Alice’s Top Ten Supernatural Episode Endings
Welcome to uh, “Late Winter Hellatus.” I suppose that’s different than “Winter Hellatus.” Granted two weeks of the Olympics was a great diversion but now we’re back to screaming at repeats. We need a new episode now. I’m hoping that everyone as hiatus weary as I am can endure another diversion.
I bring you, Top Ten Supernatural episode endings. This time, we’re making this fun. Since Ardeospina has been doing a great job with Top Ten lists, I asked her what she would rank as her top ten. So we have two lists! First I’ll share my version and then I’ll share Ardeospina’s. Then all of you get to give comments on which list you agree with more and share your personal top ten. It’ll be fun! It’ll at least kill some of that time that is so dragging on forever. So first, here’s the Alice version, Top Ten Supernatural Episode Endings.
Honorable Mention – Heaven and Hell
I love a good cry as much as the next person, but the really emotional endings are the ones that leave you completely shattered and heartbroken. The ones where there’s no action, no plot twist, just a good old fashioned breakdown. In other words, you don’t get to go to your happy place. So, when episodes like “On The Head of A Pin,” “Heart,” and “My Bloody Valentine” were considered, I decided only one total breakdown in tears ending would make this list (forgoing death of a Winchester of course). And with that, I could only give it an honorable mention.
The champion of all crying endings would be easily be “Heaven and Hell.” I think the cinematography alone makes this prevail. Background scenery involving the Impala cannot lose. Heck, I must obviously like it since it’s our logo. By the next episode though, “Family Remains,” crying in front of the Impala becomes passe.
10. Mystery Spot
No crying here, just one glance of Sam Winchester’s total soul crushed into itty-bitty pieces. By this episode in season three, Jared was so on top of his game with tortured glances. This is his masterpiece. Anytime a lost and hopeless look can get me to bust into tears, it wins. Of course, an “I’m so relieved you’re alive but I went through pure Hell for this moment” bear hug of Dean a scene earlier doesn’t hurt either.
9. Free To Be You and Me
I’m just a really bad sucker for Sam distress, aren’t I? Was the fact that Sam is Lucifer’s vessel completely out of left field? Not really. Granted it was really cool and put in motion the Sam/Dean showdown that this series has been foreshadowing since the beginning, but it could have been predicted. Was Sam’s devastated reaction predictable and boring? Heavens no! We may have seen it coming, but Sam didn’t. He did what any guy would do when coming face to face with Satan and being told he is the vessel and will say “yes” to him. He freaked out, claiming it wasn’t true. He cried. He even had his way out, he would kill himself. No Lucifer would fix that too. He was screwed and as Lucifer disappeared, Sam’s crushed spirit in isolation tore me apart. Jared knocked it out of the park.
Alice Jester is the founder, editor-in-chief, head writer, programmer, web designer, site administrator, marketer, and moderator for The Winchester Family Business. She is a 30 year IT applications and database expert with a penchant for creative and freelance writing in her spare (ha!!) time. That’s on top of being a wife, mother of two active kids, and four loving (aka needy) pets.
I have to wait until tomorrow for Ardeospina’s list? Huh.
One thing on the ending to Good God Y’All that you didn’t mention is Sam’s three knees.
Great list, Alice. But I’d suggest an honorable mention to Fresh Blood too. The last scene always kills me. Dean offering his treasured car to little brother as if saying: ‘I love you and I want you to be OK when I’m gone.’ Just plain beautiful. Sera Gamble is a goddess. 🙂
Fantastic list and given how my lists always have 13, I’ll never accuse you of copping out. You just need to build the cop out into the structure itself. 😀
Oh man, making a list of endings? I’d have to further cop out by having a season finale one, a Kleenex one, a non-Kleenex one. Devil’s Trap is so visceral, I loved Lazarus Rising because *that* is how you do epic. Make it human, make it *mean* something, not just an amped-up game of Risk.
And I have to second AndreaW’s suggestion, such a cool brotherly moment.
Ah, Alice, you’re not alone in liking a distressed Sam… Jared is marvellous in those scenes. Even though he’s great at comedy, he’s fantastic in tragic scenes… And I, personally, am a sucker for tragic stories… They seem altogether more realistic…. Ah, that sounds sick now.
What I wanted to say : great list, many of my favourites there. I love the death scenes, of course (don’t we all?) and those moments when Sam is slipping away, and we realize he is dead a heartbeat before Dean does – yep, I keep searching for that damn weeping box…
I loved the end of the Pilot, too. As much as I could see from teary eyes – it was so troubled, so matter-of-fact and therefore even more heartbreaking. And the end of Heart! Come on, how could you forget that!? I guess my all-time-favourite is Heaven And Hell. It is easily epic.
Loved all your suggestions, though, except that you left out Heart (sniff).
