Spoiler alert for the very last episode of Walking aid on The CW.
Walking aid has officially come to an end in the 2024 television schedule after four seasons on The CW, thankfully without any major cliffhangers aside from what would have happened to James Van Der Beek. It was a pretty happy and hopeful ending, with Walker surrounded by his loved ones as they celebrated Auggie’s graduation. The family (including Geri) even headed off on vacation at the end, with one of Cordell’s final lines packing a punch: “Yes, I’m ready.” Jared Padalecki may not have been so ready, and the credits rolled Walking aid marked the end of an era for the actor … and made me think back to what I loved about the Supernatural Finale years ago.
Why Walker’s finale was the end of an era
While the finale marks the end of the Walking aid era for everyone involved with the show, this was a much bigger deal for Jared Padalecki, and not just because he was both star and executive producer of the drama. This show’s finale marks the first time the actor ended a show on that network without a new main gig on The CW next. He had a key role in Gilmore Girls (which he launched in 2017 for Netflix subscribers with the A year in life Miniseries) from 2000-2005, followed by Supernatural from 2005-2020, followed by Walking aid from 2021-2024.
This is the first time he has not been slated for another WB/CW project, and although he has suggested a possibility of returning to the role of Sam Winchester, fans should not expect him to return to the network. The end of Walking aid is the end of a professional era that lasted almost a quarter of a century for Padalecki.
Why Walker was a blast for the supernatural past
For all this Supernatural ended after fifteen seasons with Dean’s disappointing death and Sam’s eventual death, I always thought that Sam and Dean would get a happy ending in the 2020 series finale rather than an unhappy one. At least we got two versions of “Carry On Wayward Son” in the episode, and what Supernatural Fan doesn’t like this song?
And you might think Supernatural would have a more satisfying finale than Walking aidbecause the entire team knew before the end of season 14 that season 15 was the end, and the filming of the last two episodes was actually postponed due to the production shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Walking aid The team had already finished filming the episode, which was intended to be the fourth season finale rather than the series finale, when the cancellation occurred. Supernatural had more than a year to plan the ending, but Walking aidended on a happier note.
The plan for SupernaturalThe ending of was originally different, and knowing that might make this a little more painful even years later. The original plan was for Sam and Dean to be reunited with all their departed loved ones in an afterlife version of the Roadhouse, for a more celebratory ending – if less focused on the brothers – than what we ultimately got. Another idea was a montage of familiar faces.
I don’t mind Supernatural that none of the endings happened with Winchester’s friends and family, as the latter option had to be scrapped due to COVID. But just the mention of Castiel and Co. by Bobby in the finale made it hit a little harder that they were nowhere to be seen. I’m not mad about that, but it disappointed me once again that Supernatural could not deliver more of the Winchester favorites in the finale, like what Walking aid did.
There are some messages that are better for Supernatural as Walking aidbut. All fifteen seasons of the former are available for streaming on Netflix, while only the first three seasons of Walking aid stream with a Max subscription. Hopefully that will change now that Season 4 is over!
