Sam and Dean Winchester have been through a lot over the course of 14 seasons, but they’ll have a lot more challenges to face before they drive off in their 1967 Impala for the last time. Headed into Season 15, Supernatural might be bringing back old characters, but it’s looking more and more likely that the Winchester brothers will be losing some friends for good this time.
Death hasn’t meant very much on Supernatural for a long time. The brothers, played by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, have died and been resurrected so many times at this point that it’s hard to keep count. In the Season 10 finale, Dean even managed to kill Death himself, proving the Winchesters have been able to rewrite the rules on mortality. However, it seems that the fifteenth and final season of the series will finally make it count, much to the surprise of Sam and Dean.
Speaking with TVLine, the series’ co-showrunner, Andrew Dabb, teased that the brothers Winchester will be facing the very real consequences of permanent loss.
[They’re] going to start to lose people who, in past seasons, we would’ve never lost — and lose them in a very real way. Our guys are going to realize there’s a certain finality, and some of the things they’ve relied on to get through the day — people, talents, things like that — they are no longer going to be able to roll out. And that’s going to throw them for a loop.
Of course, Andrew Dabb doesn’t spoil exactly who will kick the bucket, but it sounds like it’ll be someone who hasn’t actually died before. This takes Castiel off the chopping block, but it leaves the door open for lesser-known characters to die. Could it be someone from Sam and Dean’s pasts, someone they rescued from a monster years ago? Never say never with Supernatural, especially since the series has a penchant for bringing back familiar faces, even if it’s only for one episode.
It’s fitting that in the show’s final season, the Winchesters will feel the weight and “finality” of death. It’s something the show hasn’t fully explored, with the boys getting a couple of episodes to grieve over someone at most before they move onto the next hunt. Sam and Dean have accumulated quite the reliable group of hunters, friends, and cosmic beings that they’ve been able to call upon them whenever they needed help. That will, unfortunately, no longer be the case.
Dabb also teased that the Winchesters will be facing an “existential crisis” in Season 15. Previously, they had been all about Team Free Will, but finding out that Chuck’s been pulling their strings all along messes with their worldview, and they wouldn’t be Sam and Dean if they didn’t fight back.
They’re realizing, ‘Well, we’re the Winchesters, but were we really doing this Chuck’s way?' Part of reclaiming that agency is a big part of the season for them.
Season 15 will reunite the brothers with their nearly forgotten half-brother Adam — if you recall, he’s been stuck in Lucifer’s cage since the Season 5 finale — as well as other familiar faces, including God’s sister Amara. Meanwhile, Jack will remain in The Empty until further notice. Here's hoping there's a magazine rack in there or something.
Supernatural Season 15 premieres on Thursday, October 10 at 8 p.m. ET on the CW. Don’t forget to check out our detailed schedule of all the new and returning shows coming this Fall.
