Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Hate You, Tomorrow
My heroes will go away…
The sun’ll come out tomorrow, but I won’t be happy about it. At least I won’t be happy when it goes down. Because that means the last episode of Supernatural.
If you aren’t familiar with Supernatural (you have my sympathy if that’s the case), it’s been referred to as “the little show that could.” For 15 seasons it has entertained its fandom.
The story begins with Sam and Dean, two brothers, who are searching for their father. He’s on a hunting trip, and Dean hasn’t heard from him in a few days (Season 1, Ep 1).
Now, we aren’t talking deer or turkey hunting here. The Winchester men hunt monsters. Vampires, werewolves, djin, shape-shifters, even demons and angels. Yeah, angels aren’t the harp-playing benevolent cherubs we thought they were. In this case, the Winchester patriarch is hunting for the demon who killed his wife.
I discovered this show thanks to my oldest. We began binging it while I recovered from surgery and was battling demons of my own. Sadly, a special blade couldn’t fix those. But watching Supernatural made real-life bearable at a time when it…wasn’t. And I had some wonderful bonding time with my daughter.
I won’t wax overly sentimental about my psyche here, as I did it a year or so ago in another article:
But Supernatural has become about more than the story of two brothers who save people and hunt things. It has become about the literal love relationship between the cast and the fans, the “hope in the face of certain doom” themes, and the ways that Sam and Dean — in their real-life personas — have helped people face their own monsters.
Jared Padalecki, who plays Sam Winchester (and who some of you might know as Dean from Gilmore Girls), has been open about his own struggles with depression and anxiety, and he birthed a movement known as AKF: Always Keep Fighting. This organization has helped people all over the world confront their own mental health challenges and has created a community of encouragement and commiseration.
Here’s just a taste of these guys loving their fans:
The SPNFamily (#SPNFamily) reaches across continents and oceans with their theme of “family don’t end in blood” (line by Bobby/Dean). These communities deal with such issues as depression, anxiety, trauma, PTSD, suicide, and family dysfunction. Janina Scarlet, Ph.D., wrote a book entitled Supernatural Therapy: Hunting Internal Monsters IRL, and it is full of testimonials from fans and family, along with numerous resources for those needing weapons in their own personal hunts.
I know for my own part, in life, it often seems like there is always another shoe to drop, another crisis to avert or endure, and the baggage can keep piling up in that hidden place until I may drown. But I can keep fighting. I can slay the monsters one at a time. Even if a cannot slay them all, every battle won is me saving a part of myself. Supernatural mirrors the reality inside and the reality of the world, but it also demonstrates determination, hope, grief, and joy. No matter what the circumstances around us may bring.
Tomorrow night, the final episode will air, and there will certainly be many questions that go unanswered. As Chuck, the prophet/God character has stated:
Endings are hard. Any chapped-ass monkey with a keyboard can poop out a beginning, but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can. The fans are always gonna bitch. There’s always gonna be holes. And since it’s the ending, it’s all supposed to add up to something. I’m telling you, they’re a raging pain in the ass.
Chuck, Season 5: Episode 22, Swan Song
We may never know what happened to all those people who disappeared. Sam may not get his reunion with Eileen. Cas may never know if Dean loves him as a friend or “love” loves him. What does Jack do? What about Heaven? Hell? Rowena? On Friday, Twitter will be raging with people who didn’t get the nice bow they wanted, the bromance they demanded, or the happy ending they think they needed.
But isn’t that how life is? When my life ends, there will be unanswered questions. I had questions when my first marriage ended, when my best friend died, and when I lost a job I loved. We never get the neatly wrapped package. And we keep on living.
I’ll be unreachable by phone, email, carrier pigeon, or smoke signal tomorrow from 8–10 Eastern Time. And after that, I’ll probably be a sobbing mess.
But Supernatural won’t really be over. Every ending is really just a beginning. And the fandom will still be there. As Jensen Ackles said:
IT EXISTS, guys. We feel you. And you mean a shit ton to us, you really do…. Everybody struggles. Everybody needs to take a moment. Everybody needs to find something to help them keep going through the day, but you are not alone.
- Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester)
Laurie Nave is an Instructional Designer, Musician, Writer, Wife, and Mom. She writes suspense/crime and inspirational fiction, spoils her dachshund, Ginger, and she has plenty of salt in her pantry and silver in her china cabinet.
If you’re a Supernatural fan, you may also like this article:
https://medium.com/muddyum/theology-lessons-from-supernatural-af9d871a346e
