The Fiction of Free Will: A Supernatural Video Essay 

even if you take away the ship aspect, cas was still his best friend for a decade. are you telling me that he wouldn't have a reaction to realizing that he's in heaven with him? that is just being dumb.

The fact that they had no issue making god a villain and glorifying an abusive father but won't allow a gay relationship is baffling.

Imagine the impact of just simply putting Cas in the passenger seat of the Impala in heaven. Just pan over before Dean drives off, a shared smile and BOOM. Still not what they deserved but better... So much better.

Honestly, I think regardless of what type of SPN fan you are, we should all be pissed that John got even a moment in Dean's heaven with everything he did to those boys. He shouldn't even be in heaven.

Free will only exists in the Spanish dub

The thing about supernatural is that it was the last of its kind. Most shows nowadays will barely last as long as supernatural did, with the Netflix show format becoming increasingly popular. Shows like the X-files, with extremely slow burn romances have essentially disappeared in the new era of television and SPN was truly an old relic of its time. It could be the first ever gay slow burn of that scale.

"Dean never gets to live beyond what his low self worth thought he deserved. He acheived his freedom and it was once again ripped from him months, or if we're being generous, a few years afterwards. He never broke out of this cycle. He never stopped hunting. He never grew out of his codependency with Sam. And then we're told that this character who has hated himself and struggled with suicidal behavior throughout the whole series can only find his true happiness in death. And that his abusive father who instilled all of this self hatred in him in the first place is right down the road from him." Dean has always been my favorite, I'm always sucker for a character with a lot of angst and daddy issues, and seeing him get this kind of ending after 15 fucking seasons of suffering feels really awful. On so many levels.

The last two episodes feel like they were written by someone who watched the first episode and then was given brief summaries of some of the other major plot points/characters and about 24 hours.

I would literally pay to have that "Dean is bi, actually" video

Me having never seen an episode of Supernatural: well this looks interesting Me at the end of this video shoving popcorn in my mouth: Tell me more funny words magic man

even if you take away the ship, the way that they treated cas as expendable is disgusting. and the show had tried doing it since he was introduced. cas, canonically was the only one who ever truly had free will, being the only thing in every single universe to ever break away from the chains of chuck. it mirrors how in real life, no matter how many times they tried to take cas away from us, he was always brought back because that’s what the people wanted. them ending it with him dying and sam and dean not giving a shit, really shows the show’s true feelings on what they thought about and felt about castiel, regardless of destiel.

the comment about them trying to kill off Castiel and him just being like "No." reminds me of how when Supernatural ended like 3 months ago, it kept trending again and again during December cause of the other dubs making Destiel canon again lol

I was one of the fans that fell off and then came back to see the last couple of episodes, but let me tell you I was SO angry to find out that John was just chilling in heaven, fuck that guy lmao. And what they did to Dean was just criminal. I'm pissed off on behalf of everyone who stuck with the show honestly

My favorite SPN finale hot take of all time is still: "Dean Winchester deserves to be in heaven right now, getting his back blown out by a man who truly loves and appreciates him." RIP Castiel, you saw Dean for who he was, start to finish, and you loved him.

Imagine painting 7/8 of the next Mona Lisa and then giving your two-year-old niece a box of crayons to finish it

40:32 okay idk about y'all but I would 100% watch a two hour video about you deep diving into all the scenes that pointed to Dean being bisexual throughout the years, cause hoo boy are there a lot.

Well you see, the show's refusal to acknowledge Sam's love interest in Eileen is meant to parallel the refusal to acknowledge Dean's love interest. Excellent writing. QED Destiel is canon

I cried so hard at your Dean character analysis. My mom came to my room to ask me if i was ok. no mom, i'm not. dean deserved so much better. cas deserved to be loved. i'm heartbroken.

