The fifth season of ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'', an American

dark fantasy Dark fantasy, also called fantasy horror, is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporates disturbing and frightening themes. The term is ambiguously used to describe stories that combine horror fiction, horror ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

created by

Eric Kripke Eric Kripke (born 1974) is an American screenwriting, writer and television producer. Kripke came to prominence in the late 2000s for creating The WB/The CW, CW fantasy drama series ''Supernatural (American TV series), Supernatural'' (2005–2020) ...

, premiered September 10, 2009, and concluded on May 13, 2010, on

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

. Season five regular cast members include

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 rose to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series '' Gilmore ...

Jensen Ackles Jensen Ross Ackles (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor and musician. He gained recognition for his portrayal of Dean Winchester in The WB/The CW, CW dark fantasy drama series ''Supernatural (American TV series), Supernatural'' (2005–2020 ...

and

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 birt ...

, who was promoted to series regular this season. After the conclusion of this season, Kripke stepped down as

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

. The fifth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on September 7, 2010. The season follows Sam and Dean as they set out to take down

Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...

, whom Sam had inadvertently released from

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

at the end of the previous season.

Mark Pellegrino Mark Ross Pellegrino (born April 9, 1965) is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work as Lucifer in ''Supernatural'', Paul Bennett in '' Dexter'', Jacob in '' Lost'', James Bishop in '' Being Human'', Clayton H ...

plays the role of Lucifer.

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite. Hilton was born in New York City and raised there partially; shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City; she is a great-grandda ...

guest stars in the episode "Fallen Idols", in which she plays Leshi, a god that takes the form of various well-known faces including herself. The season also features the return of Jo and her mother

Ellen Harvelle Ellen Harvelle is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's ''Supernatural'', portrayed by Samantha Ferris. Introduced in the second season in order to explore a mother-daughter relationship in the hunting world, the "gun-toting, beer ...

, as well as hunter Rufus Turner, the

Trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...

and the prophet Chuck Shurley.

Cast

Starring

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 ch ...

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 ...

as Castiel

Special guest star

as Herself / Leshi

Guest stars

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 '' ...

Bobby Singer Robert Steven Singer is a fictional character in The CW Television Network's horror-drama television series ''Supernatural (U.S. TV series), Supernatural'' portrayed by Jim Beaver. Named after Robert Singer (producer), the show's executive prod ...

and

Bellamy Young Bellamy Young (born Amy Maria Young; February 19, 1970) is an American actress, producer and singer best known as Melody "Mellie" Grant on'' Scandal'' (2012–18), for which she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress ...

Rob Benedict Rob Benedict (born September 21, 1970) is an American actor and writer. His near 30 year career includes more than 90 television and movie credits. He is best known for his work on the television series ''Supernatural (American TV series), Su ...

as Chuck Shurley *

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 known for his roles in the films ''No Holds Barred'' and ''Ghostbusters II'' (both 1989), ''Wayne' ...

as Zachariah * Mark A. Sheppard as Crowley *

Jake Abel Jacob Allen Abel (born November 18, 1987) is an American actor. He has appeared in the film adaptations of the young adult novels '' Percy Jackson'' (2010–2013), ''I Am Number Four'' (2011), and '' The Host'' (2013), along with portraying mus ...

Adam Milligan ''Supernatural (American TV series), 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 UP ...

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

Samantha Ferris Samantha Ferris (born November 2, 1968) is a Canadian actress, best known for her starring role as Nina Jarvis on ''The 4400'' and her recurring role as Ellen Harvelle on ''Supernatural''. Career Ferris began her career as a radio announcer and ...

Matt Frewer Matthew George Frewer (born January 4, 1958) is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He portrayed the 1980s icon Max Headroom in the 1985 TV film and 1987 Max Headroom (TV series), television series of the same name. He became prominent when ...

as Pestilence *

Rachel Miner Rachel Miner (born July 29, 1980) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut in Woody Allen's ''Alice'' (1990), and came to prominence with her portrayal of Michelle Bauer on the CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light'' (1990–1995). Her o ...

Meg Masters Meg Masters is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama and horror television series ''Supernatural''. Created by the series' writers to develop a story arc for the first season, Meg is an unnamed demon who assumes the name of t ...

