Episodes I Don’t Rewatch
We’re obsessed, yes? We clear our schedules for Thursday night (or celebrate when outside events clear them for us). We check in here as often as real life permits and the withdrawal pains of Hellatus demand. We’ve got the DVDs and the downloads, and rewatch obsessively, sometimes in chronological order to get the benefit of the story arc as it was meant to be seen, sometimes picking out our favourites for some comfort watching. But what about the episodes we skip over, the ones where the DVD is not getting worn out, the ones not bookmarked in the favourites file? The orphan episodes that we don’t rewatch, and which don’t get much attention in articles here. Let’s try to work out why, and maybe even give one or two of them the love and attention they deserve.
Of course, the trouble with this article is that in order to write about the episodes I don’t rewatch, I’ve going to have to rewatch them. I’ll think about that one later – I’m sure Jas will have an explanation if I ever make it onto her couch.
Let me clarify that this isn’t necessarily about the “worst” episodes. Although they’re not at the top of my rewatch list, I’ll happily look at Bugs again, or Red Sky at Morning, the two that Chuck would have liked to re-write and which often seem to come up as the most problematic or least favourite episodes. In fact I think Chuck was wrong on Bugs: it is a decent episode until it gets to the showdown in the attic, and has some good development of the brotherly relationship. (It also has Dean in the steam shower. I appreciate the idea of Dean in a steam shower almost as much as Dean must have appreciated being in it, after all those motel rooms with tacky decoration and no doubt worse than tacky plumbing.) And Chuck must have written Red Sky at Morning and then forgotten that his fangirl publisher edited it out of the final lineup: it isn’t one of the titles in the row of Supernatural books that are shown in The Monster at the End of This Book.
I’m also going to qualify the judgments in this article by making the point that Supernatural is a work in progress. That means that there are things about it which can’t properly be judged until Supernatural has finished, at least until the planned end of Season 5, and we can understand the completed story arc. The ongoing nature of the five year enterprise that is Supernatural can have significant effects. One previous example of an episode where later developments have resulted in some significant revisionism is Croatoan, which had its payoff three years later in The End. Another is Mystery Spot, which has been at the top of a lot of people’s lists of best episodes since it was broadcast, but which only started to climb mine after the payoff of Changing Channels, two seasons later. This potential for a future payoff makes it difficult to judge some of the things which have come up in the most recent episodes: for instance, we don’t yet know what the outcome will be for the storyline on Dean’s amulet which was started in Good God Y’All. (I haven’t a clue what’s coming on the amulet, but I’m firmly expecting it to end up as an entirely satisfactory resolution of the plot point. In Kripke We Trust.) So when judging episodes, I’m prepared to admit that something may come along in the future to change that judgment. Make me look silly, even. For your sake, gentle reader (be gentle, please) it’s a risk I’m prepared to take.
Trying to work out why I don’t rewatch something has proved surprisingly tricky. My starting point has been the second ever comment I made on this site, which was a list of my favourite comfort episodes: Faith (Dean is saved from death), In my Time of Dying (Dean is – oh, yes, a theme emerges), What Is and What Should Never Be (Dean’s dream), The Kids Are Alright (another dream of Dean’s) and The Monster At the End of This Book (Sam doesn’t sleep with Lilith). So it’s clear I like happy endings, or at least the hope of a happy ending, or even just the deferral of an unhappy ending. And Dean. And Sam. (Possibly Dean a little more than Sam, but definitely both Dean and Sam.) (I seem to like parentheses too, but I’ll work on that. Not intending to work on the Dean and Sam thing, no way.)
So, finally (no more digressions, I promise) here are the ones I don’t rewatch, and my guesses as to why.
Season 1
I love Season 1. I’ve especially loved rewatching it now that so many of the themes which first came up in Season 1 have been picked up and built on in later seasons. There’s nothing I skip if rewatching the whole season. When watching Devil’s Trap, though, I do follow it by immediately watching In My Time of Dying, thus subverting Kripke’s evil tendency towards end of season cliffhangers.
Season 2
No Exit might have been on this list at one time, but after Jo’s final exit in Abandon All Hope, how could I possibly not want to go back and watch this one, to understand where Jo ended up by watching how she started out? Croatoan too showed what happened in one small town, when in the future Zachariah shows to Dean in The End, there would have been thousands of towns in which the story of Croatoan was repeated.
All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1 is an episode I do rewatch, but only when I can immediately follow it with Part 2, as Dean grieving over Sam’s dead body is not an image I want to be left with. How on earth did those of you who watched the original broadcast manage to cope for a whole week with that image in your minds? All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1 is my reason to be cheerful that I only found Supernatural in Season 4.