The fact that they had deans abuser living so close to him in heaven is totally inconsistent with how John was written in during the earlier seasons. And the fact that Jack/Cas when rebuilding heaven would let John in even after how he abused the brothers is laughable

In an effort to keep their reputation as a good show, Supernatural destroyed 15 years in 2 episodes. I can't fathom how terribly they managed to fuck up

1) The thing that gets me about Sam's ending is how it re-affirms what's been implied in SPN since early seasons: that Sam is being held back from his true happiness by Dean. The fact that Sam doesn't quit hunting after Chuck's death (when he gains free will) but quits immediately after Dean's death holds the horrible implication that all along the only way for Sam to truly be free was if Dean was dead. I could stretch this further and even add that it sullies his choice not to bring Dean back, changing it from being driven by growth by opening up the possible reading that he only ever brought Dean back in previous seasons because Chuck was controlling their choices despite their true wishes. 2) They definitely decided not to bring Eileen back so that the would have an excuse against any accusations of homophobia. "Ofc we weren't avoiding addressing Dean/Cas! See, we didn't bring back Sam's love either!" 3) I will admit that Kevin is treated horribly (esp as one of the few poc on the show) but I will raise you Adam. The third, and most unloved, Winchester brother didn't even get his name included on the table. 4) Now that you've put Bar-owner Dean in my head, I love it! I can't stop thinking of how it could have been executed while still obeying covid guidelines ie. perhaps have Sam show up after closing time (so empty large room w only two actors) w baby pics and mention what he and Eileen have been up to (maybe recently retired due to the baby). And since we on the topic of improvements, Dean's death scene could have also been greatly improved (while also resolving Cas' ending) by having Cas show up (distanced) during it. Imagine the catharsis, as Dean grows weaker, the camera switches to Dean's perspective. He's holding Sam's hand, his vision blurs and as Sam goes out of focus, a smiling Cas comes into focus instead from beyond Sam's shoulder and Dean smiles slightly in return. Sam glances behind him and sees nothing and when he looks back at Dean, he's already gone. This would have resolved Cas' fate (we can still find out the details later in heaven from Bobby), while leaving the scene open to interpretation enough for them to still avoid addressing the big homo elephant in the room and it would have removed the awful message that perpetually suicidal dean just always wanted to die by shifting the focus from death to him knowing there's ''another life'', another chance if you will, waiting on the other side for him. 5) in essence, there was no excuse (including covid) that could justify an ending this bad. It's interesting that some of the most defining stories and characters of SPN were birthed by the writers having to get creative in the face of external, unexpected crises and yet . . .

I can't believe Wincest won out over Destiel in the end

I don't know why but "it stands to reason that had Dean ended up with someone romantically, it would've been Cas. Unfortunately... 'It's important to remember that we live in a society--'" just GOT me. I died laughing but it was half in pain because...yeah... :') love the video!! you did a great job

It's dean's death that really pisses me off. As someone who struggles with self worth issues, finally having a character on TV that you can relate to getting told he could only be happy in heaven is devastating

Putting all the scenes of Dean flirting with men over the discussion of how Dean was straight was a bold move- i loved it

Me: * grabs pop corn, tissues and a clown mask * I'm ready

They established some of the best plot lines. And did absolutely nothing with them. Cas's fading grace. The wound that connected Chuck and Sam. Heaven being powered down. The empty being loud which could've woken up all the angels and demons in it. The fact that there are other gods, below the main God like the luck lady who could've helped in the main battle. And most importantly, Cas being the only being in the entire multiverse that was acting completely on free will. He was unaccounted for by both Chuck and Billie and I can't believe that they established that... AND THEN NOTHING. Instead we got Lucifer back for the millionth time. Would it really hurt them to do something different? The whole reason why they never even mentioned Cas's confession afterwards is because they know if they do, it NEEDS to be followed by Dean's confession. That's the only way and well...they can't have that so they decided to erase Cas's entire existence. Cool. We know how depressed, worried, self destructive, unable to function, and downright suicidal Dean got everytime Cas died, especially after season 12 and you're telling me that he sees Cas confess his undying love for him, says that he cared about everything because of him and ultimately sacrifices himself to save Dean and Dean's just....cool with it? They didn't even have Dean utter his name once after 15x18. Pitiful. Honestly, pitiful. Him saying "their sacrifice would go to waste if we didn't keep on living" is the most un Dean like line I've ever heard. Hell, Sam showed more emotion that Dean in the finale. And they even established how easy it is to summon someone from the empty. Nick did it to Lucifer as he had his blood with him, Dean also had Cas's blood on his jacket but did nothing. They didn't even ask Jack to bring him back once he became God. What the actual hell? And they couldn't give Dean a happy montage of a married life because they knew he could only have that with Cas so they KILLED HIM OFF. When he finally started to move on, when he finally thought he deserved happiness. And Sam had to live the rest of his life without his brother, without his best friend, without Jack AND ALSO WITHOUT EILEEN? Say it with me, Chuck won. Remember the ending he wrote that Becky said was terrible because of what he did to Sam and Dean and the fact that no one even mentions Cas.....yeah that's the ending we got lmao. And throughout they show that the writers are evil. With Metatron and then Chuck, now we know that they were right because the writers truly are evil.