Emily Perkins Emily Jean Perkins (born May 4, 1977) is a Canadian actress, known for her roles as Crystal Braywood in the TV series ''Hiccups'', young Beverly Marsh in '' Stephen King's It'', and Brigitte Fitzgerald in '' Ginger Snaps''. Since the late 1980s ...

as Becky Rosen *

Cindy Sampson Cindy Marie Sampson (born May 27, 1978) is a Canadian director and actress (film actress, film and television actress, television). She is known for her role in the Canadian television series ''Private Eyes (TV series), Private Eyes''. Biogr ...

as Lisa Braeden *

Richard Speight, Jr. Richard Speight Jr. is an American actor and director who is known for a variety of roles including CBS TV series ''Jericho'', '' The Agency'', and the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers''. Speight played a recurring role, the Archangel Gabriel ...

as the Trickster / Gabriel *

Alona Tal Alona Tal (, ; born ) is an Israeli actress and singer. She is known for her roles in ''Veronica Mars'' as cheerleader List of Veronica Mars characters#Meg Manning, Meg Manning, in ''Supernatural (American TV series), Supernatural'' as budding m ...

Jo Harvelle Joanna Beth Harvelle is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series ''Supernatural'' portrayed by Alona Tal. Aspiring to be a hunter of supernatural creatures like her parents, she was introduced in the s ...

Demore Barnes Demore Barnes (born November 26, 1976) is a Canadian actor. Barnes is best known for his roles as Sergeant First Class Hector Williams in the CBS military action television series ''The Unit'', the archangel Raphael in ''Supernatural'' and Deputy ...

as Donnie Finnerman / Raphael * A. J. Buckley as Ed Zeddmore *

Traci Dinwiddie Traci Dinwiddie is an American film and television actress. Her most notable roles were in ''Supernatural'' (2008–2010 + 2019), and as Regina in season 8 of '' The Walking Dead'' (2017-2018). Early years Dinwiddie was born in Anchorage, Alaska ...

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, titled "Digger's Daughter", which was f ...

* Carrie Fleming as Karen Singer *

Jon Gries Jonathan Gries ( '; born June 17, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Uncle Rico in '' Napoleon Dynamite '' (2004), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male, the recurring rol ...

as Martin Creaser *

Chad Lindberg Chad Tyler Lindberg (born November 1, 1976) is an American actor. He is known for his film roles in '' The Fast and the Furious'' and '' October Sky'', as well as television roles on ''Sons of Anarchy'' and ''Supernatural''. Lindberg was also the ...

as Ash *

Julie McNiven Julie McNiven (born October 11, 1980) is an American actress and singer. McNiven was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, and got her start in local community theatre productions. She is best known for her recurring roles in ''Mad Men'' (2007–2009 ...

as Anna Milton *

Adrianne Palicki Adrianne Palicki ( ) (born May 6, 1983) is an American actress and model. She is best known for her starring roles as Tyra Collette in the NBC sports drama series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011), as Bobbi Morse in the ABC superhero dra ...

as Jessica Moore *

Kim Rhodes Kim 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 Suite ...

as Sheriff Jody Mills * Matt Cohen as Young John Winchester /

Julian Richings Julian Richings (born 30 August 1956)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at Ancestry.com is a British-Canadian character actor, having appeared in over 225 films and television series. He is best known for hi ...

Death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

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. ...

as Mary Winchester *

Amy Gumenick Amy Jaclyn Gumenick ( ; born 17 May 1986) is a Swedish-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'' (2008–10), a ...

as Young Mary Winchester *

Travis Wester Travis Wester is an American actor. He was born on October 8, 1977 in the United States. Career An actor in American film and television, Wester's first role was in 1996's '' The Paper Brigade''. Portraying Jamie in 2004's '' EuroTrip'', Rott ...

as Harry Spangler *

Steven Williams Steven Williams (born January 7, 1949) is an American actor in films and television. He is known for his roles as Captain Adam Fuller on ''21 Jump Street'', NYPD Detective Lt. Jefferson Burnett on '' The Equalizer'', Det. August Brooks on '' L.A ...

as Rufus Turner *

Michael Shanks Michael Garrett Shanks (born December 15, 1970) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Daniel Jackson in the long-running military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1'' and as Dr Charles Harris in the Canadian medi ...

as Rob * Eric Johnson as Brady

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 who watched the episode live or on the day of broadcast.

Reception

The fifth season received critical acclaim, and is widely regarded as one of the show's best seasons. The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

reported a 100% approval rating for ''Supernaturals fifth season, with an average rating of 7.8/10 based on 9 reviews. The critics consensus reads, "''Supernatural'' continues to benefit from its charismatic leads and a solid script, creating a story that is almost supernaturally addictive."

Controversy

The episode "Hammer of the Gods" was controversial among Indian and

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

audiences, as it depicted

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

and

Ganesh Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva (Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions ...

in a negative light.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Supernatural Season 5 Supernatural 05 2009 American television seasons 2010 American television seasons Hinduism-related controversies in television