BabySpinach

Looks like it's good stuff, mostly about that newly-revealed script line "Still beautiful, still Dean Winchester," which I FULLY SUPPORT! This fucking show, lmao. It's been over for three weeks and there's STILL stuff coming out about it and people freaking out on social media.

Aww, what a gorgeous, precious creature! The dog's cute, too...

Hee!

Yet another thing of Jensen's he gave to Dean that, as a result, made the character so much more enjoyable and distinctive. Jensen's got endless proficiencies flowing out of his pores, and what little he doesn't happen to know, he'll learn faster than anyone else. He, not the writers, is Dean's true creator.

Welp, someone on Tumblr pointed out that Dean died younger than John did and now I want to rip out my organs.

If it actually was a signed contract for a job then that kind of makes it worse, no? That would mean that Dean's eventual death via hunting wasn't even a sure thing, and that he could have conceivably lived a much longer life if he'd actually gotten to hang up his gun. I don't know, I'd much prefer to believe that Dean would have chosen to continue hunting and saving people (while also enjoying life and being loved and finally loving himself) rather than have the writers turn out to be even more pointlessly sadistic than I gave them credit for. Can't say I'm fond of the ol' "two days from retirement" shtick, especially when it concerns a main character; I find it cheap and emotionally manipulative. ETA: I feel that if it actually were a job contract, they would have added a close-up shot of the document just to confirm that for sure. I can't imagine TPTB passing up such a golden opportunity to wring even more "feelz" out of us.

Thank you for your perspective! I found it refreshing. I really like the bolded point you made. Ever since the finale aired, I'd say that a good 80% of the discourse has been about Dean/Jensen. Sam's generic apple-pie life got very little attention by comparison (except for the wig lmao), but so many opinions and emotions have been expressed about Dean's final fate that they've dominated the conversation. And Dabb's precious pet Vanilla Wafer God was almost completely forgotten, as he should have been. Well, anything that potentially pisses off Dabb makes me happy! You're also right in that Sam was the first to drop the ball in the vamp fight. He got one last knock on the noggin for old times' sake and left Dean to fend for himself, resulting in him losing his machete but still matching the largest and burliest one with just his fists. And if the rebar hadn't happened to be there, Dean would have come out of the fight with barely a scratch. I still can't get over how gratuitously cruel and narratively empty it was to kill Dean so soon after their defeat of Chuck, though. There was literally nothing stopping them from letting Dean live a bit after he'd finally gained self-worth and happiness for the first time in his life. That would have sent a much better message about healing and moving on from trauma. It all just seemed so petty to me, not to mention pointlessly tragic. By the way, anyone realize that the alternate yuppie versions of Sam and Dean could still be kicking around in Brazil as old men? Wonder what they're up to...

Overall, I was okay with the broad strokes of Dean dying on a hunt and reuniting with Sam in heaven. It's just that Dean dying so young and so soon after their final victory, without having had the opportunity to make anything new or significant of his freedom (or even just enjoy it for a few years at least), broke my heart. I do think it's very likely that Dean would have continued hunting until he was eventually taken out, as it's long been established that saving people has always been his choice of pursuit. He'd made what John pushed onto him into something more beautiful and selfless, something that was his own. Still, Dean deserved to find something in addition to that, so that it wasn't such a frustrating cut-and-dry regression back to the show's basic tagline/premise/character summary. I think this is what will always grate at me.

See, that was my exact problem with it. Dean only ever saw this ending for himself because he had such low self-worth and felt that a bloody end was all he deserved. But we saw that change in 15.19 as he openly acknowledged for the first time that he was more than just a killer. Yet his death in this episode, right after their victory over God, implies that his first belief was the correct one, that he really was only good for dying young on the job. And that's depressing as hell because it renders any of his progression toward a healthier self-regard utterly moot. He was enjoying life and freedom, he had a new dog, he was still saving people, and he deserved many more years of that.

Thank you for posting this! I did not expect to find this little clip so comforting, but seeing Dean Winchester's (aka Jensen's) face in a context beyond the show made me feel a lot better somehow. We'll still get to see Jensen taking other roles and probably making us fall in love and breaking our hearts all over again. After all, 99% of what made Dean so iconic and incredible was thanks to Jensen, and he's still happily kicking around out there!

https://sasquatchandleatherjacket.tumblr.com/post/635282840252284929 This beautiful and loving man deserved to live a long, happy life. This is one of the few (if not only) times I've genuinely cried for a fictional character, but if anyone warrants it, it's Dean. He'd only just won his freedom after a lifetime of suffering and trauma, and he could barely enjoy it before it was ripped away from him.

