After 15 long years, Supernatural finally ended near the end of 2020. Throughout 15 seasons, Supernatural’s mythology became more complicated and convoluted, going through multiple showrunners and creative teams, which made it hard to remember every plot thread. Well, hard for the writers.
Fans, on the other hand, have been pretty good about pointing out the show’s flaws, both while it was on the air and ever since it went off. As Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) worked to avert multiple apocalypses, they did their best to make sure nothing went unresolved, but even they didn’t seem to catch everything. So, in honor of the show’s 15 seasons — and all the talk about a potential Season 16 — here are 15 unresolved Supernatural plotlines for you to hunt down yourself.
Dean’s First Love Is Forgotten After Season 1
The first season of Supernatural featured some of the best monsters and moments, but one of the most personal plot points involved the introduction of Dean’s first true love, Cassie Robinson (played by future Arrowverse star Megalyn Echikunwoke). Cassie only ever appeared in one episode (“Route 666”), and a poor one at that, but in that time she helped the boys take down a racist ghost truck, and made an impression. Once the episode ends, Dean and Cassie say their goodbyes, with Dean confident that they’ll meet again (and maybe even settle down) down the road. Needless to say, Cassie never re-enters the picture, despite the show seemingly having more plans for her in the future. Yeah, it’s odd that we never hear from her again, but hey, that’s the tragic love life of Dean Winchester.
‘Supernatural’ Never Addressed How Death Changed Sam Forever
After Sam is killed at the end of the first hour of the two-part Season 2 finale “All Hell Breaks Loose,” Dean makes a deal with a demon to bring his brother back. After Sam is resurrected (with some serious strings attached), they finally take out the Yellow-Eyed Demon (Fredric Lehne), but not before the creature warns them that everything might not be as it seems. Azazel taunts Dean in the final moments before his death, asking how certain he is that what came back was “100% pure Sam.” While demons certainly lie (and that might be the case here), the show doesn’t really explore this idea further, despite Sam being increasingly more violent upon his return. Sure, Sam ended up using his demonic powers in Season 4, but that didn’t seem to be the difference that Azazel was alluding to…
‘Supernatural’s Deadly Sins Are Still Out There
After the Devil’s Gate was opened, thousands of demons and ghosts were released from Hell heading into Season 3, including the Seven Deadly Sins. According to Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver), the last time these demons were “topside” was during the Dark Ages (“The Magnificent Seven”). A few of the Sins were killed by Ruby (Katie Cassidy), but some of them lived another day. Since Envy, Sloth, Lust, and Wrath all survived their battle with the Winchesters, it seemed like they’d eventually return to finish the job. But they were forever a “no show.” Given their apparent importance in the demonic hierarchy, it seems unlikely that the remaining four Sins wouldn’t come back for revenge, especially when Hell needed a new leader after Crowley (Mark A. Sheppard). With how often later seasons like to bring back characters from the more successful early seasons, it’s a wonder we never saw the remaining four Sins again.
Where Is Jesse Turner, the Missing Antichrist?
When Lilith (Katherine Boecher) begins breaking the 66 Seals to free Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino) and start the Apocalypse, the angel Castiel (Misha Collins) reveals to Sam and Dean that the young Jesse Turner (Gattlin Griffith) will eventually become the Antichrist in Season 4’s “I Believe The Children Are Our Future.” Cass says that “with a word,” Jesse would destroy the heavenly host and the universe would never be the same. Throughout the show, both Lucifer’s actual son, Jack (Alexander Calvert), and even Sam have been referred to as “the Antichrist” due to their dark abilities, but Jesse, a half-human/half-demon cambion with god-like reality-warping abilities, is the real deal. What could’ve been an interesting turn of events later on in the series was completely forgotten as Jesse’s role was filled by Jack by Season 13.
Some Horsemen Left ‘Supernatural’ Quicker Than They Appeared
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse arrive in Season 5 to usher in Lucifer’s arrival, and boy do they make an entrance. The final Horseman, Death (Julian Richings), would become a staple of the series for the next few years, but his brothers, Famine (James Otis), Pestilence (Matt Frewer), and War (Titus Welliver), never made it past their introductions. With their “power rings” still intact, fans have begged the question of why the remaining Horsemen never bothered to track down the Winchesters. It would have been easy to bring back these apocalyptic trailblazers, either to retrieve their rings from the Winchesters or hunt down Team Free Will for foiling their plans. Heck, since Dean killed their brother Death in Season 10, you’d think they’d be gunning for revenge.
