How ‘Supernatural’Took Sam and Dean Winchester to the Past

By the show's sixth season, focused a lot more on monsters than the . Under new showrunner Sera Gamble, the series was in a stage of transition and introduced a new big bad named Eve, the Mother of All Monsters (Julia Maxwell

). Unfortunately, the only way to kill the Mother is with the ashes of a phoenix, which leads our heroes to the Old West — the only place they know to find one. Except, the phoenix isn't just some flaming red bird, it's actually a gunslinger named Elias Finch (Matthew John Armstrong).

And oh boy, "Frontierland" is a blast. After Castiel (Misha Collins) sends the Winchesters back to 1861, Dean soon realizes that the Western movies he idolizes aren't quite accurate to the actual time.

Between the alcohol, the townsfolk, and even the dress (a serape was not common, after all), Dean's hopes about visiting his favorite period in American history were quickly dashed. Though, he did get to use the name Clint Eastwood, and jokingly prophesied . No way the writers saw that one coming!

The ‘Supernatural’ Episode “Frontierland” Made Us Wish for More

But what worked so well about "Frontierland" wasn't just how Sam and Dean interacted with the past, but . Upon arriving in Sunrise, Wyoming, the Winchesters witness the execution of Finch, who (obviously) returns from the dead to take out his killers. Unlike many of the monsters Sam and Dean face in the 21st century, Finch isn't afraid to use a pistol, and this vengeful phoenix wields a deadly combination of supernatural power and gunfighting prowess.

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