Looking Back at Season 8: Supernatural S8 Episode Titles Explained, Part 1

It’s that time again! I can’t believe that season 8 is over. It was such a fun ride so let’s re-live it through the episode titles. If you’re not familiar with this article series I go through the season episode by episode and find the pop culture references behind the titles. I’m always surprised by some of these pop culture references. The thought that goes into some of these titles blows my mind. I have a tendency to overlook a few good references here and there so if I’ve missed anything make sure to comment below!

8.1 “We Need to Talk About Kevin”

In this awesome season opener, Dean returns from a year in Purgatory with a new friend. He finds Sam living a normal life with his girlfriend Amelia and we learn all about the power of the demon tablet.

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a 2003 novel written by Lionel Shriver. The book follows a fictional school massacre and is written in the perspective of the mother of the killer. The book was adapted into film in 2011.

Besides the name Kevin, it doesn’t seem these two stories have much in common. To be fair, I haven’t read the book or seen the movie.  

8.2 “What’s Up, Tiger Mommy?”

In this episode, Kevin convinces Sam and Dean that they need to find his mother and make sure she is safe. Mrs. Tran learns the truth about her son and bids her soul to save him in the strangest auction I’ve ever seen.

I really didn’t know what to think about the meaning of this episode title. Then I searched the meaning of “tiger mom” and it all made sense. According to Urban Dictionary, a tiger mom is “a mother who is overly strict with her child in order to foster an academically competitive spirit. This form of upbringing is intended to direct a child towards financially successful careers at the potential risk of feeling emotionally unfulfilled and/or socially inept.” Now who could they be talking about?

8.3 “Heartache”

In this episode Sam and Dean meet Brick Holmes, a Mayan athlete who exchanges human hearts for immortality. The episode was directed by Jensen Ackles and gave us some really beautiful dream-like flashbacks of Sam’s life with Amelia.

This title seems pretty obvious since this episode revolved around missing hearts. I don’t think there’s anything else to it. Have I missed something?

8.4 “Bitten”

This episode is shown from the perspective of three college student’s through home video. Things get interesting when one of the kids is bitten by a werewolf and starts to change. This episode got mixed reviews from fans but I absolutely loved it! I thought it was fun and inventive. (I know you didn’t ask what I thought!)

Like “Heartache”, this episode title is pretty self explanatory. So I will leave you with my favorite quote from the episode.

“Is it just me or are you getting a workplace romance vibe from those two?”

8.5 “Blood Brother”

This is the episode in which Dean take a “personal day” to help Benny. It is chock-full of Purgatory flashbacks and features the greatest slow motion moment of pure emotion known to man. (Too much?)

We’ve all probably heard the term “blood brother” before. I usually think of kids cutting their thumbs and rubbing their cuts together so that they share the same blood. (Side note: Kids are gross sometimes.) But what you may not know, because I didn’t, is that it actually has two different meanings:

1. A brother by birth.
2. A man who has sworn to treat another man as a brother.

Talk about encapsulating an entire episode in the title.

8.6 “Southern Comfort”

In this episode Sam and Dean run into Garth who has stepped into Bobby’s role since he died. They investigate a series of murders linked to a specter who is possessing its victims to help them seek revenge.

This was a heated episode with conversations that went like this:
Dean: “Benny’s been more of a brother to me this past year than you’ve ever been!”

And this:
Dean: “Everything you’ve ever done since you climbed into my ride is deceive me.”

And one more dagger through the heart for good measure:
Sam: “I just might be that hunter one day that runs into Benny and ices him”
Dean: “Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it”
Sam: “Yeah, you keep saying that.”

So in the midst of all this brotherly drama, we needed a little ray of light. A little southern comfort, if you will. Cheesy, I know. But I really do think Garth was the “southern comfort” referenced in this title. He came in when Sam and Dean didn’t want to look at each other and he reminded them what it means to be forgiving. What do you guys think?

8.7 “A Little Slice of Kevin”

In this episode, Kevin and the other future prophets are abducted by Crowley. Kevin is forced to translate the angel tablet and reveals the existence of other tablets, including the demon tablet. This is also the episode in which Castiel meets Naomi for the first time.

This title is a play on words. Obviously. There is a popular idiom; “a little slice of Heaven” used to describe things that seem to be a glimpse of Heaven on earth. This episode has a great deal to do with Heaven but I think we can take this episode title a bit more literally as well. Crowley takes a very real slice out of Kevin when he cuts his finger off.

8.8 “Hunteri Heroici”

In this episode, Castiel decides to become a hunter. He joins Sam and Dean in investigating a string of deaths inspired by cartoons.

Cass: “I understand. The bird represents God, and the coyote is man, endlessly chasing the divine but never able to catch him. It’s hilarious.”

