Part Two: Meta Fiction As A FunHouse – Seasons Five and Six
In the last and perhaps most daring meta episode that Supernatural has undertaken, “The French Mistake,” we see the return of the overarching prank element that ties all of them but “Swan Song” together. It goes beyond the subtle breaking of the “fourth wall” that “Hollywood Babylon” achieved and outright smashes it into pieces on the floor at the feet of the viewers—literally and figuratively. It also, by design, reveals the endgame of season 6 while hiding it underneath this bizarre version of the show.
It starts with Sam and Dean alone in Bobby’s house, when Balthazar appears, frantically looking for items in Bobby’s spell pantry. He babbles about The Godfather endlessly, saying that Raphael is cast in the role of Michael Corleone, ready to eliminate all of his enemies. In reality, it is Castiel that is really Michael Corleone, revealed at the end of “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” He hands Sam a key, telling them to guard it and run. He pushes them towards the window he has drawn the sigil on, shoving both Sam and Dean through into the meta verse. This is where the fourth wall shatters both literally and figuratively for the viewers—and for Sam and Dean.
They emerge on a set, congratulated for the stunt they just performed by the director, crew, and producers. This is where “The French Mistake” mirrors its predecessor “Hollywood Babylon.” Instead of watching the actors make the movie, Sam and Dean are the ones acting. This is the ultimate prank played on the brothers. Both are led away, called Jared and Jensen, the real actors names—furthering their confusion.
For Sam, it is an uncomfortable interview. The interviewer has summed up what has happened to Sam: saying yes to Lucifer, losing his soul, and getting it back. She wonders if Jared can give her insight into what “might be next for Sam Winchester.” Sam is baffled and at a loss. He has no idea what to say or do, unlike Jared, he has no script or inkling as to what might happen on the show in a few episodes. He is in the dark, much like the viewer, and left to wonder.
Dean, on the other hand, finds out that he has been wearing make up, and bemoans the fact that he has been reduced to a “painted whore.” This new reality the brothers find themselves in is not to their liking and they are desperate to find a way back home. They come across the Impala, relief spilling over Dean’s features until the trailer moves, revealing that there are multiple Impalas, that including the heap that was left after the car crash in season 1’s finale “Devil’s Trap.” Dean quickly becomes panicked again, leaving Sam to trail after his agitated brother, his own expression wild eyed and shaken. The neat touch about this scene is the crew member slinging mud on the vehicle is none other than the real Clif Kosterman, Jared and Jensen’s REAL bodyguard. He is played by another actor in the episode, but makes this quick appearance none the less.
Sam and Dean decide to pray to Castiel, figuring that it is their only shot to figuring out how to get home. They spot who they think is their angel friend, but is really Misha Collins, who reveals the plot of the episode when he says, “To keep you out of Virgil’s reach, he’s cast you into an alternate reality, a universe similar to ours in most respects yet dramatically different in others.” It isn’t until they realize that this is not Castiel, and take the script from him, indignant that they’ve been pranked. Misha goes on to say, invoking the overarching prank theme, ” You guys! You really punked me! I’m totally gonna tweet this one. (pulls out his phone and starts typing) “Hola, mishamigos. “J-squared… Got me good.””
This also pulls into the myth that Jared and Jensen prank their guest stars, brought up at just about every convention. While there is some truth to this—-evidenced by the now famous Words with Friends incident—it is largely exaggerated and overblown. Having Misha think that he’s been pranked by Jared and Jensen pulls this in and lets the fans in on the joke, too.
They end up in Jensen’s trailer, complete with a TV running in the background, running the season 4 gag reel. This selection is perfect, because both the real Jared and Jensen wink at the audience from it, letting them know that they are in on the joke being played. It goes by while Sam and Dean are trying to piece together just who Jensen Ackles is, and for the first time, we see Jensen’s prior roles being brought front and center—particularly a clip from his stint on Days of Our Lives. This is bothersome to Dean, and much the same way he slams the lap top shut in “The Monster at the End of this Book” in disgust, he does so here as well. This is everything Dean is not, after all.
