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butterflyI was originally going to try to do a Top 10, but I couldn’t narrow down S9 enough, so it’s just ~favorites~ per season instead. And all lists are chronological, because my brain can’t handle order of preference right now.
Season 9
1. I Think I’m Going To Like It Here (9x01; written by Carver & directed by Showalter)
2. Devil May Care (9x02; written by Dabb & directed by Bee)
3. Slumber Party (9x04; written by Thompson & directed by Singer)
4. Heaven Can’t Wait (9x06; written by Berens ♥ & directed by Spera)
5. Bad Boys (9x07; written by Glass & directed by Showalter)
6. Road Trip (9x10; written by Dabb & directed by Singer)
7. First Born (9x11; written by Thompson & directed by Badham)
8. The Purge (9x13; written by Charmelo/Snyder & directed by Sgriccia)
9. Captives (9x14; written by Berens ♥ & directed by Wanek)
10. Mother’s Little Helper (9x17; written by Glass & directed by Collins)
11. Meta Fiction (9x18; written by Thompson & directed by Wright)
12. Alex Annie Alexis Ann (9x19; written by Berens ♥ & directed by Pleszczynski)
13. Stairway to Heaven (9x22; written by Dabb & directed by Bee)
14. Do You Believe In Miracles? (9x23; written by Carver & directed by Wright)
Overall: 2 Carver episodes (100% of Carver’s eps), 3 Dabb episodes (75%), 3 Thompson episodes (100%), 3 Berens ♥ episodes (100%), 2 Glass episodes (66~%), 1 Charmelo/Snyder episode (50%). None for BRL or Klein.
Not terribly surprising results, given my feelings before the season. Berens ♥ was our wildcard and he turned out to be a complete gem and I adore him. A few of the episodes that weren’t favorites were… strong dislikes, but the episodes that I liked, I generally really liked. The season is also really well-balanced with where the favs land – equal number in the front and back halves of the season.
I also had more favorite episodes in S9 than in any other season. Does that technically make it my favorite season? I’m not sure. The structure and arc were incredibly strong this season. Stronger than any other season we’ve had, I think.
…the reaper=angel non-explanation still kinda bugs me. Though maybe the non-explanation issue belongs to S8, not S9? I still feel like there must have been a cut scene somewhere along the line.
Season 8
1. We Need to Talk About Kevin (8x01; written by Carver & directed by Singer)
2. What’s Up, Tiger Mommy? (8x02; written by Dabb/Loflin & directed by Showalter)
3. Bitten (8x04; written by Thompson & directed by Wright)
4. Hunteri Heroici (8x08; written by Dabb & directed by Edwards)
5. LARP and the Real Girl (8x11; written by Thompson & directed by Szwarc)
6. As Time Goes By (8x12; written by Glass & directed by Ladouceur)
7. Everybody Hates Hitler (8x13; written by Edlund & directed by Sgriccia)
8. Trial and Error (8x14; written by Dabb & directed by Parks)
9. Freaks and Geeks (8x18; written by Glass & directed by Showalter)
10. Pac-Man Fever (8x20; written by Thompson & directed by Singer)
11. The Great Escapist (8x21; written by Edlund & directed by McNeill)
12. Clip Show (8x22; written by Dabb & directed by Wright)
13. Sacrifice (8x23; written by Carver & directed by Sgraccia)
Overall: 2 Carver (100%); 4 Dabb (100%); 1 Loflin (33~%); 3 Thompson (75%); 2 Glass (66~%); 2 Edlund (66~%). None for BRL or Klein.
I might feel differently about “Goodbye Stranger” if I watched it again now, idk. A lot of my negative feelings about it are related to the potential queerbaiting issue which is… something I’m not so worried about post-9x22/23. Still not sure if it could ever be a favorite, though. Have to think about that one.
S8 is slightly more weighted at the end than S9, with two more favs in the back half than the front. There’s a run of four fav episodes in the middle and another right at the end, so there’s also a sense of ~momentum~ there.
