Here be spoilers. If you haven’t seen the season finale of Supernatural, it’s best not to read on. Check out these pictures of kittens instead.
Writers are slaves to the story. We work for it, it bends us to its will, we’re its bitch — never the other way around.
I think Supernatural is an incredible TV show. It’s about two brothers who cruise the United States in a muscle car and slay monsters and demons. That immediately sold me on the concept, but it’s an awfully good character-driven show too, which helps.
Like most genre shows, Supernatural’s first few seasons were dominated by Monster Of The Week episodes (which are easy gateways to snag new viewers; essential when you’re a new property), with vague allusions of greater machinations (hopefully to pay off in future seasons). However, things changed in Seasons Three and Four: all those niggling plot threads began to coalesce, propelling the Winchester brothers toward the endtimes itself — Armageddon, in the here and now, with mission-critical roles for each of them. Very very cool.
I won’t say this ultra-arc and buildup to Season Five’s finale wasn’t the most agonizing wait in TV history — that goes to Lost; you poor Losties are masochists — but Supernatural fans have patiently waited for more than two seasons, pining to see the prophesied Earth-rending devastation as viewed from Sam and Dean Winchester’s ringside seats. We endured episode after episode of Big Talk About The Stakes and Terrible Hints Of The Battle To Come.
And finally, the finale arrived. I just watched it on Tivo.
Who farted?
There were some wonderful character moments (as manufactured at the last-possible-second as some of them were — for instance: to my recollection, the key “kids in the Impala” flashbacks were never seen before this episode, making them smack of a deus ex machina catalyst in the context of the greater narrative), and when Satan snaps his fingers and makes an Angel of the Lord explode in a mist of blood and pulp … well, that’s unspeakably badass. Shattering longtime ally Bobby’s neck was equally horrific and resonant.
But dude. When you yammer on for two seasons about the motherfucking Apocalypse, show me the motherfucking Apocalypse.
That didn’t happen. Nor did a celestial smackdown between Satan and the archangel Michael — again, something that had been meticulously manufactured and teased for two seasons. Which leads to a less-satisfying … but still perfectly acceptable … ending of Sam Winchester (possessed by Lucifer himself) and his half-brother So-And-So (I forget his name as he existed simply to be used in this poor endgame scenario, possessed by the archangel Michael) plummeting into Hell itself, where we can see Hell, and bear witness to the triumphant recapture of Lucifer’s unholy essence.
But we didn’t get to see any of that, either. We were treated to the sight of two dudes falling into a hole.
Perhaps I have snobbishly high standards, but when you rev me up for two seasons, you gotta deliver something more than two dudes pulling a Skywalker Noooooooo and leaping down a big-ass vortex. Gimme spectacle, man. That’s what you’ve convinced me to expect.
Now I’m all for plot twists and upending expectations, but ending a stellar five-year run with a sigh makes me sigh. It makes me wonder what all that talky-talk gumflapping for the past two seasons was all about. If I can’t go all the way with the prom queen, at least let me get to second base.
Going meta for a moment: I don’t much follow entertainment news, but I caught wind that showrunner Eric Kripke always envisioned a “five-year plan” for Supernatural, and built a mythology and story arc to accommodate that. But CW, the network that airs the show, ordered a sixth season as this season — the fifth and planned Final Season — was underway. I reckon that network edict dropped a handful of sand into Kripke’s creative Vaseline. I also reckon it messed with his (and the writing staff’s) vision for Season Five. I wonder what the last half of this season — and especially this episode — would have been like, if the show were indeed to end here.
As a storyteller armed with this context, I can forgive most of Kripke’s season finale script (and the direction of much of Season Five’s second half) as I know he was probably compromising like crazy to deliver on Supernatural’s promise of the Apocalypse, while building a launch pad for a previously-unplanned Season Six.
But as a fan, I’m underwhelmed and frustrated. I wanted more not because I’m a greedy fan (though I am a greedy fan), but because I was trained by the show to expect it. Two seasons of tension-building. Two seasons of angst about the roles Sam and Dean Winchester were to play during the endtimes. Big Talk Everywhere. And we get two dudes falling into a hole…
…and then the angel who was turned to pulp-mulch with a snap of Satan’s finger is miraculously resurrected…
…and then the longtime ally whose neck had been shattered is miraculously resurrected…
…and, by episode’s end, it appears the status quo has been reestablished in even more ways through even more miraculous resurrections. (Or some other mojo that’ll be quickly explained next season.)
