With their dad gone, the boys once again find themselves on the road hunting supernatural creatures while searching for the demon. They also learn that other hunters are out there when they meet Ellen Harvelle (Samantha Ferris) and her daughter Jo (Alona Tal) in "Everybody Loves a Clown." And they run into Gordon Walker, the relentless vampire killer in "Bloodlust," who eventually discovers Sam's demonic connection and tries to kill him in "Hunted."

In the meantime, Sam discovers more "children like him" who have psychic powers in "Simon Said" and "Hunted," while the demon and his kind mess with Sam in "Croatoan" and "Born Under a Bad Sign." As for Dean, he gets a bit too close to a demon with an interest in his soul in "Crossroad Blues."

The season comes to a head in the two-part season finale "All Hell Breaks Loose, Parts 1 and 2" when Sam is kidnapped by the Yellow-Eyed Demon, who attempts to make him battle it out with the others like him. Dean finally finds Sam, only to see him killed by one of the others, Jake (Aldis Hodge). Unable to bear Sam's death, Dean makes a deal with the crossroads demon, agreeing to give up his soul in one year in return for Sam's life.

Sam wakes up a little confused but alive as he, Dean, Bobby and Ellen track the Yellow-Eyed Demon and finally discover the demon's plan ... to open the very gates of hell. Sam and Dean go after the demon, finally killing him with the Colt revolver. However, hundreds of demons escape hell, along with John Winchester's soul. And in the end the Yellow-Eyed Demon is dead and their dad's soul is saved, but Dean has just one year to live and the demon threat to the world has just become much more dangerous.

More than the sum of its parts

While season one of Supernatural was about the search for John Winchester, season two focuses on the search for the Yellow-Eyed Demon. The season-two DVD six-disc set features all 22 episodes, cast and crew commentary on selected episodes and dynamic special features.

Season two opened up Sam and Dean's world as we learned there was a community of hunters out there (whom the boys magically had never heard about), and the mythology finally revealed what the demon had planned for Sam and the children like him. Overall, it was a good season that put the boys through the wringer and offered up plenty of monsters (a killer clown, a trickster and a genie) for them to play with.

There were many humorous episodes that entertained ("Everybody Loves a Clown," "Tall Tales" and "Hollywood Babylon") and some clever episodes that gave us insight into the characters ("Bloodlust," "Roadkill" and "Heart"). It would have been nice if the humorous episodes had been better spread out through the season and if Sam's psychic ability had been used a bit more effectively throughout.

And while the demon's battle between the psychic children seemed a bit weak, there's no denying that the season ender was a terrific finale. It gave closure to Sam and Dean's dad issues and their Yellow-Eyed Demon issues while opening up the much larger problem of a world overrun with demons and the fact that Dean suddenly has only one year to live.

As for the DVD set, at first glance it appears light on the special features side, with only three episodes offering commentary by the cast and crew. However, the sixth DVD in the set holds the good stuff and delves deeply into the making of this series. The best of it is The Devil's Road Map, an interactive U.S. map that lists all the locations Sam and Dean have visited throughout the season, along with featurettes on urban legends, factoids or commentary from the cast and crew on each episode. There's also The Episode From Hell: The Making of All Hell Breaks Loose Part 2, a Webisode Gallery of Featurettes, a gag reel and Jared Padalecki's original screen test for the role of Sam. All in all, it's a must-have for Supernatural fans.