The series originally focuses primarily on the brothers Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester, played by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, as they travel throughout the country hunting down evil supernatural creatures. After losing their mother to a supernatural force, the brothers were raised by their father as soldiers who track mysterious and demonic creatures. Violent memories and relationship-threatening secrets add additional burdens on Sam and Dean as they investigate all things that go bump in the night. As old tricks and tools are rendered useless and friends betray them, the brothers must rely on each other as they encounter new enemies.
| 8.01 We Need to Talk About Kevin | Air Date: October 3, 2012 |
A year after he was sucked into Purgatory, the afterlife of monsters, Dean Winchester finally escapes with the help of a vampire named Benny Lafitte. As part of their deal, Dean smuggles Benny’s soul out of Purgatory and resurrects him before they go their separate ways. Dean’s friend Castiel, who had been trapped in Purgatory with him in the previous season finale, is conspicuously absent and Dean later reveals that the angel did not make it out of Purgatory with him and Benny. Dean travels to the safe house in Whitefish, Montana, where he meets up with his brother Sam, who he learns had given up the “family business” of hunting monsters to lead a normal life with a dog and a girlfriend named Amelia Richardson while Dean was gone. Tension springs up between the brothers because Sam did not even try to save him, Castiel, or the prophet, Kevin Tran, who had been kidnapped a year ago by the demon Crowley. When Dean checks Sam’s discarded phones, he discovers that Kevin has in fact escaped from Crowley on his own and is now on the run, so Sam and Dean track him down. Kevin explains that Crowley took him to make him translate the Word of God tablet about demons, and to help Crowley unleash all demons onto Earth. However, he had managed to escape with the tablet, which he has hidden elsewhere for safe-keeping. He also reveals that the tablet has a way to send all demons to Hell and lock them away forever. The Winchesters immediately want to find the tablet and use the spell to banish the demons, but they are interrupted by the arrival of demons, including Crowley, who have been following them to find Kevin. Crowley is accompanied by Kevin’s possessed girlfriend, Channing Ngo. Crowley demands that Kevin come with him and return the tablet, but Kevin once again outwits him and escapes with the Winchesters. Crowley then murders Channing to spite Kevin. The episode ends with Dean receiving a secret call from Benny, who seems to be questioning life outside of Purgatory. The two try to maintain some distance from each other, but Dean tells Benny he should call in an emergency.
| 8.07 A Little Slice of Kevin | Air Date: November 14, 2012 |
The Trans pay a witch to gather ingredients for a demon bomb to use against Crowley, but the witch betrays them and helps Crowley kidnap Kevin. After Sam and Dean investigate a series of demon abductions, a weakened Castiel appears to them with no memory of how he escaped Purgatory. The abductions turn out to be known future prophets, as only one prophet can exist at a time, meaning that one of them will become the new prophet if Kevin dies. Dean has flashbacks of his escape from Purgatory and deals with his guilt for not saving Castiel. Meanwhile, Kevin is tortured by Crowley into translating the tablet, and he reveals to Crowley that there are more tablets. Sam, Dean, and Castiel intervene and save Kevin from Crowley. Castiel breaks the tablet in two pieces and Crowley flees, taking one half of the tablet with him. Kevin and the remaining prophets are rescued. Castiel reveals that he chose not to leave Purgatory with Dean, telling Dean that remaining in Purgatory was his penance for his previous actions. Dean is distressed to learn that Castiel stayed behind of his own volition. Castiel then “checks in” with a mysterious angel named Naomi who asks about Sam and Dean and tells him that an army of angels rescued him from Purgatory, and that he will not remember these periodic check-ins.
