Season Three Episode Titles: Where Did They Come From?

I guess they were serious about this Hellatus lasting until April, huh? While we’re all checking the days off of the calendar, praying for April 15^th to roll around I thought I’d take a look at season three episode titles. If you’ve missed seasons one and two I’ll fill you in. I’m taking a look at the episode titles season by season and finding the pop culture references from which they are taken. Even though this season was a short one, it’s still full of interesting references. 
 
3.1 “The Magnificent Seven”
 
“The Magnificent Seven” is a 1960 American western film directed by John Sturges. It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 movie, Seven Samurai. The film follows a group of hired gunmen protecting a Mexican village from bandits. 
 
This episode of Supernatural doesn’t seem to have much in common with the movie other than its title. As you’ll remember, this is the episode where the Winchesters come across the Seven Deadly Sins “live and in the flesh”. “What’s in the box?!”

 
3.2 “The Kids Are Alright”
 
“The Kids are Alright” is the seventh track of The Who’s first album, My Generation. It also served as the title of the 1979 rockumentary about the band. 

I know if I go things would be a lot better for her
I had things planned, but her folks wouldn’t let her

Sometimes, I feel I gotta get away
Bells chime, I know I gotta get away
And I know if I don’t, I’ll go out of my mind
Better leave her behind with the kids, they’re alright
The kids are alright

This episode is where we meet Lisa and Ben for the first time. There is a not-so-mysterious death in Cicero that Dean wants to investigate. When Sam questions his motives he reveals that he plans to track down Lisa, a girl he met eight years before. When they get to town, Dean discovers that Lisa has an eight year old son, Ben and Sam discovers that this death is a little more mysterious then they originally thought. 

(From Alice – Little known fact.  The Who used to destroy their hotel rooms with flamethrowers, just like Sam.  Or they smashed them to bits, I don’t remember. Flamethrowers look better don’t they?)    
 
3.3 “Bad Day at Black Rock”
 
This title is taken from the 1955 film of the same title. Directed by John Sturges, the film follows a one handed stranger, John Macreedy who comes to the tiny town of Black Rock is search for a farmer names Kamoko. What he finds instead is a town with a terrible past they want to keep secret at any cost. 

 
In this episode, Sam and Dean come into contact with a cursed rabbit’s foot that is good luck to whoever is in possession of it. (“I am batman”) But if they lose the foot, they get a run of bad luck (“I lost my shoe”) until their eventual death. When Sam gets the foot stolen from him by Bela, his bad luck starts immediately. The timing is terrible considering that he doesn’t realize Kubrick is hunting him on behalf of Gordon Walker. 
 
3.4 “Sin City”
 
This episode title comes from a series of neo-noir comics by Frank Miller. The comics follow the people of the fictional town Basin City known by locals as Sin City for its shady dealings and criminal residents. The comics were later adapted into a movie starring Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba and Bruce Willis.

“Sin City” is an appropriate title for this episode where the Winchesters investigate a town where the citizens have inexplicably turned to drinking and gambling.

(From Alice – Hey, guys come to this site too, right?)
 
3.5 “Bedtime Stories”
 
I wasn’t able to find any popular culture references associates with this episode. The episode title likely comes from the idea of bedtime stories themselves. Am I missing anything? Let me know if you think I overlooked something. 

 
This is the episode where the boys investigate a string of mysterious murders. They encounter a woman trapped in a coma after being poisoned by her stepmother as a child. The girl’s spirit reenacts the deaths in the Brothers Grimm fairytales her father reads to her. 

(From Alice – I have one theory.  The title comes from a quote from Sam in this episode.  “See The Grimm brothers stuff was kind of like the folklore of its day.  There was sex, violence, cannibalism.  Then it got sanitized over the years, turned into Disney flicks and bedtime stories.”  Sorry for jumping in, but this is one of my favorite episodes!)
 
3.6 “Red Sky at Morning”
 
This episode title comes from the old sailor’s saying “Red sky at morning, sailors warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight.” This weather lore was meant to help sailor’s predict the weather based on the appearance of the sky.  

 
This title is appropriate for this episode where the Winchesters investigate sightings of a ghost ship that end in the mysterious drowning death of those who see it. As a side note, it is also hilarious to watch any scene between Sam and Gert, an elderly woman who has the hots for Sam. 

  
3.7 “Fresh Blood”
 
This episode title seems to come from the MOTW, a vampire, Dixon, who is building a new nest of vampires to call family. Dixon tricks the girls into thinking that they are trying the newest drug on the market and then slips a drop of vampire blood into their drink. Meanwhile, Gordon Walker is out of prison and out for Sam’s blood. 

 
3.8 “A Very Supernatural Christmas”
 
This episode title is a play on the 1988 television movie, A Very Brady Christmas. The movie features the cast of the wholesome hit TV show, The Brady Bunch. 

 
This is not your typical Christmas-themed episode. (“We’re not exactly the Bradys.”)

The boys investigate the disappearance of two men whose children claim they were abducted and dragged up the chimney by Santa Claus. Meanwhile, Dean tries to convince Sam to get in the Christmas spirit to celebrate their last Christmas together. 

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