Covid is NO Excuse for that Supernatural Finale, and Here's Why

Supernatural, the CW’s longest-running, beloved show about two brothers “saving people, hunting things” finally ended last night in a blaze of… well… in a blaze. For a show that put its main characters through love. loss, and literal hell on multiple occasions, there were high hopes for where it would leave Sam and Dean Winchester at the end of their stories. The end result, however, left a lot to be desired for many fans.

Full Spoilers Ahead

At the end of the penultimate episode, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) defeated God/Chuck (Rob Benedict) at his own game, winning true free will for everyone on Earth. Then they drove off into the sunset together, leaving the viewer to wonder what they’ll do with that newfound freedom.

S15 E20: “Carry On” answers that question in possibly the most disappointing way possible. It turns out, they drive back to the bunker and continue to fight monsters for about five minutes. Then they run into a group of masked vampires stalking Canton, Ohio’s tiny Pie Fest, and Dean is unceremoniously stabbed in the back and DIES, forever scarring both Sam and the viewer.

Don’t worry, though—Dean goes to heaven, where he gets to see all of his loved ones. Er, actually, make that just Bobby. And Sam gets out of the life, has a son named Dean, and grows old (with some truly awful hair) before dying and joining Dean in heaven.

All in all, “Carry On” reads like it was written by someone who hadn’t seen a single episode of “Supernatural” since 2005 and had forgotten everything about what made the show great.

First off, why are they back at the bunker? Where’s Eileen (Shoshannah Stern), who’s disappearance along with everyone else on earth back in episode 18 caused Sam to stare stoically into the middle distance and declare, “I can’t let myself go there. If I do, I’ll lose my mind”? You and your sidekick/God Jack just brought everyone back to life and you don’t even send Eileen a “You up?” text?

Secondly, they kept the dog from episode 19. It’s now Dean’s best buddy, completely ignoring YEARS of canon that Sam is the dog lover amongst the Winchester brothers, and that Dean has always disliked canines.

Thirdly, Dean’s death. Man, did they do my boy dirty. He’s apparently too injured to bother getting a first aid kit or calling the paramedics, but not so injured that he can’t spend the better part of ten minutes tearfully saying goodbye to Sam. He always said he would go out fighting, but it feels cheap that the show didn’t even give him a chance to experience the free life he fought so hard for before he died.

Let’s just ignore Sam’s atrocious old-man hair for a moment (I just assume someone in Makeup had a stroke while they were wielding the silver spray paint). Sam gets out of the life forever, presumably, despite spending SEVERAL SEASONS now insisting that his old dream of quiet family life isn’t what he wants anymore. He’s seen the light, he said, and saving people is worth the personal sacrifice. I guess that’s a philosophy that only holds true so long as the writers don’t forget.

Sam has a son with some random woman who may or may not be Eileen, and names that son Dean. That’s fine. What’s interesting to me is that he only ever had one child. Having a sibling was literally the DEFINING aspect of Sam’s life. Without Dean, he’d just be Sam Winchester, cursed boy. With Dean, he saved the world. A lot. I find it hard to believe that Sam Winchester would deny his child the opportunity to have a sibling.

Dean goes to heaven, where Bobby Singer (JIm Beaver) waits for him outside the Harvelle’s Roadhouse, and learns that Jack (Alexander Calvert) and Cas (Misha Collins) have been hard at work revamping heaven into the paradise it was always meant to be. Everyone he’s ever loved is within an easy distance, and he can see them at any time. BUT DOES HE?! No. For some reason, the writers decided that Dean Winchester, king of ‘family is everything,’ would rather tool around in the Impala than see John and Mary or pay a visit to Cas.

