop with the Repo Man stanning!
Oh gosh yes! I have often commented here and other places how much I love that episode (Repo Man)! We finally got to see some of what Sam had been going through (I do so wish there'd been more scenes with Lucifer!) - the constant barrage of commentary from Lucifer with some fantastic lines there - and the final "SHUT UP" was perfect - no way Sam wanted to hear his fears for Dean vocalized like that.
The shocker was that, after he'd hung on for so long, that was all it took to break Sam's control! Poor Sammy! :(
Another shocking SPN moment for me was Sam/Lucifer in "The End"- the white suit, the soft smiles, and Dean's devastated expression. Dean giving the vampire "one hell of a haircut" in Bloodlust- it still gives me a chill to see his expression in that scene. The ending of that Famine episode in S5 with Sam in the panic room and desperate Dean outside. The whole of On The Head of A Pin and When The Leevee Breaks (I still can't rewatch those two) and recently, yes, The Repo Man with Sam's hallucination of people banging their heads (but mostly because they CUT that scene on Indian TV and I saw it online much later- imagine my shock.)
Great article!
I felt the same way about Jump the Shark on so many levels. I remember the online fandom going nuts at the mere suggestion of a third Winchester brother. Fans everywhere were condemning the episode before it was even aired. Trust Kripke and co. to NOT go with the obvious. It was shocking that John had sex with anyone after Mary. It was shocking that there was a third brother who had remained hidden for 18 years. It was shocking that the infamous third brother was dead long before the episode even began. It was shocking that they would show Sam getting tortured like that; it was gruesome!