Supernatural: an episode roadmap for beginners

Maps To TV Shows: Is there a popular show you’d really like to watch but you just don’t have time to wade through years of it all at once? Do you just want to know why that one character keeps turning up on Tumblr? Do the fans all tell you ‘season one is a bit iffy but stick with it, it gets great!’, leaving you with absolutely zero desire ever to watch the boring/silly/just plain weird season one? Then Maps To TV Shows is for you!

In these articles, we’ll outline routes through popular TV shows focusing on particular characters, story arcs or episode types. Are you really into the Klingon episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation? Do you want to get the overall gist of the aliens arc on The X-Files? Or perhaps you’d rather avoid aliens and watch the highlights of their Monsters of the Week? Do you just want to know who that guy dressed like Constantine is? In these articles, we’ll provide you with a series of routes through long-running shows designed for new viewers so that you can tailor your journey through the very best TV has to offer. While skipping most of season one. It gets better.

N.B. Since part of the aim of these articles is to encourage new viewers, spoilers will be kept to a minimum. However, be aware that due to the nature of the piece, certain elements of world-building, bad guy-revelation, late character arrivals etc. will be spoiled, and looking at the details of one suggested ‘route’ may spoil another.

A few words before we start

Do you like rock music/muscle cars/ghost stories/The X-Files homages/accidental homoeroticism? Do you want to dip into the glorious, heart-wrenching, often hilarious and amazingly-still-running Supernatural, but don’t know where to start and don’t have 2-3 months to spare catching up? Don’t worry – we are here to help.

Supernatural is currently halfway through its tenth season, and we can tell you from personal experience, that is a lot of television to try to catch up on all at once. Although heavily serialised in places (especially in Seasons Four and Five, while Season Three took the ‘shoehorn a quick reference to the arc plot into every episode no matter what’ route) the show is founded on the principle of mixing arc-based episodes with Monsters of the Week, so with a little guidance, you should be able to get the flavour of the show without needing to wade through all those hours of ghost-hunting to catch up. And without watching “Bugs.” No one should have to watch “Bugs.”

(Readers from the future please note that, at the time of writing, Supernatural is halfway through Season Ten, so this list goes up to Season Ten, Episode Nine, and not beyond).

Route 1: To Hell and Back

A.K.A. The Arc Plot. If Monsters of the Week aren’t your thing, or if missing out on stages of the arc plot’s development will bother you, these are the episodes for you. A small note though – just watching the arc plot episodes without any of the comic relief or more heart-warming breathers may turn out to be an unutterably depressing experience. You have been warned.

Season One:

Pilot

Bloody Mary

Home

Scarecrow

Nightmare

Shadow

Dead Man’s Blood

Salvation

Devil’s Trap

Supernatural is one of those shows where everyone will tell you it gets better after Season One, but its pilot is actually very good and the weakest episodes are some of the more dubious Monsters of the Week, so this shouldn’t feel like too much of a slog. Bloody Mary and Home are largely stand-alone stories that include hints or brief revelations relating to the arc plot, so they can be skipped if you’re in a hurry. Add Faith for thematic resonances and possible hints towards later plot developments (though honestly, some of those are probably happy accidents).

Season Two:

In My Time Of Dying

Simon Said

Crossroad Blues

Croatoan

Hunted

All Hell Breaks Loose Parts 1&2

Add Everybody Loves A Clown, Bloodlust, Nightshifter and Tall Tales for the introductions of some recurring characters who will later play important roles in the arc plot. Add Born Under A Bad Sign for the reappearance of an important recurring character. Skip Crossroad Blues, which introduces plot elements that will recur in later episodes, if you’re short on time. Once you’ve watched through the arc plot up to the end of Season Five, go back and watch Houses Of The Holy for thematic resonances and bucket-loads of accidental irony.

