Supernatural: The Road So Far (an updated overview)

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Dean and Sam Winchester


In 2005, a show called Supernatural debuted on the WB. It was about two ghostbusting, monster-slaying, exorcist brothers, Dean and Sam Winchester, who traveled the country in a classic muscle car, carrying on the family business: “Saving people, hunting things.” Think Route 66 meets Kolchak the Night Stalker scored by AC/DC and Metallica.

As of 2010, the network has been renamed the CW, and the Winchesters’ lives have become a lot more complicated...

Why You Should Watch
It was clear from the start that Supernatural would be a smorgasbord of eye candy, gore, headbanging rock, and family melodrama. What viewers didn’t expect were the crack (all canon: a slow-dancing alien; shared dreams; a Groundhog Day-style time loop; Dracula on a moped; a seven-foot-tall, suicidal teddy bear; Mahatma Gandhi kicking ass; a character getting turned into a car; another character getting turned into an action figure; bodyswap), the meta (some shows wink at the audience, this one gooses it), or the eschatology (an apocalyptic arc mapped out by series creator Eric Kripke that plays out over the first five seasons).

The sixth season has just started airing on Fridays at 9 p.m. Since writer/producer Sera Gamble has succeeded Eric Kripke as show runner, this seems like a good time to retrace...





The Pilot
Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Season 4 • Season 5
Must-See Episodes

Characters
The Winchesters • The Campbells • The Harvelles • Other Hunters • Assorted Humans
Angels • Lucifer • Demons
The Impala

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The Pilot

See marecagee’s overview.

Season 1

The first few episodes after the pilot are one-off stories in which Dean and Sam re-establish their partnership and work cases while searching for John, guided by their father’s journal and the occasional message. An arc kicks in with “Home,” when Sam confesses that he dreamed of Jessica’s death before it happened and has had other precognitive nightmares. One such dream sends the boys to Lawrence, Kansas, where Mary’s ghost tells Sam, “I’m sorry.” More premonitions, some in the form of painful waking visions, lead them to a young man whose mother died the same way as Mary, and who developed psychic powers when Sam’s dreams started. Then John resurfaces, hot on the trail of both their nemesis, the Yellow-Eyed Demon (YED) who killed Mary, and a means of destroying it: the Colt, a revolver which legend says can kill anything. The Winchesters set up an ambush, only to discover that the YED and his followers, most notably “Meg Masters,” have their own plans — including some for Sam “and all the children like [him.]”

Season 2

After John secretly surrenders his life and the Colt to the YED in a deal to save Dean from death, the boys find the Roadhouse, a hunters’ bar run by Ellen and Jo Harvelle, and start working new cases. Their widening experience of the occult makes the brothers question their lifelong belief that all things supernatural are evil. The issue becomes urgent when they hear that the YED intends his “special kids” to be soldiers in a war against humankind. Sam’s fears that he is fated to go bad are bolstered by Dean’s admission that John had warned him that he may have to kill Sam. Dean is also haunted by the toll hunting has taken on his family, especially John’s consignment to Hell. On top of all this, the Winchesters run afoul of a reality-warping Trickster; Victor Henriksen, an implacable Fed; and Gordon Walker, a vicious hunter. In the two-part season finale, Sam learns that the YED fed him demon blood as an infant, and falls in a psychics’ battle royale; the Roadhouse burns; a demon horde invades Earth; the YED is killed; and Dean sells his soul in exchange for Sam’s life and one last year.

Season 3

Dean, determined to have as much fun and do as much good as possible before he goes to Hell, is more reckless than ever. Sam, desperate to save Dean and possibly changed by his death and revival, grows more ruthless. Together, they hunt the newly escaped demons and brace for the coming war. On their travels, the Winchesters cross paths with Ruby (a devious yet helpful demon who urges Sam to develop his dormant powers), Lisa Braeden (an old fling of Dean’s, now a single parent), and Bela Talbot (an amoral dealer in occult artifacts), and re-encounter Walker and Henriksen. They also learn that the YED, who was named Azazel, had preached that demonkind will destroy humanity and inherit the Earth when they free Lucifer, who has been confined in a hidden cage for millennia. Despite two terrible blows — the theft of the Colt, and the revelation that most of the damned become demons — the boys decide to go after Azazel’s successor, Lilith, who holds the contract for Dean’s soul. The encounter ends with Lilith fleeing Sam while Dean screams in Hell.

