The Original Pre-COVID Supernatural Finale Would Have Included a Kansas Concert in Heaven

Before it was even written, the series finale of Supernatural faced the daunting task of wrapping up 15 years’ worth of story in a satisfying way. But once the filming of the final two episodes of the series was delayed months by coronavirus shutdowns, then resumed under severe health restrictions, wrapping up the series in a way that honored the legacy and gave every beloved character a moment to shine became almost impossible.

Now, months after the finale aired, we have a better idea of the finale that would have been, thanks to a note from showrunner Andrew Dabb that will be included in a forthcoming collector’s edition book showcasing 327 episodes worth of sets, courtesy of production designer Jerry Wanek. (Yes, I’ve already pre-ordered mine and you can too if you’re interested).

Dabb explains that the story elements we got in the aired episode were the same, and Dean was still going to die in the finale. But rather than Dean driving around heaven listening to Kansas while he waited for Sam to show up, we were going to see a lot of familiar faces in a version of the Roadhouse that was built specifically for the finale and was sadly never seen on screen thanks to COVID.

Dabb writes:

Dean was always going to end up in Heaven, and we were always going to see Sam’s life in fast-forward, but those final moments were supposed to take place somewhere else. When Bob Singer and I sat down to talk about season 15, and our inevitable end, we came up with something that felt like a fitting version of Sam and Dean’s Heaven: all the people the boys had met along the way (or, at least, those we could convince to fly to Vancouver) crowded into a re-built Roadhouse, as the band Kansas played our (official unofficial) theme song: ‘Carry on Wayward Son.’

And that was our plan until Mid-March. Jerry Wanek built an amazing set … the last in fifteen years of awesome, inspired work, (I mean come on, what other show could put out a book like this?!) But then COVID struck. We shut down …

…when we opened back up in August, getting that many people in an enclosed space, much less traveling some of our favorites from LA and making them quarantine two weeks for what would be a half day’s work, just wasn’t realistic. Even Kansas, always game, didn’t feel like they could make that trip, which we completely understood. And so that Supernatural ending … ended. I love what we have now, Dean in the car on the open road, but I have to admit that I sometimes think about our original idea — all of Sam and Dean’s family and friends, and one of the greatest rock bands ever on a masterpiece of a set, and I miss it … even though it never really existed.

So, would this ending have made Supernatural fans happier? I’m not sure if anything could have done that. Dean’s death was a real blow to many fans, and this doesn’t change that. Nor would this have saved us from Sam’s terrible old man wig. And I don’t see anything in here about Dean kissing Castiel in the middle of the dance floor, though conceivably we might have seen Cas back in heaven rather than just a mention that he and Jack completely redesigned heaven together. Also, I assume in a version of the finale where more actors could have come to Vancouver to film, we would have seen Sam marry Eileen (Shoshannah Stern) rather than a blurry, unidentified woman in the background.

However, I do like this version more and it breaks my heart that the cast and crew who worked together and built a family and fandom for 15 years didn’t get to all come together for one big, final goodbye. I’m also sad we were denied more memes asking “Who murdered the entire band Kansas?” in the aftermath. Though we did get at least one back in November…

But I guess I can cherish what might have been and curse COVID for screwing it up. And in my heart, that Dean and Cas make out session will always be there, no matter what.

(image: Robert Falconer/The CW)

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Jessica Mason

Jessica Mason (she/her) is a writer based in Portland, Oregon with a focus on fandom, queer representation, and amazing women in film and television. She's a trained lawyer and opera singer as well as a mom and author.

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