Fuck the ending, or how the writers betrayed their own story: an angry meta
I would like to preface that meta by saying that I haven’t been able to stop crying for hours. I’m grieving.
I discovered SPN when I was seventeen and I thought my life was destroyed. I had lost faith in myself and in the world. This show pulled me up. Seeing Sam, Dean, and Cas struggle with self-loathing, faith, bad decisions, sins, fatality, doubt, anger and trauma helped me with these very problems. This ending is a f*cking tragedy for me. Seeing these characters regress, and fall into even deeper misery than before... or being relegated as unimportant characters... is a personal insult to all of us who related to their problems.
I am not only talking about Destiel, I want you to know that. And even if you’re a Wincest or a bronly and you’re happy because you got what you desired (good for you, guys, at least some of us enjoy the ending!)... the writers betrayed you.
I am a literature student, and from a literature/story POV, this ending is BAD. This meta will tell you why.
If you don’t want to read it because you’re already depressed enough -- it’s okay. I love you and I respect your grief. My point is that the writers (except for Bobo and, surprisingly enough, Bucklemming -- 2020 truly is the Apocalypse world) destroyed the story they were trying to say.
The theme of the last season: Death of the Author.
The theme of this season was the Death of the Author. Here is what I wrote about ‘Inherit the Earth’ in a meta about 15x19:
This episode was absolutely Death of the Author. Now, contrary to what you may think, it never meant “the writer is dead/needs to be killed.” Chuck never needed to be killed, he needed to be rendered powerless and to be deprived of having any power over the story -- his death is metaphorical. According to Roland Barthes, who coined the term and invented the concept, the writer and the story are unrelated. Looking in the writer’s life to understand the story is meaningless because the story exists outside of the writer’s control. A writer exercising authority on his work is bad (retconning is bad, for instance. Looking at you, JKR.) Authorship doesn’t mean authority. In other words, the story always escapes its writer to stand on its own: it escapes the writer’s tyranny, it’s the natural order of things. In fact, the story belongs to itself, but also to its readers: each reader will interpret it differently, meaning that a story never has one, definite single meaning.
And what did that mean for SPN as a story?
The story exists for itself, and this is what ny form of control they have over the story, and they let it live. It doesn’t just mean that they let the characters go and live their own lives, it also mean that they let us, the audience, choose the story’s legacy (see the title: “Inherit the Earth.” The characters inherit their own story, but we inherit it too.) It is a big acknowledgement that we made the story. We made it live. They joked about it, for example in the 200th episode, or “The French Mistake,” or all the references to the fandom and fanfiction etc. Whether they like what we do with the story or not, it is ours now. Soon, there’ll be no more writers to inflict pain on our favorite characters only for the sake of the story. In-story, the Author is dead (as in, he still exists, but he has no control) and the characters are free, Fate doesn’t exist anymore; out of story, the series ends, and we are free to interpret it, to play with it, to write about it, to look at it any way we want.
Basically, the story was supposed to do two things.
The first was releasing Dean, Sam and Cas (and all of Earth) from fate, by metaphorically letting them free and letting them decide. It was the climax of the Free Will arc that lasted the whole story. The boys have always fought against the roles that were assigned to them, be it being a hunter in the family business, or an angel serving God, or being the vessels to two Archangels, or even fighting against the pre-planned end of humanity. Story-wise, that meant killing God; and as God/Chuck is the avatar for the writers (cruel writers, who always inflict more pain and misery for shock’s sake), this means relinquishing authorial control over the story and letting it go. This is why God was supposed to be the Final Boss.
The second thing was giving the story to the fans. Becky was in this season for a reason: she was the one who denounced this kind of story and got what Sam, Dean and Cas really wanted and needed. This show was so meta, and its final message was that the story was ours in the end.
... they did everything but the two things their own story required of them.
