(Before we begin I'd like it noted that everyone knows that 666 is the number of the beast, but there are some biblical sources that say it is actually 616. Heh.)
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| Sam, Dean, Crowley, Castiel |
For the longest time people have been telling me that I should watch Supernatural, that it was right up my alley. I saw it was a CW show, and while they're good for DC shows, I didn't know if I wanted to get involved with it. And then people who know me really, really well started telling me to watch it for Crowley. Finally, I gave in and decided I would give it a shot. I'm very glad I did.
I probably should have taken a look a lot sooner because holy shit! It's the longest running horror TV show in history! That alone should have gotten me into it. Fifteen seasons! And I'm not talking about seasons today, which run about 10 episodes, more or less. I'm talking 20+ episodes each season! There are 327 episodes! That puts it at the 13th longest TV show PERIOD. Some people don't want to include cartoons in such things, and if you're of the same mind, that makes Supernatural the 9th longest running show.
(Also, while I'm looking at the list, did you know that Lassie was on for 19 seasons? How the fuck did that happen?)
(I also hear you point out that Dark Shadows had 1,225 episodes. Not counting the 'Nineties revival. That's a good point, but they weren't even on for five years. The only reason they have more episodes is because they were on every weekday. So no, it doesn't count.)
Supernatural is the story of Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers who hunt monsters across America. They were raised by their father, a Vietnam vet, to do this. Their mother died when they were kids. Sam was just a baby, and he doesn't remember anything about her. Sam escapes the life and goes to college to become a lawyer while Dean and their father continue to kill all sorts of monsters until one day their dad goes missing. Dean gets Sam out of school to help look for him, and before you know it Sam is back in the life. For good.
At first the stories are low key (and yes, Loki makes an appearance at one point) and monster-of-the-week type stuff, but over time it becomes one big story about good versus evil with apocalypse after apocalypse. There are a lot of supporting characters, and almost all of them die. While watching the show, after I got used to its habit of killing these characters, I started to get nervous every time they brought a recurring character on, knowing this could be the day they die. And I was usually right.
Of the longtime characters, one of the best is Bobby Singer, the cantankerous friend of John Winchester who really raised the boys and offers words of wisdom sometimes. It's just that sometimes those words of wisdom are "idjit" or "balls." There's also Castiel, the angel who rescued Dean from Hell and became the closest ally to the brothers over the years.
And then of course there's Crowley. Everyone who told me I would love him? They were all right. He's a fast-talking contract-writing crossroads demon who lucked his way into being the King of Hell (long story). He's a tricky guy who is always about ten steps ahead of everyone. He's the kind of guy who would stab you in the back, and you'd thank him for the pleasure. But he's also got a human side to him, and you can tell he really does love his interactions with the boys. (Mostly.) The funniest thing is, the reason he got sent to Hell in the first place is because he sold his soul to get a few extra inches of cock on him.
So here's a good place for me to mention that there will be spoilers from here on out. If you don't want to read anything further, then goodnight to you, kind fucker. Come back when you've watched the end of the series.
Just in case you skipped ahead, here is one more warning about those spoilers. You can still turn back.
OK, too late to escape.
Crowley is so smart and so cunning that the only person on the show who could have possibly ever killed him was himself, and that's how it turned out. He had Lucifer trapped on another earth (I swear I wrote that Zimventure before I realized that there was a Supernatural multiverse), and the only way to trap him there was for someone to die for a spell. Crowley was the only one around, and he loved the boys so much (and hated Lucifer so much) that he sacrificed himself to do it. It was a great moment, but I had a couple of regrets. For one, Crowley's plan didn't work. Lucifer found a way out, anyway. And for another, everyone who died in making that moment came back to life EXCEPT for Crowley. Talk about unfair.
Misha Collins, who plays Cass, entertained me a great deal for a variety of reasons.
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| His inability to effectively insult anyone is one of them. |
On a meta episode in which Sam and Dean find themselves on the set of a show called Supernatural (where everyone thinks they're actors named Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles), Misha Collins gets to play himself playing Cass, and it is fucking hilarious. On another episode, Cass gets possessed by Lucifer, so Collins has to play Cass possessed by Lucifer pretending to be Cass, which is a great concept. Also, it's very unsettling. Watching him filled me with such wonderful revulsion!
