I had fallen behind on Supernatural and always planned to catch up but never got around to it. So when I received the season 14 Blu-ray set for review, I decided to just jump over seasons 11-13 and dive right into the latest season. I initially noticed that the makeup of the show had changed a bit since the last time I watched, when it was mainly just Sam, Dean and Castiel taking on the forces of evil. Now the Winchester brothers had a whole team around them to help them hunt down dangerous supernatural beings and objects! However, I never found myself lost, and thanks to the “previously on” recaps before each episode, it was incredibly easy to jump right back into the show three seasons later and still fully enjoy the series.

As the fourteenth season opens, it’s been three weeks since the Archangel Michael took over Dean’s body. Michael has been looking to build his forces, allying himself with vampires and werewolves in hopes of creating an army of angel-creature hybrids. At the same time, other angels are also looking to obtain their own position of power now that Lucifer has fallen, and are eager to take over as King of Hell.

Meanwhile, Sam has had to step up to run things back at home. He is now in charge of the Apocalypse Hunters in Dean’s absence, and leads them on missions to stop evil forces. At the same time, he continues to search for his brother…and grow a bit of a beard. Meanwhile Jack is dealing with the loss of his grace, which had been stolen by Lucifer at the end of last season. This has left him in a bit of a limbo without any powers, and feeling like a human while he waits for his grace to refuel. He is eager to rejoin the fight, but lacks the power he once had. And Nick, who had been Lucifer’s vessel and survived Lucifer’s death, is now on a mission to get vengeance for the unsolved murders of his wife and infant son.

The fourteenth season takes our main characters on quite an emotional journey, while also mixing in some fun somewhat stand-alone adventures. While the brothers start off the season separated, it only takes a few episodes before we’re pretty much back to the status quo, with Sam and Dean driving across America, assuming sometimes-ridiculous fake identities, and taking down evil. This leads them to some fun cases, such as when a ghost haunts a comic book shop and makes toys and a lifesize figure of an 80s horror movie icon come to life and attack people. And when there’s not a case of the week, Sam and Dean are working on trying to put a stop to Michael for good, and to put an end to Nick’s murderous rampage.

The fourteenth season also sends Jack on quite a journey. In addition to losing his powers and grace, Jack also has a damaged soul which causes him to lose his moral compass, making him a bit more robotic and less empathetic, which ultimately leads to some very unfortunate and devastating consequences.

The season also sees the return of many familiar guest stars, such as Jim Beaver (“Bobby Singer”), DJ Qualls (“Garth Fitzgerald IV”), Felicia Day (“Charlie Bradbury”), Ruth Connell (“Rowena MacLeod”), Amanda Tapping (“Naomi”), and more. Plus this fourteenth season brings the show’s astonishing 300th episode, “Lebanon”, which finds Dean using an occult item from a pawn shop to make his wish come true, getting Michael out of his head for good. However, instead, the bewitched pearl grants his deeper desire of having his family reunited by transporting 2003 John Winchester to the present. But the joy of the family reunion is short-lived when the boys discover that they’ve created a temporal paradox, which is undoing all the good work they did over the past decade and a half, and also brings along still-evil Castiel and partner Zachariah (Kurt Fuller).

Overall, the fourteenth season is a very good season, continuing the show’s excellent blend of humor, action and drama. The story provides lots of twists and turns, and leaves things in an exciting place for the show’s final season premiering this Fall on The CW.

All 20 episodes of the show’s fourteenth season are split across three Blu-ray discs. Seven sounds like a lot of episodes to put on one disc, but I was extremely impressed by the video quality of this release—the picture looks nearly flawless in both darker and lighter scenes, featuring beautiful colors and tremendous detail. The audio track provides clear dialogue and a nice, immersive viewing experience. The discs are packed in a multi-disc HD keepcase with a cardboard slipcase. Inside is a sheet with digital copy redemption instructions as well as a foldout episode guide insert.

One really nice thing about the disc menus are that they show the details for the entire set on all three discs, so you can easily see which episodes or special features are available and on which disc no matter which disc you are currently viewing. The bonus material consists of 5 deleted scenes, a hilarious 11-minute gag reel, 44 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentaries on two episodes, and the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con panel. I was really impressed by the quality and variety of features included here—especially episode commentaries, which seem to be quite rare these days.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (14:02:39)

Blu-ray:
• All 20 episodes of the fourteenth season:
  Disc 1: “Stranger in a Strange Land”, “Gods and Monsters”, “The Scar”, “Mint Condition”, “Nightmare Logic”, “Optimism”, “Unhuman Nature”
  Disc 2: “Byzantium”, “The Spear”, “Nihilism”, “Damaged Goods”, “Prophet and Loss”, “Lebanon” (300th episode), “Ouroboros”
  Disc 3: “Peace of Mind”, “Don’t Go in the Woods”, “Game Night”, “Absence”, “Jack in the Box”, “Moriah”
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish​

Digital: (Redemption deadline 9/30/2020)

• Digital HD copy of the episodes redeemable via Vudu.