Season 3
Season 3 is definitely the season I rewatch least, and the one which I mention least in articles. Issues with the overall story arc in Season 3 can be attributed to the effects of the writer’s strike and having to wrap everything up in a total of just 16 episodes rather than the planned 22. But what about the individual episodes in Season 3?
One of the Season 3 episodes I’ve watched least is probably Bedtime Stories, and I’m not alone because the episode title gets only 28 mentions on The Winchester Family Business. Rewatching, it’s not a bad episode but there are maybe a couple of reasons why I found it missable. One is that the episode doesn’t set up the victims to be people I care much about, and another is that there isn’t much satisfaction in the vanquishing of the monster, the spirit of a little girl poisoned by her stepmother and acting out the fairy tales read to her by her father. Nor do Sam and Dean seem to be stretched by the episode: the tight time line set up at the start disappears when it’s shown that the monster is not a werewolf, and Dean’s fight with the big bad wolf is intercut with quiet and still scenes set in the hospital, undermining its effect. There’s also a big plot point left hanging at the end: whatever happened to the poor big bad wolf, who unknowingly committed four murders under the control and direction of a spirit? And the poisoning and murdering old woman in the house in the woods, too. Two things to like about the episode are that Dean and Sam seem to be looking particularly pretty, and Sam sneaking out at night to summon the cross-roads demon is an interesting forerunner to Season 4, when he’s sneaking out at night to see Ruby. So overall, I’ve put Bedtime Stories back on the “rewatch in sequence list” but watching it is never going to be a particularly special treat.
Oh, where do I begin? Season One I guess.
Season One: Dead In The Water, Hookman, Bugs, Route 666, Something Wicked (NO idea why, but I don’t like it), Dead Man’s Blood.
Season Two: No Exit (good choice!), Crossroad Blues (again no explanation why)
Season Three: The Magnificent Seven, Half of Sin City (I always watch the Casey/Dean part), Red Sky At Morning, Malleus Maleficarum, Long Distance Call. For the record, I absolutely LOVE Bedtime Stories. It’s one of my favorite all time episodes. Again, no idea why!
Season Four: Family Remains, Family Remains, and um, Family Remains. One of the worst episodes ever.
Season Five: None yet, although Fallen Idols is leading.
Thanks for sharing your list! This is something fun to do for Hellatus.
Some of the ones you mentioned are right up there for me. It is amazing how different yet similar we all are.
So for me;
Season 1: Dead in the Water, Bloody Mary, Hook Man, Route 666, The Benders, Hell House, Provenance
Season 2: No Exit, Crossroad Blues, Folsom Prison Blues
Season 3: Malleus Maleficarum, Ghostfacers
Season 4: Monster Movie, The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester, Wishful Thinking, Heaven and Hell (worst ep ever), Family Remains, Criss Angel, On the Head of a Pin
Why did i lose the rest of my post?? 🙁
Season 5: I Believe the Children are our Future. i know some people loved this but i found it really flat and boring.
Hey Faellie,
this was fun! Thanks a lot! Your term ‘orphan episodes’ really moved me, sniff. Poor, poor episodes, rotting away, starved for love… sob….
Sweetie, you’re welcome to my couch at any time, but I don’t think you need it… You’re perfectly normal (andI do hate that word), which includes a bit of craziness. Being a bit nuts only makes life colorful, and I don’t mind being crazy once in a while (and this coming from a therapist…, hell, I make a living on that, so keep the kooks coming, I want to go on vacation next year… Any ‘kook’ out there, I’m kidding, of course). So, it might just be: visit to Jas’ couch, cookies, hot chocolate and Loreena McKennitt… yep, it’s winter, come on… best time to give all those homeless calories a home by eating them…
Perhaps I should establish some kind of virtual couch here, you know ‘Dr.Crazy (I don’t have cowboy boots to call myself Dr.SexyM.D.) answers your questions’, oh God, lack of sleep does that to me sometimes…
Okay, where’s my list of episodes I don’t rewatch….? Delving into my own pathology here…? Well, why not…
Frankly, there’s no such episode I don’t ever rewatch, so the category would be: episodes I don’t watch often…
Season 1: Dead In The Water (great episode, but it reminds me of that MichellePfeiffer/Harrison Ford movie I’ve forgotten the title of that creeped me out big time, I wasn’t able to take a bath for over a month… talk about pathological fear), Skin (I always feel at the verge of vomitting when the guy loses his teeth, perhaps I should just close my eyes till that scene passes), Route 666 (don’t kill me, but I really did not like the actress playing the part of Cassie. For my ears she sounded like an acting student preparing for the entrance exam for drama school), Dead Man’s Blood (there are moments I’d like to slap Papa Winchester)