| 8.08 Hunteri Heroici | Air Date: November 28, 2012 |
Sam, Dean, and Castiel investigate a string of deaths in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that appear to have been inspired by cartoons – a man’s heart literally bursts out of his chest when near a woman he likes, a man hovers in midair for a moment while jumping off a building, and an anvil crushes a security guard. Meanwhile, Dean and Castiel have a heart-to-heart about Castiel’s mental state and the ramifications of his actions as “God.” The Winchesters and Castiel determine that the cartoonish effects are caused by an old man, named Fred Jones, who has reality warping powers, and is currently living in a dream world inside his mind while residing in an assisted care facility. Fred is being used by a doctor at the assisted care facility to rob other elderly patients of their valuables. While Dean confronts the doctor, Sam and Castiel enter Fred’s mind to speak to him. Sam is able to convince Fred to give up living in a dream world and come back to reality, causing the reality warping effects to end. Fred forces the doctor to kill himself and has Castiel remove his powers so he is no longer a threat even though it leaves him in a mentally damaged state. Castiel decides to return to Heaven to face up to his actions, but is forbidden from doing so by Naomi. Instead, Castiel decides to watch over Fred for a while. In flashbacks, Sam meets Amelia’s father who is initially cold towards him, but eventually warms up to him just in time for Amelia to learn that her husband is still alive.
| 8.10 Torn and Frayed | Air Date: January 16, 2013 |
When the brothers meet again in the aftermath of the last episode, a furious Sam issues an ultimatum, telling Dean that unless he cuts ties with Benny, they may not be able to work together anymore. Dean chooses to leave instead. He is contacted by Benny, who talks to Dean about Martin’s death in the previous episode and asks Dean to come see him, as he is having a difficult time managing life on Earth alone. Dean agrees to come see him as soon as he can. Meanwhile, having spotted Sam at the end of the previous episode, Amelia comes to his motel room and they end up having sex. They discuss their feelings for each other. Tired of her uncertainty in their relationship, Amelia proposes a test to settle things: if they both show up at the same place in two days, they will continue their relationship, even if it means she will have to leave her husband; if they’re not both there, their relationship is over for good. Meanwhile, the angel Samandriel, who is being held captive and tortured by Crowley’s forces, sends out a distress call to Naomi, who in turn sends Castiel to rescue him. Castiel asks Dean for help, and they track Samandriel to Geneva, Nebraska. As they are outnumbered, Castiel goes against Dean’s wishes by bringing in a reluctant Sam to help. The group assaults Crowley’s base and rescues Samandriel, who has unintentionally revealed to Crowley that there is a tablet about angels. Samandriel tries to warn Castiel about their superiors controlling them, and Castiel has a flashback of Naomi apparently lobotomizing him. In the present, an agitated Naomi forces Castiel to kill Samandriel for telling Crowley about the angel tablet. After the rescue Sam ultimately decides to not renew his relationship with Amelia, and Dean likewise cuts off future contact with Benny, so that the brothers can re-commit themselves to their relationship with each other and their mission to seal the gates of Hell.
| 8.17 Goodbye Stranger | Air Date: March 20, 2013 |
A fully brainwashed Castiel is sent by Naomi to locate and retrieve the angel tablet. At the same time, Sam and Dean find a case where people die of having their eyes burned out and organs liquefied and checking it out, discover that all of the people were possessed and digging for something. Trying to find out what the demons are looking for, they find out that Castiel is looking, too, and is in fact the one killing the people. Per Naomi’s command, Castiel lies about what he and the demons are trying to find, causing Sam and Dean to become suspicious of him when they discover the truth. The trio finds and rescues Meg, revealed to be the one who knows where the crypts are, from Crowley, who has been torturing her for the crypts’ locations. Meg brings Sam, Dean, and Castiel to the right crypt, and later sacrifices herself to hold Crowley off. Meanwhile, Dean and Castiel find the tablet in the crypt. Resisting Naomi’s orders to kill Dean, Castiel ultimately breaks free of her control, and leaves with the tablet to keep it safe from everyone. Dean, having learned the truth about Sam’s illness from Castiel, tells Sam to stop pretending and that he will help him carry the burden.
