#the episode where sam and dean die and are just navigating heaven

[loverboydotcom]

another bedtime another supernatural episode for me to watch and later steal the ideas from

[whyissupernaturaltrending]

where do i even begin

March 7, 2021 - Supernatural keeps trending in the morning, then stops trending only to start trending again during the Jared and Jensen’s panel. Things happen, words are spoken. Jensen trends on Twitter.

First things first - the panel can be watched here (starts about 14 minutes in).

It was chaotic, there were questions both about the show and the actors’ personal lives. They discussed parenting, their weird ‘mushroom induced’ dreams, said what was happening to their Impalas (Jensen thought it was funny to joke that his Impala had been sold for parts). Jensen said Walker was shit (yes, that’s a quote and yes - for legal purposes - it was a joke) and that he'd been asked to direct an episode. Both actors did Cas impressions and said that Cas and Misha are the same person. Jensen talked about his and Danneel’s new production company Chaos Machine and Jared said he’d want to be in their new show. They showed the fans WAP videos (I wish I was joking) and discussed their favorite stunts. There was a question regarding what Sam and Dean would want to do in heaven. Jared said the fans should ask Putin and Biden about that (I was I was joking even more), Jensen tried to avoid the question, but in the end answered it and then began to tease a reboot. Jensen told Jared’s dad joke (”did you hear there was am explosion in cheese factory? the debris was everywhere”). They also discussed songs that remind them about Supernatural. Jared mentioned his alarm is Brothers in Arms by Dire Straights (the song that played during Dean’s funeral). There isn’t any song that reminds him of Sam, but there are several that remind him of the Winchesters. Jensen said he can’t listen to Back in Black without snapping into character, mentioned AC/DC, as well as other songs.

🕯️And here I have bad news - the sexy silence has been broken, though the discussion is still ongoing. The question that started it was “what would’ve happened if Sam had been in Dean’s place? Would dean have been able to live without his brother?” Both actors roasted the rebar. Then Jensen said that if one of the brothers had to die in the finale, Sam was the one who’d been able to ‘navigate’ that situation better. There’s a lot of discussion going on about it at the moment, but I'd just like to add that none of them had to die.

I guess that's it from me.

Edit: Or not, I found a recap: [x]

[supernaturalkickparty]

I've been seeing people post what Carry On means to them but I'm gonna dial it back and bit and put what SPN as a whole means to me. Kinda long and idk how to post things under a cut so sorry guys.

Ok so September 2005. It was just 2 days after my 17th birthday, I was miserable, I was home alone, and I was bored. So I'm channel surfing and I caught it just as Mary went up in flames. I was like whoa, ok what's up.

Needless to say by the end of the pilot I was hooked.

Now for me that was my escape from the abuse at home, the bullying at school, the depression, the everything that I was going through. For that one hour a week I was part of a world where these brothers were going through so much and I wanted/needed to know more. I needed to see how it ended. Then All Hell Breaks Loose happened and I lost my collective shit. How could Sam die? How can these brothers who just started to be close again lose one another?

God the emotions of it all, the ups and downs the brothers went through. If I didn't have cable i would often wait to catch the reruns whenever we did have cable and I would watch all the time at the gym. Honestly that was maybe the only time I willingly went to the gym.

2015 I met my husband, we started dating and I found out he had never seen supernatural. Found out the hard way as we watched The Werther Project for the first time and he asked me what the show was about. That night we started watching from season 1 and he continued watching until he caught up. When he wasn't working he became my spn watch buddy.

2017 and 2018 I had miscarriages that landed me in the hospital and in bed for a good while. The show in all it's SamandDean codependency helped me out in the sense of I got lost in my fictional world. For an hour I was caught up in whatever was going on and I forgot it all.

Very late 2019 I finally carried a pregnancy to term and I had my one and only child. The pandemic happened and all I had were my shows to keep me sane while I was navigating mommyhood. Spn's fuckery(affectionately) helped remind me what I enjoyed as a person before I became a mom, the codependency reminded me why I love the show in the first place. The two awkward brothers who caught my attention.

Then season 15 came around, it was hit and miss on some parts and I don't want to get into that, overall, it was memorable because me and my husband watched it together while I had a baby on my tit. As Carry On played out, the toddler was dead asleep, latched on to my boob while I watched the episode play out. The domestic!chester's, the brothers having a routine and just going to a pie festival and having a good time. That 5 years down the road after they last saw Chuck and they still chose one another. That no matter what they still and will always choose one another.

I was a wreck as the fight scene broke out. I was always a wreck if there was a fight scene. When I saw the rebar I remember looking at my husband and saying "please god no." As I clutched my baby. When I saw Dean actually land on the rebar, god I cried so ugly. I squeezed the toddler and tried hard to cover my mouth and hoping me crying wouldn't wake him up.

