In the grand tradition of mindless fun started all the way back in season four, it’s time for a popular and great work time killer. Yes, it’s “Rank Them in Five Minutes.†The rules are simple. I list all twenty-two episodes in season five and in five minutes you rank them from best to worst. The idea is by giving you very little time for contemplation, a list is generated more on gut reaction. There’s no going backward or changing your mind. The best part is, there’s no right answer and everyone’s list usually ends up being so different. In other words, opinions not only subjective, they’re entertaining!
Let’s get started. Here’s the list:
Sympathy For The Devil
Good God Y’all
Free To Be You and Me
The End
Fallen Idols
I Believe The Children Are Our Future
The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
Changing Channels
The Real Ghostbusters
Abandon All Hope
Sam, Interrupted
Swap Meat
The Song Remains The Same
My Bloody Valentine
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Dark Side of The Moon
99 Problems
Point of No Return
Hammer of The Gods
The Devil You Know
Two Minutes To Midnight
Swan Song
Okay, start your timers…GO!!!…
Wait a second…I see you. No cheating!! What do you mean this is hard? Stop reading this and start ranking…
Time’s a wasting!!!…
No, don’t take time right now to try and figure out what the ending to Lost meant, focus!!!…
Ah yes, it’s starting to click, isn’t it?…
You see, it works!!! Awesome job.
Here’s my list. I did it in 3 minutes, 54 seconds.
1. Changing Channels
2. Swan Song
3. My Bloody Valentine
4. Point of No Return
(tie) Dark Side of The Moon
6. Two Minutes To Midnight
(tie) The Song Remains The Same
8. Good God Y’all
9. The End
10. The Real Ghostbusters
11. Abandon All Hope
12. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
13. Free To Be You and Me
14. Sympathy For The Devil
15. The Devil You Know
16. Sam, Interrupted
(tie) 99 Problems
18. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
19. Fallen Idols
20. I Believe The Children Are Our Future
21. Swap Meat
22. Hammer Of The Gods
For me, even though “Swan Song†ripped my entire insides into tiny little pieces, “Changing Channels†just brought way more to the table. I laughed, I cried, I gasped, and in the end…my insides were in tiny little pieces. It’s a classic we’ll never forget. Also, there are several that are ties, like “Point of No Return†and “Dark Side of The Moon†and “Two Minutes To Midnight†and “The Song Remains The Same.†Those were really listed in no particular order. I still say “Hammer of The Gods†was a total piece of dung.
Thanks for playing! Now share your answers in the comments.
As an extra bonus, here’s elle’s take, complete with her reasoning:
As I look back over season five, I realize that I’ve forgotten about a number of episodes, in part because of the patchwork that was Season five and in part because of the long breaks that occurred. Nevertheless, season five holds some of my favourite episodes of all time. We’ve done it before and we’ll probably do it again, so let’s rank the episodes this season. For the most part, with a few exceptions (I’m looking at you Family Remains) I love every episode of Supernatural in its own way. Here are mine, in order of affection level (note – a vast majority of these episodes, along with nearly every other Supernatural episode are tied for a spot in my top five – it’s too hard to choose!).
1. Swan Song – I placed this episode in the first place spot without having seen the episode, that’s how confident in the awesomeness level I was….and HOLY CRAP – this was totally the best episode – quite possibly EVER. No words exist to encompass how much this episode rocked my world and ripped my heart to pieces.
2. Changing Channels – mockery of the major timeslot competitors, outlandish sets and supporting characters, Sam’s STD commercial, tandem bike riding, a theme song, Nutcracker!, Sam as the Impala, rescuing Castiel, and the Trickster is an ANGEL – what’s not to love?
3. The End – the two Deans and the unbelievable Jared-as-Lucifer made this an instant favourite and must-see Supernatural episode
4. Two Minutes to Midnight – this one has toggled back and forth between the top three spots on this list. I finally decided to put it here, but I consider it to be level with the two above episodes. Death is absolutely one of my favourite guest characters, no question. Castiel returned and made up with Dean, Bobby is mobile again and the suspense has been cranked up to 11. What’s not to love?
5. Abandon All Hope – badass Cas, tragic heroism and a startling lesson on the immortality of Lucifer. Mostly, if an episode leaves me emotionally ravaged, it’s in the top five (yup, it’s become a crowded top five over the years).
6. The Song Remains the Same – Mary and John – the early years! Michael and Dean meet for the first time, the chillingly true words of a young mother: “angels are watching over youâ€
7. Point of No Return – Panic Room Confessions, Cas kicking ass and taking names, Dean’s last minute turn around, good-bye and good riddance to Zachariah!
8. Dark Side of the Moon – I’m a sucker for the emotional whumping of Dean Winchester and this episode took it to a whole new level.
