This SUPERNATURAL review contains spoilers.
Supernatural Season 15, Episode 19
There’s only one. Episode. Left. Nervous?
Images of an empty world begin the episode, reinforcing that the Winchesters and Jack are basically all that’s left. An entire world emptied to prove Chuck right is a pretty harsh punishment, something he relishes when the boys call him out and decide to surrender — something they never do. But Chuck wants them to continue suffering. He likes this new twist to the story, and hopes the boys continue to put the blame and shame on themselves. Hey, at least all the disappeared didn’t have to deal with the rest of 2020, amirite?
Chuck’s cruelty is put on display when Dean discovers a lonely dog — likely the last of its kind. Dean names it Miracle and decides to keep it, which is when Chuck poofs the dog into smoke and smirks at the boys from afar. What a d–k.
The world may have a hollow sort of echo to it but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a few guest stars. Jake Abel and Mark Pellegrino, as Michael and Lucifer, return in this episode for another brief brotherly spat. It’s a quick yet pulse pounding interaction. They both seem at first like allies to take down Chuck, then are revealed at different times to be turncoats.
It’s pretty telling that Daddy’s Boy and Daddy’s Original Favorite both made an appearance like that. Perhaps these brothers were never really all that different. Lucifer and Michael at first on the same side against God, Jack facing an awkward meeting with his own father, and of course an entire series worth of Winchester angst, it makes one realize this whole world is just full of Daddy issues. Well, it used to be full. Sorry. Too soon?
Lucifer did bring one scenario into the situation that our boys did not think about — he was able to create a new Death out of Betty the Reaper. Only Death can read the book that details Chuck’s demise. Did anyone else wonder if Jack was meant to be the new Death? Love the instant regalia including scythe and death’s ring with ring guard. Apparently all this accoutrement can magically manifest but Death’s ring doesn’t fit. Maybe that makes sense since she’s bumped off so soon. After seeing the plant life dying around Jack last episode and the beginning of this one, it fit the power vacuum Billie left behind. Even after 15 years this reviewer can still be surprised, and that’s a testament to the writers.
The theme of destiny and free resurface in this episode, which is appropriate given our constant nagging story worries since God made his appearance. Sam and Dean have been fighting their destiny as the modern era’s Cain and Abel for their whole lives, but Michael the Archangel doesn’t seem able to shake his predestined fate and doesn’t want to. He tells Chuck, “It’s always been my destiny to serve you,” thereby cementing his betrayal of the Winchesters. Good thing they saw that coming and happened to have a Hail Mary in Jack’s new power.
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Chuck could have easily taken our boys out with a magical snap of his fingers. Could have done it at any time in fact, but he decides that he can get his hands dirty, and starts bare knuckle pummeling our boys at the same time, breaking their bones but somehow never breaking their spirits. The Winchesters, in a powerful show of strength and solidarity, keep getting up, even helping each other up as they get more and more broken. Chuck loses interest in the pummeling, saying over and over things like “Just stay down,” “That’s enough guys,” “Give up.” He loses more and more of his cool, and almost seems desperate to get them to stop. Chuck no longer seems to have control over this situation.
Jack’s takedown of Chuck is epic, but the way in which Team Free Will truly destroys him is so much sweeter. Instead of killing or eliminating him entirely, Chuck is de-powered, set to live the rest of his life as a regular human. A good taste of his own medicine, which only would have been better if someone else was pulling his strings. Can’t have everything.
“For the first time I have no idea what happens next,” Chuck says in his last scene. And it’s satisfying to come full circle with the free will theme. Dean and Sam are now “truly free” and there is now a force out there who isn’t jaded like the original God. Dean proves to Chuck and himself that he’s not just a killer.
Jack perhaps has the best, simplest way to describe his perception of humanity. It’s something he’s learned from the teachings of his mother, Castiel and the Winchesters. He tells them right before he parts ways, “When people have to be their best, they can be.” It’s a fine message of hope to make up for the bleakness.
Sam and Dean toast everyone they’ve lost along the way to this moment, and the episode ends with an emotional clip montage of highlights from the beginning of the series to now. Too many excellent moments, favorite episodes and characters to mention, but it ends with Sam slamming the trunk on the Impala in the first episode — you know, the “We’ve got work to do” moment — and that was impactful.
Supernatural’s series finale, “Carry On,” airs November 19th at 9pm. The two-hour event begins at 8pm with The Long Road Home, a finale preview with the cast and crew.
That’s the road so far. Let’s ride it to the end, Supernatural Family.