Season 7
1. Meet the New Boss (7x01; written by Gamble & directed by Sgriccia)
2. Defending Your Life (7x04; written by Glass & directed by Singer)
3. Slash Fiction (7x06; written by Thompson & directed by Showalter)
4. The Mentalists (7x07; written by Acker/Blacker & directed by Rohl)
5. Death’s Door (7x10; written by Gamble & directed by Singer)
6. Adventures in Babysitting (7x11; written by Glass & directed by Szwarc)
7. Time After Time (7x12; written by Thompson & directed by Sgriccia)
8. Repo Man (7x15; written by Edlund & directed by Wright)
9. The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo (7x20; written by Thompson & directed by MacCarthy)
10. Reading Is Fundamental (7x21; written by Edlund & directed by Edlund)
11. Survival of the Fittest (7x23; written by Gamble & directed by Singer)
Overall: 3 Gamble (75%); 2 Glass (66~%); 3 Thompson (100%); 1 Acker/Blacker (100%); 2 Edlund (50%). None for BRL, Klein, or Singer (as writer).
This season is about as evenly weighted as S8 for me, but in the opposite direction – I liked two more eps in the front half than in the back.
Season 6
1. Exile on Main St. (6x01; written by Gamble & directed by Sgriccia)
2. Clap Your Hands If You Believe… (6x09; written by Edlund & directed by Showalter)
3. Appointment in Samarra (6x11; written by Gamble/Singer & directed by Mike Rohl)
4. Unforgiven (6x13; written by Dabb/Loflin & directed by Barrett)
5. The French Mistake (6x15; written by Edlund & directed by Beeson)
6. My Heart Will Go On (6x17; written by Charmelo/Snyder & directed by Sgriccia)
7. Frontierland (6x18; written by Dabb/Loflin & directed by Bee)
8. Mommy Dearest (6x19; written by Glass & directed by Showalter)
9. The Man Who Would Be King (6x20; written by Edlund & directed by Edlund)
10. Let It Bleed (6x21; written by Gamble & directed by Showalter)
11. The Man Who Knew Too Much (6x22; written by Kripke & directed by Singer)
Overall: 3 Gamble (100%); 3 Edlund (75%); 1 Singer (100%); 2 Dabb/Loflin (50%), 1 Charmelo/Synder (33~%), 1 Glass (25%), 1 Kripke (100%). None for Matthews or Klein.
This season was backloaded like woah for me. I really liked the ending, but a lot of the set-up was kinda weak sauce. If the beginning had been as strong as the ending, it easily would have outpaced the other seasons when it comes to favs, since it had 8 episodes in the back half that I loved (out of 12) – so, if the front half had been as good, then it would have had a whopping 16 favs.
…but, like I said, the front half was kinda weak for me. But that run of six favorite episodes at the end of the season is a pretty great viewing experience.
Season 5
1. Sympathy for the Devil (5x01; written by Kripke & directed by Singer)
2. Good God, Y'all (5x02; written by Gamble & directed by Sgriccia)
3. Free to Be You and Me (5x03; written by Carver & directed by Tobin)
4. The End (5x04; written by Edlund & directed by Boyum)
5. Changing Channels (5x08; written by Carver & directed by Beeson)
6. Abandon All Hope… (5x10; written by Edlund & directed by Sgriccia)
7. The Song Remains the Same (5x13; written by Gamble/Weiner & directed by Boyum)
8. Dark Side of the Moon (5x16; written by Dabb/Loflin & directed by Wollnough)
9. Point of No Return (5x18; written by Carver & directed by Sgriccia)
10. The Devil You Know (5x20; written by Edlund & directed by Singer)
11. Two Minutes to Midnight (5x21; written by Gamble & directed by Sgriccia)
Overall: 1 Kripke (50%); 3 Gamble (75%); 3 Carver (75%); 3 Edlund (75%); 1 Weiner (100%); 1 Dabb/Loflin (25%). None for Siege.
Pretty evenly balanced – one more episode in the back half than the front. Strong run at the beginning, with four favs. Not quite as impressive as the end-run of S6, but good.
Season 4
1. Lazarus Rising (4x01; written by Kripke & directed by Manners)
2. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester (4x02; written by Gamble & directed by Sgriccia)
3. In the Beginning (4x03; written by Carver & directed by Boyum)
4. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester (4x07; written by Siege & directed by Beeson)
5. I Know What You Did Last Summer (4x09; written by Gamble & directed by Beeson)
6. On the Head of a Pin (4x16; written by Edlund & directed by Rohl)
7. It’s a Terrible Life (4x17; written by Gamble & directed by Conway)
8. The Monster at the End of This Book (4x18; written by Siege & directed by Rohl)
9. The Rapture (4x20; written by Carver & directed by Beeson)
10. When the Levee Breaks (4x21; written by Gamble & directed by Singer)
11. Lucifer Rising (4x22; written by Kripke & directed by Kripke)
Overall: 2 Kripke (66~%); 4 Gamble (100%); 2 Carver (50%); 2 Siege (100%); 1 Edlund (33~%). None for Humphries or Dabb/Loflin.
