Fight the Fairies: Preview and Episode Discussion – “Clap Your Hands If You Believe” (6.09)
In the last episode for two weeks, the Winchesters battle fairies and investigate a UFO sighting, and while Dean’s quest to “Fight the Fairies!” looks hilarious, there’s plenty of non-fairy humor to go around. As a lot of the series’ episodes are, this one will be based on real, dark fairy lore.
It all starts with the boys investigating a UFO sighting. When Dean is abducted from a crop circle, he quickly discovers he isn’t dealing with aliens but rather with fairies, and only Dean can see the one attacking him. As Sam searches for his brother, he stumbles upon a world occupied by elves, gnomes and a leprechaun.
Ben Edlund and Erick Kripke talked about this episode at Comic Con this year. According to Edlund the episode is “rich with absurdity.” He added, “Fairy lore is binary. It’s got the good guys who live in your house and then it’s got the bad ones. It deals with things like kelpings and cobalts and goblins and the dark. They will take your child and drag them away. That’s the fairies we’re going to use. It’s rich with darkness. Fairies did this thing for a lot of folklore of being the bogeyman and the monsters.” So, no Tinkerbell…at least not a nice one.
Kripke concurred, “It’s absurd and nuts, very Edlundian and not what you expect. It’s really violent in a way that we think people will write us letters. It’s a very politically incorrect point of view on fairies, leprechauns and goblins. I’m thrilled because it’s so bananas…. We felt it was time for Ben to get away from the mythology episodes and write a very Ben episode.”
The photos show Dean tackling a little guy while a young girl and her parents look on in horror. I’m guessing this is when Dean gets hauled away by the cops, which is never a good thing for a Winchester, though this time I think Dean is going to a funny farm instead of jail.
In the trailer we see a very disbelieving Dean realizing that with all the other monsters they fight; now there are fairies. It ends with Dean shouting at a totally befuddled Sam from the back of a police car, “FIGHT THOSE FAIRIES! FIGHT THE FAIRIES!!!” Poor Sam, no feelings, no instinct and now no brother. How this all plays out should be a lot of fun.
In the clip, while a very freaked out Dean rants about the existence of aliens, he is shocked when Sam hits on their waitress. Dean then tries to give Sam a lesson in having a soul which leads to a ‘hypothetical’ scenario from Sam who insistence that if a brother is ‘lost’ and the other brother is ‘searching’ for him and runs out of leads, its okay to for the ‘searching’ brother to have sex with a hippie chick. Dean insist the ‘searching’ brother should be so stressed out about the ‘lost’ brother he shouldn’t be interested in sex; he should just sit in the dark and feel the loss. Sam of course has to challenge that and the outcome is both amusing and sad.
The official synopsis: FAIRIES! While Sam and Dean are investigating a UFO sighting, Dean is abducted from a crop circle. However, when he awakens, he discovers he isn’t dealing with aliens, but fairies! Unfortunately, only Dean can see the fairy that keeps attacking him which makes tracing and stopping them difficult. Written by CW Publicity
The episode was directed by John Showalter who also directed “Two and a Half Men” and “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” (one of my favorites). The writer, Ben Edlund, also wrote “The Third Man”, “The Devil You Know”, “Abandon All Hope” and “The End”.
The supporting cast (IMDB) includes (in credits order): Devon Weigel (Sparrow Jennings), Joe Allard, Sienna Bohn, Alisha Newton, and Jameson Trenholm.
These are the photos episode.
Maureen Ryan released an article this evening that contains an exclusive video of this week’s episode. As Dean and Sam are investigating a UFO, executive producer Sera Gamble felt is was appropriate to pay a special tribute to one of its biggest influences, “The X-Files.”