Dean also reveals his intelligence by saying, “If we can reverse Balthazar’s spell…I watched every move. We just, uh, get the ingredients, right, get back to that same window, and…There’s no place like home.” It might not end up working in the end, but it’s nice to see the intelligence in this character come to the forefront, the same character that invented the salt rounds for the salt gun. Unfortunately, neither Sam or Dean realize that the set is really a set, looking for their ingredients amongst the props, ironically revealing that perhaps the show they’ve landed in is doing a similar style episode, furthering the circle. They also mistake one of the Impalas for a driveable vehicle, only to realize that they are trapped on set.
Sam and Dean get into an SUV driven by Jared and Jensen’s body guard, Clif. As they pull away, a sentimental and sweet touch in remembrance of the late Kim Manners is revealed: the studio is named KM in his honor. Throughout the episode, it has been mentioned that Jared and Jensen are not talking as of late, so Clif is surprised when Dean says that he would like to go home with Sam. This is another inside joke wrapped up in the episode’s gag. Jensen, at one point, did live with Jared during the filming of season 4. It isn’t until they arrive home that things get even crazier for both brothers, however.
Walking into Jared’s house, Dean quips, “Nice digs, Jay-Z.” It is a garish, over the top, and ornate house. It also makes Jared seem like an egomaniac, considering all of the pictures of him on display throughout. It’s another joke, the only actual photo from Jared’s real life is that of his wedding photo with Gen. Seeing Gen makes both brothers freeze, as to Sam and Dean she is Ruby—someone who is dead, killed by Dean. Dean is stunned and calls her “Ruby,” to which Gen complains that “”Ruby.” right. That one never gets old.” The joke here is about Dean and Ruby’s animosity towards one another.
Later, Sam’s curiosity gets the best of him, and he has to ask Gen if the Apocalypse happened in this universe without outright asking it. He asks if she remembers all of the disasters from the year prior, the earthquakes and tsunamis””-to which Gen replies, “Yeah, on your show.” It gives Sam a clue about where he and Dean find themselves—this place never had the Apocalypse, so therefore there might not be Angels or Hell as they know it.
When they get their package of a bone of a lesser saint, everyone starts to speculate what is going on between the two. Sam and Dean’s behavior is in character for them, as they’re used to doing illegal things to reach their goals—in this case to go home. For the cast and crew, they’re pleased to see Jared and Jensen talking and working together, even early on set, but they don’t understand what they’re really up to. Misha is disturbed when he asks Sam what’s in the box and Sam replies, calmly, “I bought part of a dead person.” Sam’s patience seems to be wearing thin with being “something called a Jared Padalecki.”
Sam and Dean are out of their element. They, without realizing it, have become Ed and Harry or Demian and Barnes. They are inept and do not fit in. None of their skill sets seem to apply here, and when they do try to employ them, they are accused of being “on an acid trip.” When it comes time for them to act, neither knows what to do or how to handle it. Dean is frozen in place, staring straight ahead, petrified, while Sam constantly fidgets and babbles, “If there’s a key, then there has to be a lock. And when we find the lock we can get the weapons. And then we can have the weapons. And the lock, we’ll also have the lock, I imagine, because we opened it and of course the initial key that opened-“
The producers, including Bob Singer, are stunned by this ineptitude. They have no idea what is going on or why Jared and Jensen are struggling so much with this. They decide to move on, rather than endure another attempt by the brothers at acting this scene out again. They in turn also call the new show runner, Sera Gamble, who replaced Eric Kripke at the end of season 5. They tell her that she shouldn’t fly in, that perhaps they had get a hold of Kripke to convince Jared and Jensen to return to normal. She is irate at this, but has no choice. Considering that Kripke is the creator of the show, and that Chuck was his representative as God, it seems to fit. It also gives us the tie in to “Hollywood Babylon,” one writer taking over another writer’s project.