Season Three:

The Magnificent Seven

The Kids Are Alright

Jus In Bello

Time Is On My Side

No Rest For The Wicked

The writers’-strike-shortened Season Three started to drop hints, references and little bits of information about the arc plot into every episode, making this the season in which it is most difficult to separate ‘Arc Plot’ from ‘Monster of the Week’. The Kids Are Alright is largely a Monster of the Week episode, but it features the introduction of a couple of important recurring characters as well as an important revelation concerning another. Add Bad Day At Black Rock for the introduction of another important recurring character, Sin City and Malleus Maleficarum for the some more background and world-building, Mystery Spot for a re-appearance of an important recurring character and Fresh Blood for the resolution of an ongoing thread.

Season Four:

Lazarus Rising

Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester

In The Beginning

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Heaven And Hell

Death Takes A Holiday

On The Head Of A Pin

The Monster At The End Of This Book

The Rapture

When The Levee Breaks

Lucifer Rising

Seasons Four and Five are heavily serialised and feature fewer and fewer Monsters of the Week as time goes on, so to follow all the arc plot, you need to watch a lot of them. Skip It’s The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester if short on time, which is an arc-plot-based story, but adds mostly character development rather than essential plot. Add It’s A Terrible Life and Jump The Shark for the introductions of especially important recurring characters.

Season Five:

Sympathy For The Devil

Good God Y’all!

Free To Be You And Me

The End

I Believe The Children Are Our Future

Changing Channels

Abandon All Hope

The Song Remains The Same

My Bloody Valentine

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

Dark Side Of The Moon

99 Problems

Point Of No Return

Hammer Of The Gods

The Devil You Know

Two Minutes To Midnight

Swan Song

The second half of Season Five is completely serialised, as it was building up to what was thought to be the series finale, which is why most of the season is listed here. Skip I Believe The Children Are Our Future if short on time, as, although based in the arc plot, so far it has been of less importance to future developments. Add The Real Ghostbusters for a revelation that leads into Abandon All Hope, but it’s largely a stand-alone episode and you can safely skip it as long as you pay attention to the Previously On. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid features the introduction of an important recurring character and is based in the arc plot, but at the same time, it could probably be skipped without losing too much vital information, especially if you’re already starting to feel pretty depressed by that point…

Season Six:

Exile On Main St

Two And A Half Men

The Third Man

Live Free Or Twi-Hard

You Can’t Handle The Truth

Family Matters

Caged Heat

Appointment In Samarra

Like A Virgin

The French Mistake

…And Then There Were None

Mommy Dearest

The Man Who Would Be King

Let It Bleed

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Season Six, the first after creator Eric Kripke stepped back from the day to day running of the show, is also heavily serialised, introducing multiple new strands to the ever-developing arc plot. Since the Season Five finale was originally intended to be the series finale, you could switch to a different Route at this point if you wanted to – the contained arc planned (to some extent) from the pilot was completed with Swan Song, and later developments are inevitably a little messy for a while (though other routes will, inevitably, miss out some details of the ongoing story arc, so if you switch Routes, be aware you’ll need to fill in some gaps using the Internet and the Previously Ons).

Add Weekend At Bobby’s for the resolution to a dangling plot thread from Season Five. If short on time, skip You Can’t Handle The Truth and just pay attention to Previously On to catch the revelations and character developments covered there. The French Mistake also contains only minor revelations and developments on the arc plot and is largely stand-alone, but we wouldn’t advise skipping it, because it’s brilliant.

Season Seven:

Meet The New Boss

Hello, Cruel World

Slash Fiction

How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters

Death’s Door

Out With The Old

The Born-Again Identity

Of Grave Importance

The Girl With The Dungeons And Dragons Tattoo

Reading Is Fundamental

There Will Be Blood

Survival Of The Fittest

Season Seven saw the show return to more of a 50/50 split between Monsters of the Week and arc plot. If you’re short on time, skip The Born-Again Identity and Of Grave Importance (both of which focus on developments relating to characters and their ongoing situations) to focus solely on the season’s main bad guys. If you have more time, add The Girl Next Door for events that will have ramifications on Sam and Dean’s relationship throughout the season, and The Mentalists for the resolution to a conflict kicked off in Slash Fiction. Add Shut Up, Dr Phil for the lead-in to Slash Fiction.

Season Eight:

We Need To Talk About Kevin

What’s Up, Tiger Mommy?

