The best part of last night’s Supernatural wasn’t when they cried, it was the entire episode. I must not be a real fan, because I’m not complaining a lot. In “The Monster at the End of This Book,” Supernatural took a surreal turn down the meta-highway by becoming the single most self-referential episode of television I’ve ever seen.

Supernatural talked about the show’s best and worst episodes, the underground cult following it has, it’s sexy doctor competition, the Sam vs. Dean debate and even slash fiction. The conversation between Sam and Dean about what slash is may have been the funniest thing Supernatural has ever done. But in the midst of all of this brilliant meta-comedy, the drama and the show’s season-long storyline moved into a dark, dark place.

All the Sam Girls out there finally got some love as he was front and center for this episode. His conversation with Chuck simply and effectively explained everything: the prophet of the Lord writing the Supernatural books didn’t want to include Sam’s blood drinking storyline because it might make him too unsympathetic. This might be an easy copout for the writers, but it does make sense.

In addition, we learned that the fate of the world actually rests on Sam’s shoulders, even though Dean is the one the angels are standing behind. Sam’s secret increase in strength over the season and his connection to Lilith make him vital to the end.

When it comes to Lilith, there are two possible outcomes, neither of which are very satisfying. The first is that she dies, as she predicted, most likely at the hands of Sam. This would be incredibly satisfying on a visceral level, but she did say that her death was sad because it was “right before the good part.” For Lilith, the good part can be only one thing: Lucifer’s return.

If Lilith gets to live, then Lucifer stays put. In theory, this sounds like a better option. As the saying goes, the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t, and in this case, the devil they don’t know is literally the Devil.

Last night we learned Lilith’s terms for stopping were Sam and Dean’s heads on spikes. Given that there’s another season of Supernatural, it’s safe to assume this isn’t how season 4 will end. Though to be fair, it’s not entirely impossible either, as this show has already killed off Sam and Dean before.

In order to make the choice easy, Lilith will probably have to do something that’s worse than bringing Lucifer back, but what that is we’ll have to wait to find out. If it sounds like I’m already assuming the 66 Seals will be broken and Lucifer will rise, it’s because I can’t imagine any other possible ending to this season. Zachariah told Chuck that there’s nothing he can do to stop the horrific things he saw, and every season of Supernatural has ended on a down note.

Either there’s a car accident or Sam is killed and Dean sells his soul or Dean goes to Hell. The Winchesters never get a happy ending.


Also Read:
"The Monster at the End of This Book" Recap
Who is the Monster at the End of This Season?
Supernatural Fans Twitter About "The Monster at the End of This Book"


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of the CW)