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Author: DrLiz, BA, MDiv, PhD
The meaning of life, and its corollary issues of God’s plans for the universe, the existence of evil and, simply, why are we here, has plagued philosophers, theologians and regular folks since humans gained the ability to think.
In “Supernatural” the Boys frequently address these ideas, but nowhere are these concerns more directly confronted than in the episodes leading up to the Apocalypse (seasons 4, 5 and 6). Sam, Dean and Castiel agonize over their roles in the on-coming end of days. Dean is the righteous man who falls from grace to break the first seal, beginning the process. As the rightful vessel of Michael the Archangel he is told he is destined, over and over (by Michael, by Zachariah, even by himself in the future), to fight his brother and in so doing destroy the world. Sam, demon-blood infected and the rightful vessel of Lucifer, breaks the last seal to release Satan from hell, allowing him to walk the earth. Over and over, Sam, too, is told he is destined to be the instrument of Lucifer, to play his part in the Apocalypse and in the end of the planet. Castiel the warrior angel, fallen, disobedient and conflicted, tries to help these men he loves as the signs of impending doom rise, along with the death toll.
Supernature poses the search for meaning in purely theological terms: where is God; why doesn’t God intervene; what is God’s plan? The angels of Supernatural have answers for these questions: God is absent or even dead and will not stop the Apocalypse, because God has no plan. For some of them this much awaited situation, and the inevitability of the end of days, seems to be their final act of obedience to their beloved Father, absent or not. For other angels, without God to command them, the Apocalypse provides an end to their long-suffering existence watching over God’s ultimate and flawed creation: the human race.
Lucifer is really the posterboy for these angels. Once he was God’s most beloved and beautiful creature, but then God made humans, placing them above the angelic host. Rejected, Lucifer refused to obey God and love and watch over humanity. He revolted in their flaws and fell from grace, punished and cast from Heaven into Hell. With the beginning of the end of days, Lucifer, freed from Hell, seeks to fulfill his own destiny, to destroy everything human, and be released from God’s final command: angelic inferiority to humanity.
In Supernatural, the keys to stopping the Apocalypse are the most flawed of humans: the Winchesters. They are heirs of a long, human bloodline, from Cain and Abel, through history and finally their parents. Unimaginably, Sam and Dean are the only people capable of stopping the anihilation of humanity. Sensitive, intelligent, Sam wavers, weighing every decision, uncertain and dependent. His brother, rarely sober, sexually decadent, angry and aggressive, impulsively moves through life with an arrogance born of ignorance and habit. Yet these guys are the ones. Only they can save themselves and the world.
What makes Dean and Sam the heroes of this piece (besides devasting good looks, of course)? Two little words: free will. Despite destiny, despite the certainty of angels, the inevitability of the end of days, the Winchester boys decide their own fates. Dean says no to Michael. Sam says yes to Lucifer. Dean drives to the angelic battlefield to make sure Sam will not be alone. The Impala rescues Sam’s humanity just in time to give Sam the strength to open Hell and jump in, taking Michael, in brother Adam’s skin, with him. Apocalypse averted!
Taken as a complete story arc, Supernatural doesn’t really provide the meaning of life, at least not for humanity. We are not given a direct answer as to what God intends for us. Instead the show proposes the notion that the Apocalypse, and the Winchester’s successful aversion of it, is God’s lesson for the angels: as flawed as humanity may be, people are still the ultimate creation of God. We may freely choose to reject heavenly wisdom and coersion, because God seems to have intended that humans must continue to exist.
Strangely it is Castiel, in his nearly human confusion and despair, who seems to have learned this lesson the best. He remains at the Boys’ sides. He helps them. He repairs them. Even when he doubts them, facing down his own death, he stands with them. In that sense Castiel is God’s best angel, obeying God’s command to love and watch over humanity.
And what does this all mean for the Boys? Out of all the humans with which God might play, Dean and Sam Winchester are God’s favorite toys. No matter what is thrown at them, dismemberment, madness and pain, the Boys rise, freely choosing to fight, to hunt, to persevere. Even when they step away from the Family Business, they return and choose to take up the hunt again; not even death stops them. In the Winchesters God sees the perfection of creation: flawed creatures whose free will defines them, regardless of anything (angelic, demonic, whatever) which might deflect them from their intentions. For the Creator of the Universe, the Knower of All Things, the All Powerful, Sam and Dean are, at the very least, the most interesting of creatures.
And we, the viewers, get to enjoy them too.