Supernatural (season 7)

*Supernatural*
Supernatural
Season 7
	DVD cover art
Starring	Jared Padalecki; Jensen Ackles;
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	23
Release
Original network	The CW
Original release	September 23, 2011 –; May 18, 2012
Season chronology

The seventh season of Supernatural, an American dark fantasy television series created by Eric Kripke, premiered September 23, 2011, and concluded May 18, 2012, airing 23 episodes. The season focuses on protagonists Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) facing a new enemy called Leviathans, stronger than anything they have encountered so far as well as rendering their usual weapons useless.

On January 12, 2012, the season won two People's Choice Awards including Best Network TV Drama. This is the second and final season of Sera Gamble as showrunner, with Jeremy Carver taking over the role for season eight. Warner Home Video released the season on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1 on September 18, 2012, in region 2 on November 5, 2012, and in Region 4 on October 31, 2012. The seventh season had an average viewership of 1.73 million U.S. viewers.

Cast

Starring

Special guest stars

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 this particular season. "U.S. viewers in millions" refers to how many Americans watched the episode live or on the day of broadcast.

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
127	1	"Meet the New Boss"	Phil Sgriccia	Sera Gamble	September 23, 2011	3X7052	2.01
Castiel appoints himself the new God and sets out to right some of the wrongs in the world, but is increasingly disturbed by ravenous entities called Leviathans, which were locked into Purgatory to prevent them from eating the rest of God's creations. Sam, Dean, and Bobby help Castiel send all the souls he had consumed back into Purgatory, but the Leviathans remain in Castiel's body and kill him from within.
128	2	"Hello, Cruel World"	Guy Bee	Ben Edlund	September 30, 2011	3X7053	1.80
Seeking a steady food supply of humans, the Leviathans infiltrate various human establishments, including Sioux Falls General. Sam continues to see Lucifer and questions if the world he sees is real or if he is still in Hell. When the brothers return to Bobby's house, they are attacked by the Leviathan Edgar. Though they manage to stop him by crushing him under a car, Dean's leg is broken and Sam is knocked unconscious. While being carted off in an ambulance, both brothers receive a shock: Sam is still seeing Lucifer and Dean learns that the ambulance is taking them to Sioux Falls General Hospital.
129	3	"The Girl Next Door"	Jensen Ackles	Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin	October 7, 2011	3X7051	1.72
After being sprung from Sioux Falls General Hospital by a perfectly alive Bobby, Dean and Sam join him and lay low for three weeks while Dean's broken leg heals. The brothers fight a Kitsune which takes the form of their old acquaintance, Amy Pond. Sam refuses to kill Amy when he has the chance, so Dean does so behind Sam's back.
130	4	"Defending Your Life"	Robert Singer	Adam Glass	October 14, 2011	3X7054	1.69
In Dearborn, Michigan, Dean and Sam learn that the Egyptian god Osiris is responsible for a series of local killings. Osiris puts people on trial for any mistakes they've made in the past and kills them if they feel any guilt in their hearts. Upon sensing Dean's guilt, Osiris puts him on trial with Sam becoming Dean's lawyer.
131	5	"Shut Up, Dr. Phil"	Phil Sgriccia	Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming	October 21, 2011	3X7055	1.92
While investigating a series of gruesome deaths in Prosperity, Indiana, the brothers learn that each victim was connected to Donald Stark, a wealthy businessman, philanthropist and pillar of the community. Donald and his wife Maggie are both powerful witches who take out their marital frustrations in the form of destructive magical happenings. Sam and Dean try to stop the couple with a ritual, but end up giving them marriage counseling instead.
132	6	"Slash Fiction"	John F. Showalter	Robbie Thompson	October 28, 2011	3X7056	1.74
Sam and Dean are framed for a series of murder-robberies by two Leviathans that take the forms of the Winchester brothers. The brothers track the Leviathans across the country and eventually find them in Iowa, but are arrested by local law enforcement. The local sheriff helps Sam and Dean when he sees the Leviathan eating one of the officers and turning into Sam and Dean. Sam finds out Dean killed Amy, causing tension between the boys.
133	7	"The Mentalists"	Mike Rohl	Ben Acker & Ben Blacker	November 4, 2011	3X7057	1.84
Sam and Dean discover that an angry spirit is killing off resident mediums in Lily Dale, New York, the most "psychic" town in America. While Dean holds off the ghost, Margaret Fox, Sam locates the psychic who raised her: Jimmy Tomorrow, a pawnshop owner. Sam is forced to kill Jimmy in self-defense, but is able to salt and burn Margaret's bones and put her to rest. Sam and Dean reconcile their differences over Dean killing Amy and leave town, once again hunting together.
134	8	"Season 7, Time for a Wedding!"	Tim Andrew	Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin	November 11, 2011	3X7058	1.85
Becky Rosen obtains a love potion from a demon and begins administering it to Sam. When they announce their engagement, Dean senses something is wrong. The brothers trap and kill the demon with the help of quirky hunter Garth, who ends up with Becky.
135	9	"How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters"	Guy Bee	Ben Edlund	November 18, 2011	3X7059	1.55
Sam, Dean and Bobby attempt to figure out what kind of monster is killing campers in Hammonton, New Jersey. The hunters soon learn that the monster was a person who turned into a zombie after eating the turducken sandwich at the local diner. The meat was created by the Leviathans, who have been working on a food additive designed to render humans complacent and mindless. Their leader, Dick Roman, closes the project down. The brothers break into the meat facility and free Bobby, who has been taken prisoner, but not before Bobby is shot by Roman.
136	10	"Death's Door"	Robert Singer	Sera Gamble	December 2, 2011	3X7060	1.89
Bobby spends the majority of the episode in a coma, making his way through a network of his own memories, while a reaper follows him in an attempt to secure Bobby's soul. In the real world, Bobby is determined to get a cryptic combination of numbers to Sam and Dean. He manages to emerge from his coma long enough to write the numbers on Sam's hand, upon which his heart stops.
137	11	"Adventures in Babysitting"	Jeannot Szwarc	Adam Glass	January 6, 2012	3X7061	1.82
Sam and Dean help Krissy, the daughter of a fellow hunter, find her father after he goes missing on the job. Things degenerate into a hostage situation, but Krissy kills one of the monsters, allowing the Winchesters to gain the upper hand and kill the other. Following the advice of the brothers, Krissy's father decides to leave the life so she can have a normal life.
138	12	"Time After Time"	Phil Sgriccia	Robbie Thompson	January 13, 2012	3X7062	1.55