A Little Slice Of Kevin

Torn And Frayed

As Time Goes By

Trial And Error

Goodbye Stranger

Taxi Driver

The Great Escapist

Clip Show

Sacrifice

Season Eight saw changes behind the scenes once again and, like Season Six, it starts off with one sort of arc plot and then switches gears about halfway through. Add Hunteri Heroici for minor developments in the arc plot, but it’s probably not essential to understanding it. Add Blood Brother, Southern Comfort, Hunteri Heroici, Citizen Fang and Torn And Frayed to see all the episodes featuring minor recurring characters Amelia and Benny. Add Everybody Hates Hitler for more background and world-building on the major new elements introduced halfway through this season, which will continue to be used and referenced throughout the rest of the series.

Season Nine:

I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here

Devil May Care

I’m No Angel

Heaven Can’t Wait

Holy Terror

Road Trip

First Born

Blade Runners

Mother’s Little Helper

Meta Fiction

King Of the Damned

Stairway To Heaven

Do You Believe In Miracles?

Seasons Eight, Nine and Ten all follow a few arc plot threads at once, so some episodes include material on one thread, some on another, and several include multiple threads. Add Captives for the conclusion to some recurring characters’ stories and minor developments in the arc plot.

Season Ten:

Black

Reichenbach

Soul Survivor

Girls, Girls, Girls

The Things We Left Behind

Fan Fiction, the show’s 200^th episode, looks like a stand-alone episode at this point in time, but it’s well worth a look anyway (because it’s brilliant) and only time will tell whether it foreshadows any future plot developments.

Route 2: Saving People, Hunting Things

A.K.A. the best of the Monster of the Week episodes. Do you just fancy a good ghost story or a twist on some American urban folklore? Then you might like to give these a try.

Season One:

Pilot

Bloody Mary

Faith

The Benders

Hell House

Many pilots are a bit iffy in quality, but Supernatural’s is really rather good, and it features a solid Monster of the Week as well as kicking off the arc plot. The show originally focused on horror and especially on ghost stories, which make up the majority of the Monsters of the Week in Season One. If you’re a fan of ghost stories in general, add Dead In The Water (a nice little ghost story featuring the always lovely Amy Acker) and Asylum (a twist on the old haunted asylum cliché).

Season Two:

No Exit

The Usual Suspects

Playthings

Nightshifter

Houses Of The Holy

Roadkill

Heart

What Is And What Should Never Be

No Exit is one of the more terrifying episodes the show has done, while The Usual Suspects features a guest appearance from horror icon Linda Blair. Playthings and Roadkill are a bit less obviously stand-out, but they’re more examples of the sort of simple ghost story the show did so well and so often early on, and which get fewer and further between as the series goes on. Whether Nightshifter or Houses Of The Holy count as stand-alone episodes is debateable, but they can certainly be read that way on first viewing. What Is And What Should Never Be relies on a certain level of knowledge about the characters and their background, but as long as you’ve seen the Pilot and maybe one or two other episodes it should make sense.

(Sidenote: I feel obliged to mention that personally I hate Heart with a fiery passion, but it seems rather popular with everyone else.)

Season Three:

Bad Day At Black Rock

A Very Supernatural Christmas

Mystery Spot

Ghostfacers

All of Season Three features frequent references to the arc plot, but the main plots of these episodes can be viewed in isolation (A Very Supernatural Christmas, like What Is And What Should Never Be, assumes some knowledge of the characters, but not too much). Mystery Spot is another episode that could count as either an arc plot episode or a stand-alone story depending what you choose to focus on, but it works reasonably well in isolation, so we’ve chosen to list it here. Either way, it’s one of the high points of the series.

Season Four:

Monster Movie

Yellow Fever

Wishful Thinking

It’s A Terrible Life

By Season Four, Supernatural had developed a habit of doing funny, experimental or otherwise lighter episodes in between the increasingly dark arc plot, so if you focus on the best of these breather episodes, it will come across as a much more cheerful show than if you watch the arc plot episodes. It’s A Terrible Life features the introduction of a major arc plot-related character and references to the ongoing story, but the majority of the episode can be enjoyed by itself as long as, like the Season Two and Three examples listed above, you have some level of familiarity with the characters.

