Meta Fiction As a Funhouse: How Supernatural Smashes and Distorts The Fourth Wall

 
 
Season 3 sees the return of “The Ghostfacers.” Ed and Harry are back, and this time they’re not simply an amusement we see through Sam and Dean’s eyes. They prank “Supernatural” itself, taking the program over with a broadcast that completely interrupts the natural flow of the show all together. It’s jarring, it’s in your face, and it’s risky—but it works. Not only are they parodying “Supernatural,” they are parodying all of the ghost hunting reality shows such as “Ghost Hunters,” “Extreme Paranormal,” or “Ghost Lab.” They do so in a way that is both utterly tongue in cheek, yet endearing all at once. 

It is also a commentary on the Writer’s Strike and what replaced scripted programming during its duration. Harry calls the writers “lazy fat cats,” and Ed says “Who needs writers when you’ve got guys like us?” Considering the glut of reality programming that emerged during the strike, it’s not hard to imagine that this conversation happened a few times at network tables. Its commentary is biting, sharp, and to the point. If anything, the writer’s strike proved that “cheap” television could be put out, but that it would not necessarily be “good” or “quality.” “Ghostfacers” parodies so much of what is bad and distasteful about reality program. They even include the “confessional” videos that often mark reality programs, that are neither confessional nor real. The truth about most reality programming, as “Ghostfacers” manages to expose through a scripted form, is that it itself is scripted quite often. 
 
We see the case in the episode through Ed, Harry, and their team’s eyes as they set up to investigate the Morton House, only haunted once every Leap Year. They start their show like the typical ghost hunting program, huddled together around a white board discussing the upcoming case. The history of the place is told, the equipment is gathered, and the plan of action is drawn up. Unfortunately, the head quarters of the Ghostfacers is in Ed’s parent’s garage, and they are unceremoniously interrupted by Ed’s father returning home to park the car. As inept as Ed and Harry looked in “Hell House,” they look down right helpless in “Ghostfacers.” 
 
They’re so incompetent that when they arrive and cut the lock on the gate to the house, Ed’s sister points out that they probably need a permit, to which they respond that’d be a good idea for next time. Sam and Dean KNOW that entering is illegal, but have to do it to solve the case. Ed and Harry just don’t know because they’re ignorant and foolish. Once they start to approach the house, Sam and Dean arrive, scoping by. We hear the familiar rumble of the Impala’s engine and the blasting of Grand Funk’s “We’re An American Band” blaring from the stereo, giving us the first outside look at Sam and Dean since the episode started. Ed and Harry duck down, convinced at first that it’s the cops, but quickly realize that it’s not, quipping, “No, not cops. Just hicks.” 

They’re so unaware that they don’t recognize the car or its occupants the way we, the viewers, do.
 
Once they are inside, they pump each other up with a chant and start to set up their recording equipment. They set up a command central, titled “The Eagle’s Nest,” and split up into separate groups. This is not a serious investigation to any of them. They horse around, play pranks on each other, and goof off. It could be argued that Harry is to Dean what Ed is to Sam, considering that it is Harry that freaks out over a dead rat. Spruce picks it up and throws it at him, much to Harry’s ire and disgust.
 
They actually get what they came for: footage of a ghost. It’s a death echo, and they freak out over its appearance. They don’t know what is going on, they don’t really understand what it means, they just see it being a benefit to their show. 

Sam and Dean burst onto the scene, attempting to spook whomever is staying the night by pretending to be cops. They enter the room, and Ed recognizes them as the same guys from Texas. He exclaims, “Hey! Aren’t they those bleep from Texas?” This pulls in the fact that both Jared and Jensen are indeed from Texas.  Sam and Dean similarly look closer and Sam realizes that Ed is the same guy from the Tulpa case. Dean quickly asks where Ed’s partner, Harry is. They need to clear the house if they are going to pull off this hunt successfully. Gone is the tolerated amusement from “Hell House.” In “Ghostfacers,” neither Sam nor Dean have any patience for their ineptitude and foolhardy behavior. They’ve both seen and done too much, lost too much, and thus want nothing to do with Ed and Harry’s silliness. They know, unlike their mirror images, that this is a deadly night and dangerous. 
 
Once Ed leads Sam and Dean back to where Harry and his team are, another death echo takes over the room. Sam and Dean, with their hunter’s instincts and training, instantly jump into hunter mode. They surmise quickly what is going on, but know this is not the true threat. The Ghostfacers team, on the other hand, are freaked out, overwhelmed, and excited that they have captured not one, but two full apparitions for their reality show. They quickly question Sam and Dean, as they overhear their conversation, what a death echo is and what is going on. Sam and Dean may not be amused, but they still have some patience for them—they actually try to explain what is going on while trying to get them to leave. 

Unfortunately, because they are distracted by these death echoes, they don’t realize that their intern, Corbett has gone off to investigate on his own. As Sam and Dean try in vain again to get the Ghostfacers to leave, a scream echoes through the house. Corbett is missing, and suddenly this has become “real” in a way the Ghostfacers never anticipated. Sam and Dean realize that it is up to them to solve this or die. It’s much too late to get out as they try the doors and realize they are sealed in a “supernatural lockdown.” 
 
Sam has a minor tantrum, smashing a chair into the door, exclaiming to Dean, “You got two months left. Instead we’re gonna die tonight.” 
 
This pulls in the serious overtone of season 3 while not making it the center of the episode. We, as the viewer, know that the clock is ticking for Dean. He is hell bound very shortly, and instead of searching for a way to break his deal, they are crossing off one of Dean’s “bucket list” hunts. It adds to Sam and Dean’s lack of patience with the Ghostfacers as well. 
 
