The fourth season of ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'', an American

dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...

television series created by

Eric Kripke Eric Kripke (born 1974) is an American writer and television producer. He came to prominence as the creator of the fantasy drama series ''Supernatural'' (2005–2020) which aired on The CW. He served as the showrunner during the first five seasons ...

, premiered September 18, 2008, and concluded on May 14, 2009, on The CW. This season focuses on brothers

Sam Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

( Jared Padalecki) and

Dean Winchester Dean Winchester is one of the two protagonists from the American drama television series '' Supernatural'', along with his younger brother Sam. He is portrayed primarily by Jensen Ackles. Other versions of the character having been portrayed b ...

( Jensen Ackles) encountering angels for the first time in their lives as hunters of the supernatural; this marks the introduction of eventual series regular, the angel Castiel ( Misha Collins). The angels intervene to rescue Dean from Hell and bring him back to life after he became trapped there in the third season finale " No Rest for the Wicked". They explain that they have arrived on Earth for the first time in thousands of years in order to prevent the

demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...

from freeing the fallen angel Lucifer from Hell, as Lucifer would then cause the Apocalypse. The demons are led by the Winchesters' enemy, and Dean's murderer, Lilith. However, it becomes increasingly clear that something is wrong with Heaven and that the angels have their own agendas. Despite an initially happy reunion, tension grows between Sam and Dean because Dean fears Sam's growing demonic powers and distrusts Sam's returning demonic ally Ruby ( Genevieve Cortese).

Cast

Starring

* Jared Padalecki as

Sam Winchester Samuel "Sam" Winchester is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists of the American drama television series ''Supernatural'' along with his older brother, Dean. He is portrayed primarily by Jared Padalecki. Other versions of the char ...

* Jensen Ackles as

Guest stars

* Misha Collins as Castiel /

Jimmy Novak Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

* Genevieve Cortese as Ruby * Jim Beaver as

Bobby Singer Robert Steven Singer is a fictional character in The CW Television Network's horror-drama television series ''Supernatural'' portrayed by Jim Beaver. Named after the show's executive producer, Bobby first appears in the first season finale "Dev ...

* Julie McNiven as Anna Milton * Robert Wisdom as Uriel * Traci Dinwiddie as

Pamela Barnes Pamela Jean "Pam" Barnes Ewing is a fictional character from the CBS primetime soap opera ''Dallas''. Pamela is portrayed by actress Victoria Principal, first appearing on the show in the first episode, entitled "Digger's Daughter", which was ...

Kurt Fuller Kurt Fuller (born September 16, 1953) is an American character actor. He has appeared in a number of television, film, and stage projects. He is best known for his roles in the films ''No Holds Barred'' and ''Ghostbusters II'' (both 1989), ''Way ...

as Zachariah * Christopher Heyerdahl and Mark Rolston as

Alastair Alistair is a masculine given name. It is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic ''Alasdair''. The latter is most likely a Scottish Gaelic variant of the Norman French Alexandre or Latin Alexander, which was incorporated into English in the sam ...

Rob Benedict Robert Patrick Benedict (born September 21, 1970) is an American stage, film and television actor and writer. His 25 year career includes more than 70 television and movie credits. He is best known for his work on the television series '' Supe ...

Chuck Shurley ''Supernatural'' is an American television drama series created by writer and producer Eric Kripke. It was initially broadcast by The WB network from September 13, 2005, but after the first season, the WB and UPN networks merged to form The CW net ...

* Katherine Boecher and

Sierra McCormick Sierra McCormick (born October 28, 1997) is an American actress. She first became known for participating on the game show '' Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'' (2007–2008) before making her acting debut with a recurring role as Lilith on t ...

as Lilith * Juliana Wimbles as Cindy McKellan * Jake Abel as Adam Milligan * Dedee Pfeiffer as Kate Milligan * Nicki Aycox as Meg Masters *

A. J. Buckley Alan John Buckley (born 9 February 1977) is an Irish-Canadian actor. He is known for playing nerdy crime lab technician Adam Ross on the television series ''CSI: NY'' (2005–2013) and Navy SEAL Sonny Quinn on the television series '' SEAL Tea ...

as Ed Zeddmore *

Lindsey McKeon Lindsey McKeon is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Marah Lewis on '' Guiding Light'' and Taylor James on ''One Tree Hill''. She previously starred on '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' as Katie Peterson from 1996–2000. L ...

Tessa Tessa is a feminine given name, sometimes a shortened form of Theresa. It may refer to: People * Tessa Albertson (born 1996), American actress * Tessa Balfour, Countess of Balfour (born 1950), British aristocrat * Tessa Blanchard (born 1994), Ame ...

* Mitch Pileggi as Samuel Campbell *

Samantha Smith Samantha Reed Smith (June 29, 1972 – August 25, 1985) was an American peace activist and child actress from Manchester, Maine, who became famous for her anti-war outreaches during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. I ...

as Mary Winchester *

Amy Gumenick Amy Jaclyn Gumenick ( ; born 17 May 1986) is a Swedish-born American actress, best known for her roles as Natalee Holloway in the television film of the same name (2009) and its sequel, as the young Mary Winchester in '' Supernatural'' (2008– ...

as Young Mary Winchester *

Charles Malik Whitfield Charles Malik Whitfield (born August 1, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for his performance as Otis Williams in the television miniseries, ''The Temptations (TV miniseries), The Temptations'' (1998), for which he was nominated for ...

as FBI Agent Victor Henriksen * Travis Wester as Harry Spangler * Sydney Imbeau as

Claire Novak ''Supernatural'' is an American television drama series created by writer and producer Eric Kripke. It was initially broadcast by The WB network from September 13, 2005, but after the first season, the WB and UPN networks merged to form The CW net ...

* Matt Cohen as Young John Winchester * Michael Eklund as Ed Brewer

Episodes

In this table, the number in the first column refers to the episode's number within the entire series, whereas the number in the second column indicates the episode's number within that particular season. "U.S. viewers in millions" refers to how many Americans watched the episode live or on the day of broadcast.

Production

The mythology was expanded even more in the fourth season with the introduction of angels. While Kripke originally did not want angels to be featured in the series, he changed his mind when he realized that he needed them in order to have a "cosmic battle" with the many demons. With this concept added into the series' mythology, the writers came to view the show as being "about two greasers and a muscle car, but the canvas that they're on are demons and angels and battles and the apocalypse..." While it was originally intended for the fourth season to feature an "all-out demon war", budget cuts forced the writers to change their plans, making it "smaller, more contained, underground, more guerrilla-style". Kripke feels this ended up benefiting the series, believing the brothers-centric episodes to be more interesting than the "epic" ones of the third season. Thus, the war was depicted in the writers' "scruffy, angsty, Supernatural way" while focusing more on the characters. The writing staff felt that the fourth season's mythology had been the best since the first season.

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating for ''Supernaturals fourth season, with an average rating of 8.7/10 based on 8 reviews. The season received critical acclaim and is widely regarded as one of the show's best seasons.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Supernatural Season 4 Supernatural 04 2008 American television seasons 2009 American television seasons