When a show has been around as long as Supernatural, it is easy to make mistakes, whether they are plot holes, continuity errors, or head-scratching inconsistencies. With 13 seasons under its belt, the battles between demon-hunting brothers Sam and Dean and both the forces of Heaven and Hell in Supernatural have resulted in monster ratings for the series. Fans have supported it through thick and thin to ensure that the series has lasted longer than just about any fantasy television series in history. All things considered, they’ve done a good job keeping track of things, but with well over 200 episodes in the can, the writers are bound to slip up once in a while and they’re especially liable to start pulling narratives out of nowhere. It’s hard to blame them considering they thought they were going to be done after season 5. Had they known the legs that their little show would have, they might not have brought out the apocalypse until much later.
With so many angels and demons coming and going and so much mythology thrown in, it is easy to see how the writers could get lost in its own deep story and make mistakes along the way. While fans have tried to explain away some of the mistakes, others are just glaring plot holes that make dedicated long-time fans scratch their heads and wonder why the writers don't pay as close attention to the show as its legion of fans. Here, are 25 plot holes in Supernatural that fans have a hard time getting over:
25 SAVING PEOPLE OR HUNTING PEOPLE
During the early seasons of Supernatural, Sam and Dean would save people who were possessed by demons through exorcisms and so forth. However, as the years have gone by, the brothers no longer seem to care about the innocents that the demons possess and just take out the demons by eliminating the hosts as well.
This means that the brothers are taking out innocent people for the greater good. This goes against their motto of saving lives. With that said, most fans can just dismiss this by stating that the brothers are doing the right thing at the end of the day.
24 THEY WERE WANTED
From the first ever episode of Supernatural, we've seen Dean and Sam posing as police officers, and we learn that Dean is a wanted criminal with a long history of charges. Throughout the early seasons, Dean and Sam are often arrested and told how long the FBI have searched for them.
What's confusing here is how they manage to hide so well in plain sight. With the number of cops they talk to, don't you think they should be recognized sometimes? Yet both brothers never even bother to change their appearance in any way at all.
23 KEVIN'S GHOST
Kevin Tran was one of the coolest, most loved Supernatural characters ever. Kevin was a high school kid who turned out to be a prophet of God. This meant he had the knowledge to help out Sam and Dean, and they all became friends. It was a very dark day in Supernatural when Kevin perished.
He was ended by Gadreel, who was ordered by Metatron. Kevin came back as a ghost because he had attached himself to his class ring. Our issue is that Heaven was apparently shut at this time, so Kevin couldn't go back. When Heaven reopens we don't hear anything about Kevin or if he went there to live.
22 CONFUSING TIME FLOW
It was revealed time flowed differently in the underworld and four months on Earth was equivalent to forty years in there. Going by this logic, it would mean Sam was in Lucifer’s Cage for over a century, while poor Adam has been down there for millennia. But this fact does not line up with what we’ve seen on the show since.
For instance, when Bobby was rescued, he didn’t act like he was stuck there for a century. Sam went to hell to retrieve Bobby and from Dean’s point of view was gone for hours, meaning he should have been hell for a few years at least.
21 ANGELS AND EATING
There are several things about the angels that make no sense. However, one of the things that the show seems to waffle on is their desire to eat food. In season 9, Castiel is complaining about becoming an angel again.
In the episode, he said that one of the things that he will miss the most is enjoying food because angels can't taste food as it just tastes like molecules to them. However, in season 5, Castiel is seen eating hundreds of hamburgers due to the influence of Famine. When asked about the food, he says that he thinks they taste delicious. So which is it?
20 WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER HORSEMEN?
In Season 5, the apocalypse was in full swing, even including the four horsemen as foretold. Sam and Dean faced each of these horsemen which included Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death.
Although for the most part, these beings were way above the boys’ pay grade, it was only Death who displayed the level of power he brought and willingly gave away his ring. The other three rings had to be taken away through physical means. Ultimately the four rings were used to open a portal to Lucifer’s cage, but we never found out what happened with the three horsemen. Their attributes still lived, but what of the beings themselves?
19 HOW THEY IDENTIFIED DEMONS
One of the methods of spotting a demon was revealed in an early Season 1 episode to be uttering the word ‘Christo’, which would force the demon to flash its black eyes. By saying this one word, a demon flinched and allowed them the chance to defeat it.
This plan works and the brothers are able to prevent the demon of the episode from crashing a plane and save numerous lives in the process. With that said, they never used the word again in the next 12 seasons, despite having numerous chances for it to help them win a fight with a demon.
18 THE LEVIATHAN'S DISAPPEARANCE
The Leviathans were the main antagonists of Season 7, with their threat of such magnitude that they were easily able to dispose of Angels, and had all the other monsters in their grasp. To top it off, they had manufactured a corn syrup, which had been mixed in the food supply that gave them control of the human population.
This plan was well underway before they were thwarted at the season’s end. You’d think there would be some fallout to all this in the next season, but the leviathans have in fact never been referenced to again. We would like to know, what happened to the remaining Leviathans?
17 RUBY'S KNIFE
Ruby’s knife was a weapon capable of ending demons. It was noticed that this would make things too easy for the protagonists. In order to combat this, some demons were made too powerful for the knife to have an effect on them, given their attribute as being among the oldest demons.
But this brings up a glaring plot hole in the form of Lilith, the very first and supposedly most powerful demon. Lilith was clearly terrified of the knife when Sam tried to attack her with and fled her vessel. Wouldn’t she logically be immune to it if she was the most powerful among all demons?
