It was one year ago today that Supernatural filmed its final episode. I don’t know how that’s possible, because in some ways it seems like yesterday, and yet when I think of everything that has happened since, it seems like maybe it was even longer. Jared has filmed a whole season of Walker and is starting another. Jensen has filmed a whole season of The Boys. Misha has recorded a podcast season and published a poetry book. Some of my friends in the fandom have moved on, found other shows to love, even if they will always have a soft spot for this one. Some got pulled into this drama or that drama and walked away disillusioned or disappointed. Some, like me, are still here – I’m grateful every single day that the SPN Family still exists and I can still hop on social media and find people who want to talk about Supernatural and how much we love and miss it.
A year ago, I was already anticipating how much things would change, and of course they have. I knew that life would feel different just knowing that Jensen and Jared and Misha and the crew that felt like family too were no longer up there in Vancouver making magic for us to enjoy. I knew I’d miss Jason Fischer posting the Quote of the Day – it started out my every day for so long, a part of my daily routine that I cherished. He probably doesn’t know how good it felt, to know that everyone in my little corner of the world (ie, the Supernatural fandom) was starting out their day with that white board too.
It was something they shared with us simply because they wanted to – and it helped us as fans feel a part of everything they did. We knew when the day started, when the day was slated to end, what scenes they were filming. I miss that feeling of connection that was pretty unique in the world of television.
A year ago, as the cast and crew headed to work for their very last day of shooting, they wanted to share that with us too. Jared and Jensen both candidly shared their emotional reactions to their last day being Sam and Dean, taking the time to post something for the fandom even as they had to do the actual filming of those final scenes on the bridge.
I don’t know that there’s ever been a show and a fandom so closely tied that the fans got to ‘know’ so many of the behind the scenes people who made Supernatural so special, not just the actors. So many of those people wanted to show us where they were and how they felt as the last day spun out. It made it a little easier to deal with my own feelings when I knew they were shared by all these talented and hard-working people.
It was rare and special that so many of the crew worked on the show for nearly its entire run – when everyone said it was a family, I think they really meant it.
Supernatural was so special, in fact, that cast who had been on the show throughout its fifteen year run came to social media on its final day to share their emotional reaction to its ending. People who had moved on to other things long ago still considered this show important enough that they wanted to express their gratitude and send their good wishes. Not to be maudlin, but it was a little like a funeral, when people show up out of the woodwork and you suddenly realize just how loved this person was and how many lives they touched. Supernatural was like that.
Of course, Supernatural’s creator Eric Kripke shared his emotions, and so did Misha Collins.
#ThankYouSupernatural trended pretty much all day, all over the world, as fans and cast alike tweeted their heartfelt gratitude to the show that changed all our lives.
And countless guest stars chimed in with their thanks. Many of these actors wrote chapters in either Family Don’t End With Blood or There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done, describing just how dramatically the show and the fandom have impacted them. I know they are grateful.
Writers and producers weighed in.
The bands that are forever inextricably linked with Supernatural joined in – Louden Swain and freaking Kansas!
I posted my own gratitude and good wishes for the cast and crew, through lots of tears.
It sounds dramatic, but I knew my life would be changed once my show was no longer filming, and it has been.
And then I savored that last day, as much as I could.
I was online, waiting, when the final tweet came through that Supernatural had officially wrapped. It seemed somehow appropriate that it was called like the traditional ‘time of….ending’, because it felt a little like that.
I’m grateful for every exciting thing that has happened since, from behind the scenes photos from new projects to virtual conventions to zoom get togethers with my fandom friends or some of the actors I miss seeing in person. That has helped a lot, but there’s still nothing like knowing that Sam and Dean and Cas and Jack were still out there. That the Impala was still cruising down the highway and there were more adventures around the next bend in the road.
I miss them. One year later, and I still miss them every day. And maybe now, with the benefit of twelve months of living without Supernatural, I appreciate even more how special the show was, and how special the fandom that grew up around the show was. I’m still indescribably glad that I took the time to savor it while I had it. And I haven’t given up hope for more in the future!
Until then, as always, love you Supernatural.
— Lynn
You can always remember just how special
Supernatural is, in the words of its actors
and fans, in ‘Family Don’t End With Blood’
and ‘There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done’.
Links in banner or sidebar above or at:
