On Thursday night, the series finale of the long-running hit fantasy show Supernatural aired on The CW. It served as an epilogue to the show’s fifteenth season as well as the entire series as a whole. The twentieth and final episode was titled “Carry On,” which is a reference to the song “Carry On My Wayward Son” by Kansas, a tune that was heavily featured throughout Supernatural and serves as the series unofficial theme song. It was directed by showrunner Robert Singer and written by co-showrunner Andrew Dabb.
The series finale sees the Winchester Brothers Sam and Dean (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) go through their lives without the control of God (Rob Benedict), who had been manipulating each of their stories before they were able to defeat him with the help of their friend Jack (Alexander Calvert). After enjoying their now semi-normal routines, it does not take long brothers to be pulled into another one of their supernatural cases. In this caper, a group of vampires have kidnapped a pair of children after murdering their parents. After interrogating one of them, the brothers face off against the vampires in an old barn. During their physical encounter with the vampires, Dean is impaled in a piece of rebar. With no one able to direct their story and protect them from dying, Dean dies from his wound after an emotional goodbye with Sam. In Heaven, Dean reunites with their friend and father figure Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver), who informs him that his family is waiting for them. After the audience sees Sam go on through his life without Dean, with him having a wife and kid in the process, he dies of old age, before reuniting with Dean in Heaven as the episode and series ends.
While critics praised the series finale and considered it to be a satisfying conclusion, fans were much less enthusiastic about the final episode. Much of the criticism was reserved for Dean’s underwhelming death, with many people saying that it was a cheap move and poorly handled. Fans also panned the budget within the episode, as many aspects such as the aging effects on Sam were very unconvincing. It is a shame to see Eric Kripke’s hit series end on a low note, but there is no denying the impact that Supernatural made on television.