Unfortunately for the brothers, the spell fails, proving that Sam was right to think something was different about this universe. It doesn’t have any magic. They probably can’t go home. In fact they might be stuck here. Before they can really do anything about this, Virgil, a very real threat has emerged from their universe into this one. He brings back the Godfather element, dressed much like a mobster, ready to execute Sam and Dean. This no magic problem comes in handy for the brothers, and they set out to beat Virgil to death, stunning everyone around them. This is not acceptable behavior for this universe, and they don’t realize they’ve signed their own death warrants by stopping Sam and Dean from finishing the job.
Confronted by Bob Singer later on, Sam and Dean find out that their surrogate father, Bobby Singer, was named for this producer. Dean is irate, and retorts, “What kind of douchebag names a character after himself?” Even Sam agrees, saying “Oh, that’s not right.” The story behind the name is that Kripke named Bobby for Robert Singer. It’s a nice touch to the show, showing thanks on Kripke’s part, but made humorous here, pointing out more to the fact that everyone in this universe is rather egotistical, unlike their real counterparts.
Dean speaks for the fans, all while thumbing his nose at them, in one fell swoop when he states, “You heard my brother. That’s right,I said “brother.” ’cause you know what, Bob? We’re not actors. We’re hunters. We’re the Winchesters. Always have been, and always will be. And where we’re from, people don’t know who we are. But you know what? We mattered in that world. In fact, we even saved the son of a bitch once or twice. And yeah, okay, here, maybe there’s some — some fans who give a crap about this nonsense.”
Meanwhile, Misha has been caught by Virgil, who realizes that this is not Castiel, but can be useful. He pulls out a chalice, much like the one Meg used back in season 1 to talk to Azazel. He promptly kills Misha, indicative of what might come at the end of season 6, but is more or less a red herring. He gets the way home from Raphael, told to go to the place he crossed, where Raphael will pull him through. The brothers find out from a frantic and upset Gen, complete with overacting and running mascara. Sam and Dean rush off to the scene, questioning the witness as they have countless times in the show’s history, bringing them closer to their element and strengths as characters.
Dean is starting to question if they should return home, saying, “Yeah, but here, you got a pretty good life. I mean, back home, the hits have been coming since you were 6 months old. You got to admit, being a-a bazillionare, married to Ruby, the whole package. It’s no contest.”
Sam, this time, speaks for the fans, in his reply, “No, you know, you were right. We just don’t mean the same thing here. I mean, we’re not even brothers here, man.”
When Eric Kripke arrives, he and Bob Singer discuss the tragedy of Misha’s murder. They are far more interested in the fact that it got them the front page of Variety than that an actor on their show was murdered. Kripke is also expressing his enthusiasm for his current project, “Octocobra,” a shout out to the SyFy monster mishmashes. When Virgil arrives to blast them away, ala Godfather, we don’t feel sorry for them as the action slows down and they are blown away to lie bleeding on the pavement. They’ve all come off as egotistical bastards, so it adds to the humor. It also harkens back to Dixon’s death in “Hollywood Babylon,” considering in this universe Kripke created the one that Sam and Dean are from.
Once Sam and Dean are returned to their world, they realize that they’ve been duped. This has been one huge practical joke played on them. It’s also being played on Balthazar, although he doesn’t know it. This is a red flag, one that Dean will ignore until it is far too late in “The Man Who Would Be King.” He is watching Castiel turn into something far worse than Lucifer, it’s happening right before him, and yet he doesn’t stop him or acknowledge this truth. Much like the way Michael Corelone becomes the Devil essentially at the end of the Godfather by becoming the new Don, Castiel has taken the decided path to become the new God possibly here. In the Godfather, after all, Michael starts off not wanting to be in the business, wanting to take it over initially to stop the bloodshed, only to end up executing all of his enemies and becoming the devil figure of the story. Castiel is following this path, and “The French Mistake,” while providing humor and delight at a behind the scenes look at Supernatural laid all of the season’s cards on the table for the viewer—subtly enough that these sign posts weren’t clear enough until after the end.
