Spoiler alert for the last-ever episode of Walker on The CW.
Walker has officially come to an end in the 2024 TV schedule after four seasons on The CW, fortunately without any massive cliffhangers beyond what would have happened with James Van Der Beek. It was a pretty happy and hopeful ending, with Walker surrounded by loved ones as they celebrated Auggie's graduation. The family (including Geri) even headed off on a vacation at the end, with one of Cordell's final lines packing a punch: "Yeah, I'm ready." Jared Padalecki may not have been as ready, and the final credits rolling on Walker marked the end of an era for the actor... and had me flashing back to what bummed me out about the Supernatural finale years ago.
Why Walker's Finale Was The End Of An Era
While the finale was the end of the Walker era for everybody involved with the show, this was a much bigger deal for Jared Padalecki, and not just because he was both star and executive producer on the drama. This show's finale marks the first time that the actor ended one show on this network without having a new starring gig on The CW lined up next. He had a key role on Gilmore Girls (which he reprised in 2017 for Netflix subscribers with the A Year in the Life miniseries) from 2000-2005, followed by Supernatural from 2005-2020, then followed by Walker from 2021-2024.
This is the first time that he's not set for another WB/CW project, and even though he pitched a way to return to playing Sam Winchester, fans shouldn't count on him coming back on the network. The end of Walker is the end of a professional era that lasted Padalecki nearly a quarter century.
Why Walker Was A Blast To The Supernatural Past
For all that Supernatural ended after fifteen seasons with Dean getting an anticlimactic death and Sam eventually dying as well, I've always leaned more towards Sam and Dean getting a happy ending rather than an unhappy one out of the 2020 series finale. At the very least, we got two versions of "Carry On Wayward Son" in the episode, and what Supernatural fan doesn't love that song?
And one would think that Supernatural would have a more satisfying finale than Walker, since the whole team knew before Season 14 even finished that Season 15 was the end, and the final two episodes were actually delayed in filming due to the COVID-19 pandemic production shutdowns. The Walker team had already finished filming the episode as a Season 4 finale rather than series finale when the cancellation happened. Supernatural had more than a year to plan the ending, but Walker's ended on a happier note.
The plan for Supernatural's ending was originally different, and knowing that might make this sting a little more, even years later. The original plan was for Sam and Dean to reunite with all their loved ones who had died in an afterlife version of the Roadhouse for a more celebratory end – albeit less focused on the brothers – instead of what we ultimately got. Another idea was for a montage of familiar faces.
I don't hold it against Supernatural that neither of the endings with Winchester friends and family happened, as the latter option had to be axed due to COVID. But just getting mentions of Castiel and Co. from Bobby in the finale made it hit a little harder that they were nowhere to be seen. I'm not mad about it, but just bummed all over again that Supernatural couldn't deliver more of the Winchester loved ones in the finale like what Walker did.
There is some news that's better for Supernatural than Walker, though. All fifteen seasons of the former are available streaming on Netflix, while only the first three seasons of Walker are streaming with a Max subscription. Hopefully that will change now that Season 4 has ended!