Sam and Dean find a case involving people who are murdered and mummified, always in groups of three. They link the murders to Chronos, the Greek Titan of Time. As they chase him down an alley, Chronos pulls Dean back in time with him to 1944. Parallel investigations in 1944 and 2012 see Dean teaming up with Eliot Ness, who is also a hunter, and Sam working with Sheriff Mills to bring Dean back to the present and kill Chronos. Before dying, Chronos predicts that the boy's future will be "covered in thick black ooze."
139	13	"The Slice Girls"	Jerry Wanek	Eugenie Ross-Leming & Brad Buckner	February 3, 2012	3X7063	1.72
Dean's bar hookup turns out to be part of a tribe of Amazons, who are using the men of Seattle, Washington as breeding stock. The girls are born and grow up in a matter of days, whereupon they are taken away for training by their leader, the goddess Harmonia. Their fathers are ritually slaughtered. When Dean's daughter arrives to kill him, Dean hesitates in killing her. Sam does it for him, reminding him of what he said after he killed Amy.
140	14	"Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie"	Mike Rohl	Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin	February 10, 2012	3X7064	1.88
Sam and Dean investigate a series of bizarre deaths in Wichita, Kansas, where all of the victims had recently taken their families to a children's restaurant called Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie. After interrogating the staff, Dean discovers a ritual setup in the basement and Sam confronts his coulrophobia. One of the employees, Howard, has become obsessed with punishing neglectful parents, as he blames his own parents for his brother's death. Dean turns Howard's own fears against him by summoning the ghost of his dead brother as Sam fights off killer clowns sent by Howard.
141	15	"Repo Man"	Thomas J. Wright	Ben Edlund	February 17, 2012	3X7065	1.74
Four years ago, Sam and Dean helped a woman named Nora exorcise a demon that was systematically killing women in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. They managed to save a postal worker, Jeffrey, while vanquishing the demon. A group of similar killings prompts the brothers to return to town to determine if the demon has returned. While conducting research, Sam's visions of Lucifer intensify. He later fully acknowledges Lucifer after he proves helpful with the case. Dean and Jeffrey end up finding the demon's old hideout, as well as Nora's son, who is being held captive. Jeffrey desperately wishes to reunite with the demon who possessed him to become even more powerful. Nora exorcises the demon and the brothers return to the motel to rest. Unfortunately, because Sam "let him in", Lucifer is now able to unleash complete torment over Sam and he is unable to sleep.
142	16	"Out with the Old"	John F. Showalter	Robert Singer & Jenny Klein	March 16, 2012	3X7066	1.73
After a ballerina is found dead from dancing herself to death in Portland, Oregon, Sam and Dean discover the ballet slippers she wore were cursed. Sam and Dean find the antiques dealer who sold the slippers, as well as three other cursed objects. The dealer reveals that his mother collected the objects and was killed in a car crash after selling her store to a realtor named Joyce, who has been buying up several properties in town. Sam and Dean discover that Joyce was acting as a front for the Leviathans, who were buying the properties to make way for a research center dedicated to curing cancer. The boys wonder why the Leviathans would be helping humans and discover Frank's trailer trashed and covered in blood.
143	17	"The Born-Again Identity"	Robert Singer	Sera Gamble	March 23, 2012	3X7067	1.63
Lucifer has driven Sam to the point of mental breakdown and Dean promises Sam he will find a cure. Another hunter leads Dean to a faith healer named Emanuel, who turns out to be an amnesiac Castiel. Dean convinces him to come with him to heal Sam. They are joined by Meg Masters. Once they reach the hospital, they find it covered by demons. Castiel kills the demons, and along the way, gains back his memories. Castiel transfers Sam's madness and experience in Hell to himself. Sam is released and Castiel stays in the hospital, plagued with the visions of Lucifer. Meg takes a job in the hospital to look after Castiel.
144	18	"Party On, Garth"	Phil Sgriccia	Adam Glass	March 30, 2012	3X7068	1.78
Sam, Dean and Garth investigate the case of a Shōjō (猩猩, a Japanese alcohol spirit), targeting the children of the owners of a local brewery. They find out that the owners had removed one of their partners, who wasn't in favor of selling the brewery. This partner, Dale, had been the brains behind the company, and upon being removed from his position, had taken his own life. Before he died, Dale had placed the Shōjō in a spell box and sent it as an apology to his old partners, making sure that once the box was open, the Shōjō would kill their children. Dean kills the Shōjō with a blessed katana.
145	19	"Of Grave Importance"	Tim Andrew	Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming	April 20, 2012	3X7069	1.57
Sam and Dean get a call from fellow hunter Annie Hawkins, asking for help on a case in Bodega Bay, California. When they arrive in town, Annie has disappeared. They trace her last whereabouts to an old abandoned house that is haunted by the ghosts of a murderer and his victims. The boys defeat the ghosts with assistance from the ghost of Bobby, who has tied himself to an old hip flask which Dean kept as a memento.
146	20	"The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo"	John MacCarthy	Robbie Thompson	April 27, 2012	3X7070	1.61
Bobby's ghost informs Sam and Dean that the Leviathans plan to turn humanity into the perfect food source for as long as the Leviathans exist. A hacker working for Dick Roman also finds out the truth about her boss and teams up with the brothers as they launch another attack on Roman. Bobby attacks Roman and displays signs of becoming a vengeful spirit, which worries Sam and Dean. Charlie goes into hiding, while Roman worries about the Winchesters figuring out the tablet they stole from him.
147	21	"Reading Is Fundamental"	Ben Edlund	Ben Edlund	May 4, 2012	3X7071	1.66
Sam and Dean break open the clay tablet they stole from Dick Roman, which Castiel explains contains information from God written out by the celestial scribe Metatron. The tablet is also sought by two angels and their chosen prophet, a teenager named Kevin Tran, who holds the power to interpret the tablet.
148	22	"There Will Be Blood"	Guy Bee	Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin	May 11, 2012	3X7072	1.58
Various plot threads introduced throughout the season begin to converge. Dick Roman forces Kevin Tran to translate the Word for him by threatening Kevin's mother. The Leviathans' mind-numbing meat additive makes its way through the population. Sam and Dean track down the Alpha Vampire. Bobby shows greater signs of becoming a vengeful spirit.
149	23	"Survival of the Fittest"	Robert Singer	Sera Gamble	May 18, 2012	3X7073	1.56
Sam, Dean, Meg Masters, and Castiel marshal their forces for the final battle against Roman and his Leviathans. Dean and Castiel find themselves in Purgatory surrounded by monsters as Castiel disappears.