This represents a storytelling failure, because writers are slaves to the story. We work for it, it bends us to its will, we’re its bitch — never the other way around. Here’s an instance of a story’s climax that had all the foreshadowing of an epic confrontation, and was warped into a clearly well-intentioned, but ultimately unsatisfying, conclusion. I hate myself for bagging on this episode, and particularly hate bagging on Kripke’s writing of it, as I think he’s a frickin’ genius worldbuilder and storyteller. I want to tell myself I’m not smart enough to get it, that I’m shallow for craving fireballs and not the family-driven ending I was presented … an ending the story’s creator clearly felt was worthy of the journey.
But dude. When you yammer on for two seasons about the motherfucking Apocalypse, show me the motherfucking Apocalypse.
–J.C.
Good points, but there isn’t an Apocalypse without Sam being fully taken as the vessel. Also, the Four Horsemen got served, also putting a damper on the Apoc.
The reason it didn’t happen is because the characters intervened to prevent it, since they said they wanted to stop it.
Just so happens the things you wanted to see were stopped by the brothers showing up to ensure they didn’t happen. I think they did well in Season 5. It is my fav show.
Well…it wasn’t Sam and Dean tag-teaming Ruby, but I guess it was time for Sam to go to hell since Dean and Daddy have already gone there and I can’t remember the bastard Winchester kid’s name either. Still, call me a masochist ’cause I’ve stuck with Lost all this time but I’m okay that Elsworth from Deadwood got to live in the end since they killed him at the end of that show and that the angel with the can-melt-the-panties-off-a-nun voice got his melon reconstituted. However, I do stick by what I said on Twitter- if it’s REALLY the end of the world I’m picking a better soundtrack than Def Leppard.
I think the main fail is that the writers themselves seemed to forget a lot of what their own characters were about. I could go on and on, and with one or two of my friends I have– until we’re just tired of thinking about it– but the whole last season seemed like they were shoehorning characters into shapes that don’t and never have fit them.
The end alone, Sam would never ask that of Dean. Dean would never do it if he wanted something else. That alone shows someone stopped caring long ago about their own canon.
I agree with everything you said, Mr. Hutchins. You and the nail, you gave it cranial injuries.
@A.P. — I appreciate the perspective; Supernatural is my favorite show too. While I certainly don’t have an issue with Armageddon being circumvented, I believe what was supposed to be the climax of the season’s tension — casting Satan back into Hell — sorely underdelivered, since we as viewers have been appropriately drooling for an epic confrontation (because the writers did a great job of building seasons-long tension). At least give me a minute or two of Hell footage, for Heaven’s sake.
@Flora — If it’s the end of the world, I’m picking AC/DC as my soundtrack.
we did get to see Hell a couple seasons ago when Dean was locked down by those meat hooks….that scene still bothers me.
@Patricia: Thanks for the validation. Like I said, I hated being disappointed by the finale, but glad I’m not alone in my opinion.
There were moments this season where I feared the story was veering off the rails, but had absolute faith that the show would deliver an epic finale worthy of the seasons-long tease. (I had a similar, if far-less-absolute feeling about Battlestar Galactica’s finale, and was even more disappointed.) In the end, the writers delivered what they promised, but the end product fell flat for me.
@A.P. — Yes indeed, we did see Hell a few seasons back. Which is why seeing what “Lucifer’s cage” was all about would have been absolutely badass (and certainly expected, given the narrative buildup). Ah well. As with the Matrix sequels and Star Wars prequels, the creators told their story the way they wanted to — it just wasn’t the story I wanted to see.
I bet in Season Six, they will show us what happens down there.
Hutch, it pains me to say this but after reading your post, I have to agree with you for the most part. I do agree that it probably wasn’t Kripke’s vision to end it this way. If he was able to go with his five year plan, we would’ve definitely seen the apocalypse. My only thing to contend that with was A.P. was right, there were no horsemen and henceforth no apoc.
In a way I was disappointed because I do remember someone, I think one of the writers or even Kripke himself, mentioned at one point we may actually see God, and I was kind of hoping for that. Everything goes all to hell with apoc and God is literally the only one who could stop it. But it have serious consequences instead.
But you have to admit, with an episode title of “Swan Song” that doesn’t really foreshadow the most epic showdown ever. It is what it is a Swan Song for the whole 5 seasons Kripke had planned. Which as of season 6 he is not the show runner anymore and only a executive producer/consultant.
You also had to admit, the flashbacks about the Impala written/read by Chuck was pretty cool.