Season 2: Everybody Loves A Clown (simple reason:I’m terrified by clowns), No Exit (again: danger of puke), Roadkill (reminds me of a car accident I once had and – too much ghost whisperer-vibe in the end), Heart (now this is one of my all-time favourite episodes, but I end up sobbing helplessly every time I watch it, as it reminds me of the time in my life I lost the man I intended to marry and somehow, don’t even know why, this episode brings it up every time),
Season 3: The Magnificent Seven (well, the idea of the seven sins being demons has always bugged me, I can’t imagine how Jim Beaver was able to say those lines with a straight face), Time Is On My Side (same here, Faellie- they almost scraped Sam’s eye out… oh, dear),
Season 4: Family Remains (the idea of those poor kids, incest born, held captive behind the walls, in the end becoming animals… These things do happen, I’ve encountered the results of such a life in my job, thankfully not often. Perhaps I don’t like it because I’ve seen what that does to people, andI can’t relax watching this…), Criss Angel Is A Douchebag (well, that idiotic criss-angel-wannabe really pisses me off),
Season 5: Fallen Idol (don’t really know why, doesn’t really touch me), Abandon All Hope (rewatching it for writing my epitaph-article was hell. My best friend (who reminds me sometimes of Ellen, a lovely,lovely woman) has a wonderful daughter (gosh I love that girl, she just finished her studies and is looking for a job in costume design. She will end up accepting her costume oscar in the near future, I’m sure of it), and watching that episode kind of makes me more concerned about those two… They are a part of my family, I couldn’t bear losing them, I guess)
And that’s probably even more, Faellie, than you wanted to know….
Love Jas
I’ve got really low standards, everyone says so, so there aren’t that many I skip …
Yellow Fever didn’t tickle me at all, too many Eh! WTF! moments.
Same goes for Family Remains with its strangely literate feral car thieves and hugely killable central-casting family of red shirts.
Route 666 was just crap ( trucks are scary, though, ask any Biker … )
Houses Of The Holy had a stupid ending and worstest-ever MOTW.
Fallen Idols was so daft and flimsy it seemed to have wandered in from another series entirely …
On a different note, why do people in TV land always use big fat ship’s hawser-type rope to tie each other up with? Thin stringy stuff works much better.
Great point about payoffs boosting up a particular episode’s spot on The Ultimate List®, though I’m loathe to share because I’m a big fan of angsty, unhappy endings and I fear Jas will have me committed.
Jas, there’s a comedy duo here in Cleveland that used to be on late at night, and one of the running gags was Ben Crazy, M.D.. Since they’ve retired, feel free to take the crazy mantle. 😎
This is difficult because I usually (usually, he says) watch them in order, but here are the ones that have probably been seen the least, I guess:
Season one: Route 666 (heavy-handed much? Could’ve been done with a bit more aplomb, and that leads to my own digression, writers: I know it’s sulfur, you know it’s sulfur, the audience knows it’s sulfur, there is no need for Sam and/or Dean to say “sulfur.” Stop it.). Bugs or Dead in the Water or Wendigo, maybe, but I dig all of them at least a little for various reasons.
Alice, Dead Man’s Blood? Really?
Season two: Um, Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, but the ending is ace. Bring on the angst! Playthings, but only because the MOTW isn’t all that frightening. I don’t mind the slow pace. Hell, I probably watch The Ninth Gate at least once a month.
Season three: Definitely not Time Is On My Side (Rufus! Melonballer! :D). Bedtime Stories and Long-Distance Call are probably them, but I still watch them a decent amount.
Season four: Family Remains. The emotional parts of the episode are good, and the idea itself is cool, but poorly executed. Easily the worst ep since Route 666.
Yellow Fever was great, you’re all a bunch of un-American communists. (I’m kidding, don’t report me to the authorities)
Season five: I could see Fallen Idol being on this list. Only Time Will Tell, right Asia?
Hell, this was probably more difficult than coming up with a list of favorites.
I don’t know how to say that – but I’m also a fan of angsty endings… Should I commit myself? Maybe we could print some more t-shirts, eh, Randal?
Gosh I love the various opinions we find here, like a map of us… Don’t worry, no analysis coming up.
Hey, I just got a christmas gift from the guy who installed my heating, they do that every year, he said, so nice, really, and I got a panettone… All in all, it’s been a fantastic day so far…
😀 Jas
Episodes I don’t rewatch (unless it’s on TV as a rerun, that is)
S1: The Benders, Route 666
S2: Haven’t yet seen all of the episodes in this season.
