Supernatural Replaces Sam & Dean For One Of Its Greatest Episodes

Published Nov 15, 2026, 2:15 PM EST Craig began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016 and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. After previously writing for various outlets, Craig's focus turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally became useful. Craig has previously been published by sites such as Den of Geek. Craig is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-elvy-5b31a3381/ Supernatural does not have a good track record when it comes to replacing Sam and Dean Winchester as the main characters. Sidelining the duo for the backdoor Bloodlines pilot resulted in one of Supernatural's worst episodes, and spinoff prequel The Winchesters lasted only a single season with John and Mary as the leading duo. An attempt to launch Wayward Sisters proved more popular with fans, but yielded no results. There's a bucket-load of evidence to suggest that Supernatural's success and longevity is predominantly down to Sam and Dean Winchester, as well as the performances of Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in those iconic roles. For all the lovable supporting characters and gripping monster-of-the-week storylines, it does seem to be the core sibling dynamic that keeps Supernatural afloat in a sea of similar franchises. As ever, there's an exception to that rule. A rare occasion where Supernatural temporarily dropped the Winchesters, replaced them with a new main character, and created one of the show's best-ever episodes. That episode is, of course, "Baby" from Supernatural season 11. The Only Fitting Replacement For Sam & Dean Was Right In Front Of Us A story told from the perspective of Dean's precious Impala, "Baby" gently moves the Winchester brothers aside to focus on the faithful steed ferrying them from spooky crisis to spooky crisis. While the episode incorporates Sam and Dean as passengers, Baby also finds herself occupied by a string of strangers, all of whom interact with the vehicle in fascinatingly unique ways. A key strength of "Baby" is its spirit of innovation. By season 11, Supernatural's idea of pushing the envelope was digging out a new archangel. Instead of trying to 'go bigger', "Baby" takes the opposite approach and lands on something wholly more introspective. Supernatural rises to the challenge of trying to anthropomorphize a 1960s Chevrolet using little more than camera cues, clever plotting, and in-car dialogue. Thomas J. Wright and Robbie Thompson do sterling jobs as director and writer, respectively, creating a bottle episode that's as much about Supernatural as it is a part of Supernatural. And that's likely why "Baby" gets away with replacing Sam and Dean. Other attempts were too like-for-like. Whether it be the young duo of John and Mary in The Winchesters, the Wayward Sisters, or the vampires of Chicago, Supernatural always tried to replace Sam and Dean with different variations on the protagonist hunter archetype. As soon as Supernatural steps outside that box to explore a main character that couldn't be more different (in this instance, an inanimate object with wheels), it strikes gold. Supernatural's "Baby" Success Shows How To Make A Great Spinoff Matt Miller / ©The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection As great as the standalone episode turned out, an entire series like "Baby" would be terribly dull. Having said that, the one-off story does signal a path forward for other Supernatural spinoffs that may happen in years to come: do something completely different. The Winchesters was just Supernatural in the '70s. Wayward Sisters was Supernatural with Gilmore Girls vibes. Bloodlines was Supernatural meets The Vampire Diaries. "Baby" outshines all of them by telling a story about a car, so how many other unexpected corners of Supernatural lore could be worthy of exploration? Bela proved there's an entire black market for paranormal antiquities and relics in Supernatural's world. The political structure of Heaven and Hell puts Game of Thrones to shame. Were vampires in the weird west hunting down Samuel Colt? So many other spinoff angles give the same kind of sideways perspective as "Baby," but with a slightly larger scale than a cramped back seat. The irony is that previous Supernatural spinoff attempts opted for ideas perceived to be 'safe,' reusing familiar faces and formulas. "Baby" suggests the safest route of all would have been to go off on a complete tangent and do something the audience never could have predicted. Release Date 2005 - 2020-00-00 Network The WB, The CW Showrunner Eric Kripke Directors Philip Sgriccia, John F. Showalter, Kim Manners, Thomas J. Wright, Charles Beeson, Guy Norman Bee, Richard Speight Jr., Mike Rohl, John Badham, Steve Boyum, Amyn Kaderali, Jensen Ackles, Tim Andrew, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeannot Szwarc, P.J. Pesce, Nina Lopez-Corrado, James L. Conway, Amanda Tapping, J. Miller Tobin, Stefan Pleszczynski, John MacCarthy, Jerry Wanek, Ben Edlund Writers Meredith Glynn, Davy Perez, Raelle Tucker, Cathryn Humphris, Brett Matthews, Nancy Won, John Bring, Ben Acker, Daniel Knauf, David Ehrman, James Krieg, Trey Callaway Franchise(s) Supernatural Creator(s) Eric Kripke