Supernatural has proven to be the show that just keeps on going on The CW. In fact, The CW was still The WB back when Sam and Dean Winchester first began saving people and hunting things in 2005. The series has officially hit 300 episodes with an installment designed to honor the 299 that came before and even brought back a character that died more than a decade ago.
I spoke with Supernatural star Jared Padalecki at the red carpet for the 300th episode celebration, and he explained how it feels for the show to have hit such an incredible milestone:
I never expected this. We were literally just hoping we would get whatever we could get out of it. We loved the characters, we loved the writers, we all got along famously. As well as the crew, loved each other. And so now as we approach further seasons, it's just like family. Now it feels like I don't know how I could ever say goodbye. It's gonna have to happen at some point in time, but it's been a funny kind of life experience where Jared and Jensen kind of went through what Sam and Dean went through. We never knew if we had another week after this and after this. Whatever fight scene between vampires and demons and werewolves, we were like, 'I hope we get another week.' And we did, so here we are.
Not many shows can boast hitting 300 episodes, and even fewer can say that the main characters from the pilot are still in the thick of the action 299 episodes later. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles kept Supernatural on the air for all these years thanks to their portrayals of Sam and Dean Winchester, but they never knew that all these years would ever happen.
Who could have guessed back in 2005 that the show about two brothers hunting monsters would create a vast mythology, a huge and quite devoted fanbase, and deep bonds between unconventional characters? Supernatural was actually originally slated to end after the fifth season, when original showrunner Eric Kripke brought an era of the show to an end and then departed.
Instead, the show was brought back for Season 6, and it hasn’t stopped yet. In fact, only a week before the 300th episode hit the airwaves, The CW renewed Supernatural for a whopping fifteenth season. Jared Padalecki acknowledged that the show is going to have to end eventually, but the Winchester boys will continue fighting the good fight for at least one more season after the current fourteenth ends.
The CW President Mark Pedowitz recently revealed the only ways Supernatural will ever get cancelled, and none of them involve the end of a deal with the devil or hellhounds coming to collect. At this point, I’m hoping that my dream of a Fountain of Youth-themed episode comes true. Wouldn’t it be fitting for a show that could be on the airwaves indefinitely? Bring on the Fountain of Youth!
Supernatural has showed incredible versatility over the years, and the 300th episode with the return of John -- who died back in Season 2 -- was bound to reveal how much certain elements have changed while others remained the same. In Season 14, we have characters that weren’t around and/or alive back in Season 1, but the rock of the series today just as back in the beginning is the brotherly relationship between Sam and Dean. Here’s to 400!
The big question heading deeper into the second half of Season 14 is how Dean will deal with the Michael situation in his head. The renewal for Season 15 pretty much guarantees that he and Michael won’t be trapped in a box and dumped in the ocean for eternity. There’s also the issue of Castiel’s deal and the fallout both of that and of his lie to the Winchesters. What’s in store next?
Find out with new episodes of Supernatural on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. If you’re still in the market for series on the other nights of the week, swing by our midseason TV premiere schedule.