Season Five:

Because Season Five was thought to be the last season, there are very few Monster of the Week episodes, and those there are aren’t really that thrilling (though if you want to see the boys fight Paris Hilton, throw in Fallen Idols). The Real Ghostbusters and Changing Channels include substantial roles for established characters and arc plot developments, but would probably also be reasonably easy to follow on their own and are both good fun.

Season Six:

Clap Your Hands If You Believe

Clap Your Hands If You Believe makes substantial references to the arc plot, but should be broadly comprehensible by itself. Add Weekend At Bobby’s for an episode that very much does its own thing, but technically belongs to the arc plot.

Season Seven:

Time After Time

Repo Man

If you’re a Buffy The Vampire Slayer fan, add Shut Up, Dr Phil. The Born-Again Identity is an arc plot episode focusing on ongoing character developments and plot twists, but elements of it stand alone, and it’s rather good, if you don’t mind being a bit confused or looking up the background.

Season Eight:

LARP And The Real Girl

Remember The Titans

Pac-Man Fever

Felicia Day’s Charlie Bradbury was initially introduced in Season Seven’s arc-plot episode The Girl With The Dungeons And Dragons Tattoo, but LARP And the Real Girl and Pac-Man Fever are both stand-alone episodes featuring her character, and both are good fun and highly recommended.

Season Nine:

Bad Boys

Stand-alone episodes are not really Season Nine’s strong point, but add Slumber Party if you’re a fan of Charlie Bradbury, and #THINMAN if you’re a fan of Harry and Ed (seen previously in Hell House, Ghostfacers and It’s A Terrible Life).

Season Ten:

Ask Jeeves

Hibbing 911

Hibbing 911 isn’t Supernatural’s greatest episode, but it’s notable chiefly for featuring prominent roles for two recurring female characters, which is nice. Fan Fiction is technically a Monster of the Week episode, and it’s brilliant, but it relies partly on substantial knowledge of the arc plot from Seasons One-Five to really work.

Route 3: Daddy Issues

Supernatural is a show about two brothers, with a major arc-plot kicked off by their mother and another by their grandfather, so it’s hardly surprising that a lot of episodes focus on various themes relating to family. The show is especially interested in the relationship between siblings (naturally) and between fathers and sons, with the entire first season dominated by both Winchesters’ differing relationships with their father. This Route follows those episodes which focus primarily on various family relationships. Some are heavily involved in the arc plot (see Route 1) and will require a bit of background reading to understand fully, while others stand alone. We’ve also included the best episodes featuring Jim Beaver’s Bobby Singer, the Winchesters’ surrogate father, in this Route.

Season One:

Pilot

Dead In The Water

Scarecrow

Shadow

Something Wicked

Dead Man’s Blood

Salvation

Devil’s Trap

Pilot, Scarecrow, Shadow, Dead Man’s Blood, Salvation and Devil’s Trap feature the Winchesters themselves and the often strained relations between both boys and their father, as well as each other. Dead In The Water and Something Wicked are Monsters of the Week with a strong emphasis on family, the first showcasing Dean’s aptitude for dealing with troubled children for the first time, and the second telling a story familiar to older siblings everywhere and introducing flashbacks to the Winchesters’ childhood. Add The Benders for a really twisted family dynamic.

Season Two:

In My Time Of Dying

No Exit

Playthings

Born Under A Bad Sign

Tall Tales

What Is And What Should Never Be

All Hell Breaks Loose Parts 1&2

In My Time Of Dying, What Is And What Should Never Be and All Hell Breaks Loose focus on the Winchesters, while Born Under A Bad Sign and Tall Tales start to show just how much Sam and Dean need Bobby Singer and how close they are. No Exit adds some material on mothers and daughters as well as fathers, while Playthings is a Monster of the Week episode that gives sisters a day in the limelight. Add Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things for more character material concerning the Winchesters and their feelings about their father, Crossroad Blues and Hunted for some extra angst, and Simon Said for a different sort of sibling relationship.