9. Sympathy for the Devil – return of Chuck, Castiel is back and better than ever, Dean makes a heart-twisting confession, Bobby performs a tragic self-sacrifice – as season premieres go, it’s not quite Lazarus Rising, but first-rate nonetheless
10. Good God, Y’All – the first of the intrepid horsemen make the scene, Ellen, Jo and Rufus resurface, the first of an unknowingly very important quadrate of rings is collected and the boys part ways…I’m not crying, there’s something in my eye.
11. Devil You Know – Killing an evil bastard: What is, How to Bond with Your Brother, Winchester Style.
12. Hammer of the Gods – Damn you, Kripke! Not Gabriel – what sacrilege!
13. My Bloody Valentine – gory but wrought with emotion and drama, which are always key ingredients in a good episode.
14. 99 Problems – The continuing adventures of Castiel: [dejected, drunk, despondent] angel of the lord, and The Cell Phone; Dean’s goodbye to Lisa – laughter and tears, I’m an emotional mess.
15. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester – Grumpy Old Men: The Dean and Bobby Show (not to mention the yummy poker-playin’, ageless male-witch)
16. Sam, Interrupted – drugged Sammy, even better than drunk Sammy!
17. I Believe the Children Are Our Future – wonderful child acting, interesting premise, whoopee cushion + angel = can’t…write…anymore…laughing…too hard
18. Free to Be Me and You – Best way to blow your cover? Take Cas.
19. The Real Ghostbusters – good fun poked at the fan base and some important information garnered – a light entertainment episode if ever there was
20. Fallen Idols – two words: Paris. Hilton. Surprisingly, not that bad!
21. Swap Meat – and the award for most out of character Dean Winchester moment goes to…80% of this episode! redeeming moment: not!Sam, an umbrella’d banana daquari and a frisky lady
22. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid – poor Bobby, can’t catch a break this season.
Season four remains my favourite season, but season five is a close, close, nearly-tied second (okay, after that finale just now, season five is my new favourite). And on some days, they’re tied. To choose between them is a task of herculean proportions. Picking episodes from either season, I can have a wonderful 22 episode playlist entirely of episodes I (a) LOVED or (b) thoroughly enjoyed for perhaps no apparent reason. I find this activity quite enjoyable, because I can reflect on the season as a whole and admire the carefully woven threads that connect most every episode in the Supernatural vault together. So, how are you ranking the most recent 22 episodes?
Alice Jester is the founder, editor-in-chief, head writer, programmer, web designer, site administrator, marketer, and moderator for The Winchester Family Business. She is a 30 year IT applications and database expert with a penchant for creative and freelance writing in her spare (ha!!) time. That’s on top of being a wife, mother of two active kids, and four loving (aka needy) pets.
1. Swan Song – Soul-wrenching, perfect, and exactly what I wanted. My favorite Supernatural episode of all time, hands down.
2. Changing Channels – This episode was non-stop hilarity. I will never tire of it.
3. Point Of No Return – One word: BROTHERS.
4. The Devil You Know – Getting more information about Sam’s past was fascinating. Plus, I just love Crowley.
5. Two Minutes To Midnight – Awesome 2nd to last episode. Death kicks ass.
6. The Song Remains The Same – Breaks my heart every time!
7, Free To Be You And Me – As much as it pains me to see them separated, I enjoyed watching Sam and Dean function without each other. And we got to see Lucifer. =]
8. The Real Ghostbusters – I love when the writers break down the fourth wall, and it amuses me to no end that they can poke fun of the fans in such a loving way!
9. My Bloody Valentine – Ew. But it’s an awesome “ew,” to be sure.
10. Swap Meat – “I would looove to have the sex with you.” Epic.
11. Abandon All Hope – I miss Ellen and Jo something fierce, but they died like true heroes.
12. The End – Lucifer!Sam scene. End of story.
13. Sympathy For The Devil – This and Pilot are my favorite season openers. I loved it.
14. Sam, Interrupted – Drugged!Sammy is the best thing ever. True story.
15. I Believe The Children Are Our Future – Dude, that kid was so awesome! And he had my last name, which means Jared said it out loud. *swoons*
16. Hammer Of The Gods – I actually loved this episode. It made me all kinds of happy to see the boys together again! Lucifer was such a badass, too. Sucks he had to kill Gabriel. =[
17. Fallen Idols – I don’t care what people say, Paris was pretty awesome in this episode, not gonna lie.
18. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid – Bobby just killed me in this one. I wanted to hug him forever.
19. Good God, Y’all – The ending scene… *sniff*
20. Dark Side Of The Moon – I’m still seething in rage over the last scene. RAGE.
21. 99 Problems – This was a good episode, but I still just wanted to kick Dean in the shins. But all is forgiven now. =D
22. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester – Good episode. Not one of my favs, but solid.
Uhh. I think this might have taken more than 5 minutes. Woops! I lose track of time when talking about Supernatural! This season’s my favorite, too, so it’s hard to list them like this!
