Dean and Castiel’s best ‘Supernatural’ moments

Pour one out for The CW’s Supernatural, which is deep into its fifteenth and final season. It’s honestly hard to imagine what a post-Supernatural world will look like. The story about two brothers (Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki) who travel the country to fight monsters and save the world is honestly pretty timeless at this point.

Even more timeless than this story of brotherhood is that between Dean Winchester and the angel Castiel (Misha Collins). Originally envisioned to be a brief recurring character on Supernatural, Castiel’s popularity led to an expanded role and eventual co-lead in the series. What fans clung onto the most, however, is the relationship between Dean and Cas, or “Destiel” as they call it.

As Supernatural heads to its series finale, it’s time to salute and pay tribute to the best moments between Dean Winchester and Castiel. 

The first meeting

Ready for a massive nostalgia trip? The premiere of Supernatural’s fourth season is when we’re introduced to Castiel. After trying to figure out who and what brought Dean back from Hell, they have a name: Castiel. So Dean and Bobby (Jim Beavers) summon Castiel in order to kill him and/or figure out his intentions.

In the history of character’s introductions, Castiel’s remains pure badass: he exploding lights, the “I am the one who gripped you tight and raise you from perdition”, and how he just no-sells the demon-killing blade. The chemistry between Ackles and Collins in the scene is just great from the get-go. It’s no wonder the dynamic just immediately drew people in. 

What can we say about the moment that hasn’t been said before? It just one of those perfect, lightning in a bottle moments that changed both Supernatural the show and the fandom forever. 

Breaking through

Between the end of season five to the start of season ten or eleven, Supernatural went through a bit of dry spell as fans will tell you. That doesn’t mean that there wasn’t some good stuff going on. One of the best Dean and Castiel moments took place in season eight.

Castiel was brainwashed to kill Dean by the angel Naomi (Amanda Tapping). 

Why? Well, Castiel rebelled against Heaven for the Winchester once before. It’s not hard to imagine him doing it again. Heaven brainwashing is pretty thorough and almost impossible to undo. What better way to a) punish an angel and b) remove a problem like Dean Winchester then by having said disobedient angel kill Dean? That’s Biblical justice for you. 

Dean, however, was able to reach Castiel and allow him to break the control Naomi had over him. How? Dean told Castiel that he needed him. The simple, honest, and emotional decoration allowed Castiel to recover his own mind. It left fans with all of the feelings.

Trapping Michael

A good chunk of the first part of season fourteen of Supernatural saw Dean possessed by an alternate reality version of the Archangel Michael. Sam and Castiel, however, weren’t going to take that lying down. Using a machine that Dean used previously to enter the mind of Mary (Samantha Smith), Sam and Cas headed into Dean’s head.

Technically, this isn’t a pure Dean and Castiel moment. Still, it’s a great addition from the latter seasons of Supernatural that highlights the bond between Dean and Cas. Sam alone couldn’t reach his brother. Cas needed to be there as well in order to break through to Dean and get him to fight back against Michael. 

And it worked! Dean was able to regain his senses and trap a freaking archangel for an extended period of time. Sam was only able to do that to Lucifer for mere moments back in Supernatural season five. 

“Point of No Return” beatdown

Speaking of season five, let’s talk about “Point of No Return”. This isn’t a happy moment between Dean and Castiel, but the intensity of the scene rockets it to the top. In “Point of No Return”, Dean decides to say “yes” to Michael in order to end the Apocalypse. So long as Sam keeps saying no to Lucifer, he will be in a weaker form. The entire episode is essentially his loved ones trying to talk Dean out of it.

Cas, however, decides to go the alternate route to talking about it. He beats up Dean, angry at him deciding to take the easy way out. It culminates in Cas saying, “I gave everything for you! And this is what you give to me?!” This definitely highlights the give and take dynamic relationship to the Destiel relationship. Ultimately, it seems to be what was needed, amongst other things, in order to get Dean’s head on straight. 

Dean’s refusal to abandon Castiel in Purgatory

Season seven of Supernatural ended with the destruction of the Leviathans, but Dean and Castiel are sucked into Purgatory. During the whole time in Purgatory, Cas feels like he is a burden on Dean. At this point, the angel is pretty much human and his mental state for season seven was…fragile. Plus, you know, the guilt for letting out the Leviathans in the first place. Cas’s presence near Dean was making them both bigger targets in the brutal Purgatory.

Dean, however, refuses to abandon Cas. He even point-blank says, “Cas, buddy, I need you.” It just highlights how Dean and Cas will never ever see each other as a burden. More importantly, it shows just how deep the loyalty between them goes.