Season Three:

The Kids Are Alright

Bedtime Stories                

A Very Supernatural Christmas

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

Mystery Spot

Long Distance Call

No Rest For The Wicked

Long Distance Call returns to the rich well of Dean Winchester’s relationship with his father, while The Kids Are Alright hints at an exploration of daddy issues from the other side. Dream A Little Dream Of Me and No Rest For The Wicked cement Bobby’s place in the Winchester surrogate family as well as touching on various family relationships in different ways. Mystery Spot focuses on the relationship between the brothers, while A Very Supernatural Christmas sees the return of their younger selves (sometimes known affectionately as the Weechesters). Bedtime Stories is a Monster of the Week episode that tells a very, very old story of family gone wrong. Add Red Sky At Morning for a Monster of the Week with a familial fixation.

Season Four:

In The Beginning

After School Special

Sex And Violence

Jump The Shark

The Rapture

In The Beginning and Jump The Shark continue the saga of the Campbell-Winchester family and fill in some of the deep background to the show’s continuity. After School Special sees the return of the Weechesters (though Dean, in this case, is not so wee). Sex And Violence explores a crack in the brothers’ relationship, while The Rapture introduces another family caught up in the arc plot’s madness. Add Lazarus Rising for heavy-duty emotion and the resolution to the cliff-hanger from No Rest For The Wicked, and simply because it’s one of the series best episodes. Add Family Remains if The Benders wasn’t horrific enough for you.

Season Five:

Sympathy For The Devil

The End

Abandon All Hope

The Song Remains The Same

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

Dark Side Of The Moon

Point Of No Return

Swan Song

Sympathy for The Devil and especially Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid are strong Bobby episodes and further emphasise Bobby and the boys’ familial relationship (add The Curious Case of Dean Winchester if you just can’t get enough Bobby, though it’s not as good as the others). The End, Dark Side Of The Moon and Point Of No Return trace the eternal roller-coaster that is Sam and Dean’s relationship with each other, while The Song Remains The Same continues the Campbell-Winchester saga. Abandon All Hope and Swan Song both rest on the familial bond between hunters, both blood relationships and those forged later in life. Add Good God Y’all! for a bit more on mothers and daughters, Free To Be You And Me for some more brotherly angst, or Changing Channels and Hammer Of The Gods for family issues on an entirely different scale.

Season Six:

Exile On Main St

Two And A Half Men

Weekend At Bobby’s

Live Free Or Twi-Hard

Family Matters

Caged Heat

Appointment in Samarra

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning

…And Then There Were None

The Man Who Would Be King

Let It Bleed

Much of the arc plot of Season Six features various family relationships, so we won’t spoil the details here. Weekend At Bobby’s is, of course, a day in the limelight for Bobby, and The Man Who Would Be King explicitly draws Castiel into the Winchesters’ surrogate family tree (sort of). Add The French Mistake for a sweet affirmation of the brothers’ relationship, and because it’s hilarious. Add My Heart Will Go On for a little bit more on Bobby and his relationships.

Season Seven:

The Girl Next Door

How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters

Death’s Door

Adventures In Babysitting

Plucky Pennywhistles’ Magical Menagerie

Of Grave Importance

Survival Of The Fittest

How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters, Death’s Door, Of Grave Importance and Survival Of The Fittest are important Bobby episodes, with Death’s Door especially drawing on his own issues with fathers and fatherhood (add The Girl With The Dungeons And Dragons Tattoo and There Will Be Blood for more Bobby). The Girl Next Door focuses on Young Sam and Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie refers back to the Winchesters’ childhood without showing it, while Adventures In Babysitting sees them once again dealing with parental issues from the other side. Add Shut Up, Dr Phil for a rare look at marriage on Supernatural and The Born-Again Identity for a sibling-based B plot. Technically, our heroes become personally involved in marriage in Season Seven, Time For A Wedding! and parenthood in The Slice Girls, but neither episode is terribly good, so we wouldn’t recommend bothering with those.

