Sam and Dean Winchester have faced impossible odds before on SUPERNATURAL, but as the show enters its final season they’ll be faced with their biggest challenge yet. Forget the apocalypse or demons or angels – now they’re going up against God. At the end of last season, we saw that Chuck turned against the brothers after they rejected his control over their lives, realizing that he had created the world and then manipulated them and their pain for his own amusement. When he ordered them to kill Jack – the only other creature that he seemingly feared – they chose to turn against him. And so Chuck unleased souls from Hell, bring back all of the old Winchester foes and leaving thethe boys surrounded in a cementary at the end of season 14, with Jack’s dead body at their feet.
As we move into the fifteenth and final season, the big question weighing on SUPERNATURAL fans’ minds is: how will it all end? Will Sam and Dean drive off down a dirt road, having taken back control of their lives? Will they make the ultimate sacrifice? Will their friend Castiel be taken by the Empty thanks to a bargain he made? Will Jack make his way back from the Empty? And what about the other powerful supernatural forces, like the Empty and Billie/Death, who seem to be eager to get into the game?
But before we get to the end, we are at the beginning of season 15, with 20 episodes to go. The season premiere picks up where the last finale left off, with Sam, Dean and Castiel surrounded by zombies in a cemetary. Of course, it’s not much of a spoiler to tell you that they manage to escape the horde, but they’re at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. Fortunately, they manage to get some help from an unexpected source, which actually proves to be a bit of a delight throughout the episode. As they head back on the road, it’s not long before they come across a car and realize what’s going on. The audience may have been told that the demons and monsters that the Winchester brothers sent to Hell over the years have been released back on Earth, but Sam and Dean don’t technically know that. Fortunately, they get with the program quickly when they come across a car belonging to a Woman in White victim and realize that the Hell souls are likely those they have fought before. One thing to note is that these souls aren’t the return of these creatures – they actually function as “ghosts”. And so rock salt can harm them and kill them.
Related: Watch a preview for season 15 of SUPERNATURAL and browse through photos from the premiere
The brothers and Castiel descend on a town with a plan to trap these souls until they can figure out what to do, which puts them on a collision course with some familiar faces, including killer clowns and a Bloody Mary. Soon we see the brothers are where we have seen them before – trying to figure out their next move. The producers have teased that this final season will focus on free will and we see signs of that right in the premiere. Dean is upset that their lives have amounted to nothing more than being rats in a maze, but Sam believes they have still done some good. And he sees all of this as an opportunity to go up against God once and for all and take control of their lives. Chuck is done with them and their world, so Sam thinks that if they can beat him they’ll be free of his games. Whether that happens is anyone’s guess.
Here’s a few more things to watch out for in the premiere:
- Keep an eye on that wound Sam got courtesy of Chuck’s very special gun in the season 14 finale. It’s clear there’s more to it than meets the eye and my guess is that it may be problematic for Sam as the episodes continue.
- Dean has still not forgiven Castiel for the events at the end of season 14 and gives his friend a frosty reception.
- Poor Sam has to face a lot of killer clowns in this episode and I felt terrible for him.
- There’s a pretty amusing moment where Sam accidentally shoots Cas with rock salt during a fight with the ghosts. Castiel’s reaction and the look on Sam’s face got a chuckle from me.
- Rowena proves to be extra even when she’s not actually in the episode.
- The premiere is heavy on nostalgia going back all the way to the very early seasons of the show, with familiar ghosts and familiar lines. I would wager we’ll see that continue throughout the season.
- Speaking of nostalgia, Dean’s own time torturing souls in Hell is brought up again and Dean is still not eager to discuss that time in his life.
- Expect an update on what happened in Hell thanks to Chuck. We also get some news about a very special cage down there that seems to be setting up a big showdown down the line.
- “You and me versus every soul in Hell? I like those odds.”
SUPERNATURAL returns for its final season premiere on October 10 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.