Their final ending, as many people noticed, was Chuck’s ending: no one even mentions Cas... the climax is stale... and it ends with the two brothers’ grave, basically. This was the cover Chuck wanted for the book. In the end, then, the ending was still what Chuck, the villain, wanted. In other words, the villain won. Why killing him, then? It achieved no purpose whatsoever. They are free, but at what price?
In fact, it gets worse than that. Because chances are that Chuck’s ending was more satisfying. When Chuck was in power, we got better stories.
And what message is that, when the show and its final arc were all about Free Will? In the end, servitude made you happier than freedom.
I get that some people liked the ending because the two heroes were finally normal people, who could die on a hunt like normal people. No more plot armour. But this betrays the very story they were trying to tell: that Free Will was the way humanity could achieve happiness.
The second thing is that as I said this season was explicitly about giving the show and its legacy to the fans. This was supposed to mean an open ending. Maybe it will end in ragedy or maybe it will be a happily ever after, we don’t know, the story is over and it is the characters and the fans who will write it now. But now. They closed the story in the most definitive way: death. And after life. the canon is that the story ends in death. Whatever we will write now is fiction. The show TOLD US that our interpretation of the story was all that mattered and all that made the story true. That’s what Death of the Author is about. And in the last moment, they said ‘no! You have no power over the story. We have.’
This is the writers’s revenge. Seriously. I’m not kidding, pals. In the end of ends, when nothing can happen anymore, they wanted the last word. They really said, ‘you thought you could control the story? You thought you could tell us what to do? Well, no. We decide. You’re the ones who wanted Cas back? In the end, it will be as if he never existed. You, Misha and Destiel fans, you wanted canon Destiel? Well you’ll have it... on our terms. Becky, you said you wanted the boys to do normal things like laundry? You’ll have laundry and domesticity at the beginning of the episode and then fuck you. WE are in control, not you.’
I am getting very tired of writers trying to control their own story to the extent that they make it nonsensical, terrible, and insulting to the fans. (Looking at you once again, JKR.)
What happened to character development? Apparently it died with Chuck. (Oh, no, wai, Chuck is still alive.)
(... WHAT THE FUCK. Chuck is still alive. Chuck gets to live but Dean dies and Sam is unhappy? WTF.)
What happened to Sam’s plot of leading hunters? It had been a prominent point throughout the past two or three seasons. But no. Sam leaves the Bunker, and... I don’t know. His getting a house, a wife and a son seems to suggest that he gave up hunting. Young Dean’s tattoo suggests that he taught his son how to hunt, thus doing what he swore never to become and exposing his kid to a life of trauma, depression, and potential death. This is not Sam. Or if this is Sam, this is a Sam who has regressed.
And Dean? What happened to Dean’s plots? All the emphasis put into opening his heart, using his words, being honest with himself, letting go of toxic masculinity, accepting what he wants (not speaking only about his bisexuality)? What happened to his needing to let go of his anger? What happened to his increasing want for domesticity and normal, with the dog and his nesting in the Bunker and his questions about settling down? (And I’m pretty sure the official-looking papers on his desk were for something like buying a house...) All that got thrown under the bus.
Dean died, and he never even get to explore his potential, to explore what he wanted to ‘experience differently.’ So what if the writers tell us that he is happy because he is in Heaven? There is no bigger tragedy than never getting to get a good life, never getting to explore yourself. There is a reason why young people’s deaths are so tragic.
And in spite of Jack’s ameliorations, Heaven is still stuck in an eternal moment. There is no place for growth or self-exploration or anything. This is a static ending.
And not only did they give us an ending that deprives the characters of any personal growth and development, they also cancelled all development of fifteen years.
The Sam and Dean of the end are the Sam and Dean from before the show even began. If Dean had died before season one? Same result. Dean goes to Heaven, finds ‘peace’ or whatever with Baby and Bobby. Sam is miserable, finds a wife (Jess or anoher, at this point it doesn’t even matter), has a son, dies and joins Dean in Heaven. The end. Call-backs to the origins are good. Here, the problem is that this isn’t a call-back, it’s a regression.
