Zubernis - Therell Be Peace When You Are Done: Actors and Fans Celebrate the Legacy of Supernatural

PRAISE FOR THERELL BE PEACE WHEN YOU ARE DONE

Supernatural has often been seen as a quote-unquote little show in the larger scheme of premium networks and a peak TV era that has expanded to more than 500 scripted shows alone. In a way, that descriptor is perfect for this show, though, because like its characters, it has been quietly doing important workunknowingly to many, but life-changing for the special group whose lives have been directly touched by Dean and Sam Winchester and their friends. Using stories from those who worked on the show, including Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Davy Perez, as well as those extended #SPNFamily members who have been touched and inspired by the show, Therell Be Peace When You Are Done poignantly and poetically captures the bigger legacy of Supernatural. For 40-odd minutes a week, it was about hunting, but, as this volume of unabashedly honest and open essays proves, for 24/7, 365 it has been about saving people.

Danielle Turchiano, senior features editor at Variety

Supernatural represents an extraordinarily special moment in pop culture history and in this moving, thoughtful and beautifully curated collection, Lynn Zubernis has perfectly captured being a part of such a wildand inimitableride. The Winchesters greatest accomplishment (outside of saving the world a few times) is definitely the #SPNFamily, and the beating heart of the fandom and the good works it has inspired live in the pages of Therell Be Peace When You Are Done. I cant think of a better tribute or testament to a show that has meant so much to so many than this wonderful book.

Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie

ALSO BY LYNN S. ZUBERNIS

Family Dont End with Blood

Cast and Fans on How Supernatural Has Changed Lives

Supernatural Psychology: Roads Less Traveled

Fan Phenomena: Supernatural

Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls

Fandom at the Crossroads

Celebration, Shame, and Fan/Producer Relationships

Fan Culture: Theory/Practice

Case Conceptualization and Effective Interventions for Counselors

THIS PUBLICATION IS UNOFFICIAL AND UNAUTHORIZED. IT HAS NOT BEEN PREPARED, APPROVED, AUTHORIZED, LICENSED, OR ENDORSED BY ANY ENTITY THAT OWNS RIGHTS TO THE WELL-KNOWN SUPERNATURAL TELEVISION SERIES.

Therell Be Peace When You Are Done copyright 2020 by Lynn S. Zubernis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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First E-Book Edition: May 2020

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 9781950665327 (print)

ISBN 9781950665488 (ebook)

Editing by Joe Rhatigan and Leah Wilson

Copyediting by Karen Levy

Proofreading by Jenny Bridges and James Fraleigh

Text design and composition by Aaron Edmiston

Cover design by Sarah Avinger

Cover illustration by Christine Griffin

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A Family Affair 2020 by Jared Padalecki

Dream a Little Dream of Me 2020 by Amy Hutton

How Can I Help You Say Goodbye? 2020 Vickie Ann McCoy

Carry On, Eileen 2020 Shoshannah Stern

He Had Me at You Hurt? 2020 Tedra Ashley-Wannemuehler

Hunter Husbands 2020 Lee Rumohr

Not a Demonbut a Superhero! 2020 Hugo Ateo

Hollywood Is Woke 2020 Andrea Drepaul

Been Here All Along 2020 Emerson Lopez Odango

Out of the Fridge and into the Fire 2020 Jessica Mason

Whats Up, Tiger Mommy? 2020 Lauren Tom

Being Hannah 2020 Lee Majdoub

The Evolution of Dougie-Bear 2020 Brendan Taylor

Make Your Own Destiny 2020 Dmitri Novak

The Girl with the Rainbow Cat Tattoo 2020 Sarah Wylde

Theres Always Pizza 2020 Todd Stashwick

UnCONventional Reflection 2020 Gabriel Tigerman

A Woman of Letters 2020 Allison Broesder

Find Your Light 2020 Julie McNiven

Mirrors, Reflections, and New Directions 2020 Gail Z. Martin

SPOILER: This Is a Chapter About Supernatural 2020 Davy Perez

Bringing the Alpha Vampire to Life (and Death) 2020 Rick Worthy

Always Keep Fighting 2020 Alana King

State of Slay 2020 Carrie Genzel

Wayward and the Way I Want to Be 2020 Dawn Gray

Code Orange 2020 Patty Barbera

The Magic of the Mullet 2020 Chad Lindberg

This Is Me 2020 Michael Banh

Soldiers Stories 2020 Tara Grey Coste

Life-Changing 2020 Tahmoh Penikett

Supernatural Faith 2020 Joelle Monique

Gender, Activism, and SPNs Legacy 2020 Tanya Cook and Kaela Joseph

Family Ties 2020 David Haydn-Jones

Marathon 2020 Adam Fergus

CONventional Wisdom 2020 April Vian

Interview with the Archangel 2020 Richard Speight, Jr.

Im Proud of Us 2020 by Jensen Ackles

A Special Message from Misha Collins 2020 by Misha Collins

To the SPNFamily

CONTENTS

There are certain experiences that happen in our lives that we will never forget. Psychology even has a term for the memory created by this kind of experience: a flashbulb memory . When something happens that shakes our world especially profoundly, the brain encodes that moment differently, and more vividly, than it does our everyday memories.

Back in the day, a flashbulb was a cube that sat on top of your camera and went off to illuminate a scene you were capturing with a photo, freezing it in time forever (its now just a light on your smartphone). Our brain, when it records a flashbulb memory, does something similar: it freezes the important, often upsetting moment in time forever. The sights, the sounds, the smells, and the emotions of that moment are all preserved deeply. The memory doesnt fade like other memories, or lose its emotional intensity. Instead, it remains as clear and vivid as if it happened yesterday. We remember the clothes we were wearing, or exactly what we were doing or thinking, or who we were talking to. We remember our initial shock and then the moment when our emotions kicked in.

Most often, flashbulb memories are about world-changing events like September 11 or shocking personal news. But they can also be things you wouldnt expect. Sometimes, something is so important to you that the news of its impending loss hits hard enough to freeze the moment in time. I think thats what happened to me on Friday afternoon, March 22, 2019, the moment I found out that Supernatural would end after its fifteenth season. That might seem like an odd thing to be preserved forever as a flashbulb memory, and its certainly not equivalent to world-changing events, but thats not how our brains work. When something is important, its important. And for many people, myself included, this little television show that lasted for fifteen seasons is personally and emotionally important.

After the news of the shows cancellation, many fans were confronted with family, friends, and coworkers who didnt quite understand that importancewho said something like, Its a television show, for godsakes, get a grip! Probably those loved ones meant well, but when youre grieving, that lack of understanding is like salt in the wound. Theres a psychological term for that too, in factdisenfranchised grief. It can be hard to find room to express our feelings when others dont recognize the loss as valid. How do you explain that, for most of us, Supernatural is a lot more than a television show? How do you describe the ways in which Supernatural has changed all of our lives and gotten us through some of our toughest times? Its difficult for anyone outside the SPNFamily to understand what weve gained from this show and how hard that is to lose.