S3: Ghostfacers
S4: Monster Movie.
All the others I rewatch, some more frequently than others. I love the first 4 episodes of S2 and frequently watch those over and over again. I also love Mystery Spot and all of S1 with those two exceptions. Tougher to pick my favorites since there are 88 to choose from. There are so episodes I truly dislike that it’s easier to pick those than to pick my favorites.
bgeesfan
Got angst?
I see millions of dollars in our future.
Gifts from a utility guy? Man, Deutschland sure is different.
Hmm.. This is a very interesting idea. I’d like to tribute my own non-rewatchables…
Season 1:
– Dead In The Water: The little kid does nothing for me, sorry
– Hookman: Lori was boring and the way she said “punished” drives me CRAZY!!! She deserved to be punished just for saying it 😀 And the actual hookman wasn’t that frightening, upclose anyway.
– Bugs :It was boring and the house/attic -scenes were just ridiculous.
– Route 666: Bad, just bad, okay? Jensen and Megalyn had zero chemistry and the whole plot was just… bad.
– Provenance: I like Sarah, and the story is interesting but I just don’t really care for it, don’t have a specific reason.
The Maybe-Baby -pile
– Asylum: This one’s tricky… I watch it sometimes, but sometimes I skip it, don’t really know why, it’s not a bad eppie.
– Hellhouse: This one is like Asylum, sometimes I watch it, sometimes I don’t. And still don’t know why.
– Faith: Nowadays it’s starting to grow on me, but I still reaaaally don’t like Leyla and her mom (also the actresses feel very flat to me). BUT the brother moments are golden.
5 out of 22… isn’t that bad 🙂
Season 2:
– No exit: I like Jo as a character but not a love interest. This felt too much like force-feeding her to the audience and the whole ghost -story was boring, plus Sam was pretty useless… which was the first, to me anyway.
– Playthings: Liked the whole hotel (the Shining) -vibe but the story doesn’t do anything for me.
– Hollywood Babylon: I just don’t like it, dunno why.
The Maybe-Baby -pile
– Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things: Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Don’t have a reason why.
– Tall tales: Sometimes I just don’t want ‘the funny’.
– Heart: I LOVE the ending, it’s one of my faves but the beginning of the eppie is too long and Madison sometimes just BUGS me (dunno why ’cause it doesn’t always happen) therefore I just shamelessly skip most of the ep and watch the last scenes…with rewinding. alot. The last scene of Dean with the tear and then the shot and he flinches and the music stops instantly…beautiful, cry-inducing, chin wibble, just W.O.W. One of the best endings ever.
S2 only had 3, wow.
Season 3:
– The kids are allright: I didn’t like the fact that Ben was SO much like Dean. Where did he get all that?! I liked Lisa, and the kids were creepy.
– Red Sky at Morning: I didn’t like the cougar-lady, not one bit… just no. And I liked Bela up until now. This is where she started to bug me… No, correction, it was AFTER this ’cause the guys saved her LIFE out of the goodness of their hearts and she still screwed them in the end, big time. bitch. But I kinda like her too. She had style. bitch. SEE? I’m torn. 🙂 “She’s the girl you love to hate” (Thanks Homer, with some grammatical liberties naturally *hee*).
– Long Distance Call: I just can’t see that Dean would believe so absolutely that it was REALLY John calling… And Sam felt off. And while I liked the idea of the whole “you’re so connected but you’ve never been so alone” -speach, that was the ‘only’ interesting point about the whole speach ’cause the one speaking it was b.o.r.i.n.g.
The Maybe-Baby -pile
– Dream a little Dream of me: I like this one but sometimes I just don’t like it…Hey, I like Bobby as much as the next guy but it kinda bugs me the whole “you’re like a father to me” and I hate his sometimes-deus-ex-machina -ways. In some eppies he just rubs me the wrong way….OR the way he is treated… I dunno, I’m torn again.. or I’m just not producing this out of my mind like I’d like to… But I LOVE Dean vs. Dean!! It’s my fave scenes in s3… and s5 🙂 Let’s just say I like this ep hm…80% of the time.
3.Hm… Kinda suprised, but not really, I like season 3.
Season 4:
– Are you there god…: I loved the “Lonely is the night” -opening… But the Ghosts (except Meg) were dissapointing, they could have been used much better. I think I’ll watch this more when I get the season box but then again…
– Yellow fever: It was ok, but I dunno. I liked the “Lilith” from NRFTW. BA-BOOM! But the rest, blah. And the whole road-hauling the ghost to death was just cold.
