-

How do you manage a tone that needs to marry witty sarcasm with end of the world cataclysm and still achieve a sense of the dramatic? It’s a good question and one that more prestigious shows than Supernatural have completely botched. This past season has been the best one yet, leading up to a smack-down between Lucifer and Michael, life and death, heaven and hell that promised to completely obliterate anything in its path; both dramatically and physically.

The Winchesters had a wild ride this season, and they did it with a great cast of side characters including Pelligrino’s Milton-esque Satan, the archangel-turned-trickster, Gabriel and the demon turncoat, Crowley. Castiel and Bobby continued to be strong support, and Sam and Dean were never more compelling than when trying to quell their own sibling rivalry while saving the world.

So, then, how can the ‘end of all things’ really be satisfying for a show that was often content to hang-back from big, chaotic action and deliver human moments? How could we watch Armageddon unravel and still feel like a sixth season wouldn’t be anti-climactic? Was it possible to reveal God and not turn everything into a mockery of itself?

Folks, not only did Kripke and team answer all those questions admirably, they did it with style and understatement. To be honest, this was not remotely what I was expecting–anticipating more bluster and noise–but this one episode wraps up the season, and the previous five seasons, so well that I approached the final moments afraid that the promise of season six was a smokescreen. And yet, things are poised for that too.

I’m going to talk briefly about the ep, but I’m avoiding plot synopsis this time because I truly believe that what works is in the execution, and the gang has done such great work that it shouldn’t be left to my words to reveal it. If you are reading this to find out what happens, I suggest watching the ep yourself, and if you haven’t seen any Supernatural, here’s a great time to go pick up Season 1 and get started.

For the rest of the Supernatural faithful, lets get to it.

First, it should be said that there is something impressive about a season finale that promises and delivers a struggle for the apocalypse and yet whose best moment involves a nostalgic backstory about the Impala. That’s right, eat your heart out Lost, the car got a flashback and it didn’t take an hour of our time. It was also far more thematically relevant to the show in which it took place than anything Lindelof and Cuse have offered up flashback-wise on that damned island this season.

Resolving the primary conflict regarding the Devil, Dean and Sam so early in the story, and having Lucifer being propelled into close proximity with Sam was a great choice. The confrontation in Detroit took place 15 minutes in, and the sense of hopelessness that the end of all things would bring about was achieved not by scenes of global destruction, but simply watching the characters lose the things they valued; their friends, family and free will. All of that gone, and the hour not even half over.

The setting choices for the episode were also unique and inspired, with the creators opting for abandoned buildings and empty, daytime cemetarys over the usual pomp and circumstance. There weren’t even many extras standing around to remind us that it was THE WORLD that Sam and Dean were fighting to save. In-fact, the last twenty minutes or so are almost predominately just three actors standing in a field talking. Yes, that’s right, the fall of man comes down to five siblings (three bodies) working out their own junk. Instead of it feeling slight and unsatisfying, it felt appropriate and right. This was neither a bang or a whimper, but more of a final desperate plea before the plunge.

Dean, Adam and Sam were the character we physically could see, and Michael and Lucifer the ones riding piggyback. But Jared Padalecki did the best acting of his career as he switched between a determined Sam and a strangely ambivalent Lucifer. There’s no gnashing of teeth as he ushers in the end, and the scene in the cemetery where he earnestly pleads with Michael to abandon their war and leave the stage together is legitimately compelling. This is good writing and good acting, because we can see Pelligrino’s Satan looking out through Padalecki’s eyes. I’m always impressed when that sort of stunt is pulled off.

There were some shocking moments, some perfectly poignant ones, and some great comedic riffs as well, and as per the usual, the writers didn’t overplay their hand. They were culminating a very personal character driven story and they didn’t betray it for the apocalypse. When tragedy struck, it felt operatic and pre-ordained. Even though we understand the ground is littered with bodies that can’t stay dead, they made us feel the loss.

Best of all, it was just purely entertaining. There was no feeling of being strung around or denied closure, and even when the issue of God was not resolved as I expected, the tease towards the end was enough for me. It showed a nice bit of misdirection, and it makes alot of sense in the context of the show.

So, where now? I get the suspicion that it’s going to start again with a new storyline, one not completely dependent upon what’s been brewing these last five years. In fact, there’s the opportunity to turn the basic thrust of the show on it’s head. In season 1, Dean found Sam living a well adjusted, happy life and pulled him out for the hunt. Kripke closed last night with the potential for the exact opposite to happen.

Regardless of where it goes from here, the show has had a stellar run, with no bad seasons and a couple of great ones. Few I can think of had it that good. Now, lets seem them top it if they can. Good luck guys. See you in September.