I’ll leave you with the words Chuck read, which I think in a way Kripke was directly talking to us:
“Endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, you never can. The fans are always going to bitch, there are always going to be holes; and since it’s the ending, it’s all supposed to add up to something I’m telling you, they’re a raging pain in the ass.”
“No doubt endings are hard but then again nothing ever really ends, does it?”
I love Supernatural.
I haven’t seen the season finale yet, and am still catching up on the previous seasons. Not afraid of spoilers, though, so I skipped the kittens.
There are few shows that seem to manage to cash the checks they write. It’s possible to do though—I’d contrast Supernatural’s non-climax with the end of Angel (ie. “Not Fade Away”) with all hell breaking loose and a dragon overhead. Not to deify Whedon overmuch, but if Angel had been picked up for another season after that last episode I’m willing to bet there’d've been a path found to continue the story without a Big Reset.
I do have to say this, though: I hope you get the opportunity to write for something like this, man. When you put a gun on the mantle, I’m absolutely certain there’ll be one or more bullets destined to intersect with major characters I’ve come to know and love. And sometimes the gun is a giant dump truck. It’s occasionally predictable, but satisfyingly so. More often it’s surprising and twisty.
The best thing a writer can do for me as an audience member is to build up big and have the guts to follow through, even if it means tearing down what took years to build up and leaving no one to tell the tale. Figuring out what to do after that should be the next fun challenge, especially if you kill off all your points of view
Oh and BTW, the half brother name is Adam. haha I know no one cares, but I’m a super nerd for this show. lol
@Steve: Thanks for chiming in. I love the show too. You’re right: “Swan Song” doesn’t imply big messy endtimes spectacle — and ultimately, I don’t think anyone was actually expecting Earth to be wiped out by Satan. But I think we deserved something more visually resonant than Sam and So-And-So (aka Adam, heh) falling into a hole.
As for the flashbacks: They were cool and charming, but I thought they ultimately represented a cobbled-together 11th hour catalyst for Sam’s recuperation. It would’ve been far more resonant to introduce those flashback-inducing hooks (the toy soldier, the LEGOs) earlier in the series and remind us of them throughout, so in this episode they represent more than they actually were — a hastily-introduced plot device.
I think one of Supernatural’s strengths is the way it uses metaphor to get across its plot. The use of scene and genre to rework myth is what has kept me interested. So, you have two dudes cruising the American outback and somehow the show manages to have such a powerful psychological impact. Why is this? I don’t think it comes down to making promises to the audience which then later disappoints. If you consider the whole ‘end of times’ sequence (about the last 3 seasons’ worth of episodes), the show remained true to its aesthetic of using ordinary elements of landscape and community to suggest what was happening. Occasional, but minimalist, use of special effects is one of the show’s smartest ploys – not seeing angel wings, for instance, but just the shadowy outline against the crypt wall when Castiel was first introduced, for instance. Now, some might be disappointed in this kind of oblique portrayal, but it is the show’s subtlety which has kept it coherent on both a plot and a character level. As for the ending being about two dudes falling down a hole – in no way was that a disappointment for me. The story arc was preparing us for something of this kind. Far more interesting are all the existential allusions that the scene conjures up – and without which I might understand that the scene may be considered a bit disappointing. But I think the writers expect the viewer to come to the party here. As for getting a peek into hell, yes, the earlier scenes with Dean were very cool. But not showing us also casts the scene from a certain perspective. For my part, I’m interested to see how the show picks up the thread from here. Anyway, is it ever a good idea to give the viewer the expected result? The ending, for me, was brilliant. What is wrong with anticlimax! The infuriating sense of having been cheated, as many of the views here express, is for me its most rewarding effect. The neat, expected ending would have been the real disappointment – and would have made the discussion forums banal.
@Les (aka L.M.) — I hear you re: Angel, and agree: I’m not much of a slobbering Joss fanboy (though I do admire him greatly), but believe you’re right. If another season of Angel aired, it would’ve started in a troubled world post-”Not Fade Away,” and not a status-quo clean slate.
And thanks for the ultra-kind words re: me getting a shot at this kind of storytelling. I do have such ambitions, and hope to deliver some day.
Hey J.C.! We love Supernatural at our house, and got our circle of friends into the show also.
Even though we are fans of the show, I agree with what you’re saying. My thoughts are similar, in that I think if we would have only had 5 seasons, these last few shows would have been much more intense and final. It feels like they’ve tried to spread them out to stretch out more plot and story.