Season 4

Four months after Sam buried him, Dean crawls out of his grave. He has been resurrected by Castiel, an angel, who informs him that Lilith is breaking the seals which keep Lucifer caged. Despite their common foe the boys are soon at odds with their celestial allies: Castiel is frustrated by Dean’s doubt and intransigence, while his partner, Uriel, dislikes humans — especially Sam, who has been cultivating his demon-derived abilities with Ruby’s aid. Further conflicts arise when they encounter Anna Milton, an angel-turned-human; Alastair, Dean’s chief tormentor in the pit; and Castiel’s superior, Zachariah. Along the way, the boys learn about Azazel’s connection to Mary and the existence of a half-brother, Adam Milligan. As more seals break, Sam, despite warnings from the angels and Chuck Shurley (a writer whose books based on his visions of the Winchesters have a small yet fervent following), drinks demon blood to garner strength enough to kill Lilith. While Sam and Ruby stalk Lilith, Dean is sequestered by Zachariah and told that the upper echelons of Heaven want the Apocalypse, and are letting Sam play into Lilith’s plans. In the end, Castiel sides with humanity, but they are unable to prevent Lucifer’s release.

Season 5

After a literally miraculous escape from Lucifer, Sam and Dean learn that they were born to be vessels for the fallen angel and the Archangel Michael, respectively, in the Final Battle. Castiel is able to hide the guilty, furious, terrified Winchesters from his brethren, but cannot block the angels’ efforts at persuasion. Ironically, Zachariah’s attempt to convince Dean with a worst-case scenario helps reforge the boys’ relationship. More demoralizing are the revelations that Lucifer is immune to the Colt, Castiel’s powers are dwindling, and God will not intervene further in Earth’s fate. Meanwhile, the brothers must cope with Apocalyptic portents (most notably the Four Horsemen) and those who would kill them for punitive or prophylactic reasons. But “Team Free Will” perseveres with some unlikely allies — including the Harvelles, Chuck, superfan Becky Rosen, a crossroads demon named Crowley, and a rogue archangel — and finally hatches a plan to re-cage Lucifer. Sam ultimately sacrifices himself to save the world and give Dean a chance at a happiness with Lisa. But who is that outside their house, under that flickering streetlamp...?

Must-See Episodes

Canon AUs: 2.22, “What Was and What Can Never Be”; 4.17, “It’s a Terrible Life”

Canon kidfic: 1.18, “Something Wicked”; 3.08, “A Very Supernatural Christmas”; 4.13, “After School Special”; 5.22, “Swan Song”

Time travel: 4.02, “In the Beginning”; 5.04, “The End”; 5.13, “The Song Remains the Same”

Meta:

• 1.17, “Hell House” — Sam and Dean hold a prank war and have fun at the expense of amateur paranormal investigators Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler while trying to end a lethal haunting.


• 2.15, “Tall Tales” — The boys are puzzled by a series of cases seemingly ripped from the pages of the National Enquirer.


• 2.18, “Hollywood Babylon” — Meta hijinks on a horror movie set.


• 3.13, “Ghostfacers” — The Winchesters run into Ed and Harry, who are shooting a reality TV pilot in a haunted house.


• 4.05, “Monster Movie” — Dean and Sam face a killer fan of classic creatures in this black-and-white homage to the Universal horror films.


• 4.18, “The Monster at the End of This Book” — The Winchesters meet Chuck Shurley, prophet of the Lord and author of the Supernatural book series.


• 5.08, “Changing Channels” — Sam and Dean are trapped in TV land and must make their way through parodies of 80’s sitcoms, Japanese game shows, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI and Knight Rider.