Instead of stopping the show in progress and yielding to Sam and Dean’s apparent and obvious expertise in the field, they continue to film. This annoys Dean much more than it does Sam, who asks openly to Maggie, “Does it make you feel better to see this nightmare through that?” She hesitates, then replies that it does. Dean shrugs, and continues his investigation, regardless of the camera trained upon him. 
 
Unfortunately, the house is not done taking victims. Another EMF surge hits as the group is trying to figure out their next move in finding Corbett, and after it is over, another member is missing: Sam. 

Whatever patience Dean may have had for the Ghostfacers is gone. He is focused on finding and rescuing Sam. He has no time to deal with their nonsense. He must find his brother and find him quickly. The Ghostfacers, on the other hand, continue as if this is merely a fun house, goofing around. Harry and Maggie end up alone together, with Spruce filming them. They start to make out, setting up for Ed to walk in on them. When he does, Ed becomes irate. He blatantly asks Harry if he’s “doing my sister,” which upsets Maggie and causes Harry to talk fast. Ed asks Spruce to hold his glasses and proceeds to fight with Harry. Harry’s behavior is a very exaggerated reflection of a season 1 Dean, further placing Harry as Dean’s avatar and Ed as Sam’s. It is also a ridiculous example of the “forced confrontation” found in the majority of reality programs. The problem with “reality” TV is that they have to manufacture conflict because reality is often full of dull moments where nothing is happening, thus boring to the audience. This confrontation between Ed and Harry is to create false tension—and is hilarious because of it.
 
When Dean realizes that this squabble is taking place, he promptly steps in, breaks it up, and admonishes them by saying that “we’re down by two people!” He then resumes his frantic search for Sam, yelling for his little brother in a panic. He is alone on this hunt, with or without the Ghostfacers present. It is up to him to solve it. As he manages to calm himself, Dean starts to put pieces together. He knows that the last owner of the house, Freeman Daggett, was a cold war survivalist from the old army rations and pamphlets that him and Sam looked over earlier. He realizes that this must mean there is a bomb shelter and that this is probably where Sam is. 
 
Unfortunately, Spruce continues to follow him, filming the entire time. He tries to draw Dean out into a confessional moment, recalling Sam’s earlier tantrum, asking Dean what Sam meant about having two months to live. Dean snaps back that it’s complicated, realizes that Spruce is trying to draw him into some confessional, and retorts furiously, “I’m not going to talk about my bleep problems to some bleep reality program. I’m going to do my bleep job.” The use of bleeped expletives in the episode is a nice touch, enhancing its hilarity. 
 
Meanwhile, Sam has woken up in the bomb shelter, across from Corbett. He is tied to a chair, sitting around the remains of a rotted birthday cake. This birthday party thrown by Daggett recalls two references: Psycho and Great Expectations. His guests are all dead, and much like Norman Bates in Psycho, he is unable to fill his loneliness, and like Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, he remains with a long forgotten cake. 

The song “It’s My Party (And I’ll Cry If I Want To)” plays on a loop through the scene. It’s the perfect song choice to bring indirect meta into the direct meta of the episode. It suits Daggett’s character perfectly—and it brings us back to a familiar point of view without any of the Ghostfacer cameras. We see Corbett attacked by Daggett, and killed, all from Sam’s point of view. It is harsh, it is dark, and it is not funny. 
 
Before Daggett can do the same to Sam, Dean has arrived to hear the same song playing. He shoves the heavy cabinet from in front of the shelter opening, to which Spruce quips “Wow, you’re strong.” This earns him a one fingered salute, blurred by a Ghostfacers logo, as all of the swearing has been done, from Dean. 

Dean turns his focus immediately on saving Sam, blasting Daggett with rock salt. He unties  Sam, who tells Dean what happened: Daggett dragged the bodies home from the morgue, set up his party, and then went up stairs to commit suicide on horse tranquilizers. While the Winchesters focus on the case, the Ghostfacers continue to film, much to their amazement. This time it is Sam that asks why they’re still filming. Dean ends the discussion by snapping that it makes them feel better and to not ask. 
 
They still have a problem. They might know what happened to Daggett, and now they have Sam back, but they are still locked in the house. They must find a way to solve the case or die. We see Ed, Maggie, and Harry in the salt circle Dean instructed. Corbett appears to them as a death echo, tying more indirect and direct meta together. They realize that they must snap him out of his loop, and because Corbett has a crush on Ed, it is up to Ed. 
 
Corbett’s attraction to Ed is a shout out in many ways to the slash aspect of fandom. Rather than playing further on Ed and Harry being Sam and Dean’s avatars and creating the potential for Ed and Harry being a slash couple, they’ve chosen an outside character to have an attraction. Ed steps carefully out of the salt and declares that he did love Corbett. This snaps Corbett out of his loop, giving him the ability to face and destroy Daggett.
 
We see the close of the Ghostfacers pilot with Ed and Harry talking again to the camera about what happened and how it changed their lives. The camera pulls back as the credits roll, and a shocked Sam and Dean are revealed to have been the viewers. Sam quips, pulling in Jared’s actual Texan accent, “I mean, it’s bizarre how y’all able to, to honor Corbett’s memory while grossly exploiting the manner of his death. Well done.” 

To carry over the prank motif again, Sam and Dean execute a brilliant one on Ed and Harry. They leave a bag behind on purpose, containing a magnet. When it is taken out, the entire computer system, including the pilot, is erased, leaving Sam and Dean in the clear. They had only recently escaped the FBI and had been declared legally dead. It wouldn’t do for them to appear in a reality program, after all. The brothers share a smile, and drive away, bringing us fully back into Sam and Dean’s point of view again, restoring us to normal.

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