No one has said it yet, but I credit a lot of the great humor and dialog to the awesome Ben Edlund. I’m a huge fan of everything he’s done, and some of my favorite Supernatural eps were his.
Also, while Sam and Dean may be the main heroes, there are times that Castiel overtakes them as my favorite character. I hope that actor gets more roles. Or maybe a Cas spin off show.
You know what happens when you deliver the big ending and then have a sequel? I have a mind that Sigler’s “Pandemic” does. Missing the heart of the story because that favorite person isn’t driving any more. Maybe Scott will impress me in the next book, but the ending to the last really just took the desire out of me to hear the further adventures for a while (which is good since it isn’t out yet). And that’s what happens after a big climax. Hard to build seconds that come anywhere close.
Oh, I’m pretty sure Scott will deliver something awesome for Pandemic. I’ll forgive him for Perry.
Now… that doesn’t mean I’d be ok with him offing Quentin Barnes in The Starter. 
Well, let’s face it – this show is a definite low budget show. You never really get to see any intriguingly gory and scary creatures. Did you really think that you would get to see anything spectacular after all this time? And yet, perhaps that is what made this show so awesome; one did not need all the special effects/graphics to make the show a good show. The acting speaks for itself.
I enjoyed reading your thoughts and everyone’s musings. I certainly would love a sixth season.
@Elizabeth: I disagree with your comments re: Supernatural being a low budget show. I’ve seen some jaw-dropping effects on the program during its run. Plus, this being a season finale, one would assume they’d pull out a few stops to dazzle viewers.
As for gore: Again, I politely disagree. The show is alarmingly violent and gory for a network program.
I have to agree with Hutchins- I know i wont be the popular opionion but i feel the last episode was rushed and really did’nt have much follow through and it ending with Dean’s so called normal life with Lisa still makes me go-huh- there was no backstory no reason with the exception it was conveinient to use her…Kripke is a very talented man but i was disappointed as in, its like being promised the world but only given a pot of dirt and expected to say thank you for it.
Has everyone forgotten Crowley? And the photo of Bobby and him kissin to seal a deal? (“Someone give me a knife so I can gouge my eyes out…” ) I think the writers have pulled off the most incredible red herring ever. Why introduce Chuck and create him as a real character? All of a sudden people think he’s the missing God? Season 6 should explain these questions. Remember Dean was transported to the future where the Croatoan virus had truly spread and Cas had lost his angelic powers (and gained a fondness for pot)? The past couldn’t be changed; we saw that in previous shows. I think we saw some elements of that future but not all. Perhaps “The future is what we make” (Terminator) holds true here but who’s to say everything was to happen?
I forsee Season 6 fleshing out the storyline began in the finale. How could everything have been squeezed into one hour? Give the producers a break here. Is Sam Sam or Satan or just a ghost?? How can Dean adjust to a lifestyle he was shown to be unable to follow (remember “It’s a Terrible Life” when Zachariah plopped them into a different life situation?).
Given the show’s history of really odd ball humor I’m hoping this will prove to be the case.
@HoldingMyBreath: At no time in my review above did I indict the producers about the unresolved plot threads you mentioned in your comment. You suggest I “give the producers a break” for these threads where you don’t need to; I was clearly griping about the anticlimactic handling of the finale’s Apocalypse storyline. I never mentioned I wanted all storylines to definitively resolve in the finale episode.
Indeed, some of the very unresolved plot threads you mentioned may keep me curious enough to check out Season Six. Crowley’s possession of Bobby’s soul (and Bobby’s clear — if temporary — death) must be explored. Chuck’s prophet/godlike role might be interesting to pursue. I don’t care about the “Croatoan virus future” storyline as it’s a rehash of a thousand-thousand zombie stories.
Perhaps most interesting … at least for the first few episodes of Season Six … will be seeing Sam and Dean reconnect and go adventuring again.
However, none of these unresolved plot threads factored into my review of the Season Five finale. The second half of Season Five — and the finale especially — was sloppy work, and in light of the two-season buildup to the promised endtimes confrontation, was devastatingly disappointing.
From following the fandom closely – yes S6 robbed us of S5. I’m pretty sure both boys were supposed to die… die bloody and there was supposed to a lot more death, chaos and destruction. Pretty sure Cas and Bobby would have stayed dead too.
Ah well, Kripke stepped down – so S6 will be interesting.
I was kind of hoping they would have done the S5 real finale… then S6 could be stories before the end… ‘cuz really taking on God is about all they got left and that seems lame.
The boys are just too splendid to kill. I have died laughing more than once, only to rise again savoring the burger eating hunk.
