Episodes A New Fan Needs To See
6 – Lazarus Rising
“I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition” Dean comes back from hell by the hand of an angel and god has plans for him – the whole game changes.
Oh and Sam can exorcise demons with his mind.
7 – In the Beginning
Dean goes back in time to meet his mother and discovers that the Winchester family tradition of hunting and making deals didn’t start with John, the YED really did kill his entire family and his end game was a whole lot bigger than a p*** poor demon army, we know what Mary was sorry for, that the angels are onto Sam and what he is doing wth Ruby and in the end so is Dean.
8 – Heaven and Hell
It was a toss up between this episode and ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ but ‘Heaven and Hell’ won out because of a couple of reasons. Dean’s speech at the end was a huge factor in this, it’s such a huge moment for the character, not only revealing such a huge part of how Dean is thinking and feeling since his return from hell and that he feels that he is now in the place that he can admit all his guilt, shame and pain to his brother. This moment also has huge implications for the end of season 4 and season 5. It’s such a vital moment for Dean’s character and as we later find out a crucial development for the story. There was also the reveal that only 4 angels have ever seen God and that although claiming to be acting on orders direct from the man upstairs that actually there might be a management crisis up in heaven and the idea of angels rebelling. And finally, I only noticed this recently after seeing the season finale that Anna talks to Dean about how it’s better to be human to feel pain and evil rather than feel nothing at all, a sentiment which he is still sceptical about at the time but is similar in tone to the speech he give Castiel while in the ‘green room’ that he’d rather have all those things then be a Stepford wife. While I don’t think that Anna is right when she says that angels have no emotions, she raises a good point in that they don’t see the world and humanity the same way as humans do and it highlights the importance of the relationship of Cas and Dean and Dean as Cas’s window to humanity.
9 – On the Head of a Pin
Such a superb episode – dark, powerful, intense and oh so heartbreaking. The angels seem to operate the ends justify the means policy, Cas is being lied to but has faith and begins to think for himself and make his own decisions “you can’t win Uriel, I still serve God” (can i get a hell yeah). Angels are rebelling left right and centre, Sam’s drinking demon blood, Dean broke in hell and in doing so broke the first seal, which devastates him and destroys him so he has nothing left.
There were some just brilliant lines in this episode, from the great, the brilliant Ben Edlund:
“If I go in there you won’t like what will come out”
“There’s something in my throat, I think it is my throat”
“I don’t know what to do, please tell me what to do”
“Strange how a leaky pipe can undo the work of angels when we ourselves are supposed to be the agents of fate.”
“Now.. I can kill”
“I’m not all here, I’m not strong enough. I guess I’m not the man either of our dads wanted me to be. Find someone else. It’s not me.”
“Miracle …now”
10 – Lucifer Rising
Ruby is evil (fangirls all across the world scream I knew it) and Sam goes the final step only to realise he was lied to and manipulated, “God has left the building” ….maybe, Zach and “senior management” let the demons break the seals, while other angels fought and died to stop them, maybe it’s not just humanity they see as collateral damage, Dean kills Ruby with Sam’s help, Azazel’s plan was really about raising Lucifer and using Sam to break the final seal, the boys are back together (yay!), Bobby and Cas are many levels of awesome and Lucifer is rising…
As I’ve been writing this list I have come to a greater appreciation for this show and the writing as you see elements that began early on in the series wind their way through the story and surface with significance later and aid the development of both the characters and the story in such a subtle manner as it is seamlessly woven in that it is only later on that you understand and appreciate how the seeds of later events and developments were sown.
Hats off to Kripke and his talented team!
Fantastic list Bethany! Thanks for posting this here for us Alice.
I think you did a great job Bethany. I’ll have to sit and let it stew before I could even think of offering alternatives, IF I could think of any. Nice job.
Hats off indeed …
One of the great things about this show ( apart from the sex and the angst and the mayhem and the sarky one-liners and the scary bits and the sex and the silly bits and the sex and the faint possibility of undead reptiles at some point in the future ) is the slow-burn story line which I’m only just coming to appreciate now I can look back over the seasons and see it developing.
Good choices, as I’ve said somewhere else I’m in awe of people who can come up with any kind of list that they don’t immediately change their minds about … Can you bottle it? 😆
Great choices Bethany! The way you explain the choice of this 10 ep, it makes perfect sence that this one’s are the need to see ep (and of course any new fan will be as addicted as us and will go see all the eps!)
Thaks for posting this for us Alice 🙂
With respect to Bethany, “Heaven and Hell” is a truly terrible episode, and I wouldn’t show it to anyone I wanted to become a fan of the show. I think “On the Head of a Pin” is pretty weak on executing its intent too.
I don’t have enough distance from season four yet to know which episodes I’d consider vital, but I’d take those two off the list to make room for the pilot and something really great from season two or three, like “What Is..” or “A Very Supernatural Christmas.” New fans should get to see a few fun, quality episodes as well as the mytharc-heavy season four episodes.
Hats of Bethany!
That ain’t easy to do. I’ve been toying with a couple of list and frankly can’t boil it down to ten (well, I could if I really, really, really tried) but I haven’t.
I love your ‘subjective’ rules (hee, hee) and your style of writing that reflects your character..great job. Thanks for bravely tackling the impossible and giving yourself an impossible task and then pulling it off.
I don’t think heaven and hell was that good an episode either, however my point was it reveals a lot of plot and that someone just jumping in might need to catch up with. With on the head of a pin not only is it a brilliant episode (a personal favourite so yes i’m biased) but it reveals so much about the boys characters their mental states history, you get such a feel for where they are that I included it. Plus Cas is awesome in this episode – yes I’m very biased!
Thanks for all the comments, it’s interesting to see what other people think… and thanks to Alice for publishing my random thoughts that I had at work during a very long and boring conference call.