Extras:
Bonus material is spread across all of the discs.

• Supernatural Homecoming: Exploring Episode 300 (19:18)
  The cast and crew discuss exploring the town of Lebanon, KS, the return of season 5 Cass and Zachariah, Sam and Dean’s constant quest to find some semblance of home, the return of John Winchester and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and more . Also includes behind-the-scenes footage from Comic-Con and the show’s 300th episode party. Participants include director/executive producer Robert Singer, executive producer/writer Andrew Dabb, executive producer Eugenie Ross-Leming, supervising producer Meredith Glynn, and stars Misha Collins (“Castiel”), Jared Padalecki (“Sam Winchester”), Jensen Ackles (“Dean Winchester”), Kurt Fuller (“Zachariah”), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“John Winchester”) & Samantha Smith (“Mary Winchester”).
• The Winchester Mythology: The Choices We Make (24:51)
  The cast and crew discuss some of the season’s and show’s big storylines. First are the dual possession storylines—Dean getting hijacked by Michael, and Nick volunteering himself to Lucifer—and how these two situations and the paths of these characters differ. They also discuss Jack’s journey from losing his grace and moral soul which causes him to do something horrible; Sam and Dean dealing with loss and vengeance and trying not to lose their own conscience in the process, and Cass’ decision to swap his life for another’s, but never knowing when this looming end will come. The participants close things out by talking about what they hope to see in the show’s upcoming final season. Participants include executive producers Brad Buckner, Andrew Dabb, Robert Singer & Eugenie Ross-Leming, co-executive producer Robert Berens, and stars Misha Collins, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Samantha Smith & Mark Pellegrino (“Nick”) & Alexander Calvert (“Jack”).
• Supernatural: 2018 Comic-Con Panel (35:32)
  Interviews with the cast and crew at San Diego Comic-Con 2018. Includes behind-the-scenes footage at the autograph signing and press room, as well as the Q&A panel from Hall H moderated by Rob Benedict (“Chuck Shurley/God”) & Richard Speight Jr. (“Gabriel”) and featuring panelists showrunners Robert Singer & Andrew Dabb, executive producer/writers Eugenie Ross-Leming & Brad Buckner, and stars Alex Calvert, Misha Collins, Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki.
• Audio Commentaries with Talent & Producers
  A pair of really entertaining commentaries with some of the cast and a writer. The participants share lots of fun behind-the-scenes stories about filming the episodes, and even talk about the recipe for The Winchester Surprise.
  • Ep 1411 “Damaged Goods” (42:30)
    Participants include writer Davy Perez, and actors Briana Buckmaster (“Donna Hanscum”), Samantha Smith (“Mary Winchester”) & Mark Pellegrino (“Nick”).
  • Ep 14XX “Game Night” (42:15)
    Participants include actors Samantha Smith (“Mary Winchester”) & Mark Pellegrino (“Nick”).
• Deleted Scenes (4:10)
  Collection of 5 deleted scenes, which can be found on the discs with their related episodes.
  • Ep 1406 “Optimism” Deleted Scene 15 (0:23)
    Sam and Charlie talk in a truck.
  • Ep 1411 “Damaged Goods” Deleted Scene 33 (0:43)
    A security guard is distracted away from his guard shack by noises coming from the roof.
  • Ep 1413 “Lebanon” Deleted Scenes 10 & 11 (0:24)
    Dean talks to his mother on the phone about his stolen car.
  • Ep 1413 “Lebanon” Deleted Scene 24 (1:25)
    Sam and Dean swap stories about moving around a lot with the kids who stole the car.
  • Ep 1419 “Jack in the Box” Deleted Scene 22 (1:15)
    Castiel confronts Eremiel to open the portal to Heaven.
• Gag Reel (11:37)
  A laugh-out-loud gag reel featuring lots of hilarious moments with the cast and crew—from flubbed lines, to malfunctioning props, razzing one another, and partaking in general tom foolery on set.

Final Thoughts:

Even fourteen seasons in, Supernatural remains quite strong, and makes for a fun, enjoyable and easy binge. Warner Bros. has put together another excellent Blu-ray release, which features stellar picture and sound, as well as a solid, varied assortment of bonus material and a digital copy of the episodes. Even with not having seen the previous three seasons, I was still easily able to jump back into the series and fully enjoy it. So this release comes recommended for anyone who may be thinking of catching up before the show’s big final season premieres this Fall.