Dean's declaration of love to Sam. The fear of Sam turning him away. For 15 plus years he held onto that fear. "I love you so much my baby brother." The needing assurance from Sam that it was ok to let go. Sam not sure how to live at first without Dean, Dean not giving a single fuck about anyone in Heaven because Sam wasn't there. He drove for what I'm guessing is 5 minutes heaven time to what was the rest of Sam's life.

The bridge scene. All was right in the world because Dean had Sam and Sam had Dean. The soulmates were reunited and it was finally perfect.

Now I know some people didn't like the finale and ok that's cool. But I loved it. It wasn't necessarily a happy ending but it was because in the end it was just Sam and Dean. The show began being about two brothers and it ended being about the two brothers. The ending was perfect because Sam and Dean had each other.

Supernatural meant the most to me because from a 17 year old teenager who grew up close with her siblings to a 32 year woman with a husband and kid and still very close with her siblings, it reminded me time and time again, family was everything because Sam and Dean were their own family. And at the end of the day, family, however your family is(friends,siblings,etc) that's what counts.

[pray4jensen]

honestly despite knowing we'll probably never know for sure and everything will become some muddled myth or theory over the years of speculation, i really wish i could know the names of anyone who had a hand in this ending. not just because it hurt but because it was so tragically and horrifically irresponsible to the fanbase, who they KNOW have a lot of people with mental health issues, including their lead. they should be held responsible and let the fans choose not to support their work again

i agree! this is...a difficult space to navigate, but this is definitely an issue that the fandom is experiencing right now. i’m seeing swathes of people splintering off into different sides because we’re angry. we want to know what happened because we want to know who to blame.

and tbh, i wish there was a straight path here. i wish we could easily say it was the network or the writers or the showrunner specifically but the truth is that it was likely a combination of all three of them. 

this is, i feel at least, the most level-headed approach to the problem. we know that the network had a hand in this most definitely. nobody is disagreeing with that. but we also need to remember that this episode, regardless of whichever way it may have been censored, was still born out of the collaboration that goes on in the writer’s room, and also born of the vision of spn’s endgame as determined by andrew dabb. 

and i know there are some who feel that the writers should be completely absolved of guilt. i understand where this notion is coming from, because i’ve been a part of this fandom for years, and i’ve learnt about as much about these people as i have of the actors, despite the writers being less available for public consumption. we all thought we knew what these writers cared about. we all thought we knew where this story was headed. we saw what these writers did year after year and learnt their methods and learnt how to read and predict the stories that they intended to tell.

but then the finale happened. and all that trust that people had was broken.

but this is also why that trust broke. because time and time again, we saw these writers fantastically utilize the power of subtext to tell the story the way that it demanded to be told. and then, to see how every bit of character development for sam and dean and cas and everybody else was shattered, one can’t help but ask why? and i’m not saying that they’re completely at fault. i’m not saying that i don’t understand how hard those writers must have worked to give us an explicitly queer cas, or how those writers must have felt when the network came in with their list of demands. it must have been awful to not be able to tell the story the way it was intended. but why didn’t the writers use those same skills to rectify the finale? why didn’t they try their best to make sure dean still had a voice, even if the network meddled with them? surely there was some way to ease the hurt a little bit, to make the ending more palatable, instead of what it felt like: bullet after bullet to the heart.

and then dabb. dabb who most definitely wrote the finale with the intention for dean to die. because if we really value the subtext that we saw in s15, then we can also look at the props in becky’s house that showed us how the ending was supposed to go (dean still dead, but maybe better off because he was in heaven with cas). because it’s not like the network stood there with a gun to dabb’s head as he wrote how dean became embedded on a piece of rebar and perished. it’s not the network who asked that dean be shown applying to jobs with hope for a better life only to never get to live it. honestly? the most the network could have said was no, you can’t have dean come out as queer and no, you can’t get rid of the brothers element.

so keeping all this in mind, this is at least my personal approach to the question of who to blame. when i think about who did this to our show, it was all of them. i know it was the network but i also know that the writers could have done better and dabb also could have done better. i have my own biases, and people have theirs, but this is as it stands: if we can’t say it was none of them and we can’t agree on some of them, then it simply has to be all of them. 

[archivingspn]

Entertainment Weekly Special Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Supernatural 2017

SAM AND DEAN WINCHESTER KNOW "WEIRD." Their entire life has been weird, ever since the moment a demon claimed their mother's life. In case anyone has forgotten over the course of the show's past 12 seasons, Supernatural tells the story of the Winchester brothers, portrayed by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, who fell into the family business of hunting creatures after their mother's murder. What began as their father's journey for revenge has evolved into endless monster slayings, near-death experiences and more than a few actual deaths.