Dean dies on a hunt begun by their father. He’s still ‘Daddy’s Blunt Instrument.’
Sam finds a normal-enough looking life, but doesn’t get over his own trauma.
And Cas? Cas is back where he began too. He is in Heaven and he doesn’t’ leave it. He has no contact with humanity, notwithstanding the fact that his arc was entirely about getting close to and helping humanity. He still obeys God. Oh, granted, this is Jack, not Chuck. And he advises God, now. It is marginally better. But he is still a loyal servant of God who... doesn’t even bother checking on Sam and Dean even in Heaven.
What it comes down to is that the characters have fallen back into the cycle of abuse. 15x19 was heavy about that cycle: Michael and Lucifer come back and they are still prisoners of that cycle, they cannot break it, and it kills them. And in the end, Sam, Dean and Castiel fall back into it too.
Consistency and continuity, were art thou?
This ep makes no sense with what happened before.
In 15x19 Dean finally understood that he didnt want to be a killer. And neither did Sam. In the series finale… they go on a hunt???
I mean. I could understand it if they had difficulty getting out of the hunting life. But if this is the case it was never tackled in the episode.
Everything that happened with God goes unmentioned. You would believe they would address their newfound freedom. Their projects. Their doubts about having been manipulated. But no.
Their behaviour is completely OOC too. In 19 Dean is desperate to have Cas back. Now two weeks later he is chill with Cas being gone? Not even sad a little? Inconsistent.
What happened to their feeling of 'Running on empty' from the precious ep? Now they seem… okay.
Also the pie festival scene made no sense. Why is it here? What does it bring?
And what is the deal with Eileen? She lives in a limbo. Sam never mentions missing her, so she must be his wife. But his wife is unnamed. I can understand it if the crew couldnt have her on set because of Covid regulations, but they could have found a way to name her. Have Sam or even Dean mention a date with her. Show wedding invitations. Something. If this isnt her then how come Jack didnt bring her back?
Cas comes back but wont go and see the man he was in love with? Absurd. Cas saved his life but will accept his death two days later? Ridiculous.
And all those loose ends. The Empty is supposedly awakeand changed. What happens To it? If there is still a cosmic entity left it has to be bad for humanity! How come Jack brought Cas back? Did he bring anyone else back too? Is Heaven still dying? What happens with Hell?
I dont even understand. It makes no sense. This episode is jarring because it doesnt go with the rest of the series.
What the hell did they do with Cas?
This is so fucked up. Cas died and his death was useless because yeah it saved Dean but Chuck wanted him alive for the big end anyway. It gave Dean motivation to live a good life but he never got to. Cas died for nothing and we couldnt even grieve him because they baited us into believing he would come back.
The last time we heard his voice was in a twisted parody designed to mock us.
He was not even in the finale. After all he brought to the story. The Themes of Free Will, faith, and humanity were only tackled with such beauty because of him. He was a unique character and they didnt even show him. Misha was not even in the goodbye scene. It is complete disrespect.
Like Eileen, he is in a limbo. We are told he is alive but he is not shown.
His name is on the fucking table ffs.
In the documentary they kept referring To him as the third brother. He is Family. He should have been there. Explicitly.
When I say Depressing I weigh my words.
Sam is clearly in depression for the rest of his life. He has a wife and a son but he is not happy. 'Always keep fighting,' Dean said. The show didnt show him keeping up the fight. It shows a man who is so utterly broken that even a marriage and a child bring him no joy.
We dont see him happy once. Even with Covid regulations they could have done it. Show Sam gazing fondly at his wedding ring, or getting ready for his wedding, or buying baby shoes with a huge grin on his face. Nope. It didnt happen.
Listen, I get it. You never get over the loss of your family. It is normal. But it does not mean you cannot find happiness.
As it is, though, Sam's happiness isnt his wife and kid but only Dean.
Basically the brothers never got rid of their toxic codependency. It is not a callback to the first season. No. This is complete lack of progress.
And the worst thing is that now, in the show, the two brothers canonically only find their happiness in death.
