Supernatural Season 15 Part 2 Review
Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.
On November 19, 2020, Supernatural concluded Dean and Sam Winchester’s 15-year-old journey of picking up where their dad left off, “saving people, hunting things, the family business”. Looking back, I started watching Supernatural myself a decade ago—2010—when it was still airing its fifth season. I fell in love instantly with the themes of brotherhood, family, and fighting for your own free will. Watching this series until the end was honestly one of my greatest joys from that decade, and an effective way to say goodbye going into the next phase of my 2021-Era life.
The link to my Supernatural Season 15 Part 1 Review is also here if y’all want to check that out first. Otherwise, here’s a recap:
Season 15 is about Sam and Dean going up against their strongest opponent yet, God Himself. The stakes are higher than ever, with death being not the worst possible thing that could happen to them—especially since they’ve died more times than I can count. With the help of their Angel Castiel and Nephilim child Jack, the boys prepare for the greatest challenge of their mortal lives.
Season 15 Part 2 kicked off with a slow pace, as the second half decided to have filler episodes three weeks in a row—having sprinkles of plot development within those episodes though—before diving into the endgame.
Once the endgame got rolling though, with Chuck destroying all the alternate worlds except the Main Universe, it all seemed rushed. While I did enjoy certain aspects and the initial ideas of what happened—like Michael and Lucifer coming back, Death Billie having an ulterior motive for wanting Chuck off the board, and Sam wanting to find another way to stop Chuck as a result of this ulterior motive—a lot of it was indeed rushed when it was crammed into one or two episodes instead of it playing out over a course of episodes.
Finding out Death Billie wanted Chuck and Amara—The Darkness and Chuck’s sister—off the board so she can become the New God was an interesting twist, but then she was dealt away in the following episode alongside Castiel, who made the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone. Establishing Castiel’s queer feelings for Dean and killing him off for the final time was genuinely heart wrenching, but it also played into the “bury the gays” trope.
Amara and Chuck’s sibling dynamic could’ve been explored more, as their roles were effectively switched from Season 11, when Amara was the main antagonist trying to destroy her brother’s creations. Now it was Chuck who wanted to break his own toys, and Amara was trying to show him what he showed her during Season 11—that humans were imperfect but beautiful and whatever. However, this was also rushed in a single episode and ended up with Amara choosing to merge with Chuck because Dean Winchester planned on betraying her. This resulted in an odd non-closure between Dean and Amara, who had a weird thing going on since Season 11.
There were a lot of things being crammed as we reached the series finale.
The penultimate episode also functioned like a series finale, concluding the 15-year-old journey before the actual series finale took place. The return of Michael and Lucifer played out in this episode, rehashing what season 5 was all about with two brothers fighting over their love for dad.
While I liked the idea of Michael and Lucifer coming back for the ending, their return and final deaths also felt rushed because it happened in the same episode where God was finally defeated. Everything being crammed into a single episode made it feel rushed and not fleshed out to its full capabilities. I’m honestly blaming the COVID-19 pandemic for screwing with production.
Although, the ending with Chuck being left powerless, sad, and alone was incredibly satisfying to watch. He betrayed his “fictional” characters—Sam and Dean—so they left him to live, rot, and die a boring human life where nobody will remember his name. Sam and Dean finally achieving free will after so many years of fighting was an amazing payoff to behold. Now they can write their own story moving forward into the series finale—one of their own making.
Jack also became the New God, having absorbed Chuck’s powers, and left Sam and Dean because he wants to be “hands off” in order to avoid Chuck’s mistake of messing with people’s free will for his own amusement. I enjoyed this ending for Jack because he grew to understand what it truly meant to be human since his introduction—and birth—in Season 13, but he promised to be watching over everyone as they establish this “new normal” moving forward. Castiel was also helping Jack, having been resurrected off-screen in the series finale.
I wished Cass stayed dead, or showed up in the series finale.
The actual series finale had rough spots to be honest, but it had the best intentions. I did enjoy the ending itself—with Dean dying while on the job and Sam dying of natural causes—but I found the lack of fan-favorite cameos the biggest downside to this Epilogue conclusion.
Back to COVID-19 pandemic ruining everything, I’m blaming the pandemic because it shut down production and likely put in restrictions, so there couldn’t be too many people on set, thus the lack of our fan-favorite character cameos. I really did want to see how everyone else was doing after the show ended, to see who was actually alive after Jack became New God, and maybe reunite with some dead character cameos when Sam and Dean made it to Heaven—like what LOST did. Yes. Bobby Singer, their dead father-figure, cameoed in the series finale, but he was literally the only fan-favorite character.
Not even Jack or Castiel made appearances in the series finale. It’s all understandable when you factor in the currently ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it likely imposed on television production sets, but it’s still all really sad. For example, character Kevin Tran was confirmed to be in the series finale prior to pandemic, but then he didn’t show up. Supernatural deserved a better, planned out series finale, but everyone did the best they could with the cards they were dealt with.
Dean’s emotional death speech was incredibly moving though, despite how he died being not the best way to go out; he was impaled by a nail when a vampire pushed him into a board rafter. The full circled callback to the pilot’s iconic “Dad had gone on a hunting trip, and he hadn’t been home in a few days” scene hit me hard. When Dean confessed in his last dying moment that he waited hours outside Sam’s house because he was scared Sam would turn him away was pretty surreal. Then Sam confessing he knows he can keep going without him, but he doesn’t want to…
My heart just fell completely apart.
I’m sad to see Supernatural end, but it was time to move on. Sam and Dean Winchester have greatly impacted me physically and mentally since I started watching in 2011; physically with the Anti-Possession Tattoo I got on my chest—in 2014—in honor of my chosen brother’s untimely death during 2011 and mentally with how much it helped me grieve his passing and the other challenges in my life that happened along the way.
I owe this show a life debt I can never repay in full, but all good things must come to an end. I’m also entering a new phase of my life going into the Holiday Season and 2021, and watching Supernatural end made me see how much my life had truly changed since I started watching this show sophomore year of high school. Now, I’m an adult in the midst of taking on a new writing opportunity while trying to finish my sixth draft novel manuscript and still finding the time to level up this blog into “Ngodokja Era”.
Fun Fact: #ngodokja has God in the middle. Unlike Chuck, I do not want to repeat things hoping for better outcomes—what he did throughout Supernatural when he tried to get his “perfect” ending of Sam and Dean killing each other. That’s the definition of insanity—especially for writers. Maybe, it’s time to try something new.
Let’s break the cycle.
Thanks for reading my Supernatural Season 15 Part 2 Review, everyone! I really appreciate the time y’all took to read my thoughts. Now… Carry on, my wayward son. There’ll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest. Don’t you cry no more.
P.S. Congrats to Neoni for having their song cover of “Carry On Wayward Son” play for the series finale’s last moments—our last moments—with Sam and Dean. Neoni’s version made the ending have a similar vibe to The Vampire Diaries’ series finale, which is a huge accomplishment, and a big reason for why the production team chose their song cover.
You earned it, Neoni. I listen to your version all the time now. You really encompass what Supernatural is all about with your version. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Until we meet again, SPN Fandom.
- Ngodokja