‘Supernatural’ Stars Jensen Ackles And Jared Padalecki Weigh In On The End Of The Series

Supernatural debuted in 2005 and even after more than 11 years on the air, the series is still going strong with a steady and loyal fanbase, but even series stars Jared Padalecki who plays Sam Winchester, and Jensen Ackles as older brother Dean Winchester, can’t deny the inevitable. Sooner or later, the CW network will be forced to drop Supernatural in favor of giving some other series, something with a fresher storyline and younger faces, a shot at bringing in even higher ratings. Bearing that in mind, the Supernatural leads talked about their thoughts on just how Supernatural should close out its long run.

Supernatural Isn’t Facing Its Final Apocalypse Just Yet

Right off the bat, Supernatural fans can all take a collective sigh of relief, feeling reassured by the news that the CW network has renewed the series for Season 12, so fans have at least one more season. For those looking for someone to thank, gift baskets filled with iron crosses, holy water, and salt may be directed to CW executive Mark Pedowitz. The CW head has said in more than a few interviews that Supernatural will have a home for as long as Ackles and Padalecki are interested in staying with the Eric Kripke series.

“Both Jared and Jensen are having a blast, and as long as they have a blast, it’s a great thing,” Pedowitz told reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in January. “If they can keep delivering stories, and the numbers keep holding, and the guys want to do it, we’re going to try to keep going.”

Revealing that the fate of Supernatural is almost solely in the hands of the series’ stars may be the best news Supernatural fans could hope for, since both Jared and Jensen seem quite happy to keep rolling with a good thing. It’s not just the success of Supernatural that keeps Ackles and Padalecki devoted to the show and to the fans. There’s a feeling of family among the fans, as well as between followers of the show and Supernatural‘s cast of actors, which can be felt in online interactions and even more so in the experiences at conventions and press conferences.

But, just for fun…

How Supernatural Should End, According To Jensen Ackles And Jared Padalecki

One can’t talk about the end of Supernatural without taking a moment to look back on the first season and the story that started it all. Ackles said he once thought Supernatural would have ended with that first apocalypse, but now, after so many years as Dean Winchester, the actor says it just wouldn’t feel right to end the show on such a sour note.

“As we’ve evolved, I think that there’s different roads that the show could certainly go down that would be interesting,” Jensen Ackles says on the thought of an end to Supernatural. “I think we’ve taken some really good turns.”

Jared Padalecki is conflicted on the best way to bring Supernatural to an end. He first says that he’d like to see an ending similar to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in which Sammy and Dean are about to do battle with a seemingly undefeatable foe, just as the action freezes on an image of the Winchester brothers. In thinking about this scenario, Padalecki says he likes the idea of leaving off Supernatural with the question of whether or not Sam and Dean will be victorious.

“And then I went back and watched a few of the episodes, I watched through ‘Swan Song’ and the scene of the boys laying on the hood of the Impala. I think that’d be a nice way to go out if we had to — watching the end of the world.”

That certainly seems like the best possible end to Supernatural, which must almost certainly end without any real sense of closure. Jared seems content with that, but then the Supernatural star reconsiders.

“Or looking up at us from the trunk and throwing the weapons in and saying we’ve got work to do. All of those kind of leave room for opinion and room for interpretation. I don’t think we should see the boys die or live, we should wonder.”

Jensen Ackles also reconsiders his initial ideas on how the final season of Supernatural might end and as he voices his new thoughts on the topic, one can’t help but think of the changes Dean Winchester has been through in recent seasons. Also relevant is the changed dynamic between the two Supernatural brothers, as well as that unconditional love for each other that has never really been altered at all.

“It’s either going to end tragic or it’s going to end not tragic, and I can kind of make an argument for both,” Supernatural‘s Jensen Ackles says. “I don’t really know where it’s going to go. I always thought Dean would make the ultimate sacrifice for his brother. I guess if I had to choose something, that’s probably what I would choose.”

The next episode of Supernatural will air on Wednesday, April 6 on the CW network.

[Image by CW]