It’s a sign of greater experience (and age) when one comes to the realization that in fiction, every story has been told. The series finale for the revived Battlestar Galactica proves that, if but a little. Experiencing fictional archetypes can be disappointing, but only if the details and delivery seem hackneyed, hurried and patronizing towards the audience (or readers).

Last week’s episode of Supernatural was an excellent episode of television, but for someone my age—I turn twenty-nine this year—not only is the story familiar, but so are the details. I’ve grown disappointed in the series this season because it uncannily echoes the mechanics of a 1995 film, The Prophecy. The internecine conflict among the angels of Heaven has overtaken the series’ original theme of two brothers and their hunt against evil.

Maybe the show has become a victim of its own popularity and success. The end of the Yellow-Eyed Demon’s story should have marked the end of the series. Unlike a procedural drama—which in a way it was, at first—a serial like this show is endangered by running out of story. To me, Supernatural has reached that point. A number of shows have done the same. The cruel turn is that we, as viewers, have become so enamored with the characters and now, we are left watching the proverbial trainwreck in slow motion.

Ron Moore, with Battlestar, knew this danger, and worked his damned best to end it. It may not have been the most satisfying ending, but he ended it when he knew it was time, and BSG, for all its faults stands as a story told.

UPDATE, ten minutes after posting. I’m calling the outcome of the season: Sam’s demon bloodoholism is preparation for his being Lucifer’s vessel, being that the denizens of Heaven and Hell are both noncorporeal, and since Satan is such a big bad, he’ll need a strong enough jug to carry his water.