Supernatural season 11, episode 12, “Don’t You Forget About Me,” explored the dynamics of three fan-favorite female supporting characters. Could this be the setup for the spinoff we’ve wanted?

Supernatural tried to launch a spinoff, Bloodlines, in season 9. However, the backdoor pilot was poorly received and didn’t pick up traction among much of the Supernatural fanbase. In the end, the series was not picked up by The CW, though network president Mark Pedowitz has indicated his interest in trying to launch another Supernatural off-shoot.

And who can blame him? Supernatural is the network’s longest running series and is among its most consistent performers in terms of ratings. Reruns on TNT and the binge-watching opportunity provided by Netflix keep bringing in new viewers. That’s rare, as long-running series tend to drop viewers. Moreover, its audience has moved with it to nearly every night in the week, indicating some serious loyalty. Who wouldn’t want to tap into that?

Bloodlines failed because it didn’t tap into what makes Supernatural work. It was ostensibly a Romeo and Juliet-type story, just with monsters. But viewers don’t watch Supernatural for romance. They watch for the bonds of family and lengths people will go for the ones they love, seen through the lens of hunting monsters and saving the world.

And this is exactly why Wayward Daughters, the fandom-nicknamed campaign centered around Jody Mills and Alex Jones, that has since grown to include Sheriff Donna Hanscum and Claire Novak, focuses on. Supernatural is a male-dominated series in terms of its cast, yet its audience is heavily female. Many of the notable female characters in the series have been killed off. And while the series does kill off characters, male or female, with impunity, it’s particularly noticeable when it’s a woman because there are so few on the series to begin with.

“Don’t You Forget About Me” provided a window into what could potentially serve as a female-centric spinoff — and one that does tap into what fans love about Supernatural.

Jody, Alex and Claire make for a dysfunctional family unit that is doing its best to make it in a world where all three know what goes bump in the night and have been victimized by it. Alex and Claire provide interesting parallels to Sam and Dean respectively as well.

Alex and Sam were victimized by a supernatural being at a young age and had their lives forever influenced by it — Alex with a vampire nest and Sam with Azazel. Both seem to thrive in a normal life until it is ripped away from them, Alex losing her favorite teacher and learning her boyfriend is a vampire, and Sam losing Jess and discovering Lucifer’s influence permeated his entire life. And both are hesitant to stick around a hunting life, as Alex contemplated leaving Jody’s and Sam went away to Stanford.

Claire, on the other hand, watched her father be taken away, as Dean watched John descend from a kindly man into one obsessed with finding the thing that killed his wife, and both of their lives were shaped by those experiences from a young age. Hunting is something Claire refuses to walk away from, just as Dean finds the greatest sense of peace when he is on a hunt.

Obviously there are distinct differences between the characters as well, but the subtle similarities make for a nice tie-in to Supernatural.

Another major difference is the adult influence on the younger characters, as Jody is quite different from John. Jody hunts, but only out of necessity rather than vengeance. Watching Alex and Claire bloom under Jody’s mentoring could make for a fascinating exploration of the themes of family and sacrifice that Supernatural explores but in different ways. Giving women the spotlight would also set the series apart from its parent series. And with this set of characters, crossovers with the parent series would feel natural, much like in the Arrow-verse.

If The CW is serious about launching a Supernatural spinoff, it looks like it has found a natural successor to the Winchester brothers.

Supernatural airs Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET on The CW.

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