Meg Masters is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama and horror television series Supernatural. Created by the series' writers to develop a story arc for the first season, Meg is an unnamed demon who assumes the name of the host she possesses and begins antagonizing the series protagonists Sam and Dean Winchester. Nicki Aycox portrays her in the first season. Meg returns in the second season, possessing Sam and as such, was played by Jared Padalecki. The writers wanted Aycox to reprise the role in later seasons, but ultimately cast Rachel Miner for storyline purposes. Miner's incarnation evolves into an ally of the Winchesters and the angel Castiel over the course of the sixth, seventh, and eighth seasons.
In season 15, the entity known as the Empty assumes Meg's form to communicate with the Winchesters and Castiel.
Plot Upon possessing a young woman named Meg Masters (Nicki Aycox), the demon assumes her name and tracks down series protagonist Sam Winchester in the first season episode "Scarecrow". The two briefly meet while hitchhiking—Sam left his brother Dean to track down their missing father John—and then again at a bus station. Despite her attempts to convince him otherwise, Sam eventually leaves to help Dean with one of their supernatural investigations. Meg slits a man's throat and uses his blood to communicate with her father Azazel, the demon responsible for the death of Sam and Dean's mother. Sam encounters her again in the episode "Shadow". Finding her reappearance suspicious, Sam spies on her and realizes that she is responsible for recent deaths of natives from his hometown. The brothers confront Meg and learn that the murders were actually a trap set for John, who has been hunting Azazel. After Sam and Dean reunite with John and acquire the demon-killing Colt, Meg begins killing their friends in "Salvation" and threatens to continue doing so unless they surrender the weapon. John delivers a fake gun, but Meg and her demonic brother take him hostage after quickly realizing the deceit. Meg tracks down the brothers in search of the Colt in the season finale "Devil's Trap", but is ultimately captured and exorcised to Hell.
Meg escapes Hell in the second season and takes possession of Sam (Jared Padalecki) in "Born Under a Bad Sign", seeking revenge against the Winchesters. To trick Dean into killing his brother, she uses Sam's body to kill one of the Winchesters' fellow hunters before taking their friend Jo Harvelle hostage, attempting to convince Dean that Sam has succumbed to Azazel's influence and can't control his actions. However, Dean and the Winchesters' ally Bobby Singer realize that Sam is possessed, and despite Meg's attempt to seal herself in Sam using a binding link, she is forced to flee Sam's body once she becomes vulnerable to exorcism after Dean and Bobby burn the mark off. Meg returns in "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester" and is one of the spirits that haunts Dean, Sam, and Bobby.
After the demons' god Lucifer is freed from Hell, Meg (Rachel Miner) resurfaces in the fifth season premiere "Sympathy for the Devil" to try to kill Dean (as he is believed to be the one who will kill Lucifer) before he can find a weapon said to be capable of killing Lucifer. Her attack leaves Bobby paralyzed, but she is forced to flee when Dean tries to kill her. She returns in "Abandon All Hope..." and sends a pack of hellhounds after Sam, Dean, and their friends Jo and Ellen Harvelle when they arrive to kill Lucifer; the confrontation ends in Jo and Ellen's deaths. After Lucifer captures the angel Castiel, an ally of the Winchesters, Meg stands guard over the prisoner until he escapes by pushing her onto the burning circle keeping him trapped, allowing him to walk over her to escape. The Winchesters ultimately send Lucifer back to Hell at the end of the season.Swan Song The demon Crowley assumes reign, forcing Meg to go into hiding as a Lucifer loyalist. When Meg's forces capture Sam and Dean in the sixth season episode "Caged Heat" to find and kill the new ruler, Sam recruits her to torture Crowley until Crowley agrees to restore Sam's soul. Once Castiel seemingly kills Crowley upon the latter's admitting he can't restore Sam's soul, Meg flees before the Winchesters have the chance to kill her, too.
Crowley is later revealed to have faked his death. Meg reforms her alliance with Dean in "The Born-Again Identity" in order to stop Crowley from capturing Castiel. After Castiel absorbs damage Lucifer previously caused to Sam's mind, the Winchesters leave a now-insane Castiel in a mental hospital and Meg takes a job at the hospital to watch over him, reasoning that her status as a Lucifer loyalist marked her as Crowley's enemy and it is thus in her best interest to help the Winchesters. When Castiel partially recovers in "Reading is Fundamental," Meg alerts the brothers and later helps protect Castiel from both angels and demons. In the seventh season finale "Survival of the Fittest", Crowley finds her with Sam, Dean, and Castiel, but does not take action against her because it would upset Castiel, who is necessary to bringing down the Leviathans. Meg assists the Winchesters in killing Dick Roman, the leader of the Leviathans, by directly attacking Dick's headquarters and thus distracting his forces. However, Crowley has her captured immediately afterwards. He tortures her for the location of Lucifer's crypt, which holds a Word of God tablet about angels Crowley wants. Castiel and the Winchesters rescue Meg in the eighth season episode "Goodbye Stranger", and she takes them to the crypt's location. When Crowley arrives, Meg sacrifices herself to allow Sam, Dean, and Castiel time to escape with the tablet.