I think it took me about 5 minutes…. honest! I loved so many eps in season 5 it was hard to choose. Changing channels easily won though – my second fave ep of the series (after OTHOAP). I preferred the arc-heavy episodes over the stand-alones overall though. Interesting to see other fans’ takes on the season 😉
1. Changing Channels
2. Swan Song
3. The End
4. Two minutes to midnight
5. Dark side of the moon
6. The song remains the same
7. Point of no return
8. My bloody valentine
9. Sympathy for the Devil
10. Free to be you and me
11. Abandon All hope
12. The Devil you know
13. 99 Problems
14. Good God y’all
15. The Real Ghostbusters
16. Hammer of the gods
17. The curious case of dean winchester
18. Dead men don’t wear plaid
19. Sam, interupted
20. Fallen Idols
21. I believe the children are our future
22. Swap Meat
You are an evil woman, Alice.
1. Dark Side of the Moon. Beautiful.
2. Changing Channels. Such fun.
3. (The Devil You Know ) Can’t separate these. Damn you,
4. (Two Minutes to Midnight) Kripke.
5. (Swan Song )
6. Good God Y’All. Spirit in the Sky! Amulet! Horsemen!
7. Sympathy For the Devil. It’s not Lazarus Rising, but it’s good.
8. Free to Be You and Me. I surprised myself with this one.
9. The End. Jensen! And Jensen! And Sam as Lucifer!
10. Abandon All Hope. Perfect, but too sad.
11. The Song Remains the Same. Always nice to see young John and Mary.
12. Point of No Return. Good mytharc development, and good to see Jake back.
13. The Real Ghostbusters. Funny and sweet.
14. My Bloody Valentine. Thanks, Ben.
15. Fallen Idols. The Sam/Dean stuff is much better in the context of the whole season, but the villain is still a wax model.
16. 99 Problems. Decent, but nothing special.
17. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester. What was the point? (And not enough Jensen.)
18. Hammer of the Gods. A good idea, not properly worked through.
19. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid. Huh?
20. I Believe the Children Are Our Future. Doesn’t fit in Season 5, or any other season. The antichrist is a small child on a surfing beach in Australia?
21. Swap Meat. Oh dear.
22. Sam, Interrupted. The admissions scene was great, everything after that wasn’t.
Done in 5 minutes, except for the typing and reasons. List subject to change when rewatching over Hellatus. Overall, an excellent season with many excellent episodes, and just two turkeys. Hearfelt thanks to all involved.
1. Swan Song
2. The End
3. Dark Side of the Moon
4. The Song Remains the Same
5. Point of No Return
6. Two Minutes to Midnight
7. The Devil You Know
8. Changing Channels
9. Abandon All Hope
10. Free to Be You and Me
11. Sympathy for the Devil
12. Good God Y’ll
13. I Believe the Children Are Our Future
14. The Real Ghostbusters
15. 99 Problems
16. Swap Meat
17. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
18. Sam, Interrupted
19. My Bloody Valentine
20. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
21. Hammer of the Gods
22. Fallen Idols
Oh, Alice, I hate you so much right now ;-)… this is an next to impossible task!
Okay, but I’m no spoilsport, so I’ll take up the challenge, here’s my list, I needed the whole 4 minutes 45 seconds (whoosh…. daps the sweat of ther forehead), well you wanted gut decision – tomorrow this list might change…
1. Swan Song – the most beautiful bow this show could have taken, plus: some of the best acting ever, definitely my fave episode of the whole show so far, still keeps putting my heart and soul through a meat grinder
2. The End: Jensen acting fest + Jared’s promise of becoming a great, great actor.
3. Changing Channels – fits of laughter and dark undercurrents, my favourite combination
4. Abandon All Hope, yes, I’m a sucker for tragedy, it seems.
5. Two Minutes To Midnight – greatest introduction of a horseman, not-so-deadly pizza, climaxing elements and Bobby walking again….
6. Free To Be You And Me – for me this comes right next to ‘Heart’, it hurts so much to watch this episode for some personal reason that I can hardly ever do it. Great view at the guys apart, scary as hell…
7. The Song Remains The Same – Sam gets killed :o, my heart is breaking into a thousand pieces…. we meet Michael… creepy…
8. Sympathy For The Devil – Bobby sacrifices a hell of a lot to save his surrogate sons. Tension between the brothers grows… heartbreaking, really.
9. Dark Side Of The Moon – sigh, sniff
10. Sam, Interrupted – another great example of the great acting we find here…
11. The Devil You Know – Supernatural Fight Club, I love Sammy, oh yes…. and – Size does matter ,at least when it comes to hellhounds.
12. The Real Ghostbusters – fans become heroes, yes! Beautiful parody of the whole fan-crazy,convention thing
13. Good God, y’all – Halluzination, anyone? Sam leaves Dean to protect him and the world from himself… :cry::
14. Point of No Return – Dean finally finds some of his old courage. Bye-bye Zach
15. My Bloody Valentine – Vampire Sam, so sexy and disturbing. The whole episode playedwith my stomach. Great portrayal of Famine.
16. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid – An episode for Bobby…. about time
17. 99 Problems – religious fanatics, help us God…
or whoever…
18. I Believe the Children Are Our Future – fun, tragedy, perfectly combined, sad that Jesse didn’t show up again.
19. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester – always a fan of Grumpy Old Men, plus: Dean’s happy dance!
20. Fallen Idols – okay, Paris HIlton does her best, but unfortunately it’s not enough. Loved the references to House of Wax.
21. Hammer of The Gods – okay, childish Gods, well, the only real great thing was Lucifer’s demonstration of power. Still weeping over Gabriel’s death, but he went out like a true hero!
22. Swap Meat – missed opportunities galore.
This is really hard to choose, and I guess I might be going back a couple of times. For me the best season so far. Right after season 4, but, hell, I love the whole show… all time best thing on tv!
Thanks for this crazy activity, gals! Love Jas
Can’t, won’t. So ner ( makes Nelson trademark sneery noise ) All got groovy bits, but extra points for episodes with Cas or Crowley goodness. Minus several billion for Paris Hilton. 😆
Here goes nothing:
1. Point of No Return
2. Swan Song
3. Dark Side of the Moon
4. Changing Channels
5. My Bloody Valentine
6. 99 Problems
7. The Song Remains the Same
8. Abandon All Hope
9. The End
10. Curious Case of Dean Winchester
11. Sam, Interrupted
12. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
13. Free to be You and Me
14. Good God, Y’all
15. Sympathy for the Devil
16. Two Minutes to Midnight
17. The Devil You Know
18. Hammer of the Gods
19. The Real Ghostbusters
20. I Believe the Children Are Our Future
21. Fallen Idols
22. Swap Meat
wow…just made five minutes.
Crap this was hard. And I didn’t even try this last season (methinks anyways…?).
1.Swan Song
2.The End
3.My Bloody Valentine
4.The Song Remains The Same
5.Changing Channels
6.Dark Side of The Moon
7.Point of No Return
8.Two Minutes To Midnight
9.Sympathy For The Devil
10.Abandon All Hope
The Devil You Know
Good God Y’all
Free To Be You and Me
Hammer of The Gods
Sam, Interrupted
I Believe The Children Are Our Future
The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
The Real Ghostbusters
Swap Meat
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
99 Problems
Fallen Idols
And I’m not satisfied with this but this is 80% of how it fits with me…right now 😀 But the top5…ok top10 looks basically like that forever… Maybe 😉
99 Problems is that low because that eppie just crushed me and I haven’t been able to watch it since 🙁
I know that Swap Meat was pretty OOC but it’s still funny as hell. And Fallen Idols could have been taken off from the entire season if you ask me, it might be the worst eppie ever in my book.
This was fun, thanks for the boost 🙂
I think I set a new landspeed record for cutting and pasting trying to coming up with this ranking. Didn’t quite make the deadline – took me about about 5:10 to do. The worst was easy, after that it got tricky.
1. Point of No Return: Bad ass Cas, grown-up Sam and Dean ganking Zac. What’s not to love?
2. Swan Song: Jared’s best performance, no question. Just fantastic. And the brutality of Lucifer’s smackdown with Dean packed an emotional punch, as well. (A real credit to the J’s and the trust they have in each other as actors). Loved the direction in that scene and in the broken mirror scene, too. Two minor quibbles: I’m one of the few who didn’t like the reveal that Chuck is God (loved his narration, just would have preferred that he stayed a prophet) and thought Michael’s dialogue in his confrontation with Lucifer was really clunky. But, hey, endings are hard and the fans are gonna bitch, right?
3. Dark Side of The Moon: Fantastic take on Heaven, beautifully shot and wonderful mix of humour and pathos. The fireworks scene is one of my all-time favourites.
4. The Song Remains The Same: This was this season’s In the Beginning but better because both brothers time travelled. Loved it.
5. The End: Wonderful performance(s) from JA, and great introduction of Samifer. Major kudos to the director, writer and set decorators – loved the whole feel and pacing of this episode.
6. Abandon All Hope: A fitting goodbye to Jo and Ellen and great feel and tempo to the episode, too.
7. Two Minutes To Midnight: Definitely agree that the Best Intro of a Character Award goes to Death. Fantastic scene between Dean and Death at the pizzaria, too.
8. Changing Channels: Comedic brilliance. It’s only this far down in the list because I favour drama over comedy.
9. My Bloody Valentine: The opening scene was uber-gross but loved how the episode embraced the mytharc.
10. Good God Y’all: Great to see Rufus again and loved the guarded way the J’s played the brothers as they hunted side-by-side for the first time since freeing Lucifer. That final scene always gets me.
11. Free To Be You and Me: Generally don’t like the boys apart – how cliché of me, right? – but this worked. Although I could have lived without the Cas in a whorehouse bit.
12. Sympathy For The Devil: I was underwhelmed the first time I watched it but I started to warm to it with subsequent viewings. Became a big fan of Mark Pellegrino with the eppy, though.