Fairly balanced – one more episode in the back half than in the front. For a season that I’ve thought could be my favorite, though, I had fewer favorite episodes than expected. Maybe it’s the comparison to S3 that’s made me consider S4 such a favorite.
Season 3
1. Bad Day at Black Rock (3x03; written by Edlund & directed by Singer)
2. Sin City (3x04; written by Carver/Singer & directed by Beeson)
3. A Very Supernatural Christmas (3x08; written by Carver & directed by Tobin)
4. Mystery Spot (3x11; written by Carver & directed by Manners)
5. Jus in Bello (3x12; written by Gamble & directed by Sgriccia)
Overall: 1 Edlund (33~%); 3 Carver (75%); 1 Singer (100%); 1 Gamble (25%). None for Kripke, Humphries, or Andries.
So, yeah. Season 3 is my least favorite season, no matter what metric I use to measure. Even correcting for only having 16 episodes, that’s still only 31% (as compared to 50% for S4 or 61% for S9). Or, to put it another way, I had almost as many favorite episodes in S9 as there were actual episodes in S3. But Carver was my shining light in a dark season.
I did love Bela and Ruby, but I hated the way they were treated by the narrative. So many of their episodes treated them shabbily. I mean, I know that the show can still be crappy with ladies sometimes, but nothing will ever compare to the nadir that was S3’s sexism. I have never felt so much like a TV show despised me for being female as I did with SPN S3.
Season 2
1. In My Time of Dying (2x01; written by Kripke & directed by Manners)
2. Bloodlust (2x03; written by Gamble & directed by Singer)
3. The Usual Suspects (2x07; written by Humphries & directed by Rohl)
4. Crossroad Blues (2x08; written by Gamble & directed by Boyum)
5. Croatoan (2x09; written by Shiban & directed by Singer)
6. Playthings (2x11; written by Witten & directed by Beeson)
7. Nightshifter (2x12; written by Edlund & directed by Sgriccia)
8. Born Under a Bad Sign (2x14; written by Humphries & directed by Tobin)
9. Roadkill (2x16; written by Tucker & directed by Beeson)
10. What Is and What Should Never Be (2x20; written by Tucker & directed by Kripke)
11. All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One (2x21; written by Gamble & directed by Singer)
12. All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two (2x22; written by Kripke & directed by Manners)
Overall: 2 Kripke (100%); 3 Gamble (60%); 2 Humphries (100%); 1 Shiban (25%); 1 Witten (50%); 1 Edlund (33~%); 2 Tucker (50%). All writers got at least one episode onto the list of favs.
Perfectly balanced season, like S9, though I ended up with not quite as many favs as in S9. And strong across the board – every writer delivered at least one episode that I’m willing to call a favorite.
Season 1
1. Dead in the Water (1x03; written by Gamble/Tucker & directed by Manners)
2. Bloody Mary (1x05; written by Milbauer/Burton & directed by Ellis)
3. Skin (1x06; written by Shiban & directed by McNeill)
4. Home (1x09; written by Kripke & directed by Girotti)
5. Asylum (1x10; written by Hatem & directed by Bee)
6. Scarecrow (1x11; written by Shiban & directed by Manners)
7. Faith (1x12; written by Gamble/Tucker & directed by Kroeker)
8. Nightmare (1x14; written by Gamble/Tucker & directed by Sgriccia)
9. Something Wicked (1x18; written by Knauf & directed by Ransick)
10. Provenance (1x19; written by Erhman & directed by Sgriccia)
11. Salvation (1x21; written by Gamble/Tucker & directed by Singer)
12. Devil’s Trap (1x22; written by Kripke & directed by Manners)
Overall: 4 Gamble/Tucker (100%); 1 Milbauer/Burton (100%); 2 Shiban (40%); 2 Kripke (40%); 1 Hatem (50%); 1 Knauf (100%); 1 Erhman (100%). None for Nave/Coakley, BRL, or Callaway.
Like S2 and S9, this is perfectly balanced between the front and back halves of the season. Some writers did strike-out completely with me, though, unlike with S2.
Original Post: Fav SPN Episodes