Spoilers ahead for the January 23 episode of Supernatural on The CW, called "The Heroes Journey."
Supernatural is now one week closer to the series finale, and the episode saw the Winchesters suffer an unexpected effect of alienating God: their luck has run out. In a fun twist, Supernatural actually provided an explanation for why Sam and Dean have been able to bounce back from serious injuries, emerge victorious from impossible fights, and never even get sick. God had been looking out for the heroes of his favorite story. Now that they're no longer his favorites, his protection no longer applies, and the boys are normal.
Of course, Sam and Dean weren't thrilled, but "The Heroes Journey" arguably proved the Winchesters being "normal" isn't a bad thing, and not just because it led to a scene of Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles awkwardly holding babies.
Supernatural is almost over, so the stakes should be higher for even the Winchesters, and struggles with normal problems show a new side of characters who have been around for 15 seasons. That's not to say we should worry about either of them dying (for now), but there's no predicting what happens next, and that's great.
Personally, I was initially lukewarm on whether or not I wanted to see more than one episode of Sam and Dean dealing with everyday problems. After all, Supernatural isn't about a pair of brothers suffering from toothaches and sniffles, but rather hunting monsters and recovering quickly from their mishaps. The scene that changed my mind was when the Winchesters were confronted by the enormous monster Maul with nothing but their fists.
The fight was pure Indiana Jones, to the point that I was replaying Raiders of the Lost Ark in my head to see if Sam and Dean fighting Maul (no, not that Maul) was as close to Indy fighting the big Nazi mechanic as I thought! It was a dirty, dangerous fight with elements of humor, and the good guys won thanks to somebody else lending a hand. Namely, Garth! I'll be happy to see more of the boys dealing with being normal.
That said, fans may not want to expect them to be totally normal for the rest of Season 15. Dean raised the point that if they want to stand a chance against God, they need some protection back. If they couldn't beat Maul in a two-on-one fight, how could they hope to stand a chance against God? Based on a suggestion from Garth, they decided to head to Alaska where there may be a way for them to get back to their old selves.
The next episode will be called "The Gamblers," and the description merely states that Sam and Dean are going to press their luck in winner-takes-all game of pool, which presumably ends with either the Winchesters protected again or in very big trouble. Castiel won't be by their sides even though he and Dean just made up, because he'll be hunting a would-be murderer for some unexpected reasons. Hopefully nothing will happen to make Cas seem even more doomed than ever!
See what happens to the newly normal Winchesters and Cas with the next new episode of Supernatural, airing Thursday, January 30 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW in the winter TV lineup.
