Supernatural Fans Are Surprised It Took Until Season 9 To See This

Over the course of 15 seasons, "Supernatural" went from an oddity of network television to a bona fide cultural institution. By following Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles), two brothers who hunt things that go bump in the night, the show drew on inspirations ranging from the horrific to the biblical to weave a rich lore around its heroes. 

In its heyday, the series gained a zealously passionate fan base who lovingly shared memes of their favorite moments from the show on Tumblr and other social media. Throughout its run on The CW, fans fell in love with the show's characters and its rich world. From Dean's iconic 1967 Chevrolet Impala — the brothers' main form of transportation — to Mark Sheppard's iconic performance as the demon Crowley, "Supernatural" remained a potent pop cultural force for more than a decade.

Unsurprisingly, "Supernatural" fanatics have spent countless hours noting obscure details across each and every episode, and they've paid particular attention to everyone's favorite Impala, nicknamed "Baby." The car is not only where the brothers keep their hunting tools, it's an heirloom Dean inherited from their father, John (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and it's even where John proposed to their mother. In fact, cast members share emotional scenes in the Impala more than a few times.  But there's one detail about Dean and his blacked-out ride that has some fans scratching their heads.

While Sam Winchester is often characterized as the more thoughtful of the two brothers, Dean is contrastingly brash and headstrong. It would certainly seem that this particular characteristic extends to how he drives the Impala. On Reddit, u/hlyeb noted that it isn't until Season 9 that Dean is actually shown making use of a turn signal on the road.

Some other fans, such as u/Dark_Macadamia noted that Dean may have used a turn signal in the Season 4 episode "Yellow Fever," but across the board, it was agreed that ignoring such a basic courtesy to other drivers — not to mention a legal obligation — is in line with Dean's character. Referencing Dean's nickname for the Impala, u/LadyMac18 quipped, "It's Baby. Everything just gets the hell out of her way."

Even in real life, actor Jensen Ackles remains attached to the Impala. Much like Dean on the show, he's notoriously protective of it. According to Den of Geek, he even insisted on teaching actor Alex Calvert how to drive the old Chevy before shooting a scene where Calvert gets behind the wheel. Interestingly, during an interview on Michael Rosenbaum's "Inside of You" podcast, Ackles reported that he planned to take the iconic automobile home once filming wrapped. At the time, he said that while he planned on upgrading the speakers and A/C, everything else would be left as-is. We can only pray he's using turn signals these days if he drives Baby outside of a controlled filming environment.

Of course, there's no need for turn signals when you're shooting a TV show, and the only reason to include them would be for the added realism. But it does feel fitting to the series that Dean largely eschews them altogether. After all, it's his car, his rules. To quote Dean himself, "Shotgun shuts his cakehole."