Two brothers follow their father’s footsteps as hunters, fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth.
It’s hard to talk about a broadcast institution like “Supernatural” without looking at the sum of its parts rather than just the worst offenses. Most people looking to get deep into “Supernatural” will have to wait as I type up something even bigger for that. For now, Season Fifteen seals the deal on this television show, for better or worse, with quite a lot on its plate.
Truncated by COVID-19, the show’s finale run was split in half. Fortunately, the ending feels pretty set in stone from the beginning but “Supernatural” is a beloved show with a massive fan base so this show was never going to end perfectly. Season Fifteen delivers on the drama it promises with plenty of tears and sad farewells, but also plenty of gimmicks the back half of the show became none for lack of stakes, unexplained pivots, repetitive beats.
Season Fifteen finds the Winchester brothers on the ropes. God, aka Chuck, has revealed his dispassion for the antichrist Jack. Instead of murdering Jack like he was supposed to, Sam shoots God and kicks off a new big bad. Now the two brothers, plus Castiel, must find a way to take down the almighty himself without tearing each other apart.
“Supernatural” has a deep run and some inventive lore. Almost every season can be ranked by its Big Bad and apocalyptic storylines. With every season, the boys seem to level up, and fighting God is the ultimate level. Admittedly, this leads to some hard theological questions about God’s omnipotence and omniscience. The show skirts around the bigger questions to write in a frustrated author arc and hand us the finale to the Free-Will-versus-God’s-Will debate.
At this point in the show the whole “brother betrays brother” arc has been beaten into the ground and out the other side of the planet. Sam and Dean should know by now not to hold secrets from each other. Season Fifteen eases off that narrative gas and instead we open with a decently budgeted four-part siege. It’s a nostalgic start bringing back some classic monsters. By this point, “Supernatural” feels more like Buffy than The X-Files.
Season Fifteen retains a few gems outside of the massive world-building it’s rounding out. Highlights include an episode with a British nanny who feeds the boys box lunches, Dean singing in front of a full band, a happy (but forced) romance for Sam, and my favorite: a mysterious gambling den where people play pool for luck. The show never fails to deliver on its classic formula story, but season fifteen weaves the God-boss in and out with little tact. Mostly, the show brings back several characters and even retreads old ground as a way to evoke nostalgia for its better days.
The show knew where it headed before the entire world shut down, but the way broadcast TV production works means they hadn’t finished shooting when everything went off the air. This reprieve stifled some narrative momentum the season built up but “Supernatural” came back after the second wave in November of 2020. The hiatus offered the writing team a chance to really hone in on the last batch. Those final eight episodes don’t rank as high as the first twelve, but it clung tightly to its predecessor’s success.
To end “Supernatural” is a monumental challenge I’m not confident I could pull off. So, in this case, the show has two endings, technically. For viewers who hate concrete endings and want to fantasize about the boys’ misdeeds following the final battle, I recommend stopping at episode nineteen. For those who want the “this is exactly how it ends” ending, follow up with episode twenty. In all honesty, the last episode is more like a coda than an actual ending, a sort of fan-fiction feel-good episode that draws things to a close.
Obviously, if you’re watching Season Fifteen of “Supernatural” then you know what you’re getting into. Picking up the box set might be fun as the series finale offers plenty of looks into the show’s entire run, calling back to old characters or demonstrating some special moments. Long-time fans will find profound nostalgia in the special features as well as some enlightening hindsight interviews. Still, if you’re in for the drama then you’ll find things to enjoy.
As a first-time viewer, I’ve gone through waves of enjoying the show and season fifteen felt like a cap on the end of a long run. Hats off to the “Supernatural” team for bringing a story to life as long as they did, especially given that several years the show felt on the precipice.
Available on Blu-ray & DVD May 25th