16 NOT SO POWERFUL ANGELS
Angels commanded fear in the hearts of all lower beings upon their introduction. Demons, in particular, were wary of them with Ruby keeping a distance from Sam due to his association with Castiel as she was afraid of getting caught.
The reason for said fear was appropriate as well, as angels could effortlessly smite demons upon placing their palms on demons’ forehead. In the beginning seasons this was displayed quite a lot, but in recent times angels don’t seem to use this ability much. In fact, higher levels demons such as Princes and Knights of hell can shrug off high-level Angels. So they are not so powerful after all, huh?
15 THE BROTHERS TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING
While this is something that the show has explained, it still makes no sense. Dean and Sam, from the start, are able to drive across the country, stay in motels, buy food and clothes, and survive without having a real job. Where do they get their money?
As the show reveals from the start, the boys get credit cards under false pretenses and then use them without care since they consider credit card companies to be immoral anyway. Also, Dean is a pool hustler. And while on the subject of credit cards, where do the companies send them?
14 SAM AND DEAN AND RESSURECTION
Despite many curve balls, Supernatural has one guarantee: Sam, Dean, and Castiel will keep dying to save the world and they’ll always come back. At first, it’s incredibly moving to see a beloved character accept their fate and sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
But after a while, it starts to lose emotional weight. Sam and Dean have literally been to Hell and back while Castiel has died and transformed numerous times. Sam, Dean, and Castiel are likely never going to be anything worse than “mostly dead.”
13 THE GRAND CANYON TRIP
In Season 2 episode 9, Dean makes a comment about all the driving they do, but he's still never been to the Grand Canyon. It was the episode where, yet again, they thought Sam was going to pass, so Dean literally locked himself in the room and planned to perish with him. The plot hole came in season 8.
In Season 8 episode 21 Sam asks Dean if he remembers that time John took them to the Grand Canyon on a donkey ride. Dean says that Sam was only four and that he can barely remember it. So does Dean have selective memory loss?
12 THE VILLAINS TALK TOO MUCH
Supernatural has a tried and tested formula that just works for the show. One of the most common parts of an episode would be where the antagonist is confronted by the boys only for them to be taken aback by the villain’s feats and get flung around the room.
More often than not the villain immobilizes the boys by pinning them against a wall and rendering them motionless. In the end, though, the heroes win, not because of their skill but because the antagonist wastes time with a monologue to take note of some outside interference. Storyline wise, however, why do the bad guys do this?
11 THE POWER THAT WAS NEVER USED
Angels and the extent of their powers have been wildly inconsistent on the show. On occasion, they are great reality benders who only need to snap their fingers to make anything come true while on others they seem incapable of doing much. One of the most useful powers they could possess is, or was, resurrection.
Castiel displayed this ability by bringing Bobby back to life in the Season 5 finale. This ability is scarcely used. It’s a wonder as to why this isn’t brought up whenever someone bites the dust. It’s not clear either if this power still remains in the angels or if they lost it.
10 THE NUMBER OF ANGELS
Right from their introductory season, the angels are said to be on the verge of extinction. In that season alone we see numerous angels brought to an end as the war with the demons rages on. Fast forward over to Season 13. We’ve seen hundreds upon hundreds of angels pass away on the screen.
Many are mentioned to have met their demise during the great fall in season 9. And yet still there seem to be quite a lot of these beings running around on Earth and in Heaven. So how many angels were there, really?
9 THE BOY WHO FLED
Jesse Turner appeared in the season 5 episode "I Believe the Children Are Our Future". He looked like a cute little kid, but he was actually the son of a demon and human. Not only that, but little Jesse is also the Anti-Christ – yes, according to Castiel, Jesse could eliminate all angels in Heaven with just one single word.
Castiel rightly wanted to destroy the child before he could, in turn, destroy Heaven and Earth. However, Dean and Sam had other ideas and allowed Jesse to live. The problem is that this is the Anti-Christ and the harbinger of the end, yet he has never been seen again since season 5.
8 LUCIFER'S ESCAPE FROM HELL
It took millions of years for Lucifer’s plan to work, and a whole lot of plotting to make it so before the villain was released to kick-start the apocalypse. All that trouble could have been so easily avoided. In the eleventh season, Lucifer escapes his cage when he possesses Castiel and returns to Earth.
This was made possible thanks to Rowena, who was able to shift Lucifer away from his cage into another. However, there were many powerful witches the likes of Rowena. Why didn’t any of Lucifer’s followers have this idea to release him? It was certainly a whole lot easier than breaking the 66 seals.
7 TWO BEINGS IN ONE BODY
For the most part, Supernatural was very consistent with its mythology. As of Season 13, Lucifer has switched a number of vessels with hardly any problems. For the most part, it has been explained how he stays in a different vessel without deterioration. But there was none in Season 11.
He took possession of Jimmy Novak while Castiel also inhabited the same person. It is said containing an archangel is impossible for someone who is not their true vessel. Yet, here Jimmy was harboring not only Lucifer but another angel simultaneously. How is this possible?
6 THE QUESTION OF PURGATORY
The introduction of the realm of Purgatory brought a whole lot more questions than answers. For one thing, why is there a backdoor to Purgatory? If this is where the sinners and monsters go to stew, why would there be backdoor at all?
There is one plot hole that was never answered about purgatory: where do things go when they pass away in Purgatory? All that beings in purgatory do is hunt each other. But they are already dead when they end up there; which brings about the confusion of where they go after they have been taken out.