What Makes a TV Show and It’s Finale Good? “Supernatural” vs. “Leverage”

Hello everyone!

So in an effort to find something else to post a blog about, I decided to write my analysis of my two favorite shows, Supernatural and Leverage. Before I go into my blog, however, I want to point out I am no means an expert, I am basing this on the fact that I analyze the crap out of everything, and as a film and tv lover.

Now before we actually get into the shows, there’s something to think about before hand. What exactly makes a good finale? Now, there are two types of finales in my mind. The open-ended finale and the closed finale. What’s the difference? An open ended finale is a finale that wraps up the big storyline of the show, while leaving some things unanswered to set up for another season or revital of some kind. A closed finale is a finale where everything is wrapped up in a nice neat bow. Now with each of these shows, they are examples of each type of finale. Supernatural is an example of a closed finale and Leverage is an example of an open finale. What makes a good finale is that the characters arcs are wrapped up nicely, the finale is satisfying for the viewer, and everything that has happened up to that point comes to a head.

Before I go into my analysis of each finale and show, I want to stress the fact that I am no means a professional, just a person who enjoys film. I also want to give a…

SPOILER WARNING!

For not only the Supernatural in general but also Leverage.

First, let’s start with the Supernatural finale. For those of you who don’t know, Supernatural is a show that aired on The CW from 2005-2020 for 15 seasons, which is the longest running show on The CW, predating The CW as it originally aired on the WB network. Supernatural follows two brothers Dean Winchester, played by Jensen Ackles, and Sam Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki, who are trained from a young age to hunt things that go bump in the night by their father John Winchester, played by Jeffery Dean Morgan, after their mom died mysteriously. In it’s 15 year run, Supernatural developed a fan base of passionate fans who take the shows meanings of family and mental heath to heart, raising money for charity and even starting a mental health hotline. Even today, Supernatural still has a passionate fanbase of fans. Now, the finale caused a lot of issues with the fan base, including me once I had some time to think about it. Now, to set up the finale so I can explain it. At the beginning of season 15, we open with not only our reluctant hero brothers Sam and Dean, but with angel ally Castiel, played by Misha Collins, as they fight off zombies that God (Yes, I know), played by Rob Benedict, released in payback for not getting the ending he wanted. Our heros manage to make it out and they figure out a way to close the gap in the ground and save a town from the ghosts from Hell. Now it’s kind of obvious, but at this point, the brothers along with their allies have fought many different bad guys, including a Knight of Hell, demons, angels, The Darkness, Lucifer himself, and God himself. The rest of the season is the brothers trying to find a way to stop Chuck from influencing their lives and to save the world. To keep it short, there’s a lot of anger on Dean’s part and hope of Sam’s part. Deans angry that he is stuck in a hamster wheel and just wants to be free and he doesn’t know how they’re going to defeat God. Sam is hopeful that they will find a way, as they’ve always done. Throughout the season, many allies die and the brothers want to be free to make their own choices. The last three episodes of season 15 include Castiel sacrificing his life for Dean after Death herself goes after Dean and Castiel once they realize she wants to rule everything to keep order in the world. Cas summons the Empty, which is where angels and demons go once they die, by confessing his love to Dean in an emotional scene, which leaves Dean heartbroken. Not only that, but Chuck has Thanosed the whole world, leaving only the brothers, a dog, and their surrogate son Jack, played by Alexander Calvert, who is a nephilim and Lucifer’s son. So the brothers figure out a way to save the world by getting archangel Michael and Lucifer to fight, causing Jack to absorb all of their power, then setting God up and he beat them down so Jack could absorb all of his power and turn God human, so Jack became God and healed the brothers using his powers and brought everyone back. Jack then leaves the brothers, saying he had new responsibilities. Now, the finale. Basically after all that happened, both Sam and Dean are living a domestic life in the bunker they lived in. And it’s clear that both brothers are happy. Then Sam and Dean go on a vampire hunt, which leads to Dean getting impaled on a piece of rebar. After Sam takes care of the vampire nest, Sam and Dean have an emotional moment where Dean confesses that he was reluctant to bring Sam back into the hunting life 15 years prior, which set off the show. Sam wants to make a deal to bring Dean back, but Dean tells Sam not to, as deals usually kick them in the ass. It’s a very emotional ending with Sam telling Dean it was okay and he would be okay. Dean dies and goes to Heaven, where he meets his father figure Bobby Singer, played by Jim Beaver, and discovers what changes Jack and Castiel, who got out of the Empty by Jack, made to Heaven. Carry On my Wayward Son by Kansas plays once Dean gets in his beloved 1967 black Chevy Impala “Baby”, then it changes to an emotional cover by Neoni and we get a montage of Sam living his life and having a son, then dying himself of old age. The brothers reunite in Heaven, wearing the clothes they wore in the Pilot episode. The episode had me bawling my eyes out, and I was grieving. Now, what made the Supernatural series finale a closed finale was obviously, the main characters ending up in Heaven. Now, the actors have said about going back in Sam and Deans shoes, but it’s not clear what would happen. As I mentioned before, the themes of the show are Family don’t end with blood, overcoming adversity, and it’s okay to not be okay. The main idea of season 15 was the idea of Free Will. Now, both Sam and Dean have mentioned throughout the show that they want to retire and settle down. And having Dean dying, saying it was what he knew was gonna happen, is an insult to both brothers overcoming the abuse of their father, which is mentioned many times, and finally being free. And Sam didn’t want to live without his brother, and that’s what happened. Basically both characters got the endings that they didn’t want. And the fact that it ended with the brothers is okay, but the most important theme of Supernatural is family don’t end with blood, so none of the characters that they considered family that are still alive showed up in the finale. Regardless of what happened behind the scenes of the episode, it was clear the ending wasn’t entirely what the brothers deserved. That being said, Ackles and Padalecki killed their scenes together! The Sam and Dean I saw in the finale was early Sam and Dean, when Dean wanted to go out swinging, and Sam wanted to have an apple pie life. Not the Sam and Dean who went through Hell (literally) to overcome their own demons and to fight for others. The Dean who overcame his own self loathing and selflessness to realize he deserves to be loved. The Sam who realized he was good enough and had his own Free Will and made choices, who wanted to have an apple pie life with a hunter. In my opinion, all that character development went out the window. And that is why the Supernatural series finale made Supernatural my favorite not favorite show. If I were to rate it, I’d rate the finale a 7/10 because I liked the beginning and end, but not the barn scene with Dean’s death halfway through the episode, and Jensen and Jared had some amazing acting in that episode.