Honestly, I don't understand why the writers seem to think canonically making Dean bi strips him of his "ladies man" character trait and makes him pretty much gay. Um... you do realize bi people with strong leanings toward one particular gender exist and "Dean definitely prefers woman" and "Dean happen to be in love with a man rn" can co exist? I prefer woman, STRONGLY prefer women, women are my jam, I've contemplated whether or not I'm actually just straight...(ish?) (I'm masc nonbinary). Low and behold the love of my life is a man so hopefully someday soon my woman loving ass is gonna have a husband. see what I mean?

everybody always forgets to mention this but... they left a plotline involving the empty that was INSANELY interesting and practically set up freakin dominoes for striking a non-sacrificial deal to rescue Cas. I was so pumped to find out wtf happens after Jack wakes up *the entire fucking empty.* I mean, it's not like the empty is one of the most interesting and mainly untapped pieces of lore to come out out of the later seasons right? It's not like Jack is now god right? it's not like literal god's father is now dead, in the empty, and he can do something the empty desperately wants... *right??*

In the end, the show not only have the worst case of q*eerbaiting but probably the fastest execution of fridge your gay trope. Cas confessed and died immediately with Dean shock pikachu face as the last thing he saw...

i knew the ending was bad but jesus christ that’s so much worse than i thought

Me: stopped watching supernatural at the end of the leviathan series because it felt too repetitive to me. Also me: giving my full attention to almost 2hrs of intellectual supernatural analysis, crying at your description of Dean's personality and issues, fully believing in Destiel being 100% legit and so romantic and beautiful omg, feeling represented and highly turned on at Dean's obvious bisexuality, and also DEVISING A PLOT TO FIGHT THE WRITERS AND SHOWRUNNERS OF THE LAST TWO EPISODES THAT I DIDNT EVEN WATCH!!! Sam and Dean deserved so much better! Idc why I'm crying in the club rn

Thank you so much for mentioning the Billie issue! As a black fan of the show I was so disappointed to see them fall back into their "kill the black people" ways. Also Death remaining neutral was the better option.

i've actually explained this to ppl before, how the show basically retconned the seasons where Supernatural focused on found family and relationships outside of Sam and Dean's relationship, making the final episode a carbon copy of first-season Sam and Dean's expectations of their ending while ignoring over ten seasons of character growth that would have made that ending obsolete if the writers were actually competent. cas and jack deserve better, i rest my case

Gods picturing an ending where Sam and Eileen form a network of hunters (taking Bobby’s role) and dean retires to start a bar with cas (taking jody’s) is like looking into the mirror of erised

These two videos perfectly encapsulate my love/hate relationship with this show. As someone who struggles with internalized self hatred and an inability to handle anything in a healthy manner, I always related to Dean in that way. I watched his progression through the show and hoped it would end with him learning to value himself. I hoped he would learn that its ok for him to continue living and enjoy life, and that happiness is not something to fear. That is all something I myself am trying to learn. Seeing that they ended the show with all of his expectations about himself and what he deserves in life coming true feels... wrong. They truly didn't know what story they were telling. Also, I fucking love Eileen. How DARE they screw her over like that.

God, now you've said it I can't unsee it. The real ending is that Cas fought against the writers to be happy until they had to give it to him, and ultimately all of them were punished for it. :(

Man this ending really gave me PTSD flashbacks from Voltron. The shows seemed to suffer similar fates.

Chuck wasn't the writers. Chuck was 'glamoured' as the writers to throw off the audience. Chuck was the network, he was the executive producer Ro- [gunshot]

I don't know if it's just me but Dean not grieving Cas seem not only out of character but homophobic. He learns that his best friend has feelings for him and died for him but in 15.19 and 15.20 its like it doesn't matter??? Dean's constipated with feelings, we know that, but Cas was his family

You pulled all the words out of my mouth about the whole "Dean cannot be bi" thing. I actually realized I am bisexual bc of Dean. I thought he liked men and women, and I researched what it was and saw that it was me, as well as Dean. So, I felt very erased after 15x20. It was very bi-erasure to me. I felt hopeless. But now I choose to believe this (I am not settling for it, I just like to imagine): SINCE THEY NEVER SAID THAT DEAN DOES NOT LOVE CASS BACK: Dean went to heaven and met Cass and told him that he loves him back and they kiss AND Jack sees them and puts them back in Earth and goes to Earth as their son (Bc he is a hands-off God, he can go wherever he wants to after redesigning heaven) and maybe they adopt more kids(?) and frequently see Sam (there are a lot of inside jokes happening), then Dean and Cass grow old, die together...holding hands. They go to heaven and continue their journey together. THE END

These videos are the best. Intellectual commentary on Supernatural are never words I thought I would put together, but damn if you don’t make me contemplate the universe!

