Supernatural is heading into its thirteenth season this fall, and the fantasy/horror series shows no signs of slowing down. Over its long run, the Winchester brothers have gone from straightforward monster hunters to the ultimate in supernatural adversaries. They have journeyed through Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, encountered ever-greater threats, multiple apocalypses, and even met God himself. In the twelfth season, things calmed down somewhat as the show returned to its hunter roots, before ending with the birth of a new being - the Nephilim son of Lucifer.

The show is also (finally) getting a spin-off, and one that is bound to do a little better than the failed Bloodlines. Earlier this month, it was announced that a spin-off centered on Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes) would be getting its own backdoor pilot in Supernatural season 13, to be titled Wayward Sisters (a slightly odd choice, given that Wayward Daughters would be a more logical homage to the theme song, 'Carry On My Wayward Son').

Wayward Sisters

Supernatural Jodie Mill's house dinner with Claire Novak

According to reports, Wayward Sisters will continue to tell the story of Jody as a foster mother to young girls orphaned by supernatural tragedy. This is something that has already been explored in the series, as Jody has taken in both Claire Novak (Kathryn Love Newton) and Alex Jones (Katherine Ramdeen) and is raising them in a household that understand the supernatural threat. It's a premise that may also involve the character of Donna Hanscum (Briana Buckmaster), another fan-favorite female in the series who has teamed up with Jody in the past, although this hasn't yet been officially confirmed.

This is a concept that fans have been vocal about for some time, calling the concept Wayward Daughters, and creating a grassroots fan campaign to have it made. Jody Mills quickly became a fan favorite after she joined the show in season 5. Jody was introduced as the Sheriff of Sioux Falls, where Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) lived. At first, she was dismissive of the Winchesters as they attempted to work a case in the town, but after Sam (Jared Padalecki) rescued her from her zombie son (who had just eaten her husband), she quickly changed her mind. Since then, she has become a staunch ally of the Winchesters, helping them on cases and becoming a close friend.

Balancing Out The Boys

Mary Winchester, Castiel, and the Men of Letters in Supernatural

Despite being hugely popular and long-running, Supernatural isn't without its flaws - and one of the biggest issues is that it lacks central female characters. The vast majority of the characters in the show have been male, and while there have been several great female heroes (and villains) over the years, they are generally short-lived. It's an issue that fans have been vocal about, and at this point in the show, it's not an easy one to remedy.

Things have improved somewhat in recent seasons, of course. Mary Winchester (Samantha Smith) returned to the series after being dead since the boys were children and has proven to be an incredible hunter and a powerfully complicated character throughout season 12. Jody Mills herself has also been around for quite a few seasons, but has only shown up in a grand total of twelve episodes - it's definitely time to turn the focus onto great characters like Jody, and a spin-off is a perfect way to do this without having her (and any other women in the series) take an inevitable backseat to Sam and Dean (Jensen Ackles).

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Back to Basics

As well as being a way to put the focus on the female hunters in the Supernatural universe, a Wayward Sisters spin-off is a great way to take this world back to the basics - hunting on a case-by-case basis. Supernatural started with the Winchesters as straightforward monster-killers, and there are still plenty of stories to be explored in that area. After a few seasons of dealing with huge and complex storylines about Leviathans, the Garden of Eden, the Darkness, and other off-the-wall topics, Supernatural fans have been loving the way that season 12 took the show back to its roots with Mary and more straightforward hunting. Things are bound to get a little crazy again in season 13 (Lucifer's son, and all), so it would be nice to have a second show that is more focused on characters than on crazy storylines.

It will also be a useful way to start expanding on the mythology outside of Sam and Dean. There are plenty of other hunters in the world, and other kids and teens being raised as hunters. Fans want to see more of that, and more of the network of hunters that exists. There will be plenty of space for Winchester cameos, as well, but this paves the way for new lead characters to take over.

Living Vicariously

This new series would also help to give fans some slightly more relatable leads to watch. Sam and Dean have been through an incredible amount in the thirteen years that Supernatural has been on the air, and have gone from being young men struggling to battle evil... to hunters so incredibly powerful that they are quite literally unkillable and unbeatable. It's a lot of fun to watch them take down the next big bad, but it's also becoming more and more difficult for young viewers to see themselves in these characters.

A new set of teen heroines fits perfectly with the show's target demographic and will give younger viewers more accessible icons in this universe. As the Winchesters become closer in age to teen audiences' fathers than their friends, it makes a lot of sense to add some younger characters to balance things out. Adding untrained characters also makes watching a little more fun for would-be hunters. Who doesn't love a training montage?

Supernatural Lives On

Finally, it is inevitable that the mothership series will end - and Wayward Sisters is the perfect way to continue this universe without dragging Supernatural on well past its natural death. Sam and Dean have already died multiple times, and while this has become something of a running joke in the fandom, at some point death has to stick. If nothing else, these two could move into a Bobby Singer-style mentor role, or launch a new Men of Letters on this side of the pond. They have to do something that looks a little like retirement, anyway, because at this point there just isn't much left that they haven't faced down.

If Wayward Sisters is successful, this would be the best way for Supernatural to pass the torch onto a younger generation, and a way for the universe to survive with style. It will all depend on how the backdoor pilot is received, of course, and Supernatural may still have a few good seasons left to it, but at some point, it's going to be time to say goodbye to the Winchester brothers, and hello to a whole new world of monster-hunting possibilities.

Next: The 15 Most Controversial Things Supernatural Has Ever Done