‘Supernatural’ reaches the incredible 200th episode milestone with the musically meta “Fan Fiction.”

The CW

“ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING.”

Note: The following review goes into detail about the episode. SPOILER ALERT!

For any show to make it to 100 episodes is a massive achievement, so seeing Supernatural make it to double that is absolutely incredible. There have been some pretty amazing highs over the years and a handful of forgettable lows, but the one thing that stands out to me is how the show has stayed true to its core concept throughout. While the introduction of angels, demons and other otherworldly beasts has raised the stakes considerably, Supernatural still revolves around two brothers driving around in a car, saving people and fighting things. “Fan Fiction” very wisely focused on Dean and Sam’s bond again, while putting a very meta twist on proceedings.

Supernatural hasn’t been afraid to go the meta route in the past, with “The French Mistake” standing out as one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. Even with its meta past, I was a little apprehensive about the prospects of episode 200 being a musical themed episode. Thankfully, there was absolutely nothing to fear. Instead of the whole episode being full of musical set pieces sung by current and returning cast members, the action revolved around an all-girls school’s musical production. The fact that the musical was based on Sam and Dean’s lives gave it the meta twist we were all waiting for.

The CW

“Fan Fiction” was packed to the rafters with Supernatural callbacks. Starting with the title sequence showing every different title card from the entire series, the episode brought up a host of older characters including Chuck, Adam, Mary, John and many more. Along with dredging up the past, “Fan Fiction” also aimed its humor straight at Supernatural’s own fanbase. Mentions of “BM” and “Destiel” were absolutely hilarious and basically summed up certain parts of the Supernatural fandom in a nutshell. Moreover, Sam and especially Dean’s reactions to all of this were brilliant, with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles killing it as always.

Monster of the week, Calliope, was also a lot of fun. She had one great monologue that shone the spotlight on the show perfectly, and provided a few solid laughs in her short screen time. Her scarecrow minion was also a nice physical foe for the brothers to face off against, while also harkening back to the show’s earliest days. The action really kicked up a notch once the musical began, with the catchy songs providing the perfect soundtrack for the zany fight against the villains. I mentioned above that I was a little apprehensive about the musical aspect, but it ended up being a highlight of the episode. Each of the songs fit perfectly well with the celebration theme. Several of the songs were actually rather touching, with a great rendition of “Carry On My Wayward Son,” the perfect song to finish out the show.

THE BREAKDOWN

Many other shows would have struggled with a musical tinged meta episode, but Supernatural took everything in its stride and delivered a very fitting, celebratory 200th episode. The focus was very wisely placed solely on the Winchesters, with Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki bringing their A game yet again. The songs were brilliantly put together and surprisingly touching, with surely more than “a single man tear” being shed by the viewers at home. The nicest surprise was saved until the very end however, with Chuck making an unexpected appearance at the musical. Long-time Supernatural fans will know that Chuck was a prophet of the lord who wrote the “Supernatural” books within the Supernatural universe. There has been a hell of a lot of speculation since Chuck’s last appearance in the Season 5 finale, with it looking incredibly likely that he is in fact God himself. I’m really looking forward to seeing if his reappearance now will tie into Season 10’s overall arc.

What are your thoughts on Chuck’s appearance? Was it purely a little callback to the first half of the show, or will he have a larger part to play going forward? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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