“It would be hard to find someone working on the show who isn’t an ‘X-Files’ fan,” Gamble continued. “It was especially fun to put together the homage because ‘Supernatural’ does owe a real creative debt of gratitude to the show; I think the whole current generation of genre shows does.”
http://video.aol.com/aolvideo/aol-television/supernatural-clip-no-1/679100071001
While promos and clips can be misleading, I really find the aliens and fairies quite funny even with Edlund’s impending dark folklore. With Dean’s complete exasperation at the fairies and, Sam’s total bewilderment as Dean is put in the back of a police car, this episode has a lot of potential for good comedy.
So as Mulder and Scully would say, “THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE…somewhere,” and the boys get to find it this Friday. Hehehe!!! Can’t wait!
Here are the preview clip and trailer videos for the episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=segErtfnSyc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUQ1lK9NVag
And Canada’s Space channel Promo and Sneak Peak are below. Dean is SO funny! Love the crop circle!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO6CBCUjygo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_XYqK6KFIg
Happy viewing everyone! Come back and tells us what you think!
Thanks Sablegreen for putting this together for us! I am looking forward to this episode and a good laugh (well, with Ben Edlung behind, the lord of absurdistan, not much can go wrong,eh?). Alas, I will have to wait till Saturday evening European standard time to watch it, as I have to go out of town on business. Gah…
Whining, Jas 😮
Hey, so if as Dean says, when your brother is gone/been abducted etc, you should just sit there in the dark and feel the loss, does this mean he was celibate the entire time he was with Lisa??? Man, no wonder she wanted shot of him!
The X-Files. Ooooh, Fox Mulder (wistful sigh.) Man, you were hot.
Speaking of hobbits, I wonder how Sam and Dean would cope in Middle Earth? They’d probably have Sauron taken out before breakfast but Sam would be completely banjaxed if they went to the Shire. Dean would have a ball with all the beer and 16 breakfasts though!
Oh, yes, Fox Mulder! Most of my fellow eXcers preferred Scully but, like always, I was with the minorities. The X Files and Supernatural together is pure happiness. 😀 I love you Sera Gamble, even if you de-souled Sammy.
This epi is so going to be hilarious!! I can’t wait for it. And I think this gives us a look into how the relationship with the brothers is going to play out for a while as well. Sera stated that we wouldn’t be getting Sam’s Soul back any time soon but you know what? If we can get at least some funny angst out of the two that would be good with me!
it is my hope that from this ep, that people settle down with the ‘I want sam back!’ comments and just enjoy or try to enjoy the ride lol. I find it really interesting that they are turning the most emotional character into the complete opposite, for me, I like sam alot more this season, I am ussually a dean fan, having a little brother type relationship with my cousin and having similar chemistry I know how it feels like to be the big brother. and I think this season is the opportunity for jared to shine and show his range, which usually in the past was to look moapy with puppy dog eyes. and when you think about it, that happiness that people wanted for sam, it kinda is happening, sure he does some bad things, but with no conscious thought of right or wrong its not really his fault. and I like that, the difference between season 4 sam and season 6 sam is. season 4 sam had a consciounce and knew what he was doing is wrong. season 6 sam only knows its wrong from previous memories but his feeling nothing makes it feel like ‘really? is it so wrong?’ so I trust that once this story has played out, people will see the reasons why they went this route. ok on to the next ep, bring on the fairies!! lol
This episode looks epically Edlundian! I love the conversation between the brothers when Dean is explaining to Sam why he shouldn’t pick up the waitress. Hee.
As a big X-Files fan, the opening was awesome.
I spent this past Hellatus rewatching the X-Files, Seasons 1 through 9, on DVD. It’s fascinating to see all the names attached to that show that are now part of the SN universe – including Jim Beaver who guested in Season 6’s Biogenesis.
And I’m totally in awe of Kim Manners, who directed a quarter (or more) of each season’s episodes. Also, in the Season 7 episode Hollywood AD – kind of X-Files’ version of Hollywood Babylon – which was written and directed by David Duchovny, Mulder and Scully become the central characters in a movie about the X-Files. When the agents visit the movie set, the director wraps up his instructions to his actors with “Kick it in the ass.” Methinks KM was as much loved on that set as he was on SN.
