The Most Heartbreaking Death In All Of Supernatural Happened Way Back in Season 7
The death of beloved characters is nothing new for Supernatural fans.
Ever since the very first season, fond farewells have been required for some solid favourites. But despite the series' best efforts to continue to pull on viewers' heartstrings, it seems the show peaked all the way back in the seventh season for the most heartbreaking deaths.
The character, of course, was Bobby Singer. Fans of the show will remember his strong, kind presence, and fearlessness. He was the father the boys needed when their own was missing. He stepped up, to be there, to guide them, and above all else, to love them.
It was Bobby's unquestioning loyalty and willingness to put himself in danger for the Winchester brothers that ultimately led to his death. That gunshot wound to his head in episode nine was brutal, courtesy of the understandably loathed Leviathan, Dick Roman. But it would be a horrible wait for the audience until episode ten before Bobby's death was confirmed.
Dean and Sam were devastated. Of course, they felt like they had lost another father. But as if this loss was not unimaginably hard enough for them, it would only grow worse in subsequent seasons. Because Bobby would return, although, not as the brothers remembered him. He made several more appearances which gave them hope, but each time it soon became apparent that he did not remember them. That everything they had been through together was a mystery to him. And that despite Dean and Sam's best efforts to bring him up to speed, the Bobby they had known and loved, was truly dead and gone forever.
It is not that subsequent character deaths were not sad. Far from it. Instead, it is that the Winchesters and the audience feel forced to keep reliving Bobby's death over and over each time he reappears. To feel that vicious sting of his blank expression because he has no idea who they are. To try and imagine how the brothers feel getting hit with that awful feeling again and again.
The loss of a second father for the boys, and the show's refusal to let Bobby rest in peace is what makes this one the most heartbreaking death in all of Supernatural. It is the gift that keeps on giving, that everyone wishes they could return.