I actually saw some people defending the ending like 'Dean always wanted to die hunting! It's about what he wanted, not what the audience wanted!' and I was floored. By that logic, we should be happy when suicidal people die, instead of mourning that they weren't able to get the help they needed and move into a better mental place. I wanted Dean to be happy in the end BECAUSE he had such a death wish. I wanted him to learn there's more to life and he deserved to be happy.

First of all this video is great. Second of all: TLDR, Cas and Eileen deserved better, the brothers were lost without them, Dean is Bi REGUARDLESS of Cas (who he does love), & screw The CW Edited to add: I am tired of people saying we 'didn't get our ship" when we did, just not in a happy way. We're mad at how ALL the characters were treated and how the last two eps, especially 15x20, look like it was written by someone who had NEVER seen SPN in their life.

"This show isn't about romance. It's about brothers!". Some fans (we all know which ones) just love to smugly point it out as if that 1.explains the show and 2.makes the show better. But the whole premise of SPN was a guy who couldn't move on after his wife's death and his younger son dragged back into hunting because his gf died. (JFC they really got off on fridging women right from the pilot). I absolutely hate the mindset that romance involved in a story automatically makes it a story of lesser quality... because chick flick amirite? What a toxic approach.

I honestly don't see how some people CAN'T see the love between Dean and Cas. Like, seriously. It's so obvious.

YESSS KEVIN!!!!!! i feel like most forgot about him but Kevin is just a ghost :(

what if they messed up Sam and Eileen’s relationship so they could have deniability against purposefully not giving Cas and Dean’s relationship an ending?

I agree with your view of the ending, it was a tragedy. It was Chuck's ending, so no free will, no found family, none of that mattered in the end and the only way to find happiness was in death. I suffered a loss in my family recently and watching the final episode was really depressing for me. I re-watch some episodes of the show sometimes cause it's still a very re-watchable show despite the bad ending, but I might never watch the final episode again.

God, I'm crying AGAIN about this bullshit ending.

love how this was posted just as i was finishing up part one lol

Im going to say it- corona isn't an excuse for this. If the show couldn't write a good ending during quarantine, then they should've just waited and done an ending special

I got into Supernatural about a year ago now and as I was watching the show, I'll admit, I didn't see it. Destiel didn't "stick" out to me so to speak. However, watching you break it down, I can't unsee it . It would've been beautiful if they committed to getting Dean and Cas together. I feel quite sad now that they didn't. Everything about it makes sense. If only they really went for it, it would've become something truly beautiful I believe.

I may be a heterosexual person watching supernatural, but I’ll be damned if Dean and Cas weren’t in love. I feel like it’s blatantly homophobic to say that there was never anything between Dean and Cas, when the tables would have been completely turned if Cas had simply chosen a female vessel. Is it really that hard for people to accept that they were happy together and deserved to have a better ending? To reduce their love to a semi-cannon, partly ambiguous “friendship” is such a cop-out to what would have been such a revolutionary love story. Personally, when I started watching this show, I loved Dean and Cas, whether that was them being together or as separate characters didn't really matter to me. Towards the later seasons, (since Dean has always been my favourite character) I couldn’t help but notice how happy Cas made Dean, and in turn, made me happy for them. It was the characters I loved, and if Dean was so clearly happy with Cas, I was thrilled for them. I can't imagine how invalidating it must be to see a love story such as this be completely scraped since it involves the love between two men. If you’re reading this please don't let anyone invalidate you by saying you're crazy for clearly seeing the love story between these two characters. I also hope this didn't offend anyone in any way, because that is certainly not my intention in writing this comment. Throughout the past few months, I've really just been trying to listen and learn about the horrible ways LGBTQIA+ fans have been treated, so please feel free to correct me in any way possible. This is just my take on it, but I welcome feedback and critiques, especially if I’ve said something out of line. Your voice deserves to be heard, and I'm so so sorry that supernatural execs told you otherwise.

