Last month’s Creation Supernatural convention in New Jersey was extra fun – one, because I could drive to it; two, because my friend Mary actually did the driving (fangirl roadtrip!); and three, because I missed the cast of my favorite show. Especially Jared Padalecki, who didn’t make the Creation cons in January. It had been way too long!
In between selling books and chatting with friends in the vendor room, I caught some panels with the rest of the best cast ever.
Ruth Connell said she knew she could play Rowena when she saw the line “it breaks my heart to see what a colossal pussy you’ve become” (later changed a bit).
She told some stories of her childhood, including loving the Kelpies, saying that her grandfather was a ‘horse whisperer’.
Perhaps the most heartwarming moment of Ruth’s panel was when she shared that Rob and Ruth’s young daughter Margaret is learning to swim, using Felicia Day’s daughter’s water wings. #SPNFamily
Ruth, like so many guest actors on Supernatural, feels that her life was changed by being on the Show. She writes about that in her beautiful chapter in the book Family Don’t End With Blood (and you can almost hear her accent in it).
Ruth: That’s what Supernatural is for me, that your dreams can come true.
Ruth also had some exciting news – she’s preparing to produce a film after securing the book rights! Congrats, Ruth!
Friday night Mary and I had an absolutely amazing dinner at a restaurant across the street which had a lovely outdoor porch. I have to say, the driving is so insane in this part of Jersey that it took us like ten minutes to finally navigate our way there when we could literally SEE the restaurant from the con hotel!
However? Worth it.
Saturday I caught Misha Collin’s panel as always, though I missed the beginning when everyone sang happy birthday to him. Happy birthday, Misha!
His very first convention was in New Jersey, and he reminisced about how nervous he was during his panel. (We were at that convention too and were the only familiar faces there for him, having just met and interviewed him on the set in Vancouver – on his first night at the con, he sat between me and Kathy on a couch in the hotel bar, a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. You can read that entire story in the book ‘Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls!’ with more Misha chaos.)
I chatted with him later about it, both of us marveling that it was so long ago!
Six years ago on this day, Supernatural filmed its final scenes.
I was glued to social media that day, watching the posts come in – from the set from cast and crew, and from all the guest actors over the years whose lives had been changed by the little show that could.
I remember sitting there for a long time, crying and a little stunned, when the confirmation came through that the very last scene had in fact been filmed.
That it was, as they say, a Wrap.
I was so grateful to everyone who kept the fandom apprised that day, making us feel like a part of Supernatural right up until the very end.
So I’m emotional again today.
All week we’ve also been celebrating the days leading up to another important anniversary – on September 13, in three days, it will be Supernatural’s 21st birthday of the day it first aired. How lucky are we, after all this time, to still be celebrating?
On September 13, 2026, fittingly enough, I will be at a Supernatural convention.
Both Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles will be there, in sunny (hopefully) Orlando, Florida at the Creation Entertainment convention, one of many devoted to my favorite Show, along with Misha Collins and many guest actors who were such an integral part of the show. There will inevitably be a moment on that Sunday when I will tear up and get emotional thinking about the long strange trip we’ve been on for the past 21 years.
Twenty-one years.
That’s how long it will be since Supernatural premiered back in 2005.
I didn’t watch the pilot live, but I saw it shortly after, thanks to a friend who saw the show previewed at Comic Con that year and made sure to watch it with her handy dandy VHS recorder ready. She brought the VHS tapes of the first few episodes when she came to visit, sitting me and Kathy and Karen down and informing us that ‘this show is amazing’.
I remember thinking it was scary, and Sam and Dean were cute.
I watched the first season still thinking that, keeping up partly because I wanted to share the enthusiasm of my friends and because we inevitably watched the episodes when we all got together anyway. It wasn’t until the start of the second season that I realized that somewhere along the line, I had gradually fallen in love. Not in a oh-this-is-a-good-show kind of way, but in a OMG-this-is-the-most-amazing-show-in-the-history-of-television way.
