Supernatural needs to stop trying to make spinoffs happen (unless it's Wayward Sisters)

Can you believe it's almost been four years already since Supernatural ended its lengthy run with 15 seasons and 300+ episodes? It'd be easy to forget since even though Sam and Dean Winchester's adventures ended, the Supernatural universe has continued to live on in the spinoff series The Winchesters, a prequel following Sam and Dean's parents, John and Mary.

The Winchesters isn't the first Supernatural spinoff to be developed and, unsurprisingly, it might not be the last either. During the show's run, two other spinoff series were considered, with backdoor pilots produced—the heavily maligned Bloodlines and the beloved Wayward Sisters.

Sadly for fans of the show, The Winchesters was canceled after just one season, but the question of creating another Supernatural spinoff series has reared up again recently.

Per TVLine, during The CW's winter Television Critics Association press tour, CW boss Brad Schwartz revealed that no discussions are happening right now, but he did acknowledge the show's "incredible legacy" and "incredible history." For now, it sounds like they're more focused on Walker's upcoming fourth season, which stars Supernatural alum Jared Padalecki and will premiere this April.

Wayward Sisters is the only worthwhile Supernatural spinoff right now

However, on the topic of Supernatural spinoffs, I know that I'm among many fans who would love to see the Wayward Sisters series finally get a chance. The show was developed back in 2017 and its backdoor pilot ran during the show's thirteenth season. In 2018, it was confirmed the series had not been picked up, but that hasn't stopped fans from campaigning for it and lamenting what could have been even all these years later.

Wayward Sisters would have followed Kim Rhodes' character Sheriff Jody Mills, centered on Mills fostering a group of young women orphaned by supernatural tragedy. It would have really been about the sisterhood of these girls, a nice change of pace from the male focus of the original show.

There were several fan campaigns started to "save" Wayward Sisters, and even an IndieGoGo campaign at one point to finance a fan film. The main appeal of a show like this one would be that it's set in the same universe with characters we know and love, but now with more women at the forefront. Supernatural was rather infamous for how poorly it treated its few female characters and Wayward Sisters could have been an opportunity to fix some of that.

Still, at the end of the day, I do think there's something to be said about trying to make a Supernatural spinoff work without Sam and Dean at the helm. It just might not be possible. Regardless of the show's faults, the reason people tuned in was for Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. That might be why these spinoffs just aren't working out. They lose a big dose of their charm without the Winchester brothers leading the way.