The ending played out the same as if Dean had never picked Sam up, Dean via hunt and Sam old age

Thank you for addressing Becky in this. I think a lot of fans are still using the Becky episode as proof that “the ending was tampered with,” but unfortunately I think it’s much simpler and crueler. She was just there to be made fun of one more time, to be shown as proof that the fans don’t know what’s best for them, that the ending they wanted to write is what they were going to give us no matter what. I really appreciate your analysis of her scenes at the beginning because it sets up the really shit way the show runners were going to handle this whole thing. I think it even speaks to what Jensen Ackles said about when he was pitched the finale - “this is what we have, deal with it.” Not that we’ll ever know the full story of why they went in this direction, but I think it’s probably likely that they were planning to end it like this the whole time.

I can't even tell you how glad I am that I found this channel

I think that a lot of people are really hurt by Dean AND Cass' endings as NOT Destiel but bc of their own arcs BECAUSE we see ourselves in them. For me, I see myself so much in Dean: I don't ever talk about my feelings, I just keep things bottled up, I never make a real connection with anyone outside the "family" (there are exceptions of course, like Cass for Dean), I am bisexual, I have internalized homophobia, daddy issues, mommy issues, and so on... And also I see myself in Cass, rarely but importantly, because I aspire to be like Cass. I want to just fall in love and be happy that I am in love. I cannot do this bc of the whole repressed emotions part BUT I would like to. I would LOVE to have a profound bound with somebody, I would love to love someone so much that I would defy everything for that person. I WOULD want an epic love story like Destiel. As you said, it would have been amazing if they actually made Destiel canon. It would have been the best slow burn IN HISTORY. IT WOULD BE SO HUGE, like HISTORY BOOK HUGE! Everyone in history WOULD talk about it. I am sure that in 100 years, people will talk about Korrasami, Catradora, and especially our real life queen Jojo Siwa for being so brave. BUT Destiel would BE SURE AS HELL more talked about if it happened. There are no slowburn gay love stories like Destiel. LITERALLY, NONE. WTF. I WANTED IT SO MUCH. SOOOO MUCH. I NEEDED IT. I STILL NEED IT. Not a day goes by where I don't feel pain. I feel very hopeless even though there are other shows with many representation. All I wanted was Destiel. Just once. I would not ask for any other show if Destiel happened. So yeah, anyway, in my mind DESTIEL IS CANON, FULLY. 15x20 never happened and instead Dean, Cass, Jack, Sam, Eileen are all happy in Earth, Jack being Destiel's son of course (Not God but a Winchester, because he IS family).

Just like my last two videos, I recommend trying to avoid comments with the word q*eer in them, since RU-vid tends to delete them without my say in the matter.

Your analysis is perfect, under every aspect. I appreciated the John/Chuck comparison. Finally someone who sees them as I do. As to the b*sexual matter, I cannot understand people insisting that Dean is straight as an arrow, but at the same time they want him to have s*x with his brother because to them "it's not about Dean being g*y, but it's only self love". Meh!

I would like to get every person involved in the making of this show and force them to sit down and watch this. you obviously couldn't go into detail about every aspect you mentioned but overall this is an extremely satisfying and competent analysis of show and how it failed in the eleventh hour to make what could have been a truly good story and groundbreaking ending. I think the reason now that so many people are still talking about supernatural three months after its ending is because the ending gave almost no closure to the majority of viewers and fans. we need closure!! even if you didn't start watching it until the last season or even after the finale, the amount of time that goes into viewing the show is significant and the ending just leave you wanting. people are so desperate for some kind of closure, we're hoping for reboots and retellings just so someone can get the story Right and give us an ending that would finally give us closure.

Even if we want to see it from a marketing point of view, destiel is extremely popular, what did they have to lose?

In conclusion, the writers are Wincest shippers. Wincest prevailed and we all suffered.

I'm now convinced: Chuck wrote the finale out of spite.