– Family remains: The whole “were raised in the dark basement but learnt to read and write yet afraid of light, and knew how to perfectly empty the impala (along with the secret gun compartment) -yadayada” just bugged me too much to enjoy the story. It was creepy in some parts, the whole rat eating bit was deliciously disgusting 🙂
Maybe-Baby -pile
– Heaven and Hell: It’s boring in some ways but good in others…
– Cris Angel… and The Rapture: Sometimes do, sometimes don’t, dunno why.
Season 5:
– Fallen Idols: The celebrity ghosts were boring. And I didn’t really hate P.H. but I didn’t like her either. She was a god but still acted like a Paris which felt weird. But the whole ep was just off.
So the total tally: 15 out of…92. WOW. I like 🙂 And to think that S1 had the most of the non-rewatchables, THAT suprised me! But you live and learn. And I like all the seasons I just can’t pick a favourite, and I don’t even wanna 🙂 But Faellie, thanks for this, it was fun. And sorry for the length, I apparently can’t shut up when I find anything resembling to a “list you own” (except. the best eppies lol)…
“strangely literate feral car thieves”
Suze? I fucking love you for this!! 😀
These lists are making me feel good as it means I am enjoying the seasons more than the majority of the posters. LOL!
I have rewatched all of the episodes in order over and over again and have never missed an episode so far.
I love and adore season one and wouldn’t miss any of them. Love Wendigo, Benders, Route 666, Faith, Bugs and many others so many dislike.
Ditto for season two and even for season three. These three seasons so far are my very favourite ones.
I cannot like season four as much as these three. Perhaps it is because of the distance between the brothers that taints it for me. If I ever do decide to skip any episodes, the first one for me would be Criss Angel is a Douchebag. After watching the magicians’ story a number of times, that part of the episode is a bit boring for me. The second one would be The Rapture. Love Cass, but not his Missus and when she is on screen I feel annoyed. Weird I know.
So far, I don’t feel like skipping any episodes in Season five.
Right now, I have just rewatched Sympathy for the Devil and tonight will be watching the next two episodes. But I do have to say that the closer I come to returning to the beginning and starting over the happier I get.
So there are not very many that I cannot enjoy whole heartedly and there has never so far been a TV show to match that record for me.
Wonder what Jasminka would make of this? Diagnose me please Jas!
Hmm..Thought I’d stop lurking and throw in my two cents.
I’ve been known to have the occasional Supernatural Marathons, especially when my son comes to visit.
So here goes:
The least watched eppys for me.
Season 1
Bloody Mary, Hookman and Bugs.
Season 2
Simon Said, The Usual Suspects, Houses of the Holy, Roadkill, All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1(Ok don’t kill me for that one, but those physic kids annoyed the hell outta me)
Season 3
Bedtime Stories(I liked some parts of it, but overall I usually skip over it.), Mystery Spot(probably 1 of the few who dind’t love it). Ghostfacers, Long Distance Call.
While I love No Rest for the Wicked I can’t watch very much it just tears me apart.
Season 4
Metamorphosis(don’t kill me, I felt there was too much of MOTW), Criss Angel is a Douchebag, Sex & Violence, After School Special(I’m one of the few who don’t a lot flashbacks, this one had way too many for me.) The Rapture.
Season 5
Fallen Idols and I Believe The Children are our Future.
Hey, warriorgal, welcome! And thanks for your two cents…! I’ve had Supernatural marathons in the past, too, and I think there might be more of them… at the latest when this show will be off air (hopefully not in the near future) and I’ll go all sentimental and watch all the eight seasons (yes, I know) on one weekend….
Thanks for de-lurking, Jas
Bevie, sweetie, I never label friends with a diagnosis, not even virtual ones…
Okay, let’s see if I can compose one, just for you: how about Obsessive Happy Fan Disorder with History of Hellatus Panic and Elements of Shared Psychotic Disorder (folie à nombreux).
Which would apply to pretty much every one of us, including me… oh dear, I’m a therapist, I know what I’m doing….
Hehehehehehe (and here she turned into a witch, ‘warts and all’, and henceforth was no therapist no more…). Dear, don’t mind me, at this time of night (well, pretty much midnight over here) I am reduced to fluent gibberish…
Ah, bliss – histrionics… Jas
Yeah, gifts from a utility guy… strrrange things do ‘appen (that was a really bad French accent, now I need to get across the border and brush up my French… how to do that before Christmas…! Merde…), I also got x-mas cards from my bank, the beauty counter in Berlin I spent a ridiculous amount of money last summer, my dentist (didn’t spend much there, hm… does she want to tell me that she wants me to spend my money there?), my bookstore (yes, ruinous place) and my boss (and that I deserved)…
Don’t they do that in the States (well, everyone knows that it’s done here to remind the customers of the good service rendered, a soft reminder: come back soon, I like it though, it’s also thoughtful, and it actually works, manipulable dumbo that I am)? But that gift was indeed something special, the guy’s Italian, perhaps it is a Southern thing.
