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

The 11th season of Supernatural is in the books. The road this season has been circling the Darkness, and “Alpha and Omega” brought the final showdown. The penultimate episode left Lucifer M.I.A. and God on his way to death. Oh, and also, the universe threatened to come to a crushing end. The stakes on Supernatural keep climbing higher. The last battle ended up being both a fitting but also somewhat anticlimactic ending.

Darkness and God are somewhat like the dark and light sides of the Force. Balance must exist between Amara and her brother. Without it, there can be nothing else. They cancel each other out. With Chuck/God dying, the world began to collapse. The sun started draining, a la Starkiller Base charging its weapon in The Force Awakens, and it was a problem the Earth couldn’t ignore. For once, we saw news stations report on the weirdness taking place around humanity. The incident also caught the attention of the London branch of the Men of Letters.

Sam and Dean Winchester have faced many impossible enemies over the years, but like Dean pointed out, this problem was beyond them. “How are we supposed to fix the fricking sun?” You said it, Dean. If there was ever a time for them to throw in the towel, this was it. And everyone did. Dean tossed back beer. Rowena bonded with God. Crowley drank. Sam wasn’t having it though. He’s never exactly intimidating when he’s angry, but he gave everyone hell for not doing anything.

Sam’s prodding got the gang to formulate a plan to kill the Darkness. He reasoned if both God and the Darkness were gone, balance would be preserved. I didn’t consider taking them both out because it seems like there would be consequences for a world without either entity, but Sam thought outside the box. Chuck hedged on giving up information about what would harm his sister, but eventually shared how the light of 10,000 suns could be enough to finish her. P.S.: Rowena jumping in and scolding Chuck by calling him Charles was precious.

This is where things got interesting. The group realized souls could provide the light required, and it was a smart way to blend the classic sort of mythology Supernatural started with into this huge biblical story. The Winchesters had to go antagonize some ghosts at an asylum in order to collect souls. Bonus: It involved Dean doing a priceless impression of Regina. Hey, it’s important to keep a sense of humor when the world is ending.

To save the world and universe, everyone worked together. The brothers had Crowley, Cas, and Rowena (who I have to begrudgingly admit was rather useful in this episode) at their sides. We even got a quieter moment between Dean and Cas with Dean calling Cas his and Sam’s brother. The look on Cas’ face upon receiving the compliment was enough to make your heart melt. So was him volunteering to accompany Dean on his suicide mission.

The mission involved Dean taking the soul bomb to Amara and detonating it. But obviously, she’s powerful and smart enough to have known that Dean was set to explode as soon as he showed up. Sigh. But it allowed for a more gentle approach. We don’t often see situations where the big bad can be reasoned with, but that’s what occurred. On one hand, it was a somewhat disappointing resolution. Amara delivered a heartfelt apology and saw the light, and she and Chuck left for what will likely be some very intense family therapy sessions.

On the other hand, I have a few thoughts about why this was the right way to wrap up the Amara arc. First of all, we got the showy fight with Amara and everyone in the previous episode. That itch was scratched. Secondly, Amara and Chuck are still in play. I wasn’t ready to see Chuck’s end since we just got him back. Finally, if any plot is going to be about forgiveness over fighting, it would be one involving God.

I don’t want to see him act in a vengeful fashion. It was important for he and his sister to reconcile, and it’s absolutely fine for things not to end in tears and blood. The latter’s often the go to for finales and cliffhangers, and it doesn’t have to be in order for a story to be interesting and engaging. In fact, it was refreshing to see a peaceful wrap-up.

We do have cliffhangers to consider. The sassy lady from the London location of Men of Letters apparently shot Sam; I’m not worried, though. Amara brought Mary Winchester back from the dead, which I’m skeptical about. Very skeptical. Plus, Lucifer is presumably somewhere out there—unless the Darkness’ blast destroyed him. And will there be consequences for Billie taking all those souls from the Veil? Season 12 has some ground to cover.

Random observations:

• Sam told Dean he didn’t have to face Amara, but he did. The Winchesters have to stop putting each other above the fate of the world. I don’t think Sam truly meant what he said and he did ultimately let Dean go but…
• The past handful of episodes have been as much about Chuck and Amara as they have been about Sam and Dean, but that’s okay. It’s still a story about family, specifically about siblings, and that’s at the heart of Supernatural. Exploring a vastly different sibling relationship has been interesting, especially since the Chuck and Amara dynamic has affected Sam and Dean so much.

What are your feelings on the season 11 finale? Should they have gone further? Have any theories about next season? Talk to me in the comments and/or at Twitter.

Images: The CW