1.13 Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye

Title	Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye
Episode #	Season 1, Episode 13
First aired	March 7, 2023
Directed by	John Showalter
Written by	Robbie Thompson
On IMDB	Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye
Outline
Monster	Joan Hopkins Akrida
Timeline	Shortly after 1.12 The Tears of a Clown
Location(s)	Detroit, Michigan Lawrence, Kansas
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Characters

• Mary Campbell
• John Winchester
• Latika Dar
• Carlos Cervantez
• Ada Monroe
• Samuel Campbell
• Millie Winchester
• Dean Winchester
• Bobby Singer
• Jack Kline
• Joan Hopkins

Definitions

• Akrida
• Aliases
• Alternate Universe
• Carry On Wayward Son
• The Colt
• Dean's Journal
• God
• Heaven
• Hunters
• Idjit
• Impala
• John's Journal
• Led Zeppelin
• Men of Letters Clubhouse
• Monsters
• Ostium
• Possession
• Portals
• Silver
• Soul
• Soullessness
• Teleportation
• Table of Death
• Title Card
• Werewolves

Music

• "Keep On Ramblin'" by Radio Company

(playing in the bar as the Campbells and John meet Joan)

• "Baba O'Riley" by The Who

(plays as the Impala appears and the Monster Club drives off in it)

• "L.A. Woman" by The Doors

(plays as John sword fights with Joan)

• "One of These Things First" by Nick Drake

(plays as Ada restores her soul)

• "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin

(playing as John and Mary drive off together)

Quotes

Bobby: We're not supposed to meddle with things, idjit.

Dean: You always said if I was gonna be stupid, I might as well be smart about it.
Bobby: Yeah, that does sound about like me. We're not even supposed to be here.
Dean: Come on, the letter was meant for him. I just, uh, you know, gave it a nudge.
Bobby: You keep an eye on things here, I'm gonna get the damn cavalry.
Dean: How you gonna do that?
Bobby: I got no freaking idea. One last hunt?

Dean: One last hunt.

John: You're the queen.

Joan: And here I thought Mary was the smart one in the power couple. Okay. I've been following you for awhile now. And thanks to your old pal Kyle and your cartoonishly thick police files, I know everything about your sad little lives. But to level this playing field, I'm gonna shine some light on little old me. I am not Akrida. I was a human once. And I really was a hunter too. In fact... Mary... I was just like you.
John: You came here for a fight, so if you don't mind, we could just skip the whole monologuing.

Joan: Oh, there's the John I know. I wanna get something through that hot, little adorable head of yours. I'm not here to fight. Point of fact, I want nothing more than for us all to walk out of here together as one. And I did want to get you all out of that clubhouse long enough for me to move in there.

Joan: The truth is, I could've killed you a long time ago, but I don't want one more hunter to needlessly die.

Mary: What are you saying?

Joan: I'm saying join me, Mary. Or die. Think about it.

Joan: I lost my parents, my brother... all my family, to the cause. And then... I lost my William. And no matter how hard I fought, there was always another monster, another death, another apocalypse.

Lata: So you decided if you couldn't beat the monsters, you'd join them.

Joan: No. What I decided was that the monsters weren't the problem, kid. Mankind was the problem. They always need saving. And hunters are the ones who end up paying the price with our lives. And then what do these rescued humans do with the precious second chance at life? They waste it. Kill each other. Beat each other down. Destroy our planet. Monsters have it right. Humans are nothing more than food.

Akrida Lata: How many Campbells and Winchesters have to die? And for what? History? Legacy? Look around you. This isn't a clubhouse, it's a tomb! The Men of Letters... they thought they were ridding the world of Joan, so they cast her out to another planet and in doing so they sent her to us... and she gave us salvation.

John: What are you talking about?

Akrida Lata: The Akrida were made by an angry God. Anything ever bested him, he had us as a failsafe. We were designed to wipe out all life in every universe. But the Queen... she gave us meaning. We are freeing every world from the tyranny of mankind.

Mary: We go for a drive. This car...

Lata: It's not of this Earth.
Millie: Detroit steel makes a hell of a weapon.
Ada: The car takes out the queen, the rest of the Akrida are dead.

Mary: Let's go run this son of a bitch into the ground.

