‘Supernatural’ returns to end in ‘big bad’ finale
Stalwart CW series takes epic bow after 15 seasons
After 15 seasons of angels, demons, vampires, werewolves, Scooby-Doo, Hitler, the Titanic and several apocalypses, “Supernatural” is ending in appropriately epic fashion: Sam and Dean Winchester vs. God, for all the marbles.
“How are these two humans going to face off against the ultimate celestial being?” asks Jensen Ackles, who plays Dean on the horror-tinged CW series.
Jared Padalecki, who plays Dean’s younger brother Sam, gives a simple answer: “The way they always have. They just buck up and do it.”
After COVID-19 postponed filming of the last two episodes of its final season, “Supernatural” returns Thursday (8 EDT/PDT) for its last seven hours to deliver a cataclysmic ending for a show and its two monster-hunting siblings that have become a cult hit with a passionate fan base. (The series finale is scheduled for Nov. 19.)
“We reapproach everything and see the culmination of what Sam and Dean have gone through for 15 years and their efficiency at doing just that,” Padalecki says.
“I love the fact that they had us get to the final level and face the big bad,” Ackles adds. It’s “this big, climactic, amazing showdown, but filtered in with them doing what they do best, which is just hunting your run-of-the-mill things that go bump in the night.”
Thursday’s return is a somewhat lighthearted affair: Sam and Dean discover a housekeeping wood nymph named Mrs. Butters (guest star Meagen Fay) in their bunker, and she gives them a taste of all the holidays they’ve missed before things go awry, “Supernatural” style.
“It’s easier to come back with an episode like this than something that would be deeply depressing or heavy,” says executive producer Andrew Dabb. “Those episodes are coming.”
The ensuing weeks will see Sam and Dean preparing for a dust-up with the Almighty, aka Chuck (Rob Benedict); the Winchesters searching for God’s sister Amara (Emily Swallow); and a flashback to an early case when the siblings were kids, “which fills in an interesting part of their story but also ties in thematically and emotionally what Sam and Dean will be going (through) in the
present day,” Dabb says.
He adds that the final round of episodes centers on the climactic face-off and “how do you fight that fight, knowing that God’s keeping you around for some pretty petty manipulative reasons, and he’s still trying to puppetmaster our guys a little bit. How do you break free from that for hopefully the last time?”
Dabb also promises to reveal “new sides” of key characters like the angel Castiel (Misha Collins), Jack (Alexander Calvert) – the devil’s son, who may be the key to defeating God – and Billie (Lisa Berry), the reaper currently holding the position of Death, as well as Chuck and Amara: “As often happens on ‘Supernatural,’ you may be a big cosmic player, but you still have sibling issues.”
In addition to giving proper sendoffs, Padalecki reveals that sacrifice – always a “Supernatural” hallmark – plays a big role, too. “The most inspiring things for me, and for a lot of fans I’ve met in person, have been the moments where Sam and Dean go through something and then wake up the next day or the day after that or the next week and go, ‘OK. It’s time for me to get back at it.’ And there’s a lot of that in the final couple of episodes.”
Before they could film those 19th and 20th episodes, the stars were “shoveled back to Austin,” Texas, from Vancouver on March 13 due to COVID-19 and, spending time with their wives and kids, got “a little appetizer” for what life would be like post-“Supernatural,” Padalecki says. (He’s starring this season in CW’s “Walker,” a reboot of the 1993-2001 “Walker, Texas Ranger” that starred Chuck Norris.)
“The silver lining is that we got to take a break and recharge our batteries,” says Ackles, who calls the penultimate episode a “season finale” and the last a “series finale.”