Supernatural Totally Abandoned One Of Its Oldest Stories Halfway Through The Show

Published Aug 16, 2026, 5:00 PM EDT

Laura Hurley has been writing about the entertainment industry for more than twelve years, after a decade as a content producer and editor at CinemaBlend after writing for WhatCulture and Examiner. Attending events like SCAD TVfest and San Diego Comic-Con over the course of her career, she has been immersed in the world of network, streaming, and cable TV. 

More than half a decade has passed since Supernatural ended with the controversial season 15 finale in 2020, but the show still has a strong legacy in pop culture. Not only does it hold the record as The CW's longest-running show, but the story has continued in the form of comics set before the Supernatural finale. That's not to say that all the leftover storylines are continuing on page, however. Sam and Dean encountered many trials and tribulations over 15 seasons, but one of them didn't last as long as it probably should have: their status as fugitives.

The Winchester brothers were committing crimes and evading the law as early as the pilot, which aired back in 2005. Admittedly, the running joke of Sam and Dean using the names of rock stars as their aliases wasn't exactly egregious enough for the boys to end up on the FBI's Most Wanted list for fraud, and Sam breaking Dean out of a local lockup was a minor offense at best. Even in the eyes of authorities, they weren't all that bad early on.

That changed for the first time during a mid-season 1 episode when a shapeshifter took on Dean's guise to commit some crimes. The problem grew even more serious with an excellent arc that started in season 2, once again involving shapeshifters. Even after that arc was resolved, they encountered the issue again when their Leviathan doppelgängers were caught on camera murdering innocent people in season 7.

They were on the run from the authorities for very serious crimes, and the issue was big enough that it should have lasted longer than it did each time.

Supernatural Gradually Started Forgetting Sam & Dean Were Fugitives

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Dean first went on the run from the law in season 1, after a shapeshifter took on Dean's appearance to commit crimes. The brothers were genuinely guilty of participating in the bank heist that first put them on the FBI's radar in the "Nightshifter" episode season 2, although not because they were attempting to rob it. They voluntarily ended up behind bars later that season while trying to hunt a ghost, and technically remained fugitives from the FBI until a season 3 episode, called "Jus In Bello," allowed them to fake their deaths.

Then, they popped up among the living again in season 7, when Leviathan used their guises to commit crimes. Their identities were broadcast as killers on the FBI's Most Wanted list, and they even had to abandon the Impala for a time. Once again, faking their deaths was their only way out, and season 7 was the last time the Winchesters really faced the problem of evading the authorities.

Faking deaths became an increasingly flimsy way of getting Sam and Dean out of trouble with the legal, but they continued to avoid pursuit for the rest of the show beyond season 7. They spent the remaining eight seasons growing more infamous, in ways that ranged from involvement in crime scenes to a musical theater production about their exploits being staged. They grew more infamous and less cautious with their identities over the years. They should have been recognized by somebody, at some point, over the eight years that followed their decision to fake their deaths in the seventh season.

Supernatural Outlasted Sam & Dean Being Wanted Men

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There is one valid explanation for why Supernatural abandoned the storyline of the Winchesters has hunted men halfway through the series. The show was originally intended to end after the fifth season finale, fittingly titled "Swan Song." Original creator and showrunner Eric Kripke even left Supernatural after season 5, and the continuation meant that the show had to undo some of its biggest twists from "Swan Song" to keep the story going into seasons 6 and 7.

Sam's resurrection had to be justified, which led to the prolonged arc of needing his soul to be restored. Castiel's return after being exploded by Lucifer had to be explained. Adam still being stuck in the cage with Lucifer and Michael needed to be addressed, although that would ultimately go down in Supernatural history as another storyline that was abandoned for years. The show needed to move forward rather than revisit the fugitive arc from seasons 2 and 3.

Moving on did ultimately lead to the Leviathan storyline of season 7, and the brothers once again getting in trouble with the law. That wasn't an issue for too long, however, and it was overshadowed by the end of the seventh season when Dean and Castiel were pulled into Purgatory. Supernatural just kept piling new stories on the Winchesters as it continued to get renewed for more seasons beyond the original intended end point.

It didn't really make sense, in the grand scheme of the Winchester saga, that they weren't wanted men in the latter half of the series, but a lot about Supernatural didn't really make sense by the end. Any fans who were still tuning in as the total number of seasons crept into double digits had to willing to suspend their disbelief to enjoy the ride. If viewers could accept Sam and Dean being resurrected time and time again, believing that they could fly under the radar of the authorities wasn't much more of a stretch.

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  Sam Winchester

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  Dean Winchester