Production

The series was renewed for a seventh season on April 26, 2011, and remained on Fridays at 9:00 pm (ET).

The CW announced on August 20, 2011, that the season would be increased to 23 episodes, up one episode from the 22-episode pickup the series had previously received.

On January 11, 2012, it was announced by the executive producer of the show, Robert Singer, that there was another cliffhanger ending planned for season seven.

Reception

Critical reception to the season was generally positive. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.83/10 based on 5 reviews. One criticism from reviewers was of the lack of an emotional link between the Leviathans as a whole and the Winchester brothers, an element which had been present in previous seasons. The lack of threat from the monsters was also noted as a downside to the season, though the portrayal of James Patrick Stuart as Dick Roman, using corporate mannerisms and charm mixed with his own self-confidence, was pointed to as a high point of the story arc.

The overturn of Mark Sheppard's character Crowley at the final moments of the season, was very surprising for the critics. Many argued that Crowley's successful separation of the Winchester brothers by taking advantage of Dean's imprisonment in Purgatory and the kidnap of both Kevin and Meg was a good cliffhanger going into the next season, and that it opened up many possibilities and questions. Another well-received point was the return of the Impala at the end of season, much to the appreciation of the fans, and Misha Collins' portrayal of the resurrected and traumatized Castiel, which brought a new element to the chemistry between the brothers.