The fifth season began airing on September 10, 2009. Featuring 22 episodes, it will conclude the series' main storyline. However, the CW officially renewed the show for a sixth season on February 16, 2010.
Cast And Characters:
The series initially focuses only on the brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, as they travel throughout the country hunting the supernatural. Padalecki became interested in the role due to his liking of horror series such as The X-Files and Twilight Zone, which he found similar to Supernatural. He was also excited to play "the reluctant hero", comparing Sam to The Matrix's Neo and Luke Skywalker of Star Wars. As well, Padalecki had previous experience with executive producers McG and David Nutter, the former convincing him to audition for the role. Ackles was originally asked by Nutter to audition for the role of Sam, but preferred the character of Dean after reading the script. At the time of his audition, he was already a series regular on fellow WB series Smallville. After landing the part of Dean, his Smallville role was cut short.
While the series does not have many lead characters, there are many recurring characters. Jeffrey Dean Morgan portrays John Winchester, father of Sam and Dean. Making an appearance in the pilot episode, John does not return until nearly halfway through the first season, after which he becomes a recurring character until his eventual death in the second season's premiere episode, though his spirit returns to help his sons in the season finale. According to writer John Shiban, it was decided early on that John would die. The writers found that having the brothers being separated from their father "split the show". Shiban noted, "...the boys were looking for Dad, and they were looking for a monster of the week, whatever that is, whatever case crosses their path. It became difficult, because it was like - 'what is Dad doing? Is he doing more interesting things than the boys are doing, or what?'" Morgan was initially reluctant on returning to Supernatural for the second season due to his recurring role on the series Grey's Anatomy. Future appearances of the character have been hindered due to Morgan's busy schedule.
Also introduced in the first season are the demon Azazel and his unnamed daughter. While Azazel mainly appears merely as shadows or silhouettes in the first season, only taking physical form when he possesses John Winchester, Azazel's daughter uses a girl named Meg Masters—portrayed by Nicki Lynn Aycox—as a host. Aycox was hand selected for the part by executive producer Kim Manners. In the second season premiere, Azazel's host is portrayed by Fredric Lehne; originally brought on only for one episode, Lehne impressed the showrunners so much that he was asked to return for the season's two-part finale. Even after the character's death, Azazel makes appearances in the fourth season, being portrayed by Christopher B. MacCabe and Mitch Pileggi in the time travel episode "In the Beginning" and by Rob LaBelle in a flashback in the season finale. Likewise, after Azazel's daughter is exorcised from Meg towards the end of the first season, the demon and her host continue to appear in the series, although now as two separate characters. The demon returns for an episode in the second season, temporarily taking Sam as a host, and appears once again in the fifth season premiere, her newest host being portrayed by Rachel Miner. As well, Aycox continues her role in the fourth season when the angry spirit of Meg tries to kill the Winchesters.
Actor Jim Beaver never expected his character's longevity, believing his initial guest appearance would be a "one-shot deal".The writers eventually wanted to flesh out the concept of hunters, resulting in the introduction of many new characters. Actor Jim Beaver makes his first appearance as Bobby Singer, an old family friend of the Winchesters, at the end of the first season. Becoming a sort of surrogate father to Sam and Dean after their father's death, the character recurs throughout the rest of the series. Because the show focuses mainly on the two Winchester brothers, the writers realized that viewers would know that the characters are not in danger of being permanently killed. To fix this, the staff often writes in guest characters to give tension to the episode, occasionally having them die
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