Supernatural 200th Episode Post 2

This review contains HUGE spoilers for the tenth episode of Supernatural. You have been warned.

This is the second post about the 200^th episode of Supernatural. For my first post, which was a general overview of the episode and some of the best moments, click here. In this post I’m going to talk about the Samulet, hipping and subtext references, Carry on Wayward Son, and Chuck.

The Samulet played a big part of this episode, as I think it should have. To fans, Dean (Jensen Ackles) throwing away the Samulet in season 5 was devastating. I personally have always refused to believe it just was thrown into the garbage.  Since the Samulet is such a big deal to the fandom as a symbol of Sam and Dean’s relationship, I think it was so fantastic they had the Samulet be such a powerful symbol in the episode. At the end, it was so heartwarming to see them driving into the sunset and dean putting the little wooden Samulet around the rear view mirror, and smiling at Sam. That was the best moment they boys have had in Baby in a while.

Another big theme throughout the episode was shipping and “subtext”.  As a devout Destiel shipper, all of these references and linees made the episode so amazing for me. So many times the writers and actors have  been very dismissive of the fandom’s community and beliefs about shipping. To have an episode that does show shipping in a more positive view was so great. In particular I loved when Sam (Jared Padalecki) was listing off different ship names like Sastiel, DeanCas, Sabriel, and trying to figure out the pronunciation of Destiel. I thought this was a great and funny touch.

Jared and Jensen with Supernatural Play Cast. "Fan Fiction" CW

All the talk about subtext was also great because it showed that people can see and expand on subtext in the show, which often is has been discouraged before. One of my favorite Destiel moments in the episode was right before the play went on and Dean (the real one) was telling the actors to put as much “Sub into that text as possible” and looking directly at the girl who played Castiel the whole time. That was really funny and cute.

The scene that I cried during was when Sam and Dean were watching the plays cast sing “Carry on Wayward Son”. To the fandom this song has always had a special significance because of its mirroring of Sam and Dean’s life. “Carry on Wayward Son” is the closest thing Supernatural has to a theme song and the fandom has gladly adopted it as our anthem. But this is the first time Sam and Dean see the reflection of their own lives in the song and hear the meaning it has in their lives. As they watch the actors playing their parents and family, listening to this song, they both looked close to tears. This was the most heartbreaking part of the episode, but it gave it a depth that I wasn’t expecting.

The last thing I’m going to talk about is Chuck. I really don’t know what impact Chuck’s return is going to have on the show, if any. I also don’t know if it was Chuck Shurley (Rob Benedict) who returned or if it was God. It’s recently became canon that Chuck was God when he disappeared in the episode, “Swan Song” in season 5 (both Eric Kripke and Rob Benedict have said Chuck was God.) However, Chuck obviously wasn’t always God or the Samulet would have burned Dean when they met him and the several times when they were together before the Samulet was trashed.  Most people take that to mean that sometime between “Dark Side of the Moon” and “Swan Song” Chuck became the vessel for God. Neither have been seen or heard from since “Swan Song”. 

Chuck Shurley (Rob Benedict) Supernatural. CW

This could be a one-off thing where Chuck/God disappears again and Sam and Dean never even know he was at the play, but they could be bringing back either Chuck as a prophet or Chuck as a god for future use in the series. I personally like to think that they are preparing for Prophet Chuck to return since Kevin is dead and Metatron flipped the prophet switch to keep more people from becoming prophets. Sam, Dean, and Cas need someone to read the tablets, and to bring back Chuck for the job would be great. Only time will tell, but it is interesting that Chuck made a cameo just a few weeks after Richard Speight Jr (plays Gabriel/the Trickster) announced he would be returning to Supernatural.

I absolutely loved this episode and I am so excited to see what the future of Supernatural brings.