My best friend Kathy fell in love too, and together we embarked on all sorts of unlikely adventures for two grown ups with families and kids and professor jobs. We impulsively flew across the country to Texas to try to meet Dean Winchester’s portrayer Jensen Ackles at a local theater production, and ended up meeting Jared Padalecki instead – in the candy line. We flew to California to go to Comic Con and camp out overnight to get into the Supernatural panel long before it was in the giant Hall H; they were unprepared for how many people had already fallen for the show. We watched every episode and dissected it as only a psychologist and an English professor can, long into the night and with just as much enthusiasm and seriousness as we dissected our own textbooks. We went to the very first Creation Supernatural convention, watching Jared and Jensen get emotional when they saw how many people were loving what they were working so hard on. Our experience with Supernatural fandom was so life changing, we changed our professional paths to research fandom and write books on what we found. Every time we visited the Supernatural set, we were more impressed with all the talented individuals who made the Show the unique and incredible thing it was.
Over the past 21 years, Supernatural and this fandom have given me so much joy. I feel incredibly lucky that this is the Show I fell for. So incredibly lucky that almost every single Supernatural actor has turned out to be not only talented but a decent person who is genuinely grateful for all the opportunities the Show and the fans offered them.
When I put together the book ‘Family Don’t End With Blood’ and the actors wrote chapters for it, I worried that I’d see “the real people” and they would somehow turn out to be jerks after all – instead they were more professional and pleasant to work with than lots of the contributors for books I’ve published for my own profession!
Okay, maybe not at that exact moment….
Those three have beautiful chapters, though.
And they really are great to work with.
I know neither the show nor the fandom is perfect. There are episodes I rolled my eyes or gnashed my teeth over, though there are way more that I adored (yes, that includes the finale). There are days I dip into what’s going on in the fandom and walk away discouraged by fans attacking the actors or each other instead of appreciating what we have and letting everyone appreciate it in whatever way speaks to them. For me, Supernatural is still a little island of escape and joy in the midst of a world that is increasingly dark and threatening and lacking empathy. It has been that for me for 21 years.
That hasn’t changed.
So if I’m a little teary on Sunday when I see you, Jared and Jensen, please understand that when I’m talking to you, I’m also seeing Sam and Dean and remembering watching that old VHS tape 21 years ago and ‘meeting’ the characters who would change my life.
Thank you for making them memorable enough to make me get choked up (in a good way) 21 years and six books about Supernatural later.
And thank you, Supernatural, for everything.
– Lynn
You can read the beautiful chapters by the actors
in Family Don’t End With Blood, and their thoughts
I was SO looking forward to the Creation Tour’s Supernatural con in Boston in June – Jared Padalecki wasn’t able to be at either of the other two 2026 cons so far, so this was the first time I’d be seeing Jared and Jensen onstage together since the fall of 2025. That is WAY too long!
It’s only a short flight – literally too short for even a soda – and miraculously it was even on time, so Thursday was a good day. I got set up in the vendor room and then joined a friend for a lovely dinner on the outdoor patio of the hotel restaurant. The clam chowder was of course delicious (as was the dessert)!
Friday I caught a little bit of the Matt Cohen and Gil McKinney panel, two of my favorite people If you haven’t seen Matt’s new film ‘Exes’, starring him and Briana Buckmaster, what are you waiting for? It’s streaming on Prime Video or wherever you stream your entertainment.
For some reason, Matt was letting everyone know he is definitely not a soup fan. I mean, look at that face.
What he would like is to be on the new The Boys prequel, Vought Rising, along with Jensen Ackles. He has the look for sure – what do you say, Kripke?
Speaking of being perfect for a part, Gil auditioned for Mad Men – he definitely has the look.
Matt told Gil the story of when a doctor looked into Jensen Ackles’ ears and went on and on about how he had perfect ear canals.
Matt: That is the most aggravating thing I’ve ever heard.
Gil: It’s just unnecessary.
Matt: He’s handsome, he’s nice, he’s talented, he’s kind… and he’s got perfect ear canals? (kicks him offstage metaphorically)
Hilariously, Matt shared that Grok called him “the Temu Jensen Ackles” hahaha.
One willow wish?
Gil: For Henry Winchester to have had more episodes!
I also caught a little of Ruth Connell’s panel – Rob greeted her with the most adorable hug.
Ruth was surprised to get off the plane and find men in kilts – and also someone who was from where she grew up!
She talked about something I’ve thought about often – how instrumental the casting agency was in making Supernatural the wonderful show and set it ended up being. She gave props to Robert Ulrich for that incredible casting.