But I have to say his finest moment was his speech he gives to Dean before he sacrifices himself to save the boys. When he first appeared on the show he was an angel who didn't know the first thing about right and wrong. He just did as he was told. But having spent so many years with the boys, Dean in particular, he discovers what it's like to be human and even becomes human, himself. He learns to love humanity. That speech is amazing. Go ahead and watch it again. And then see if you were fast enough to see the handprint he leaves on Dean's shoulder. Just like the one he left on his flesh when he first met him and pulled him out of Hell.
I'm not going to rehash my thoughts on Bobby Singer. If you want to revisit that, you can read it here.
Here's a thing I wonder a lot about. And keep in mind, this wasn't some niche show that barely anyone watched. This is one of the longest running TV shows ever. As we approached the ending of season 14 we learned who the biggest of the big bads on this show was. It's crazy when you think about it. I mean, I was totally on board, but I'm not . . . usual. God turns out to be the series villain. For most of the show he's kind of a loveable writer named Carver Edlund who then goes on to call himself Chuck instead of God, but when his creations refuse to follow the script, he flips his shit and decides to end the multiverse! Saving his favorite earth for last, of course. But that moment when you realize God isn't on their side is fucking chilling. How do you fight God? How, indeed? And how did the Religious Right not rise up in arms about this show calling God the villain? Or was I just not paying attention? Maybe they don't watch shows like this. I don't know.
This is running a little long (and I admit, I'm cheating a little, as I've been chipping away at this one since I got home from work), so I think it's time we talked about the very ending. While I was watching the penultimate episode I could have sworn it felt like the final episode, and I'm pretty sure they did that on purpose. Like Stephen King at the end of The Dark Tower, you're given a choice. You can take this as a celebratory happy ending, and you don't have to watch the final episode.
But I've never heard of anyone taking King up on that. I would never let it go at that, myself. I can't imagine the kind of person who would.
Because the final chapter is always the one with heartache and woe.
A while back I was having a conversation with a friend about the possible ending of Supernatural. (You'd better not be reading this. I know you still have 10 episodes to go.) I couldn't imagine that it would end with both brothers still alive. I told him if I had to guess, they'd probably kill Dean. He said that he agreed, but he figured Sam would be the one to die. I admitted that the show sometimes went in an unexpected direction, but Dean has been saying throughout the entire series that the only way his story ends is in violent death. I didn't think they would ignore that kind of a buildup.
Sure enough they didn't. Sam and Dean go off on one last hunt, and Dean dies violently, just as he always knew he would. Sam gives his brother a hunter's funeral--ie. burning the body on a pyre--and he gets a call on one of his FBI cellphones. There's another case.
Before I move on with the ending, here's a point that I don't think I understand. When Sam gets that call, he agrees to go, and we see him closing up the bunker. I thought he would go on a solo hunt and live out the rest of his life doing what he does best: killing monsters. But I have another thought, considering how the rest of the episode goes. I don't think he went on this hunt. I think he was actually closing down the bunker and giving up the life. If anyone has any thoughts about this, I'd love to hear them.
Anyway, we see Dean in the afterlife, where Bobby is waiting for him with a beer. Bobby tells him something quite beautiful, and if I were one to believe in the afterlife, it would give me some kind of hope. Bobby tells Dean that "he'll be along." Meaning Sam. To look at death in such a way actually brought a tear to my eye.
And then Dean sees Baby, his 1967 Chevy Impala, is there waiting for him, and he decides to take a ride. And then, as he drives through the afterlife, we get glimpses of Sam's life without Dean. Give it a rewatch here. Guess which part gets me the most. I'll tell you in a moment.
If you guessed it was the moment when old man Sam sits in the Impala, closes his eyes and touches the steering wheel, you would be right.
And then a very old Sam dies. I'm pretty sure that he never taught his son the life of a hunter, that young Dean Winchester will never know the sheer madness of hunting monsters. And that is probably a good thing.
And of course, the whole time you're watching Dean drive through the afterlife, you know exactly how it's going to end.
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| Oh yeah. |
I was a very different man when I first started watching this show. I've been through so much in such a little amount of time. Because I lucked out. I got to binge the show. I have no idea how the rest of you did it, watching weekly episodes over the course of 15 years. If I was still the same, I probably would have had a whiskey, toasting to the Brothers Winchester. May they rest in peace.
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