Thank you so much for such a well thought-out analysis of this show. I'm actually using both of your videos for part of my Master's thesis, and they're just so well done.

dean should’ve ended up giving up the life and being with cas. sam should’ve ended up with eileen, living a semi domestic life, but ultimately choosing to stay in the life because he realized he was a good leader. and both of them should’ve been shown in therapy, working towards becoming the healthy and happy versions of themselves they always deserved. they fucked up the ending so bad 😭😭😭

the ending truly felt like that line cas said before, “freedom is a length of rope, and God wants you to hang yourself with it.” thank you for making this video, you put into words a lot of what i was feeling about the finale in such an eloquent way! it’s always so frustrating how some people completely dismiss us, saying that all we care about was our “ship” when it was so SO much more than that and this entire video is a reason why. so well done!! ❤️

The way they handled the relationship between Dean and Jack annoyed me SO MUCH

What I don't understand is why Castiel sacrificed himself to save Dean from Death, then Dean dies anyways. Why? It makes no sense.

Spanish dubbed dean really carried the finale lmao

i personally know hypermasculine gay and bi men who want the kind of representation dean couldve provided :^/// that was really such a missed opportunity

taking notes so i can cite this in the essay im writing for english

This is honestly the best video analysis of supernatural I’ve ever seen

Honestly I'm still saddest I didn't get my grand 'The road so far' montage, from season 1-15 to Wayward Son. Like it was so easy YOU HAVE ALL THE FOOTAGE and it would've been so cool to actually be reminded of the evolution of the story from episode 1 to now. I genuinely thought I was being pranked for most of that finale episode

All of this, except I think the writers knew exactly where they were going and the network stepped in and said NO.

Everything's on point, you traced all the issues and inconsistencies in the finale so much articulately, I can only make screeching noises when someone asks me to tell them why the ending of spn really sucked... Thank you so much, for making this video covering all points from a fans perspective, this is a masterpiece ❤

i legit havent seen a single episode of supernatural but i am very invested in not just destiel but how bad the ending was all around

Also, what happened to Adam? And Eileen, is she okay? Also, where is Adam, is he okay?

What makes angers me most about the ending is how it seems to mock the viewers. The fans were the reason the show got so big, and the creators forgot that. The ending was so terrible, it almost feels deliberate.

I can't tell you how many times I cried while watching this. I know the show only ended two months ago but having to go back through 15x19 and 20 brought back up all those scars. Our boys deserved better and we deserved better too. The majority of us had such high expectations after the first few episodes of season 15 and to think that this was our thanks, that this was the legacy they wanted to leave behind?? It's heartbreaking... The erasure of Cas and Destiel and the erasure of character development from Sam and Dean in the end will stick with me forever.

This was heartbreaking to watch but ultimately true thanks for this Also thanks for mentioning jack, i wanted them to explore his character rather than just make him a convenient solution for sam and dean. Jack could have had friends and learned about hunting and so many things because all he thought was that he was useless without his powers But just like everything else this show disappointed jack too

But HA HA at people arguing that Dean can’t be Bisexual when DEAN HIMSELF was targeted and seduced/controlled by a siren who disguised himself as a MAN.

I agree with everything you said. It was the worst possible ending they could‘ve pulled of, as far as I‘m concerned. They killed the suicidal character, who just now finally had the chance to be happy and live the life he wanted, but instead, his character is put on hold, 15 years thrown out the window. He is killed young and in a manner he always expected to go out. He did‘t get to mourn his family and best friend/love interest, depending how you look at it, he didn‘t get a shot at a normal job, retirement, toes in the sand. He was not allowed to openly tackle his trauma, which to a large part stems from his father, who now lives down the road. Well, I don‘t want to repeat everything you said, as you put it much more eloquently, it just frustrates me. I love Dean and the first time I watched the episode, it made me sick. Many people relate to him, to his issues, trauma, grief. Now they‘re told: yes, Heaven will grant you all your wishes, you don‘t have to live a fulfilled life, it doesn‘t change anything in the end, if you die now or live on for 40 or so more years. That is a HORRIBLE message. Yes, it really, really isn’t only about a ship. Everything regarding Cas and Destiel you yourself said best, I don‘t want this comment to be any longer than it already is. Thank you so much for these two videos and the effort you put into them! You summarized and broke down the issue perfectly, you managed to put into words what I felt, but wasn‘t able to vocalize.

Also, Sam having biological kids kinda rubs me the wrong way? Not in the sense that he didn’t deserve children but considering how strongly he felt about having demon blood, even in later seasons, I don’t think he would risk it. Yes, he’s no longer psychic, but I doubt he would take that chance, especially now that their lives are truly free from evil.

Dean dyong in a car accident with the Impala, that way the Impala and Dean reunited in heaven makes more sense

Such a great job explaining everything and what went wrong. It's truly just tragic the way it ended and I am glad there are people who realize that and agree.