Bring up the t-shirts and the dollars, Randal, I want to travel!
:lol:Jas
Wow…love these neat articles. Thanks Faellie
I guess I would have to say, The Benders, I wouldn’t watch too much, although I really like the brotherly devotion in it, and the Police Officer Dean befriended. I always hoped they would bring her back at some point. Family Remains and Mystery Spot would be up there too. Just didn’t like the topic.
There are parts of many episodes I didn’t like, but there isn’t really a complete episode …although Fallen Idol is up there. Really I found nothing of value in it. The brother’s were way out of character, and the ‘pagan’ god was a rerun, and really not very convincing. I did like PH which surprises me, really. Guess it was because she was a good sport about the whole thing. But that isn’t going to put it high on my list.
Didn’t like the brothel scene in FTBYAM AT ALL, so that will go on my list of no rewatch…unless I just fast forward through that part.
Bugs has to remain one of my favorites…even though the attic scene dragged a lot. I know many didn’t like it, but it was light and funny, especially Dean’s head wrapped in a towel, and the brotherly bantering. That is the fun stuff I’d like to see more of.
Hi Faellie
Love the article.
Had me thinking.
Season 1
Route 666 – I didn’t care for the acting from the girl playing Cassie or the one playing the mother.
Season 2
Children shouldn’t play with dead things – Never cared for this, don’t know why.
Season 3
The Magnificent Seven – Could not stand the acting by the actors playing Issac and Tamara. They both seem to be trying too hard.
Malleus Maleficarum – First of all how the hell do you pronounce this?
Secondly I didn’t care for actress playing Tammi.
Thirdly I was getting alittle tired of Sam and Dean being used as wallpaper.
Ghostfacers – I found these guys got on my nerves. To have them all as bubble-heads, was alittle too much for me.
Time is on my side – It’s not that I didn’t like this one. It was the ending. I’m claustrophobic and the idea of spending eternity confined in a refrigerator, buried alive. Shuttering right now.
Season 4
Are you there God… – The only one I liked seeing was Henrickson. I found the scene with Meg (Nikki Aycox) and Dean unbearable. The way Meg kept going on and on. She was just too whiney for me.
Heaven and Hell – I liked some of it, but the actor playing Alastair was a little over the top. And Anna got on my nerves.
Family Remains – For the same reason that most gave. These children should not of been able to write or break into the Impala.
Season 5
Fallen Idols – I just found the writing off on this one.
Hmmm, what are my orphan episodes…:
Season 1:
Hookman and The Benders – Don’t know why, but these episodes just bore me to tears.
Season 2:
Playthings – I found this episode to be choppy and poorly paced, and didn’t quite buy Sam going from “having to save as many people as possible” to depressed and drunk in that time frame.
Season 3 – like you Faellie, this is the season I rewatch the least:
The Magnificent Seven – not too much in this episode worked for me.
The Kids Are Alright – I have to admit I didn’t really like this episode. The idea behind it was good, but I didn’t like the execution of it. The creepy girl and her poor mother were excellent, though.
Red Sky at Morning – the only thing that was worth watching in this episode, IMO, were the boys in their tuxedoes.
Dream A Little Dream Of Me – I don’t know why I didn’t enjoy this episode, it had so much good stuff in it, but I just was bored stiff.
Long Distance Caller – Again, I just got bored with this episode.
Season 4:
I Know What You Did Last Summer – I didn’t really like this episode when it aired, but with the revelation that Ruby was indeed playing Sam all along, I might be able to stomach watching this episode again.
Heaven and Hell – I can in no way believe that there was a plan to have to two forces meet each other at the end there. Plotholes, plotholes, plotholes.
Family Remains – Again, I was bored with this episode.
Season 5:
Fallen Idols – I always try to rewatch an episode at least once. I ususally do it after reading a few metas on the episode (Bardicvoice’s in particular) because I often find that after reading others perspectives and seeing what I missed that an episode gets better. This one just gets worse. Poor, over-the-top characterization just ruined this episode for me, and I’d have to say that this episode is my least favourite of the entire series.
The Curious Case of Dean Winchester – Again, I just couldn’t get into this one, and found the plotting to be all over the place.
Wow, Faellie, you got so many of us thinking about ‘orphan episodes’, it’s like a whole new branch of the show… This was indeed a great idea!! Couldn’t we inspire you do write more stuff like that???