Given SN’s penchant for inside jokes, I really hope we get one in ‘Clap your hands…” about Grandpa Winchester/Skinner. 😆
I was told to come on line and read your episode discussion because my friend thought that you were very good. She was correct as I thought what you had to say was excellent. Will have to come back on and read more of your comments. Good going Sable Green.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Sera and the SPN writers will come up with a 2-episode stand-alone story w/c mixes X-FIles and SPN? SOmething like this:
Dean and Sam are following this case of a boy with kinetic and clairvoyant powers, afraid thatthis boy might be another project of a YED kingmaker and Rafael. While searching his background and talking a little to the boy, they discover that he was adopted when still a baby. As they conduct a separate search for the true parents, they encounter a couple of ex-FBIs keeping a watch on the kid. The couple are the real persons on whom Scully and Fox were based on. Real names? Wolf and SInatra–played by Duchovny and Anderson in the episodes. The kid? The child they gave away for adoption. (Maybe I should write the story? Heck, it’s free–just credit me with the idea. 😆
Tee-hee, it’s gone all role-reversal on us … Sam’s all live for the day and Dean’s all puritan guilt ethic, snigger. Love the clips ( it even had that bit where Cas gets his badge upside down – Result! )
I’m fed up with grumbling, I’m going to lie back and enjoy. as long as they get themselves sorted out eventually, that’ll do for me.
I agree with Suze about the role reversal, totally the opposite of season one and something that adds a nice balance to that season. Sam often seemed to suffer great pain from his emotions, as in “Sam, Interrupted,” “I’m angry all the time, and I don’t know why!” For a while there I thought he might have asked to be without emotion just to give himself a break for a while.
The opening X-files homage was perfect, one of the little touches that makes me love this show.
Sorry, slow to post my reaction. Probably because I’m juggling between our CBOX and Twitter, where #FighttheFairies is trending worldwide. This review is going to be fun to write for a change. Nothing too heavy here, except for all the great lines and references. I’m just going to sum up my feelings in one grand sentence right now.
I love you Ben Edlund.
That was pretty darn entertaining! Ben Edlund wins again. Nice to have a comedic interlude!
Fun episode. We needed to laugh for a change. Too bad we have to wait two weeks for the next installment. Judging from the trailer, it’s not going to be as much fun.
I really enjoyed this episode. It was nice to be able to laugh again.
Had so many great lines and moments. Of course the ending was unsettling but I guess we couldn’t have an Edlund episode without some kind angst/tragic/dark side added to it.
Will need to re-watch it again to get all that I probably missed the first time from laughing.
Thanks Ben we needed this.
I wanted to share this Twitter exchange that I had with Brian Truitt at USA Today this evening. He so nailed an issue with Sam’s character.
briantruitt Man, Ben Edlund writes the most amazing #Supernatural episodes. And I really kinda dig soulless Sam.
WinFamBusiness @briantruitt I was digging soulless Sam this week. Last week, I wanted to punch him. I hope they continue to treat his changes with care
briantruitt @WinFamBusiness I think Edlund can write soulless Sam as entertaining. In other hands, not so much.
Quote of the episode. “You better run man. I think the fourth kind is a butt thing.”
I’ve actually got a pain in my sodding cheeks from smiling so much throughout the entire episode, I don’t think it wavered for a second. It was almost cathartic after the emotional turmoil (for me) of last week.
Then the poignancy of the last exchange, where Sam is having doubts…. the little pang in the pit of my stomach.
Thanks show. Huge thanks, Mr. Edlund. If that was the moment of levity before we go gung-ho into the serious and heart-wrenching stuff again, then I couldn’t be happier with it.
Oh, in an episode where almost every line was a classic, for some strange reason, I nearly wet the bed laughing when Sam said ‘Do you have bigger cups?’ I don’t know why….
I adored the homage to the X-files. Ben Edlund, you write the best SuperN episodes!