END TIMES

Supernatural

Thursdays, 8/7c, The CW

“STORY’S OVER. WELCOME to the end.” Those stinging words were delivered to the heroes of The CW’s Supernatural—world-saving brothers Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) and their angel ally Castiel (Misha Collins)—by God (Rob Benedict) during Season 14’s finale. And with that proclamation, the deity opened the gates of Hell, freeing a tsunami of monstrous souls from below. Those ghouls and ghosts included many of the troubled creatures the Winchesters put down there over the years. That’s right: For the final season of the horror show that deals with angels, demons and every entity in between, God is the big bad.

Fans had known for roughly a month before the April 25 finale aired that the end was nigh for the longest-running American genre series ever, and the only remaining survivor from The CW’s network predecessor, The WB. On March 22, in was a long and difficult process, recalls Ackles from the Vancouver set in late September. He notes, “We had exhaustive conversations because of the love that we have not just for the show, but for these characters, this crew and this life that we built here. Saying goodbye didn’t seem real. It still doesn’t.”