Season Eight:

We Need To Talk About Kevin

What’s Up, Tiger Mommy?

As Time Goes By

Everybody Hates Hitler

Remember The Titans

Freaks And Geeks

Pac-Man Fever

We Need To Talk About Kevin resets Sam and Dean’s familial hopes and dreams somewhat, returning them to a similar situation to where we found them in the pilot (Dean clinging to a brotherly relationship, Sam to a girlfriend). For the complete set of episodes focusing on those relationships, see the episodes featuring Amelia and Benny in Route 1. What’s Up, Tiger Mommy? offers a look at mothers and sons, Pac-Man Fever at mothers and daughters, Freaks And Geeks returns to the issue of parenting and guardians, while Remember The Titans touches on the ever-reliable fathers and sons. As Time Goes By opens a new chapter in the Winchester family saga, with the related world-building continuing in Everybody Hates Hitler. Add Goodbye Stranger for a reminder of the Winchesters’ extended surrogate family. Add Trial And Error for some rather twisted family relationships.

Season Nine:

I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here

Devil May Care

Bad Boys

Holy Terror

Road Trip

Captives

Mother’s Little Helper

Alex Annie Alexis Ann

Do You Believe In Miracles?

I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here sets up the brothers’ relationship and the plot issues that will drive it throughout Season Nine, continued in Road Trip and Do You Believe In Miracles? Add #THINMAN for a rather transparent parallel story mirroring that between Sam and Dean this season. Devil May Care and Holy Terror follow developments among the Winchesters’ surrogate family, while Bad Boys focuses on Young Dean and Mother’s Little Helper offers another instalment of The Winchesters: A History. Alex Annie Alexis Ann offers the most in-depth look at mothers and daughters since Abandon All Hope, and Captives returns to mothers and sons. Failed back-door pilot Bloodlines has family drama all over the place, but we wouldn’t recommend watching it.

Season Ten:

Reichenbach

Soul Survivor

Paper Moon

Fan Fiction

Girls, Girls, Girls

The Things We Left Behind

More brotherly drama in Reichenbach and Soul Survivor, followed by another parallel story – openly commented upon as such – in Paper Moon. Add Ask Jeeves for another helping of general family drama. Girls, Girls, Girls opens up a whole new can of family issues, continued through The Things We Left Behind, which also returns to the ever-popular themes of fatherhood and the long unmentioned relationship between the Winchesters and their own father. The brotherly highlight of the season so far, though, is a simple moment towards the end of Fan Fiction that many fans have been waiting for since Season Five.

Route 4: Castiel (and family)

Castiel’s appearance, nature and role in the plot is supposed to be a surprise – indeed, the writers had categorically ruled out the very existence of his species in the world of Supernatural when discussing earlier seasons. However, if you’ve spent any time at all on the Internet, you probably know that Misha Collins is in Supernatural, and you probably already know who and what he plays (he’s the one dressed like Constantine. That’s not a coincidence). First-time viewers are often surprised at how long it takes him to turn up, so if you’re really not into two-person-led shows (not counting Jim Beaver’s Bobby – sorry, Bobby!) or you just want to see Collins look perpetually confused, you can probably get away with starting with his first appearance in Season Four. There’ll be elements of the back-story you’ll need to pick up as you along, but as long as you don’t mind a few gaps, you should be able to follow the gist of it.

Seasons One-Three:

While the existence of Castiel and his buddies wasn’t revealed until Season Four, a few episodes in earlier seasons either drop hints that later take on greater meaning, or feature characters later revealed to be connected to the arc plot in surprising ways. So, for the complete set, throw in these episodes from earlier seasons:

Faith (Season One)

Houses Of The Holy (Season Two)

Tall Tales (Season Two)

Mystery Spot (Season Three)

Sam invokes Castiel in a Latin spell in Season Three’s Red Sky At Morning, which is technically the first reference to him in the show, but it’s not really worth watching it just for that.

