No Rest for the Wicked (Supernatural)

"No Rest for the Wicked"
Supernatural episode
Dean Winchester is sent to Hell in the final moments of the episode. Series creator Eric Kripke described the scene as "M. C. Escher meets Hellraiser".
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 16
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Eric Kripke
Production code	3T6916
Original air date	May 15, 2008 (2008-05-15)
Guest appearances
Jim Beaver as Bobby Singer Sierra McCormick as Lilith/Zoey George Coe as Pat Fremont Jonathan Potts as Mr. Fremont Anna Galvin as Mrs. Fremont
Episode chronology
← Previous "Time Is on My Side" Next → "Lazarus Rising"
Supernatural season 3
List of episodes

"No Rest for the Wicked" is the sixteenth and final episode of the third season of The CW television series Supernatural, and the show's sixtieth episode overall. Written by series creator Eric Kripke and directed by Kim Manners, the episode was first broadcast on May 15, 2008. The narrative follows the series' protagonists Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles)—brothers who travel the continental United States hunting supernatural creatures—as they attempt to save the latter's soul from damnation. Having made a year-long demonic pact in the previous season finale, Dean has just one day left to live. The brothers must track down the demonic overlord Lilith, who holds Dean's contract. Lilith, meanwhile, is entertaining herself by possessing a young girl (Sierra McCormick) and terrorizing her family, a homage to the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life".

Marking the final appearance of Katie Cassidy as the demon Ruby, the episode was originally intended to feature the return of Samantha Ferris as recurring character Ellen Harvelle. The writers initially intended that Sam would save Dean by giving in to his demonic abilities, but the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike prevented the development of that storyline throughout the season. Dean is instead killed; the final scene of him in Hell was the "most complicated shot [the] visual effects department has ever done".^[1]

The episode received high ratings for the season, and garnered generally positive reviews from critics. The decision to follow through with Dean's Hell-bound contract was praised, as were the performances of Padalecki and Ackles. General consensus was that McCormick was "creepy" as Lilith, but lacked the menace of Fredric Lehne's Azazel of the second season.