‘Supernatural’: Will That Major Death Stick? (POLL)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 15, Episode 18 of Supernatural, “Despair.”]
If there’s one source of comfort for the SPN Family after the antepenultimate episode, it’s that characters on the long-running CW drama have come back from the dead many times before.
In fact, the very same Supernatural episode that featured perhaps the biggest death (if it sticks) yet saw Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles), Castiel (Misha Collins), and Jack (Alexander Calvert) on a mission to stop what they thought was Billie (Lisa Berry) carrying out her plan: to return everyone to where they’re supposed to be (meaning those who have been resurrected die again, like Eileen). What they realized too late was that it was, once again, all on God (Rob Benedict), and by the end of “Despair,” only Sam, Dean, and Jack seemed to remain.
Castiel, meanwhile, sacrificed himself to save Dean as Billie was determined the kill the hunter before she died of the fatal wound he’d inflicted using her own scythe. He knew the only thing that could stop her was the Empty, which would come to fulfill their deal when he experienced a moment of true happiness, which he did, “in just being,” he explained. He learned to care about the entire world, just by knowing Dean, and with an “I love you” and a goodbye, he let the Empty take him (and Billie).
It was a heartbreaking scene, and after, Collins (who joined the series in Season 4) admitted on social media that while watching it, “I got lost in the story and forgot for a moment that I’m the one who plays that angel and I thought, ‘He’s how I want to be. He’s openhearted and he’s selfless and he’s true.'” It was a purely selfless decision, whether or not it sticks.
And that is the question. There are now two episodes left of Supernatural. Time is limited for a resurrection. Castiel had some poignant conversations with Sam and Jack prior to his last emotional scene with Dean, and the hunter’s reaction at the end of “Despair” suggested he didn’t think Castiel would be coming back. And in fact, the way the angel went out does fit with what Collins said of his character’s ending at the PaleyFest NY conversation in October: “My last scene on the show was epic in its own right and felt like such a satisfying conclusion to that arc.”
However, right now, everyone is gone. In the promo for the penultimate episode (below), it looks like the only ones left are Sam, Dean, Jack…and a dog? The series can’t end with everyone (else) dead. And who’s to say that the Empty won’t let Castiel go or God won’t intervene as part of his plan (we still don’t know what the ending is in Death’s book for him is now)?
Whether or not Castiel comes back, he won’t be forgotten. After all, we still have to see Sam and Jack’s reactions to his sacrifice (presumably coming right at or near the beginning of Episode 19). But what do you think? Check out just a few of his most memorable moments below and then vote in the poll at the bottom.
Supernatural, Thursdays, 8/7c, The CW
