It’s been a long journey on the road so far. Many battles and deaths have been overcome. Sam and Dean have had many heartbreaking and life-shattering moments. It is finally at the end. Season 15 of “Supernatural” starts Oct. 10, and this 15-year series will finally end. 

Created by Eric Kripke, Supernatural is a fantasy show which first aired in 2005.

Supernatural is an intriguing story of two brothers who drive across the country practicing their family business, hunting for monsters and saving people from said monstrous beings. 

The more you learn about these two brothers, the more you fall in love with the characters and their faults. Over time you grow a love of classic rock that is always blaring through their 1967 Chevy Impala. There is comedy, horror and some amazing character development. The brothers face many different hardships as they hunt down demons, vampires and angels. They face death and turmoil daily in an attempt to save the world from the things that go bump in the night. 

It’s easy to enjoy all the crossovers and many references, including “Walker, Texas Ranger” and “Scooby-Doo.” The characters even walk into a musical theater production about themselves. 

This series talks about god, gods, heaven, hell, purgatory and everything in between. If you are a lover of Halloween and all things spooky, then Supernatural is the show for you. It was based on many different horror movies and creepy legends that everyone knows and loves. This story of love and family not only gives many different life lessons, but creates a family in the fandom itself. This has been shown in many fan meetups and interviews over the last 15 years.

The fan base itself has grouped to create their own day – Supernatural Day is officially Sept. 13. To celebrate this day, it’s suggested that you watch a marathon of all the show’s seasons with other fans.

“Every Sept. 13, fans come together to celebrate the show’s anniversary with Supernatural Day,” according to CheatSheet.com. “And coincidentally, this year’s Winchester-themed festivities – the last before the final season – fell on Friday the 13th. It also happens to be the same day as a full moon. So you best believe fans got excited.” 

If you look up supernatural day then you will find many different articles about this day and why it’s a thing. The day is all about fans celebrating the show – wearing their merchandise and participating in Supernatural themed activities. 

This community of fans has developed over the years. They have even developed shirts to mark this 15th anniversary of the beginning of the show and the final ending to the series altogether. 

“The fans haven’t just created their own crazy, dysfunctional family; they’ve done some real good in the world, and that’s not changing right now,” according to The Mary Sue. 

Hot Topic partnered with some of the stars of the show to sell a shirt to celebrate the end of the series, and the profits were used to help victims of Hurricane Dorian.

Speaking from experience, this series has changed my life in many ways. My closest friends and I have bonded over this series and it was essentially the start of our friendship. One of them even got an anti-possession tattoo to mark his love for this amazing fandom and the family it has created.

Terrace Wyatt’s play “Mel ‘n E [Melanin & Educated]” defined the meaning of melanin from his perspective. Wyatt focused on how black empowerment impacts the lives of young people of color, especially how they see the world while being black in America. He also focused on how young adults think about the world and find solutions to live in a healthy and safe environment.

Wyatt’s work was inspired by Amanda Underwood and Tyler Perry.

“Freshman year, Jewell alumni, Amanda Underwood wrote an original play titled ‘Torn,’ a one-act play that touches on the dangerous effects of suicide and how important it is to discuss this situation versus ending your life too soon, especially as a young adult/teen,” said Wyatt.

Underwood gave Wyatt the idea to exercise his expressions through writing, then acting.

“Her efforts, her presence, everything she put into this production has moved me to do so myself,” said Wyatt. “She’s not only my best friend I’ve met since day one, but she is also one of the reasons to never be afraid to speak up when you’re telling a story that you believed needs to be told; whether or not society likes it.”

“Tyler Perry is an example of show business. He started as a playwright; he had a dream of making it big from his first play “I Know I’ve Been Changed” in 1998. Hoping 20,000-30,000 people would show up, only 30 showed up but few in the audience invested in his craft and gave him a platform to tell his stories not just because of the important messages, but the amount of energy through comedy and drama together he plays around with is what the theatre world needs to see.”

The world we live in now has led to this story. It needed to be said based on the news, politics and racial issues.

Despite the comedy, Wyatt wanted the audience to understand that no matter your race or gender, every individual was made to be equal. This message is especially for African-Americans who’ve been treated like they are fictional characters. 

