Recap: “Bad Day At Black Rock”

ByAlice Jester
As I’ve said many times ad nauseum, I discovered “Supernatural” in season three. I started blogging about “Supernatural” in March of that season (during the writer’s strike). When I did my first recap of “Bad Day At Black Rock” after it ran in repeats, I was a green blogger who had no freaking idea how to do a proper recap. It’s been my goal to slowly fix those mistakes. So, here’s one more down. “Bad Day At Black Rock” along with “A Very Supernatural Christmas” and “Mystery Spot” are the season three episodes now crossed off that bad recap list.
 
In picking which episode to recap next it had to be a comedy. I desperately needed something light. Faster than you can say “I lost my shoe” a choice was made. Time to get my season three hat on. It fits kind of nice, but then again I’ve always had a soft spot for season three.
 
The Recap 
 
First scene is outside a prison. Barbed wire, prisoners in the yard, ominous music, and some dude getting wanded before being let in. He goes over to his visitor and doesn’t waste time on something courteous like “Hello” or “How’s the prison food? (I’m avoiding shower jokes for the sake of good taste. That and I can’t think of any right now.) He picks up the phone and tells the other guy that it’s true, the Devil’s Gate was opened in Wyoming. Ha! We’ve known that for months now. 
 

We get to see the guy on the other end and its not too much of a shock that it’s Gordon since he was in the previews. He’s looking…no different than he did before. Gordon’s visitor shows him the aerial of the Devil’s Trap and says hundreds got out, but they don’t know how many. Gordon of course instantly knows Sam Winchester was there. Yeah, it’s got a Winchester stink to it, doesn’t it?

Blond hunter dude says he heard from a guy through a guy through someone else that knows Bobby Singer that yes, the Winchesters were there, but they were trying to stop it. Gordon doesn’t believe that, claiming Bobby wasn’t what he used to be. Yeah except Bobby was there and saw the whole thing, but you know, his interpretation must have been off. Other guy claims Sam Winchester checks out and I instantly shout out “Boy does he!”

 

Unfortunately, Gordo is not a Sam fan. “Kubrick, I’m not even sure he’s human.” So the other guy’s name is Kubrick. He scoffs and Gordon brashly reminds him he told him this was coming six months ago. Braggart. He insists Kubrick track Sam down and see for himself. “Sam Winchester must die.”

 
Title card. Season three’s is my favorite of the series. 
 
So, how many The Simpsons fans out there saw the parallel with Gordon and Sideshow Bob’s “Die Bart, Die?” No? That translates in German you know to “Sam Winchester must the.” If you’re laughing, you did see that Simpsons episode.
 

It’s really hard to tell right now this is a brilliant screwball comedy, especially with the next scene. It’s a familiar one in season three, the brothers are fighting in the Impala. In retrospect, compared to season four where they barely spoke, this actually is much healthier. 

 
Sam obviously told Dean about Ruby, which I don’t think they’re calling her that yet. Dean in big brother mode lectures about how Sam should have gone for the holy water and not “chat.” Sam replies in a nice hostile tone they weren’t chatting. Yeah, that’s pretty true.   Dean wants to know why he didn’t send her back to Hell. Sam’s reasoning, she might be able to help them out. Dean wants to know how. Sam is naturally reluctant, so Dean demands harder. Sam admits she claims she can help Dean out of the crossroads deal. Of course Dean can’t believe Sam bought that. At the time it seemed farfetched to me too but it makes sense now. Dean is hardly sheepish about his displeasure over this. He’s quite blunt. “She knows what your weakness is. It’s me.” No Dean, as Ruby reveals later, Sam has plenty of weaknesses!
 

 

Sam doesn’t appreciate the lecture and gives the old bitch face with extra attitude. He won’t answer Dean when he wants to know what else she said. Nothing. Not good enough, so Sam goes off. “Nothing, okay! Look I’m not an idiot Dean. I’m not talking about trusting her. I’m talking about using her. I mean we’re at war, right? We don’t know jack about the enemy. We don’t know what they are, what they’re doing. I mean Hell, we don’t even know what they want. Now this Ruby girl knows more than anything we’ll ever find out on our own. Now yes its a risk, I know that, but we need to take it.”   Oh, so it’s here we learn its Ruby. I couldn’t remember. Wow, again in hindsight, that so doesn’t work out.

 

Dean now wants to know if Sam is feeling okay, which makes Sam even angrier. “Yes, I’m fine! Why are you always asking me that?!” Geez Sam, because you were part of an evil demon’s end game plan and said demon told Dean you didn’t come back from the dead right. It freaked him out a little. You really didn’t come back right BTW. From your resurrection forward you get pretty mopey and angry, not to mention your sympathetic side is gone. I’m blaming all that on death though. It’s such a mood killer.

 
We don’t get an answer from Dean though because the phone rings.   It’s not Sam’s, it’s not Dean’s either. Then Dean figures it out. It’s Dad’s. He’s been keeping them charged in the glove box in case one of John’s old contacts call. Pretty smart, but Sam didn’t know this? Does he never open the glove box. Yeah, as tall as he is, maybe he couldn’t. 
 
Sam pulls out the ringing phone easily and answers, so that kills my glove box theory. The leg room on those old Impalas is impressive, isn’t it? The alias is this time is Edgar Cayce. One fact check at supernaturalwiki.com later, and I find out that was an American psychic and the ancestor to the New Age movement. Okay, obscure references work too. This is an Edlund script after all.
 
Sam, not missing a beat, instructs whoever not to call the police. He’ll handle it himself and tells them to lock it back up.  He plays dumb by asking them to give them the address since he forgot it. Now the reveal, John had a storage locker outside of Buffalo. Dean is shocked to hear this. Someone broke into it, so they’re off to Buffalo. Hopefully they were already in Ohio and not traveling the other direction from Indiana. That would suck if they were in New Mexico or something and had to turn around. I know, the mind is overanalyzing again.
 

There’s a parked RV off the side of the road and this is where the slow build of plot starts before it gradually rises into a furious train wreck (a good one). That’s also an Edlund trademark. Kubrick is there with another hunter who still has his doubts about Sam. There’s no evidence, they’re working off Gordon’s instincts. Since when did hunters need hard evidence? Kubrick trusts Gordon and credits him for saving his ass more times than he can count. Other guy knows how well Winchesters cover their tracks. Kubrick knows he was in Nebraska three weeks back. I guess that’s “The Magnificent Seven.” That’s not exactly a fresh lead. “He’s not invisible Creedy.” Okay, we can call other guy Creedy. While Kubrick is talking Creedy for some reason goes digging through an overhead cabinet and finds a Jesus statue. No matter how he moves it, the eyes stay on him. Kubrick gets annoyed, comes over, takes the statue and a classic line is born. “Don’t play with my Jesus.” Bwah!!! So perfect!!! Some nice foreshadowing, for Edlund will be playing with Jesus. Nothing is sacred on this show!

 

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Similar Posts

Review – “A Very Supernatural Christmas”

Review – “A Very Supernatural Christmas”

ByRobin Vogel

“A Very Supernatural Christmas” –Robin’s Rambles by Robin Vogel   This episode would be on my top 10 list of favorites. It’s a really sick episode with a heartwarming brotherly ending, filled with really terrible sick, funny stuff, including terrorizing children, which is SO cruel and wrong for a Christmas episode. Plus we learn where Dean got…

Leave a Reply

thewinchesterfamilybusiness