A shapeshifter impersonates Dean and commits crimes; Dean becomes a wanted man and Sam realizes monsters can look like anyone

The brothers are kidnapped by a family of humans who hunt people for sport; the scariest monsters turn out to be ordinary people

A shtriga (child-draining witch) targets kids in a hospital; young Dean flashbacks reveal he once failed to protect Sam from the same creature

They encounter Lenore, a vampire who refuses to drink human blood; Gordon Walker is introduced as a hunter who believes all monsters must die

Dean is arrested for murder and Sam works with a detective to prove a ghost committed the crime; Hendrickson the FBI agent is introduced

A shapeshifter robs a bank and the brothers go in to stop it; Hendrickson escalates the manhunt and Sam and Dean become full fugitives

The Trickster makes his debut, warping reality on a college campus; the brothers can't figure out who he is yet, setting up a major S3/S5 reveal

A djinn puts Dean into a wish-world where Mary never died and he has a normal life; he realizes none of it is real and chooses to wake up -- devastating

A cursed rabbit's foot gives perfect luck then kills you when lost; Bela Talbot is introduced and Sam loses his shoe in an iconic comedy beat

Gordon Walker escapes prison and is turned into a vampire; Dean kills him and afterward teaches Sam to maintain the Impala in an emotional passing-the-torch scene

Pagan gods posing as a suburban couple kidnap people at Christmas; flashbacks to young Sam and Dean's lonely holiday are devastating, and the present-day ending is quietly heartbreaking

Ed and Harry from Hell House return with a found-footage show called Ghostfacers; they investigate a real haunting in a Morton house with the Winchesters

A shapeshifter recreates classic monster movies in black and white; a charming love letter to Universal horror with zero lore stakes

Dean is infected with ghost sickness that makes him terrified of everything; the Eye of the Tiger blooper after the credits became an iconic fan moment

Dean and Sam wake up as corporate office workers with no memory of hunting; Zachariah is behind it, testing whether they'd choose hunting even without their memories

A Supernatural fan convention is haunted by a real ghost; Chuck is there as a panelist and the meta commentary on fandom is affectionate and funny

The dead return to life in Bobby's town including his wife Karen; she's been resurrected by Death as a test, and Bobby has to put her down again

Bobby's day-to-day life managing hunter calls, fighting a Japanese demon, and trying to get his soul back from Crowley; Jensen Ackles directed

Dean is abducted by fairies in a Tinkerbell-sized encounter; soulless Sam investigates with cold logic while Dean fights tiny creatures -- bizarre and beloved comedy

A parasitic Khan worm from Eve infects hunters at a cannery; Bobby accidentally kills Rufus under its influence -- one of the show's most painful accidental deaths

Sam and Dean travel to 1861 Wyoming to find phoenix ash to kill Eve; they meet Samuel Colt himself and Dean gets to play cowboy

Dean is transported back to 1944 and teams up with Eliot Ness to fight the god Chronos; a fun period piece with genuine stakes and great chemistry

A serial killer Jeffrey was once exorcised by the brothers; he's been trying to get re-possessed because the demon made him feel powerful -- genuinely disturbing

Charlie returns for a LARP event that has a real fairy curse running through it; Dean gets into character with gusto and the episode is pure lighthearted fun

Charlie is trapped in a fear-djinn nightmare based on a video game; Sam is deteriorating from the trials and Charlie helps him find information between adventures

Flashbacks reveal teen Dean spent time at a boys' home called Sonny's after being caught shoplifting; he had a chance at a normal life but chose Sam

Jody and Donna Hanscum team up at a sheriff's retreat where vampires are feeding on tourists; the Jody-Donna dynamic is immediately delightful

Dean is magically de-aged to fourteen and must survive as a teenager; Hansel and Gretel's witch is involved and the episode is warmer than it has any right to be

Sam's childhood imaginary friend Sully turns out to be a Zanna (child-guardian creature) who is being murdered; Sam must confront his lonely childhood and the comfort Sully provided

Bobby and Rufus investigate the same case in different time periods with an elegant parallel structure; their bickering friendship is pitch-perfect and the soul-eater is creepy

Sam is shot on a werewolf hunt and Dean thinks he's dead; Dean kills himself to negotiate with Billie in the veil, then fights his way back -- raw and intense

A 1900s-era angel named Isham has a grudge against a human named Lily Sunder; Cas learns his old garrison massacred a human child, not a Nephilim as they were told

Dean is cursed by a witch and progressively forgets everything including his own name; Rowena breaks the spell, and the journey through Dean's memory loss is devastatingly performed

Sam, Dean, and Cas are pulled into the animated world of Scooby-Doo; they solve a mystery with the Mystery Gang while trying to hide that real ghosts exist

Dean hides in the bunker watching horror movies while a haunted action figure comes to life at a comic shop; a pure fun breather episode with great Dean character moments

A gorgon paralyzes victims while a snake feeds on them; Jack absorbs Michael's grace and regains his powers, but Michael escapes Dean's mental cage in the process

Eileen is brought back from the dead by a spell Sam discovers; Sam reconnects with her while Dean and Cas remain at odds over the handling of Jack and Mary

A wood nymph named Mrs. Butters activates the bunker's full magical capabilities; the boys celebrate every holiday they missed in one day before learning she was a MoL weapon