13. The Devil You Know: Crowley is an awesome character. Hopefully we’ll see more of him in Season 6. Can’t think of anything ‘wrong’ with this eppy but it just didn’t resonate like others.
14. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid: Nice insight into Bobby’s past but this was one of a couple of episodes where I looked at the title and had to think, “Which one was that?†Obviously didn’t make a huge impact.
15. Sam, Interrupted: Plenty of great moments but you could break an ankle in the plotholes.
16. The Real Ghostbusters: I think the placement of this episode weakened the impact for me – I wanted some mytharc meat rather than comedic gravy.
17. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester: Chad Everett was great but, have to admit, when I first read the synopsis for this episode, hoped Jensen’s dad would play older Dean.
18. 99 Problems: Fantastic opening scene but, instead of building on that frenetic pace, it just levelled off.
19. Hammer of The Gods: I realized as I pasted these episodes down at the bottom of the list, it’s not so much that I hated them – except for Fallen Idols *g* – it was more because of wasted potential. Loved Mark Pellegrino’s performance in this – when one heavyweight takes on another, you can’t hold back and that malevolence unleashed was such a wonderful contrast to the quiet evil we’d seen previously. The presence of those other gods presented such rich story fodder but it all seemed to fizzle… Sigh.
20. I Believe The Children Are Our Future: Great performance from the young guest star and some nice comedy bits but introducing the anti-Christ and then having him fade away, never to be heard from again, sucked any impact out of this eppy.
21. Swap Meat: Wonderful comedic moments from Jared as Sam stuck in the wrong body but the episode could have been so much more. When fans asked for a body swap episode, I believe most of us were hoping to see Sam and Dean swap bodies, giving the J’s a chance to ape on the other. Watching that, I could easily have overlooked story flaws.
22. Fallen Idols: This was the easiest ranking for me. Apologies to her fans but Paris Hilton couldn’t deliver a line with the help of the FedEx fleet. Loved the idea, hated the execution.
Dark Side of the Moon — I don’t know, I just love this episode a ridiculous amount. I rewatch it at random times. When I think about it post 5-mins, I probably wouldn’t put it at the top, though.
Swan Song — the most perfect season finale I’ve ever seen
My Bloody Valentine — this is my most-rewatched episode of any Supernatural episode ever, except perhaps Mystery Spot (because I’ll wake up on a lazy Sunday and say “Hmmmm, well, I could go downstairs, or I could watch Mystery Spot,” not joke) and I love it. I can pretty much quote the whole thing just out of the air. This would actually probably go first on the list when I think about it
Two Minutes to Midnight — just a quality episode
The Song Remains the Same — JOHN AND MARY! And Anna, whose actress is sooo beautiful
Changing Channels — the most well-rounded episode, brings to mind Mystery Spot which was like it in that way
Sympathy for the Devil — I have a thing for season openers, except the 3rd season one because I thought that was the lamest thing since the Star Wards tv show
The Devil You Know — Oh dear, Crowley, I love you!
Free to Be You and Me — Sam and Dean weren’t together
Abandon All Hope — I loved Alona so I pretty much hate this episode except for the fact that it’s so damn good
Sam, Interrupted — I loved the irony, and the bit with the doctor in the beginning
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid — Bo–Bo–BOBBY! (cry cry cry)
99 Problems — this one should have been lower, I wasn’t THAT impressed with it.
The End — this is so low because Dean was a big fat douchemonster to Sam on the phone =[ As much as I loved the rest of this episode, and in spite of the fact that they got their brother lovin’ on in the end, I can’t get over that
Hammer of the Gods — I liked the episode, but…the Trickster died
The Curious Case of Dean Winchester — when I think of it, I actually liked this one a lot. Old Dean was the cutest damn thing ever
Good God, Y’all — eh
The Real Ghostbusters — Didn’t remember this one either, but I remembered I liked it. I always appreciated the whole Supernatural book thing.
Fallen Idols — Paris…Hilton… yick. Though I did appreciate Sam’s hero being Gandhi
I Believe The Children Are Our Future — I put this so low because I couldn’t even remember what the hell it was about.
Swap Meat — ’nuff said. It was funny, but ever since people pointed out the plot holes to me I can’t ignore them!
I couldn’t even type the titles in five minutes let along be ranking them!
So to be brief:
Favourite: Changing Channels (love Trickster Gabriel)
Least Favourite: Fallen Idols (still liked it though)
I can rank the seasons more easily in five minutes:
Season 1 – love the relationship of the boys
Season 2 – Love the relationship AND the added angst of
Daddy Winchester passing
Season 3 – Love the seemingly carefree Dean for most of the season and the love from Sam for his brother and being terrified of losing him.
Season 5 – Loved that the boys are coming closer together
and being more in sync.
Season 4 – Wonderful acting in this season, but hated the
separation of the boys after “Lazarus Rising”
was so emotionally fulfilling and can never
forgive Sammy for that “boo hoo” comment even
yet. (Or Bobby for that matter) even though I
still love them both dearly.
