Well, okay. That was imperfect, but mostly satisfying. The directing was awkward and distracting in the first part of the episode, and I wonder if that was an artifact of putting the thing together in the midst of the pandemic. It was certainly ironic that the storyline involved emptying the world of people-- I'm sure it was unintentional, but it definitely made things convenient for social distancing.
Needless to say, none of my theories, either old or new, even vaguely came to pass; and a lot of what did doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. And it definitely left us with a lot of questions, some of which may or may not be answered with next week's final finale. However, this semi finale was very much a solid conclusion to the fifteen-year journey of the Winchester boys-- what I still think of as the Third Testament.
Chuck has always been an accurate avatar of the Christian god-- benign and benificent one moment, raging and wrathful the next. Saving the people of a town from the depredations of Amara was the epitome of his first aspect, and the true face of the second came here with his obliteration of Michael to the bone-chilling orchestral tune of "Save it!" That's pretty much when I knew that any hopes of Chuck being rehabilitated or just kidding around were not coming to pass.
It was a big surprise to see Michael turn up, and nice that brother Adam's long-ignored face got to show up for the Grand Finale, and an even bigger surprise to see Lucifer briefly appear. There were lots of twists and turns thrown in, including a new Death-- who was nowhere near as cool as the last two, and thankfully didn't last long. Jack becoming a power vacuum came somewhat out of left field, but was fairly foreshadowed and justified Chuck's fear of him.
The entire final confrontation and aftermath, from the arrival at the picturesque remote lake to Sam and Dean's toast back at the bunker, was wonderfully choreographed (in contrast to the first couple of acts). Chuck is defeated and free will prevails in the personification of the Winchesters, and replaced with a truly benevolent and trusting god in the form of Jack-- quite a promotion for a relatively recent addition to the story. But instead of a creation myth where a flawed species is spawned by a cabalistic deity, we have a empathic god created by the kindness of two flawed men. A cosmic metamorphosis worthy of Englehart or Gerber, and a good ending to the road so far.
It doesn't totally stand up to scrutiny-- we've been told repeatedly that Chuck and Amara are infinite beings whose true nature is incomprehensible to mortals, yet they are always played as merely super-powerful human beings. After all, how could god not know that his power was being drained and that his finger snap would be impotent? That's okay, because it's all intended as metaphor. I mean, I wouldn't really have left Chuck unattended like that, especially with the God book on the ground next to him, but there was poetic justice all over the place.
And there were certainly questions left unanswered. What about Heaven and Hell, and the Multiverse, and Cass and Mama Winchester and Eileen? That's okay, too. Maybe we'll find out in the coda or maybe the answers will be saved for the reunion tales when they come. For now, we can be comfortable with the certainty that Jack would commit no unkindness nor allow any wrongs of the Apocalypse to stand.
Oh, and that was a great closing montage, set to the tune of "Running on Empty," one of my favorite songs. I wonder what they're saving for next week....
What I am surprised at was him not bringing back Castiel.
I have a feeling that Cass is with Jack now, on whatever journey he's begun.
Another note... that was heartbreaking what Chuck did to the dog. Dean was so happy to see that dog... so much so, he let him sit in Baby. IN BABY!!! That moment right there shows just how desperately happy he was to see something else around, only to have it snatched away like that. Chuck had done some horrible things before, but that moment was a truly dick move. I don't think I hated him more than in that moment.
It was a nice touch that they included a scene of the dog alive again when all the people returned.
