Supernatural's take on Bloody Mary or the Hook Man. A few episodes pushed the boundaries of just how violent it could get, but the show soon moved away from this mode.
Beginning with Supernatural season 4, angels and God himself began to get thrown into the mix. The lore also became increasingly tangled and convoluted, but at its core remained the chemistry between Ackles and Padalecki. While there were still plenty of monsters and bloodshed, Supernatural became more of a fantasy action show than the X-Files-inspired horror series it began as. While some viewers may wish it stayed in the vein, the truth is, creator Eric Kripke's original design just wouldn't have sustained it for a full 15 seasons.
Supernatural's Horror Movie Plan Would Have Burned It Out Early
Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con (via Supernatural pitch would have seen a reporter traveling around America investigating urban legends, which evolved into two brothers fighting monsters instead. This familial connection wasn't even a major part of the show's roap, with Kripke stating that the brothers were "...an engine to get us in and out of different horror movies every week." Over time, he noticed how well his two leading men sparked off one another, and that they could shoulder more dramatic material.
This resulted in Supernatural moving away from its monster of the week format and focusing on the Winchesters' trauma and family history. In essence, it became all about their relationship, so that by the time the fourth season introduced the angels - which was never the original plan - the show opened itself up to all kinds of storytelling opportunities. In fact, if Supernatural - which had a monster movie episode - had just continued to focus on horror tales without fleshing out the boys and the world, it probably would have only run a few seasons at best. Eventually, this format would have gotten repetitive and stale without some character substance behind it.
Supernatural Lost Its Horror Edge After Season 3
Of course, there could have been a happy medium between Supernatural's early seasons and the fantasy soap opera it became. When it comes to ranking the best scary episodes, most of these are found in Supernatural's first three seasons. When it started to lighten up - quite literally in of color palette - the horror edge began to slip away. Later Supernatural seasons could have retained some of its nastier elements, but as with most long-running shows, the showrunners found a formula that just worked. The fact that every few seasons signaled a shift in tone and focus is another reason viewers kept coming back too.