Why The Ending Of Supernatural Has Fans So Divided
"Supernatural" stuck around on the small screen for roughly 15 years, enjoying the kind of tenure that most television shows never come close to achieving. The Eric Kripke-created program racked up 15 seasons and well over 300 episodes while accumulating numerous awards and accolades and expanding its fanbase week after week. Naturally, this runaway success and popularity made the prospect of concluding the show rather daunting. Nevertheless, it finally happened on November 19, 2020, with the episode "Carry On," which took on the monumental task of ending "Supernatural" in a satisfying way.
Despite the high-stakes nature of the installments that came before it, "Carry On" brings the story back to something of a status quo with a five-year time jump. Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) go back to their typical monster-hunting antics. However, things quickly turn dire when Dean is impaled with a spike by a vampire named Jenny (Christine Chatelain) and dies in Sam's arms. We then see him enter Heaven and reunite with old friends while Sam lives out his life and eventually dies of old age. To close out the episode and the show, the Winchester boys reunite in the afterlife.
Some may see this as a nice conclusion to "Supernatural," but others couldn't help but express their frustration and disappointment with it. Here's why it continues to divide the fandom.
Some thought the finale was fitting, while others felt it was disappointing
In June of 2022, Redditor cwhagedom opened a thread that asserted why the "Supernatural" finale was both fitting and necessary in their eyes. The penultimate episode, "Inherit the Earth," didn't exactly tie the show up in a neat little bow, so that's where "Carry On" picked up the slack. Many in the thread agreed with the original post and expressed their love for seeing what became of Sam and Dean in the afterlife. On the other hand, several commenters explained their disappointment in the finale, with their reasons ranging from Dean's unexpected demise to Sam's atrocious old man wig.
While many of these elements would've likely remained, and in response, the "Supernatural" community would still be split, "Carry On" almost unfolded quite differently. According to showrunner Andrew Dabb in the book "Supernatural 15 Seasons: The Crew Member's Souvenir," when Sam and Dean got to Heaven, they'd enter a rebuilt Harvelle's Roadhouse packed with friends and allies from over the years. The band Kansas was even set to appear to play their hit song "Carry On Wayward Son." Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible for such a star-studded version of the episode to come to fruition (via TV Insider).
At the end of the day, "Supernatural" is well and truly over, and even though it wasn't consistently perfect, it kept the majority of viewers entertained more often than not. It's just too bad that its final farewell remains such a point of contention among fans and likely will for years to come.