It’s been a long ride for Sam and Dean Winchester asSupernatural’s 15-year journey comes to an end.
And without Giles."
to this digital cover marking the sixth time the series has graced an EW cover.
Sergei Bachlakov/The CW
Heck, it’s right there in the title.
And yes, it is a series about two brothers who hunt monsters.
At its core,Supernatural, ironically, is about humanity.
Peggy Sirota for EW
In the moment when Dean says it, it’s as if it’s a simple fact.
It’s just what they do.
But in actuality, it’s a choice.
Robert Falconer / 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
WhenSupernaturalpremiered on the WB in 2005, it certainly wasn’t the data pipe’s first genre series.
It walked in the footsteps ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer,Charmed, andSmallville, among others.
And those arguments would be correct.
InCharmed, the Halliwells were witches, gifted with the Power of Three.
Buffy was a super-powered slayer who was quite literally destined to save the world from vampires.
Clark Kent was, well, hopefully you know that one.
But Sam and Dean Winchester?
They believe, more than anything else, that the world is worth saving.
And what a message that is to put on television right now.
Whether they were saving one person or millions, they gave it everything they had.
After its first season and the shuttering of the WB,Supernaturalsurvived the move to the CW.
And without the intimidating gaze of the online grid, the show started to test its limits.
Could it get away with a time-loop episode that saw Dean die more than 100 times in an hour?
Could they film an episode like a ghost-hunting reality show, complete with handheld cameras?
Could they create a black-and-white episode as an homage to old horror movies?
The answer was yes to all of that, in more ways than one.
Sure, the web connection and studio would allow it.
But so would thestory.That time-loop episode was really about Sam’s fear of losing his brother.
The reality show hour was about how love is powerful enough to pierce the veil of death.
The black-and-white episode was about loneliness, and how even monsters can experience a very human emotion.
As the CW grew, it found massive success with superhero shows.
And he wasn’t wrong.
Let that sink in.
But Sam and Dean don’t lose.
Because they don’t quit.
They don’t give up.
you might win so long as you don’t quit.
So long as you hold each other up.
In ways big and small, theSupernaturalfandom isactuallyhelping to save the world.
Because watchingSupernaturalis not about believing that Sam and Dean will literally come to the rescue.
And that we, as humans, are worth saving.
In 2016, whenSupernaturalwon EW’s fan-voted cover contest, I landed my first cover story.
It meant traveling to Vancouver for a set visit.
It meant having dinner with Jared and Jensen.
It meant I was nervous.
Instantly, I realized that this interview wasn’t a task that they were dreading.
It was a celebration, and they were going to enjoy it.
Nothing was more apparent to me during that meal than how much they loveSupernatural.
Much like Sam and Dean, they see the good in people.
Jared reached out and stopped me.
“We trust you,” he said.
And he had no reason to.
But until they see bad in someone, they expect good.
Cut to September 2020, and their last day filming as Sam and Dean.
“Like, look at what we’ve done.
“It was right during all the wildfires, so the sky was really weird,” says Padalecki.
“It felt like aSupernaturalepisode or something.
We crossed the border together and it just felt like a pretty poignant meaningful full-circle [moment].”
It’s a personal story really about the boys.”
That message will transcend every clever twist, every epic stunt scene, and terrifying monster.
Original photography by Peggy Sirota for EW.
Additional video production by Ethan Bellows and Faith Stafford.
