At the beginning of this season, we thought that Supernatural would go the way of Smallville; not canceled but ended.I hate to be a Debbie Downer but I think the Supernatural renewal was a stay of execution and the show will end next year. I seriously hope I am wrong because Supernatural is one of my favorite shows. Heck, I’d like it if the show lasted 10 seasons or more.
My concerns come with the announcement that Misha Collins will have a reduced role and the weakness of the second part of the season finale. Thankfully, those are the only things that worry me about Supernatual. The show maintained stable and growing ratings the whole season. The stories that are told each week have managed to engage the fans even after six years. This season had some of the funniest and intense moments in Supernatual history.
The season started with Sam’s soul muted and still in hell with Lucifer. Souless Sam was sexy but frightening because his moral compass was just not working. We knew Sam needed to be fixed or put down when he let Dean get turned into a vampire for the greater good. That just isn’t how the Winchester brothers roll. Speaking of vampires, the episode ‘Live Free or Twihard’ had to be one of the funniest and most revealing of the season. The mother of all evil or demons was planning a comeback and made her arrival known by an influx of demon attacks and demon creation. I must say that her arrival and ultimate quick kill was a let down but the build up was glorious. ‘Two and a Half Men’ dealt with a baby shapeshifter. The antics and one-liners in that episode were classic Sam and Dean tomfoolery. ‘Weekend at Bobbly’s’ was a Bobby-centric episode and showed how strong that character is and why the boys need him so much. I think Crowley gets killed but we find out later that Castiel and Crowley had been working together since his alleged destruction. Supernatural has that one absolutely hysterical episode every year and ‘Clap Your Hands If You Believe…’ is it! Dean having to deal with fairies was hilarious and made for some memorable scenes. ‘Mannequin 3: The Reckoning’ was next in line for the funniest episode. Too bad there weren’t any Nestene jokes in there. There is one thing to be the funniest episode of the season and there’s another thing to be the most epic episode of the season. The Most Epic Ep Award goes to ‘The French Mistake’. It was an absolute meta episode where Sam and Dean get pulled into Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles world of TV making. We got to see the Supernatural set, the crew behind Supernatural and got some weird yet relevant story to go along with it. Each season I think that the show can’t get any funnier and will never top the previous season but somehow they always manage to surprise me. One unwelcome surprise was the death of Agent Skinner and Mister X… errrr Samuel and Rufus get infected with the black oil virus… errr a killer worm sent by big bad momma, Eve. Those characters didn’t need to die. They had many more wisecracks left in them. Another mild disappointment was Eve’s death. Her showdown started and ended in one episode. Her entire arc seemed to be dropped as well. It felt like a misstep… just a tiny one because it didn’t take away from the great reveal at the end of the season. If dropping the Eve story line was the only way to bring Crowley back then it was a good decision. Mark Sheppard is great TV and everyone knows it.
The tension between Dean and Castiel reaches a knew high when it is revealed that Castiel has been working with Crowley in order to save souls. It is a deal with the “devil” that Castiel hid from the brothers for quite some time. Even when Dean found out about Castiel’s subterfuge, Dean still wanted to help by the way of warning Castiel to not go forward with his plan. ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ was a great crisis of faith story and resonates with almost anyone who believes. It showed the complexities of Castiel and him not getting concrete guidance from God. It also shows that God is serious about free will and leaves Castiel to make his own decisions and therefore facing his own consequences. It’s both cruel and permissive but will end in disaster. Also, disaster could be used to describe the two part season finale. When Castiel took down Sam’s soul wall, I expected it to be more blatant and painful. It took me half of the episode to actually figure out what was actually happening and I still had to confirm it with other fans to be sure. ‘Let It Bleed’ had to be the most lackluster episode of Supernatural to date. What it tells the audience is that your soul will can be trapped in hell with Lucifer and someone can put up a wall to protect you from the agony but all that will really happen is that you’ll hang out with Erica Cera and have a few bad dreams. “The Man Who Knew Too Much” was better as a second half of the finale. It was paced better and wasn’t some emo wankfest. It also confirms that there will be some Castiel ass-kicking next season which is sad because he’d become a beloved member of the crew.
As of today, I haven’t heard any news or potential spoilers for the new season. I can’t wait until tidbits start trickling in. Until then, see you and the boys next year… a WHOLE year!
Supernatural will return next year and airs on Friday at 9/8 C on CW.