| 8.19 Taxi Driver | Air Date: April 3, 2013 |
Kevin starts hallucinating that Crowley is talking to him in his mind, so he contacts Sam and Dean to let them know about it. He also tells them that he has deciphered the second trial, which is to free an innocent soul from Hell and release it into Heaven. Torturing a Crossroads Demon, the Winchesters learn that a rogue Reaper can take mortals and souls in and out of Heaven and Hell for a price. They track down Ajay, who reveals that he took Bobby Singer to Hell on Crowley’s orders when his flask was burned. Sam heads to Hell with Ajay on a mission to rescue Bobby. Meanwhile, Dean is forced to stay behind and deal with an unnerved Kevin who hides his half of the tablet. Ajay takes Sam to Purgatory where a back door to Hell exists, and he tells him to meet him in twenty-four hours. However, Crowley learns of this and kills Ajay. Sam manages to rescue Bobby, but the two are stranded in Purgatory without Ajay to bring them home. While with Kevin, Naomi visits Dean and claims Castiel is still crazy, that he misinterpreted her orders and that she is on their side. Though Dean doesn’t trust her, Naomi reveals that Sam traveled to Hell through Purgatory. Finding Ajay dead, Dean calls Benny to ask him to sacrifice his life and get Sam out of Purgatory the same way he got Dean out. Benny agrees and rescues Sam and Bobby from vampires in Purgatory, but stays behind to hold off some more as they escape, having never intended to leave as he doesn’t fit in on Earth. Sam releases Bobby’s soul into Heaven, but is stopped by Crowley who has figured out their plan. However, Naomi intervenes, drives Crowley away and allows Bobby’s soul to go to Heaven. Despite more precautions, Crowley finds Kevin through his mother, and he captures him and all of his notes on the tablet. But when Sam and Dean arrive, they find no signs of struggle and the windows Crowley broke still intact, leaving Sam and Dean with no clues on the third trial and no Kevin who they believe is on the run.
| 8.21 The Great Escapist | Air Date: May 1, 2013 |
Kevin is held captive by Crowley in an illusion of Garth’s houseboat. Two demons pretending to be Sam and Dean bring him Crowley’s half of the demon tablet to translate. At the same time, the real Sam and Dean receive a message from Kevin, saying he is likely dead and is sending them all of his notes on the tablet. Though they are unable to figure anything about the third trial out from the notes, a symbol in them points to a Native American tribe in Colorado that they think Metatron might be connected to. At a casino, they find the tribe is apparently gifted with immortality in exchange for giving Metatron gifts of stories, and they locate Metatron himself. Metatron explains that after God left, the Archangels decided to take over the universe themselves. Not wanting that, he left and cut himself off so completely that he is unaware of who the Winchesters are or that the Archangels are all either trapped or dead. Sam and Dean try to convince Metatron to help them with their task. Kevin figures out Crowley has captured him and confronts Crowley who tries to kill him as he is of no more use to him. However, Metatron rescues Kevin, who takes the second half of the tablet with him. Kevin and Metatron both reveal the third trial: to cure a demon. At the same time, Castiel hides from the angels by visiting restaurants in the Biggerson’s chain using their similar layout and his ability to teleport to evade capture. Castiel is eventually caught, and Naomi reveals that she has wiped Castiel’s memory many times, and he has taken part in many atrocities he can’t remember. However, Ion betrays them to Crowley who forces Naomi to flee, and Crowley retrieves the angel tablet from Castiel’s torso. After Kevin figures out the truth, Crowley leaves Castiel to Ion who Castiel eventually kills before escaping. He ends up on the road in front of Sam and Dean, badly injured and asks for their help.