The meta fictional elements of Supernatural run even deeper than this analysis can provide. It has many threads, both direct and indirect, but looking at these direct meta episodes reveals a lot not just about the show, its cast and crew, and its genre, but about story telling itself. It’s also something not seen often in television because it is risky, something again Supernatural has never shied away from. It’s certainly one of the more creative endeavors on television, stripping away the curtain to reveal the machinations beneath the surface. Rather it is a serious or comical look behind the curtain, it provides us insight into why it is we tell stories, how we tell stories, and what those stories ultimately mean. For anyone who is interested in how to approach writing, this is a good place to look.
It’s hard to imagine them having the capacity to top the over the top nature of “The French Mistake,” but I think I have just the idea. Send Bizarro Jared and Jensen into Sam and Dean’s universe and see what happens. They shouldn’t be talking to one another, just as they were reputed to be. Let Bizarro Jared and Jensen be as egotistical as possible, but force them to find a way to survive by relying on one another. Sam and Dean being there to help keep them alive is optional, but do give them Bobby Singer, who will whip them into shape right quick—and besides, they’re used to answering to a Bob Singer anyways. This gets the real Jared and Jensen out of having to play themselves “straight,” and keeps with the pranking and tongue in cheek nature of all the direct meta episodes of the series. When they finally find their way home (if they don’t get themselves killed) make everyone around them stunned at their newly found friendship and new attitudes—all because they have new understanding into thee fictional characters they portray on TV.
Who knows what direct meta treat awaits us in season 7?
Again, love all the photo choices here. They’re awesome! I can’t pick my fave from this set, but I’d have to say it’s a tie between Sam’s impatient look while sitting with the box or his bad acting.
e meWho cannot but still openly chuckle whenever the acting scene in The French Mistake is mentioned.
I love the meta episodes…well, except for Swan Song. Nothing will ever convince me to like Swan Song.
I’d like to read an meta article about Tall Tales, if you ever want to do it.
I’ve got a few ideas in mind—right now Scarecrow is the one that won’t leave me alone. So, we’ll see.
And yes, the acting scene gets me everytime. I have to pause it usually cause I’m laughing too damn hard at how ridiculous it is.
Again, your second part did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will never tire of watching “The French Mistake”. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, everyone involved with this gem of a show is beyond talented. They possess a quality that is rare, they can make fun of themselves and by extention the fans without being insulting. And we LOVE it! And if the writers ever do decide to dump Jared & Jensen in the SPN universe, I will be there with bells on.
Everyone is very talented on this show. It’s amazing. From the unsung (now not so unsung thanks to Yirbah) crew members who add all these little touches that pull us into the story, to the writers who spin the tale, to Jared, Jensen, and all of the other wonderful cast members too numerous to mention here, they’ve managed to put together a show that is probably the best of its genre for the decade.
And yeah, I’d kill to see Bizarro Jared and Jensen end up in the SPN universe. It’d be a riot. I can totally see them acting all douchey and egotistical towards everyone. Certainly, we all know the real Jared and Jensen would never behave that way, but judging by how their Bizarro counterparts were described? Yeah. I can so see it.
Now I WANT a meta with Bizarro!Jared&Jensen in the Supernatural world. It would be the closure of the circle. 😀
Look at what I started. Ben Edlund, are you listening? Come on, it’d be HILARIOUS.
And the whole time they’d have to be not talking, too. Of course they’d have to find a way around that if they want to live, but still.
I can just see them being all douchey to all the things that go bump in the night, nonplussed, kinda like Hook Man was until he died at the convention. And then Bobby would shove his foot up their asses and put that to rest.
