Supernatural: Inherit the Earth

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

The last stand.

Everyone is gone. Twisting the knife in his victory over the Winchesters, Chuck has wiped everyone off the face of the earth – save Sam, Dean and Jack. Without any hope, the Winchesters try to bargain with Chuck and offer their lives in exchange for everyone. With a laugh, Chuck denies them and would rather watch them die in isolation than give them the satisfaction. A day later and back at the bunker, Jack feels a strange presence of someone else alive even though his powers were gone after he went supernova. It's a few days ride but eventually the road takes them to a church where none other than Michael is waiting. He's in hiding and not using his powers since betraying Chuck to help them. They head back to the bunker to read Death's book but Michael can't help them open the text. Shortly after, they hear Castiel at the door but it's none other than Lucifer. He claims that the Empty wants Chuck dead after disturbing her sleep and is there to help. In good faith, he summons a reaper named Betty and immediately kills her – turning her into the new Death with the power to read the book. Ever the trickster, Lucifer kills Betty before she can read Chuck's ending. He was pulled from the Empty by Chuck and is back in his father's good graces. All of them fight Lucifer but eventually Michael is able to get the upper hand over his brother once again and kill him, leaving them in possession of the open book that contains the ending of God. They started without hope but now they have a chance to end Chuck once and for all.

The second last episode of Supernatural, Inherit the Earth will go down as one of Supernatural's finest episodes that brought a satisfying conclusion to one of television's longest running story arcs. Inherit the Earth was immediately off to a great start in the aftermath of Castiel's death and the erasure of humanity from earth. The Winchesters were broken and defeated, willing to surrender to Chuck and throw in the towel but the story continued as momentum began to steadily build throughout the episode. With the return of Michael, Inherit the Earth really took shape as he was a spark of hope and the catalyst to begin upping the pacing for the rest of the episode. Following this with the return of Lucifer, all of the pieces were in place for the final confrontation with Chuck. Every moment for the past two years lead to that scene and Supernatural did not disappoint. The Winchesters outsmarted Chuck at his own game and wrote their own story. They defeated God and then left him as a man to grow old, die and eventually be forgotten. It was remarkably the best ending to that story that Supernatural could have done. It was organic, satisfying, touching and tragic that signaled we don't have much longer with Winchesters.

While some Bobby and Donna didn't get the best send offs in last week's episode, Michael and Lucifer could not have been any better in Inherit the Earth. Since his first appearance as Adam Millegan in the season four episode, Jump the Shark, Jake Abel has been excellent as the one, true Michael of Supernatural. Portraying the archangel as the loyal soldier determined to do what is right, Abel played the character as an endearing, authentic and conflicted about doing what is right, even when that is in the face of what his father wants. Returning as Lucifer for one last time, Mark Pellegrino has always been the definitive version of Lucifer since his first appearance in season five's Sympathy for the Devil. Though the character would go on to be too much of mainstay in the series, Pellegrino was always incredible in the role as he delivered charm and menace in equal measure. You wanted to cheer for him but knew it was only ever a matter of time before he betrayed the Winchesters in a bid to claim power. Lucifer died, again, at the hands of his brother but him, the Yellow Eyed Demon and Chuck are the three best villains Supernatural has ever had.

It's been a long journey but Chuck Shurley is no longer the author of the story. Played by Rob Benedict since his first appearance in season four's The Monster at the End of the Book, Chuck was the innocent writer of Supernatural who was caught up in the story of the Winchesters, only to later be revealed as God himself. Chuck would later many times throughout the years but was always the mysterious character pulling the strings of the Winchesters. He was left helpless, alone and a human as the Winchesters drove away from the maker of all existence. Benedict played the role incredibly well as Chuck loved and eventually grew to loathe his creation and it led to his downfall. In his final moments as the almighty, Benedict showed true fear when he couldn't snap Jack away as his end approached in what was easily Benedict's best work on Supernatural.

Speaking of Chuck's end, Jack is now the new God. Played by Alexander Calvert, Jack was a character destined to change the direction of creation but lacked the wisdom and maturity to take on such a towering responsibility. With Jack, Calvert gave us a young, naïve being unsure of his place in the universe. Looking for guidance and a role model – he grew up quickly with Castiel, Lucifer and the Winchesters all raising him at one point. We knew that Jack would change the landscape of Supernatural since he first showed up in season twelve's All Along the Watchtower but we didn't know how much we might miss him when he was gone.

Inherit the Earth was on of the best episodes of Supernatural in its fifteen seasons on air. It was sad, exciting and fulfilling to watch it all come together as the Winchesters defeat Chuck. All good things come to an end with next week's Supernatural series finale, Carry On.

Tags: Supernatural, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Jack, Michael, Lucifer, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Alexander Calvert, Mark Pellegrino, Jake Abel

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