This episode is chock-full of anvils, dark holes and physical comedy. This episode also gave us the best Sam flashbacks of the season in my opinion. Followed by the soap opera twist where we find out Amelia’s husband is still alive.

Looney Tunes cartoons have a long-standing tradition of giving their characters descriptive, Latin-esque species names. For example, the Road Runner has had names such as Speedipus Rex, Acceleratti Incredibilis and Delicius-Delicius. While the Coyote was given names like Carnivorous Vulgaris, Eatibus Anythingus and Road-Runnerus Digestus. In this episode, Dean was actually labeled the Hunteri Heroici. A fitting name, I think!

8.9 “Citizen Fang”

In this episode Sam hires Martin, a hunter and recently released mental patient to keep an eye on Benny. When Martin stumbles across an apparent victim of Benny’s he calls Sam. When Martin and Sam take off to hunt Benny, Dean sends a fake distress text from Amelia to distract Sam.

And cue the sweet, sweet drama!

Dean: “Every relationship I’ve ever had has gone to crap at some point.”
Sam: “Must feel great finding someone you can trust after all these years.”

Dean: “Guys like us, we don’t get a home. We don’t get family.”
Benny: “You got Sam.”
Dean: “Yeah…”

This episode title seems to play off the title of the 1941 film, “Citizen Kane”. The film begins with the death of its main character, Charles Foster Kane. Kane dies holding a snow globe and uttering his final words; “Rosebud”. The rest of the film is told through a sequence of flashbacks and interviews with Kane’s acquaintances as a reporter named Jerry Thompson tries to find the meaning behind Kane’s final words. Thompson never discovers their meaning. But he does come to this conclusion:

“Mr. Kane was a man who got everything he wanted, and then lost it. Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn’t get, or something he lost.”

At the end of the film, the audience discovers that Rosebud was the name of the sled from Kane’s childhood – an allusion to the only time in his life that he was truly happy.

This title is very appropriate for this episode. The most obvious parallel is Sam. Amelia is his Rosebud, she represents a time in his life when he was truly happy. And his choice to step down and give her husband a chance means that he has lost that happiness forever.

8.10 “Torn and Frayed”

This episode picks up with a good amount of tension remaining between Sam and Dean. Sam and Dean part ways after a fight about Benny. Sam meets up with Amelia and the two decide that if they both show up to the same hotel in two days, they will give up everything to be together. Meanwhile, Dean and Castiel attempt to save the angel Samandriel who is being tortured by a demon to send out distress signals to Naomi. It is revealed to Castiel that he is being controlled by Naomi but he is powerless against her and is forced to kill Samandriel. The episode ends with Sam’s decision not to meet Amelia and Dean’s decision to end his friendship with Benny.

“Torn and Frayed” is the title of a Rolling Stones song off the 1972 album “Exile on Main Street”. Hmmm…where have I heard that name before? The song follows a vagabond-like guitar player whose coat is torn and frayed.

Hey let him follow you down,
Way underground wind and he’s bound.
Bound to follow you down,
Just a dead beat right off the street.
Bound to follow you down.
Well the ballrooms and smelly bordellos
And dressing rooms filled with parasites.
On stage the band has got problems,
They’re a bag of nerves on first nights.
He ain’t tied down to no home town,
Yeah, and he thought he was wreckless.
You think he’s bad, he thinks you’re mad,
Yeah, and the guitar player gets restless.

For me, this isn’t the clearest of parallels, but I can see some connections to Sam and Dean in these lyrics. Not tied down to any home, bound together and willing to follow each other down. That sounds about right.

8.11 “LARP and the Real Girl”

Sam and Dean investigate the death of two LARPers and run into the one and only Charlie Bradbury. As it turns out, the killer is using a fairy to do his dirty work and Sam and Dean must find her master. Charlie realizes that she needs to stop running from her problems and Sam and Dean decide that they need to learn to have a little fun every now and then. Cue Dean’s Braveheart speech followed by the greatest still shot ever.

This episode title seems to be a play on the 2007 film, “Lars and the Real Girl”. The movie follows Lars, a socially awkward but kind man who has entered a romantic relationship with an anatomically correct sex doll he calls Bianca. Lars reveals his “girlfriend” to his fellow townspeople and they slowly begin to accept her as part of the town. Eventually, Lars meets a girl named Margo and the two become friends. Soon, Bianca becomes ill and needs to be rushed to the emergency room. Bianca eventually “dies” and Lars re-enters the real world with Margo.

This parallel works well for Charlie. She has been hiding out in world of LARPing where she is seen as a queen and a hero. In the real world, she doesn’t feel like she matters. But at the end of the episode she finally decides to stop hiding and join the real world again.

So there is part one. Were you surprised by any of the references? Did I miss anything? Sound off below!