Season Four:

Lazarus Rising

Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester

In The Beginning

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Heaven And Hell

Death Takes A Holiday

On The Head Of A Pin

The Monster At The End Of This Book

The Rapture

When The Levee Breaks

Lucifer Rising

Most of these are arc-plot-heavy episodes, coinciding largely with Route 1, and the first is the resolution to Season Three’s climactic cliff-hanger – but it’s a fairly self-explanatory cliff-hanger. Lazarus Rising, Heaven And Hell, The Monster At The End Of This Book and Lucifer Rising are particularly important for Castiel’s character development, while The Rapture is a day in the limelight for Misha Collins, and to a lesser extent for Castiel. Add It’s A Terrible Life for more of Castiel’s “family” and the introduction of an important related character.

Season Five:

Sympathy For The Devil

Free To Be You And Me

The End

Abandon All Hope

The Song Remains The Same

My Bloody Valentine

Dark Side Of The Moon

99 Problems

Point Of No Return

Two Minutes To Midnight

Swan Song

Misha Collins became a regular in Season Five, but he doesn’t appear in every episode. For this list, we’ve selected those episodes in which Castiel plays a reasonably significant role (his part in The Song Remains The Same is short but important). For the complete set of episodes in which Castiel features, add Good God Y’All, I Believe The Children Are Our Future and Changing Channels.

Season Six:

The Third Man

Family Matters

Caged Heat

Like A Virgin

The French Mistake

My Heart Will Go On

Frontierland

Mommy Dearest

The Man Who Would Be King

Let it Bleed

The Man Who Knew Too Much

In Season Six, Collins was once again a regular, though his appearances tend to be briefer and less frequent. Add You Can’t Handle The Truth for the complete set of episodes in which he appears. The French Mistake is a must-see for Collins’ performance, The Man Who Would Be King is Castiel’s day in the limelight, and The Man Who Knew Too Much determines his arc for the next couple of seasons (and much of the rest of the show).

Season Seven:

Meet The New Boss

Hello, Cruel World

The Born-Again Identity

Reading Is Fundamental

Survival Of The Fittest

Collins featured only as a guest star in Season Seven, so these are the only episodes in which he appears –  but the upside of that is, Castiel plays a major role in all these episodes (though it’s a rather short role in Hello, Cruel World). The Born-Again Identity (and, in a different way, Meet The New Boss) is his spotlight moment for the season.

Season Eight:

We Need To Talk About Kevin

What’s Up, Tiger Mommy?

Blood Brother

A Little Slice Of Kevin

Hunteri Heroici

Torn And Frayed

Goodbye Stranger

The Great Escapist

Clip Show

Sacrifice

Technically, Misha Collins is a guest star in the episodes in which he appears in Season Eight, but as you can see, there are quite a few of them and he follows his own thread of the arc plot for much of the season, represented in short scenes within other episodes. Hunteri Heroici and Goodbye Stranger are Castiel’s moments in the limelight in this season.

Season Nine:

I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here

I’m No Angel

Heaven Can’t Wait

Holy Terror

Road Trip

First Born

Captives

Meta Fiction

King Of The Damned

Stairway To Heaven

Do You Believe In Miracles?

Castiel is once again officially a regular character from Season Nine onwards, which is nice for Misha Collins, though in practice it makes little difference to the frequency of his appearances. I’m No Angel, Heaven Can’t Wait and Meta Fiction are the most Castiel-centric episodes of this season, while First Born is notable for pairing Castiel with Sam rather than Dean, which makes for a refreshing change (though if Dean/Castiel is what floats your boat, Stairway To Heaven is the episode you want).

Season Ten:

Black

Reichenbach

Soul Survivor

Girls, Girls, Girls

The Things We Left Behind

Castiel has followed an entirely separate plot from the rest of the cast for most of Season Ten so far, but they come together briefly in Soul Survivor and more substantially in The Things We Left Behind. Add 200^th episode Fan Fiction for numerous references to and jokes about the character, though he doesn’t actually appear in it.

Route 5: The Meta Episodes

Supernatural is well known for its willingness to play with its format and comment on itself. We’ve gone for a pretty broad definition of what constitutes ‘meta’ here, so these range from largely standard episodes with an element of commentary on story-telling or some format-bending to episodes so meta they’re the equal of anything you might have seen on The Simpsons, Family Guy, or Community.

