This post has very mind spoilers for Supernatural.
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This is it.
It’s weird to think about, to be perfectly honest. We’ve all been on this road for so long. Sure, some folks have taken detours while others might have decided to get in a different kind of car but the Supernatural family has always been there for each other. Folks get down on fandom (mostly due to people who very much aren’t fans of anything co-opting the term) but it’s insane to think about what we’ve done as a group of humans over the last fifteen years.
Let’s set aside the fact that we kept a show on the air for fifteen years – a crazy feat in and of itself for genre fare – and look outside of the scope of the Impala and the bunker. Think about the insane amount of money this fandom has raised through various campaigns through Stands. Consider the existence of Misha Collins’ charity Random Acts and all the good it does through the help of this group of weirdos that calls itself a family. GISH, once GISHWHES, the most ridiculous scavenger hunt anyone’s ever been a part of. The game that makes us all look absurd and care for our fellow humans in the same act. We’ve built schools. We’ve gotten food to the hungry… the list is endless.
The Supernatural family has figuratively moved mountains. (Let’s face it, if Misha could make it a task on next year’s hunt he’d be all over it, but we’re not quite to “literally” yet.) That kind of impact, no matter how much or little you were involved in it, leaves a mark. It changes you.
In the spirit of the show itself, all of the good Misha Collins, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and the rest of the cast helped inspire and drive out of their fans showed them something that is difficult to make clear to people: that one small act from one single human change someone else’s world. It’s a lot of pressure knowing you have that kind of power. It’s almost as scary as knowing that you’re writing your own story for the first time in your life. Sam and Dean are going to tell us all about that tonight.
Supernatural isn’t just a show. It surpassed “just” quite some time ago, in fact. Series endings are always hard. (What the hell are we going to watch next?) But this is different. It isn’t just a finale. It feels like we’re saying goodbye to all the good we did, to the friends we made, and to the characters that helped show us that family don’t end in blood. What insane person is going to inspire us to dress up like the Flash while slow-motion running next to a Hadron Collider while benefitting charity now? What if no story never impacts us the same way again? What if we lose touch with all of the people we connected with because of this story and the power it showed us?
The answers here are all obvious, with none of them bringing the level of comfort that they should. The same insane person is going to tell you to dress up as the Flash and to slow motion run next to the Hadron Collider. It’s possible, but unlikely, that you’ll never connect with a story in the same way again. As for those people you connected with? Well, that’s the thing about free will. It gets a little messy, and life happens and people do go their separate ways. But look at how many of your faves went their separate ways and still came together like family when the time came on Supernatural. No matter where you go, those memories are always yours.
All of this is to say that it’s okay that today hits different. It’s okay that you’re more sad than you’d usually be to say goodbye. It’s fine that it’s all bittersweet and you’ve got a lot of feelings about the whole situation. There will be many single man tears tonight, to be sure. But you still have the same moral obligation that you did the first time the man who plays the baby in a trenchcoat showed it to you all those years ago. You help each other, you do what's right, you speak your mind even when you're scared, and you always remember that family don't end in blood.
So, with all that out of the way, it’s time to get that pie in the oven and the beer chilling in the fridge. We’ve got one last ride tonight at 8PM EST.
