The sixth 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

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

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 24, 2010, and concluded May 20, 2011, airing 22 episodes. This is the first season to have

Sera Gamble Sera may refer to: People * Ryu Sera (born 1987), South Korean singer * Sera Cahoone (born 1975), Seattle-based singer and musician Places * Sera, Hiroshima, a town in Japan * Sera District, Hiroshima * Sera Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet ...

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

after the full-time departure of Kripke. The sixth season had an average viewership of 2.27 million U.S. viewers. The season begins a year after the happenings of the previous season finale with

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 by ...

(

Jensen Ackles Jensen Ross Ackles (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Dean Winchester in The WB/ CW dark fantasy drama series ''Supernatural'' (2005–2020) and appearing in television series such as NBC's ''Days o ...

) living a happy and normal life. Mysteriously, Sam Winchester (

Jared Padalecki Jared Tristan Padalecki (born July 19, 1982) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Sam Winchester in the TV series ''Supernatural''. He grew up in Texas and rose to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the televi ...

) is freed from

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...

's cage in Hell and teams up with Dean, who leaves his new life behind and becomes a hunter again. In the United States the season aired on Fridays at 9:00 pm ( ET) on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

television network. Special guest stars in this season included

Brian Doyle-Murray Brian Murray (born October 31, 1945), known professionally by his stage name as Brian Doyle-Murray, is an American actor, voice-actor and screenwriter. He has appeared with his younger brother, actor/comedian Bill Murray, in several movies, ...

and

Robert Englund Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing the supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. Classically trained at the Royal Academy of ...

Cast

Starring

as Sam Winchester *

Misha Collins Dmitri "Misha" Collins "My mom went to Russia when she was in college, and ��she had a boyfriend whose name was Mitya, which she thought was the same as Misha, which it's not. And his real name was Dmitri, so my real name, actually—my birth c ...

as Castiel

Special guest stars

as Dr. Robert *

as Robert Singer

Guest stars

Episodes

The number in the first column represents the episode's number overall, whereas the number in the second column indicates the episode's number within this particular season (6). "U.S. viewers in millions" refers to how many Americans who watched the episode live or on the day of broadcast.

Production

The show's creator

originally planned for the show to last only five seasons, but due to increased ratings from the fourth and fifth seasons, the CW network renewed the series for a sixth season. Kripke did not return as showrunner; however, he remained a hands-on executive producer, leaving long-time series writer

to take over the day-to-day production of the show. Filming for the season began with the series star

-directed fourth episode, "Weekend at Bobby's", to give the actor enough time for pre-production. Kripke also wrote the season finale. Sera Gamble by Gage Skidmore

Gamble said the sixth season of the show would focus on the brothers' relationship. The season steered towards the format of the early seasons with "lots of meat-and-potatoes closed-ended episodes, and... a season-long story arc to weave in". According to a press release by the CW, Heaven and Hell fell into "complete disarray", forcing Sam and Dean to reunite to "beat back the rising tide of creatures and demon-spawn" that "roam across a lawless and chaotic landscape". The season jumped ahead a year to "get some distance between am and Dean get some personal history for each of them" to allow for "new conflict, new circumstances, new stuff". The brothers' roles were reversed, with Dean now hesitant to return to the hunting lifestyle. The brothers investigated why monsters have been "acting off-pattern". The first few episodes establish the mythology. An episode spoofing ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this ...

'' and other vampire series aired in October 2010 and examined the "current romantic fascination" with vampires. However, the ''Twilight'' fans at the center of the Winchesters' "disparaging" comments were "slightly fictionalized". On this, Gamble noted, "...part of the thing is finding a balance between howinga poster from the actual show and having Sam and Dean really speak their minds. We don't want to offend." A fan of the ''Twilight'' series, she also commented, "I'm certainly not coming at this from a place of feeling superior to them. I have great respect." Another episode of the season, "Clap Your Hands if You Believe", consisted of an "insane" storyline featuring

Tinker Bell Tinker Bell is a fictional character from J. M. Barrie's 1904 play ''Peter Pan'' and its 1911 novelisation ''Peter and Wendy''. She has appeared in a variety of film and television adaptations of the Peter Pan stories, in particular the 1953 an ...

, and the episode began with an alien abduction and a redone title sequence that is a tribute to ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

''.

returned as series regular Castiel, and

Jim Beaver James Norman Beaver Jr. (born August 12, 1950) is an American actor, writer, and film historian. He is most familiar to worldwide audiences as Bobby Singer in ''Supernatural''. He also played Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series ...

returned 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 " De ...

for several episodes.

Mitch Pileggi Mitch Pileggi (born April 5, 1952) is an American actor. He played Horace Pinker in '' Shocker'', Walter Skinner on ''The X-Files'', Colonel Steven Caldwell on '' Stargate Atlantis'', Ernest Darby in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and Harris Ryland in t ...

made multiple appearances as Sam and Dean's grandfather Samuel. The recurring role of Christian, the maternal cousin of Sam and Dean, was given to

Corin Nemec Joseph Charles Nemec IV (born November 5, 1971), known professionally as Corin Nemec, is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter. He was billed as Corin "Corky" Nemec or Corky Nemec until 1990. Nemec is known for playing the title characte ...

; he was described as "capable, calm under pressure, and very good at his job".

Kim Rhodes Kimberly Rhodes (born June 7, 1969) is an American actress who is known for portraying Cindy Harrison on the soap operas '' Another World'' (1996–1999) and ''As the World Turns'' (2000–2001), Carey Martin on the Disney Channel sitcoms ''The ...

returned as Sheriff Jody Mills, as did

Fredric Lehne Fredric George Lehne (born February 3, 1959) is an American actor of film, stage, and television. Acting since 1978, he has appeared in more than 200 films, mini-series, and television episodes, as well as stage productions across the United S ...

Azazel In the Bible, the name Azazel (; he, עֲזָאזֵל ''ʿAzāʾzēl''; ar, عزازيل, ʿAzāzīl) appears in association with the scapegoat rite; the name represents a desolate place where a scapegoat bearing the sins of the Jews during ...

. A two-hour season finale aired on May 20, 2011.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reported a 100% approval rating for ''Supernaturals sixth season, with an average rating of 7.25/10 based on 7 reviews.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Supernatural (Season 6) Supernatural 06 2010 American television seasons 2011 American television seasons