Bevie, agreed, it was bad of Sammy. But let’s not forget that Dean called him a monster in WTLB, the one thing that he couldn’t bear to hear from Dean. So I think it’s a draw.
Ok this was brutal. Tomorrow I could have a different opinion, but this is how I felt today.
1.Changing Channels
2.Sympathy For The Devil
3.Swan Song
4.The End
5.Abandon All Hope
6.The Song Remains The Same
7.Point of No Return
8.The Devil You Know
9.Two Minutes To Midnight
10.My Bloody Valentine
11.Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
12.Dark Side of The Moon
13.The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
14.Sam, Interrupted
15.Free To Be You and Me
16.Good God Y’all
17.99 Problems
18.I Believe The Children Are Our Future
19.The Real Ghostbusters
20.Swap Meat
21.Hammer of The Gods
22.Fallen Idols
What a great idea Alice! Fun for all the family 🙂 Mine are:
1. The End
2. Dark Side of The Moon
3. Changing Channels
4. Swan Song
5. Two Minutes To Midnight
6. Point of No Return
7. Abandon All Hope
8. My Bloody Valentine
9. Good God Y’all
10. The Song Remains The Same
11. The Real Ghostbusters
12. Sympathy For The Devil
13. Sam, Interrupted
14. 99 Problems
15. The Devil You Know
16. Free To Be You and Me
17. I Believe The Children Are Our Future
18. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
19. Hammer of the Gods
20. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
21. Swap Meat
22. Fallen Idols
But I also took the first 13 answers (up to joelsteinlover, although FYI I think you think you missed out Point of No Return!) plus mine and did a quick analysis:
• Episode most often ranked 1st: Swan Song (by a mile)
• Episode most often ranked last: Swap Meat closely followed by Fallen Idols which surprised me (but may be cos there was one entry missing)
• Only ten episodes appeared in all the top 5s combined (in descending order of frequency): Swan Song, Changing Channels, Dark side of the moon, The End, Two Minutes To Midnight, Point of No Return, My Bloody Valentine, Abandon all Hope, The Song Remains the Same, The Devil You Know
• The highest Fallen Idols rose was #15, but Swap Meat rose to #10 on one list
• The lowest Swan Song fell was #5
Why yes it is a quiet Monday evening…why do you ask?!
Magichappening,
Thank you for doing an analysis of the eps. I was reading through and noting that Fallen Idols and Swap Meat were consistently low and appreciated how many of us seem to fall in the same place with out likes and dislikes.
What’s wrong with quiet evenings? I love them… 😉
I love seeing what everyone comes up with!!! Took me just under 5 min, made myself rank everything and tried not to think much while doing it. I did try to think through my reasoning afterward; some of it kind of makes sense to me, for others it was hard to articulate why I liked an episode more or less than another, and said attempt at “reasoning†mostly turned into a season 5 retrospective . . .
1. Swan Song—Straight from Krip’s heart to ours, trumps any imperfections or objective criteria for me. Thanks to Giz Gewirtz, too.
2. Two Minutes to Midnight—Pestilence! Death! Crowley! Especially Death, his intro and the pizzeria scene were breathtaking. And Phil Sgriccia’s action sequences rock. I could go on, but that’s plenty.
3. Abandon All Hope—The whole thing was beautiful, atmospheric, funny and scary and gut-wrenching, in one episode. This one really upset me a lot. And did I mention Phil Sgriccia’s action sequences rock? My only quibble would be that Ellen & Jo’s deaths did feel like a planned plot point rather than completely organic—but only a little because the actors just nailed it to the wall. Every one.
4. My Bloody Valentine—By turns visceral, violent, bizarre, hilarious (Cupid!), and scary as hell (Famine!!!) while seamlessly incorporating a raw emotional core and revealing character moments. In 40-odd minutes. Yeah, I still worship at the shrine: Ben Edlund, I’m not worthy!
5. Changing Channels—Instant classic, with a pretty cool retcon.
6. Dark Side of the Moon–Intense opening sequence, best use of the title card EVER, absolutely perfect fireworks scene, Zach, old friends, Joshua, and finally a practical use for string theory.
7. Point of No Return—“The power of loveâ€â€”they totally pull it off!!! How awesome is that? Oh, and the opening scene kills me.
8. Free to be You and Me—Beautiful opening Lynyrd Skynyrd montage, probably my favorite musical moment of the season. And just when you think poor Sam’s life CANNOT POSSIBLY suck more . . .
9. The End—amazing acting, and the apocalyptic flashforward was really cool. Lucifer wins.
10. Good God, Y’All—Nice tension between the bros, loved War, especially his one-on-one scene with Sam. Plus Ellen, Jo, and Rufus!