Joan: Before I kill you, John, I wanna give you some much needed peace. When the Men of Letters stopped my last invasion, I said enough is enough. Unlike hunters, they never played fair so I thought why should I? After your dad's boys club beat me, I used all my remaining power, every ounce of it.

John: What did you do?

Joan: I wiped out the Men of Letters, John. Including your father.

John: How did you even survive?

Dean: She kept Mary safe. Me too. Of course, there's not a lot that can tear me apart. I'm already dead. I was stuck in the world between worlds, so I stayed close to that portal, and as soon as I saw Baby come through, I hopped in and grabbed the wheel.
Samuel: So who are you?
Dean: I'm a hunter, just like you. But I'm not from this Earth.
Ada: And how did you get here?
Dean: When I died, I made it to Heaven. And she was waiting for me. So I went for a drive, and then I took a little detour...

Lata: Through the Multiverse.

Dean: I was looking for my family. See, I come from a long line of hunters. I guess I was hoping somewhere out there was an Earth that had a version where my family had a shot at a happy ending. When I was driving, I caught wind of the Akrida. Turns out that they were one of Chuck's last creations.

Millie: Who's Chuck?
Dean: God. It's a long story, but uh... basically, he's a real dick. He left the Akrida behind to wipe out all of existence in case he failed. Well... he failed. Eventually the Akrida were gonna make their way to my world, and I got family there, so I couldn't let that happen.
John: The-- the letter. Why did you...

Dean: I took my little detour, the rules were simple. Don't mess with anything. Well... I gave it a little nudge. Thought it might need a little help. Looks like it worked out pretty well.

Dean: So now that the Akrida are gone, you all can choose your own destiny. You can write your own story.

Jack: And you can get back to yours.

Dean: It's alright. It's alright. They're.. they're with me. This is Bobby and that's Jack. They're family. Excuse me.

Jack: When I restored things, I wanted mankind to make their own fate. That meant, no interference from on high, anywhere... no exceptions.

Dean: I couldn't let our world get destroyed. Sam's still down there, okay? He deserves a good, long life. Hell, they all do. So if you want to cast me out of Heaven... so be it.
Bobby: If we're taking a vote, I'd say you give the guy another chance.

Jack: There's always another case with you hunters... even in death. Well... if you're gonna meddle in things, finish what you started. After this... it's time to get around to the "there'll be peace when you are done" part of the song.

Dean: I wanna give you two something. My dad... he, uh... Kept a hunter's journal, looked just like this. I lived my whole life by that damn thing. Well, this is my hunter's journal. So, if you're going to stay in this game... This will help guide you through it.

John: Thank you.
Dean: I know you're thinking about quitting hunting. Believe me, I understand. But you need to do me one favor. Keep an eye out for a Yellow-Eyed Demon. And if you even catch a hint of that son of a bitch... I need you to use this.
Mary: Your family... did you ever find a version where they had a shot at a happy ending?

Dean: I think I did.

John: Look, when I got back, I... I was lost. Now I... I found where I belong. Being a Hunter? But I can't be the best version of that until I face the anger inside of me. I don't know if it's through meditation or therapy or something, but I'm... I'm going to figure out a way to make sure it's not in the driver's seat. Okay, I guess I just... I don't know. I guess I just wanted you to know that before you left.
Mary: It's not forever.

John: I thought we agreed... no goodbyes.

Mary: This isn't goodbye. I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing or how long it's gonna be until I figure myself out, but... maybe there's something out there for the both of us. And we can figure it out together during the day, and you can hunt at night.
John: I don't know what to say.

Millie: Send us a postcard when you do.

Trivia & References

The title of the episode "Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye" comes from the song by Leonard Cohen.

Joan: My family line ended with me a long time ago. But you're not here to talk history, are you? You're here to talk about the man with no name.

The "Man with No Name" is a concept, most famously identified with Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns.

Joan: Easy there. You're not in Lawrence, Kansas, anymore, Toto. You're in my world now.

John: You never told us your name.

Dean: Hetfield... James Hetfield.

Dean gives the alias of James Hetfield, who is one of the founders of the band "Metallica". As they didn't form until 1981, there was no chance that John and Mary would recognize the name. Robbie Thompson admitted they did briefly consider having him use "Bon Jovi".