By this point the Winchesters have been to Hell and back, killed Death himself, come face-to-face with God and prevented the Apocalypse. But perhaps more impressively, the series has survived three network presidents, five showrunners, a writers' strike and five different time slots. Turns out the only thing harder to kill than the Winchesters is the series itself. "It's one of those shows that has moved a lot, and yet each time it has found that core audience and built on it," Warner Bros. Television president Peter Roth says. "It's been an unsung hero."

If anyone knows about being an unsung hero, it's Sam (Padalecki) and Dean (Ackles), who've dedicated their lives to saving others and asked for nothing in return. Seriously, how many nights have they spent sleeping in their car?And yet that on-the-road lifestyle has paved the way for a number of the show's riskier episodes, which play a crucial role in keeping the audience engaged. In 2015 "Baby" was told entirely from the perspective of their beloved 1967 Impala, and that's not even close to the craziest thing the show's tried.

Aside from the rules the show creates within its canon—yes, they have a historian in the writers' room to keep them honest—not even the sky is the limit when it comes to story ideas. “[Show creator] Eric [Kripke] used to say, 'Smoke 'em if you've got 'em,' which meant: Anything crazy, don't be afraid to run it by us," executive producer Robert Singer says.

That motto led most famously to season 6's "The French Mistake," in which Sam and Dean found themselves in an alternate universe where everyone mistook them for Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, the stars of a show called Supernatural. "Our show's not bound by reality," Ackles, 39, says. "We're rooted in reality, but we're not bound by it. That gives us a fifth wall almost."

But Supernatural's season 12 finale managed to raise the stakes by somehow introducing the boys to something they'd never seen before: a world in which they don't exist and Heaven and Hell are locked in an eternal war. By episode's end, their allies Castiel (Misha Collins) and Crowley (Mark Sheppard) were dead, and their mother, Mary (Samantha Smith), who was resurrected-by God's sister!-in the season 11 finale, found herself trapped in this new reality with the Archangel Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino). If that doesn't seem bad enough, the birth of Lucifer's son is the very thing that opened the rift to this apocalyptic realm. "The world in which Sam and Dean were never born is not a good world," showrunner Andrew Dabb says. "It speaks to the importance of our guys. The world Sam and Dean live in is certainly not perfect, but it's a whole hell of a lot better than the alternative."

Dabb describes the new run of episodes as more melancholy than last year's, with new threats including some long-dead characters. And somehow Scooby-Doo has a role to play. (More on that later.)

"Last season was, in some ways, a very upbeat season for us," says Dabb, who goes on to explain that season 13 will be "darker." In their grief the boys will butt heads when it comes to both Lucifer's son Jack—Dean wants nothing to do with him; Sam thinks he's worth trying to save— and Mary, whom Sam refuses to give up on despite Dean's having lost hope that she's still alive. "The Apocalypse world hangs over our guys a little bit like a sword of Damocles," Dabb says of the season's beginning. "We're definitely going to spend a little time there."

And of course Sam and Dean have this new responsibility thrust upon them before they've had the chance to properly grieve their many losses, including Castiel, who Dabb says will appear, though maybe not the way fans are expecting. "We're not looking to hit the reset button," Dabb says. "We want to give both our guys an opportunity to react to that and ask the question: How would that affect them if their closest friend sacrifices himself for them? There is a certain amount, especially when you look at Dean, of survivor's guilt."

That being said, there will be at least one (animated!) moment of levity, though it's in the season's back half. Episode 16 will be a much-anticipated Scooby-Doo crossover, for which Ackles, Padalecki and Collins have already recorded the audio. "They've often talked about Supernatural crossing over into something." Ackles says. "I love that it's Scooby-Doo."

But even with exciting new ideas on the agenda, there's always the lingering question of how much longer the show can continue. According to CW president Mark Pedowitz, the answer is as long as the guys are happy and the ratings are relatively stable. As for Ackles and Padalecki, they are focusing on the next milestone: hitting 300 episodes (something that would take them 13 episodes into season 14). However, if Sam and Dean have taught the actors anything, it's that Death can be lurking around every corner (and he's usually eating pizza). "If we don't make it to 300, I think Ackles and I will both be truly bummed," Padalecki, 35, says.

Ackles adds, "They're paying us to bring that little bit of magic to what they wrote, and I still feel that magic. The day that I don't feel that magic will be a very sad day, and I hope that day never comes. I'd like to get to 300 before that day comes."

