With over 300 episodes spanning over 14 years, Supernatural’s canon sure has a lot to offer, whether you are a fan or just a casual viewer, and whether you love it’s mythical arc or just it’s standalone episode. So here’s my list of personal favourite Supernatural episodes, this list was published earlier, and I am now updating it in the light of the airing of S14.

10. Nihilism(14×10)

In an earlier version of this list, the number 10 spot was taken by S13’s Scoobynatural, however, ever since Nihilsm aired, I have been itching to change the list, but I decided to wait until the end of the season, to reassess that episode in the light of the entire S14 arc and turns out, I love it.Supernatural returns with a bang from its mid season hiatus, with an episode that features AU Micheal possessing Dean. While Micheal! Dean started off as a formidable enemy, it felt like the writers were unsure of what to do with him during the first half of the season, with Nihilism, all such complaints were resolved, mostly. It involves some of the strongest writing Supernatural has ever featured, and leaves room from extensive meta interpretation. The pace is fast, the acting is strong, the stakes are high and the tension never let’s up. It also involves a cameo by a fan-favourite guest star, a brilliant callback moment from to Castiel’s introduction scene in S4, a callback to the Winchester’s codeword: Poughkeepsie and some of the most emotionally impactful moments from S14.

9. Stuck in the middle with you(12×12)

This one was directed by Richard Speight Jr., for those of you who don’t know, Richard has directed several episodes of the show, and is also the actor who plays Gabriel(a.k. a trickster). He is extremely talented, as evident from his work on all the episodes he has directed, including two episodes in the ongoing season(14×02, 14×06). There are several reasons to love this episode, one, it’s a tribute of Quentin Tarantino, which means, like his movies, the episode is divided into chapters and follows a non-linear structure.

From a character perspective, this is a good episode as we get to understand the extent of British Men of Letters influence on Mary Winchester (Samantha Smith) and begin to realize that her alliance with them may be getting out of hand. We also get a canonical ‘I Love You’ from Castiel(Misha Collins), followed by the much talked about, I Love all of you. This has some major implications for the show’s most popular ship, Destiel(Dean+Castiel), and is a much talked about moment in the fandom.

Castiel’s importance to the Winchesters is clearly underlined as they refuse to leave him behind and Mary even refers to Castiel as one of her boys. Crowley( Mark Sheppard) tries hard to be able to save Castiel, and it’s heartwarming and confusing at the same time. We also get answers about where how Crowley became the king of hell and the whereabouts of the colt since its disappearance back in season 5. Overall this a solid episode in an otherwise weak season.

You can find my ranking list of season 1-13, here.

8. The Monster at the end of this book (04×18)

Supernatural is now well-known for playing around with structure and pulling off meta episodes, they have done in several times during the show’s 14 season run, but this episode stands out as this was the first time Supernatural went full-on meta. In this episode, Sam and Dean find out about the existence of a series of books, called ‘Supernatural’, which are written by Carver Edlund ( a nod to writers Jeremy Carver and Ben Edlund) who as they later find out is actually a prophet of the lord, whose actual name is Chuck Shurley ( Rob Benedict). There are some reveals in the later season about Chuck’s true identity, but let’s keep that aside.

The episode pokes fun at the fans, the show’s low rating, at the show’s lowest-rated episode to date: Bugs(Season 1 episode 8), at the existence of a largely female fanbase and at the Sam/Dean(Wincest) shippers. It’s a lot of fun to watch, especially if you are an avid fan like myself, who can quickly grasp all the subtle nods. It also plays into the season-long mytharc, as Sam is faced with Lilith, and this meeting is a great use of foreshadowing as it later becomes prominent during the S4 finale episode. It is also one of the first few times when Castiel disobeys heaven’s orders, in order to do the right thing, in order to help Dean, so an overall crucial episode for several arcs of S4, and it’s really a lot of fun to watch.

7. Death’s Door(07×10)

A very difficult episode to get through without having an emotional breakdown, but how can anyone not love this. A bobby centred episode!!! This episode is a love-letter to Bobby’s character, we get so much insight into what makes him the way he is, and the presence of Rufus is a special bonus.

My only complaint is the decision to turn Bobby into a ghost, so he sticks around for almost the entirety of Season 7. As much as I adore Bobby and love Jim Beaver’s presence in the show, this would have been a perfect send-off for this character and a truly memorable one.

6. Mystery Spot(03×11)

This was another easy choice for the list. Any list of top Supernatural episodes is bound to include this episode, it’s just that good. But when I say good, it is by no means a happy episode. It’s dark but at times really funny as well. Sam is stuck in an infinite loop where he keeps on reliving the same day over and over again, and each iteration of the loop ends with Dean dying in a different way. Dean dies, and the day starts again.

In this episode Dean dies approximately 108 times, with some deaths being brutal, others completely hilarious ( Do these tacos taste funny to you?). As Sam finally figured out who is behind all of this, things take a turn for the worse. But this is supernatural, and in supernatural, no death is permanent, unless the actor decides to leave, so things work out and we get a relatively happy ending, but this episode also leaves us feeling uncomfortable, as this is first glimpse where we get to see what could possibly happen to Sam if Dean’s contract expires, and he ends up going to hell. So in a way this was a smart use of foreshadowing for S4 as well.