The second Creation Supernatural convention of 2026 was in Norfolk at the end of January. It’s a quick flight, so that part was good – lucky for me, because there was snow in many parts of the country and it made getting to this con extra challenging. In fact, many people couldn’t make it there at all – it reminded me of a long ago Seattle Supernatural con that ended up getting so much snow that Jared, Jensen and Misha couldn’t get there, so it was a one day con with the few people who had made it and then we all flew back home!
This wasn’t quite as dramatic, but it was different. My friend who I’d been looking forward to seeing flew in and had to immediately fly right back out thanks to snow and pets and lack of Padaleckis. Jared Padalecki couldn’t make it, mostly due to his badly broken leg but I’m sure complicated by how ill advised it would have been to fly with that AND snow. I missed both of them more than I can say, especially because Jared wasn’t at the first con of 2026 in Vegas. I miss that guy! Glad he was taking care of himself and prioritizing recovery though, as he should be.
All that meant I had to be in the vendor room for most of the convention – if you came by to say hi or to buy a book about Supernatural or The Boys, thank you! I did leave the vendor room to watch Misha Collins’ panel — to find him watching his old infomercial for the Navy! Baby Misha!
He had some stories about his kids, who are getting far too big far too fast – Maison went to her first school dance and her dad was emotional about it.
Misha had some snazzy red shoelaces, which he showed off and clarified that they were not a political statement.
There were some influence jokes, to my great delight. There’s nothing better than being part of a fandom that has in-jokes, especially ones that extend through many years. (Look up the Mishalecki panel at JIB one year where Jared and Misha were collapsing with laughter after their dirty jokes about ‘influence’)
As a long-time fan of both Supernatural and The Boys, my anticipation for this week’s episode has been off the charts for what seems like forever. I’m definitely one of the fans who would love a Season 16 of Supernatural or a feature film or an 8 episode streamer or pretty much whatever, but I’m also happy to see “my boys” onscreen together in anything else in the meantime. Witnessing how they talked about filming together and how much fun they had (and how much chaos inevitably happened) only made me more excited – they filmed a year ago, so it seems like we had to wait an inordinately long time to actually SEE it. But guess what? The episode, and what I’ve been calling the “Supernatural Reunion”, did not disappoint! I found myself either yelling “oh nooooo” or just laughing my head off during the entire sequence, which was full of surprises.
Some fans of The Boys were skeptical about all the fuss being made about the Supernatural reunion, fearing it would take away from the final season of the show (which only has 3 more episodes) but the episode was also the most highly rated by press viewing the early screeners – and I think deservedly so. It definitely moved the plot along in multiple ways, and it lived up to the calendar blood-splatter warning that some main character(s) would die. Spoiler alert, lots of people (and supes) die in this episode!
It’s also a genre departure as a pov episode, in that it devotes a chunk of time to many of the characters, exploring their perspectives on Homelander as God, on where their loyalty lies, and on some of their struggles with what it’s cost them to keep going along with Homelander no matter what.
SPOILER ALERT – MAJOR SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 5 AHEAD
FIRECRACKER
Spoiler alert, the main supe to die is Firecracker. Valorie Curry outdid herself in this episode, making the character nuanced enough so that you feel for her even as you loathe what she’s doing, and what she’s refusing to see. Kripke told TVLine that Firecracker is an allegory for all the loyalists who go along with a dictator demanding allegiance, compromising their values, and then end up “hoisted on their own petard” anyway. There’s really no pleasing someone like Homelander, on the show or in real life, as we’ve seen time and time again. As Kripke put it, “nothing will ever be enough, it doesn’t matter how much you give up.” In Firecracker’s case, it’s everything she once sincerely believed in.
At first, things seem to be going well for Firecracker. She makes her case to Homelander and the Seven with an advertisement full of cowboys and horses and guns and the stereotypes of Americana, presenting the “massive growth” in popularity of their new religious movement, led by white men and women of course.
