S05.E22: Swan Song

[FlickChick]

A very interesting question. If the series ended with Swan Song (thus the title), as filmed but without Sam standing under the street light, it would just be the opposite of Carry On, with the brother who survived being the one who died in the other episode, and going on to live a family life. Still unsatisfying IMO. There really should have been only one of two endings: 1. Both brothers dying together while fighting the good fight Butch & Sundance style or 2. Continuing to live in the bunker and either continuing hunting or training and supporting new younger hunters.

Unfortunately, I believe that the finale we got was horrible along with the two previous seasons that preceded it. The entire concept of "Chuck" being God and literally "writing" their lives was quite frankly, crap. It went against everything the brothers believed or accomplished and sacrificed for during their lives. But if Dabb wanted to make a joke out of all they went through, he accomplished his mission with this viewer.

So, I guess my answer is that at least Swan Song had Sam's death as a sacrifice to save the world with Dean there to support him and also make the sacrifice of losing his brother for the greater good. And both choices were then truly free will.

[CluelessDrifter]

12 hours ago, FlickChick said:

A very interesting question. If the series ended with Swan Song (thus the title), as filmed but without Sam standing under the street light, it would just be the opposite of Carry On, with the brother who survived being the one who died in the other episode, and going on to live a family life. Still unsatisfying IMO. There really should have been only one of two endings: 1. Both brothers dying together while fighting the good fight Butch & Sundance style or 2. Continuing to live in the bunker and either continuing hunting or training and supporting new younger hunters.

Unfortunately, I believe that the finale we got was horrible along with the two previous seasons that preceded it. The entire concept of "Chuck" being God and literally "writing" their lives was quite frankly, crap. It went against everything the brothers believed or accomplished and sacrificed for during their lives. But if Dabb wanted to make a joke out of all they went through, he accomplished his mission with this viewer.

So, I guess my answer is that at least Swan Song had Sam's death as a sacrifice to save the world with Dean there to support him and also make the sacrifice of losing his brother for the greater good. And both choices were then truly free will.

Yeah, Swan Song used to annoy me, mostly, because I think the green army man being there after Dean had to rebuild the Impala after the crash in season 1 was a little too . . . I wouldn't say it's a retcon the way I used to think, more like Dean made sure to get every detail right, which is why it worked to break through to Sam?  

I think that with time, though, I can appreciate the complexities of that original story arc more.  For instance, the criss-crossing of Sam and Dean's storylines.

The brother who started the series as a hunter, never got a chance to explore anything beyond that, believes that hunting is all there is for him, and in season 2 sold his soul so that his brother could live, is the brother who slowly allows himself to want more than hunting, is eventually the one who gets to have it, although, at a terrible price, and has to learn to let his brother go, which he does. This is in contrast with Sam's story, as Sam goes from being the one who wants to live a normal life, estranges himself from his family, and achieves his slice of normal for a while to sacrificing himself to save his brother and the world. That is a poetic story. Saving the world by locking Lucifer away is a satisfying ending for our heroes - tragic, but satisfying, because it held real meaning.

[Aeryn13]

It's actually a toss up for me if this or the Series Finale is worse to me. Maybe the latter at this point. There was never really a chance I would change my mind into liking the Season 5 Finale because I viscerally hated it at the time. With a good show ending, I would have just ignored it and never rewatched, though. Now it is more like Game of Thrones or the 100, where I don't rewatch anything, period.