After 15 long seasons, the beloved CW fantasy/sci-fi drama Supernatural has finally come to an end. The show first aired on “WB“, you guys remember that channel? Back when the television shows had skillful writing?
Yeah, I remember that too. Saturday morning cartoons? Anyway…
Supernatural has been around for a long time and has gained massive cult following. Some have said that it should have ended with Season 5 after showrunner Eric Kripke left. Others said it should have ended with Season 10 because really, how many more things could have happened to these characters?
Instead, Supernatural ended with Season 15 while still filming the final episodes during COVID to wrap everything up for the fans.
So how did one of the longest running CW shows (yes, it stole the mantle from Smallville) end after all the years? I will tell you, so if you haven’t watched the finale yet…
Pay attention to street signs and watch the spoilers below, ya’ idjits!
The Road So Far
As we all know, this show has been about two brothers from the very beginning.
- Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) is the cool, older, overly protective brother
- Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) is the nerdy kid brother
Both boys have been saving people and hunting things ever since they could remember. Their mother, Mary Winchester (Samantha Smith) died burning in flames on the ceiling of Sam’s crib in the pilot episode. Meanwhile, John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) tangled himself with some demons.
Ever since then, Sam and Dean have been on their own, making friends along the way, who eventually became their family. They have fought every supernatural creature ever created — the devil (twice or was it three times), multiple angels, God’s sister, and yeah… even God himself.
The show provided monster of the week episodes. There were important plot points integral to the character development of its leads. And we saw some incredibly fun episodes like “Yellow Fever,” “Mystery Spot,” and “Bad Day at Black Rock” to name a few personal favourites.
As I mentioned Mystery Spot, it is important to know Dean Winchester has died 116 times, while Sam has died only six times. The Supernatural fanbase polarizes over the years among the Sam stans, Dean stans–and thanks to Season 4, Castiel (Misha Collins) stans, (we’ll get to the angel soon).
Dean and Sam have gone through hell and back (quite literally). Dean has been in purgatory twice and Sam has a fair share of possessions. The reason they have always been able to come back is because of the family they made along the way, who have always had a plan to bring them back.
Now
Season 15, Episode 20 is titled “Carry On”, which is very fitting considering “Carry On, My Wayward Son” by Kansas (The Sound Matrix plug right there…woooo) has been the opening to every finale episode of Supernatural.
Remember: Fifteen years of Supernatural are gone, so we are promised a big finale that would break us.
The show opens with Sam and Dean at the bunker, living a normal life. Well, that is, after Castiel sacrificed himself for Dean to save him from going to super hell. (Yes, this is a thing–there’s hell and then there’s super hell). They killed God (Rob Benedict) and then replaced God with Lucifer’s son named Jack Kline (Alexander Calvert). The boys are on their laptops trying to find a new case, but all Dean could find was a pie festival.
Eventually, the boys find a nest of vampires and go on a final hunt, which is very monster of the week episode. Of course, this is strange for a Series Finale. Nonetheless, they make their way to this barn to kill these vamps.
Now, we all know Dean Winchester is a great hunter. Watching him kill those vamps was great, until one of them pushed him into wooden column in the middle of the barn. And that, just so happened to have a nail sticking out of it.
Yes, Dean Winchester died because a nail stabbed him in the back during a fight.
Look, I understand why they went this route. I always said that they both had to die for the show to end…but not like this!
Not after, Castiel gripped Dean tight and raised him from perdition in Season 4. Not after, 12 years of queerbaiting and a declaration of love from Castiel to Dean. It should not have ended the way it did–Dean dying, in a barn, having his final moment with Sam and asking Sam to let him go (i.e., burning him). Was this the right choice?
Detours Ahead
That was only the half-hour mark of the episode and it somehow got worse.
Don’t get me wrong: It was a solid ending, but it was only a happy one for one character. That’s why it is so frustrating. This show has masked itself as a story about two brothers but instead it’s about a selfless older brother.
He sacrifices his happiness continuously for his younger brother, and after 15 years of development, Dean Winchester’s happiness sure as hell wasn’t drinking a beer with Bobby (Jim Beaver) in heaven and driving the Impala waiting for Sam to join him in heaven.
Sam Winchester got the white picket fence, the wife, the kid named Dean, and a long, happy, normal life like he always wanted. What did Dean get? Dean got a stupid, random death at a young age and his car in heaven. That’s it.
You can’t sit there and honestly tell me that Dean’s idea of “happiness” as changed over the span of 15 years. How can you write an episode going back to the roots of Dean’s character, when he has evolved so far past the one-dimensional character from Season 1?!
What Should Have Happened in the Supernatural finale?
One of two scenarios should have happened and they both end with Destiel going fully canon!
In case you’ve been living under a rock, we touched upon Supernatural queerbaiting its audience for 12 years, ever since Castiel saved Dean’s ass from hell. Castiel defied everyone in heaven for Dean. He rebelled, and he wanted to know more about human existence: “He fell in love with humanity.”
Destiel has been the most anticipated ship for an awfully long time. Cas has been very vocal with how important Dean is to him and Dean has reciprocated in his own way.
Castiel’s speech in Episode 18 before he sacrificed himself for Dean is what changed everything about his relationship with Dean and that is why the series finale is completely underwhelming.
What was the point? Castiel has been in love with Dean since Season 4. It also doesn’t help that Jensen and Misha have amazing chemistry, which made this so much harder to swallow. And Dean has lost Cas, so many times that the pain of losing him forever broke him at the end of that episode.
This confession changed everything between them. So why wasn’t Castiel in the finale?! Bobby said that Cas help build Dean’s heaven, yet the Angel, who is from Heaven wasn’t there to welcome him?
The boys should have gone to heaven together and have everyone they have lost welcome them with open arms. Done. They all lived happily ever after.
Or Cas could have saved Dean, in that barn, the same barn where they first met, and Cas would become human. Not having a character like Castiel in the finale is a massive slap in the face to Misha Collins, who has been such an integral part of the show for 12 seasons.
Castiel added so much to the show, to the point that they renamed themselves ‘Team Free Will”, the duo became a trio and that is why everyone is unhappy with this ending.
A Bittersweet Goodbye
Whether you enjoyed the finale or not, you must admit that Supernatural has created a wonderful fanbase that has become a family after all these years. It has brought everyone together through conventions, weekly episodes and even fanfiction. The show will always be legendary because these characters are household names. Even if you didn’t watch it, you know who Sam, Dean and Cas are.
The show continuously told its viewers that…
“Family don’t end in blood.”
– Bobby Singer
But that’s exactly what they did. Family does end in blood because they ended the show with Sam and Dean. After enforcing that sentiment throughout the show, the Winchesters deserved to be surrounded by their loved ones, in heaven and that is why this finale is bittersweet.
The best part of the finale is when then Jensen and Jared both spoke directly to the audience and thanked us for watching.
They will be considered television royalty for many years to come. Another good thing is this series has a re-watchability factor. The Winchesters and Castiel have been such a positive force for so many people watching because they always kept fighting to survive. We’re all going to miss these asshats because even though we questioned when the show would end, we never thought it would.
Here’s to me compiling a list of the most essential Supernatural episodes for my rewatch and maybe, just maybe, I’ll read some fanfiction to retcon this finale.
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