Is Ben Braeden Actually Dean Winchester’s Son?
After first appearing in Season 3’s “The Kids Are Alright,” Dean has since speculated that he is the biological father of the young Ben Braeden (Nicholas Elia), the son of his former girlfriend Lisa (Cindy Sampson). In fact, Dean lived with Ben and Lisa for a whole year between Seasons 5 and 6, leaving hunting behind. While some hoped (for Dean’s sake) that his story could end here, it wasn’t in the cards. While Lisa says Dean isn’t the boy’s father, he not only looks like the older Winchester but acts like him too (they even have the same music taste). In Season 6’s “Let It Bleed,” a demon possessing Lisa “reveals” that Dean is Ben’s father, but this line is mostly chalked up to “demon lies” (which is fair). Afterward, Dean leaves his foster family for good and forbids Sam from ever mentioning them again. If Ben is Dean’s son (and we have more reason to believe he is than not) that’s pretty cold.
Jacob Never Came Back To Hunt Dean Winchester
In the Season 7 episode “The Girl Next Door,” we learn that, as a kid, Sam made friends with a harmless Kitsune who refused to kill to survive. This kindly monster, Amy Pond (Jewel Staite), would later have a child of her own, one she needed to kill humans for, so he could survive. Against Sam’s wishes, Dean kills Amy, only for her young son, Jacob (Lyova Beckwitt), to walk in to see the hunter standing over his mother’s body. This traumatic event ends with Dean telling Jacob to “be good,” to which Jacob replies that he’ll hunt Dean himself one day. Jacob would have been a great addition for a “monster-of-the-week” episode later on, or even as Dean’s final nemesis in the series finale “Carry On,” but the writers either forgot about Jacob or the monster moved on with his life. More than likely, it was the former.
‘Supernatural’ Season 8 Didn’t Close the Gates of Hell
The whole point of Season 8 was that Sam and Dean would finally slam the Gates of Hell shut forever, an honorable goal with an even more honorable end. With every demon down under, the world would be a much safer place and Supernatural could’ve instead focused on being a monster-hunting horror show like it started out. Sam completes the first two trials with relative ease, which involve killing a Hellhound (“Trial and Error”) and saving a soul from Hell (“Taxi Driver”). But the final trial, “curing” a demon, is interrupted by Dean once the elder Winchester realizes that, for the trials to be complete, Sam will have to die (“Sacrifice”). This act saves Sam’s life, but it puts the world more at risk. Dean justifies his actions by saying that they have enough knowledge to turn the tide, but it’s all talk. Sure, Sam later cures demon Dean (“Soul Survivor”), but that’s about it. They never rescue another innocent soul from Hell (not really) and the Hellhound-seeing glasses are only seen once more. The tide never changes, and demons still walk the Earth. Nice one, guys.
What About All Those ‘Supernatural’ Monsters in Chicago?
Supernatural’s first real attempt at a spin-off occurred in the Season 9 episode “Bloodlines,” which introduced us to the Chicago-based ensemble, including human CPD officer Ennis Ross (Lucien Laviscount), shapeshifter David Lassiter (Nathaniel Buzolic), and werewolf Violet Duval (Melissa Roxburgh). The episode revealed a mafia-esque monster conspiracy that secretly runs the Windy City. But fans didn’t exactly love the episode’s change of pace, and Supernatural: Bloodlines didn’t take off, which is a shame since Sam and Dean never return to Chicago again. With the ultimate fates of Ennis, David, Violet, and the cast unknown, “Bloodlines” left us with a lot more questions than answers. But more than that, the Winchesters learn that five monster families hold a grip over Chicago, and they never go back to do anything about it. Spin-off or not, that doesn’t add up.
Where Did the Stynes Run Off To?
Speaking of stories that deserve some greater resolution, the Frankensteins (also referred to as “The Stynes”) completely disappeared after Season 10. While an easy explanation is that Dean, influenced by the Mark of Cain, slaughtered the entire American branch of Stynes after they killed Charlie Bradbury (Felicia Day), it was said earlier that season that the immortal monster family lives all over the world. With tendrils on every continent, it doesn’t seem likely that these gruesome, power-hungry fiends would ignore an entire branch of their family tree falling to the ground all at once. Yet, the Stynes never show their face in America again after “The Prisoner,” forcing us to wonder why these magic-dabbling semi-zombies never took the bait. Supernatural could’ve used some more body horror anyway.
