Why was there such a long break between Supernatural Season 3 Episodes 12 and 13?

Supernatural Season 3 is still the shortest season of the series. Between Episode 12 and 13, there was a nine-week break. Just why was that the case?

Supernatural Season 14 may be shorter than usual, but it’s still not the shortest season of the show. Supernatural Season 3 takes that title for reasons out of its control. And the shorter season led to a long break between Episodes 12 and 13.

Episode 12, “Jus in Bello,” aired on February 21, 2008. Episode 13 didn’t air until April 24, 2008. Just why was that? Why did we have to wait nine weeks for a new episode?

More from Supernatural

• Jensen Ackles and The Winchesters cast kick off #SaveTheWinchesters campaign
• Will The Winchesters be saved? (Can Supernatural fans save the prequel?)
• Did The Winchesters get renewed? (Is The Winchesters season 2 happening?)
• Is a new episode of The Winchesters on tonight? (March 14, 2023)
• The Winchesters Season1 finale explained: Did it connect to Supernatural?

It’s all linked to the reason the season was the shortest. The writer’s strike went on until February 12, 2008, and it meant a lot of scripts hadn’t yet been written for the series. Usually, Episodes 13-15 would have been written by this point, especially when looking at midseason Hellatus breaks now, but that wasn’t the case for Supernatural Season 3. The writer’s strike started in November, so took out three months of writing.

These nine weeks gave the writers time to create scripts and the cast and crew time to film the episodes. It all started with “Ghostfacers,” arguably a relatively quick and easy episode to film since it was done with the found-footage pretense.

Watch your favorite shows on fuboTV: Watch over 67 live sports and entertainment channels with a 7-day FREE trial!

Around this time period, there is usually a four-week break, so really the break was just five weeks longer than initially planned. The four-week Hellatus, which has taken place in both February and March over the years, allows the remaining scripts of the year to be filmed.

Will we get this break this year? That’s unclear. It will depend on whether there’s a need and when the CW sets the finale date for Supernatural Season 14. There may only be a two-week Hellatus with the finale date being in April instead of May, which is the usual time. However, we could see a longer break like Supernatural Season 3 to allow for a May finale date.

Did you experience the nine-week Hellatus in Supernatural Season 3? What did you do during that break? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Follow SPN Hunters on Twitter for more Supernatural Season 3 to get through Hellatus.