In season 15's "Destiny's Child," the Shadow, the ruler of the Empty, takes on Meg's form to communicate with Castiel, greeting him with Meg's traditional "Hello, Clarence" and adopting some of her mannerisms. Later, in "Unity," the Shadow once again appears as Meg in Death's Library. When Sam sees "Meg," he is confused until the entity explains that it is borrowing Meg's form due to its lack of one and it states that the real Meg is still dead. The Shadow then appears as Meg to Jack in "Despair" while they are both in the Empty.
Characterization Actress Nicki Aycox described Meg as having a "playful side" and a "sexuality", both of which are "tempered with an evil side underneath". In her mind, the human qualities represented the real Meg whom the demon was possessing."Masters of the Universe", p.21 Aycox also found the character sarcastic, "sharp-tongued, witty, [and] smart", as well as determined to get what she wants.Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 1, pp.140-141 Likewise, series creator Eric Kripke noted that she can "really twist the knife psychologically."Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 1, p.115
"Meg is definitely tough, always has that sense of flirting, and is trying to keep some sense of integrity, even in the worst-case scenario. Unlike some characters, who are total victims in certain circumstances, she's trying to hold onto a position of power when she obviously doesn't have it." — Rachel Miner describing Meg"Meg Uncaged", p.34 The word "fiery" summed up the character for actress Rachel Miner, who noted the "devilish enjoyment" that the "obviously very evil" Meg gets from playing cat-and-mouse games with the Winchesters.Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 5, p.146 In her opinion, Meg's "sense of fun" stems from her "thousands and thousands of years" of living, which have provided her "a little bit more of relaxation" because "the little things wouldn't be significant to her". In addition to describing the character as "quite powerful" and a "free spirit", Miner deemed Meg an "ambitious demon" who always has a plan and who seizes any opportunity to gain power."Meg Uncaged", p.36"The Devil and Miss Masters", p.64 The actress attributed Meg's longevity to the character's sense of "[knowing] when to exit". She elaborated, "[Meg] made a hasty withdrawal and gathered her forces to come back. That's her strength... she doesn't take the brothers on unless she has the upper hand." Writer Sera Gamble admitted that her favorite aspect of Miner's interpretation of Meg was that "she always looks so annoyed" and found it "delightful" that Miner "always plays things like she's waiting for everybody else to catch up".Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 7, p.120
Gamble noted that Meg becomes "a bit of a free agent and kind of a demon rebel" following Lucifer's defeat at the end of the fifth season. Already an enemy of the new demonic ruler Crowley, her failed attempt to kill him in the sixth season puts her on "Crowley's most-wanted list". According to Miner, Meg is "just basically trying to survive" after that. Although she keeps an eye on "everything she can that might affect her, including what the Winchesters are up to", her main objective is avoiding Crowley. This desperation forces her to work with the Winchesters in later appearances.
"I'm curious to see what direction it'll go in; whether she is watching over Castiel purely for her own ends or whether there's actually some part of her that cares about him." — Miner on Meg's relationship with Castiel"The Devil and Miss Masters", p.66 In regards to Meg meeting the angel Castiel for the first time in the fifth season, Miner noted the "fun moment where it looks like maybe Cass and [Meg] could kiss". The actress enjoyed the flirtation, pointing out that "of course the demon would want the angel to give in to his lesser instincts".Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 5, p.59 This "demon-angel dichotomy" continues in the sixth season, although Miner was uncertain whether Meg was merely toying with Castiel. "It's complex when you are dealing with a demon," she explained, "but Castiel definitely sparks her interest more than most. He had some effect on her especially with that kiss." Nevertheless, she later deemed the flirtation as "just a fun deviation" for the characters. Actor Misha Collins, who portrays Castiel, acknowledged that Meg "is still turning up the heat on the sexual tension between Cas and herself" in the seventh season. Describing her as "sort of a helper", he joked, "Again, of course, it’s a strained relationship. Cas likes her... Sam and Dean have a little more trouble with her." Like Miner, he called her true motives with both Castiel and the Winchesters "a lingering question" at that time. The pair are "actually happy to work with one another again" in the eighth season, however, with Collins noting a "remarkably tender moment" between Meg and Castiel that is "unusual for the show".
Development With the initial episodes of the first season featuring mostly unconnected storylines, the writers became desperate to begin developing a mythology for the series.Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 1, p.66 They thus crafted Meg as a recurring antagonist, but at the time were otherwise unsure of what direction to take her. Executive producer Kim Manners had previously directed an episode of the series Over There featuring Aycox, and hand-selected her for the role of Meg. On developing the character and her storyline, Aycox noted that they "really just felt [their] way through" and described it as "very trial and error"."Masters of the Universe", p.20
"I think that when you bring a woman on that's going to be a powerful character, there's definitely going to be some sexuality put into the character. I added a lot of it on my own, but it was definitely in the script as well." — Aycox on developing MegSupernatural: The Official Companion Season 1, p.140