Season One:

Hell House

Season One plays its drama in a largely straightforward way, but Hell House sees the series first starting to comment upon its own characters, and introduces the pair who will later be known as the Ghostfacers.

Season Two:

Tall Tales

Hollywood Babylon

Tall Tales is mostly straightforward, but includes a Rashomon-style sequence in which the boys tell Bobby their separate versions of events that draws attention to the narrative. Hollywood Babylon is the show’s first overt go at a meta-fictional story, featuring a familiar-looking show within the show and, according to the DVD commentary, including some genuine notes from the series’ producers.

Season Three:

Ghostfacers

Ghostfacers, a fun and touching mockumentary, helpfully makes a specific reference to the writers’ strike of 2007-2008, which is very useful when you’re marathoning the show several years later, have lost track of which season belongs to which year, and are wondering why Season Three is only 16 episodes long. If you’re a fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, add Fresh Blood for a particularly inspired casting choice.

Season Four:

Monster Movie

The Monster At The End Of This Book

Monster Movie is a rather lovely homage to classic horror flicks filmed in black and white, but The Monster At The End Of This Book is where the really meta stuff Supernatural has become known for kicks off, as it introduces a new plot element that brings meta-fictional, post-modern commentary into the main plot of the show.

Season Five:

Changing Channels

The Real Ghostbusters

Swan Song

Changing Channels is one of the series’ most popular and funniest episodes, while The Real Ghostbusters offers a Galaxy Quest-style look at fandom. We won’t explain why Swan Song counts as a meta episode here as it would spoil it, though since it’s the Season Five finale, some catching up on the arc plot may be required to appreciate it fully. Fans of Rob Benedict’s Chuck – whose connection to the meta plot we also won’t discuss here, but you’ll understand when you see it – should add Sympathy For The Devil and The End to get the complete set of episodes in which he appears.

Season Six:

The French Mistake

Add Clap Your Hands If You Believe for an extended homage to one of the show’s biggest inspirations, The X-Files, and Live Free Or Twi-Hard for some inspired vampiric activity in the opening scenes. Frontierland forms the final part of a sort of unofficial Back To The Future trilogy with Season Four’s In The Beginning (which makes overt references to Back To The Future) and Season Five’s The Song Remains The Same (which bears little resemblance to the movie trilogy).

Season Seven:

Slash Fiction

Slash Fiction isn’t as meta as it sounds like it should be, but it does feature some external commentary on the characters. Add Time After Time for a partial homage to The Untouchables, and Season Seven, Time For A Wedding! for some commentary on the extreme end of fandom (though it’s not the most popular episode they’ve done among the fans themselves).

Season Eight:

Clip Show

Like Slash Fiction, Clip Show isn’t as meta as it sounds like it should be from the title (neither is it a clip show) but, along with Pac-Man Fever, it does feature the return of Chuck’s artistic masterpieces. Add Hunteri Heroici for the almost obligatory partly-animated episode and LARP And The Real Girl for some playing around with cosplay.

Season Nine:

#THINMAN

Meta Fiction

#THINMAN follows the continuing adventures of the Ghostfacers and explores the nature of created monsters. Meta Fiction features an antagonist obsessed with stories and story-telling who thinks he can do a better job than those we’ve seen before or, indeed, reality. Add Slumber Party for fictional characters discussing what it’s like to be characters in books, and further discussion of the works of Carver Edlund.

Season Ten:

Fan Fiction

The first truly meta-fictional episode for a while, Fan Fiction is also the Supernatural musical episode. It had to happen eventually. As it is the 200^th episode, the story draws on the whole history of the show, especially the first five years, so to fully appreciate it, it will help to have followed the arc plot in those first five seasons (and to know something about the fandom as well), but it’s a sweet and very funny episode on its own, and there should be something to enjoy for anyone with even a passing knowledge of the show. Plus some great tunes and a lovely cover of the show’s unofficial theme song, Carry On, Wayward Son. Enjoy.

Read Juliette’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer roadmap here, and Fringe roadmap here.