The only thing more difficult than creating a good show is sustaining the quality of a good show. There are a number of shows that started out great but eventually dipped in quality later. Most long-running shows have a tendency to end by or before its tenth season. It is then quite an achievement that Supernatural has made by surviving into its eleventh season and that too successfully. Supernatural proved that even a decade later, it still has compelling stories left in store to say to the audience.
Supernatural ended its tenth season with a huge cliffhanger and season eleven follows up by dealing with the immediate and long-term consequences of it. The actions of the Winchester have set a powerful force known as The Darkness on the world, personified as a woman named Amara. The plot then follows Sam and Dean as they try to uncover the secrets behind Amara and stop her. While on this mission, the brothers are forced to form some unlikely alliances and encounter some faces from their past while simultaneously working their regular job of dealing with unnatural cases.
Jensen Ackles with Emily Swallow who played Amara
The show has deal with a number of plotlines over the past eleven years and the one theme that remained constant throughout was brotherhood and kinship. Be it Sam and Dean, Lucifer and Michael, or Cain and Abel, at its core, Supernatural has always been a show about siblings and their relationship. This season, the show took up the ultimate sibling rivalry scenario when it pulled one of its most interesting twists and revealed Amara as the sister of none other than God himself. It was interesting to see the season progress from this point on as it presented an apocalyptic conflict which ultimately boiled down to a dramatic family feud. Considering the big picture, however, that was a relatively smaller twist when weighed against the many other surprises the show had to offer.
From season six onwards, the politics in hell has been an important complementary plot in Supernatural as it explored the demon Crowley’s attempts to seize and maintain hell’s control as his love-hate relationship with the Winchesters unraveled on screen. Things took an interesting turn with thread as a popular character from the shows earlier seasons returned – Lucifer. It was great to see the character back on the show albeit in a different avatar once again proving that Lucifer is the best villain that the show has ever had. Supernatural pulled off its biggest moment towards the end of the show when God himself made his appearance confirming a popular fan theory on-screen.
Rob Benedict as God
After the fifth season which was originally supposed to be the show’s ending, Supernatural has faced inconsistencies in its quality. Even though it got better eventually, it was never able to live up to the bar set by the original arc. However, season eleven is undoubtedly the best form the show has seen since season five. Right from the beginning, the plot had a lot to offer in terms of thrills, twists, and drama. There was a lot happening in the plot and the filler episodes were not stretched out unnecessarily providing relief from weariness. Even still, the show still does a decent job of coming up with fun, fresh ideas for its filler episodes such as “Baby” in season eleven which was shown entirely from the perspective of the brothers’ Impala. Additionally, the show made good use of its budget and showcased some great visual effects, particularly in episode twenty-two.
The major defect Supernatural faced this season was its ending. The writers had done such a great job of hyping up the conflict with The Darkness but it failed to deliver in the end. The penultimate episode, in particular, was exceptionally thrilling and managed to raise the stakes even higher but the season finale ended up being a disappointment taking into account the build-up. The season ended with a surprising cliffhanger which is enough to make viewers curious about the next season but it felt like a desperate move by the writers to grab fans’ attention as opposed to how well the rest of the season progressed.
The main cast of Supernatural
Supernatural’s cast still remains one of the best things about the show. Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki continued to be great as Dean and Sam respectively. Both the actors and their characters have become so iconic in pop-culture that it has become impossible to imagine any other actors playing these characters. However, the show-stealer in the show is still Mark Sheppard’s Crowley. Sheppard is charming in his role as the king of hell and acts as the show’s comic relief while not being too whimsical and remaining a strong supporting character. Misha Collins reprised his role as the beloved Castiel. Mark Pellegrino returned briefly as Lucifer and Rob Benedict played the role of God.
Thus, Supernatural returned this season and proved that it still has enough tricks up its sleeve to keep the viewers engaged. The season started out great and continued its momentum throughout but came to a disappointing conclusion while offering a fun ride to the fans. However, it is a matter of doubt how much the writers can keep this up and it is high time that they started thinking about giving an ending to the series it deserves. Supernatural has been confirmed to return later this year with its twelfth season.
