The Supernatural season 7 mid-season finale has come and gone. And, if you’re like me, it ended with a feeling of bitterness and hate mixed with nostalgic admiration and thankfulness.
“Death’s Door” sits at the top of the Supernatural‘s best episodes. [Possible Spoilers] It served as a love letter and poignant obituary to one of the show’s best characters – Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean’s (Jensen Ackles) surrogate dad Bobby (Jim Beaver).
At the end of “How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters”, Dick Roman, aka head Leviathan, shot Bobby in the head. The opening to “Death’s Door” showed just how badly Bobby was shot. It started with the bullet close to the brain, and then the CG camera pulled out of Bobby’s head to let the viewers know that the bullet was buried deep in Bobby’s head. It was the creative team’s way of preparing the viewers for the inevitable, only moments before preparing the Winchesters for Bobby’s fate.
Then, Bobby went on his final adventure. He wrote down a series of numbers, starting with 454895, and fought his way through a coma to get the message into the hands of Sam and Dean. It was great that the showrunners gave Bobby an adventure inside his coma, complete with his partner Rufus. The writers could have just as easily made Bobby’s coma a montage of “Bobby’s Greatest hits” scenes from past seasons. Personally, I hate those kinds of “cop outs”. However, the writers gave Bobby the respect his character deserved by letting him do what he does best. Hunt. Bobby got a chance to go head-to-head with a Reaper and decide his fate for himself – a fate that arguably is still unclear. And, after Castiel (Misha Collins) was phased out in an Leviathan-water explosion, it was great to see Bobby get this poignant outro. It reminded me of The Sopranos arc when Tony (James Gandolfini) had the case of mistaken identity for Kevin Finnerty (I won’t explain further in case you’re still waiting to catch up on the show).
Although we didn’t get a montage of past seasons, we did get a journey into Bobby’s past – specifically his childhood and his marriage. First, Bobby and Rufus went up against Laura Coggins, a ghost that steals the heart of people who break their lovers’ hearts. After Bobby burnt Coggins bones, he started to see a young boy. Seasoned TV viewers knew right away that anyone who sees a boy in a coma is probably seeing themselves. Sure enough, we then learned that Bobby was chasing his younger self, while simultaneously running from his dark past.
Apparently, Bobby refused to have kids with his wife. Three days before Bobby’s wife was possessed (and eventually stabbed to death by Bobby), his wife said to him, “You broke my heart, Bobby.” We then learned that Bobby’s refusal to have kids was a direct result of his drunk, abusive father.
However, in the coma, Bobby confronted his father.
“I adopted two boys and they grew up great. They grew up heroes. So you can go to hell.” Bobby to Dad.
Then, older Bobby witnesses his younger self shoot his father squarely in the head. It was some of the best shooting by a kid in history.
By facing the darkest moment of his past, Bobby was able to find the doorway out of his coma and into the waking world. He scribbled the numbers on Sam’s hand and uttered one final word.
“Idjits.”
Bobby’s endearing way of calling the Winchesters idiots was his way of saying “I love you.” It brought a smile to Dean’s face. But sadly, the moment passed when Bobby flat lined and the Winchesters watched the doctors rush to attend him in deathly silence.
“Last memory huh. glad i saved the best for last.” Bobby to Reaper
The final moments of “Death’s Door” showed the Reaper giving Bobby the option to cross over peacefully. As Bobby’s final memory (or island as the Reaper called it) of Sam and Dean fighting over who would win in a fight between Chuck Norris and Jet Li vanished, we saw that Bobby was still reluctant to cross over.
“Let go, they’ll be okay without you.” Reaper to Bobby
Then it ended. So it appears that Bobby is dead, but potentially may come back as a ghost. Theories?
Favorite Scene:
One of my favorite moments from this episode occurred when the hospital administrator asked Dean about harvesting “viable organs” from Bobby.
Dean exclaims: “He’s not gonna die. It’s one bullet. He’s gonna be fine because he’s always fine…. why are you talking to me like he’s gonna die… I do my job. Do your jobs. Save him. [punches window] Walk away from me. Now!”
It was a great scene, one that was echoed later in Bobby’s coma conversation with his younger self.
After the younger Bobby shoots his dad, older Bobby says, “This is where you learn that they pretty much never say thanks when you save them.”
It was a great moment, which also felt like it could just have easily been a conversation between Bobby and either Sam or Dean.
We return to Supernatural in 2012. What were your thoughts on this conclusion. Needless to say, several fans will be upset with the loss of Bobby – especially since we lost Castiel early on in Season 7. I still feel that Supernatural has the legs to reach a tenth season, but now I’m wondering where the supporting characters will come from to help it get there.
