10 Greatest Ever TV Alternate Universes

2. Supernatural - "The French Mistake"

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Supernatural does this thing every so often when the production team is just like, "Sod the plot, let's just have a bit of fun." That's how you get episodes where the Winchesters end up going to a Supernatural convention, or stuck inside a series of television tropes, or having Sam accidentally switch bodies with a demon-summoning high school nerd. In this episode, Sam and Dean get sent into the real world. That is to say, they find themselves in a world where Supernatural is a television show, and they're Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Only on Supernatural. It's a delightfully meta episode, where they poke fun at everything from Jensen's former work as a soap opera star to the ridiculousness of Misha Collins's tweets. I cherish every moment of the crew's weariness ("Season six," is often heard, when they just can't be bothered to try any harder), and the look on Dean's face when he realizes that Sam is married to Ruby in real life is priceless. I love how willing the actors were to mock the hell out of themselves, and the tongue-in-cheek references to the show's "success" are perfectly timed. Example: "Why would anyone want to watch our lives?" "Well, according to the interviewer, not that many people do." But mostly, I appreciate that the show is comfortable enough with itself to be able to experiment and churn out really fun episodes like this one.
Contributor
Contributor

Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.