Now onto Leverage! In case you don’t know, Leverage is a show about a group of thieves who act as modern day Robin Hoods, stealing from the rich and powerful to help the people who are hurt by these big corporations and governments. The group is Hacker Alec Hardison, played by Aldis Hodge, Thief Parker, played by Beth Riesgraf, Hitter Eliot Spencer, played by Christian Kane, Grifter Sophie Devereaux, played by Gina Bellman, and the mastermind Nate Ford, played by Timothy Hutton. Now Nate is an ex-insurance investigator and alcoholic because his son died when his own company refused to pay for the treatment that would have saved his life. Sophie is an actress who ironically can’t act, and had a fling with Nate, and has an unknown past. Eliot is an ex-military man with a shady past. Parker is a thief who doesn’t understand social cues, and wants to do the right thing. Hardison is a hacker who also wants to do the right thing and is the comedic relief and grew up in foster care, just like Parker. Leverage aired on TNT from 2008-2012 for 5 seasons, and still has a passionate fan base that had wanted a revival since it’s end. And the fans got their wish when recently it was announced by the creators and cast that IMDb TV had picked up a revival of the series featuring most of the cast minus Timothy Hutton. Now to set up season 5 so I can talk about the finale. Season 5 follows the crew in a new city of Portland, where before they were in Boston and LA. Nate is drinking less and has a newfound relationship with Sophie as his girlfriend. Hardison and Parker are also dating, leaving Eliot single, which is a same in itself cause have you seen Christian Kane! Anyway, the team goes on throughout the season doing what they do best, and that’s take on bad guys from their new cover in a brewpub that Hardison bought for Eliot. Throughout the season, the crew talks about retiring and what they’d do once they retire. This is mostly talked about in the episode “The Real Fake Car Job”, when Sophie asked Eliot what he’d do once he got out, which he said he’d always wanted to own his own restaurant, but he’d probably be stuck making sure Hardison’s brewpub didn’t go out of business and be a bouncer. Hardison also expressed his interest in retiring with Parker, and she says she couldn’t retire. In the series finale, “The Long Goodbye Job”, told during multiple flashbacks, Nate tells Parker he wants her to be the mastermind once he retires, as she’s the best one for the job. The episode itself is like a con, as at the beginning it makes you think everyone but Nate is dead, and there’s some emotional acting by Hutton. Then once Sterling, Nate’s rival played by Mark Sheppard, comes in, we think only Parker and Nate survived. At the end, it is revealed that everyone was alive and that it was a ruse to get their hands on the Black Book, which is a drive that contains information on crimes the government covered up to keep the stability. It rotates between servers so it isn’t in one place for long. Back at the office, the “children” talk about putting the black book on the dark web and every crew would want to join them to form Leverage: International. Nate reveals that him and Sophie are leaving, and Sophie is confused, as she didn’t know anything about leaving. Nate then tells her that it depends on what she said next. Nate then gets down on one knee and proposes to Sophie, who says yes. He gives the reins over to Eliot, Hardison, and Parker and leaves with Sophie. We then see Parker, Eliot, and Hardison talking to a couple who lost their kid. In a mirror to the end of the pilot episode “The Nigerian Job”, we see Parker saying the exact same thing Nate said at the end of the episode, and it very similarly shot. Now, this series finale is an open finale, as the ending suggests that Parker, Hardison, and Eliot still do the job that Nate gave them, honoring his wishes. The ending is bittersweet, as while Nate and Sophie are happy and are finally able to rest and the children of Leverage take over, it’s sad that it’s the ending of the show. The show had been building up to that point, developing each character to show that they had changed and that ending shows that change. Parker goes from a socially awkward girl who stole for a living to a woman who wants to do the right thing and properly processes her emotions to allow herself to be vulnerable. Hardison goes from the comedic relief to an essential part of the team and has calmed down some. Sophie goes from someone who is afraid to be in a relationship and hiding her true self to being in an relationship with Nate and revealing her name. Eliot goes from someone who is escaping his past and not being vulnerable to someone who is open and isn’t running from his past. Nate goes from someone who drank to torture himself from the guilt of losing his son, to trying to get sober and then relapsing once Sophie left, and then finding a balance that worked for him and let go of the guilt. These things are all prevalent in the finale, especially at the end when Eliot, Parker, and Hardison “Die” together and Nate and Sophie hold hands before the crash. Then at the end when Sophie asks Parker if she’s okay with them leaving and Parker said she was. Then when Sophie told Eliot to promise her that he’d protect Hardison and Parker, and he said “Till my dying day.” Nate tells the trio that they can leave because they are ready. And the last scene shows they follow their promises, while leaving the show open for a revival, which happened and is coming soon. I’d honestly rate the show a 10/10 because not only is the acting and writing amazing, but the ending really summarizes everything that happened up to that point. Each character is developed perfectly and doesn’t fall into stereotypes. And the premise is fairly simple, as it can be broken down as a story of revenge and redemption.

