Fifteen years ago, I sat in a dark room to watch the premiere of a show advertised as a mini-horror movie every week. At 19 years old, I had no idea the journey I was embarking on. No one knew the phenomenon that Supernatural would become. Through 15 seasons, I’ve only ever gotten three episodes behind, then binged to catch up. This is the longest I’ve ever followed a show. Grey’s Anatomy is a close second. I believe it was in its fourth season when I started watching from season one. Even Friends and Beverly Hills 90210 were shows I got on board with in the later seasons, mostly because I was too young to watch them on day one.
We’ve seen Sam and Dean die on multiple occasions and go to heaven, hell, and purgatory. They’ve fought a variety of monsters, including werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, among others, as well as angels, pagan gods, and now even God himself. It’s been an exciting journey watching the Winchesters save the world multiple times.
Supernatural has been a place of refuge for me. I’m not the same person I was when I sat there watching Sam and Dean take on the woman in white and start their journey together.
I received my associate’s and bachelor’s degrees while also working. I’ve been divorced, moved to England to be close to my family. I was fortunate to spend my aunt’s last Christmas with her and spend some time with my grandfather before he died. Then I got my master’s degree and moved to New York City. And NYC has been an adventure all of its own. I’ve been building this blog while also working retail to pay the bills until I got my big breaks. Then, I got laid off. Now we are facing many crises beyond my personal stuff. Sadly, we will be losing Supernatural during a time we might need our boys the most.
The Winchesters have helped me laugh when I just needed some fun. Episodes like “Bad Day at Black Rock,” “Wishful Thinking,” “The Real Ghostbusters,” and “Fan Fiction” were perfect for those days. But they’ve also been there when I just needed a good cry. “Abandon All Hope,” “Death’s Door,” and “Sacrifice” always had me in tears. But most importantly, the epic storyline gave me a distraction I always needed. I was no longer in my world anymore. I was in a world where Sam and Dean could fix anything.
After following the show for so long, it was great to get to know the actor’s more on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast Inside of You. They were guests a few years ago, and they got so personal, as many of Michael’s guests do. But then, with the most recent episodes, they spoke about how much the show, the characters, and the fans mean to them.
I loved hearing about how Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki set the tone on the set and will stand up for their colleagues. It warmed my heart to hear that Jared has been going back to his room crying every day while filming the final episode because he’s sad it’s coming to an end. They have put their heart and soul into these characters for us and have created a work environment that the crew has stayed around for the entire series. To have a show that you love and know that everyone working on it loves the show as much as you do is an incredible feeling. It’s probably why the show has been on for so long and why it’s gained the following it has.
I’m not ready to say goodbye to Sam and Dean yet. Fifteen years is a long time to invite characters into your home for. It’s hard to watch everything and stick with shows once you start watching them with peak TV. There isn’t enough time in the day. But Supernatural came to us at a different time. It was back when the WB had it’s own network before the WB joined forces with the UPN to create a new network, The CW. It came to us before streaming, but streaming has also helped the show find new fans.
I am currently doing a rewatch with my boyfriend, who has never seen the show before.
While I may have seen seasons two through five multiple times over, it’s nice to revisit episodes that I haven’t seen as much. Back then, I had time to watch them repeatedly, and we didn’t have as many seasons to go back to. Having so many episodes also makes it easy to relive and not say goodbye.
But this isn’t goodbye, as Jensen and Jared have said. This is farewell for now. Who knows when Sam and Dean will come back to us, but at least we know they are open to doing a reboot or movie one day. And, we still have seven more episodes left.
Still, 15 years is an incredible run, and I am so proud of them. I’m thrilled that we even get a fitting ending. Many shows are canceled and aren’t given a chance to write a final season for the series. They have to wrap it up in a few episodes, or they have no time to wrap it up, and fans are left hanging. We are getting an ending, and I’m excited and scared to see what that could be. Since they are open to coming back, maybe that means our boys aren’t destined to die like they always believed their ending would be. Maybe they can be the first retired hunters.
Supernatural will start airing it’s final seven episodes on The CW, Thursday, October 8, at 8 pm ET. And, on Thursday, November 19, at 9 pm ET, to finish this journey, I will sit in a dark room once again for the series finale to say farewell to our boys after the special goodbye, Supernatural: The Long Road Home at 8 pm ET.
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