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CHUCK: No doubt–endings are hard. But then again... nothing ever really ends, does it?
–5x22, “Swan Song”
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CHUCK (to AMARA): Come on! You know the rules. I can create, I can destroy, but I can't do a hard reset– reboot everything –without you.
–15x17, “Unity”
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METATRON: And it was something to watch. What you brought to His Earth, all the mayhem, the murder. Just the raw, wild invention of God's naked apes... it was mind-blowing. But really... really, it was your storytelling. That is the true flower of free will. At least as you've mastered it so far. When you create stories, you become gods, of tiny, intricate dimensions unto themselves.
–8x21, “The Great Escapist”
Nothing stays dead on Supernatural, including the text of the canon itself.
As a singularly unique piece of media, it grew organically in a collaborative capacity between writers and fans, and also inorganically through a fight between multiple powers behind the scenes that was partially lost. Unbelievably, these concepts are not mutually exclusive. And as a part of this–both accidentally and by design–the current state of the franchise demonstrates exactly what season 15 did its best to convey: that characters can grow beyond those who create them to have wills of their own, and that stories are living breathing entities that can be allowed to shift and change for the better when placed in skilled hands.
Supernatural currently feels like an unfinished melody because it is one, but damn if the universe isn’t doing its hardest to have it be seen to completion. To get fanciful about it… at this point, the story feels like it’s actively fighting to be told. And the cast seems to agree. To hear them tell it, especially Jensen Ackles, it’s not a matter of if there’s a sequel but rather a matter of when. The true “if” will be whether or not that eventual sequel will be done in a way that meets the full extent of its potential.
As it stands now, Supernatural is poised to be able to make no-holds-barred television history. It’s impossible to overstate how phenomenal a “Chuck won” angle could be for a future sequel plotline, to the point where I’m unsure any sequel would be sufficiently compelling and impactful without it. It’s the eternal optimism in me, but I believe the writers may have been counting on that, because several loose plot threads and unanswered questions are teased throughout season 15 to give plenty of future storytelling fodder.
Setting aside that the characters all need justice, especially Jack… at minimum, any continuation that does not include explicit reciprocal love between Dean and Cas is doomed to fail or at the very least be unremarkable in the cultural sphere. But if a narrative were to openly address not only their romantic relationship but also the metanarrative odds that it defied in order to exist in their universe and in ours, it would once again retroactively alter perceptions of the canon that came before; bring justice to fans and creators alike; and highlight how and why this is one of the most incredible stories in all of media.
Of course, to play devil’s advocate: I could be wrong about any of this massive analysis. Regardless of how strong my argument is and how secure I am in its validity, once again, I don’t know the writers personally and I’m not infallible. Though I can’t imagine what other sufficient explanation there is for most of these elements, even if parts of this analysis are wrong in some fashion… does it really matter?
I mean, it certainly does matter because of the topic of censorship. But in terms of the plot in the story: sure, let’s say Chuck wasn’t meant to win through Jack being sacrificed, or let’s say the charted ouroboros structure observed in “loop theory” wasn’t strictly intentional. I especially doubt that the former could be the case, but of course nothing’s impossible. If these overall perceptions are somehow a byproduct of a perfectly imperfect storytelling storm, that doesn’t change the fact that it all adds up to become the story’s final execution. We can tell that the characters didn’t fully break free and it was on purpose, and that’s the ultimate point: it means Chuck still won one way or another, even if you want to tweak the details or order of events in the plot. Even if some elements of this analysis aren’t perfect or some individual pieces weren’t fully part of authorial intent, then the remarkably cohesive picture it creates turns into yet another example of the story and the characters growing beyond what was meant from them, in my opinion.
The current state of the narrative and how it needs to do justice to its characters in the future remains more or less the same regardless of exact plot line potential. “God power” needs to no longer have personhood. Jack needs to not be burdened with his parents’ expectations but instead unconditionally loved and forgiven as their son. The cosmological structure of the universe needs to be fixed, addressing the unfair ways Heaven operates and the unfair way people can be doomed to the Empty or to Purgatory based on what they are rather than who they are. Dean and Cas need to be reunited with full certainty in their individual identities, openly mutually confess their romantic love, and live in their personal truths. Sam and Eileen need to reunite, and Sam needs to step into being a community leader, creating the form of “the hunting life” he wants and needs rather than heteronormative domesticity. There are an endless number of unique ways a continuation could accomplish all of these aspects at once.
In the meantime, while we wait to see where the story might be taken in the future, we are apparently going into the past. Because there’s going to be a prequel.
