Natural disasters in China divine retribution: "tianzai" (天災), literally 'heavenly disaster'. In ancient beliefs, natural disasters were seen as Heaven’s response to immoral human behaviour, whereby the conduct of different individuals carried different weights. While the behaviour of common people ranked last, the actions of bureaucrats had a greater effect. Given that in Imperial China the emperor's behaviour was believed to be the most important, popular belief was that the emperor should attempt to prevent disasters by ensuring his conduct was in following with moral codes – and if a disaster should occur, he was responsible for addressing the consequences. According to the Overseas
What Is and What Should Never Be (Supernatural) its original broadcast, "What Is and What Should Never Be" was viewed by an estimated 3.11 million viewers, one of the lowest ratings for the season. Conversely, writer Raelle Tucker won the Constellation Award for "Best Overall 2007 Science Fiction Film or Television Script" for her work on the episode, and the episode garnered positive reviews from critics. Tina Charles of TV Guide "adored" the episode, and considered it to be Jensen Ackles' best performance of the series. She experienced an "emotional roller coaster the entire hour", finding Dean's monologue at his father's grave to be "crushing" but the lawnmower