5×22: Chuck as God?
On one hand, we can still think of Chuck as a prophet. The angel Zachariah, at the end of 4×18, warned Chuck not to tell the Winchesters about their fate: “I wouldn’t advise it. People shouldn’t know too much about their own destiny. You try…and I’ll stop you.” Perhaps, Chuck wanted to tell Sam and Dean what would happen, but Zachariah’s threat prevented him from doing so. Furthermore, it’s possible Chuck took his words to heart, figuring that if the Winchesters knew what would happen, they would try to change it or mess it up, and after all, they do win.
Yet this interpretation is not entirely convincing. Chuck’s “omniscience” in this episode, as previously established, is unprecedented for his character—where in previous episodes his prescience was limited to the near future and seemed to lack important details, in this episode, he is placed in a position of authority whereby his narrative will play out exactly as he expects it to, and we wouldn’t even want it to be any different. In addition, Chuck is much more confident and self-assured in his writing than we’ve ever seen him—in prior episodes he expresses outward disgust at his poor output, but in this episode, he audibly congratulates himself for writing a “good line.” These elements may still point merely to Chuck’s growing proficiency at “transcribing” his visions in written form; however, the episode’s ending suggests something more.
We see Chuck, not in his characteristic grubby attire but instead a crisp white shirt, typing out his ending: “So what’s it all add up to? It’s hard to say. But me, I’d say this was a test for Sam and Dean. And I think they did all right. Up against good, evil, angels, devils, destiny, and God himself, they made their own choice. They chose family. And, well, isn’t that kind of the whole point?” He types “The End” in his document, takes a drink, and smiles to himself. In the voiceover, he says, “No doubt endings are hard. But then again, nothing every really ends, does it?” He disappears into thin air, smiling.
This “ending” suggests, for the most part, finality—Chuck muses about themes of family and free will, all things to be taken away from the neat ending he has crafted. The show implies, through Chuck’s demeanor and his disappearance at the end, that he might be more than a prophet, that he might in fact be God. The fact that Chuck’s final statements discuss a test, and that he, notably, assesses the outcome (“I think they did all right”) suggests that his place as author is not just one of transcription but of judgment, a role associated most closely with God. Furthermore, this theory would explain the inconsistencies in the omniscience of his prophetic visions, his purposeful obfuscation of certain details, Castiel’s miraculous return, and his statement that God helped, “maybe even more than we realize.”
But even if Chuck is not God, his position as prophet would not change the overarching themes of the story that he presents. He frames the story as one characterized by “choice,” the choice of family and freedom above all else. In that sense, the show’s narrative is, through Chuck, characterized by free will as prevailing over determinism, destiny. Yet, if that is what God wanted all along—because whether a prophet or God himself, Chuck expresses the word of God—can it still be considered free will? Can any of the characters really be said to have had a “choice” at all, if the narrative was always going to end here?
On a metareferential level, the fact that Chuck’s voiceover continues after he finishes typing, suggests that Chuck is not only the narrator and author of the Supernatural books in the show’s storyworld, but also of the show itself. In that way, he acts as a direct mouthpiece of the show’s creator, Eric Kripke, calling attention to the show as show. The tensions, then, between free will and determinism stretch beyond the diegesis and into the realm of the show’s own construction, and we are called to ask, what freedom do we the audience have over the narrative once it’s over and the “book” is closed?
The God Author 