I think my biggest takeaway will be the tragedy of Dean Winchester, the most selfless and loving human in the world, never getting to truly live the life he'd deserved and earned a million times over. He's apparently happy in heaven at the end so I can't be too bitter about it, but there's definitely that potent vein of tragedy still running through Dean's story. He deserved better, but he always has. It's actually depressingly consistent of this show...

Probably because Dean didn't die at all from incompetence, just pure bad luck. On one hand, Dean Winchester, with everything he's accomplished and all the people he's saved and all the big bads he's killed, sure as hell didn't deserve to get impaled by a spike as his final death. On the other hand, there's a terrible poetry and unexpected groundedness to it. Reminded us that he was and always had been human, which renders everything he made of his mortal human life all the more remarkable for it. The manner of his permanent death doesn't diminish him or his legacy, so I feel like I'll gradually be more at peace with it over time. He still deserved at least a good decade of freedom on Earth before that happened, though. With Miracle by his side.

OK, so Dean gets killed three days into enjoying his freedom while Sam gets to live a full life, have a kid, and die of old age. Fuck you, Dabb... Why??? Why didn't Dean get a full life as well? Why did he have to die early from such a mundane cause? Did he not deserve happiness on Earth? I swear, the 10 minutes or so when it suddenly became the Sam Show was the most boring 10 minutes of my life. Small comfort that Heaven's all opened up now instead of a prison, I guess. Still doesn't sit well with me that Dean basically got shelved forever, unable to do anything meaningful anymore. And seriously TPTB, what the FUCK???? Not a single peep about how Dean's death books had all changed at one point and that "death by oversized nail" was definitely not one of them? Not even a hand-wavy explanation about how Billie lied to him about it because she wanted him gone? I don't think this episode has ruined the show for me. It was a pretty safe and predictable ending overall. But man, so many opportunities were missed. Still, Jensen acted the hell out of his death scene, as could be expected, and Dean will always remain in my heart as my all-time favorite fictional character.

Just thinking about Chuck's beatdown of the boys has me laughing hysterically. Like @gonzosgirrl so eloquently put it, the same repeated shots of them being punched in the face and the eternity-long verbal keysmashing of GUYSGUYSSTAYDOWNGUYSGUYSCOMEONGUYSGUYSGUYSWTFBBQASDFGHJKL was fucking hilarious.

And we're supposed to be happy with this because McNougat (aka the writers) proclaimed that she was totally content, you guys! Regardless of all her previously established character, she's just peachy being a voiceless, bodiless extension of a man! I hope she gives him cosmic indigestion for the rest of eternity.

I think the only thing I'm truly angry and frustrated about is Amara's fate. Given her character and the themes of her story, I can't imagine a more insulting end than stewing for the rest of eternity in Mayonnaise Boy's guts. She was far more interesting and enjoyable and compelling than he ever was, and she ends up being transferred from Chuck to Jack like a blood transfusion. Didn't she really enjoy her life in Reno? Trying new things? Loving humanity (especially Dean, whose bond with her had nothing to do with Chuck)? Why the hell would she ever be content to forfeit her own agency and personhood to be subsumed forever by some mediocre three-year-old manchild? I just can't wrap my head around this. It's too depressing to think that Amara's incredible power, hard-won freedom, and self-actualization amounted to nothing.

Since I'm not sure what else they could possibly fill up two hours with, I'm hoping that Sam and Dean exit the show in at least some kind of changed state. Didn't Jared say that the ending was pretty final? If so, I doubt the series will end with them riding off in the Impala as usual.

I mean, I get what they were going for. The Winchesters (and Cas) inspired a better version of God through their goodness/courage/whatever, and Chuck gets the poetic end of turning mortal and forgettable. This may have sat better with me if: a) Jack was in any way a compelling character or a convincing part of the family b) the Winchesters (the main characters!) had anything remotely interesting to do or become c) we didn't get to this point with a bunch of contrived magic mumbo-jumbo pulled straight out of the writers' asses d) Amara wasn't absorbed by two consecutive men, never to be seen or heard from again. I guess another positive to the episode is that Dean didn't end up groveling to Jack for forgiveness. I do wonder whether Cas will be brought back though, since there's no reason why Jack wouldn't do that. And--again, I'm going to keep hammering at this until I get an answer--WHAT ABOUT DEAN'S DEATH BOOKS????

