K Fandom, Meta Narratives, TV/Film

Reactions To Supernatural’s “The Rupture” and “Atomic Monsters”

THE ROAD SO FAR

The boys are entering their final ride. An angry deity has emptied all the souls of hell, and the Winchesters need all the help they can get to put them back where they belong.   Spoilers ahead.

Supernatural — “The Rupture” — Pictured (L-R): Jared Padalecki as Sam, Jensen Ackles as Dean, Ruth Connell as Rowena, Alexander Calvert as Jack and Misha Collins as Castiel — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

I know that I’m a bit tardy with this post, but just like every plan the Winchesters ever had, sometimes a demon jumps in and screws it all up. Anyway, without further ado, here are my thoughts on 15×03 and 15×04.

Rowena’s Sacrifice

If you haven’t watched 15×03 “The Rupture”…please read no further because MAJOR spoilers follow.
After the first two episodes of this season, I was beginning to wonder if the entire season was going to be set inside this quarantine zone. Luckily, Rowena–who went face-to-face with the devil and beat him–comes to the rescue with a little magic. It’s a simple spell, she says, to close the rift if the boys can get all these errant ghostly souls sucked up like cat hair in a vacuum.
So, Castiel and Crowley Jr. go to hell to use Lilith’s Crook (which is actually the Horn of Gondor but whatever) to summon all the former inhabitants of hell…back to hell. However, Crowley Jr. betrays the Winchesters (surprise, surprise) and Castiel is forced to improvise and destroy the crook before all the souls from the “Sloppy-Ass Ghostpocalypse” super-charge Crowley Jr and make him, well, god.
Supernatural — “The Rupture” — Image Number: SN1504a_0201b.jpg — Pictured: Ruth Connell as Rowena — Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Rowena, however, proves once again that she’s the most bad-ass character on the show. She knows a spell that will allow her to absorb the souls and close the rift in hell, but, of course, the catch is that it requires her life as a sacrifice.

We previously saw Billie tell Rowena that Sam would be the person that killed her, and now that Rowena is up against a wall, so to speak, she demonstrates her true character. She is not naturally a self-sacrificing person, but she believes in magic and prophecy, and that Billie’s words were now coming to pass. She convinces Sam that the only way to save them all is to allow her to absorb the souls, and her last few minutes on screen are truly heart-wrenching. I will miss Ruth Connell and her portrayal of Rowena, because the character truly brought magic to the show.

Dean & Castiel

Supernatural — “The Rupture” — Image Number: SN1504b_0130b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jensen Ackles as Dean and Misha Collins as Castiel — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

The scene between Dean and Castiel at the end of “The Rupture”…was exactly that. A rupture. The groundwork for this falling out has been laid for a while now–we’ve seen Dean be increasingly distrustful and critical of Castiel since season 11–and perhaps this is the end of their relationship.

It wouldn’t be a season of Supernatural without some kind of Winchester drama, eh?

At this point, I think it’s safe to assume that Cas and Dean will make up at some future date, but probably not any time soon. Last season = extra drama. I do find it interesting, however, that Sam doesn’t really seem to be aware of Dean and Castiel’s squabbling. (Okay, it’s definitely more serious that squabbling, but I just like that word.)

Meta-Ness

Supernatural — “Atomic Monsters” — Image Number: SN1501b_0190r.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jensen Ackles as Dean and Jared Padalecki as Sam — Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

After the Sloppy-Ass Ghostpocalypse (seriously, thanks for that fantastic name, Bobo) is handled, we enter what we assume to be a regular Monster-of-the-week episode. At this point, do we as fans even want the old episodic formula of monster-ravages-small-town-and-Winchesters-save-the-day-in-42-minutes? At first, my instinct was to say no but (and there’s a big but….) if every MotW episode is like this one, maybe we do.

In “Atomic Monsters” we got:

  1. A BIG throwback to seasons 4/5 with allusions to demon blood-addicted Sam. His vision at the beginning of the episode…is it just a dream?  Is it prescience? Are they *finally* going to bring back “The End”? I’m just saying, I’ve been waiting for The End since 2014…and maybe now that it’s the end we’ll get the end. I suppose I should note that my reasons are entirely selfish and superficial; I just want to see Jared Padalecki in a white suit again.
  2. Chuck is Thanos. Okay…I know it’s a stretch, but….let’s discuss the similarities between SPN’s God and the Mad Titan?
    • He wants to wipe the slate clean and start over. He’s obsessed with getting the story right, and doesn’t that remind us of another villain that was obsessed with balance? Two different motivations, but with the same result: chaos.
    • They want to be exalted for their benevolence. Thanos expected the universe to thank him for sparing half of their lives. Chuck expects gratitude…for just existing. His reunion with ex-girlfriend Becky fully demonstrated the depth of his narcissism, and as he continues his rejection tour (first Amara, now Becky) he begins to realize how truly out of touch he is with his creation.
    • They’re fond of snapping.
Supernatural — “Atomic Monsters” — Image Number: SN1501c_0002b.jpg — Pictured: Emily Perkins as Becky Rosen — Photo: The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Becky’s reaction to Chuck’s griping is pretty much all of our reaction. So you can’t write? Well, you know what, everyone has got sh*t going on and it still manages to get done, so stop making excuses (ohhhh I felt this diatribe in my soul).

When Chuck’s most self-realizing moment occurs–“You don’t need me,” he says, “No one does”–it’s not just Chuck talking about his created world, but also the show itself taking a good, long, introspection of its lasting effect on the world. The creation has outgrown the creator–an apt metaphor for the Supernatural fandom. When this little genre show started fifteen years ago, who could have imagined that it would have produced thousands of fanvids, and hundreds of thousands of fanfictions? There are websites, podcasts, and fanclubs devoted to the source material, but have ultimately become much more than that. Hell, even this blog you’re currently reading started out as our opportunity to primarily fangirl over SPN.

So, what happens when the creation no longer needs its creator? This is the question that show ultimately needs to answer in its final season. In my mind, this could go one of two ways: 1) Chuck could force the characters to need him again–perhaps indicating that the fandom needs the show to survive and will eventually scatter after its end or 2) Chuck could realize that his story is successful, not because it’s perfect, but because it isn’t. The most recurring theme in Supernatural is the one of free will, and perhaps Chuck–and thereby the show’s creators–will realize that the true legacy of the Winchesters (and the SPN Family) is that they are allowed to change, to evolve, or to move on.

Either way, the end (or The End?) is coming, so salt circle your feels, because it’s guaranteed to hurt.

Carry on, my wayward fandom.

-TC