The Supernatural Moment From Season 5 That Always Makes Fans Cry

From the beginning of "Supernatural," Sam and Dean Winchester — played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, respectively — prove that brotherly love knows no bounds. The two monster-fighting siblings have been through the gauntlet together, and they'd go to the ends of the Earth for each other. Whether their relationship is moving or codependent is up to the viewer to determine, but there's no question that the Winchesters have produced some sad "Supernatural" moments over the years.

This is no more true than when Sam makes the cataclysmic decision to kill Lilith (Katherine Boecher) at the end of Season 4. Though he's trying to stop the Apocalypse from starting, it has the opposite effect and allows Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino) to walk the Earth. Sam and Dean spend Season 5 trying to find a way to stop Lucifer, but, at every turn, they meet obstacles. 

It seems fate has determined that Sam and Dean will become Michael and Lucifer's vessels, and there's nothing they can do to stop it. Friends are sacrificed, and the brothers have to make difficult choices. With such high stakes, each episode of Season 5 is tense, but fans have determined that one moment is more emotional than all the rest.

No matter how many times Dean and Sam Winchester seem to come back from the dead, other characters are not so lucky. In the epic battle to save the world, the brothers lose two of the most important people in their lives. Fellow hunters Ellen and Jo Harvelle sacrifice themselves to hellhounds in the fittingly titled episode "Abandon All Hope." 

Fans on Reddit reacted passionately to the deaths of the mother and daughter. "This was the most upsetting scene for me in all of Supernatural. I was not and am still not okay with them killing off Ellen, Jo, or Ashe," posted one Reddit user. "This scene always hit hard but now that I have a daughter of my own I just ugly cry until my husband shuts it off," remarked another Redditor. 

Many fans commented that their deaths weren't even necessary. "Jo Ellen and Bobby should have made it to the last season," posted another fan. The fact that the characters' sacrifices allowed for Sam and Dean to carry on is cold comfort. And, despite the fact that the Harvelles were just as skilled at hunting as the Winchesters, they don't even get the respect of showing up in heaven at the end of "Supernatural."

The Harvelles' tragic yet unnecessary deaths underscore the series' troubled history with female characters. Because Sam and Dean spend most of their time on the road, they have little opportunity to make long-lasting relationships. Any connections they may have with women are often fleeting and sometimes bordering on offensive. 

Even Misha Collins, who plays the cherished angel Castiel, had some pointed remarks at a New Jersey convention (via YouTube). "There are certain small ways in which the show is gratuitously misogynistic when it doesn't need to be," Collins said. "You have killed every other female character that had more than a two-episode arc." When an audience member brought up Charlie (Felicia Day), he noted: "Charlie's still around."

At the time of the convention, that was the case. Unfortunately, the fan-favorite hacker died in Season 10 — joining Ellen and Jo on a long list of women who were quickly discarded and rarely mentioned again on "Supernatural."