So what I’m hearing is that to complete the story’s meta narrative we have to write the secret good episode ourselves.

facts. we were robbed of a history making ending

just wanna to say how grateful I'm for these two videos, they show that we, the fans who hated that ending, are not crazy. so thank you thank you thank you!!! ❤️❤️❤️ (and sorry for any mistakes, my English is not very good)

"The first example of a show trying to subvert their audiences expectations for an ending, and it being a good and satisfying choice" * Black Sails has entered the chat *

Wait, wait, why did no one told me that by the end, Supernatural was just dollarstore His Dark Materials with less gay angels-

15 YEARS!! Ya’ll got played...

Holy shit lol. I actually really loved the ending before I saw this, primarily because I was team first interpretation mostly. I still love the ending, but I can definitely see your point because you made nothing but very valid points throughout this video. It's crazy how much I have always loved this show from the start but never even realized that Destiel was a thing until I saw this video. Made me really go back and think about it and I can definitely see that now too, but that makes Castiel's death all that more tragic now lol

I had never mourned for a fictional character the way I mourned for Dean during and after that last episode. Having watched the show since its debut and Dean being my personal favorite, how they wrapped his character up literally made me sick to my stomach. I try to forget that last episode exists. They stated the other cast members couldn't be there due to COVID. I just wish they had waited if that was the case...

I had been waiting for this, since I completed the "Evolution of Destiel" video. This is amazing!!!

I thought also it would have fit within a “tragic” ending if Sam was the one to die young, and Dean was the one who would have had to live the long life

Oh wow! This really opened up my eyes to the younger side of the supernatural fandom. Cuz I’m definitely in the should-have-ended-at-season-five camp. And the finale makes a sort of sense to me because of that. Like, I have a fully different interpretation of the love confession and the Cas “reveal” in heaven: I don’t think the love confession is necessarily intended by all writers to be romantic. Speaking as someone well in the headspace you describe for the Dean-is-always-straight crowd (even though I don’t believe that about Dean), it makes 100% sense in that scene for Cass to be expressing his capacity for love and gratitude for Dean changing him to the point where he could love. Honestly, if I wasn’t watching video essays on Supernatural, I’d default to “that was a platonic ‘I love you’”. And Bobby’s Cass line could be about any of the myriad of heaven related fixes Cass brought about in the course of the whole show. I didn’t think they (the non-Destial writers) intended to imply Cass was back and fixing heaven post-Chuck. I think the non-Destial take is straight up: these dudes changed each other’s lives and became family. But they also learned that you cannot tempt fate by trying to escape death or resurrect lost loved one. So when Dean was faced with Cass’s loss, he moved on. Just like Sam moved on from Dean’s death. And, the focus not only on the brothers in the last two episodes, but on accepting the death of a loved one and moving on, is a satisfying arc for shoulda-stopped-at-S-5 crowd. Cuz honestly, S1-5 and for a good while after that, the central flaw of the show was the brothers not letting each other go in death. And by the time that the new show runners took that idea and started to grapple with how the brothers could not let each other go in life, well, Becky and the other obvious contempt for the fans drove off a lot of early fangirls. Super, super cool to hear a different perspective on this. Almost makes me want to dive back into the SPN fandom. Things have obviously improved since the Carver era when Destial did come across as a pretty thirsty reach. I kinda regret losing faith in this show because of this take. Huh. Cool.

Yeesh. I don’t even watch Supernatural but after watching these two videos, I’m somehow angry about the ending myself.

I'd only like to add to your video that fans are just asking for continuity in the thing that matters most, character arcs and relationships, it's the writers/producers who chose to bring back eileen, no one would be asking for saileen endgame if they didn't bring her back and made her a big part of s15 and only forgot about her relationship with sam at the 11th hour, similarly they could have ended on cas and dean chilling in heaven platonically, instead they chose to include the confession, no one would be this serious about the destiel endgame if it wasn't made textually romantic on cas' part in the first place, which then lead to them horribly betraying these characters' personalities and their relationship in an attempt to avoid adressing the confession

This show worked so hard to keep its straight, white, male audience that they isolated almost everyone else, this is not unique to this piece of sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural media. Someone told "hollywood" (Print, comics, ect too) that those are the only people that are patrons of this genre of media (Something that the internet has worked to debunk for years) but the difference is that everyone else is a lot more likely to take the scraps of representation we're given than straight white men.