Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
The season opens with Sam, Dean and John critically injured after the truck hits the Impala. While Dean lies in a coma, John makes a bargain with the yellow-eyed demon: he gives up the Colt and his own life to save Dean. The brothers are left grieving their father, but keep hunting. Sam's visions grow more troubling, and the brothers learn that other young people like him have unusual abilities. Their road cases bring them back to Bobby Singer and connect the demon's plans to a coming conflict.
Sam is taken to the abandoned town of Cold Oak with other people the demon calls its special children. They are pushed into a deadly contest, and Jake Talley stabs Sam after Sam refuses to kill him. Sam dies in Dean’s arms. Dean summons a crossroads demon, trading his own soul for Sam's return; the demon gives him one year. Sam wakes alive without knowing he died or what Dean paid. The brothers, Bobby and Ellen then follow clues left by Ash to Samuel Colt’s railway network in Wyoming.
Samuel Colt’s railway lines form a vast devil’s trap around a hidden cemetery and the Devil’s Gate. Azazel forces Jake to use the Colt to open the crypt, releasing demons into the world; Sam kills Jake. When Azazel takes the Colt and prepares to kill the brothers, John’s spirit intervenes and distracts him. Dean recovers the gun and kills Azazel, while Bobby and Ellen close the gate. John’s spirit moves on, but the escaped demons and Dean’s one-year bargain leave the brothers facing a wider war.