Dean: When I died, I made it to Heaven. And she was waiting for me. So I went for a drive, and then I took a little detour...

Lata: Through the Multiverse.

While the concept of multiverses had been around for many years, it was first used in fiction in the 1961 DC Comic Flash of Two Worlds.

Jack: There's always another case with you hunters... even in death. Well... if you're gonna meddle in things, finish what you started. After this... it's time to get around to the "there'll be peace when you are done" part of the song.

Jack is referring to Supernatural's unofficial theme song "Carry On Wayward Son" which includes the lyrics, "Carry on my wayward son, there'll be peace when you are done..."

John: Okay, uh, music is definitely in order. We got Hendrix--

Minutiae

Filming Locations: Map of known filming locations

Unlike his previous uncredited appearances on the show, Jensen Ackles is credited as a "Special Guest Star" alongside Jim Beaver. Alexander Calvert is credited with "Special Appearance by" in the end credits.

The appearance of Jack, Bobby and Baby were kept a secret until the episode aired.

During the episode Meg Donnelly tweeted "fun fact: i got my license for this ep to drive Baby real fast… and let’s just say… i almost peed my pants 3 times. terrifying! what an honor 🙀 #TheWinchesters. She described driving the car [ in this interview inclusing how she still hit her head on the car despite Jensen warning her ""First rule of advice. It's a lot lower than you think every time and the number of times I've hit my head on the side of this car is crazy. So just make sure you really duck under."

The bar in which Samuel, Mary and John meet Joan is the same bar the Akrida possessed humans met in in 1.10 Suspicious Minds.

In this world the Men of Letters, including Henry Winchester, had been wiped out by Joan and the Akrida, not by Abaddon as occurred in Supernatural.

Bobby: Man, this is all kinds of weird, seeing Samuel with a full head of hair.

Dean: Right?

A reference to Dean and Bobby's encounters with Samuel Campbell in season six where, played by Mitch Pileggi, he was bald.

Dean: Good question Carlos.

Robbie Thompson in an interview with TVLine, confirmed that Carlos exists in the Supernatural universe, referring to the fact that in his episode 9.18 Meta Fiction, Sam talks to a hunter called Carlos on the phone. Thompson said "...in my mind, it was always the same Carlos, just a different universe. It was kind of a way to acknowledge that a little bit in a way without him meddling any further in this universe."

Dean: So now that the Akrida are gone, you all can choose your own destiny. You can write your own story.

This echoes Sam's words in 15.19 Inherit the Earth that, with Chuck no longer writing Sam and Dean's story, they can finally write their own story.

Dean: I know you're thinking about quitting hunting. Believe me, I understand. But you need to do me one favor. Keep an eye out for a Yellow-Eyed Demon. And if you even catch a hint of that son of a bitch... I need you to use this.

Dean gives Mary the Colt, which he had used to kill the yellow-eyed demon Azazel. If the timeline of the Monster Club's universe follows Supernatural's, as seen in 4.03 In The Beginning, Azazel will appear in John and Mary's lives in about a year's time and force Mary to make the deal that sets the Apocalypse in motion. By giving Mary the Colt, Dean gives her the chance to prevent that which he had tried and failed to do in "In The Beginning".

Mary: I was reading some of Hetfield's journal and he was very specific on this issue. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts their cakehole.

This is something that Dean told Sam several times throughout Supernatural, including in 1.01 Pilot. Dean also referenced it in 1.01 Pilot (The Winchesters) when he says "and, until then, I'll keep picking the music" during Dean's closing narration.

"Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin is cited by Dean in 4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book, alongside "Traveling Riverside Blues", as his favorite songs. Led Zeppelin has a long association with Supernatural but none of their songs ever featured on the show. Music supervisor for The Winchesters Justin Kamps explained on Twitter how they secured the song:

"By working together with the producers, our post-team, the studio & my incredible clearance partners at @warnermusic & @WarnerChappell we were able to make it happen! So grateful to all of them & @ledzeppelin for allowing us to use their music in the finale! #TheWinchesters"

Promotion

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• Meg Donnelly Breaks Down the season finale by comicbook.com
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