Supernatural Review: “Scoobynatural” Exceeds All Expectations

I have to admit that at Comic-Con, when I first heard about the crossover between Supernatural and Scooby-Doo, I was pretty skeptical. My first thought was “they’re running out of ideas”, and I held on to that belief for awhile. Still, as a long time fan of both properties, I remained optimistic. As Supernatural’s season has gotten better and better, I became more optimistic than ever that perhaps this crossover would rival Avengers: Infinity War as the “most ambitious crossover event of all time.” And after watching…I wasn’t wrong.

The first concern I initially had regarded the premise. I wondered how they would do the crossover logistically, especially after they announced that it wouldn’t be a trick from Gabriel. I also wondered if they just lied about that, considering (SPOILERS) we saw Gabriel alive a few episodes ago. But since they didn’t want people thinking that way before they saw Gabriel, nipping it in the bud was a good idea. It also led to a great throwaway line that I’ll get to in a minute. Ultimately, the premise they chose with the real ghost worked well.

Some episodes of Supernatural are really dark, while others are really, REALLY fun. “Scoobynatural” easily falls into that second category. I was a fan of Scooby-Doo growing up, just like Dean (and Sam, we find out later) so Dean’s reaction is one that I would’ve had too. When you put Castiel in with Scooby and Shaggy, Dean trying to hit on Daphne, and Velma and Sam combining their intellectual prowess, you get a hilarious, most-fun-I’ve-had-watching-TV-in-weeks episode.

Perhaps my favorite element: they were able to make the Scooby-Doo world a little darker. To have Sam and Dean accidentally bring a real murder into the Scooby-verse with them added an extra layer and raised the stakes considerably, adding layers to an episode that was extremely fun. Supernatural has always been good at having high stakes even through extreme silliness, and this was no exception.

Here are a few other thoughts:

• I always enjoyed Scooby Doo’s other crossover episodes. Batman. Harlem Globetrotters. Adding characters to the regular Scooby gang antics will ALWAYS be fun for me.
• When the entire “Scoobynatural” gang was running in and out of doors set to the Scooby-Doo theme song (with a Scrappy-Doo cameo!) I had a giddy little fanboy fit. It was my absolute favorite part of the episode. Bar none.
• Since Matthew Lillard was live-action Shaggy and he also voiced Shaggy in this episode, can we have him crossover the other way? That would be amazing.
• Another contender for best part of the episode: “Jeepers!” “Jinkies!” “Zoinks!” “Ruh-Roh!” “Son of a B***H”
• Castiel, Shaggy, and Scooby have great chemistry. Can we get a spin-off or a short cartoon series? Who do I have to contact?
• I loved that the villain did turn out to be a real estate developer, but in the real world. Perfect.

One of my favorite things about Supernatural is that after 13 seasons, they still know how to have fun. Adding the usual monster-hunting seriousness in the mix with the silliness that is Scooby-Doo worked way too well, and it makes me wonder what other fun things this team can dream up. Whatever it is, I’m game. I’ll never doubt you again.

This episode will go down as one of my all-time favorite Supernatural episodes, no contest.

What did you guys think? Did you enjoy the episode? Let us know!

Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW