Season Four Episode Titles: Where Did They Come From?
4.12 “Criss Angel Is a Douchebag”
First of all, Criss Angel really is kind of a Douchebag. There isn’t really another explanation for this title. In case you don’t know who he is, I’ll tell you a little bit about him. His real name is Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos and he is an American illusionist, musician, actor and grade-A douche. He is best known for his live illusion performances on “Criss Angel Believe” and his show “Criss Angel Mindfreak”.
This title is definitely appropriate for this episode that follows a group of older washed up magicians who are being replaced by younger magicians like Jeb Dexter, a Criss Angel-esque magician and street performer. The older magicians begin to attempt dangerous stunts in order to regain their lost fans. But when the stunts result in mysterious deaths Sam and Dean realize there may be more to these tricks than they thought.
4.13 “After School Special”
The term “after school special” was coined by ABC in 1972 when they produced a series of made for TV movies targeted at teens dealing with various social issues relevant at the time.
This is the episode where Sam and Dean investigate a haunting at a high school they attended as kids. The episode provides an interesting flashback into a part of their lives we don’t hear much about. It also provides us with Sam in a janitor’s uniform and Dean in gym shorts. Now, that’s great TV.
4.14 “Sex and Violence”
I’m not too sure about this one. Sex and Violence is a pretty common pairing of words but I did find a pilot that aired in 1975; The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. (Am I the only one who didn’t know this existed?!) The show was a half hour variety special that was a parody of the abundance of sex and violence on television. I don’t really see how that’s related to this episode though. What do you think?
In this episode Sam and Dean hunt a siren who casts a spell causing men to kill their wives. She sucks Sam and Dean into her spell setting them against each other and causing them to hash out their unspoken problems.
4.15 “Death Takes a Holiday”
This episode title is taken from the 1934 romantic drama of the same name. After questioning why people hate him so much Death decides to take on human form and find out for himself. But when he falls in love with a mortal he must decide what is more important to him.
This episode title would have been perfect for “Appointment in Samarra” but it works well here too. Dean and Sam are trying to figure out why no one has died in the last week. As it turns out Alistair is in town to kill two reapers and break another seal. Sam and Dean become ghosts so they can find out. Even in the spirit world, Dean knows how to get the best of Sam.
4.16 “On the Head of a Pin”
This title comes from the question “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” which has been used as a trite dismissal of the existence of angels. Nowadays this question is used as a metaphor for wasting time debating topics with no foundation or practical value.
In this episode Castiel and Uriel recruit Dean to interrogate Alistair about the recent murder of seven angels. During the interrogation it is revealed to Dean that he broke the first seal when he tortured his first soul in hell. Sam’s powers also take a very disturbing turn.
4.17 “It’s a Terrible Life”
This title is a reference to the 1946 Frank Capra film, It’s a Wonderful Life. The film follows George Bailey, a man whose impending suicide brings about the divine intervention of his guardian angel Clarence. Clarence gives George a chance to see what life would have been like if he was never born. George comes to find that “no man is a failure who has friends.”
This is a great title for an episode where we see what life would be like if the Winchesters never became hunters. Dean “Smith” and Sam “Wesson” are two strangers that work in the same office building. But when strange things start happening around the office, the two begin to work together to re-discover their true calling. As it turns out this story has a little divine intervention of its own. Zachariah, Castiel’s superior, set up the whole thing to show Dean that hunting is what he does and he has the power to stop the apocalypse.
Dean: Oh, so what? This was all some sort of a lesson? Is that what you’re telling me? Wow, very creative.
Zachariah: You should see my decoupage.
Dean: Gross… no thank you
(From Alice – This episode also makes a deep social statement, shedding light on one of the most disturbing, abusive, humiliating practices in corporate America today).
4.18 “The Monster at the End of This Book”
This title comes from the children’s book “The Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover”. The book is based on the TV series Sesame Street. In the book, Grover learns that there is a monster at the end of the book and begs the reader not to finish. As the book continues, he sets up a series of obstacles to prevent the reader from reaching the end of the book only to find that he is the monster at the end of the book.
In this episode Sam and Dean come across a series of books called Supernatural that depicts their lives as hunters in great detail. The brothers track down the author, Chuck, who explains that he has visions of Dean and Sam that he uses to write the books.
4.19 “Jump the Shark”
Jump the Shark is a phrase used to describe the moment in a television show when it abandons its core premise and enters unfamiliar or absurd territory resulting in a lethal decline in quality. The phrase was actually coined after an episode of Happy Days when the character Fonzie literally jumps a shark on water skis in order to demonstrate his bravery.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who saw the preview for this episode and feared that the title was a little too accurate. Thank goodness Supernatural is the kind of show that knows how to add these twists properly. In this episode, Sam and Dean discover that they have a half brother, Adam, that their father never told them about. Of course, they are too late to meet the real Adam who has been killed by the ghouls now impersonating him and his mother.
4.20 “The Rapture”
The Rapture refers to 1 Thessalonians 4:17 in the Bible that describes a time when Christians will be gathered together in the air to meet Christ. I’m not sure how well this title works with this episode. What do you think?
