‘The Boys’ Season 5 Got One Thing Right: The ‘Supernatural’ Reunion

In its final season, with five of the eight episodes out, “The Boys” seems to be taking its sweet, and somewhat frustrating, time getting to the big, explosive final battle. But Season 5 Episode 5, “One-Shots,” gets a pass because show creator Eric Kripke had some family business to conduct, and he did it splendidly. “The Boys” brought on Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins as Supes alongside Soldier Boy, Jensen Ackles.

A Winchester Family Reunion, Kripke Style

In The CW series “Supernatural,” which ran for 15 seasons from 2005 to 2020, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki played ghost-busting, demon-chasing, God-killing brothers Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester. Misha Collins played the angel Castiel, whose arrival in Season 4 led fans to ship him with Ackles’ Dean, a pairing christened “Destiel.” And in this episode of “The Boys,” directed by longtime “Supernatural” director and producer Phil Sgriccia, there was plenty of fan service for every faction of that fandom.

Padalecki was revealed to be Mister Marathon, a washed-up speedster from Soldier Boy’s past and a former member of The Seven, who might have some V1 serum that could make Homelander immortal. Collins played Malchemical, whose superpower was toxic gas potent enough to knock out Homelander. Hardcore “Supernatural” fans couldn’t help but joke that this was Kripke poking fun at an embarrassing flatulence story Collins had shared at fan conventions.

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Catchphrases, Callbacks and Deep-Cut Fan Service

When Stan Edgar tells Soldier Boy that meeting Mister Marathon “should be a delightful reunion,” he is not wrong. From the moment Soldier Boy and Homelander enter Mister Marathon’s Hollywood mansion, it is “good times,” a Dean Winchester catchphrase delivered by Soldier Boy in the same cadence. Padalecki also gets to mouth the famous Sam Winchester line, “So get this…” something Sam would often say to Dean before launching into lore-heavy exposition.

The fan service was in the juicy details. Mister Marathon’s house had a massive vanity painting of his face, echoing a set detail from the “Supernatural” episode “The French Mistake,” which featured a similar portrait. The movie poster for “Ghost Runner 2: Supernatural Speedster” used the same font style as the “Supernatural” title card. Another poster had Marathon playing a vampire hunter, much like Sam Winchester. And a stray comic book in Marathon’s den showed Soldier Boy telling someone to “get a haircut,” something Dean often said to Sam.

The CW Boys Grow Up

The CW was never a home for profanity, but the Winchesters on “The Boys” could be completely unfiltered and X-rated. Fans were delighted to watch Sam and Dean Winchester, in an alternate universe of sorts, indulging in substances. The scenes were staged brilliantly to make Homelander look like the neglected child in the corner while his father caught up with an old friend.

Soldier Boy and Malchemical were dressed in green and blue, respectively, a nod to the colors of Dean and Castiel’s eyes that “Destiel” fans often reference. Malchemical’s revelation that he was at Herogasm, the annual superhero orgy founded by Soldier Boy, was another wink, since “Endverse Cas,” an alternate post-apocalyptic version of Castiel in “Supernatural,” also enjoyed an orgy. Malchemical being choked by Soldier Boy was the kind of payoff fans had been anticipating ever since the trailer teased it.

It also did not go unnoticed that when Soldier Boy called his son Homelander “my asexual weirdo,” he looked directly at Malchemical, which fans believe was a deliberate nod to Castiel. And Malchemical saying, “Just because I’m a Supe doesn’t mean I truck in that fascist sh*t,” felt like Collins carrying some of his real-life political identity into “The Boys.”

Marvel, Sony, Hollywood and Everyone Else Gets Roasted

“Supernatural” was not the only universe this episode mocked. Marathon’s walls were plastered with posters of second-rate superhero films he and Malchemical had starred in. The posters parodied “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “Madame Web” as “Let There Be Rampage” and “Madame Marathon.” Homelander comparing the films to his Vought productions was a jab at Sony’s Marvel Universe, often seen as inferior to Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Even Hollywood was not spared, with hilarious cameos from Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, Will Forte, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Craig Robinson playing themselves during a celebrity poker game. They referenced their own movies, including “Superbad,” and name-dropped celebrities Vought had sent to its “freedom camps,” including Meryl Streep, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Joaquin Phoenix and Macaulay Culkin. Forte also gleefully revealed that in “The Boys” universe, Bill Hader had been “executed,” meaning he would finally get better role offers.

The Best Thing So Far in a Lukewarm Final Season

While “The Boys” Season 5 has occasionally become too self-indulgent with its real-world satire, the “Supernatural” reunion actually benefited from that tendency. It is one of the best things to have happened in an otherwise lukewarm season so far.