5. Swan Song (05×22)

This one tops the list for most fans and understandably so, had the show ended back then, it would be a great way to go. This episode also marks the exit of series creator, Eric Kripke, after finishing his initially planned story arc.

On the other hand, I am actually sort of happy that Supernatural didn’t end back then. I admit that there has been a decline and inconsistency in the quality, but we have also gotten some really strong episodes and performances over the years. Season 11 is one of my favourite seasons from the SPN canon, and Season 14 is slowly shaping up to be a really solid season. So with this in mind, Swan Song ranks 5th on my list.

A special mention to Jared Padalecki, who I think is phenomenal in this episode, Sam’s decision to sacrifice himself, the Impala’s role in stopping the apocalypse are all well thought out, well-written and well-executed. I just wish the climactic fight had a better budget, the confrontation between Micheal and Lucifer at some forgotten cemetery is a bit underwhelming when their fight was supposed to be the end of the world.

4. Baby(11×04)

This episode is near-perfect. The framing of the entire episode in and around the Impala was a genius concept which was also executed flawlessly. But more importantly, this episode works because of the brothers, and the brotherly love which has been the backbone of this show for so long.

It is replete with some excellent broments and while the usual episodes focus on the monster hunts, this one shifts the focus towards the time spent on the road, while going for the hunts. My favourite moment from the episode is Sam and Dean singing along to Bob Seger’s Nightmoves.

Cas is absent for the most part, but his quote, ‘I am not sure how orange correlates in a way that’s new’, from this episode, a reference to the Netflix original Orange is the new black is one of my favourite Cas quotes of all time.

3. Fan Fiction (10×05)

Only SPN can do something like this and do it well. A fantasy fiction show about monsters and mythology doing a musical episode sounds absurd, right? Sam and Dean end up at a high school to work on a case, as it turns out, some of the girls at the high-school are putting up a musical play based on Supernatural books, which were first introduced back in season 4 episode 18.

This served as a great premise for the show’s 200th episode. This episode also marks the return of the Samulet, pokes fun at Destiel shippers, and is one of the rare episodes without any on-screen deaths, except for that of the monster of the week. The songs are well written and really catchy. Of all the original songs performed during the episode, I’ll just wait here then is my favourite.

Apart from that, the rendition of Carry on my wayward son, which is basically the unofficial theme song for Supernatural, is brilliantly executed and you may end up crying just a little bit. (Well, I know I did).

2. Changing Channels (05×08)

This is Supernatural at its very best, and if it weren’t for my undying love and repeated viewings of my number one choice for this list, this episode would probably top it. First of all, Supernatural poking fun at Grey’s anatomy, sitcoms, commercials, reality shows and shitty investigative drama’s all within the same episode is hilarious to watch. Sam being made to perform in a herpexia medication commercial may be one of the funniest things to ever happen on SPN and it’s all thanks to this episode.

Sam and Dean are stuck in a what could be called the TV world, all thanks to Gabriel, and they are trying to find a way out by playing their part. It’s fun for us but torture for the boys. However what elevates this episode is how well, the episode ties into the season-long arc for S5.

This is the first time the true identity of Gabriel as an archangel is revealed. We get to understand that the apocalypse isn’t just a fight between good and evil, there is no black and white, here. This episode first highlights the parallels of the relationship between Sam and Dean and that of Lucifer and Micheal. So basically, the apocalypse is just a family feud of epic proportions, and this episode brings that idea to the forefront.

Before I get to my top pick, here are a few honourable mentions, the ones I love, but just a little bit less than the others: Sacrifice(08×23), The French Mistake (06×15), The End (05×04), Lazarus Rising(04×01), Yellow Fever(4×06), Faith(1×12), In my time of dying(02×01), Clap your hands if you believe (06×09), Just my imagination (11×08) and a recent personal favourite Peace of Mind (14×15)

1. Bad Day at Black Rock(03×03)

I may be a bit partial for this episode, I have re-watched it several times, but it never fails to do two things, make me laugh and gross me out. Gross me out because of some gruesome death scenes, here I am referring to the man who slips on a beer bottle and gets stabbed by a fork, ughhhhhhhh.

It is also one of the funniest episodes of Supernatural, who can forget Sam’s iconic ‘I lost my shoe’ or Dean’s ‘I’m Batman’. This episode does a good job of blending lore into a strong stand-alone storyline, sprinkled with a good amount of humour. It perfectly captures the essence of the early season’s of SPN, each time I watch it, it makes me a bit nostalgic about the older episodes of SPN, you know when it was just about hunting ghouls, wendigos, shifters and the occasional demons, when the world wasn’t constantly at the risk of ending. It makes me feel good to think about that time, and it makes me hope that someday when the show ends the boys might be able to find there way back to this, they may not be able to completely give-up hunting, but maybe they can have this.

Also, whenever a friend asks me about whether they should start watching SPN, I tell them to check out this episode, because while the pilot is a good episode, after watching this one, it’s easier to get them to start watching the show and finally convert them into members of our cult.

If you are a major fan just like I am, you can find my ranking of seasons 1-13 here.

If you are a super-major fan, I have also written a book review for ‘Family Don’t End with Blood‘, which is basically a collection of essays written by Supernatural fans and cast-members, including a special chapter by Jared Padalecki. You can read my book review here.