At the time of writing this, the first episode of The Winchesters is set to air in a couple of weeks. I am ridiculously excited for two reasons: it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun with new characters who I can’t wait to love, and also, despite knowing very little… I think it has the potential to be genius.
The Winchesters has been positioned as being the story of Dean Winchester searching for the truth about his parents’ past, and he is going to be our wonderful (likely unreliable) narrator for the ride. What this tells us immediately is that the story we’ve been told about John Winchester and Mary Campbell is fake, even beyond the ways we already know it was altered in the original canon. We know how John and Mary’s story ends; but now, through this reinvention, we are being told there was more to their lives in their beginning. Hidden depths were somehow erased before they later became puppets and tools in Chuck’s machinations.
There is potential for both Dean and the audience to see this in John and Mary’s story and be able to empathize with it, understand it, and then apply that understanding to the larger original story framework including what happened at the end of season 15. What's real is erased; the found family you love is taken from you; you are manipulated because of that loss in a world of supernatural deals and lies; and, eventually, you die because of it. If that's what more or less happens to John and Mary and it’s shown to be a tragedy– and it will be –then the same applies to season 15.
If this goes along those lines, then viewers who pay attention will be given the tools to recognize this… and so will Dean. As the narrator whose truths will also revealingly be reflected in the truths of the story he’s telling, he will also see what happened to his parents, and he’ll be able to realize that what happens to him, Sam, and their family is equally unjust.
It puts a spotlight on the intergenerational cycle of this franchise. This prequel seems primed to emphasize the thematic elements of what made the end of the original show a “loss”: trauma between parents and children, the erasure of queer found family, and a love story being meddled with by supernatural forces.
At the same time, it seems it’s going to redefine the past . Much of the extra-narrative reason why “Chuck won” had to do with the obsession with the sanctity of the classic Winchester family lore, and the idea that Supernatural was primarily about the Winchesters. All other topics—like queerness and found family—were implied to be secondary or lesser because they “weren’t part of the story at the start.” The tragedy of the Winchester family being forced into predetermined roles is already a staple of the original canon, so this prequel will expand on that, but it will also reach backwards into the origin story to retroactively make those other themes central to its beginning as well.
Of course, this show is still on the CW, so it’s likely beholden to at least some of the same forces of censorship that hindered the original, and that’s important to keep in mind; I anticipate subtext and mirroring. Nonetheless, it has the potential to “change the game” if done well. It could alter the past to align it with what the story became about in the present, and therefore go a long way towards removing all of those harmful, limiting excuses about its future.
And that would perfectly, beautifully, brilliantly tee up a sequel.
…Or, y’know, I could be entirely deranged seeing imagined potential in a show I’ve yet to witness at all, let alone in full. Definitely a possibility.
But! Whatever the prequel may or may not be doing, I intend to have the time of my life enjoying it. And as long as it doesn’t openly jeopardize Dean’s storyline, I’ll still be eagerly hoping for the sequel we deserve.
Transformative fanworks and fandom can also heal many wounds and pass a lot of time. But I think it’s the most natural thing in the world to crave to see the original narrative reach its full potential, especially for the sake of everyone who’s loved and fought for the truths this story still has left to tell. If anything is capable of being a real-life Tulpa, it’s this.
I (finally) leave you with one last thought:
Here’s how I like to reframe the “ending” in my mind.
Episode 15x20 is not a finale. It’s the start of a potential continuation.
The end of the narrative “loop” the characters are stuck in happens at the end of 15x19. After that, 15x20 positions them for a new start. There are serendipitous parallels to the fans’ Supernatural play in episode 10x05 (“Fan Fiction”). After the Intermission, the brothers are driving off into the distance; it’s just “the two of them against the world”; and then a cover of Carry On Wayward Son is performed, just like the boys were meant to sing together with their family at the Roadhouse. (In lieu of that, 15x20 still included a fan-made cover of the song.)
Act 1 is over. As of 15x20, we’re now at the start of Act 2. And, well, like Marie says in that episode…
In Act 2, “we do explore the nature of Destiel.”
CAS: I knew it, Dean. When I was with Jack’s mother, she… You know, Kelly just had faith that Jack would be good for the world, and I felt it, too. I knew it. And then, when everything went wrong, and God took him from us… I was lost in a way I’ve never been before. Because I knew the story wasn’t over. I knew Jack wasn’t done. And I was right.
DEAN: Well, here’s to being right.
–15x12, “Galaxy Brain”
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METATRON: What makes a story work? Is it the plot, the characters, the text? The subtext? And who gives a story meaning? Is it the writer? Or you?
–9x18, “Meta Fiction”
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ED: Gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day.
–3x13, “Ghostfacers”