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P.S. The Road So Far: Supernatural  
"Let the Good Times Roll": I Sing of Dean Winchester Who Fell to Earth with Wings of Black and Eyes Now Blue 
By P.S. Griffin (a.k.a. Castiel's Cat)
 
The Tragic Hero
 
"Like Achilles, the hero who forgot his heel, or like Icarus who, flying close to the sun, forgot that his wings were made of wax, we should be wary when triumphant ideas seem unassailable, for then there is all the more reason to predict their downfall."
 
"Faust: My Soul Be Damned for the World, Volume I" by E. A. Bucchianeri
 
The tragic flaw is a literary term typically defined as a character trait in the heroic protagonist leading to his downfall. The tragic flaw is usually a shortcoming in an otherwise morally grounded hero that causes him to make a fatal error—typically a lack of self-knowledge, a lack of sound judgment or hubris that inevitably leads to his downfall, death, or ruin. The term “tragic flaw,” or "hamartia"—literally "to err"—was introduced by Aristotle in his text Poetics, an analysis of the art of Greek tragedy: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetics_(Aristotle). I took a lot of classics in college and read almost every Greek tragedy at least once, as well as Aristotle's Poetics. I also took a lot of literature classes, film studies classes, and majored in art history. Supernatural was a master class in the humanities in the finale.
 
"Let the Good Times Roll" was Dean Winchester's tragic fall Greek-style, and they did their best to make Aristotle proud. In fact, judging by the copious use of masks throughout the season and the serious attempt to frame Dean's storyline the past two seasons as an epic, heroic, tragic fall storyline (as discussed in my article "Much Ado About Dean and Dean!Michael") I think both seasons are due for a serious rewatch with an eye out for Greek tragedy tropes. The Gods were with me tonight however because the entire episode was an out and proud homage to a classical Greek tragedy, which was appropriate and fitting because Dean Winchester—the moral compass of the Supernatural universe—fell from grace tonight. He fell to earth hard, and the Supernatural universe will suffer because of the certain fatal consequences of the stunningly bad decision he made. It has been several days since the episode aired and I am still experiencing what the Greeks refer to as "catharsis" and what we fans refer to as the One Perfect Tear.

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Um, well . . . so that happened. 
 
When I was watching the “climactic” events transpire in “Let the Good Times Roll,” I could only think of one thing: 
 
“Destiny can't be changed, Dean. All roads lead to the same destination.”
 
Yep, those are the infamous words uttered by Castiel to Dean in season four’s, “In the Beginning.”  The Winchesters have spent their entire existence battling this one phrase, believing that they can escape destiny and let free will reign. They’ve defied odds, saved the world multiple times over, and gone through agonizing tragedy and extreme personal loss, but they did it all for free will. Well, as soon as Dean made his deal with Michael, it turns out Castiel was f***ing right all along. I was left with the feeling that it all really didn’t matter in the end. 
 
I know, that’s probably too cynical a statement. After all, life is about the journeys, not the final destinations, right? What are the Winchesters without their horrific experiences, extreme physical pain, multiple deaths, and all their loved ones dying bloody? They have each other, right? They’re stronger, right? While I’d like to believe that, I’m angry that I never got to see Sam, Dean, and Castiel in those matching Hawaiian shirts, drinking beer on that beach with sand in-between their toes. I never got to see Sam experience the joy of Lucifer’s death for more than a few seconds. Bottom line, free will really sucks. 

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Category: Episode Reviews

I’m not sure that my good times were rolling while watching this Supernatural finale. I’m also not sure that I’ll enjoy Dean in his new role. This episode does have great moments and invites compelling speculation and wonder. I’ll have to debate the pros and cons of what happens in this story later.

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Supernatural in the news this week.
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It seems like just a short time ago that we were left with mysterious glowing eyes, Castiel’s prone body and burnt wings, and Mary and Sam and Dean having lost everyone and everything in the war against Lucifer. Nevermind that rift and the apocalypse world. And here we are again, already a whole season later and it’s hard to know where to begin talking about this finale; so much happened yet so much unresolved at the same time. Chaos, action and emotion packed into an intensely short 42-minutes. With that said, let’s just dive into it.

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The Morning After

I loved it! Absolutely loved it! That’s what a Supernatural finale should be – thrilling, gratifying, well-written, superbly acted, fantastic cinematography with scenes that take your breath away, plot closures that make sense and a tantalizing cliffhanger. I’m mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted – which is what this show is supposed to do to us! “Let the Good Times Roll” was an ending worthy of taking its place among the best finales of the series. Did I mention I loved it?

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"My name is Dean Winchester" - we hear as Dean begins to narrate only to be interrupted by Rowena:  "This is boring!  Isn't there some music?"  And here comes "Carry on, My Wayward Son" accompanied with varied images from throughout the season.  The Road So Far especially focuses on Alt World, and we glimpse all the characters including Missouri's psychic granddaughter and Kaia the Dreamwalker.  As the song ends, we see Dean and Sam in the bunker, and Dean says, "That was awesome!"  

NOW:  Sam is in the bunker, so colorful compared to the bland palette of AltWorld, in front of a bulletin board covered with news articles and computer printouts, letting the refugees know about our version of Earth.  Bobby says if the polar ice caps are melting and the guy from The Apprentice is president, OUR world sounds like Apocalypse World!  Sam gets a phone call from Dean.  He's tracking werewolves.  Sam, Jack, Cas, and Dean meet outside a boathouse; they're back in our world and back to the family business.  A guy stands on a dock lighting a cigarette; when he turns, Castiel is standing there.  He opens his mouth to reveal sharp canines, but Cas knifes him with his angel blade.  Inside, there are two more.  Jack and the Winchesters make quick work of them - Jack freezing them with his powers while Sam and Dean shoot them with silver bullets.  

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Category: Episode Previews
What we know about the season finale for season 13 of Supernatural!
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The end of Supernatural’s season thirteen approaches and I’m still wondering if the story is adding up to anything special. We’ll see, I suppose.

Read more: Mallena's Musings: Supernatural 13.22 "Exodus" Add new comment
  1. P.S. The Road So Far: Supernatural, Much Ado About Dean and Dean!Michael
  2. Supernatural Weekly World News May 13, 2018
  3. Thoughts on Supernatural 13.22: Exodus
  4. Threads: Supernatural 13.22 "Exodus"
  5. Let's Speculate: Supernatural 13.22 "Exodus”