Oh man, please TPTB, say you hear this plea and do this. I think both Jared and Jensen would have so much fun playing egotistical versions of themselves that would be so over the top and cartoonish. And we’d all enjoy laughing at it!
I too would love to see Bizarro!J&J show up in the Supernatural world. What a hoot that would be for us fans and for J&J no doubt.
C’mon Ben Edlund! Make it so!!
“The French Mistake” alternately amuses the hell out of me and makes me squirm in my seat because, while the episode is hilarious, I have a tough time with most uncomfortable humor–and much of the humor in the episode came from that uncomfortable fish-out-of-water experience for Sam and Dean. (As I mentioned before, I have a very specific sense of humor, and SPN usually caters pretty well to it, but TFM not so much). I loved all the fandom references and seeing Gen again (“It’s an alpaca, dumbass” is one of my favorite parts), but on the whole I find it’s just not an episode I can rewatch much. I admire the creativity and am thankful to be a fan of a show willing to tip its cap to the fans so overtly, but I just can’t love the episode like a lot of fandom seems to. I like the idea that the brothers are speaking for the fans at different points in the episode, though; it wasn’t really something I’d considered but it makes a lot of sense.
I can see why you’d feel that way. It does dance rather close to the weird J2 fandom/fanfiction fetish to an extent. Sometimes meta can be a bit too much for some.
I took it all in great stride, considering how they deliberately warped the perceptions of both Jared and Jensen in this alternate reality. It WAS Jared and Jensen, and yet it was most certainly NOT Jared and Jensen, so I rolled with it.
The whole not talking to each other thing that they mention over and over again, right to the final line with Sam saying “But at least we’re talking again” is a shout out to the strife of seasons 4 and 5. It’s a neat touch to see them talk about it, and also seemingly close the book on that chapter of Sam and Dean’s lives—all the while doing so in a meta lens.
All in all, I get where you’re coming from. It is a jarring episode, a bit out in the deep end, and they do ask us fans to overlook a lot!
It wasn’t really any of the jarring bits of the episode that bothered me. Warped J2, BTS references, fandom shoutouts…those were very enjoyable for me. And I really appreciated the creativity and risk-taking that came with the territory. It was just the terrible awkwardness that permeated the entire episode made me squirm. Some people find that uncomfortable humor very funny (and Sam and Dean were very, very uncomfortable the whole time); I just don’t happen to be one of them. *shrug*
Ah. I see. Yeah, it can be abit awkward at times, and it is one of those acquired taste things. I totally understand.
I already KNOW I’m twisted. Hell, my favorite music video of all time is The Safety Dance. Yeah. Warped.
No wonder I love Ben Edlund!
I’m glad that you liked it.
I think the Chuck thing is one of those things. Either you agree and he is God, or you don’t and he isn’t God. I prefer to think that he is. God’s God. If he didn’t want an amulet to burn in his presence cause he was incognito, he’d make it not burn. It’s just one of those preference things, I guess.
As for the prank thing, I hadn’t noticed until I started to work on this myself. I went from Hell House to Hollywood Babylon, and it jumped out at me that both cases originated in a prank of some sort. Then I tied everything else together by that thread. I’m glad it made you look at them differently that way.
I am really hoping the seventh season brings us more direct meta episodes like this. It breaks up the heavy stuff, moves the story along in a different way than a serious episode might, and gives us the chance to have some fun. I know the direct meta I’d like to see, but will be pleased with what ever they offer.
Great article. A little question: I thought that Chuck was only God in the Swan Song episode, not before that. And maibe only at the end of the episode, when his clothes change to white.
But from your words I detect that you think Chuck was God the whole time? Can you tell me how you came to that conclusion?
When he drops the “I’m a cruel and capricious God” line, he’s tipping his hand to his identity, and yet we don’t get that pay off (if you subscribe to Chuck as God, that is) until Swan Song. I tend to believe that Chuck was/is God. He’s Eric Kripke, so in a way he IS God of the Supernatural universe more or less. I hope that helps!