# Supernatural TV show episodes that have no supernatural things in them **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693 "2011-07-12T00:33:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/1 "2011-07-12T00:33:50Z")
This isn’t exclusively about the TV show Supernatural, but it is one that counts. I’m watching “The Benders”, which is an episode of Supernatural…where the boys fight people. Messed up people, but no ghosts or demons. Then there is the X-files episode “Home”, where it turns out that inbred humans are what Mulder and Scully are up against. What other episodes of supernatural-theme shows can you think of where the heroes end up not fighting anything supernatural? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/2 "2011-07-12T01:05:53Z")
The Twilight Zone episode “Nick of Time” may not have anything supernatural happening – but then again it might. One of the reasons it’s one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/3 "2011-07-12T06:54:00Z")
(Almost) every episode of Scooby Doo. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/4 "2011-07-12T07:17:08Z")
[troll]Pretty much every Ghost Hunters type show[roll] Lost kind of straddled the line. Certain seemingly supernatural things turned out to be mundane whereas other mundane things turned out to be supernatural. There were quite a few episodes that just dealt with the centric character and not the mythos. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/5 "2011-07-12T07:38:53Z")
I’d guess a good number of Twilight Zone episodes “Time Enough At Last” and “To Serve Man” aren’t really supernatural ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/6 "2011-07-12T10:45:33Z")
I was going to suggest the X-Files episode [Jose Chung’s From Outer Space](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Chung%27s_From_Outer_Space), but I forgot that there were still questionable elements in it by the end of the story. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/7 "2011-07-12T11:42:17Z")
The Torchwood episode “Countrycide” set the cast up against what turned out to be a bunch of Welsh hicks who kill and eat marooned motorists for the lulz. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/8 "2011-07-12T12:04:10Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > (Almost) every episode of Scooby Doo. I clicked on this thread just to post that. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/9 "2011-07-12T12:14:38Z")
IIRC there was one _X-Files_ episode during the period when it was Mulder by himself where he was hunting “vampires” that were really gothy people who acted like they were vampires. There’s also the one where Scully and him are pitted against a pair of supergenius, murdering little girls (though I guess there were trace elements of “twin telepathy”, and cloning by badevil government at the root of it) And there’s also what’s probably my least favorite one, _Paper Hearts_ or something like that, where Mulder spends the whole episode playing games with a serial killer who claims he’s the one who killed his sister. AFAIK the only vaguely supernatural thing about this one was that Mulder had some very accurate and non-cryptic dreams. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/10 "2011-07-12T12:22:59Z")
Buffy _nearly_ did it with The Body in Season 5, but they did a brief vamp attack that added nothing to the plot, possibly just for the sake of not having an unsupernatural episode. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/11 "2011-07-12T15:59:10Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > IIRC there was one _X-Files_ episode during the period when it was Mulder by himself where he was hunting “vampires” that were really gothy people who acted like they were vampires. You seem to have forgotten that it’s revealed at the end of the episode that the victim liked to play up vampire stereotypes, which his family, actual vampires, disapproved of. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/12 "2011-07-12T16:34:04Z")
Um, all of them? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/13 "2011-07-12T16:43:59Z")
There was another _X-Files_ episode where Mulder thought the government had an alien imprisoned on a train. It turned out to be a human with leprosy who was being quarantined. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/14 "2011-07-12T16:53:04Z")
Another **X-Files** one is the second season episode, “[Irresistible](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irresistible_%28The_X-Files%29)”, featuring a death fetishist who kidnaps Scully and nearly does her in. There may be one or two more episodes that didn’t have anything supernatural, but they’re not springing to mind at the moment, and “Home” is probably the best one anyway. As I recall, the “In Sickness And In Health” episode of the short-lived **Fear Itself** had no supernatural elements; the plot is that a woman receives a note just before her wedding that says, _“the person you are marrying is a serial killer.”_ Paranoia ensues, until the final twist, which is:the note was meant for her husband, not for her. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/15 "2011-07-12T17:18:04Z")
An episode of The Twilight Zone called “The Silence” about a bet at a Gentleman’s Club plays more like an Alfred Hitchcock Presents. It has a twist but not a supernatural one. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/16 "2011-07-12T17:27:22Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I clicked on this thread just to post that. …except for all the later episodes with real ghosts. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/17 "2011-07-12T18:15:23Z")
Would you classify Vince Schiavelli’s parasitic twin as supernatural (in the X-Files episode “Humbug”)? Maybe this episode qualifies? And if not, then at least I got to post “Vince Schiavelli’s parasitic twin” - BAND NAME! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/18 "2011-07-12T20:35:51Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Um, all of them? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/19 "2011-07-12T22:06:01Z")
> [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#): > > Would you classify Vince Schiavelli’s parasitic twin as supernatural (in the X-Files episode “Humbug”)? Maybe this episode qualifies? > > And if not, then at least I got to post “Vince Schiavelli’s parasitic twin” - BAND NAME! Tough one, but a “parasitic twin” that can detach and reattach itself at will seems kinda paranormal to me. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693/20 "2011-07-13T15:24:51Z")
> [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#): > > Would you classify Vince Schiavelli’s parasitic twin as supernatural (in the X-Files episode “Humbug”)? Maybe this episode qualifies? > > And if not, then at least I got to post “Vince Schiavelli’s parasitic twin” - BAND NAME! I would say given the spirit of the question, you can assume “supernatural” in this context includes science-fictiony monsters and aliens otherwise just about any anthology show would qualify as they switched back and forth all the time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernatural-tv-show-episodes-that-have-no-supernatural-things-in-them/588693.md?page=2)