• 5.09, “The Real Ghostbusters” — Superfan Becky Rosen lures the boys to the first Supernatural fan convention, where a simulated ghost hunt turns deadly.

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The Characters

The Winchesters

Dean
When he created the show, Kripke pitched Dean as Han Solo to Sam’s Luke Skywalker. He’s an irrepressible smart-ass who rarely lets good taste get in the way of a bad joke, and a cheerful hedonist who takes his fun where he can find it. He prefers practical knowledge to the theoretical and tends to be skeptical, stating more than once that his beliefs are shaped by first-hand experience. This probably contributes to his reflex hostility towards all authority figures who have not earned his trust. While he enjoys running cons and has a deep-seated antagonism towards the uncanny, Dean’s primary drive is helping people. Above all, he is fiercely loyal to his friends and family.

Dean spent most of his life acting as a good soldier for John and a caretaker for Sam, and Heaven has chosen him as their ultimate weapon against Lucifer. He’s also had to process a lot of guilt: for his father’s surrender to Azazel to save his life; for his failure to keep Sam safe; for the fact that by succumbing to Hell’s torments he fulfilled the conditions for the breaking of the first seal, thus making Lucifer’s escape possible; and for all the strangers and loved ones he was unable to save. Fortunately, since the pilot Dean has come to realize that he has worth outside the roles assigned to him, and that not everything that happens is his fault. He finds the strength to defy both Hell and Heaven, manages to convert an angel to Team Free Will, and saves the Earth. Since then he’s tried to keep his promise to Sam that he’ll stop hunting and live the normal life that a part of him has craved for years.

Sam
In the pilot, Sam Winchester is the good boy to Dean’s bad boy, the sweet, earnest, studious younger brother who opted for a normal life. He’s good at hunting and clearly finds it both worthwhile and enjoyable, but he chafed under his father’s autocratic tendencies and thinks the quest to avenge Mary is pointless. Then he sees his girlfriend, Jessica, die in a welter of blood and fire on the ceiling, which sends him on the road with a vendetta of his own. Over time, it becomes clear that Sam shares his father’s stubbornness and capacity for obsession, and that a childhood with Dean constantly hovering over him has left him desperate to prove that he knows what he’s doing and doesn’t need looking after. He has an optimistic streak that can cut two ways, since it makes him take chances that sometimes pay off and other times backfire spectacularly, and a bad temper that can override his good sense.

Sam comes to believe that civilian life will never be an option for him, especially after he manifests psychic abilities (first precognition, then telekinesis and mental exorcism) and learns they’re the result of demon blood that was fed to him as an infant. For a while he tries to use these powers for good, but this leads him to make a series of increasingly dire moral compromises — including the consumption of a lot more demon blood — that culminate with him unwittingly breaking the final seal and releasing Lucifer. Afterward he briefly gives up hunting out of fear that he’ll make things worse, then resumes, hoping for redemption. He gets his wish when he goes to Hell to stop Lucifer. As of season six, Sam has returned to Earth, claiming ignorance as to how or why it happened.

John
In 1973, John Winchester, a mechanic from a family of mechanics, formerly a corporal with Company E21 of the U.S. Marine Corps, was shopping for a car and planning his marriage proposal to Mary Campbell. Ten years later he found her bleeding and burning on the ceiling. He spent the next two decades raising his sons on the road as he hunted the demon that killed Mary. John has a reputation among hunters as skilled, knowledgeable, secretive, and stubborn. His drive to safeguard Dean and Sam and avenge their mother blinded him to the boys’ other needs — he would leave them with friends, or on their own, for weeks, and once they were old enough to hunt with him he demanded their unquestioning obedience. When John said that if Sam went to college he could never come back, he didn’t expect Sam to take him at his word; afterward, he secretly kept tabs on his prodigal son.

When John and the boys reunite to hunt the YED, he and Sam are soon fighting again. The fact that Dean backs Sam this time around gives John pause, and he ends up apologizing to Sam for being a drill sergeant rather than a father, and to Dean making him shoulder so much responsibility. Ultimately, he chooses love over vengeance when he gives Azazel the Colt and goes to Hell in exchange for the demon saving Dean from death. After a stint in the pit (one year on Earth, a century below), his soul escapes through the Devil’s Gate and helps kill Azazel before moving on to the afterlife.

