Warning: major spoilers ahead for the Supernatural/Scooby-Doo crossover, called "Scoobynatural." If you haven't seen the Winchesters in all their animated glory just yet, feel free to check out some of our spoiler-free articles until you get the chance to tune in.
Supernatural first announced an animated crossover with Scooby-Doo almost a full year ago, and fans have been waiting to discover what could happen for the Winchesters to end up animated. After all, Supernatural has sent the boys into TV land and even the set of a movie set (twice!) due to supernatural shenanigans, but never in its wildest moments did Supernatural go so far as to animate Sam, Dean, and Castiel. Fortunately, the "Scoobynatural" episode has finally aired and revealed how exactly the Winchester brothers wound up animated and hanging out with the Scooby gang. As it turns out, it had everything to do with a haunted pocket knife, a big TV, and a little boy ghost.
"Scoobynatural" got off to a hilariously goofy start when the boys were battling a fake dinosaur in a pawn shop, and it was something that even they had never faced before. Cursed objects don't usually attack, but they managed to take down the dino and save Alan, a.k.a. the kindly man who runs the shop. The local real estate mogul Jay, who was buying up all the properties around the pawn shop, came by to check on Alan, feigning concern. Sam and Dean weren't convinced that he was on the up-and-up, so they decided to keep digging. Dean also chose a giant TV as his reward from the pawn shop owner. Unfortunately, the TV came with a spooky secret that sucked Sam and Dean into animation as soon as they switched it on back at the bunker.
The brothers were understandably freaked out to discover themselves animated, although Dean adjusted quickly as soon as he discovered that the Scooby gang was part of the animated world. Throw in his obsessive crush on Daphne, how widely he could open his mouth to devour sandwiches with Scooby and Shaggy, and his detailed knowledge of all things Scooby-Doo, and "Scoobynatural" was sharping up to be pretty great for Dean. When the whole crew wound up at a mansion haunted by a ghost that was slowly picking off the guests, things went sideways and the Winchesters realized that dying in animation meant dying in real life.
Luckily, the boys ultimately figured out that the ghoulish specter that was menacing everybody in the mansion was really the ghost of a young boy, who was trapped in his ghostly existence due to his attachment to a pocket knife that had been slipped into Dean's free TV. They were able to convince the child ghost that they wanted to help him, and he returned them to the real world. The bad guy of the episode wasn't the little boy, who was scared and sad and needed help. No, the bad guy was the real estate buyer Jay in live-action, who planted the pocket knife in places that he wanted to buy at ridiculously cheap prices. After all, who is going to drive up the price on a place that's haunted?
Sam and Dean figured out what was happening and burned the pocket knife, setting the boy free. They also discovered that the bad guy hadn't paid his taxes and had committed a bunch of financial crimes, so they managed to take him down without trying to explain a haunting to the proper authorities. Huzzah!
On the one hand, "Scoobynatural" was a surprisingly dark episode, especially considering it was a crossover between Supernatural and an innocent show like Scooby-Doo. The dead bodies leaked blood, the Scooby gang was violently thrown around by the ghost, and Shaggy almost certainly would have died if not for a last minute save from Cas. As it is, he broke his arm, and bones aren't supposed to break when Scooby-Doo is involved!
On the other hand, "Scoobynatural" may go down as one of the funniest and most bonkers episodes in the history of the series, and that's saying something after 13 years of bizarre adventures. I never knew I needed to hear somebody yell "Son of a bitch!" after a "Jinkies," "Zoinks," and "Ruh-roh." With Dean's diehard devotion to Scooby-Doo, hatred of Fred, and commentary on ascots, he delivered plenty of laughs, even if his love for Daphne got kinda creepy by the end. Velma's love for Sam's broad shoulders was unexpected and all the sillier for it, and there was even a classic Scooby-Doo chase sequence that saw the Scooby gang and Winchesters fleeing the ghost through doors in the same hallways and hiding in pots. Plus, Dean wore an ascot in live-action. What more could we ask for from a Supernatural/Scooby-Doo crossover?
Tune in to The CW on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET for new episodes of Supernatural. For more of what you can catch on the small screen, check out our midseason TV premiere schedule and our summer TV premiere guide. There's no word just yet on whether or not Supernatural will be renewed for a whopping fourteenth season, but some other shows' fates have been decided. You can find them in our rundown of TV renewals and cancellations.