Dean does not find happiness or completion in life. He gets a dog, wants to apply for a job or a house, idk which. But the ep tells us that his happiness is in death. And Sam afterwards only waits for his own death and is happy only after he dies.
Honestly I thought Sam was originally going to kill himself.
I cannot help but think about Jared who fought against dépression. And this is how his character ends. Depressed his whole life and finding relief in death. They even used the title of the episode about his dépression, 'Always Keep Fighting' against him. Disgusting.
More generally ending a show that deals with abuse, trauma, PTSD and depression with depression for life and happiness in death is super awful.
… also. Usually audiences who watch and thus relate to that are usually depressed people too. One hell of a final message. Death will bring you happiness… oh and servitude gives you happiness and freedom doesnt. This is a nice American narrative I guess.
Even the song of the show, 'Carry on Wayward Son' was twisted To fit this narrative. 'There'll be peace when you are done' never meant 'you will only be happy when you die.' The song does have a suicidary/depression vibe… but there is hope still.
In the finale, the title 'Carry On' was not for Dean, since he died and thus did not carry on, but for Sam. Sam explicitly carries on… because he has too. Not because he wants to.
There is just no hope left. In a show that was about hope.
Also, even Heaven is depressing. Where are all the other people they loved? Bobby and Rufus and Mary and John… okay. But where are Charlie, Jo, Ellen, Ash, Adam, Kevin (Ok he is a ghost but still), and all the rest? They are not even mentioned.
Even on Earth no one but Donna is mentioned. Jody? Claire? Rowena? Garth? Nope. No one is mentioned. It is as if they never existed.
And the love declaration… man if they wanted to kill him and never show him again then they didnt have to feature it. NOT AT ALL. This is worse than usual queerbaiting. We are beyond UST and subtext. This is text now.
I was speaking of loose ends. This is such a huge loose end because this scene was never acknowledged at all and it was never answered. At this point even a "sorry but no" would have been better.
Rule number 1 of storytelling: when something huge like that happens in your story it needs to be acknowledged and answered!!!
Imagine in, say, Friends (taking a very known example) that Phoebe confesses her love to Rachel (taking a wild example). Or in Lord of the Rings if Sam confessed his love to Frodo. Or if in Harry Potter Ron confesses to Harry; if in Game of Thrones Jon proposes to Cersei (another wild example). And then it is never spoken about again. Rachel and Frodo and Harry and Cersei never answer, in one way or another. Never. This is just bad storytelling.
Chekov's gun? Anything that is mentioned in the story must be important??
Some people who didnt even watch SPN called this scene homophobic. SPN proved them right.
Knowing that Jensen and Misha texted each other back and forth about fan reactions makes it even more painful. They knew and they had to watch that knowing that fans would be disappointed.
Or, if some fans are right and Misha filmed a scene in the finale… then they thought maybe destiel would go canon and they were sorry disappointed.
Dean was a victim of the bury your gays thing too. If he lived he had to confront his feelings at some point. So he died. If he met Cas in Heaven he would have to answer him. So they dont meet.
Bury your gays and your bis.
And even in Heaven the gay, the bi and the queer cannot be shown. A show that turned angels into assholes and God into à villain cannot even show LGBTQ+ people in Heaven. Hilarious.
Charlie died. Twice. And we are given no proof that she is alive. Kill the lesbian too!
All that remain is a straight marriage…
We have no proof that the wife is Eileen.
Yep. Eileen might be dead. They killed the deaf woman. Twice. After bringing her back. They buried the gay and the disabled woman. Nice.
For a show that took a stand against tyranny and oppression this is… disappointing. They committed hate crime after hate crime.
The finale was not bad just because there was no Destiel. It was bad because the writers betrayed the story they had written. They insulted the fans. They provided no closure and cancelled character development. The story had no consistency. It insulted the characters and the actors. They showed death as the solution and as the way for happiness. They were hateful towards oppressed minorities that depended on them and identified with the show.