11. 99 Problems—I thought this was one of the most thought-provoking, and provocative, episodes of the season. I loved how this story examined the limits of faith and trust and their effect on a community, the line between faith and fundamentalism . . . What begins as a unifying force that strengthens people and brings them together degenerates into divisive, all or nothing thinking, and we watch a community turning into a cult. I got serious “Crucible†vibes from the church scene. I love how the importance, the necessity, of doubt and questioning to true faith is a central theme. I also think it can be hard to get us to engage with new characters in the space of an episode, but we like Paul and Pastor Gideon instantly, and really feel for them. Agree Michael Shanks was way underutilized, though. Still, all this in 40-some minutes, and in the midst of it Dean and Cas are fast losing faith, and Sam’s losing it trying to hold them together . . .
12. Devil You Know—Brady! Crowley! Pet hellhounds!!! And a strangely brutal, chilling ending in the alley . . .
13. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid—Was that icky Sam/zombie scene one of Krip’s homages to Evil Dead 2? Felt like it. Loved the way this fleshed out Bobby’s world & his past, and I adored Sherriff Mills. I’d love to see her again.
14. The Song Remains the Same—Awesome, tragic episode, and I thought Matt Cohen was totally channeling JDM. Also, if I’m not mistaken, marks the third Sera Gamble episode to reference Warrant’s Cherry Pie. She finally got that song into the show :D. Would probably have been higher if Anna’s character arc didn’t feel so off and contrived to me.
15. Sympathy for the Devil—Not sure why this isn’t higher, did I just forget about it? Especially when it has Chuck, who always scores points with me, not to mention all the tension and pathos. It was kind of a fastmoving rollercoaster ep. Loved the clip of the Devil and Yosemite Sam!
16. Hammer of the Gods—Cannibalism at the Hotel California: weird, gruesome, funny, and scary, with echoes of Gaiman. D&L’s juvenile humor can really put me off sometimes (see 20 & 21), but in this one it felt consistent with the characters and worked for me. Thought the gods represented a missed opportunity for some cool storylines this season, but loved this ep anyway!
17. Curious Case of Dean Winchester—Best S5 standalone. I love a story with some moral ambiguity, plus the Weekly World News made a cameo. I’m such a mytharc fan, though . . .
18. The Real Ghostbusters—The 4th wall demolition derby & Chuck the Prophet are always fun, but despite the opportunities for self-referential humor the ghost story fell flat for me, as did Demian and Barnes, just didn’t find them very engaging. I did like Fritz, though.
19. Swap Meat—Bazingas, yes, and I felt as “meh†about Gary as I did about Demian & Barnes. But it was fun to see Sam stuck in the secret life of a geeky, Satan-dabbling American teenager, and loved the demonic twist. Plus Bob Seger!
20. I Believe the Children Are Our Future—Loved Jesse, I want to see him in season 6! Dean’s frozen face was awesome, & thought Ever Carradine did a nice job. Overall, though, this episode didn’t quite come together for me.
21. Sam, Interrupted—Jon Gries was great, and there were some cool moments where the line between fantasy and reality became unclear. Some interesting character insights as well, but I felt like those could’ve been developed better. Instead we got a lot of what felt to me like cheap laughs, an uninspired MOTW, and a plot that stretched plausibility well beyond the breaking point (I’ve rotated on several psych units, which exacerbated the verisimilitude issues for me—funny how I’ve got no problem with the demons and stuff, though… )
22. Fallen Idols—this one was just a dud. When Paris Hilton’s one of the best parts of the episode, you have serious problems.
Like every list, subject to change:
1. Swan Song
2. Changing Channels
3. My Bloody Valentine
4. Dark Side of the Moon
5. Two Minutes to Midnight
6. The End
7. Abandon All Hope
8. Point of No Return
9. The Song Remains the Same
10. The Real Ghostbusters
11. The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
12. Sympathy for the Devil
13. Hammer of the Gods
14. Good God, Y’all!
15. Free To Be You and Me
16. The Devil You Know
17. 99 Problems
18. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
19. Sam, Interrupted
20. Swap Meat
21. I Believe the Children Are Our Future
22. Fallen Idols
Hi Alice, This was really fun, 🙂 wow you did your list in 3 minutes and 54 min? you are fast…
ok this is my list
1. Changing Channels
2. Swan Song
3. Dark side of the moon
4. Point of No Return
5. The End
6. My Bloody Valentine
7. The Real Ghostbusters
8. Sam, Interrupted
9. The Song Remains The Same
10.The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
11. Two Minutes To Midnight
12. The Devil You Know
13. Sympathy For The Devil
14. Hammer of The Gods
15. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
16. I Believe The Children Are Our Future
17. Abandon All Hope
18. Swap Meat
19. 99 Problems
20. Free To Be You and Me
21. Good God Y’all
22.Fallen Idols
Way over 5 minutes. Takes time to relive it all.
