Jensen Ackles is best known for his role as Dean Winchester on the CW’s long-running fantasy series Supernatural. Since then, he’s starred in a number of other projects, including the hit CBS drama Tracker, which just returned for Season 2. Ackles plays Russell Shaw, the brother of Colter Shaw, the main character played by This Is Us star Justin Hartley. The actor debuted on the CBS series in Season 1 and had a recurring guest role in Season 2. Ackles just appeared in Episode 2, which premiered on the channel on October 20, and his return includes a very sneaky Supernatural reference, People reports.
In the new episode, Jensen Ackles’ character Russell drives a 1967 Chevrolet Impala, which he also drove in Season 1. The gorgeous muscle car, which is a convertible on the show, is no coincidence, as it’s the same car his character Dean Winchester drove throughout all 15 seasons of Supernatural. The car on The CW series is not a convertible.
Fans of the long-running fantasy series know how important the Impala is to the show. Affectionately nicknamed “Baby,” the car is the fourth uncredited character alongside Dean, his brother Sam (Jared Padalecki), and Castiel (Misha Collins). Dean is very attached to the car, which has been with them on many of their adventures on the road. In Season 11, the Impala got its own episode, a comedic episode called “Baby,” which tells the story from the car’s perspective.
Similar to Supernatural, when Colter asked his brother about driving one day, Russell replied, “That’s never going to happen.” Supernatural faced a similar situation, as Dean didn’t want Sam driving his car. Russell continued the joke, adding, “This baby can’t drive on gravel,” referring to Supernatural’s car.
The Supernatural cast has used various versions of the model for different purposes, but Jensen Ackles got to keep the main car after filming on the 15-season fantasy show was complete. However, he made it clear that he asked permission, and the car occasionally appeared on his social media. “In terms of bringing something on the last day, I’m definitely bringing something that I’ve had my eye on since day one of Supernatural,” he revealed to Digital Spy in 2020, the year the series ended. “But it’s okay, I didn’t steal it. I got permission. I begged and begged and pleaded for years, but I finally got permission this year. They’re letting me drive the Impala home.” Although both Jensen Ackles and co-star Jared Padalecki have mentioned multiple times that they’d like to do a Supernatural reunion, both actors have gone their separate ways since the show ended in 2022. Padalecki had the show Walker on The CW and later starred in the series Fire Country on CBS.
