For me, the Supernatural season 4 was like eating KFC Famous Bowl.  It contains everything I love, it's the perfect size, and it's so good that you want more right away, but if you actually had it, you'd probably explode.  The only difference is that tomorrow, I can have another Famous Bowl.

Supernatural's season finale had just enough of everything to go around.  If you like the bad guys, the finale had plenty of demons.  If you like comedy, there were a ton of pop culture references.  If you like the brotherly love or the Heavenly battle or betrayal or intense Supernatural mythology or Uncle Bobby or Chuck Shurley, it had all of them too.

Check out BuddyTV's Recap of the Supernatural Season 4 Finale, "Lucifer Rising"
To continue my KFC analogy, let's examine the five ingredients to Supernatural's finale.

The Popcorn Chicken = The Brothers
The biggest part of any Bowl is the chicken, and for Supernatural, the dynamic between Sam and Dean is that main attraction.  The episode opened with parallel shots of both Sam and Dean as they reflected on their fight.  Dean took it harder than Sam, but luckily he had Uncle Bobby there to straighten him out.  Family doesn't make you have to love it anyway.

The finale also featured sad moments when Dean left a voicemail message for his brother that was as sincere an apology as he can muster and Sam's face when he heard the earlier message about him being a monster was heartbreaking.  But luckily, in the end, the two brothers came together and, like any sudden tragedy, everything seemed to be forgiven and all was right in the world of Winchesters.


The Mashed Potatoes = Show Mythology
The mashed potatoes are the glue that hold the Bowl together, and that's what Supernatural's rich mythology is.  The finale not only expanded the mythology but turned it on its side.  Suddenly everything Azazel did makes sense.  He collected the special children so that he might find one to open the gate to Hell to release Lilith because he knew she was the only one who could help his father. Lucifer, escape.  After "On the Head of a Pin" a theorized that the entire series was just one long plot to free Lucifer and I remember being mocked by some hardcore fans.  I await your apologies.


Three Kinds of Cheese = Betrayals
Adding different spice to any Bowl are three kinds of cheese, and Supernatural's finale had three kinds of betrayal.  The big one was Ruby's Pure Evil betrayal.  For her entire time on the series, Ruby has been lying and manipulating the boys into Lilith's grand scheme, and her betrayal was somehow both totally shocking and not surprising at all.

The second betrayal was the Misguided betrayal by Zachariah.  He was falsely leading Dean and the angels down the wrong road for what, in theory, seem like good intentions.  He wanted to defeat the forces of evil once and for all and bring peace and eternal happiness to Earth.  That sounds great, but he conveniently overlooked the millions of human lives that would be lost during the apocalypse.

The final betrayal was the Noble betrayal when Castiel turned on Heaven to help Dean and humanity.  It was a difficult decision, but it was the right one, and even though he now has the fury of Heaven coming down upon him, Castiel made the right move.


The Corn = Chuck Shurley
"The Monster at the End of This Book" is destined to have a place near the top of my Best Episodes of 2009 list because I love meta-comedy and I especially love Chuck Shurley.  His off-beat wackiness provides just the right amount of humor to any episode, and as Lucifer was rising, he was trying to order 20 prostitutes for an al-might orgy.  There's no doubt that he's the corn of the finale - not entirely necessarily, but delicious and always welcome.


The Gravy = Cliffhanger
The capper to any Bowl is the gravy, the sauce that leaves just the right aftertaste.  For Supernatural, it was the cliffhanger.  After sending Dean to Hell last year, how can you top that?  Well, how about by bringing Hell to Dean.  The Earth opened up and a bright light shined out as Lucifer rose.  The ending left fans just the right level of crazy, desperately wondering what happens when Lucifer arrives what Lucifer looks like.    Undoubtedly this cliffhanger will leave a very, very long aftertaste in our mouths.



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