One thing everyone can agree on is that they want to know when the end is nigh. "I think it would be bad for this show to just ride off into the sunset without a finale," Singer says. "I think we've earned that." Ultimately the only thing that's certain about Supernatural's eventual end is the fate of Sam and Dean's Impala, Baby. "He gets Baby," Padalecki says of Ackles. "I get Baby Two." Ackles makes one correction: "No, you'll get Three. Two is a stunt car. It's beat to s---.”

But nobody gets Baby just yet. For now they'll need all the Impalas they can get as they try to solve the problems of not one world but two.

[pg 10-12]

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins have rolled with rapid changes and some surprising detours during the series' remarkable run. BY SAMANTHA HIGHFILL

JARED PADALECKI CAN STILL REMEMBER THE exact pitch for Supernatural's first season: “Route 66 meets X-Files, brothers on the back roads of America hunting things that go bump in the night.” That was how he and costar Jensen Ackles were told to promote the show, which, in its first year, was just that-Sam and Dean Winchester chasing urban legends from state to state.

But over time that original pitch added a few sentences. Much like with any good road trip, there have been quite a few turns—and the occasional crossroads along the way. Although the show remains about two brothers on the back roads of America hunting things, those "things'' now include everything from vengeful spirits to imaginary friends and even Lucifer himself. After all, a show doesn't last 13 seasons without adjusting its game plan. For Supernatural that has meant an ever expanding mythology, some shocking deaths, resurrected characters, breaking the fourth wall and so much more.

Yet all the while, one thing has remained true: Sam and Dean Winchester will do whatever it takes to save the world and, even more so, to save each other. And they'll do it while navigating those seemingly endless back roads in their 1967 Impala.

Finding John Winchester (portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was the boys' goal in season 1, though that ended up being about as difficult as getting John to stick around once he was finally discovered. The Winchester family reunion was short-lived: Season 1 closed with a car crash and the fates of all three men up in the air. And then there was that demonic deal John made with the same monster they had been hunting.

JENSEN ACKLES Everything up until that point was about finding Dad. We found Dad, we continued to fight as a unit, and then we lost Dad, and now we were two orphans.

JARED PADALECKI And I think that was the first time we ever brought back somebody from the dead, and it was you [to Ackles].

ACKLES I died in the car crash, and he traded his life with Azazel.

PADALECKI I think that was the first time we ever saw a major character die and come back. And that was a total leap of faith. So we told the story of Reapers and the veil and what happens to your soul.

ACKLES That's when we got into afterlife.

PADALECKI That was a big title shift in what Supernatural could do...

ACKLES With the introduction of Hell and making deals with demons—which is funny, because you think about that now, and [creator] Eric [Kripke] must've always known because Mom made the deal with the yellow-eyed demon.

The next shift would come later in season 2, laying the groundwork for the introduction of angels far before Castiel spread his wings in that abandoned barn in season 4.

PADALECKI "Houses of the Holy” was the first time we ever talked about angels on Supernatural. [Jensen] and I both were like, “Whatever your religious beliefs, whatever ours, we're not here to proselytize. We're here to make a serialized television show, but we want it to be universal.” So we actually had a conference call with Eric Kripke, and we were like, "Hey, man, we don't know how we feel about this.”

ACKLES We didn't want to be a mouthpiece for writers' religious views, because it wasn't the show that we had signed up for. Our argument was: “We trust you. You've done good by us so far. However, this is our one concern, and we're just bringing it to the table so that we can discuss it.”

PADALECKI And they heard us out, and I think that's why they waited another year and a half before introducing our second and most famous angel. I think it's the one time we've ever called them together with a complaint. Because I'm not a writer. I don't want to be a writer. I enjoy my job as an actor. But that was legitimately like, “Listen, if you're going here about religion, I don't want to be a part of it.”

MISHA COLLINS And now amazingly, 11 years later, so much of the show has been hung on biblical lore and mythology that is actually drawn from the Bible. One interesting thing for us is that we end up talking along the way to priests and pastors and ministers, or even nuns, who love the show.

(...)

ACKLES It was amazing, but my point being that we're in one of the most religious places on earth, and they're catering to people from a show that deals with religiously inspired story lines.

PADALECKI But not telling the story that the Bible tells.

ACKLES That's the out. That's where we get a pass is that we're not trying to tell the story of the Bible. The writers take inspiration from biblical elements and then elaborate on them. So when we got into that original discussion, Eric came back with: “We're not here to tell the story of Jesus Christ. We're here to take that element and use it as inspiration for the story.” I think that alleviated any concerns that he and I had. And at the same time we really trusted Eric and still do to this day.

Another leap of faith came with season 2's "Hollywood Babylon,” which can be considered the show's first meta episode. It opened the door for everything from season 6's “The French Mistake” to the upcoming season 13 Scooby-Doo crossover.