Soldier Boy (looking down at his crotch while giving her a smirk): I’m seeing massive growth myself…
gifs justjensenanddean
He is so massively gross it sometimes circles back to oddly endearing. And he really likes to talk about his dick. And other people’s dicks, for that matter. Homelander does not miss that interaction though, and he doesn’t like it. He also isn’t happy about being called a prophet when prophets are servants and he is the saviour. His delusion is getting to the point where even his followers keep making missteps, misjudging just how deranged and grandiose he’s become. Most of his accolytes go along with everything he says, each of them trying to out-pander the others. Firecracker wins him over, though, kneeling in front of him worshipfully and handing him something physical that will appeal to his ego – the Homelander Bible, complete with a raised gold figure of himself right on the cover.
Homelander (impressed): It’s heavy…
Soldier Boy (eyeroll)
It is, of course, AI written. Two years ago Kripke and company sure saw that coming!
It seems fitting that this is who has it now…
Homelander agrees to do it her way. Sister Sage reminds them that their plan will generate widespread civil unrest (does this seem familiar??) – no worries, Homelander says, they’ll just recall all the supes stationed overseas. After all, “American heroes should be protecting America, not Whogivesafuckistan!”
Fresh from her victory, Firecracker goes back to her hometown in Florida to meet with the reverend of her childhood church (who happens to be the marijuana growing grampa on Sheriff Country…) He was a support to her as a child, making sure she got at least one hot square meal a day, but now his church is losing people to the Democratic Church of America and the supe Praying Mantis is intimidating them by spraying acid out of his butt to melt their stained glass windows.
She asks why he doesn’t just pay the franchise free and join them; he says they can’t even afford their water bill. The reverend reminds her of what she doesn’t want to recall – Homelander isn’t God and the things he can do aren’t miracles, and she’s still the same Misty Tucker Gray.
Cut to a grunting, naked Soldier Boy on top of Firecracker, and now every Jensen Ackles fan has a gif (or 3) of his “O face”.
Firecracker: We ain’t doin’ that again.
Soldier Boy: That’s what you said the last six times.
He lights a joint which is so very Soldier Boy, and hotter than anyone wants it to be. He senses she’s a little out of it and is worried, though I’m not sure if it’s because he’s a considerate lover or it threatens his ego if she didn’t.
Soldier Boy: Did you nut? Because you usually nut…
The answer appears to be no, since she changes the subject and asks if he was baptized. He says yes, in front of half of Chestnut Hill by Gov. Sproul, and then his family kept up appearances but never set foot in church again.
(I got distracted by the fact that Chestnut Hill is right down the road, having forgotten that Ben grew up nearby. Didn’t they need some on location filming for Vought Rising??)
Anyway, she asks if maybe Homelander might go easy on the reverend who practically raised her.
This week The Boys hosts something that Supernatural fans have been waiting for a long time – Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins onscreen, together again. It will be the first time the three have shared a screen since their many years together on Supernatural as Sam, Dean and Castiel. For Supernatural fans, this feels like a momentous occasion.
The three gave fans some rather tantalizing tidbits of information about the upcoming episode at a Supernatural convention in Rome this past weekend.
Photo Happytortuguita on X
Eric Kripke is of course the common denominator between the two shows as the creator of Supernatural and the showrunner who adapted The Boys comics into a series. Jensen Ackles joined as Soldier Boy in Season 3 and has been making fans conflicted about loving and hating him ever since.
Fans figured out last month that Jared Padalecki will be playing Mr. Marathon from a photo on the wall when we caught a glimpse of the character in a promo, because nothing gets by motivated fans!
Jared confirmed it at a convention shortly after – which prompted Kripke to go out and confirm it too, saying that he had wanted a meaty part for Jared that was important to the story arc. Jensen Ackles has said that he was nervous about bringing his two friends onto The Boys – not because he worried about their performance, because he knew they’d be great, but in the way a dad worries about his son going up to bat. Picture him across the set going “come on guys, you can do it!”
Apparently they did.
Kripke recently confirmed that Padalecki had ‘crushed it’, unsurprisingly. We also know that Mr. Marathon is a far cry from Jared Padalecki, who has said the character says and does things that he would never do. He’s a douchebag and a cokehead, reminding many people of the fanfic Kripke read many years ago featuring a cokehead Jared and an assertive Kripke and let’s just say it wasn’t rated G and that I may or may not know more about how that all happened…
That was a long long time ago, as Supernatural was in its earliest seasons. This was Kripke back then, the first time we met him – baby Kripke!
