Supernatural Scrapped A Storyline That Would Have Fundamentally Changed The Show

For 15 seasons, "Supernatural" stayed true to its initial premise: two demon-hunting brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), who road trip across America to uncover hidden ghosts, ghouls, and monsters lurking in the shadows. Things got complicated with the appearance of angels, multiple descents into Hell, and the meta introduction of in-universe fangirls, but this basic premise was more or less true from the first episode to the last. However, there was one storyline that could have wrecked the entire series; one we're thankful that the show passed on.

A core element of "Supernatural" is that the Winchesters battle monsters while the rest of society is completely unaware of their existence. This is where Andrew Dabb — who was named co-showrunner after Jeremy Carver left, alongside Robert Singer — and the writers' room had the idea to radically change everything. "One story line we always talked about, which we never did was basically Sam and Dean go public," Dabb explained to TV Insider several years after the series finale. "They're like, 'Look, we're putting out a PSA. Monsters are real. If you see something, something shows up in your town, it's a monster. We can't be everywhere. We're just going to get the word out there.'"

While this idea of having Sam and Dean put out a "Ghostbusters"-style infomercial to warn humanity that demons are real and can hurt you makes sense on paper, Dabb admits that changing the show in this way would be impossible to reverse. "It would've kind of blown up the show in a very odd way," he explained, adding that the Winchesters probably ought to send out a PSA for the sake of those they fight to save.

"The nice thing about running for 15 years is something that gets scrapped in Season 4 looks great in Season 11," Dabb noted. This makes sense when you consider the era in which a storyline like this would have been explored. This revelation would have occurred in a finale at some point in one of the final few seasons, with the following episodes allowing Sam and Dean to serve as a kind of mentor figure to a new generation of demon hunters. Talk about a game-changing episode of "Supernatural."

Despite the creative potential, Dabb admits it would have been "a little logistically difficult" to go down that path. The revelation would have forced Sam and Dean to the spotlight as overnight celebrities, and that alone would have changed the show's dynamic. "Which, again, I think sounds interesting in theory, but I actually think would've destroyed the show," Dabb elaborated. "It would not have been any good, which is one of the reasons we didn't do it."

The decision not to move forward with this potential storyline really is for the best. Part of the show's enduring appeal —and the reason why it is considered the best CW show of all time — is because of Sam and Dean's underdog charm. Throughout the entire series, they constantly bite off more than they can chew, facing the most evil beings in existence. Making them in-world celebrities (more so than they already were at times) and putting them in international crosshairs would have only taken them out of the shadows where they already thrive.