ACKLES “Babylon” was the first time we took the piss out of ourselves and were poking fun at the industry.

COLLINS That has been a huge [help to know] that you can go to these absurd lengths and break conventions. Reading the script where we are doing a Scooby-Doo episode makes me feel proud. Where else can you do that?

Padalecki What other show does that and has the fandom at large excited that they’re going to do that? Can you imagine if JAG or NCIS did a Scooby-Doo episode? People would be like, “What?” Not only do we break the fourth wall, do we go meta, but those end up being some of our best episodes.

The season 5 finale holds the No. 1 spot on EW's episode ranking, but that hour was important for many reasons, one of which being that it was creator Kripke’s farewell.

COLLINS “Swan Song" was another milestone because that marked the culmination of Eric's original vision for the show. He had a five-season arc in mind that tied up perfectly with a bow, and then he moved on and handed the reins over to Sera [Gamble]. That became, “Okay, guys, now let's figure out how to start a new chapter or a new volume in a series of chapters.”

PADALECKI It's the story that we were all born from, those of us who were introduced in the first five years. So to have the creator step away? I would argue that it was the largest shift.

Gamble served as showrunner for seasons 6 and 7, the latter containing another major show moment: the death of Bobby (Jim Beaver), Sam and Dean's father figure.

PADALECKI Bobby was such a big part. Jeffrey Dean [Morgan] was never as much a part of the show. He was obviously a huge part of the story, but he did [just a few] episodes, and Jim Beaver did 60 or something. And there was something about his death that we knew it was final...or final for Supernatural.

ACKLES Because his character said, “I'm done.” So it wasn't like he got killed accidentally and we found a way to bring Bobby back. He was like, “I'm hanging it up, guys." It was heavy.

PADALECKI That probably was the first big death of someone who'd been there for years...

ACKLES [Interrupting] A fan favorite...

PADALECKI Yeah, and I remember [CW president] Mark Pedowitz saying something to the effect of “As a fan, I hated when Bobby died, but it was great television.” That's how I feel. 

ACKLES Like when Sam Winchester dies for good, it's going to be good television. But when Dean Winchester lives on, it's going to be great television. [Everyone laughs]

The season 12 finale saw the introduction of an apocalyptic alternate world in which Sam and Dean Winchester were never born and Heaven and Hell are locked in an eternal war. And with that world comes the possibility for a number of character returns. But does it feel like a turning point? 

COLLINS Well, I think the rift and the fact that you can go into the apocalypse world and you can all of a sudden revisit every character in a different iteration—there could be a different version of every character—it opens up this incredible panoply.

(...)

PADALECKI And if an alternate universe exists, then how many alternate universes exist? It's hard to say, because I feel like it's impossible to identify a turning point during the turn. In hindsight it will reveal how this story will affect the show, the canon at large and the way we move forward. But I certainly feel like we're opening up doors with the rift and with the son of Lucifer.

(...)

[pg 20-26]

THE CORONER'S VAN JUST PULLED INTO THE driveway. It's the middle of August in 2016, and Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are filming a scene for Supernatural's 12th season at a farmhouse in the Vancouver countryside, which is standing in for Iowa. Sam and Dean Winchester have ditched their flannels and jeans for sweaters and slacks in order to pose as social workers. They're doing what the two brothers do best: lying about their jobs in order to solve mysteries and kill monsters—in other words, saving people, hunting things.

When Supernatural premiered, Sam and Dean Winchester were born into the family business of hunting creatures, and it's a lifestyle that, over the years, has left them with very few people they love. Turns out, when you spend your days battling shape-shifters, witches and the occasional angel—they're not all nice, you know—nothing is guaranteed, especially not tomorrow.

But no matter how crazy the Winchesters' world gets—or how many worlds they have to face—one thing remains unchanged: At the center of it all are Ackles and Padalecki, whose Dean and Sam are the beating heart of the show (whether theirs are beating or not).

(...)

(...) even pulling up their favorite scenes on their phones to watch at the table. Padalecki can easily name the scripts that made him cry—“Heart,” “Sacrifice" and "Baby" all land on the list. The common thread is a heartfelt moment between the brothers where they get to talk about their crazy life as if, say, having visions of Lucifer is normal. “I feel like those situations where we treat the abstract and the fantastical as just part of life is where the show thrives,” Padalecki says. Ackles adds, “I think the show is truly at its best when it doesn't take itself too seriously, then it does take itself seriously, and it gets scary as s---,”.

But whether Supernatural is making fun of itself, scaring the living daylights out of its fans, or just letting the brothers have a moment on the hood of the Impala, it all works because of our central heroes. “It's about the Winchesters," says Crowley actor Mark Sheppard. “We really do care, and it's a testament to the boys that we still care."

