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Supernatural - Post-Finale Thoughts and Reflections
I waited a couple of days to get my thoughts together and let the full impact of the finale sink in, especially coming off the waves of a fandom that seemed really determine to hate everything about this finale going into it, which is something I honestly don't understand. I hated Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the recent series finale of The 100 but I went into both of those with an open mind and with the hope that I would love them. It's an attitude I think has served me well because the amount of finales I either love or feel mixed about vastly outweigh the number of finales I truly hated. (It also probably helps that I tend to bail on shows/franchises I don't enjoy watching.)
All of that is prologue I guess to the fact that I very much did not hate the finale of Supernatural. I wouldn't go as far as to say I loved it, but I did really like it.
I think the big thing holding me back from loving it is that I was able to figure out what aspects of it were impacted by it being produced under COVID-19 filming restrictions, and I couldn't help but yearn for that unblemished version that had all the cast cameos they originally planned for (not to mention having more than five vampires in that barn fight sequence). Because aside from that stuff I don't think the finale changed much from what they'd planned to do.
The big gay element in the room is that the finale is somehow an example of the "bury your gays" trope even though it ends up burying every character on the show (and actually pulls Castiel out of the Empty offscreen). As a bi man I've never really given much weight to the reading as Dean Winchester as queer beyond wishful thinking on the part of a representation-starved fandom (unlike Castiel, which actually had some substance to it and was the part of the equation that actually panned out, even though I honestly didn't expect it to.) I think a part of why I feel so ambivalent about this backlash is that romance has never been a part of Supernatural the way it has been an intrinsic part of properties like Star Wars. The finale instead placed it's weight on family - specifically the relationship between Sam and Dean and the idea of fathers and sons - which has been the bedrock of the show since it's inception.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't point out that Sam and Dean's ultimate fate is a variation of the "endgame" the show has posited a number of times over the course of it's run, most notably the season 5 finale when Sam ended up in hell and Dean continued on with a normal life and family. I actually like this version of it better though, since instead of them being at the mercy of some biblical force, they go out in the minutia of their everyday life hunting monsters. And once they died, they're able to enter a heaven that only exists as it does because of all they've done over the course of the show. It's their reward, and the fruit of their labor. It's really funny seeing people calling this ending a "betrayal" when every part of it has been choreographed very overtly for the past ten years. Even Castiel's final speech and confession a couple of episodes ago is strikingly similar to a speech he gave in season 7.
I think any finale at all to a show that has run for so long is going to inevitably gonna be disliked by a large swath of people, but I think they've managed to produce something that's gonna age well, particularly the general audience that isn't stewing in fandom wank all the time. The reaction I've seen outside of bitter stan circles seems mostly similar to mine, which definitely helps make me feel not insane. It's also disappointing to see people rag on the show not because they had any actual investment in it anymore, but because they were a fan as a teenager and like the feeling of being superior™ now that they're a cool adult™.
I feel like I've spent too much of this post writing defensively, so I'll wrap up on a different note. I've had my ups and downs with the show but it's been a part of my life for so long, and I'm really happy it went out on a high note. I know there's been talk of the inevitable revival, but I hope they either have the good sense to let this finale be, or they focus on the Wayward Sisters instead if they decide to revisit this universe. Because the finality of this makes it difficult to imagine a sequel that doesn't undo a lot of what just happened, just for the sake of putting these characters back on the same hamster wheel they've been running on for the past fifteen years. I'd rather they stick with what they've done, and I look forward to seeing what these actors and creators have to offer from other projects going forward.
All of that is prologue I guess to the fact that I very much did not hate the finale of Supernatural. I wouldn't go as far as to say I loved it, but I did really like it.
I think the big thing holding me back from loving it is that I was able to figure out what aspects of it were impacted by it being produced under COVID-19 filming restrictions, and I couldn't help but yearn for that unblemished version that had all the cast cameos they originally planned for (not to mention having more than five vampires in that barn fight sequence). Because aside from that stuff I don't think the finale changed much from what they'd planned to do.
The big gay element in the room is that the finale is somehow an example of the "bury your gays" trope even though it ends up burying every character on the show (and actually pulls Castiel out of the Empty offscreen). As a bi man I've never really given much weight to the reading as Dean Winchester as queer beyond wishful thinking on the part of a representation-starved fandom (unlike Castiel, which actually had some substance to it and was the part of the equation that actually panned out, even though I honestly didn't expect it to.) I think a part of why I feel so ambivalent about this backlash is that romance has never been a part of Supernatural the way it has been an intrinsic part of properties like Star Wars. The finale instead placed it's weight on family - specifically the relationship between Sam and Dean and the idea of fathers and sons - which has been the bedrock of the show since it's inception.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't point out that Sam and Dean's ultimate fate is a variation of the "endgame" the show has posited a number of times over the course of it's run, most notably the season 5 finale when Sam ended up in hell and Dean continued on with a normal life and family. I actually like this version of it better though, since instead of them being at the mercy of some biblical force, they go out in the minutia of their everyday life hunting monsters. And once they died, they're able to enter a heaven that only exists as it does because of all they've done over the course of the show. It's their reward, and the fruit of their labor. It's really funny seeing people calling this ending a "betrayal" when every part of it has been choreographed very overtly for the past ten years. Even Castiel's final speech and confession a couple of episodes ago is strikingly similar to a speech he gave in season 7.
I think any finale at all to a show that has run for so long is going to inevitably gonna be disliked by a large swath of people, but I think they've managed to produce something that's gonna age well, particularly the general audience that isn't stewing in fandom wank all the time. The reaction I've seen outside of bitter stan circles seems mostly similar to mine, which definitely helps make me feel not insane. It's also disappointing to see people rag on the show not because they had any actual investment in it anymore, but because they were a fan as a teenager and like the feeling of being superior™ now that they're a cool adult™.
I feel like I've spent too much of this post writing defensively, so I'll wrap up on a different note. I've had my ups and downs with the show but it's been a part of my life for so long, and I'm really happy it went out on a high note. I know there's been talk of the inevitable revival, but I hope they either have the good sense to let this finale be, or they focus on the Wayward Sisters instead if they decide to revisit this universe. Because the finality of this makes it difficult to imagine a sequel that doesn't undo a lot of what just happened, just for the sake of putting these characters back on the same hamster wheel they've been running on for the past fifteen years. I'd rather they stick with what they've done, and I look forward to seeing what these actors and creators have to offer from other projects going forward.