Photo Lizz Sisson
Anyway… Collins’ role hasn’t been officially announced, but there are plenty of rumors that he might be Mr. Marathon’s partner and perhaps a supe named Synergy.
Looks like Soldier Boy is not a fan.
That would be an awesome (though probably tragic) twist for all the Mishalecki fans out there.
Jared and Misha have been having a great time teasing the possibilities.
Soldier Boy still not a fan.
Photo Chris Schmelke
Padalecki joked at the Supernatural convention in Rome this weekend in response to a prompt about getting naked – “next Wednesday on The Boys!”
Now that might just be a joke, but on the other hand, Ackles has already been sans clothes for Soldier Boy’s debut and the show is famous for Herogasm, so who knows?!
Padalecki and Collins also resurrected their long-running joke about “influence” on each other from an earlier convention in Rome, with influence being a bodily fluid that’s also not G rated, when answering a question about The Boys episode.
Jared: There’s quite a bit of influence going on… I mean, not as much because we’re older, but…
Misha: I think quite a bit of influence on each other… in each other? In this episode there’s more bodily fluid than…it’s a lot…
Ackles rolled his eyes at his two friends’ antics while fans cheered.
Muriel Forir PhotographyMyConPhotography by Anika
If all those teases aren’t enough to whet your appetite for this week’s episode, I don’t know what would – as someone whose favorite shows are Supernatural and The Boys, I can’t wait!
I’ve had some great conversations with Eric Kripke over the years about both shows and the similarities between them (the resistance in both comes in the form of plain old humans who are willing to go against the odds and keep fighting). So on the eve of this momentous occasion, I thought I’d share some excerpts from my interview chats with Eric over the years about the two shows and how they intersect. It’s a history of the Supernatural-The Boys connection as we get ready to make that connection a lot more direct!
I first asked Kripke about the similarities between his brand new show The Boys and his long-time show Supernatural at San Diego Comic Con way back in 2019, before Supernatural had ended.
Eric: This show is also about family. It’s about the boys, who are the good guys in this show. They’re the heroes because they stick together and show each other loyalty and have each other’s backs and they’re willing to admit vulnerability and weakness. They’re scared and they’re outmatched and they’re outgunned but they’re taking on these powerful forces. Not dissimilar to the way Sam and Dean would take on monsters and demons. What I love is that the heroes of the show are the ones who express vulnerability and weakness and can be imperfect, but we spend a lot of time building the iceberg under the water with the emotion and the satire.
That was enough to get me excited about the show and I’ve been watching ever since. I had the chance to chat with Eric in depth about The Boys shortly after that Comic Con. I pointed out that both Supernatural and The Boys begin with an everyman inspired to get revenge after the love of his life is violently killed (Mary burning on the ceiling and Robin mowed down by A Train). In the case of The Boys, that comes from the comics, but the show captured it.
Eric: Now that you’ve pointed it out, there are similarities to that. Robin dying in The Boys is taken almost frame for frame from the comic book so it’s funny, that hadn’t really occurred to me about that connection, because in The Boys the instigating incident is so infamous for anyone who’s a fan of the books. It was my job to capture it as faithfully as possible and that’s mostly where my head was, but yeah. Also, I think where they’re similar is there are a lot of tonal and thematic similarities. In a lot of ways, The Boys is a hard R Supernatural.
(Something many Supernatural fans would not mind at all!)
Vegas was the first con of 2026. It had been a few months since the Supernatural fandom had been together with the cast, so there was extra anticipation for this one. It’s a long flight for me, which is never fun, and it was late, so I didn’t get there until later in the day on Friday, missing lots of the Friday fun unfortunately. Also unfortunately, Jared Padalecki wasn’t able to be there, and we were all missing him. (But excited that he was filming a movie!)
There were some guests we don’t usually get to see, including Emmanuelle Vaugier (Madison the werewolf). Barry Bostwick, who was in the Supernatural episode ‘Criss Angel is a Douchebag’, was also there, signing autographs in the vendor room just a few tables down from mine. It was surreal having someone who starred in something so formative in my very younger days – The Rocky Horror Picture Show – hanging out and chatting. Curtis Armstrong (Metatron) was also in the vendor room right down the aisle from my table, and we got a chance to reconnect and share a hug. We all hated his character, but I love Curtis – and I’d love to see him do a panel again too!