The Winchesters Put “Hunting” Over “Saving”
In Season 11, Sam Winchester went back to his early Supernatural roots. “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” brought back the Sam who won fans’ hearts in the show’s early years, the man who tried his best to save everyone. This season, Sam exorcises more demons than he kills and saves as many infected people from a rabid virus as he can. This was a really welcome change at the time that reminded us that the Winchesters weren’t just cold and calculated killers, but it didn’t last long. Unfortunately, this character arc died halfway through the season and Sam doesn’t insist on saving the demon-possessed ever again. After all the experiences they’ve had with demons previously, especially since Sam himself was once possessed, you’d think the boys would make this a higher priority than simply killing their black-eyed enemies every time.
The Thule Society and the Judah Initiative Never Fought Again
The Thule Society was introduced as a Nazi “secret society of necromancers” whose nemesis, the Judah Initiative, was a group of Jewish men who had fought them since World War II. In Season 12, they return with a resurrected Hitler (Gil Darnell) whom Dean then kills and brags about for the rest of the series (“The One You’ve Been Waiting For”). Even though there’s a remnant of the Thule out there, they never return to the show. This is especially strange since their Führer was killed by the Winchesters, and his death had never really stopped them before. Also, the Judah Initiative, particularly Aaron Bass (Adam Rose) and his Golem (John DeSantis), are still hunting the Thule solo, so why not call the Winchesters for backup?
Were the Shedim Freed from Hell?
When Colonel Sanders-knockoff Asmodeus (Jefferey Vincent Parise) showed up in Season 13, he wasn’t taken very seriously. His over-the-top accent and unthreatening demeanor didn’t exactly strike the same sort of terror that other Supernatural baddies had before. But he did have one truly evil plan: releasing the Shedim. These were Hell’s most savage creatures, so evil that God locked them away deep. After some bad info from the demon, Jack almost releases these creatures into the world (“The Rising Son”). All we see of these things is a scary-looking arm from the ground, but we know that they mean business. In the final season, Chuck (Rob Benedict) opens every locked door in Hell, which seems like it would include the Shedim too, but they prove a no-show. Maybe Chuck decided they were too evil to be let out, but regardless, it seemed like a huge plothole for a villain who prides himself as a writer.
‘Supernatural’ Should’ve Returned to Grace-Enhanced Monsters
After the Alternate Michael (Christian Keyes) from Apocalypse World goes back on his deal with Dean heading into Season 14, he takes control of the older Winchester’s body to roam the earth and remake it in his own image. To wipe out the world’s hunters, he mixes angelic grace with monster DNA to create grace-enhanced monsters, which is a really unique and engaging idea. One of these grace-fueled monsters turns out to be Garth (DJ Qualls), the friendly werewolf hunter who has aided the Winchesters for years (“The Spear”). Grace-enhanced monsters are mentioned again the following season when Garth’s youngest children are born with enhanced abilities (“The Heroes’ Journey”), but the Winchesters never go up against any grace-enhanced monsters again, even though there are plenty still out there who retained their new power.
‘Supernatural’s Series Finale Ignores Sam’s Last Love
When Eileen Leahy (Shoshannah Stern) first showed up in Season 11’s “Into The Mystic,” only to be killed a year later (“There’s Something About Mary”), we didn’t think she’d return. But Sam managed to turn her ghost into flesh, bringing her back to life in Season 15’s “Golden Time.” The two of them cultivated a careful romance that culminated later that year. That is, until Chuck wiped everyone from existence. When Jack eventually takes Chuck’s powers, he restores Eileen and everyone else to the land of the living. But when we last see Sam in the series finale “Carry On” (Supernatural originally had a different ending), it seems that he eventually gained a new family of his own. While many have speculated that Sam’s wife is Eileen (admittedly, her face is obscured on purpose), many more fans are upset at the character’s lack of clear resolution, a recurring issue in Supernatural’s final season. We may never know if Sam and Eileen have finally settled down, but there’s no doubt that she’s still out there.
Source: collider.com