It’s nearly time for Supernatural to end, after fifteen long (and wildly popular) seasons of watching the Winchesters fight evil and save the world (again). When the series first began, it wasn’t about angels, demons, and a battle between Hunters and God. Instead, it was a simpler series, about a pair of brothers looking for their dead and ganking monsters at every turn.

The first season was undoubtedly impressive, as fans latched onto the show from the start, but not every episode was going to be a hit. From the pilot to the season finale, these are the best and worst of season one – according to IMDb.

10 Worst: Dead In The Water (8.1)

The third episode of the season was definitely a creepy one, but it still manages to get stuck in the worst five with an 8.1. ‘Dead In The Water’ saw Sam and Dean head to a lakeside town where people were mysteriously drowning – and of course, they discovered that the culprit was the spirit of a boy who had been drowned himself. There was nothing particularly bad about this episode (and 8.1 is still a respectable score), but it just wasn’t that compelling.

9 Best: Provenance (8.8)

The nineteenth episode of the series, ‘Provenance’, may be one of the creepiest – and that’s probably why it is so popular! The Winchesters deal with plenty of creepy child spirits over the course of the series, and horror fans do love a terrifying child ghost. ‘Provenance’ doesn’t disappoint.

This episode is all about a haunted painting, where a spirit comes out of the canvas to kill – and may be a favorite because there are some surprising twists to enjoy here too. It’s always fun to see Sam and Dean realize that their first ghostly hunch was wrong.

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8 Worst: Wendigo (8.0)

‘Wendigo’ is the second episode of the first season, and while it’s not terrible, it’s simply not as interesting as much of the rest of the first season. After the incredible pilot, it may have simply been too difficult to keep up the pace right away. This episode sees the Winchesters head out in search of their father, and find a wendigo in the woods – a cannibal-turned-monster that has been chowing down on the innocent campers. The episode plays on traditional campfire ghost stories, and is a very straightforward monster hunt.

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7 Best: Salvation (8.9)

‘Salvation’ is the second last episode of the season, and the build up to the final battle is clearly a huge part of why this scores so high, with an impressive 8.9. This episode is all about the build up, with the boys hunting down Meg, and a large focus on the Colt and killing the Yellow-Eyed demon.

6 Worst: Hook Man (8.0)

The seventh episode of the first season is another one that plays on urban legends and classic ghost stories. Often, this style of episode does well in Supernatural, but this time, it just doesn’t land. ‘Hook Man’ is all about a ghost with a hook for a hand (it’s right there in the title), who is killing people connected to a church. It’s not a terrible episode, by any means, but it’s very formulaic, even this early on in the show.

5 Best: Faith (8.9)

The twelfth episode of the first season is heavily focused on Dean’s impending death – back in the day before fans expected Sam and Dean to kick the bucket every other season! This was emotionally charged, especially as the boys find a ‘faith healer’ who has shocking success, and choose to take Dean there to have him healed.

The sad part, of course, is that the ‘healer’ is actually a person who has bound a Reaper to them, and is using it to trade a life for a life. Obviously, the boys have to put a stop to this, and it leads to conversations about death and faith that are some of the best in the first season.

4 Worst: Route 666 (7.4)

The second-worst episode in the series, ‘Route 666’, is bizarre, even for Supernatural. In this episode, the Winchesters are hunting down a ghostly, haunted… truck. Possessed by the spirit of a dead man who was jealous of an interracial couple, ‘Route 666’ touches on issues of bigotry and racism and does it relatively well, but it’s the whole ‘haunted ghost truck’ part that lands this one a 7.4.

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3 Best: Home (8.9)

The ninth episode of the first season is also one of the most touching, as Sam and Dean head back to their childhood home to deal with a supernatural problem. They find a poltergeist here, and deal with it as fans expect, but that’s not what the draw of ‘Home’ is. Instead, it’s about learning more about Sam and Dean’s past, and the heartbreaking moment when the ghost of Mary Winchester herself appears to see her sons once more.

2 Worst: Bugs (7.0)

Given that the worst episode in the entire season still manages to get a 7.0, it’s clear that the entire first season was pretty solid. However, ‘Bugs’ is clearly deserving of this bottom spot. The basic plot of the episode is that people are being murdered by swarms of bugs, and the boys discover that it is because of an ‘ancient Indian burial ground’. The entire concept is trite, dull, and even a little problematic, so the episode never really gets great.

1 Best: Devil’s Trap (9.3)

It’s no surprise that the season finale is the best episode of the lot, and with a whopping 9.3, it’s a pretty phenomenal episode overall. This is all about the final battle between the Winchesters (back when there were three Winchesters) and the Yellow-Eyed Demon. It’s also worth noting that this doesn’t end in a simple ‘good wins’ wrap up, but with disappointment, powerful fights, and an intense cliffhanger ending. Amazing stuff.

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About The Author


Rose Graceling-Moore
(1516 Articles Published)

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Rose Graceling-Moore has been writing about film, TV and comics since 2013, when she began writing for a local print magazine in Vancouver, BC. Since then, Rose has written for Horror Honeys, Moviepilot and Quirkbooks as well as Screenrant, increasingly focusing on comic books and live-action comic adaptations, as well as diversity and representation on screen. Rose also co-hosted the DC Movies Podcast, and has guested on other nerd and entertainment podcasts over the past five years.

Rose’s love of comics began all the way back in the early ‘90s, when she discovered the X-Men while living in Africa (where there wasn’t a whole lot to do but read!), and since then has had an on-again, off-again love affair with not just Marvel, but DC and indie comics as well. You can follow her on Twitter: RoseMooreWrites for tweets about comics, movies, and more.

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