This episode follows Castiel’s host body, Jimmy, who offered himself as a vessel and now he wants out. This is also the episode where Sam loses control of his need for demon blood and Dean and Bobby are forced to lock him in the panic room. (From Alice – Actually the title kind of fits. The world is coming to end, everyone’s gathering to meet Christ and Dean is bringing the fishing poles!)
4.21 “When the Levee Breaks”
This title comes from a song by the same name. Written and recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929, the song depicts the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Led Zeppelin famously covered the song in 1971.
If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break, [X2]
When The Levee Breaks I’ll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, [X2]
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.
This episode title couldn’t be more perfect, for accurately reflects the rising tension between Sam and Dean all season long. By this episode, their troubles were at the breaking point and at the end everything exploded like floodwaters breaching a levee. Bobby and Dean lock Sam in the panic room hoping to cleanse his body of demon blood. We learn detoxing from demon blood is not pretty and a hundred times worse than heroin withdrawal. Meanwhile seals are breaking left and right. Bobby begins to question if they shouldn’t let Sam out to help stop the apocalypse and Dean seeks Castiel’s help. Sam gets loose anyway (thanks to Castiel helping in a different way) and it’s all downhill from there.
4.21 “Lucifer Rising”
This title comes from the 1972 short film of the same name. Directed by Kenneth Anger, soundtrack by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, the film was meant to depict the coming Aeon of Horus (a time when humanity will become devoted to individual freedom following the law of “Do what Thou Wilt”) as prophesized in the Thelemic scared text, The Book of Law.
As we know, this season finale takes Lucifer rising very literally. With the apocalypse quickly approaching, Dean is transported to a strange place where he is being held captive by Zachariah and Castiel. After Zachariah tells Dean there is one final seal to be broken Dean realizes that Zachariah was never trying to prevent the apocalypse in the first place. Meanwhile, Sam is hunting Lilith with Ruby not realizing that killing Lilith will break the final seal.
So there is season four. Chock full of great references. So, did I miss anything? Were there any references that really surprised you? Let me know!
Hi Sofia – and welcome to our team! I’m sure you will feel very good here amongst our bunch of writers.
This was a fun read, thank you. I liked your references to novels or movies, and I have to say – don’t read Kafka during a bad time, it will only make you depressed…
The show loves to twist titles, and I do love that, really. It simply adds to the fun.
One of my favourite lines of Monster Movie is ‘I have a coupon’, and it’s become a running gag with dear friends by now.
I am still hoping that Supernatural will be able to use a Zeppelin song in the show. To my knowledge only One Tree Hill had one so far.
Best, Jas
Thanks Jas! I’m excited to be a part of the team!
I do really wish Supernatural could use one of Zeppelin’s songs since so much inspiration seems to come from them. There are probably too many legal complications. It’s too bad when that gets in the way.
I really like your take on Family Remains. It took it to a whole new level I hadn’t thought about. The idea of the three broken families was especially interesting. Even better title than I thought!
I’ve really been enjoying these articles. Supernatural really has the best titles of any show on television.
Oh, and if you want to see a different and eminently more disturbing version of The Great Pumpkin, look up the Robot Chicken version. Linus gets tired of the GP never showing up, so for this Halloween, he uses a demonic summoning ritual. The Pumpkin shows up and proceeds to systematically wipe out the entire Peanuts gang until Charlie Brown takes him out. Disturbing yet hilarious at the same time. You’ll never look at the special the same way again!
About the “rapture”, it is the more uncommon term for “ecstasy”: a state of mind where the mystics practically are “possessed” by God’s presence and become one with Him, often feeling like “taken out of their body” (hence the origin of the word, from Latin “raptus” = abducted, or even raped; besides, “ecstasy” comes from the Greek “ek-stà sis” = being outside (of himself)). So it’s a title that very much fits with Jimmy Novak’s story
In a sense, the rapture is the religious version of the alien abduction, and since the scene with Castiel’s grace possessing Jimmy’s body is very similar to the many scenes with aliens teleporting humans on their ships, I find this title very fitting in an humorous way! 😀
Really interesting comment. I didn’t know about the concept of “ecstasy”. Thanks for sharing!
I didn’t know that The Monster at the End of This Book was based on a book about Grover from Sesame Street. I love it!!!!!
Got another idea for family remains. If I figured it right this episode must have been filmed towards the end of 2008 therefore it must have been written somewhen during the summer of that year. The writters might have gotten the idea for it from a real live event. In May 2008 Josef Fritzl was convicted in Austria which made world wide news. He had his daughter imprisoned in his basement for years and had a few children together with her. And the children were looked away with her in the basement. This story seems to come real close to what happened in that house in “Family remains”
I think you are absolutely right about this episode getting its inspiration from the real life incident. There is even a line in the episode where Dean says something about the incident being “ripped from Austrian headlines”. Anyone have the exact quote?
A little fact… Sex and Violence was also the name of an episode of Dawson’s Creek that Jensen was in.
Also, the siren uses sex and violence to get what it wants. That is what I took from it.. my two cents.. LOL