Supernatural filler episodes you can skip: trim these and save a full day of the 327-episode marathon

I love this show the way you love a golden retriever that keeps eating drywall. But a full rewatch does not require all 327, and even the man who created it agrees. Eric Kripke has publicly named his own least favorites, telling TV Guide that when an episode failed, budget and schedule meant there was no saving it:

"you have no choice but to air them in their deformed state"

The show itself agrees, too — in season 4, the in-universe author Chuck looks back at the bug episode and shrugs it off as "simply bad writing." When your own canon disowns an episode, you have permission to skip it.

The Hall of Shame: skip with confidence

• "Bugs" (1x08). Killer insects, a cursed subdivision, a climax where everyone survives by... waiting until sunrise. Kripke's verdict, delivered to TV Insider: "'Bugs' was famously terrible."
• "Route 666" (1x13). The one about the racist ghost truck. I want to be clear: a truck. That is racist. Dean's ex-girlfriend deserved a better episode; so did the truck.
• "Red Sky at Morning" (3x06). A ghost ship with none of the fog, atmosphere, or fun that phrase promises.
• "Season Seven, Time for a Wedding!" (7x08). A superfan love-potions Sam into marriage and the show plays it for laughs. It has aged like milk in a hot Impala.
• "Man's Best Friend with Benefits" (8x15). A witch, his familiar, and a premise I refuse to type twice.
• "Dog Dean Afternoon" (9x05). Dean gains the ability to talk to dogs. This is exactly as dignified as it sounds.
• "Bloodlines" (9x20). A backdoor pilot for a Chicago monster-mafia spinoff nobody ordered and nobody greenlit. It's 42 minutes of a different, worse show.

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The rapid-fire cuts, season by season

None of these touch the myth arc, introduce anyone you'll miss, or kill anyone who matters: Hook Man, The Benders, Provenance (S1); No Exit, The Usual Suspects, Playthings, Roadkill (S2); Long-Distance Call (S3); Family Remains (S4); Fallen Idols, Swap Meat (S5); All Dogs Go to Heaven, Mannequin 3: The Reckoning (S6); Shut Up, Dr. Phil, The Mentalists, The Slice Girls, Out with the Old (S7); Bitten, Remember the Titans (S8); Rock and a Hard Place, The Purge, #thinman (S9); Ask Jeeves, Paint It Black (S10); Love Hurts, Beyond the Mat, The Chitters (S11); The Memory Remains (S12); Breakdown (S13); Peace of Mind (S14); The Gamblers (S15).

Add those 31 to the Hall of Shame's seven and you've cut 38 episodes — more than 26 hours. That's your full day back, with change left over for a nap in the bunker.

The traps: standalone episodes you must NOT skip

This is where rewatchers get hurt. These look like filler. They are the whole reason to watch:

• "Tall Tales" (2x15) and "Bad Day at Black Rock" (3x03) — comedy the show never topped. Okay, almost never:
• "Mystery Spot" (3x11) — Groundhog Day but devastating.
• "Changing Channels" (5x08) and "The French Mistake" (6x15) — the meta episodes that make the entire series worth it.
• "Baby" (11x04) — shot entirely from inside the car. Perfect television.
• "Regarding Dean" (12x11) and "ScoobyNatural" (13x16) — one will break your heart, one is a Scooby-Doo crossover, and honestly both are load-bearing.

Skip smart. Carry on, and so on.

Previously we wrote: Clint Eastwood Turned Downed This Sergio Leone Cult Classic, and He Had a Reason: "I Like to Know the Joke"