Supernatural, the tale of two brothers in the "family business" of saving the world from monsters and mayhem, soon will enter its final season. Over the 14 Seasons, we have grown attached to the brothers (Dean and Sam), their allies, and their journeys. Although the storylines grew complicated, the heart of the show, the brothers, kept it grounded.
We are fans of the show and see a lot that is timeless about it; however, there are also things that didn't age well.
Aged Poorly: Dean's Tricks with Women
Lovable Dean has some not so lovable habits. He frequently pretends to be someone else (like a talent agent) in order to have romantic encounters with women. In the show, this represented his maverick, playful, and carefree nature, but it also reads as manipulation. When we re-watch early seasons of Dean, these "exploits" make us cringe.
The romances he had when he was honest or semi-honest did have consent and were examples of healthy sexuality. It is the others that are hard to watch today.
Timeless: The Ingenuity, Skill-building
Throughout the seasons, Dean and Sam invent tools and gather knowledge. At times, tools are created by them, such as Dean filling guns with rock salt. Other times, they learned to make tools from a friend or foe, such as when Sam learned to make the hex bags from Ruby.
We see both brothers learning new skills and also sharing them with others. This exploration is timeless and intriguing. It builds a thorough landscape of knowledge.
Aged Poorly: Sam Kills Dean's Daughter
In Season 7, Dean has a one night stand with Lydia, a woman who is an Amazon. Within a few days, the baby grows to be a young woman. Emma (Lydia and Dean's baby) becomes a sixteen-year-old girl. As part of her initiation, she has to kill her father, chop off his feet and hands for the other Amazons, and prove that she is a warrior.
Dean isn't like the other fathers in that he actually liked Lydia and accidentally left a belonging at her house that he needed to retrieve, meaning that baby Emma met him. In addition, the episode teases that Emma may not be like the rest of young Amazons since she hesitated in eating the father flesh and she feels more pain when she's branded. When she goes to kill Dean, he wants to believe that she's different, that she can walk away. Sam rushes into the room and without much hesitation, kills her.
Even if Emma couldn't have been saved, Sam's conversation to Dean also doesn't age well. Rather than sympathizing about the death of Dean's daughter or acknowledging that he feels the weight of having to kill his niece, Sam chides Dean for not having the strength to do it.
Timeless: Meta Moments
Supernatural does a good job in poking fun at itself, and much of this is done through meta moments where the show is aware of itself. An example of this is when Sam and Dean fall into an alternative universe that so happens to be the Supernatural TV set where everyone is calling them by the actors' names. While there they find out that there are many of their cars, that they wear make-up, and that actor Sam married the actress that played Ruby (true).
We have other meta moments like when Sam and Dean walk into a high school musical that is about their lives. The actors in the musical are all from a girls' school and the play is fanfiction to Supernatural. In another one, they fall into a Scooby-Doo episode. While we love the scary moments and monsters, the meta moments are what helps make supernatural truly unique and timeless.
Aged Poorly: Red Shirt Curse
The term, "red shirt curse" comes from observations about old Star Trek episodes where partial characters who wore the red shirt uniform were expendable and often died.
The hunters that pair up with Sam and Dean, as well as other allies and romantic interests, are often victim to the red shirt curse. Next to our two heroes, they are expendable. Occasionally, we do get to know the characters, like Jo, but others, such as all the hunters Mary killed when she was brainwashed, were purely expendable. The show easily killed off those close to the main family. In addition, the side characters' lives seemed to be primarily about our main characters.
Timeless: Reluctant Hero/The Hero's Journey
Often in myths and legends, there exists the reluctant hero character. They receive their calling, hesitate to begin, decide to embrace it, are faced with obstacles, and then overcome those obstacles. Apart from mythology, we see this in television shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Buffy tries to reject her calling, but then she fully accepts it. We also see this in Supernatural where Sam rejects the family business, hesitates to be part of it again, and then later embraces it. Sam represents a classic journey tale that is both old and timeless.
Aged Poorly: Taking Away Lisa's Decision
After Sam went into the cage, Dean tried to fulfill his promise to Sam by living a normal life. He sought out Lisa, his previous romantic interest, and became a father figure to Ben, Lisa's son. Lisa and Ben took in a broken Dean, grieving Sam. Dean was honest with them about his past, and they accepted him. However, after Sam comes back (soulless) and other family members, both Lisa and Ben are put in danger.
Dean gets them to safety, and Lisa asks no questions because she trusts him and understands his previous line of work. Afterwards, in order to protect them, he asks Cas to remove their memories of him and their life together. This is an overreach and didn't give Lisa the chance to make a decision about what she wanted to do. It was clear that both Lisa and Ben loved Dean. Even if their decision were to not stay connected to Dean, at least they could've had the memories.
Timeless: The Lore, Mythology, and Monsters
Supernatural used real lore when they featured creatures like the djinn. They used well-known ghost stories like Bloody Mary and The Woman in White. In addition, they created their own mythology and monsters like when they had the Winchesters serve as the perfect vessels for the angels, Lucifer and Michael.
This weaving between well-known stories and lore as well as mythology invented for the show created a tapestry of timelessness. In addition, the show explores common fears people have like the fear of clowns demonstrated by Sam.
Aged Poorly: Representation of Non-Western and Pagan Deities
In Season 5, a group of deities holds a meeting in a hotel. The trickster, angel Gabriel, wants to save Kali, a goddess and former girlfriend. He fears that the deities will get in the middle of Lucifer and Michael's fight, resulting in their deaths. By the way he discusses it, the deities that are non-Western or pagan have little strength and power compared to the two angels (who aren't even gods). This easy dismissal undermines each deity's ability and importance. This was an opportunity for the show to delve more into other cultures, supernatural creatures, and representations of divinity, and they didn't.
Timeless: Brother Bond/Family Bond
At the core of the show is the deep love and loyalty between brothers. This is the heart that keeps the show going and makes it timeless. In addition, we see how this connection between the brothers stems from the love that they experienced from their parents. Of course, shared trauma also connects them. For other characters, the biggest compliment that Dean and Sam can give them is to call them family. The lucky few become that to Sam and Dean. Once they are family, both Sam and Dean will do about anything for them. This loyalty and love is truly timeless.