The Campbells

For most of the first season, the audience assumed that Mary Winchester, née Campbell was the innocent victim of a demon who invaded her six-month-old son’s nursery. The first clue otherwise was her ghost telling Sam, “I’m sorry.” Later, Sam was shown a vision of the night his mother died, in which she gasped “It’s you!” upon seeing the YED. In the fourth season, Dean learned the whole truth: Mary Campbell and her parents, Deanna and Samuel, were hunters, part of a legacy that stretched back for generations. Mary loved John Winchester, a civilian, and was willing to run away with him to live a normal life; the very last thing she wanted as to raise her own children as hunters. Unfortunately, in 1973 she ran afoul of Azazel, who killed her parents and manipulated her into making a demonic pact with him that fell due in 1983, thereby dooming her family. It’s unknown if John Winchester knew any of this.

In the sixth season pilot, Dean is staggered to meet what appears to be his maternal grandfather, Samuel, alive and leading a hunters’ team of Campbell cousins, Gwen, Christian, and Mark. Their histories and motivations have yet to be revealed.

The Harvelles

Ellen is the widow of William Anthony “Bill” Harvelle, a hunter who died while on a job with John Winchester. Although Ellen bore John no ill will he apparently felt guilty enough to avoid her, which is why Sam and Dean first meet the Harvelles in season two. At that time, Ellen is the owner of Harvelle’s Roadhouse, a hang-out for hunters. She keeps an eye on the news and an ear tuned to a police scanner, and lets her regulars know when a situation needs looking into. Ellen and Bill’s daughter, Jo (short for Joanna Beth), left school (“I was a freak with a knife collection”) to work in the family bar, where she waits tables and wins hunters’ money by sharking them at cards and first-person shooter games. Jo leaves home for good when her mother objects to her plans to become a hunter. After the Roadhouse is destroyed, Ellen also takes to the road and eventually partners up with Jo.

Other Hunters

Robert Stephen “Bobby” Singer is pure awesome in a trucker hat. He’s a longtime friend of the Winchesters who has been something of a surrogate father to the boys since John’s death. He lives in South Dakota, in a ramshackle house which contains a large occult library, multiple phone lines (used to vouch for hunters whose credentials are questioned), and a panic room lined with salt and iron and covered in magical wards. Like most hunters, he has a tragic past: he got into the life after he was forced to kill his wife, who attacked him while possessed by a demon. Sadly, Bobby’s awesomeness is unrecognized outside hunters’ circles: to his neighbors, he’s the owner of Singer Salvage Yard ... and the town drunk. Bobby spent most of season five paraplegic because of injuries suffered while possessed by a demon, but Crowley has since restored his legs.

Gordon Walker became a hunter after a “fang” attacked his sister in their home. He is uncompromising in his belief that all vampires are evil, mindless animals to be exterminated, and willing to torture in pursuit of his goal. Gordon is just as ruthless when he begins hunting “special kids” upon learning of the coming demon war during an exorcism. While imprisoned (thanks to an anonymous tip to the police from Sam), he sends a hunter who visits him after the Winchesters. He eventually escapes to pursue the brothers himself, continuing even after he is turned by a vampire the boys are hunting.

Assorted Humans

Jessica Lee Moore is Sam’s girlfriend at Stanford. She dies in a manner identical to Mary Winchester. Sam feels tremendous guilt because he had dreams of her death before it happened, and failed to consider that they might be premonitions. Sam either glimpses Jessica’s ghost or briefly hallucinates her in season one. He next sees her in season four, when Lucifer appears in her guise before revealing his true identity. Later, Sam learns that the friend who introduced him to Jessica, Brady, was possessed by a demon who arranged their meeting and then killed her on orders from Azazel, who engineered the entire situation so that Sam would give up the idea of a normal life.