I caught a little of the ladies panel with Emmanuelle, Alaina Huffman, Kim Rhodes, Briana Buckmaster, Emily Swallow and Samantha Smith.
Samantha Smith: It wasn’t fully scripted when Dean and Mary look in the Impala. It was like Dean remembered being conceived there…
Briana said that her last episode on the show was surreal, because it was all of them not knowing when Covid would shut them down.
Sam is used to her character being controversial.
Sam: I have people come to my table and say, I hate your character!
Alaina: Sometimes people come up and say, you’re my hall pass, and I’m like um, nice to meet you?
Emily imitated how some people come up to her and recognize her and say “It’s the Darkness!!”
I did not make the trek all the way back to the ballroom, which was approximately 25 miles away, for karaoke, but I hear it was a good one!
Saturday was Misha Collins day. Misha said he’s trying to learn piano, but doesn’t want to practice. My thirteen year old self can so relate.
What would he like to be like if he was younger?
Misha: I have five children in my house a lot of the time and they’re always eager to learn, and I’d like that back.
He re-told the classic Jensen Ackles walks into an electronics store and the clerk just points across the room and there’s a table with a giant portrait of him in Skittles for GISH!
He tried to show the photo on his phone but it didn’t work out well.
Misha: I didn’t expect to have Jensen’s face in my crotch here…
The last Supernatural Creation con (on land anyway) of 2025 was in Nashville, as it usually is – but this time it was earlier than it has been in the past, starting on Halloween. I have too many little kids in the family to let me disappear on actual Halloween, so I flew in early on Saturday for a quick in-and-out weekend in Nashville.
Here are some highlights and photos (and some tweets with short videos of some of the panels too).
Made it in time to catch a glimpse of the lovely Felicia Day.
And for Misha’s panel!
Someone asked Misha for advice on how to keep going in these very difficult times.
Misha: You just have to keep doing what you can to fight for good. That’s what drew us all to Supernatural too.
He went on to say that we can pass down the stories that inspire us – like Supernatural.
Misha: So we can fight the demons in this world.
That is so much of what makes this Show so special, and so inspiring to so many of us.
Misha talked about his kids getting older – his son now answers his phone calls with “whaddya want?” But then he comes to him for comfort when he has a bad dream, so Misha takes solace in that. I can relate.
Misha shared his favorite memory of accomplishment – when he and Jared and Jensen were wrestling and Jared tapped out lol.
Misha: I guess the best moment I had in all the cons I’ve been to and all the time I was working on Supernatural, onscreen and off, a feeling of like vanquishing accomplishment that came from this moment, I believe an Orlando convention years ago, where we got drunk and wrestled and Jared tapped out, and it just felt so unbelievably good.
Somehow it’s been five years since the Show that changed my life aired its final episode.
Last year I wrote that same sentence (with a four obviously). It’s still true that November 19, 2020 seems like a lifetime ago and yet something that happened just yesterday. The entire world has changed since then, but all those changes seem to have only made Supernatural more relevant. Its message, to “always keep fighting” no matter what the odds you’re up against, is a reminder needed now more than ever. There are days when it seems hopeless, with so many things going in the wrong direction – but then I remember, that’s what Sam and Dean faced just about every day. And they never gave up.
That might be Supernatural’s most powerful legacy – giving us some inspiring role models to help us keep going when problems seem insurmountable. I can still rewatch an episode and feel just a little bit more hopeful, and some days I really need that.
Five years ago, I turned on my TV to watch the series finale live, as I had watched almost every single episode of Supernatural for the past 15 years. Jared, Jensen, Misha and many of the other actors tuned in too, all of them as emotional as we all were.
I had friends on zoom to watch “with”, but the rest of the family knew to give me some space because there was sure to be some ugly crying. (There was, and they were probably grateful to miss it!)
Misha pulled off the crying alot better than I did.
My tears then were for a multitude of reasons. Sure, Dean dying was agonizing – and a master class in acting from Ackles and Padalecki – and I let myself sob so much I felt sick, quite literally.
Sam grieving his brother, and the perfect music cues that accompanied that, kept the tears flowing.