Glad to see the return of the Winchesters actually willing to sacrifice themselves for the world. And for Sam to take some blame for the whole debacle, since he was the one who pushed back hardest against the original plan. And I have to say that the concept of a completely empty world with just the Winchesters and Jack left to be pretty haunting ie. utterly stripping them of all purpose. The shots of empty cities were striking, even with the show's bottom-barrel budget. And of course Jack continues to be the obnoxious plot device who becomes whatever the plot needs him to be. And becomes the new God, which many of us predicted. Nothing shiny or cool for the main characters to do, of course! And Amara is officially confirmed to be gone, her unexplained bond with Dean having amounted to zilch just like I'd feared. Winchesters had pretty much fuck-all to do. With us predicting either/both of their deaths or transformations, seems like the reality is that they just continue sticking around same as always? Gotta say, extremely, extremely underwhelming. I wonder what the hell the series finale has in store, if anything. At least the Winchesters will be the focus of it. Maybe they'll get their final fates decided then.

"Inherit the Earth" - (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) (TV-14, LV) (HDTV) CARRY ON - Everything is on the line as the battle against God (guest star Rob Benedict) continues. A familiar face returns to join the fight. The episode was directed by John Showalter and written by Eugenie Ross-Leming & Brad Buckner (#1519). Original airdate 11/12/2020.

For me, I see Dean as a force of nature. He has saved the world the most out of all TFW, consistently rejected anyone's attempts to control or change him, and has influenced/stumped many powerful characters on a fundamental level. Tucking him away in heaven where he can no longer affect the real world, where he's basically caged and helpless for all of eternity surrounded only by memories, just doesn't sit well with me. At this point, given the sheer scale of the impact he's had on the SPN universe and what he represents within it, he's way overdue some sort of permanent cosmic ascension, IMO. With both Cas' and Death's speeches last episode (and Amara possibly still in play within Chuck), it really brought that back into focus for me.

I'd never considered it before, but Cas' ending really is rather poetic, isn't it? His first act on the show is to save Dean Winchester as just some celestial grunt. His last act is to choose to save Dean because he loves him, in defiance of God and everyone else. If we hadn't had Dabb's years and his shiny self-insert OC to muddy the waters, Cas' confession scene would have fit decently at pretty much any point after season 6. It's like they suddenly remembered who Cas was supposed to be at the literal last minute and completely skipped over seasons 12-15 to get back there. Well, at least the foundation for this ending had been sufficiently laid out before that. Cas' speech to Dean about his endless multitudes of goodness still makes me happy. I'm sure it did a lot more for Dean fans than Dean himself, but it was just so good to hear it all spelled out on the actual show (and I would've been equally satisfied had it come from anyone else, not just Cas). Regardless of the mountains of baggage around this speech and the overall scene, I still loved this aspect of it.

God, both Deaths, Amara, Cas, Crowley, AU!Michael, Benny, Cain, even Ketch... Dean is this utterly irresistible manifestation of both divinity and humanity combined. Just for being who he is and has always been, he's got humans and angels and vampires and primordial entities either falling head over heels for him or giving him special treatment/consideration whether he wants it or not (usually not, lol). Cas' declaration, Billie's angry speech about him being "disorder incarnate", Amara's unexplained bond with him (that may still live within Chuck), and just really brought this back into focus for me. Even if it doesn't pan out, I can't help but languish in the canon fact that willful, untamable Dean Winchester continues to be the hottest commodity in the whole of the SPN multiverse. https://justjensenanddean.tumblr.com/post/634070715889598464/come-on-dean-you-cant-escape-me-dont-you I love that he was singled out so explicitly; Billie is contemptuous of the rest of them, but she has personal beef with Dean. I do wish she could have remained an impartial, enigmatic frenemy, though.

Yup, just discovered this myself. What a waste of time spent analyzing it! Though I guess it says something that the mushy way it was written seemed like it could be legit. Dabb's assistant certainly helped see to that.