It is all about free will.. of all involved, including the writers. Do I feel cheated that more so called stuff didn’t happen, not really. It is the best tease out there.
I dont know if anyone realized at the end of Season Five. that God was there. He always was. It was Chuck to prophet all along. God could shield himself. thats why they couldnt find him. But at the end of the season finale. Chuck disappeared. and he was calm writing the ending. Which if u notice most of the time Chuck wasnt calm when writing. So i figured out he was God, when he wrote the end or is it. and then disappeared. So far no one i talked to got that. did any of u.
and i heard there will b a sixth season, but sam and dean talked about them not renewing their contracts. so i dont know how this going to go. cause they cant replace them after five season. but there is talk about the apocalypse going on, with Bobby as head character, but that just hear say. I wish i knew when the new season will b hear. but if sam and dean goes, that would b a disappointment cause they more of less made the show. it was all about them battling evil, apocalype. and Dean keeping Casteil drunk. lmfao. Seeing an so called angel drunk was funny. especially how uptight he was.
It was a bit surprising to see them just standing there in a plain old field. Not how i picture the end of the world or (with lack of 4 hoursemen) just an angel fight. I liked the end, but i think it would have been much better the original way with it being the end of the show, (and thus perhaps more dramatic) obviously as has been said… it was changed so as to drag it out another year. So long as it’s still good i’m not complaining so long as Jensen is still in it. mmm mmm… sorry i digress. How about this… i wonder who is G-d in the show?! i liked when Dean asked Cass if he was g-d.
Man i sure would of liked to see dean “say yes” to michael and see dean and sam fight off.. but man that season finale i believe was truly way better than i thought it would be, and wow it was very sad. and why was sam still alive at the very end when they showed him outside of lisa’s house?
Enjoyed reading all these comments. For me the ending was’nt as good as i would have hoped. They spend 2 seasons building up to this very final episode, only for it to be stripped away. Somne of you mentioned that the boys stopped the apocalypse, and so there was never going to be this spectacular ening that alot of us wanted, but that doesnt hold true to me. I think you can have the great ending and still manage to save the world. To me, it was obvious the story was stretched out and waterd down as it became apparent a 6th series was to be commissioned. Cant wait for season 6!
I just completed season 5.. and well was i searching for comments on finale when i found this site
Many of u are right that the episode was nice and they have to leave something for sixth season but still i am just too disappointed………..
There were some epic scenes like Bobby making out and ofcourse Dean’s Line “Are u God Castiel?”…But rest was too rushed up
Ok i understand why there was no apocalypse…. but cmon they dint even show a little fight of Michael and Lucifer……….
Even if they dint do anything much supernatural but they should have atleast make us feel that end is inevitable… A preview of hell or the Lucifer’s pit would have been highly praised
The main premise of finale were the childhood memories… i just wish they had shown it in earlier episodes so that they may give a satisfying finale….
In all I wanna bang my head with a bat….
I’ve read what you said and I have to admit that I don’t really agree with you. I thought the finale was one of the best I’ve seen, if not ever then in a very long time.
I felt that the bits Chuck said were so heart wrenching and I think if they had been brought up earlier they would have lost their effect, and it wouldn’t have been so painfully sad.
For the person who said that the characters have been changed and are doing things that don’t correspond to canon- I think it makes sense. Yes, when Sam was alive Dean couldn’t care less about what Sam wanted him to do but when somebody dies things change. Like, when their dad died Sam started caring more about what their Dad would have wanted than when he was alive. And yes, if Sam knew he was going to get to talk to Dean again he would never ever ask something like that but if you think this is your last chance to speak to someone then you are going to say things they never would before.
I don’t think that it was an anti- climax at all. I thought that this ending was much better than an apocalypse. Whenever it was Chucks part I found myself identifying more and more with the characters. I thought that the impala scenes really brought it home. And there was some brilliant lines from chuck:
“The Army man that Sam crammed in the ash tray, it’s still stuck there. The Legos that Dean shoved into the vents, to this day, heat comes on, they can hear them rattle. These are the things that make the car theirs”
“The Devil doesn’t know or care what kind of car the boys drive.”
“And when it was clear they’d park her in the middle of nowhere, sit on the hood and watch the stars for hours without saying a word.”
“It never occurred to them that sure, maybe they never had a roof and four walls, but they were never, in fact, homeless.”
and then of course the endings are hard speech.
I thought Chuck’s but was beautifully written and it was hard not to get emotional.
I think the finale was the best episode of supernatural yet!