(...)

As the sun sets on the Vancouver countryside, Sam and Dean ditch their slacks for jeans and send the coroner's van on its way. It won't be needed—this show, and the brotherly bond that holds it all together, has a lot of life left in it. Not that death has ever stopped it before.

[pg 32-34]

(...)

DEAN WINCHESTER Jensen Ackles

He was always the good son. Dean embraced the hunter's lifestyle, and he idolized his father despite John's many faults. But with the senior Winchester devoted to tracking down demons, it fell to Dean to help parent Sam, and he went to great lengths to protect his younger sibling-at one point even making a deal with a Crossroads demon (at the cost of his own life) to resurrect Sam from the dead. The two have had their differences, but throughout, Dean's brother was his first priority. "Watching out for you, it's kinda been my job, you know? But more than that, it's kinda who I am." Cynical and initially skeptical of the existence of God, Dean has nonetheless managed to become best buds with the angel Castiel (and on first name terms with both God and God's sister Amara). His self-sacrificing nature means he would do literally anything for those he considers family-and that's a short list: Sam, Mary and Castiel.

[pg 38]

Sympathy for the Devil

EVERY HERO NEEDS A HELL, BUT SUPERNATURAL HAS JUST TWO PROTAGONISTS AND HUNDREDS OF VILLAINS. HERE’S HOW THE SHOWRUNNERS APPROACHED SAM AND DEAN’S MANY FOES, FROM WELL-KNOWN URBAN LEGENDS TO SATAN HIMSELF. By Samantha Highfill

[pg 51]

Stairway to Heaven

SAM AND DEAN MET CASTIEL. AN ANGEL OF THE LORD, IN SEASON 4, AND IT CHANGED THE COURSE OF THE SHOW. BECAUSE ANGELS WEREN’T ALWAYS THE PLAN— AND CASTIEL WAS ONLY THE FIRST. By Samantha Highfill

(on page 57 there’s a small box of print on the corner that says: In what executive producer Robert Singer calls one of the series’ most “iconic images,” Castiel (Misha Collins) is introduced as the show’s first real angel.)

WHILE OTHER CHILDREN WERE LEARNING multiplication tables, Sam and Dean Winchester were hunting monsters. “When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45!” says Sam to Dean in the Supernatural pilot, recalling an episode when he was 9 years old. Clearly creature encounters were par for the course in the Winchester way of life. And when you grow up battling all the evil in the world, it's hard to believe in the good. But in the show's season 4 premiere, Dean would come face-to-face with the one supernatural entity he didn't think existed: angels.

“[Show creator] Eric [Kripke] wasn't in love with the idea of doing angels,” executive producer Robert Singer says of the early days. “But as things went on and we were getting into demons, I would say to him, 'I don't know how we do demons without doing angels.’”

The show tested the waters in season 2's “Houses of the Holy,” when Sam and Dean worked a case that appeared to involve angels then went in a different direction. It wasn't until late in the next season that the seraphim were finally embraced. When Dean was dragged to Hell, they needed to get him out. And if there's a Hell, it stands to reason there has to be a Heaven. "[The season 3 finale] was the gateway into this whole other world of angels and demons," executive producer Andrew Dabb says.

When it came time to spring Dean from Hell, it was Castiel, the show's first angel, who gripped him tight and raised him from perdition. But Castiel quickly established that he wasn't a typical cherubic angel. Many of the show's angels were, as Sam and Dean would put it, real dicks. “We have our own brand of angels and the idea that they were these warriors of God,” Singer says. “We introduced Castiel, and we just went from there. Heaven opened up different levels of angels.”

The moment Castiel spread his wings, the show expanded its universe. Castiel came bearing news of something much bigger: the Apocalypse, the ultimate showdown between good and evil-or more specifically between Archangels Michael and Lucifer. “We started with archangels and the idea that Lucifer was an archangel and was cast out of Heaven,” Singer says. “We certainly took some license, but it was all biblically grounded. We just took those things and went a step further to make them work for our story.”

From there the show explored all kinds of angels, from Zachariah and Naomi to Gabriel and Metatron, and, of course, it eventually arrived at God-or Chuck, if you prefer. “We didn't really know that Chuck was God when we first started with him," Singer says of introducing the character in season 4. (He wouldn't be revealed as God until season 11.) “That evolved. We wanted a relatable God, a God with foibles.”

Nine seasons later, what started as one angel in a trench coat has evolved into Lucifer, God, Leviathan and even a sister for God. “We play a little fast and loose with religion, but no one has really complained about it,” Singer says with a laugh. “So we'll just keep going.”

[pg 56-58]

CASTIEL Misha Collins

What can you say about the only member of Team Free Will who wears an overcoat? Cas has become a true member of the Winchester family.

