‘Supernatural’ Producer Andrew Dabb Reveals What Type of Stories To Expect In the Final 7 Episodes
The series finale of Supernatural is getting closer. However, there are still several new episodes of the show before Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki say goodbye. That’s plenty more fun to have with the Winchester boys before the inevitable bittersweet farewell. Showrunner Andrew Dabb described the new episodes leading up to the series finale.
Dabb spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet by phone about the last seven episodes of Supernatural. Supernatural airs Thursday nights at 8 p.m. on The CW.
The first new ‘Supernatural’ paves the way for the last six
Had season 15 gone to plan, Supernatural would have ended in May. However, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic delayed production of the final two episodes. Knowing they’d have to go back to finish the series, The CW held the last seven to air in the fall.
“I think it ended up working quite well because our first episode back is kind of a lighter episode,” Dabb said. “I think certainly Supernatural has a habit of doing those. I think it’s a good palette cleanser that gets you into the final six which are much darker and much more mythology driven, much bigger. I think it ramps up in an actually really nice way. It was completely accidental but it ended up working out.”
Some of the last 7 episodes are standalone
Dabb says the last season leans into the overarching mythology. Even so, there is still room for a few standalone episodes, as much as Supernatural still does standalones in season 15.
There are actually two. One is our first episode back, it’s more of a standalone episode. And then we have an episode a little bit later that is kind of a flashback to a young Sam and Dean that is a little bit of a standalone and then we have kind of a Cas and Jack adventure that is a little bit of a standalone. I will say these days, we don’t really have straight standalones. Even our standalones, the A plot or the B plot will tie into our bigger mythology, so they’re standalone-ish, let’s put it that way. In the final seven we’ve got probably three that would be in that ballpark.
Andrew Dabb, interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, 10/1/2020
‘Supernatural’ still has new monsters after 15 years
After 15 seasons, one would think the Winchesters have faced every monster the creators could come up with. Dabb said there are even new monsters this season.
“Shockingly, there are,” Dabb said. “Shockingly, I think we’re going to deal with a couple of monsters that we haven’t seen before.”
7 episodes makes it easier to ease into the ‘Supernatural’ finale
The schedule was dictated by real world circumstances and the network. However, Dabb was happy to have a seven episode mini-season to say goodbye to Supernatural.
“Coming back with the final seven episodes versus, let’s say, the final two or even final three, it gives you a lot of runway to remind viewers okay, this is where we’re going, these are our players, why it matters,” Dabb said. “Again, I think it really worked out for us in a way that was unanticipated but good.”
