Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Winchesters Season 1 finale, "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye." Read at your own risk!
When it was revealed that Jensen Ackles would reprise his role as Dean Winchester on The Winchesters, Supernatural fans were intrigued. To start, this was a prequel series about Dean and Sam's parents, so it seemed odd Ackles would appear as his character. Things only got weirder when Dean became known as the "mystery man" by the central characters of the series. Fortunately, all questions regarding Dean were answered in the Season 1 finale, and we finally learned what was up with this OG character, and the overall story of The Winchesters.
After playing a key role in the defeat of the Akrida Queen alongside Baby, Dean Winchester finally explained a bit about why he was there to John, Mary, and others. Dean only referred to himself as a Hunter, and he said that he died in his world and decided to take his car on a cruise through the multiverse in search of a universe where his family could find a happy ending. Dean soon learned the Akrida Queen was a last-ditch effort by Chuck to destroy humanity and decided he had to break the rules of interfering with humanity in order to balance the scales.
Dean's decision to help John and Mary was two-fold. One, he wanted to give this universe's version of John and Mary a chance at a happy life. The second thought he had was that if the Akrida Queen destroyed this universe, there was a chance she'd eventually make it to his Earth and potentially kill Sam. Dean wouldn't allow that, and while he had to risk his status in heaven to step in, he ultimately got a pass from Jack and was allowed to remain.
For Supernatural fans still scratching their heads, there's an easier way to break this down. The Dean Winchester featured in The Winchesters is the same Dean that died in Supernatural. Mary, John, and all the events that took place in Season 1 happened in an entirely different universe.
This means that while it felt like The Winchesters messed with Supernatural's canon, it really wasn't because they were in a whole other universe. In fact the showrunner Robbie Thompson, told EW that incorporating the multiverse made the story more "freeing," and solidified the fact that the beloved Supernatural canon was still intact. This also means that when the series brought back characters like Rowena or teased Crowley, they weren't actually teasing the legacy characters from the original series but new versions of the characters. At least, I'm assuming that's the case unless someone explicitly is revealed as a legacy character like Dean or Jack and Bobby.
We're still in the dark on whether or not The Winchesters will return for Season 2. However, while we wait on that news, it's possible Supernatural fans might want to check out Season 1 to see Dean's latest adventure. That surge of streaming could be enough to tip the scales to a renewal, but ultimately viewership may not be all that's needed. No doubt, The CW's current status and the potential sale of the network is still a factor, so we'll just have to wait and see.
The Winchesters is done for now at The CW, but there is still plenty of great television shows to check out. Read up on what's around the corner with our 2023 TV schedule, and find another show to obsess over until we get an update on The Winchesters' status and Dean's future.