[pg 61]

[shirtlesssammy]

14x19: Jack in the Box

Then:

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Now:

We open to Mary’s wake at the bunker. Hunters from all over have gathered to say goodbye. Dean gives his eulogy, and I want to briefly pause and really absorb it. He now sees Mary as a hunter, someone who’s tough and brave --and who can’t cook. She’s real to him and her loss isn’t just a symbolic loss of a hypothetical childhood anymore. Also, while Cas is still possibly dead to Dean, he’s standing up there with his brothers saying goodbye to his mother-in-law Mary.

Just as they toast Mary, a hatchet comes flying in and kills one of the hunters. Bobby’s back, and he just killed a wraith, because Cas couldn’t detect it I guess. *scrambles to find all the wraith talk from earlier this season* (also bless Jim Beaver for putting up a poll on who we liked better: OG or New Bobby. There’s nothing wrong with New Bobby, but he’s not Bobby.)  Anyway, Bobby and Sam talk. Bobby asks about “the other one.” Sam says he “seems to be doing ok.” Lololol. Sam wants to break open some Scotch and keep talking about Mary. Dean deflects -he’s all talked out. Sam, Bobby, and Cas reconvene in the kitchen and start to talk about Jack. Dean wanders in and Cas goes through the face journeys of face journeys before asking if he needs anything (*crying noise, crying noise*). Dean needs a drink, and to get out of the bunker. (Spoiler alert: He does not, indeed, need a drink.)

Sam and Bobby continue to talk about Jack. “There’s only one way this ends,” Bobby insists. Cas, YOU BLESSED ANGEL, agrees. They have to find and help Jack. Lol, Bobby is under a different impression.

Jack, meanwhile, is still grappling with what he did to Mary. He’s sitting in an alley against a blue wall --much like he was when he was first navigating the world, wondering if he was worth all the effort. He prays to his mom (and on a rewatch, I do think he’s talking to Kelly here. Sam invoked Kelly in the other scene and Jack has always looked to his mother’s good nature to guide him), but Lucifer shows up.

He pushes against Jack’s better angels, but Jack thinks he can still talk to the WInchesters, and make them understand what happened was an accident.

Cut to THE second MOST HEARTBREAKING MOMENT OF THE EPISODE. Dean is alone, out in the woods, with only his car to keep him company, crying his eyes out. He’s not drowning his sorrows in booze, he’s not falling back on any vice to cope. Sure he’s hiding from Sam and Cas, but he’s full on grieving for his mom here. He’s letting himself feel these emotions. He’s also blaming himself and hating himself for failing her again, I’m sure --and good lord, I need to wrap him in a blanket right now.

*Jarring scene change alert*

Cas is now in heaven. Ok. He meets with Dumah and is looking for Naomi. She’s locked up because The Empty invaded Heaven under her watch. (Um, this entity is bigger than Heaven...locking up one of your few remaining angels because she happened to be in charge at the time seems really stupid.)

Back at the bunker, Dean’s back. Sam wants to talk about Mary -where she is. Dean is not willing to talk about it.

Jack is visited by Dumah (sidenote: How did she find him? Where did she come from? Why can’t I just handwave this bullshit away like I’m supposed to?) Dumah tells Jack what he wants to hear. They head to an atheist author to tell him to renounce his heretical ways and when he doesn’t, Jack turns him into a pillar of salt. No, Jack bby!!

Cas  is back at the bunker letting Sam and Dean know that heaven is helping with Jack. Cas, you poor trusting fool. Sam tells the others about the now pillar of salt professor. There were other deaths too.

Jack and Dumah are now in heaven because Jack can totally be in heaven while not dead now. Jack starts listening to people praying to God. Jack then flaps in to visit a prayer group. He asks if they want to go to heaven. YUP! He’s here to make their dreams come true.

At a hospital, male modeling Team Free Will stride through the hallways, Sam’s hair blowing romantically in the---

Uh.

Sorry. Got distracted.

They’re here to check out the pastor who was attacked by worms. We are relieved to see him alive, ya’ll. Still super grossed out, but relieved. The pastor tells them that Jack took the prayer group to Heaven to become angels. While Cas heads off to Heaven to get to the bottom of this, Dean and Sam head back to the bunker. Dean’s hatched a plan to stop Jack. It’s hugs!

Er, actually, it’s the ma’lak box. Sam’s dubious, but Dean is absolutely certain: the only way to stop Jack is to trap him in the archangel-warded box. Dean proposes that Jack only has to stay in the box long enough to “finish the spell to fix his soul.” Which is, he admits, pure fiction. Dean assigns Sam the task of lying to Jack because he’s “always been in his corner.” It hurtses Sam...it hurtses me… Sam reluctantly agrees.