1. Swan Song
2. The Song Remains the Same
3. Dark Side of the Moon
4. Point of No Return
5. My Bloody Valentine
6. 99 Problems
7. The End
8. Abandon All Hope
9. Changing Channels
10. Curious Case of Dean Winchester
11. Two Minutes to Midnight
12. Sympathy for the Devil
13. Free to be You and Me
14. Sam, Interrupted
15. Good God, Y’all
16. The Devil You Know
17. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
18. Swap Meat
19. Hammer of the Gods
20. I Believe the Children Are Our Future
21. Fallen Idols
22. The Real Ghostbusters
To do this in 5 minutes or under just does not do the thinking process justice. I started with my least favorite and then worked out from there. Couldn’t really give it a good long thought process, just off-the-cuff thinking. Should I have more time to really analyze the season, I am sure my choices would be different. But, with 4.50 minutes worth of decision, here is what I came up with:
1. Swan Song
2. The End
3. Bloody Valentine
4. Point of No Return
5. Dark Side of the Moon
6. Two MInutes to Midnight
7. The Song Remains the Same
8. Abandon All Hope
9. Sympathy for the Devil
10. Changing Channels
11. The Devil You Know
12. 99 Problems
13. Good God Ya’ll
14. Hammer of the Gods
15. Free To Be You and Me
16. I Believe the Children Are Our Future
17. Curious Case of Dean Winchester
18. The Real Ghostbusters
19. Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
20. Sam Interrupted
21. Swap Meat
22. Fallen Idols
Hard…really hard. Can’t even type them in 5 minutes. Just so many had parts I liked and parts I didn’t. 😡
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
The Real Ghostbusters
The End
My Bloody Valentine
Changing Channels
Hammer of The Gods
I Believe The Children Are Our Future
Swan Song
The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
Point of No Return
Two Minutes To Midnight
Dark Side of The Moon
Abandon All Hope
Sam, Interrupted
Swap Meat
The Devil You Know
Sympathy For The Devil
Good God Y’all
Free To Be You and Me
The Song Remains The Same
99 Problems
Fallen Idols
More Fun With Statistics!!! Thought Magichappening’s analysis above was very interesting, and inspired me, so I stuck everyone’s rankings into a spreadsheet. Based on 20 responses, the episodes are ordered by their average ranking in the table below:
Swan Song 2.05
Changing Chan 4.64
End 5.91
DSotM 6.07
PONR 6.07
2 Min2Mid 6.84
MBV 7.45
TSRTS 7.52
AAH 8.36
SFTD 11.41
Devil U Know 11.59
F2BY&M 12.18
GGY 13.41
99 Problems 14.25
Real Ghost 14.41
Sam Interrupt 14.89
Curious Case 15.00
DMDWP 15.77
Hammer 16.95
IBTCAOF 17.82
Swap Meat 19.68
Fallen Idols 20.73
I was also interested to try and look at which episodes had the most agreement among responders, and for which episodes opinions were the most varied, so I here are the episodes based on the standard deviation from the mean. I’m not sure if the standard deviation is the best way to measure this, I’m not a stats expert, so if anyone knows better, let us know!
Swan Song 1.70
Fallen Idols 1.80
Swap Meat 2.92
PONR 3.17
IBTCAOF 3.25
2 Min2Mid 3.29
AAH 3.35
Curious Case 3.46
SFTD 3.62
GGY 3.76
Sam Interrupt 3.82
Hammer 3.84
End 3.88
TSRTS 4.01
F2BY&M 4.20
Devil U Know 4.28
Changing Chan 4.41
DMDWP 4.60
MBV 4.66
99 Problems 4.76
DSotM 4.89
Real Ghost 4.91
I also ranked the episodes after removing the highest and lowest ranking from each episode to try to decrease the effect of outliers, then ranked the episodes by standard deviation as below:
Swan Song 1.11
Fallen Idols 1.32
Swap Meat 2.01
IBTCAOF 2.19
2 Min2Mid 2.5
PONR 2.54
AAH 2.63
SFTD 2.74
TSRTS 2.81
Changing Chan 2.84
Hammer 2.92
Curious Case 2.96
DMDWP 3.11
GGY 3.12
End 3.31
Sam Interrupt 3.31
Devil U Know 3.56
F2BY&M 3.78
DSotM 3.82
MBV 3.83
Real Ghost 3.92
99 Problems 4.37
I think the result that surprised me the most was where Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid fell in the rankings (I liked it a lot better than, say, Sam Interrupted). Yeah, stuff like this interests me. What’s that? Of course I have a rich and fulfilling life, why?
:geek: :ugeek: :geek: :ugeek: :geek:
I have tried to do this for a week now. I keep getting distracted and then can’t make up my mind. So no way this was done in 5 mins! My favorites are more the stand-alones, but still some of the myth arc rated really at the top. There are parts of all I loved, and parts of all I didn’t, so really hard to choose.
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
The End
The Real Ghostbusters
Changing Channels
Two Minutes To Midnight
Hammer of The Gods
I Believe The Children Are Our Future
My Bloody Valentine
Swan Song
The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
Sam, Interrupted
Swap Meat
99 Problems
Dark Side of The Moon
Sympathy For The Devil
Point of No Return
Good God Y’all
Free To Be You and Me
Abandon All Hope
The Song Remains The Same
The Devil You Know
Fallen Idols