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The montage that followed, the realization that the cycle was broken, that Sam did live and left hunting and had a life while he waited to join his brother – that made me cry too. Not out of sadness, but out of appreciation for what the Show managed to do in its ending, and how much that made sense to the story I’d been following for 15 years.
I cried through the bridge scene too, smiling through my tears – emotional with gratitude that the Show allowed us the only kind of happy ending that made sense for the Winchesters. Seeing Sam and Dean’s joy in being reunited warmed my heart – seeing the behind the scenes photos of Jared and Jensen celebrating all they accomplished over those 15 years did too.
And then Supernatural gave us an extra gift. They included all of us – the fans who had kept Supernatural on the air for all those years – in its final goodbye. We all got to hear Bob Singer call “cut” for the last time. We all got to metaphorically stand on that bridge and say goodbye to something that has meant so much.
I’m still grateful.
I worried that the fandom would disappear after the finale – that it would finally fragment for good and people would drift away to other shows and actors and fascinations. Of course there’s been some of that. Social media platforms have changed, fans continue to split into factions who see the Show and the characters differently and struggle to allow others their own perspectives. Other shows have captured fans’ imaginations. And yet, five years later, there is still an active and vibrant fandom. Sometimes the factions arguing about whether Dean or Sam was John’s favorite or what the color of a wall really means threaten to take away some of that joy, but then I realize that means people still care enough about the Show to argue about it – so I should really be grateful when I see the passion still there in the arguing!
I’m even more grateful that creative and talented fans are still making edits and videos and art and fanfiction and writing articles about the show. They’re still passionate enough about it to spend their hard earned cash to go to conventions – even now, five years later, there are more Supernatural conventions than any other show. Every time I’m at a con, the number of new fans who just discovered the show and binged it is shocking. In a good way!
That means the Supernatural actors have stayed close too, spending time together at conventions and in their free evenings during those weekends. Most casts wrap filming and go their separate ways, but this cast never has completely – and it seems like they like it that way. Rob Benedict and Richard Speight, Jr. bring their fellow actors together on their Supernatural Then and Now podcast regularly, along with the writers and producers and crew who helped make the show so amazing. Jared starred and Jensen directed and Jake Abel guest starred on ‘Walker’. Rob, Rich, Ruth Connell and Gil McKinney joined Jensen on ‘The Winchesters’.
And coming up, we’re a very very lucky fandom indeed – because Jared, Jensen and Misha are all reuniting in an episode of ‘The Boys’ thanks to Supernatural creator and The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke. To say that I’m looking forward to that is such an understatement, it’s laughable.
I’m glad the actors have stayed close, but I’m even more grateful that the friends I’ve made through Supernatural have remained close too. I met some of my best friends in this fandom, and those friendships continue to stand the test of time. We’ve been there for each other through a lot of ups and downs over these past five years, from pandemics to politics to personal crises. There are no better friends than my fandom friends, who are now way more than that – they’re forever friends. We met through Supernatural though, and I’m so glad that we still share a love for the show. I need people in my life who will never say no to a rewatch of The French Mistake!
Of course I miss the Show. For a while, there was talk about revisiting the Supernatural universe “in five years” – which would be now. Obviously that isn’t going to happen, and who knows if it ever will since its actors are busy doing all sorts of other exciting things. In the last year alone we’ve had Jensen starring in ‘Countdown’ and guest starring on ‘Tracker’ and Jared guest starring on ‘Fire Country’. Jensen will be revisiting Soldier Boy in Season 5 of ‘The Boys’ and starring in the prequel ‘Vought Rising’. Jared will soon start filming ‘The Bodyguard’. They’ve both got other projects in the pipeline as producers, and Misha is developing a film project and is in the process of writing a dystopian novel.
The fandom has supported them in all their subsequent projects – I think we all feel a special sense of pride when “our boys” are doing what makes them happy. But even if they never put out any creative content again, I’d always be proud of them for what they created with Sam, Dean and Cas. They created something unique – special – that changed lives for so many people.
It’s been almost ten years since we wrote Family Don’t End With Blood, and five years since we wrote There’ll Be Peace When You AreDone – both books were intended to celebrate all the ways that Supernatural is special. Its chapters, written by the actors and by the fans, are about all the myriad ways Supernatural has changed all of us. It’s a permanent reminder of what made Supernatural special.
