Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Supernatural episode “Don’t Call Me Shurley.” If you haven’t watched it yet, hop into the Impala and drive away.

Finally! The identity of God on Supernatural has been one of the show’s biggest mysteries. Well, that’s mostly true. It’s long been suspected Chuck Shurley (Rob Benedict) was not only the Prophet of God, but the big man himself. “Don’t Call Me Shurley” confirmed the long-held fan theory. While the reveal wasn’t exactly a surprise, it was handled in a meaningful, inventive way to make it anything but boring.

Let’s skip over the God revelation for a moment to discuss Sam and Dean. Their role in this installment was rather minimal. They went to investigate a case that sounded similar to trouble Amara caused at the beginning of the season. It was exactly that. Fog rolled in and made the citizens of the town become violent and soulless.

The twist? Knowing Amara was involved, Dean asked for her to stop. Just when he put in the request, the fog literally lifted and everyone infected recovered—even from a state of death. But it wasn’t Amara who saved the day; it was God.

The primary focus of the episode was God. That was fitting. We’ve been waiting so long to learn who he is and where he’s been for the past several years. We have questions needing answered, and it’s going to take time to put all the ducks into a tidy row. It’s more than okay to forget the Winchester brothers for a moment and put the focus on Chuck. The presence of God also tied into the big Amara storyline, so it made more sense.

Chuck/God came back into the picture because he asked for Metatron’s help. He appeared to the former angel and scribe and asked for Metatron’s assistance with editing his memoirs. He thought they always worked well as a team. However, Chuck (it’s easier to call him Chuck than God) wasn’t exactly pleased when Metatron pulled out the red pen.

To Metatron’s credit, he offered constructive criticism. He didn’t back away from telling God what was wrong with the book, which is braver than most of us would be in a similar situation. He let God know the details were thin. Chuck put too much emphasis on his life as Chuck and not God; he focused on making himself relatable and human. But hello! He’s a god. The God. The last two aspects of his personality he needed to show were his relatability and his humanity.

Metatron pointed out there were plenty more interesting stories readers would care about. There was the creation of the world, Amara, the archangels—so many other options. People want to know the why behind God’s every action, not hear about how he spent time as a human and taught himself how to play guitar. In essence, Metatron encouraged Chuck and pushed him to go deeper.

A couple of particularly interesting points came up during their back and forth. First of all, Chuck said Lucifer wasn’t a villain. He didn’t hold any obvious ill will towards the angel. Secondly and maybe more importantly, God is aware Amara is bad news. He discussed her briefly and said his sister wanted to destroy all he made. It’s why God was so prolific. He tried to prove to her there was more to the universe, to life than only them. But it didn’t work.

Chuck’s concerns about Amara led to the discovery God is ready to give up and let her have her chance at the world. He went away because he wanted the world to stand on its own two feet. He tried his best, and he feels like humanity screwed up again and again. They managed to address so many of the questions we ask about God and the successes and failures and whys and hows.

Metatron didn’t stand for it. In his best scene of the series so far, he pushed back. He called out God for abandoning the angels and humanity. He called him weak and cowardly and said humanity deserved more. It was precisely the nudge God needed to get back in the game.

Random observations:

• I’m all about the look on Metatron’s face when he read the new pages God gave him. Armstrong poured so much emotion into this episode, but his expression almost broke me.
• A+ on the performance of “Fare Thee Well,” Benedict.

Were you relieved to finally learn the truth about God and Chuck? Was the reveal what you hoped it would be? Talk to me in the comments.

Images: The CW