There are hints throughout the finale that this was meant to be a much grander affair, quashed by Covid and the subsequent filming constraints. Most of the major actors who were set to come back for the finale could not, including Mischa Collins, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Samantha Smith. But those losses don’t account for the odd pacing of the episode, which starts as a sped-up monster-of-the-week before transitioning into 30 minutes of slow saccharinity backed by inexplicably pop-y versions of Carry On Wayward Son. Maybe production couldn’t get Shoshannah Stern back; why not at least have a photo of her and Sam on the wall behind his deathbed, so we know that the entire Sam/Eileen love story they’ve been shoving down our throats for the whole season actually had a pay off? There were jokes at the Pie Fest (“son of a bitch!”) that fell flat because they weren’t clever writing on their own; they were just nudge-nudge, wink-wink references to things the Winchesters used to say in the long-ago heyday of the show.

I, for one, choose to believe that the ending of 15x19 “Inherit the Earth” was the real finale to the Supernatural story. The boys are finally free, and they have their whole lives ahead of them. Who knows what they did with it? Let’s leave on a hopeful note, rather than the drag of “Carry On.”

Raise a Glass to the Impala

Supernatural is ending. After 15 years and countless deaths, the Winchester brothers can ‘carry on my wayward son’ no more. Ariel started watching the show way back in 2005 during Season 1 but never finished it, falling off sometime after Season 5… she’s about to be VERY confused by this finale. Colleen didn’t start watching until 2012, when she binged every episode then available on Netflix over the course of one month while studying abroad. She’s been following the road so far every since.

2020 has been a rough year, ya’ll, and knowing that Sam and Dean will never again ride into town to save people or hunt things isn’t making it any easier. To cope, we’ve decided to drink our way through the pain! Join us for the following SPN-themed cocktails this evening:


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The Apple Pie is Freaking Worth It

Episode 1x11: Scarecrow

This apple-spiced drink kicks us off with a reference to Ariel’s favorite Dean quote, which he shouts during the season one episode in which seemingly kind townsfolk are actually cold-hearted crazies who routinely sacrifice people to a bloodthirsty god of the orchard. “I hope your apple pie was freaking worth it!” Spoiler alert, this version IS worth it!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Apple Cider

a shot of Cinnamon Whiskey

Pumpkin Spice Sugar for garnish

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The Gin in the Bottle



Episode 2x22: What Is and What Should Never Be

We can’t resist a pun (Gin>Djinn get it?). The name of this drink is an homage to one of the best, most heartbreaking episodes of Supernatural, in which Dean is captured by a djinni and gets to experience an “It’s a Wonderful Life”-esque world in which he and Sam never became hunters… and all the people they ever saved died instead.

Ingredients:

1 shot Gin

1/4 cup Grapefruit Juce

1 shot Triple Sec

Egg White

shake all ingredients with ice and pour into glass; add a Candied Ginger for the rim


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The Very Supernatural Xmas Drink



The Very Supernatural Xmas Drink

Episode 3x08: A Very Supernatural Christmas

This drink is a tribute to the Season 3 episode that gave us adorable Baby Sam and Baby Dean flashbacks to their childhood Christmases on the road, as well as the origin of the Samulet. It ends on a gag in which Sam gives Dean a VERY strong glass of spiked eggnog which genuinely shocked Jensen Ackles, as it turned out that Jared Padalecki had ACTUALLY spiked his drink on set!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Eggnog

1/4 cup Eggnog Liqueur

1 shot whiskey

Cinnamon Sugar to garnish

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The Rose So Far

Episode 15x20: Carry On

This punny drink is a tribute to every single one of Supernatural’s season finales, which always begin with the “Road So Far” montage. One small ghost for every fallen Winchester - Mary, John, Adam, Jack and Cas. We know Jack and Cas aren’t blood but they are family. We can’t believe that this is as far as the road with ever go. *sobs*

Ingredients:

5 Strawberries

1/8 glass Red Wine

2 tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Rose Water

1 shot Vodka

1 shot Lemon Juice

Make a compote with the strawberries, red wine and sugar. Add compote to remaining ingredients; shake with ice.