"Sam and Dean go public": Supernatural showrunner Andrew Dabb opens up about an exciting plot that never materialized 

Supernatural has long been a show that fed on secrets, with Sam and Dean Winchester leading double lives as regular guys and monster killers. But, according to one of the showrunners, Andrew Dabb, there was one point at which the writers were thinking about doing something to break that long-established rule.

In a surprise revelation that has been making waves among fans, Dabb revealed that there used to be talk of a plot where Sam and Dean would "go public" with the reality of monsters, basically issuing a warning to ordinary citizens through a public service announcement. According to Screenrant, he said,

"One storyline we always talked about, which we never did was basically Sam and Dean go public. They’re like, "Look, we’re putting out a PSA. Monsters are real. If you see something, something shows up in your town, it’s a monster. We can’t be everywhere. We’re just going to get the word out there."

It was a daring concept that could have totally revolutionized how the Supernatural world worked!

The twist would have been to witness the Winchesters move from dimly lit alleys and derelict barns to boldly confront humanity directly with what threatens them in the dark. For a series like Supernatural, which had been very cautious about how much of its heroes' occupation it revealed, such a change would have flipped the story on its head.

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What was the abandoned “go public” storyline?

Andrew Dabb showed that in talks for future seasons of Supernatural, writers played around with the concept of Sam and Dean standing before cameras to admit that monsters exist. Rather than keeping their fights relegated to secluded roads and secret hunter communities, the brothers would either record or broadcast a PSA-type alert to the public.

The idea was simple but revolutionary: rather than protecting the world from the shadows, they would prepare it to face the monsters that walk amongst them. This hypothetical sequence wasn't linked to any one episode or season narrative but was brought up as a possible direction for the series. A scene like this would have completely altered Supernatural's tone, abandoning its established secrecy and delving into an alternate version of the Winchesters who were not only hunters but also public figures accountable for humanity's awareness.

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Why did the idea never make it onscreen?

Dabb did not provide an extensive list of reasons; however, the fact that it was always discussed and never written down suggests a few probable factors. According to Screenrant, Dabb also said,

"It would’ve kind of blown up the show in a very odd way. But that was always something I was like, ‘They probably should do that, you know what I mean? Just share some information, share it around.’ But again, a little logistically difficult for the show."

To begin with, Supernatural created a foundation for itself on the notion that few people were ever privy to the truth of supernatural beings. From day one, Sam and Dean operated in the dark, with the police, strangers, and even some of their loved ones left in the dark regarding their true purpose. A PSA would have gone against that DNA.

Second, such a plotline would have had serious logistical and narrative implications. If the general world of people were suddenly made aware of monsters, the show would have had to address reactions of the public, fear, denial, government response, and possible media hysteria.

Adding all that into Supernatural's already established format might have tipped the scales into overemphasizing the character-driven approach that was central to the show for fifteen years.

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How would it have changed the Supernatural series?

Considering this dormant concept is revealing of how drastic the change would have been:

Tone and genre: Supernatural's existence as a horror-fantasy series depended on ambiguity. Making Sam and Dean heralds of truth would have incorporated a more social, political, and perhaps even satirical dimension to the narrative.

Character arcs: Sam and Dean were happy in obscurity, traveling from town to town unrecognized. Going public would take their lives out of their hands; they'd be spokespersons, leaders, or targets for controversy.

World-building: The Supernatural lore presumed monsters worked in the dark. Public awareness would require new narratives: general pandemonium, humans mobilizing against supernatural menaces, or even institutions using the knowledge for their benefit.

This shows how a single creative choice might have totally changed the course of Supernatural. Rather, the show decided to stay rooted in its secrecy tradition until the final moments.

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The creative balance of Supernatural

One reason the show was able to last was because of its consistency. Though the storylines shifted, demon hunting, apocalyptic wars, and the concept of the Winchesters doing their work behind closed curtains remained the same. Fans knew what to anticipate: that tension, the brothers were protecting the world, but nobody outside of the hunter community would ever be any wiser.

By never bringing the PSA concept to fruition, Andrew Dabb and his writers kept the original framework intact. This exercise of creative restraint was able to preserve the balance between episodic monster hunting and overarching mythology, without introducing layers of societal destruction that would have been impossible to encapsulate within the show's already convoluted mythos.

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The legacy of unused ideas

Supernatural has a long history, and over fifteen seasons, several storylines were in the works and then discarded. This going public idea falls among those that are oddities, an idea that provokes intrigue but also makes sense as something that ended up on the cutting-room floor.

For viewers, another glimpse into how much creative work was put into the program, even when some concepts never made it out from under the light. This revelation also looks back on how close it got to rebooting its own concept towards the conclusion of the game.

If Sam and Dean had presented that PSA, the series would have concluded far differently. Instead, the Winchesters' quest ended where it started: anonymously, with two brothers heading into the unknown while the rest of the world stayed oblivious.

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Andrew Dabb's verification of the canceled PSA storyline is a great example of how much potential for evolution there was in the creative development, even in the second half of Supernatural. The concept of Sam and Dean "going public" is still one of the most compelling cancelled ideas in the series' history.

It is impossible not to speculate about how the audience would have responded to something like this and how the show could have been politicized or socially focused more. In the end, the series did not take that path. The program stayed true to its decades-long tradition of mystery, withholding the creatures and keeping Sam and Dean working in the shadows.

That decision maintained the honor of the program but left the audience with yet another "what if" to consider for years to come.

Also read: Every season of Supernatural ranked from worst to best