Another important difference I want to point out with these shows are how they treat their characters. With Supernatural, there is a long history of treating LGBTQ characters poorly and POC characters and female characters poorly, using women dying to benefit the male leads storyline, as in the pilot episode, two women die, which isn’t the worst thing, considering it was 2005. But, even later and even through the complaints of fans, and the activism of it’s stars, Supernatural still treats its characters poorly, with having a queer coated character die after giving a love confession, and then not having it acknowledged, and then not mentioning multiple characters bisexuality with Dean and Rowena, a witch who both helped and hurt the brothers, played by Ruth Connell. Then there’s the queerbaiting. For 11 years since Castiel was introduced, there was multiple pieces of evidence that Dean and Cas were in love, but it was pushed aside and used to keep viewers watching. Regardless of whether you agree with the community or ship those characters, it’s still not cool to bait fans. Now, granted a slow burn is different than baiting. And while I will never forget what Supernatural did for me when I needed it most, I won’t hesitate to bash what it did wrong. Now the story is different with Leverage. While there’s no actively LGBTQ characters, writer John Rodgers was open about leaving the popular Leverage ship OT3, which is the poly ship between Eliot, Hardison, and Parker, up to interpretation and confirming that the episode “The Rundown Job”, which follows the OT3 only, was meant to confirm the ship. While it isn’t obvious, it is clear that there is a mutual love between these characters. And the only black character of the show, Hardison, isn’t focused on his skin, but instead his brain and personality. His character isn’t treated any different because he’s black. And all the male characters have emotionally vulnerable moments that aren’t treated as being feminine, but as important character development moments. They don’t go into toxic masculinity tropes, unlike Supernatural which main character Dean embodies some of these tropes at the beginning of the show, going from woman to woman without a care in the world. This is different from Eliot, who is a masculine man who uses things that are considered “feminine”, such as cooking, as coping mechanisms to express himself. The women in Leverage have just as much development as the men, and aren’t used to benefit the men, but used to balance out all the characters and develop each other instead. I could honestly go on and on about the treatment of the characters in both shows.

Now you can’t talk about how two shows are different without talking about how they are similar! So both Supernatural and Leverage deal with the themes of found family and overcoming personal demons. In Supernatural, the themes of family are present throughout the whole show, and bleed into the fans, called the SPNFamily. In Leverage, the found family theme is more subtle, but it’s there. The multiple dinners together, the relationships between the characters, they are all like one big family. And it’s especially obvious when during the season 2 finale, Nate tells the team that they’re the only family he has. And when in the series finale when Nate tells Eliot to call if he needs anything, but he never really needed anything. Eliot then corrects him, saying that he did, and it was Hardison and Parker. Both shows also deal with addiction, with during Supernatural season 4, one of the main points is how Sam deals with his addiction to demon blood. In Leverage, addiction takes various forms. With Nate being an alcohol and how much he drinks through out the show signaling how well he’s doing, and the more subtle in Sophie being addicted to her past, which gets the team in trouble in season 1 when she pulls a secret con on the crew using the lure of helping Nate and his need for revenge against the company that let his con die.

That is all I have for today on my rant. I know this is long, but it’s been something I wanted to talk about for a long time, as I’m very passionate about representation in media, and as a film lover.

Thank you all for reading this!

Kaylee