Swan Song 

With the Apocalypse looming, Sam and Dean realize they are out of options and make heart-breaking decisions that will change their lives forever.

Director:

Steve Boyum

Writers:

Eric Kripke (created by), Eric Kripke (teleplay by)

Stars:

Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Jared Padalecki	...	Sam Winchester / Lucifer
Jensen Ackles	...	Dean Winchester
Misha Collins	...	Castiel
Jim Beaver	...	Bobby Singer
Jake Abel	...	Michael
Rob Benedict	...	Chuck Shurley
Mark Pellegrino	...	Lucifer
Cindy Sampson	...	Lisa Braeden
Anthony Harrison	...	Sal Moriarty
Nathan Smith	...	Young Sam Winchester
Nicolai Giustra	...	Young Dean Winchester (as Nicolai Lawton-Guistra)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nicki Aycox	...	Meg Masters (archive footage)
Matt Cohen	...	Young John Winchester (archive footage)
Kurt Fuller	...	Zachariah (archive footage)
Shawn Hall	...	Pool Player (archive footage)

Storyline

Going with Dean to Lucifer's place, Sam--expecting to lure the cunning being and trap him with the Four Horsemen's ring--agrees to be His vessel. However, Lucifer is smarter and uses his son's vessel instead to fight against Michael, who is using Adam's vessel. Dean and Chuck discover the place of the final battle--an old cemetery in Lawrence--and Dean heads there in his Impala with Bobby and Castiel. Will they be able to avoid the inevitable?

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Plot Keywords:

falling into a hole | carving initials | blood spattered face | molotov cocktail | close up of eye | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

In one of Chuck's voice-overs, he says the boys would "drive two days for a Jayhawks game." The Jayhawk is the mascot of the University of Kansas. The main campus is located in Lawrence, Kansas.

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Goofs

Dean & Sam are hoping that Lucifer is unaware that they have the rings that form the key to his cage but even if he missed that they had taken rings from War, Famine & Pestilence, the fact that Chicago was not destroyed the way he ordered it to be would lead Lucifer to only one conclusion. Death had found a way to disobey him. Which would have lead him to at least suspect Death didn't have his ring anymore.

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Quotes

Castiel: You got what you asked for, Dean. No paradise, no hell, just more of the same. I mean it, Dean. What would you rather have: peace... or freedom?

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Connections

Featured in MsMojo: Top 10 Supernatural Episodes (2016)

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Soundtracks

End Credits Theme
Composed by Jay Gruska

User Reviews

Five years in the making, and worth every darn minute spent waiting for it!!!!!

I started watching this show about halfway through the first season (coincidentally, at a very difficult time in my life), and I was instantly hooked. Since then, I haven't missed a new show, I've bought the DVD sets, and I've often watched the primetime reruns "just because." Over these past 5 years, my great satisfaction with the series has remained constant; granted, a few episodes here and there have been a bit weaker than the standard, but what accounts for a "poor" episode of "Supernatural" would be one of the "very good" efforts from 99.9% of TV-series history. And when "Supernatural" hits one of its (many) peaks, as it does with this 5th-season finale, I really, really, REALLY just want to stand up in front of these guys and applaud their work!

Yeah, I'm gushing, but anyone who has as much admiration and affection for "Supernatural" as myself would understand my enthusiasm; one could only be as enthusiastic if you've been with these guys since the beginning. In many ways, "Swan Song" _could_ have been a VERY satisfying series finale, had "Supernatural" not been renewed for its 6th season. This episode actually manages to neatly summarize the past 5 years' worth of shows (read: Sam's & Dean's lives) beautifully while also plunging headlong into the expected, inevitable outcome. And where the finales for seasons 3 and 4 proved to be edge-of-your-set cliffhangers, "Swan Song" accomplishes the dual feat of leaving me totally satisfied story-wise whilst whetting my appetite for some incredible events yet to surely unfold. So, in essence, this season finale is both a cliffhanger AND the most significant turning point yet in the series' story arc.

None of this would be possible without both the top-notch creative writing (Eric Kripke, did you REALLY pen this by yourself? -- outstanding!!!), with dialogue that only the best playwrights could produce, and the great group of people who bring the writing into the realm of flesh and blood. Jared & Jensen are two of the best young actors currently working, and their chemistry with each other is unsurpassable. No less important are Misha and JimB, who have really proved themselves to be "star"-quality support for our two leads. (The great emotions in this series resonate all the more deeply because of their support.) In all, these gentlemen give this show plenty of heart to match its smarts. (I almost forgot: Mark Pellegrino has been a standout as Lucifer this season. Hats off to you, sir!!!)

I laughed, I cried, and then I cried a little more (the episode features a few shocking developments, as you'd surely expect), and I'm only sorry that we have to wait several more months before we can do it all again! The "Winchester Chronicles" just keep getting better and better.

(For those playing along at home, please pay close attention to Chuck.)

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wonderland Sound and Vision, Warner Bros. Television, Supernatural Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1