| 8.23 Sacrifice | Air Date: May 15, 2013 |
Pretending that they want to give into his demands, Sam and Dean capture Crowley so they can use him for the third trial. They take him to an abandoned church and Sam begins injecting Crowley with his purified blood as part of the demon-curing process. Elsewhere, Castiel and Metatron, staking out Cupid’s next target Dwight Charles, try to complete the second Heaven trial by retrieving the “bow” of a cherub, but Naomi and her forces capture Metatron. Castiel enlists Dean’s help in completing the angel trial. They discuss Castiel’s return to heaven, and they succeed in persuading a cherub to give them her bow. Meanwhile, Crowley uses a blood spell to call upon other demons for help, only for Abaddon to answer his summons by trying to kill them both so that she can overthrow Crowley and rule Hell herself. Sam forces her to retreat by engulfing her in holy fire, and a tearful Crowley begins showing signs of becoming cured. Naomi appears to Dean and Castiel to tell them she has learned that Metatron seeks revenge for how he was forced to leave in order to escape her breaking into his mind after God left. She also says that he is actually tricking Castiel into helping him perform a spell that will expel all angels from Heaven. She tells Dean that completing the demon trials will kill Sam. At Dean’s insistence, Castiel brings him back to the church before returning to Heaven, where he discovers that Naomi has been killed by Metatron, who then takes him hostage. Finding that Sam is willing to die to atone for how often he has let his brother down, Dean talks Sam out of finishing the trials. However, the effects of the trials continue to ravage Sam’s body, and his life is left hanging by a thread. Meanwhile, Metatron completes his spell by extracting Castiel’s grace (the essence of an angel that gives them their power and status as an angel), then sends the now-human Castiel back to Earth. Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Crowley look up into the night sky as thousands of angels begin to fall.
| 13.19 Funeralia | Air Date: April 19, 2018 |
In an effort to find Gabriel, Castiel visits Heaven to gain the help of the angels. To Castiel’s shock, he is greeted by Naomi who has been believed dead since the fall of the angels nearly five years earlier. Naomi reveals she survived, but her injuries were such that she faked her death and has required years to recover. With Heaven experiencing power fluctuations, Naomi explains that there are now less than a dozen angels left, Naomi and Castiel included. Heaven will soon crumble and release its souls upon the Earth while the angels will burn out if Gabriel, their only chance, is not found and brought back to Heaven. After Castiel leaves, Naomi seals the portal until the situation is resolved. At the same time, the Winchesters learn that Rowena is using her new powers to kill both humans and Reapers and alter fate. Rowena is revealed to be trying to force Billie to bring back Crowley due to her remorse over the life he was forced to lead when she abandoned him. Rowena proves unable to kill Sam and weakens her power in a futile attack on Billie who offers sympathy, but won’t bring Crowley back. The Winchesters become convinced that Rowena may be able to find redemption for her actions and she agrees to join them. It’s also revealed that when Rowena permanently dies, Sam will be the one to kill her as dictated by fate.
| 14.08 Byzantium | Air Date: December 6, 2018 |
Jack dies of his condition, leaving the Winchesters and Castiel in mourning. In an attempt to save Jack, Sam contacts angel expert Lily Sunder, now an old woman, who suggests that they can resurrect Jack and cure him with her magic which will use the power of Jack’s own soul to sustain him. In return, Lily asks the Winchesters and Castiel to ensure her admittance into Heaven. Lily explains that she still has a piece of her soul left and she wants to get into Heaven to ensure that she will be reunited with her daughter. The Winchesters summon Anubis who determines that Lily will go to Hell and explains that the choices a person makes in life determines their ultimate fate. Despite this, Dean convinces Lily to help them. In Heaven, Jack is chased by a dark force and is reunited with his mother Kelly Kline. As part of their plan, Castiel travels into Heaven where he learns from Naomi that the entity from The Empty has come seeking Jack’s soul. With the angels being consumed by the entity, Castiel locates Jack, only to come face to face with the entity. Castiel makes a deal with the entity to trade himself for Jack, a deal that the entity chooses not to collect upon right away. In thanks, Naomi provides Castiel with Michael’s location. Castiel and Lily succeed in resurrecting Jack, but the effort causes Lily to suffer a fatal heart attack. Lily is judged worthy of Heaven by Anubis and is allowed to be reunited with her daughter at long last.