Cheers, Jas
Superb list, Alice, but “Heart” should have been on it as one of the biggest weepers. Sam’s loss of innocence and Dean’s realization that he can no longer protect his little brother from monster hurt always crushes me. While it’s not death in the literal sense, it’s death in Dean’s mind of his ability to shield Sam from having to do the worst–kill someone you love.
Love the list–most of my favorites are here! Can’t wait to see Ardeospina’s. One of my favorite endings? In My Time of Dying– that’s the one that stunned me and made me realize this show had got its hooks into me. I was totally surprised by how crummy I felt after. John didn’t seem to be around for S4, but I wasn’t expecting to see him go then!
Faellie–huh? Sam’s 3 knees? Am I missing something obvious, I don’t get it…
I actually did kind of guess at the ending of Nightshifter, only after the Swat Team showed up. And that’s only because I watched “Ocean’s Eleven” with friends the night before! Didn’t make it ANY less awesome, though.
ElenaM, its a continuity/editing error at the end of Good God Y’All that just bugs me. Sam and Dean are sitting at a picnic table, and we see a long shot where Sam lifts his right leg over the bench. Then there’s a close-up where Dean asks Sam if he wants to take the Impala, and when he refuses Sam’s right knee goes over the bench again. Three knees. I really like the ep, and the ending, but that one gets to me everytime since I noticed it.
Come to think of it, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it.
I didn’t wanna comment until I saw both of yours lists. The similarities are different and the differences are really interesting. It’s cool to see two peoples takes on same scenes. This was a really nice idea, I hope you guys do it again sometime!
A really wonderful list Alice. Love your picks. I find it impossible to do this kinda list. There are just TOO many candidates. I can’t make a top50 even if I wanted to 😀
I’m always very excited for the endings. The ending really makes the eppie for me, you know? And our show has the best endings. I tried to think of a weak one, and didn’t come up with any!
I agree on the Family Remains ending that it was too similar to Heaven & Hell but since we had hellatus to deal in between those eppies, I’m giving them a pass.
Even though I can’t make top10 lists, I have to say that the best ending for me is the end of AHBL part 1. Two reasons. That was the eppie that got me hooked. And that was the eppie that killed Sam. It was brutal. Haunting. And I’ll never forget it. I’ve never felt so crushed over a damn TV show. And since I didn’t know if it was the last episode of the season, or the series,(came across this while channel surfing) I was seriously freaking out. Brilliant, brilliant ending.
Thanks Alice. I really, really love this lists 🙂
Alice, can I say I lurve you dearly after closing out the list with an ending that involves that greatest Supernatural character of all time? Not to mention the screen shot is pretty hot.
And have you noticed that ever since his first entrance Cas has always been kind of a diva when it comes to appearing somewhere? He even does so in ways that are funny as heck like in “My Bloody Valentine”.
Great list, Alice! It was really cool to see where we agreed and disagreed on these endings, and to hear your take on them. I’m glad you had more from season 5, too, because I just don’t think I’ve watched the episodes enough to get the full effect of some of them. I need those DVDs stat!
And I wish I had known that 13 choices was a possibility… 😉
Thanks, Faelllie– No worries, sometimes nitpicks bug me too but this one’s actually kind of funny 😀 Must agree with Supernarttu, LOVED the compare/contrast lists & hoping for more! And yeah, great endings could be a top 50 list easy. Jennifer: lol.
Oh, btw, just an addendum to my earlier comment, when I said I kinda saw the end of Nightshifter coming I just meant the boys escaping in SWAT outfits, not that the shifter was hiding out as a corpse–didn’t see that coming, both twists were very cool
This is so hard! So many goodies … I’m a big gurly wuss so I hate the tearjerkers. My top 3 are probably Nightshifter cos it’s all round fabulous, the Black Truck Of Doom as it made me jump out of my skin and spill Stella all over the cat and provided the first of many You-Bastard-Kripke! moments to treasure and the fake sunset in Hollywood Babylon as it’s almost cheerful and I can only take so much gloom and despondency ( Eh? What’s that? What do you mean, find another series? 😆 ) Same goes for the disc-wiping-widget in Ghostfacers V. Party-hat-fancying-corpse-collector-bloke.
Can’t choose … Brain hurts …
Hi Alice and Ardeospina
I’m just going to comment here…no point writing the same thing twice.
Kudos to both of you for being able to bring it down to 10(or 13 depending how you look at it).
There is just too many choices and I agree with all your picks and everyone else’s.
I also liked the endings in Everybody loves a Clown …Sam’s little confession and Dean’s release of his agony over his fathers death. :cry::
And in Nightmare, Dean trying to reassure Sam that everything is going to be ok, but his expression as he is leaving says otherwise. 🙁
Can’t wait for your next LIST OFF… 😀