Superhero Media: Supernatural - Season 5

And here our journey ends. I know that Supernatural continues for a great many seasons, but the close of Season 5, with Dean losing everything and turning away from hunting for good, is one of the best "finales that aren't actually a final episode" in television. Yes, I still maintain that "Free The Future" is the best ending Dragon Ball has ever had and Luther should have finished at the close of the third season. For the entirety of the fifth season, Sam and Dean are in a Sisyphean struggle against destiny, soon learning that Sam is to be the vessel of Lucifer and Dean of the Archangel Michael, and that their battle will destroy the Earth. Fatalism and duty are the major themes of this season, with the brothers, Dean especially, standing for free will and humanism, even when that stand costs them everything they have. The focus of this season of Supernatural is less episodic, with plots running across several entries, though still bookended for network television. 

In what is something of a shock for an American television programme on a major network, it is revealed in Supernatural that God is absent, the Metatron has become a dictator and the Angels are on board for the Apocalypse because it will be the end of a lot of filthy humans. That's basically the plot for a chunk of the His Dark Materials series, and draws a lot more from the Apocrypha and William Blake than it does any Biblical source. Whilst I would love a big Sci-Fi/Horror production to draw its mythology from something other than an Abrahamic source, the approach that Supernatural takes is at least pretty interesting, moving away from a loving God and Biblical literalism that even Xena Warrior Princess ran with in later seasons. Another excellent choice is stripping many of the characters of power they've previously had, meaning Sam and Dean have to take on Angles, Demons and the Horsemen of the Apocalypse with rock salt and experience, rather than CGI tricks. 

In the end, the battle for the future of the Earth comes down to two guys wrestling in a graveyard, and the car that has been a feature of the programme since the pilot is pivotal in preventing the End of Days. When Lucifer and Sam are trapped in the Room Without Doors, along with Michael and an unfortunate character idea (the lost third Winchester brother), Dean is left with only Bobby and a lifetime of grief and regret. The end of Dean's story is his reuniting with an old flame from a previous season and looking for meaning in a life that has never really needed any before. This ending is perfect, a brilliant juxtaposition to the "Supernatural Convention" episode where a fan tells Dean he envies his life of freedom and adventure. One day, I may look at the seasons that follow this one, but my brief foray into Season 6 and beyond has left me cold so far, and I'd rather keep my feelings for the story and characters intact. I think it will be a while before I come back to Supernatural, but for the most part, going back over it again has been a worthwhile experience.