The fate of the Winchester brothers has left many fans sorely disappointed.
The popular TV thriller starring Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki as the monster-hunting Winchester brothers duo became a cult success with audiences. Its 15-year long history embodied varied character arcs, 4th wall breaking comical moments, and even incorporated a number of fan-fiction stories (Here’s looking at you, Slash Fans). Despite its many successes, fans have thoroughly disliked the ‘Supernatural’ season finale. Let’s find out why.
Highlights —
- The story so far
- Dean Winchester’s death felt underwhelming
- Sam Winchester’s hastily assembled ageing
- Poor representation of homosexuality
- The car goes to heaven
The story so far
Season 15 of ‘Supernatural’ was confirmed by director Adam Kripke to be the final one, and the hype generated at the time suggested it’d be the best season yet. Sam and Dean were pitted against a number of their old enemies after Chuck (a.k.a. God) opened the gates of hell in an attempt to destroy all creation.
This grand plot set the stage for a cataclysmic battle that’d see our beloved heroes go up against the almighty himself. The release of ‘Supernatural’ Season 15 was interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the show made a return by October 2020 amid much hype.
However, the hype didn’t last. Many fans disliked the supernatural finale. Here’s why.
Dean Winchester’s death felt underwhelming
Throughout the show, the monster-hunting duo of Sam and Dean Winchester had developed a somewhat notorious reputation among their various enemies for cheating death.
However, for all the obstacles Dean Winchester overcame (even defeating God himself), it was being accidentally impaled against a rusty old barn spike by an unnamed villain that finally did him in. This went a long way in setting up the ‘Supernatural’ finale as a failure.
Dean’s death felt underwhelming and scripted to force-fit a weak plot.
Interestingly, Dean’s final death was enacted in a similar fashion to Sam’s first death in the series.
Sam Winchester’s hastily assembled ageing
What should have been an emotional final farewell between the 2 brothers quickly turned into a hilarious montage as the show hurriedly crafted a series of events detailing Sam’s life after Dean’s death.
Sam Winchester jumps from being the doting father to his little child (named Dean Jr.) to lying on his deathbed in a matter of mere minutes.
While it was intended to be an emotional scene that allowed viewers to bid farewell to Sam, the unrealistic grey wig on a perfectly youthful face of actor Jared Padalecki didn’t seem quite believable. Yet another reason fans disliked the ‘Supernatural’ season finale.
Poor representation of homosexuality
Representation of homosexuality has been a recurring problem with ‘Supernatural’, with plenty of viewers complaining about the show’s handling of gay characters. One of the examples of this problem was Archangel Castiel’s demise shortly after confessing his unrequited love for Dean. What should have been a triumphant moment of homosexual representation; sadly turned sour as Castiel sacrificed his life in an attempt to save Dean shortly after the emotional confession.
Queer fans immediately took to Twitter to deem the ‘Supernatural’ finale a failure for the unfulfilling conclusion.
Castiel’s actor, Misha Collins, weighed in on Twitter too.
The car goes to heaven
After Sam Winchester passes away, we’re shown a scene of the brothers, Dean & Sam re-uniting on a bridge in heaven. The reunion includes Sam, Dean … and Dean’s car. Dean’s car, the 1967 black Chevrolet Impala was passed down to Dean by his father.
The Impala itself has received a degree of iconic reputation owing to Dean’s possessiveness about it and the fact that the Impala features prominently in some episodes. Some examples include Dean driving the car on the way to his confrontation with Lucifer (who was in possession of Sam’s body at the time) and Archangel Michael.
Yet another episode featured a hilarious prank pulled by Archangel Gabriel, which resulted in Sam briefly becoming the AI powering the Impala (a reference to the movie Knight Rider).
Fans especially disliked the supernatural finale as it implied a car could go to heaven, while Castiel could not. Perhaps the Impala had good car-ma?
