The Winchesters season 1 finale: Show EP talks timeline twist

Now that we have made it through The Winchesters season 1 finale on The CW tonight, let’s pick our jaw up off the ground. This may very well be the most shocking ending that we could have imagined, mostly because (for some reason) we never entertained the possibility that this was what was being introduced on the show. How did we not see the alternate universe angle coming?

As it turns out, everything that we’ve watched all season is not from a timeline before Sam and Dean. Instead, this is a different world entirely and it is taking place after our canon Dean’s death. Jensen Ackles returned for the finale and it was wonderful, and the story now is opened up through all sorts of possibilities.

Is there a chance that THIS John and Mary Winchester end up happy? It’s something that we are currently left to think about, and absolutely it explains more of the narrative angles than anything else that the writers could have come up with.

As for how the writers landed on this particular idea, it’s clear that this has been a part of the premise from the start. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, here is what showrunner Robbie Thompson had to say:

When we first first talked about it, the original core idea was just: young John and Mary. It was like, “Well, we love this, but how is this gonna work?” We did not want to do anything that would upend past, present, and most importantly, future Supernatural. At first that sounds very limiting, but it was actually very freeing. I was looking through my old notes and it was very clear just from even an initial conversation that there were a whole lot of different ways to get into this. But when we started thinking about the multiverse path, it did a couple things for us. Obviously it leaves the Supernatural universe intact. So whenever the boys, and I fully believe they’ll put the boots on again — it’s a question of when, not if — they both can step into those shoes and not be encumbered by anything. That was important. And then also it gave us room to tell a story for Mary and John, but through the lens of Dean.

So we wanted to find: What was the emotional story that we could tell for him as well? We had two pockets that we could exist in. One was after Chuck [Rob Benedict], before Dean’s untimely demise, but that one didn’t really work because I’d just be like, “Well, okay, where’s Sam [Jared Padalecki]?” Whereas when he was in heaven, when he went for a drive, it felt like we had room there to play between the time that he gets in Baby and drives to meet Sam. And that felt like the most rich, fertile area for us to live in. What do you reflect on at the end of your life? And what in the Supernatural universe/multiverse would you maybe want to go take a look at? And then, you know, Dean’s gonna Dean. [Laughs] He can’t help himself. They say it in the episode: Even in death, hunters keep hunting.

Now that we know all of the information that we do, of course it does lead to even more enthusiasm for a potential season 2 down the road at The CW. Unfortunately, we still don’t know if that will happen! Our hope is that Ackles’ appearance in the finale, plus some chatter about the twist, could help to make that happen.

Related – Get some more news when it comes to a potential season 2

What did you think overall about the events of The Winchesters season 1 finale?

Go ahead and let us know in the comments! Once you do just that, come back for other updates you will not want to miss. (Photo: The CW.)