Lisa and Ben Braeden — In 1999, Dean spent “the bendiest weekend” of his life with Lisa, a yoga instructor. Eight years later, he finds her living in a nice suburban house with a bright, funny son, Ben, who is remarkably like Dean (though she swears he’s not the father). Dean fixates on the Braedens as a symbol of the quiet family life he secretly yearns for, and after the apocalypse he turns up on their doorstep. When Dean suggests separating after a monster tracks him to their home in the sixth season premiere, Lisa tells him that their year together, though not picture perfect, has been the best of her life, and persuades him to stay.

Chuck Shurley wrote a series of novels, collectively titled Supernatural and based on the Winchesters’ lives, under the pseudonym Carver Edlund. When Dean and Sam track him down to find out how he knows what he does, he appears to be genuinely astonished that they are real people. The boys think he’s a precognitive until Castiel identifies him as a prophet of the Lord. In season five he has a relationship with Becky Rosen, but it seems to have ended by the season finale. In that episode, after completing his latest manuscript (which covers the events we’ve just watched) he vanishes in a flash of white light. That twist has led to debate over whether he had been translated bodily to Heaven (the fate of some Biblical prophets), or if he was actually God incognito. (My theory, based on the jokes about “Mistress Magda” and his virgin/whore complex, is that Chuck was an incarnation of Jesus Christ and was unaware of his divinity until late in the game.)

Becky Rosen (a.k.a. samlicker81) is a wincest writer, webmistress of MoreThanBrothers.net, and Carver Edlund’s biggest fan. She meets the Winchesters when Chuck circumvents his celestial surveillance by having her deliver a message to the boys, leading to palpitations on her part and bemusement on theirs. Later, Becky organizes the first Supernatural convention, complete with panel discussions, an author Q&A, cosplay, and a “ghost hunt.” Naturally, the hotel she booked turns out to be haunted. After Becky sees Chuck wield an iron poker against a ghost she transfers her affections to him, much to Sam’s relief. Her fannishness proves helpful when she reads Chuck’s manuscripts and finds a clue to the location of the missing Colt.

The Ghostfacers — We first meet Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler in season one as the geeky, pot-smoking maintainers of hellhoundslair.com. By the third season they’ve rebranded themselves as the Ghostfacers and expanded into a five-person team of amateur parapsychologists and would-be TV stars, consisting of Harry, Ed, Ed’s adopted sister Maggie, Spruce the cameraman, and Corbett the intern. They’re a parody of every basic cable “reality” show about idiots who chase ghosts with night-vision goggles and camcorders.

FBI Special Agent Victor Henriksen shows up while the Winchester brothers are part of a hostage situation in a bank, and after an extremely hostile phone conversation with Dean he sends in a SWAT team to apprehend them. He’s spent months tracking them across the country and considers them “dangerous, smart, and expertly trained.” To his credit, after getting first-hand evidence of the existence of demons he’s willing to admit that Dean and Sam aren’t crazy, and fights by their side when they are besieged by a demonic horde.

Bela Talbot is the alias of a British-born, Queens-based thief and fence of supernatural artifacts. She entered her trade in the hope of acquiring something that would allow her to renegotiate or break a demonic pact she made as an adolescent. Bela tends to sneer at the Winchesters, even comparing them (and hunters in general) to serial killers, but acknowledges that Dean cleans up well and comments, “You know, when this is over, we should really have angry sex.” That became extremely unlikely after she sold out the boys to both law enforcement and Hell. Bela only appeared in season three and is not greatly missed.

