When we left the Winchester boys at the Season Two finale, they were battling the fiercest demon they’d ever faced:

Possible cancellation

Luckily, the show was picked up for a third season and its fans were able to spend 16 episodes (a short season due to the Writers Strike) wondering how the brothers would escape their fates.

In case you’ve forgotten, Dean traded his life for Sam’s, leaving the older Winchester with only a year to live before being dragged to Hell.  In the other corner, we had Sam Winchester, recently raised from the dead and returned to life with a new edge as he vowed to save his brother.

If Season Three was a drinking game and the triggers were “Are you sure you’re okay, Sammy?” and “I’m not going to let you die, Dean!”, we would have lost a lot of Supernatural fans to alcohol poisoning.

So what does a new fan need to know about Season Three?

• The Winchesters met a demon named Ruby who claimed to be on their side.  While Dean didn’t trust her at all, Sam was ready to grasp at any straw.  He and Ruby bonded when she led them to Lillith – the uber-demon who owned the contract on Dean’s soul.  She also encouraged Sam to visit his dark side and tap into the powers he possessed as one of the yellow-eyed-demon’s special children.

• The show introduced Lisa and Ben:  Lisa was an old girlfriend of Dean’s and Ben is her son who loves rock music, fast cars, girls, and rocked a pretty good leather jacket for a 10 year old.  10 years old… hmmm… that is almost exactly the same number of years since Lisa and Dean dated.  While Lisa swore Dean was not Ben’s father, this was not the last we saw of them.

Finally, the season finale showcased the big battle with Lillith.  She caught up with the Winchesters, killed Ruby and intended to collect Dean’s soul.

You’re probably asking yourself how the boys escaped.  What amazing feat of derring-do were they able to spin to save Dean?

And here is where Supernatural continued to surprise its viewers:  the Winchester boys failed.

That’s right.  The third season ended with Dean Winchester dying and being sent to Hell for a fiery eternity.

It was a looooong wait to Season Four.