;-), Jas
There are a few episodes out there I don’t like very much and most of the time it’s all because of one singular scene or character I just can’t stand. I tried to come up with a list here, but actually I rewatch them all, because the episodes I don’t like are real gems when it comes to screen captures and vidding, no kidding!
I think this is my first time posting.
I have actually watched every episode at least twice, the beauty of itunes. I also think bugs is a decent episode, the ending is weird but the episode is fine.
Season 1:
Wedndigo
Phantom Traveler
Hookman
Route 666 – liked it when I first watched but it got worse so now I don’t rewatch.
Nightmare – it’s mytharc important but I just don’t feel like watching it again
Shadow
Dead Man’s Blood
Season Two
Playthings
Houses of the Holy
Heart – the ending is good, but didn’t like the whole jumping from crush to unending tragic love in like two days.
All Hell Breaks Loose Part I – Sam dies in a death match with the other psychic kids. I’ve seen it but don’t need to anymore.
Season Three
Magnificant Seven
Malleus Maleficarum
Ghostfacers
Long Distance Call
Season Four
This is probably the best season yet.
Yellow Fever – Jensen Ackles Air Guitar to Eye of the Tiger is Awesome, however the rest of the episode is not that funny even though it is supposed to be. Everyone thought the cat scene was the funniest thing, but it pales in comparison to the suicidal teddy bear. Sorry for the mini-rant.
I don’t mind Family Remains (may not rewatch it in the future).
Season V
This is hard because so far there have been some amazing episodes. However this season also has the distinction of containing the only episodes I haven’t rewatched because I hated them so much.
The Curious Case of Dean Winchester – I laughed because it just seemed off. Couldn’t place why, but I was thinking WTF the entire time.
The Real Ghostbusters – I was a bit worried after watching that they wouldn’t be able to fit enough in the Abandon All Hope (I was thankfully proven wrong), however this felt too much like season one. Fallen Idols being a S1 MOTW had the purpose of getting the brothers back in the swing of things, this didn’t.
There is my list.
I’m stuck with looking at these comments in IE, so they’ve come out one word per sentence! I can still tell that they’re all great responses, and thanks to all, particularly first time de-lurkers- I hope you’ll butt in whenever you like.
Considering that Supernatural is now up to nearly 100 episodes, an astonishing proportion of those episodes pass the “keeps us all watching” test.
Jas, a diagnosis of “normal with an element of crazy” sounds good to me. Though it surely can’t be long before “Obsessive Happy Fan Disorder with History of Hellatus Panic and Elements of Shared Psychotic Disorder (folie à nombreux)” is officially named “Jasminka syndrome” in the medical text books.
Thanks all.
Jas, here, we get a cheap calendar from our bank. That’s about it. Or I’ve simply managed to piss everyone I know off, which is perfectly plausible!
Alright, Ohio isn’t doing much for me and I need to practice my français, too, so it’s time to sell millions of t-shirts so I can land that Loire chateau! 😉
I’m noticing that most everyone finds at least something good in an otherwise ‘bad’ episode. There really isn’t an episode that’s front-to-back bad, save for maybe Route 666. What sticks in my craw are the missed opportunities, the seven deadly sins being the worst. There’s a recurring villain right there if played right. Oh, well.
I agree wholeheartedly that there is not one episode that would be all bad… Even ROute 666 has it’s moments… I don’t believe it possible for such a talented bunch of creators and actors to come up with complete rubbish… :roll::, Jas
Faellie, ‘Jasminka syndrome’? Oh,dear… okay, I’ll have it, thanks,dear, this is hilarious…. 😆 😆 😆
in for a penny, in for a pound, right?
Love Jas
Houses Of The Holy, Sin City, The Rapture, Jump The Shark and Heaven and Hell (I actually had to look up the name of that one) I can not stand Castiel and I’ve never been able to. Season 4 and 5 are much better when I skip all episodes he’s a major part of. And when you think about it he’s been made out to have way more of a major role than he’s really needed to.
Jas, thanks for the diagnosis. ‘Jasminka syndrome’-
I like it!
I’m happy I have it as out of 92 episodes so far, I can thoroughly enjoy 90 of them! Yay! (And I even enjoy parts of those other two).
Obsessive Happy Fan Disorder! Yeah, it fits!
Faellie, thanks–this was a lot of fun. Kripke’s Evil Cliffhangers are why I feel so very lucky to have got into Supernatural late, just last summer.
Randal, I don’t think they’ll ever stop Announcing the Sulfur. I’m resigning myself to it.
Suze–ha! Right on about the ropes.
Jas–Your dx is gold. My ribs are aching.