Wyatt presents the meaning of melanin through black empowerment. The art forms created by all black men and women have been sources of empowerment for all people of color, not just for black people. All aspects of melanin art are what brought all people of color together to enjoy each other’s presence, instead of the premature death of youth today.

Wyatt conveys the message that life is too short to waste on someone who got the best of you instead of forgiving them and moving on with your life. Wyatt learned this from Tyler Perry’s plays. Perry discusses topics everybody can relate to, saying that life is short, so enjoy it while you still have one. 

Wyatt stated that his favorite part of the show is the visual effects for the projector screen designed by Elise Villarreal, junior English and theater major. Villarreal’s effects made the show even more dynamic. Before the show started, and during intermission, Wyatt talked to his production team about what he wanted in the show, and they made it happen as best as they could. There were also slides showing pop culture references that defined the art of melanin.

Wyatt’s target audience was the faculty, college students and people in general. The show takes place in a college dorm where the character took the opportunity to express how he feels, not just as the only black student at a predominantly white school, but as a college student in general. Every subject the character talks about is something every person can relate to, whether you went to college, have experienced negativity caused by the color your skin, family crisis or relationships. The play mostly covers topics that reflect the status of today’s society,  especially the lives of young adults today.

When Wyatt wrote “Mel ‘n E,” he knew what he wanted to bring something other than ridiculous comedy to the stage. He mainly wanted to deliver the important messages involving today’s society, including lack of world peace, police brutality towards black men and how we as individuals can choose to live our lives hating each other or loving each other. 

Act two was a struggle for Wyatt because he had never expressed his inner thoughts in such a deep way before. 

On top of that, the topics that were mentioned in the show were personal. Wyatt found that he best way to release the pain he was experiencing was through writing. He hardly expressed how he felt to his family or friends, and  he got very uncomfortable having serious conversations.

Playwriting is the best way for Wyatt to release his emotions because it gives him the confidence to get everything off his chest as a performer. He also enjoys every second on stage and letting his voice be heard in front of a live audience,  almost like a two-hour therapy session. 

It is important to write because you can get what’s on your mind off your chest.

All his life Wyatt has observed things such as how people think, choices of clothing, music and other life decisions. 

As a Theatre major, Wyatt learned that if you want to write a story, whether it is fiction or nonfiction, always observe your surroundings.  Anything you witness can give you ideas for a story. Stories don’t have to be based on what you see from other people, they can be based on what you’ve experienced in your life.

Once you know what to write about, there will be times when you’re going to rethink what you’re putting on the paper because every source you collect won’t always work. As soon as you have a vision of the show in your head, think of the  purpose of the play using the 5 W’s: Who? What? When? Where? Why?. You should also know how the story is connecting and question the importance of what you’re bringing to the stage.

“Mel ‘n E” was the first full-length play that Wyatt created, but he is in the middle of creating more. Along with films and musicals to share with the world, he hopes to find the right organizations outside of Hollywood to help him bring them to life.

“Mel ‘n E” took about 1 ½  years between Junior year and holiday breaks to complete the writing lab process. With any play or musical that’s an original, the writing process never stops because ideas are always popping into the writers’  heads. 

In late November, Wyatt was in his room watching John Leguizamo’s “Latin History for Morons” on Netflix. Watching this Broadway production got him standing on his feet observing this man delivering the best performance in Broadway history as a one-man show. Wyatt immediately grabbed his Ipad and started writing his first rough draft. Before it was officially titled “Mel ‘n E [Melanin & Educated],” it was first titled “Life’s A Happy Hell.” 

Wyatt and theater professor Chris McCoy have been working on this day after day. McCoy guided him down the right path considering the show’s plot. It felt like he had been in the writing lab for life because that’s how it feels when you’re writing an original play. Over the summer, while getting off book and knowing what he wanted from the show, Wyatt went over his lines, cutting some things out for the sake of time and connections. No matter how good it sounded, if it didn’t connect, he took it out.

Instead of getting rid of lines, dialogues and monologues that Wyatt worked so hard on, he saved them in a folder of Google Docs.  This went on until the day before opening night. More ideas had to be cut for timing. If Wyatt hadn’t made these tough decisions, “Mel ‘n E” would have lasted three to four hours.

The play turned out to be a major success for both Wyatt and his production team, without whom the show would’ve been a tragic mess.

Photos taken by Mykala Crews.

Photos courtesy of Mykala Crews.