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A few months ago, a publisher contacted me to write another book, for a series of books on the TV shows that have mattered, that have had an impact. Unsurprisingly, Supernatural was one of them. I couldn’t say no. It seems fitting to be working on that book when the 5 year anniversary comes around. Because Supernatural HAS had an impact – on me, and on so many others. I can’t count how many people have stopped by my vendor table or emailed me after reading the books to tell me their own personal story of how the Show changed their lives – or saved it.
Five years later, my love – and my gratitude – are as strong as ever.
Thank you, Supernatural. I miss you….for now…
Lynn
You can remember all the ways Supernatural was
special – to us and to the actors – in their own words
I have been waiting for a Supernatural con in my hometown for a very long time – finally Creation brought their The Road So Far tour to Philly in October. Yay!!!
It seemed extra special because we had just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the show’s premiere way back in 2005.
Credit: Barb LeVan
Philly gave Supernatural a warm welcome, the Philadelphia Zoo even posting an invitation to fans to come do a meet and greet with their very own Sam and Dean (hedgehog version).
Look how adorable they are – almost as cute as the real thing!
photos: Philly Zoo
Of course they’ve got their own Impala!
The con being local also meant I could set out on a leisurely half hour drive into the city each morning…. Yeah, no, that didn’t happen. The traffic was so insane that it took me three times that, and was nervewracking too. However, on Thursday I found a great spot in the hotel garage, so all was well.
I got set up in the vendor room with a little help from my friends and settled in to welcome everyone to Philly!
It turned out to be a great con, though my driving woes weren’t any less than when I’m going a long distance somehow. Friday’s drive didn’t go any better than Thursday’s, and when I got to the hotel garage there was not a single spot in the entire structure! I drove around, increasingly upset because frankly driving is just not my favorite thing… like at all… and was finally told by a parking attendant that there was one “over there a few rows”. It turned out to be a tiny sliver of pavement between a giant truck and a cement pillar, with a trash can chained to the pillar to make it extra challenging. After approximately 30 attempts, I squeezed my Honda in. Never mind I could barely get out and the trash can….well, it had a few dents. Sorry, trash can.
Saturday’s drive was better, but the parking was even worse. When I got there, the ‘FULL’ sign was already up. I was already late, and driving is not really one of my better skills, as I’ve mentioned, and my knee is dislocated, so the thought of driving around the city looking for another lot and then limping to the hotel was really not a pleasant one. I parked my car in front of the hotel and got out to ask if I could do valet parking and was told THAT was full too! WTF? I think a few tears might have rolled down my face at that point and the (very nice) man took pity on me when he saw my knee brace.
“I’ll find a place for you, ma’am,” he kindly assured me. “Just leave it there.”
I wasn’t able to see many panels this time since I was coming and going, but I caught some of the ladies’ panel, which I always try to do. This time we got Kim Rhodes, Briana Buckmaster, Ruth Connell, Samantha Smith, Alaina Huffman and Julie McNiven!
Ruth Connell talked about working with Alaina Huffman and passing on the importance of working WITH other women and supporting each other.
Alaina: I get to play and be supportive with people I love, I’m not competing with other women. That’s my circle.
Briana: I worked very hard to make everyone feel included.
Ruth and Briana and Kim all wrote insightful chapters in Family Don’t End With Blood, all about their journey to Supernatural and what they’ve learned from the fandom. Julie wrote a chapter in There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done, taking us behind the scenes of filming Supernatural and what it was like working with Jensen Ackles in that backseat in the Impala scene. (Spoiler alert, he was a gentleman).
They all talked about how powerful it is to meet fans in person, like they’re able to do at cons.
Ruth: Supernatural and this fandom are the gift of my life.
Julie talked about her young son, who at the holidays opens every present and exclaims “for me??” Awww.
Ruth told a story about little Margaret repeatedly calling for “Daddy” and when that didn’t work, calling: “Rob!!”
Awwwwww
Saturday was also Misha Collins day, as always.
He kicked off his panel stressing about trying to use up all the Asian pears from his pear tree and taking suggestions.
A fan asked, who slays the most?
Misha: Who slays the most? I hate to say it, but Jensen.