At the heavenly portal playground, Cas talks to an angel huddled around a burn barrel. Aramael informs Cas that Heaven is closed...to Cas. BURN. Cas shifts into his fighting stance. This can only end poorly.

Upstairs, Jack zaps blue light into each of the human’s eyes, to Dumah’s delight. Aramael arrives - NOT dead, only for Cas to toss him aside. Surprise, peeps! Dumah is NOT AMUSED.

Jack is super proud of his work. Oooooh honey. (Cue Death drolly saying, “I don’t see an angel, I see a mutated human.”) Cas asks to talk to Dumah with his smitey face on. I’m expecting a polite, measured conversation, followed by an exchange of pleasantries.

At the bunker, Sam continues to struggle with Dean’s plan. He worries that it will fail and, fidgeting, he prays to Jack. He appeals to Jack’s notion of family: “Sometimes bad things happen but we’re your family” and together they can “get through this.” Dean watches Sam, his battle mask on.

Upstairs, Cas accuses Dumah of using Jack. She doesn’t deny it.

Dumah insists that she’s saving the world through her use of Jack. Cas insists that Jack is a child and needs guidance now that he’s without a soul. Dumah threatens Cas with the fate of Mary and John Winchester if he doesn’t let Jack stay in Heaven. While Dumah gloats, thinking she finally has him with that threat, Cas stabs her. She erupts in light and...well...don’t fuck with Cas. You’d think angels would learn that by now? I guess Aramael did. Good job, Aramael.

Sam tells Jack that his mother would want Jack to flap down and speak with the Winchesters. Honey, baby, you KNOW that’s not true if she knew what you were up to. Still, the invocation of Jack’s mother is what convinces Jack in the end. He flies to the bunker.

Jack tells the Winchesters that he was “so glad” to hear from them and that he missed them. He reports on his Heaven-led activities like a kid delivering a book report. Dean and Sam, clearly freaked out, approach slowly. Jack brings up Mary’s death and none of his agonizing from the last episode and a half appear now. Faced with the Winchesters, he calmly tells them about Mary’s death. Though he’s still filled with confusion, and doesn’t remember exactly what happened. “I guess I snapped,” he concludes.

Hatred and pain blooms on Dean’s face. If there was ever any doubt in his mind, it’s gone now. MAN, Jensen Ackles, you are K I L L I N G me. I’m so sad for Dean, but I am also chilled by that look on his face. I mean, if looks could kill, right? I admit that I’m less sad about Jack, and more worried for the state of Dean and the TFW family, here.

Dean tells Jack they forgive him. Sam grimaces and does a truly terrible job acting his part. Oh, Sammy.

Still, Jack buys it. I mean, WWWD? Locking themselves in torture boxes for the greater good totally checks out. (Although they lock him in with no actual intention of helping him get better so…….that does deviate from the standard “family” M.O.) They lead him to the ma’lak box and close him inside.

I would like to take this moment to state that I got claustrophobic driving down a tight parking garage ramp this week so watching Jack get closed up in this box is NOT COOL for me. I should not be recapping this before bed.

They lock him in and leave the room. Jack calls for them and pulls out his phone to look around in a scene terribly reminiscent of Dean’s nightmares. The Winchesters stand outside the door and listen to Jack calling for them. They don’t answer.

Instead, they go have a drink in the kitchen.

Sam confesses that he’s not sure he can lock Jack in the box for an eternity. Dean comments on the liquor. I die a little inside. Dean, bby!

While Jack starts to freak out in the box (JACK I WAS ALREADY THERE LIKE 3 MINUTES AGO UGH), Lucifer chats him up. Lucifer tells Jack what the Winchesters were up to, solidifying Jack’s loyalty to him. Lucifer tells him to break out of the box.

Cas arrives at the bunker and tells Sam and Dean that Jack was being manipulated by Heaven. They need to find Jack and tell him not to trust the other angels. Er…….Sam reveals that Jack’s at the bunker. In the box. Cas is horrified.

Cue Jack, breaking out of the box with his powers. The bunker rattles. The box glows. When they arrive at the room it’s too late. Jack emerges, eyes aglow. Because, you know, it was built to contain an archangel. Not a nephilim.

Wherps.

Surely it will be hugs and rainbows for the season finale. Only good things happen in cemeteries on this show. I’ll bring the snuggly teddy bears and chocolate fountain!

Ask Not for Whom the Quotes Toll, They Toll for Thee:

A hunter’s burial memorial complete with monster. Mary would have appreciated that.

So he lost his capacity for good through an act of goodness?

Heaven never really had any mercy, Castiel.

Long shots are kind of our thing.

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