Supernatural has been on one hell of a ride, especially in its impressive final chapter that is working extra hard to provide the send-off the Winchester brothers deserve. In its past few seasons, the creativity on the shows has skyrocketed to the point where even the filler episodes demand a re-watch and fans have all but forgotten the non-sensical storylines introduced after the Season 5 finale. But, despite it all, nothing can make it easy to forgive the disappointment Supernatural's seventh season was.
Fans of the show had barely recovered from Season 6’s anti-climactic plots, including the Eve as the Mother-of-All-Monsters storyline and Heaven’s weapons, when Season 7 served them the Leviathans. Not only did this story turn into a season-long version of Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s “Doublemeat Palace” episode, but it was also a recipe for disaster in many other ways.
CASTIEL'S DEATH
The season begins with the angel Castiel coming to his senses, ready to ditch his plans of becoming God. He seeks Dean, Sam and Bobby’s help in casting away all the souls he had gobbled up back to Purgatory, the supernatural prison for the souls of monsters. Yet, the Leviathans, the first monsters God had created, held on inside him and took full control of his body. While a major showdown with the possessed Castiel and Team Winchester was expected, his vessel couldn’t handle the presence of countless Leviathans and began to fall apart.
But instead of exploding instantly, Castiel starts leaking a tar-liquid and makes his way to the nearest water body, submerges himself into it and implodes into black goo. He is deemed dead as there was no body left behind, apart from his trench coat floating on the surface. Castiel, like the Winchester brothers, has died many times on the show, but this is by far the least climatic way the character has been killed.
THE LEVIATHANS
Going by Supernatural standards, Leviathans rank at the bottom of the list of monsters the Winchesters have faced, and that includes Season 4’s bugs episode, as well as Season 6’s dragons. Leviathans are touted as God’s oldest creature, being monsters so fearsome that they were imprisoned in the Purgatory. Yet, all these supposedly scary creatures do is shapeshift and fatten up their victims to eat them. However, despite how many times they were advertised as being dangerous, they never felt like much of a threat. The lowliest demon is given a more terrifying presence in the show.
Even their leader, Dick Roman, is there just for the slew of cringe-worthy jokes in the second half of the season. Though he had a predatory, evil presence, it was all for show and never put into action. The most legwork he does in the entire season is shooting Bobby in the head while he was fleeing.
BOBBY'S JOURNEY
Though killing off a beloved character is nothing new on Supernatural, it's the way Bobby Singer went out that wasn't right. He is snuffed out by a smug Dick who shoots him while he is running away with Dean and Sam. And to add insult to injury, he turns into a vengeful spirit, haunting his hip flask and secretly chugging Dean’s beer. Of all characters, Bobby was one of the few who knew that he will be helping no one as a ghost with anger issues. On top of that, his ghost storyline was poorly written and just haphazardly wrapped up in the season finale where the boys lay him to rest by burning his flask.
DROPPING THE MAIN STORYLINE
In the Season finale, while Dick is dispatched away by Dean and Castiel in a fight sequence that had a few solid one-liners and a bit of stabbing, the Leviathans go from being terrifying creatures to either being chopped down by demons or losing direction after their leader’s demise. And apart from a few appearances in Purgatory in Season 8, the Leviathans are simply forgotten.
The showrunners themselves even accepted that the Leviathans’ arc made Season 7 a disappointing watch. In Season 15’s “Atomic Monsters,” when Chuck, aka God, visits Becky to get an ego boost, he advertises that “Leviathans are cool." However, all he gets from Becky in response is a bored “Meh.”
Starring Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, and Alexander Calvert, the final seven episodes of Supernatural begin airing on Oct. 8 on The CW. Fans looking to catch up can stream the first fourteen seasons of Supernatural on Netflix.