Angels

Castiel is the angel responsible for Dean’s emergence from his grave with a handprint seared into his left shoulder. He takes a human vessel, Jimmy Novak, because Dean is unable to see or hear his true form. Castiel is puzzled by Dean’s initial disbelief and infuriated by his recalcitrance, but he comes to emphasize with his charge and doubt the rightness of his orders. Castiel’s superiors try to ensure his obedience by telling him that Armageddon will save humans from the pain of mortal existence, but Dean persuades him that the archangels are liars and that life on Earth is better than falsely won bliss in paradise. He rebels and sets off in search of God, hoping for help or at least answers, but is discouraged upon hearing that the deity will take no further action on Earth’s behalf. During his exile from Heaven his powers dwindle and his behavior becomes increasingly human — he exhibits appetites and frailties, and seems to develop a better grasp of the concept of humor. When Dean is transported into a post-Apocalyptic version of 2014, he meets a mortal and disillusioned Castiel who distracts himself with sex and drugs, yet has remained true to his human allies. The real Castiel proves equally loyal: he is furious when Dean considers becoming Michael’s vessel, and keeps fighting even after his celestial powers have completely gone. As of the season five finale Castiel has been restored to glory — possibly promoted — and intends to set Heaven to rights.

Anna Milton is introduced as a young woman who began hearing angels after Dean’s resurrection. The Winchesters help her evade Alastair, who wants to take her prisoner, and Castiel and Uriel, who have orders to kill her. After undergoing hypnotic regression, Anna remembers the truth: she is an angel who, weary of obeying seemingly pointless dictates from a distant Father, rejected the sterile perfection of Heaven, tore out her grace, and fell to Earth to be reborn as a human. After last-night-on-Earth sex with Dean she recovers her grace and obliterates herself along with her demonic enemies. She later appears, having recreated her body, to offer advice to Castiel and the Winchesters. During his temporary conversion to the pro-Apocalypse camp, Castiel arranges Anna’s capture by Heaven. At their next encounter he apologizes, but their detente is short-lived as Anna has decided to stop the Apocalypse by eliminating Sam. Her plan is foiled by the Archangel Michael.

Uriel is partnered with Castiel for various missions on Earth. He holds humans in disdain (referring to them as “mud monkeys”) and relishes committing violence in Heaven’s name — even against his brethren.

Zachariah is an archangel, apparently Castiel’s immediate superior. He seems benign, if a little oily, until he confesses that he wants Dean not to prevent the Apocalypse but to win it as Michael’s vessel, and doesn’t care how many humans die in the process. His repeated failure to persuade or coerce Dean into consenting jeopardizes his status in Heaven, and he proves both cruel and petty when thwarted.

Michael is Heaven’s champion, the strongest of the archangels. According to him, Dean is his chosen vessel, the culmination of a lineage that stretches back to Cain and Abel; however, Michael is able to possess other members of the bloodline if they consent.

Gabriel is an archangel who left Heaven because he refused to pick a side in his brothers’ war. He has spent millennia on Earth, posing as a pagan god.

Lucifer

Lucifer was chief among the angels until he refused to pay homage to God’s final and most beloved creation, humans. His rebellion led to a war which ended with his defeat by the Archangel Michael. When he was cast out of Heaven, Lucifer took his revenge on humanity: he twisted Lilith’s soul until she became the first demon. After that, Lucifer was imprisoned in a hidden cage. During his incarceration he came to be worshiped by some demons as their maker. In 1972, one of his followers, Azazel, performed a ritual that enabled them to communicate, at which point Lucifer set up the plan which culminated with his release. He possesses a temporary host, Nick, until he can gain the consent of his true vessel, Sam, for his final battle against the Michael. Lucifer presents himself as the wronged party, punished for loving God too much, but the fact is that he hates humanity and demonkind, and will destroy all of them for his own ends.

Demons

Azazel the Yellow-Eyed Demon is the primary villain of seasons one and two, and possibly the most powerful demon in Hell. He killed Mary Winchester because ten years earlier he had bargained for permission to enter her home and promised that no one would be harmed ... as long as he wasn’t interrupted. Azazel failed to mention that he intended to feed his blood to one of her sons. Sam was just one of many children to whom he paid such a visit and who subsequently developed special talents 22 years later. Azazel has plans for these “special children,” but first he has to deal with the Winchesters: he takes the Colt and sends John to Hell in exchange for saving Dean from death. In season two, the demon forces the surviving “psychic kids” to fight until only one remains. The winner, who will supposedly lead a demon army against humanity, is given the Colt, which turns out to be the key to a Devil’s Gate over a passage between Hell and Earth. The Gate is opened, releasing hundreds of demons, including Lilith. At this moment of triumph Azazel is shot with the Colt by Dean, yet he is probably still content, for he has done as his master, Lucifer, had commanded. That said, he also has a personal stake in the war: the demon seems truly angry that the Winchesters shot one of his “sons” with the Colt and succeeded in exorcising his “daughter,” the demon possessing Meg Masters.

