Why Supernatural Still Matters, 200 Episodes Later
When Supernatural premiered on The WB in 2005, no one thought it would last 10 seasons, let alone more than that. The show wasn't a monster (heh) success right out of the gate, first facing cancellation in Season 2 and then having to deal with the curve ball of the now-infamous Writers' Strike during Season 3. Series creator Eric Kripke didn't start out with a five-year plan (much less a 10-year plan), and has admitted on several occasions that what drove Supernatural in 2005 and which still drives it today in 2014—the Winchesters' relationship and brotherly love—was conceived on the fly when his original pitch for the show wasn't quite selling.
Can you imagine? Supernatural without the Winchesters behind the wheel would not be Supernatural. Plus, for a series that originally existed within the horror subcategory of niche television, and on the tiny WB network to boot, the show's now-global audience is a major feat for pop culture and genre TV in general. Its longevity is not only worthy of recognition, but investigation. What does Supernatural have that so many other shows don't? It's not exactly a ratings juggernaut, and yet it continues to live on.
So what makes the Winchesters such an important part of the TV landscape? It really boils down to three incredibly important elements that, when combined, make the show a force to be reckoned with. Ahem:
1. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles / Sam and Dean
Most shows (though not all) that've run as long as Supernatural have experienced a fair amount of cast turnover, which prolongs their "freshness" and opens up new story possibilities as new actors and characters come and go—think Grey's Anatomy, ER, Law & Order, etc. But Supernatural, which is heavily steeped in mythology yet still follows a basic procedural format, has managed to succeed without bringing in many new characters at all. In fact, the show can only exist in its current form, and that's what makes it feel like a special little unicorn.
With a new setting and new supporting roles each week, the show's success rests solely on the backs of its leads. Supernatural IS Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Their chemistry, deep bond, and willingness to endure the series' own trip to purgatory (Seasons 6 and 7, which aired on Fridays in what was then still considered to be the Friday-night death slot) to come out the other side (Season 8, when the show moved to Wednesdays) are one of the main reasons the show now has 200 episodes under its belt. Ackles and Padalecki believe deeply in the show, they're still excited about it after all these years (just look at the gag reels to see how much fun they have during filming), and that has a trickle-down effect; their dedication seeps into their characters and the show's fans.
After all, the show isn't reinventing television or itself, but it knows what works and what keeps fans tuning in. The Winchester brothers' relationship, while often strained and driven by recycled conflicts (no one's ever said Supernatural is perfect), makes the show feel relatable even as it tackles the unbelievable. The family business of saving people and hunting things is merely a support structure for the bond between Sam and Dean. Technically, Supernatural doesn't even need anyone else to survive; while it's lucky to have Misha Collins (Castiel), Jim Beaver (Bobby Singer), and Mark Sheppard (Crowley) and they've all played important roles in the Winchesters' lives, Sam and Dean will always be the series' backbone.
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2. An unparalleled sense of humor and a consistent desire to break genre boundaries and the fourth wall
Supernatural's never had the same luxury as, say, Game of Thrones, which can pick and choose between 19 different storylines in any given episode. With two leads, the show's had to find interesting ways to break up the life-and-death situations and the ongoing tension between the brothers. How? Through an injection of humor and by thinking outside the box.
Deeply emotional, world-ending episodes exist side-by-side with episodes that involve Dean being afraid of everything, suicidal teddy bears, wannabe hunters like the Ghostfacers, Groundhog Day-esque adventures in which Dean dies repeatedly, and the brothers being transported to a world where magic and demons don't exist and Supernatural is just a TV show where Dean and Sam are played by actors named Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. Last week's 200th episode featured a musical version of Carver Edlund's Supernatural books (another one of the show's greatest creations and a constant source of humor and entertainment) and it not only worked, but it was well received.
Supernatural's willingness to not only break the fourth wall, but to tackle other genres (remember when the show mocked medical dramas in a Grey's Anatomy-type spoof?) keeps it from getting bogged down by its more serious subject matter. The show makes blending supernatural motifs, emotional man-pain, and humor look easy. But more importantly, its ability to laugh at itself keeps the show feeling fresh even when the brothers' unresolved "issues" grow trying.
3. The fandom—and Supernatural's embrace of that fandom
As anyone who's ever been brave enough to venture into the bowels of Tumblr and fan fiction sites can attest: Supernatural has one of the largest, craziest, and most vocal and loyal fanbases of any TV show ever. Supernatural fans are constantly posting .GIFs and reaction videos, tweeting with one another and the cast, and writing fan fiction. They attend conventions where they interact with other fans and a cast that genuinely appreciates its supporters. All of that communication, especially online, is vital to the show's success, because it's what keeps Supernatural alive, relevant, and visible in popular culture. Forget what you've heard about fangirls and fanboys; they're the reason Supernatural is still with us today. And the show's fanbase is one that continues to grow as TNT repeats and Netflix have made the show more accessible to a wider audience.
What makes Supernatural truly stand out, though, is the way that its writers are tuned in to what the show's biggest followers are talking about. They've inserted various nods to the fandom into the show over the years, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. The 200th episode, "Fan Fiction," was a tribute to the fans and their loyalty, dropping mentions of things like Destiel, homoerotic subtext, single man tears, fangirls, and the personal right to write fan fiction. It's where canon and fanon collided to become a big magical hour of television. The fact that Ackles, Padalecki, and the show's writers all want the show to continue means nothing without the fans who've cultivated numerous online communities in which to discuss and share their thoughts and feelings. Their conversation is what keeps Supernatural alive, and it's a conversation most television shows only wish they could be a part of.
So, what have we learned?
Ten years in, Supernatural still has gas in its tank and is driving down an open road that very few shows have ever had the pleasure of traveling. Kripke might not have been able to envision how the show could ever top the apocalypse at the end of Season 5, and in a way the series never has topped it—those first five seasons comprised an intricate and complex (yet still completely cohesive) storyline about an impending apocalypse that eventually pitted brother against brother in an epic showdown. But even in the years since, Supernatural has continued to hit plenty of high points.
Season 6's "The French Mistake" is one of the series' most beloved episodes to date, with most fans and even Padalecki citing it as their favorite. I personally have fond memories of "Clap Your Hands If You Believe" and Dean microwaving Tinker Bell. The introduction of the Men of Letters mythology in Season 8 revived a series that many people had already written off as being dead, and that's not only important, it's a study in what can happen when the people involved in a project believe in it. The CW doesn't pull in the same number of eyeballs as the four major broadcast networks, but it's allowed Supernatural to ebb and flow, and it understands the power of fans in a way that no other network does. The reason that Supernatural's family business is still operational today is that the show has found a rhythm. There will always be people who disagree about how long it should continue (and I'm not exactly keen on the idea of seeing Dean yelling at kids to get off his lawn in 2025), but Supernatural has done more with less, and for that it deserves to be respected and remembered.
