Jeffrey Dean Morgan as John Winchester. Supernatural season 14's "Lebanon" marked the show's 300th episode, and that milestone was celebrated in style via the return of Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Sam & Dean's father. Happening across some wish-granting relic, the Winchester brothers' deepest desire to see their late father again became a reality, and John was parachuted into the Supernatural bunker.

Morgan's version of John had last appeared in Supernatural season 2. Several years on from his untimely demise, the Winchester brothers also managed to inadvertently bring their mother back. "Lebanon," therefore, gave Supernatural fans a full, four-way reunion featuring the entire Winchester family. Even better, the manner in which John returned successfully resolved a nagging problem that had plagued Supernatural ever since Morgan's early appearances.

Supernatural's Jeffrey Dean Morgan Was Only 12 Years Older Than Jensen Ackles

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Wasn't Really Old Enough To Play John

Despite playing father and son, there is only a 12-year gap between the real ages of Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born in 1966) and Dean Winchester actor Jensen Ackles (born in 1978). Dean was born in 1979, according to Supernatural lore, meaning the character's age more or less coalesces with Ackles the actor. The discrepancy lies squarely with John Winchester - a character supposedly born in 1954, over a decade earlier than the man playing him.

John looked more like a cool uncle, or an older brother from a previous marriage.

While Jeffrey Dean Morgan is only Jensen Ackles' senior by 12 years, therefore, the gap between John and Dean Winchester is double that. Morgan is undoubtedly a talented actor, even when playing a character significantly older, but even he couldn't quite negate the visual discrepancy between himself and the person Supernatural was trying to sell as his son.

Morgan rocked the grizzled look far too well for a scraggly beard and road-worn visage to overcome the relatively small 12-year difference between himself and Ackles. At a glance, John looked more like a cool uncle, or an older brother from a previous marriage, than the boys' father.

Supernatural's Winchester Family Reunion Made The Small Age Gap Make Sense

Supernatural Has A Spell For Every Problem

When John Winchester returned in Supernatural season 14's "Lebanon" episode, the plot cleverly stipulated that Sam and Dean's father had been plucked from his own timeline - a point several years prior to his death - and dropped into the show's present day. By this point, roughly 12 years had ed since John Winchester's death in Supernatural season 2, and the show's two main brothers were no longer fresh-faced youths. As the Sam and Dean of Supernatural season 14 came face-to-face with the John Winchester of 2003, the mere 12-year difference between Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jensen Ackles made total sense from an in-universe perspective.

John didn't look significantly older than Dean, nor old enough to realistically be his father, but that was ed for by the timeline shenanigans in effect, overcoming the very issue Supernatural's first two seasons were forced to contend with. The only fly in the ointment is that by fixing one plot hole, Supernatural created an entirely different one.

Supernatural season 14's "Lebanon" aired on February 7, 2019.

In "Lebanon," Jeffrey Dean Morgan was supposed to be playing a version of John Winchester several years younger than in Supernatural seasons 1 & 2. In reality, of course, 13 or so years had ed, and Morgan naturally looked older than he did during John's final living appearance in 2006's "In My Time of Dying." The relative difference between John and his sons was fixed, but John himself arrived inexplicably older than he should have been.

Supernatural Got Away With The Small Age Gap Between John Winchester & His Sons

Supernatural Knew How To Cover Up Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Age

While Jeffrey Dean Morgan's relative youth compared to John Winchester could be somewhat jarring at points during the early seasons, Supernatural actually got away with it more often than not. For starters, the three Winchester boys rarely shared the screen together. Sam and Dean infamously spent most of Supernatural season 1 chasing their father around rural North America, and actual encounters between them were rare. Viewers were not often granted the opportunity for a side-by-side comparison of Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jensen Ackles.

Additionally, father-son meetings in Supernatural's fledgling seasons would often take place in dimly-lit locations - the natural habitat of the average hunter. By contrast, "Lebanon" was set within the bright surrounds of Supernatural's bunker, and aired during the era of HD television. As such, Supernatural perhaps felt compelled to find some way to explain the evident lack of age gap between John and Dean for season 14's reunion - especially since the episode's entire focus was on the family being together, side by side.