Why Supernatural Fans Were So Angry About Charlie’s Death

Here’s why the Supernatural fandom erupted when the show killed off Felicia Day’s Charlie in season 10. While the heart of Supernatural is undeniably Sam and Dean Winchester, the series has introduced a string of hugely popular personalities over the years, with the likes of Castiel, Crowley and Bobby Singer all attaining main character status thanks to a positive fan response. Another who caught the attention of fans in a big way was Charlie Bradbury. A part-time hacker and the unwitting employee of Dick Roman, Charlie comes into the Winchesters’ lives when she discovers her pay check is actually signed by a Leviathan from the depths of purgatory.

Charlie continued to make guest appearances over the next 3 seasons, including a trip to Oz, an evil doppelganger and deadly LARPing. With a quirky personality, Charlie brought a new dynamic to the Winchester bunker and her parental struggles resonated with Sam and Dean on an emotional level, so much so that Charlie became the honorary Winchester sister. In season 10’s “Dark Dynasty,” however, everything went wrong. At this time, Sam and Dean were feuding with the Styne family (as in Frankenstein, not the guy who wrote Goosebumps) and these villains wanted the Winchesters’ Book of the Damned. Instead of destroying the ancient tome, Sam asks Charlie and Rowena to decode it, hoping a way of saving Dean from the Mark of Cain can be found inside. The Styne family locate Charlie while she’s working on the book and slaughter her, leaving only a corpse for the Winchesters to find.

Major characters die with alarming regularity in Supernatural. Sam, Dean and Castiel might repeatedly bounce back from the afterlife, but the likes of Bobby, Kevin Tran and Jo Harvelle were all killed off, importance or popularity be damned. Yet none of those names attracted the same vitriol that Charlie’s death inspired. Fans were incensed that Charlie was bumped out of Supernatural and members of the show’s creative team have even revealed behind-the-scenes attempts to reverse the decision. So why, in a world where death is as common as beer and pie, were Supernatural fans particularly devastated about losing Charlie?

Arguably the biggest problem is the manner of Felicia Day’s exit. The fateful moment arrives virtually out of nowhere towards the end of Supernatural season 10 courtesy of Eldon Styne. Rather than mark an escalation of the Styne storyline, however, everything is wrapped up within the next episode, as Dean kills the entire family as revenge. In effect, Supernatural sacrificed Charlie to push Dean towards embracing the Mark of Cain’s violent influence, which in turn leads him to Death and releasing the Darkness in the season finale. Charlie was but a minor step to get Dean Winchester from point A to point B, and this made an already controversial death exponentially worse. Many also found Charlie’s death highly contrived – leaving Castiel’s protection despite knowing the Styne family were prowling was a rookie mistake for such an intelligent character.

The murder of Charlie Bradbury was unnecessary from a story perspective, but the backlash was also triggered by what the character represented in Supernatural. Charlie was a breath of fresh air in the Winchesters’ world, and while Supernatural had introduced its fair share of geeks before, Charlie was real and three-dimensional. Significantly, Charlie was also one of very few gay characters in Supernatural, meaning her meaningless death left behind an even more sour taste.

Charlie’s Supernatural exit wasn’t entirely without merit. Losing his adopted sister was a justifiable reason to send Dean wild and there’s no denying the emotional punch when the Winchester brothers encounter Charlie’s lifeless body. Nevertheless, Day’s character didn’t deserve the chop and, perhaps realizing their mistake, Supernatural brought an alternate version into the series for season 13.

Supernatural season 15 is currently on hiatus.

About The Author

Craig Elvy
(3623 Articles Published)

Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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