A spoilery post on whether the dad in Supernatural comes back. Chris! Don't look!

A little background: I have been watching  Supernatural with my pal Chris on and off this past year. And, even though we're only in the first season, I have been burning with curiosity on whether the dad comes back. 

I'm not a person who likes spoilers for books - EVER! -  but I really wanted to know if they'd ever find that dad, sort of the way I wanted to know if Star Trek Voyager would ever get home. So, I went on twitter, and NOBODY would tell me if the dad comes back. Curse you tweeps! LOL. So, I was left burning with curiosity about the dad.

Around that time, the folks at The Dog Ate my Blog, a fun pop culture blog, wrote to see if they could do a guest blog here, maybe I could suggest something...on politics, movies...or TV perhaps? 

In fact, I do discuss TV here; I used to do True Blood stuff before I decided I didn't like it, and of course, my beloved Star Trek. And, since they have such a fun way, and I thought, what could be more interesting  than a post about Supernatural! Maybe about the dad!

Okay, don't read this if you don't want to know! Thanks, Dog Ate my Blog, for this informative piece! You have fully and completely and utterly satisfied my curiosity.

Supernatural . . . Does Dad Come Back? 

SPECIAL TO THE THRILLIONTH PAGE FROM EDWARD STERN: Beloved CW fantasy thriller Supernatural kicked off its sixth season in September and is currently 11 episodes in to its planned 15-episode run. The show's producers originally planned for a five-season series, but due to the series' popularity in its fourth and fifth seasons was renewed by the network, to the delight of its fans, for at least one more season. 

Following the demon-hunting trials and travails of the Winchester brothers Sam and Dean, the fifth season ended with Michael and Lucifer subdued and some order brought back to heaven and hell after an entire 22-episode season spent trying to control demons and other Hellish creatures run amok.

Lost amidst the epic nature of recent story arcs in trying to stop the apocalypse and destroy the evil plans of the most evil creatures to rear their ugly heads in Supernatural's existence is the lack of an appearance by John Winchester, the brother Winchester's dearly departed father. Gone missing in the first season, much of that season's story arc revolves around Sam and Dean trying to find their demon-hunting father, who raised his boys to do the same. Killed in the second season's premier episode, he only returns once more as a spirit to give his sons some much needed help in the season's finale.

Over the next three seasons, the Winchester patriarch has been conspicuously absent. Much of that is due to the busy schedule of actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who had a recurring role on Grey's Anatomy and memorable spots in feature films including Watchmen and the forthcoming Red Dawn.

Still, serious fans of Supernatural still speculate over whether his spirit will make another appearance. It appeared the stage was set for the fifth season, with Heaven and Hell in complete chaos and angels and demons both fighting the brothers as they overcame their destiny to be the vessels for Michael and Lucifer. Not only with spirits of all kinds running amok and the boys experiencing intense personal crises in their fight to thwart the impending apocalypse, it seemed that their father's spirit would make an appearance to help them persevere in a crucial moment or to give them a much needed pep talk when their faith was at its lowest.

Sadly, no such appearance happened, and fans are left to hope for a brief cameo at the very least in the sixth season as it heads toward its conclusion. Whether that appearance will happen, unfortunately, seems doubtful. Much of the season's plot has focused on the retrieval of Sam's soul and the reappearance of the brothers' grandfather. 

In the most recent few episodes there was the perfect opportunity to bring back the father for a cameo, as Sam learns from the angel Balthazar that needs the blood of his father to cast a spell to keep his soul from coming back to his body. However, Sam decides to use Bobby as a surrogate since his own father passed on long ago.

Unfortunately, it seems that John Winchester will not be coming back to Supernatural. The real life actor's schedule keeps him from making appearances, and his character has been gone from the story for so long that it appears the film's producers have lost interest in bringing him back. Like his character, John Winchester is forced to remain a treasured spirit beloved by the show and its fans and nothing more.

Thanks, Edward, for this awesome post and for being so accomodating. This has been very enlightening and informative!