“Meg Masters” is Azazel’s daughter — presumably a human soul that Azazel twisted into demonhood. She first approaches Sam Winchester, posing as a human girl, while he’s hitchhiking after a falling out with Dean. During their second meeting, he and Dean take her for a witch. It isn’t until their third meeting that the Winchesters learn they’re dealing with a demon possessing a real person. She claims to have “lots of names,” but continues using the identity of the host she inhabited at the time of her first encounters with the Winchesters even after she’s moved to other bodies. Initially she is obeying the commands of her father, Azazel. Later, she seems to be motivated by a desire for revenge and claims not care about the big plan. By season five, however, she has apparently rejoined the ranks of Lucifer’s supporters.

Ruby is a demon who first appears in season three wielding a knife against demons that are attacking Sam. Soon afterward she helps Bobby restore the Colt to full effectiveness and claims that she can help Sam break Dean’s contract with the crossroads demon. Rudy says she was a witch in the Middle Ages who sold her soul for power, and that lingering remnants of humanity make her unwilling to see demons conquer Earth. At the end of season three she is summarily sent back to Hell by Lilith. In season four she returns in a new body, apparently bent on killing Sam, but turns on her demonic accomplice and pledges her continued loyalty to humankind. She encourages Sam to develop his psychic powers, and feeds him her blood to strengthen them. In the end, she’s revealed as a triple agent.

Lilith, a white-eyed demon, was the first human soul twisted by Lucifer. She favors little girls as hosts, spends her “shore leave” torturing a suburban family, and has a “personal chef” who procures babies for her to eat. Lilith is one of the demons freed by the opening of the Devil’s Gate, and in season three she’s described as an up-and-comer who sees Sam as competition for the command of Azazel’s army. She is also the demon who holds Dean’s contract, and personally oversees his death. In season four, Lilith begins breaking the seals which keep Lucifer imprisoned. Sam, to save the world and avenge Dean, kills her, unaware that Lilith herself is the final seal. Her death opens the door to Lucifer’s cage.

Alastair, another white-eyed demon, is “the Grand Inquisitor downstairs ... Picasso with a razor.” He claims to have spent a century tormenting John Winchester before the hunter escaped through the Devil’s Gate. Dean spent 30 years on Alastair’s rack, then broke and agreed to torture other souls under his tutelage. They meet on Earth when Alastair tries to capture Anna Milton, and again the demon attempts to break a seal. When Dean interrogates Alastair at the angels’ behest, the demon taunts him with the news that Dean himself made Lucifer’s escape possible: “And it was written that the first seal will be broken when a righteous man sheds blood in hell.” After Alastair escapes his bonds and attacks Dean and Castiel, Sam kills him.

Crowley, a demon “in the flesh...of a moderately successful literary agent out of New York,” is “King of the Crossroads” as of season five. He took possession of the Colt from Bela Talbot yet later gives it to the Winchesters to use against Lucifer, because he knows that the Devil despises his “children,” demonkind, even more than humanity: “I’m your ally. Enemy of my enemy and all that.” He convinces Bobby to sell him his soul in exchange for some crucial information, promising to return it immediately. Instead, Crowley keeps the soul to ensure that the Winchesters don’t kill him. He cures Bobby’s paraplegia by way of compensation.

The Impala

Dean’s beloved ’67 Chevy Impala (nicknamed “Metallicar” by fans) was bought by John Winchester shortly before he married Mary Campbell. Since their mother’s death, the Impala is the closest thing Sam and Dean have had to a home. After it is wrecked in the season one finale, Dean spends weeks lovingly restoring it to its pre-crash condition, even retaining the toys stuck in the car’s ashtrays.