Karen–Didn’t care for Tammi, eh? (*snickers*) Tell it to Randal, I can hear him gasp all the way from Cleveland. (jk!)
I tend to rewatch the series in order too, even the weakest eps usually have some brother/character moments I like, but I’ll skip through stuff when I’m bored, usually in a MOTW ep where I’m for some reason just not responding to the characters. This was more common during the first half of S1, including for some reason Asylum, not sure why as it had some great character stuff… Hookman stands out as an orphan for me too. I’m actually really impressed that Supernatural gets us to engage with new characters as often as it does, doing that week after week has got to be really challenging…
S2: ELAC, CSPWDT
S3: I liked Magnificent Seven for the most part, but yeah Karen, the Isaac/Tamara actors did seem to be trying too hard. Similar feelings about Malleus Maleficarum–one bit that bothered me was the shot of Amanda from under the glass coffee table…
Back to orphans, Red Sky (no surprise there, although I did like Dean hyperventilating and sorta liked that old-movie music when the cars were pulling up to the party, dunno why I didn’t find that bit cheesy because I feel like I should), LDC (liked Lanie though)
S4: My favorite season, but Family Remains is definitely an orphan. I’ll skip parts of Are You There GOd, Metamorphosis, Sex and Violence, & Jump the Shark as well. H&H had issues, but any ep with Uriel and Alistair scores with me…
S5: Fallen Idols, IBTCAOF (I LOVE Jesse, and it definitely had great moments, but overall didn’t quite come together for me)
This article got me thinking about my “comfort” episodes, too–some that maybe aren’t as popular but I absolutely love include Houses of the Holy and Crossroad Blues. Criss Angel also holds a special place in my heart too–loved the theme & characters… it may be the first episode of Supernatural I watched all the way through. One look at the title & I knew I wasn’t turning it off, and wasn’t at all sorry when it finished.
Yikes. Possibly my most long-winded post ever.
also and too in the same sentence…just noticed that…blech
elenaM, I blame all of my funky syntax on excess sulfur.
Syntax is like spots, everyone is too busy obsessing about their own to notice other peoples and if they’re not then they’re a smug git and not worth taking any notice of … 😉
loL–thanks 😆
Still got “comfort episodes” on the brain… I love it when the Winchesters get on the wrong side of law enforcement, so sometimes I’ll do a “Long Arm of the Law” marathon with stuff like the pilot, Skin, Usual Suspects, Nightshifters, Folsom Prison & Jus in Bello
Supernarttu, I love the crack humor in Yellow Fever, but counts as a “maybe-baby” for me as well, for the exact reason you stated… Luther’s character seems to be based on Lenny from Of Mice and Men. I really felt for him, and find road-hauling especially horrifying, so to do it again, even to his ghost, is awful. At least Sam acknowledges that it was brutal, but still. This is the part where you all point out that my favorite show ever is, in fact, a HORROR series.
I can usually find something worthwhile in all episodes so I tend the use the ol’ FastForward button a lot and jump to the brotherly moments in each case. I don’t really like the clown killer but I love the rest, so FF! I didn’t like Metamorphisis but will FF to the brotherly conflict scenes. Again – Red Sky – hated the Sam & old lady part, thought the killings were ridiculous but loved all the Dean/Bella interactions so – FF!
Bedtime Stories, Ghostfacers, Are you there God…, Family Remains, Fallen Idols.
I’m surprised I singled out any episode. When I rewatch, then all eps in order, I just like to “read” the story from begining to end. True, there are some boring scenes, but instead of pressing FF, I go to the kitchen to get a drink or something, and be back by the time the scene is over. Seriously, when watching SPN one gets so soaked up in it, that one cannot help but watch ep after ep until one’s eyes start to flicker, one begins to dehydrate and the wc just seems too far away, so a boring scene can be quite relieving, actually:-)
The melonballer did freak me out though, bigtime.
Oh, um…
Season 1: Hookman, Route 666 (I always, always skip it), Dead Man’s Blood.
Season 2: No Exit, Roadkill, Hollywood Babylon.
Season 3: The Magnificent Seven, The Kids Are Alright (I found Ben ridiculously annoying), Sin City, Red Sky At Morning, Malleus Maleficarum, Long Distance Call.
Season 4: Are You There God…, Heaven and Hell, Family Remains, Death Takes A Holiday, Jump The Shark and The Rapture.
Season 5: Free To Be You And Me.
I find that the espisodes i don’t rewatch fall into 2 catagories ones i’m not that keen on a la Family Remains and Time is on my Side and episodes that i love but can’t watch too often because they just tear me up inside – On the Head of a Pin is a prime example of this.