Supernatural Preview: Episode 7.09 “How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters”
IT’S A JERSEY DEVIL OF A TIME
In what seems to be a shout out to a season 1 episode “Wendigo”, this episode deals with a version of the Jersey Devil, a not so mythical creature, which is killing hikers and campers in a New Jersey state park. The episode features Dean and Sam teaming up with Bobby to track and hunt what the townsfolk claim is the real Jersey Devil. And we have two real fan favorites at the helm of the episode, writer Ben Edlund and director Guy Bee. With those two, anything is possible.
So what is the Jersey Devil?
It’s a ‘supposed’ mythical creature of the New Jersey Pinelands, and has haunted New Jersey and the surrounding area for the past 260 years. This entity has been seen by over 2,000 witnesses during this period, and many claim there is evidence to support the existence of a genuine animal. While some believe that the Jersey Devil is nothing more than a quaint figment of collective imaginations, others see it as a very
authentic creature and a bona fide threat to human safety.
One website who studies the animal writes, “[People] who have sworn they did not believe in the existence of the Jersey Devil have had their minds changed after spending just one moonlit night in the Pine Barrens. There, where a ghostly mist drifts across the cedar swamps and the unearthly cry of some unseen creature can be heard piercing the stillness of the dark forest, few disbelievers can be found. Whether it’s deep in the Pine Barrens or deep in our collective unconscious, one thing is certain; the Devil still lurks in New Jersey, and most likely always will.”
Anyone who has ever been in a forest, at night, for any length of time knows how very eerie the woodland can be after dark. Shadowy images, tree branches moving silently and hauntingly always give people the heebie-jeebies. There is just something creepy about everything you see appearing in black and white. Pair that with an unknown killing machine, which lives up in the trees, and only attacks at night, and you have the makings of a frightening episode€¦on the one hand. On the other hand, it’s written by Ben Edlund and from him you can get just about anything. And I’m told Edlund has some very screwball elements in store for us, which can be good or bad, depending on your POV. For me, the Jersey Devil ought to be scary, but Edlund is not all joviality. All of his scripts have a serious side too, so I hope for a blend of fright and humor to put the episode high in viewer appreciation for the November sweeps.
Biggerson’s restaurant makes a re-appearance in this episode and Dean is absolutely ecstatic when he finds one in the town. But he becomes extremely disheartened when he learns that the restaurant’s special sandwich seems to be making the locals crazy. (Here’s hoping that is NOT Dean’s favorite menu item. 🙂 )
The trailer, titled “The hunters become the hunted,” gives us snippets from the episode, but not as much info as in the past. However it serves its purpose in really painting a picture of doom and gloom, especially in a scene which shows our three heroes in very serious peril.
It starts with a night view of a camper all snug in his bed roll, sleeping soundly when he is suddenly grabbed and hoisted up into a tree. (Begs the question, if the locals know about the devil why are they camping in the woods?)
After a few shots of him screaming and various parts of him dropping back to the forest floor, we are treated to a shot of a very blood arm dangling from a tree.
We also hear and see Sam and Bobby discussing the camper above. Sam says, “Something hung a camper up in a tree and then ate him alive. Locals don’t even have a name for it.” Bobby’s reply, “The Jersey Devil.”
We see Bobby warning the boys that they have company and of course we all think it’s the devil.
With that, we see the trio aiming and shooting up into the trees and we hear Bobby say, “Shut up, shut off, and listen.”
Love the backlighting here. Really gives depth to the forest.
Then all we hear is that eerie heartbeat heard on a lot of the title cards from past seasons and see individual shots of the team battling the devil.
The last quick glimpse we see is a monster that looks a lot like an emaciated zombie from “The Walking Dead.” Who knows if this is Edlund’s Jersey Devil? I would have at least hoped for wings!
The trailer also shows the team finding a sheriffs car, with the sheriff seen as having just stepped from his squad, and in the blink of an eye, he is gone.
We get to see more of his fate with a camera angle change looking from the passenger’s side of the squad. Seems the sheriff is attacked from behind and dragged off into the woods, Jersey Devil 2, boys and Bobby nada.
Really hope he wasn’t their only ally!
In the sneak peek clip, and in the photos released for the episode, we see Bobby, Dean and Sam walking through the woods looking for a missing person, Phil, and reminiscing about Bobby teaching them to hunt when they were younger.
As Sam points out, before Bobby was a supernatural hunter, he was a backwoods hunter, who’s family used to shoot their dinner when Bobby was a kid. Here we get more information on Bobby’s past, which I suspect will all be put to good use in 7.10 but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
We’ve known since season one that Bobby was a strong influence on the boys’ lives, and here we get a glimpse into how much of a father he was to the young boys. Seems when John would leave the boys off before going on a hunt, Bobby occupied their time by teaching them as Dean says, “most of the outdoor tracking we know.” Skills they have obviously put to good use in the family business. However, Bobby points out, he could never get the ‘grubs’ to shoot a deer. Smiling Dean chimes up, “You’re talking about Bambi, man” to which Bobby replies jokingly, “You don’t shoot Bambi, jackass, you shoot Bambi’s mother.” (Smile)
A little further on, they find what they are looking for…
…or at least part of him, up in a tree.
Dean’s comment, “Well, it looks like we found Phil.”
On a side note: I love the shots Guy Bee has of the J3s with the lighting coming from below giving the appearance of a campfire. Wonder how late they were up that night filming?
And if Guy was attempting to give the woods the facade of the New Jersey Pinelands complete with the ‘ghostly mist [that] drifts across the cedar swamps,’ he did a fine job here.
The preview on Canadian channel CHCH shows Richard Roman (played by James Patrick Stuart) as a guest in the episode. Edlund consistently has a part of his scripts that moves the main arc along, so an appearance of the Big Bad Leviathan boss would be right up his alley…or should I say woods.
Especially since we saw a very dejected Crowley last week mentioning he is keeping all other baddies away from the boys, so they can concentrate all their efforts on the leviathans. I really thought that was a hint we’d be seeing more leviathans before the mid season hiatus, so it’s either this episode or the Bobby-centric one after turkey day. What do you think? Is Roman the one behind the Jersey Devil? Maybe the leviathans have found a way to eat and not raise too much notice, by playing into the Jersey Devil myth. Only time will tell. (Hope the boys brought the borax!)
One last spoiler comes from a tweet by Jim Michaels saying that Baby will not be back this week. (Sad) But let’s hoping she will make her reappearance before hiatus too.
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Official synopsis – Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Bobby (Jim Beaver) become actual hunters, in the true sense of the word, when they set up camp in a New Jersey state park to track a creature that has been attacking people in the woods. The townsfolk claim it is the real Jersey Devil. Meanwhile, Dean is beyond thrilled to find a Biggerson’s restaurant in town, but is devastated when he discovers the restaurant’s special sandwich seems to be making people crazy. Written by CW Publicity
Guy Bee directed the episode written by Ben Edlund and no more needs to be said about these two. (Smile)
Cast (IMDb) includes Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Jim Beaver, James Patrick Stuart (Richard Roman), Olivia Cheng (Susan), Nicole Fraissinet (Jocelyn)
Photos can be found here.
Trailer:
Sneak Peek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfI3rskM6n8
Canadian CHCH channel promo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEn8wx6PAO8
Here’s Sera Gamble’s preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyN26uZG5Wg
Happy Episode everyone. If interested in discussing the episode, come back and post your comments. Happy Supernatural Friday!
For spoiler updates, follow me on Twitter at @sblgn
Thanks for the preview look at this episode. I love Edlund episodes and can’t wait to see this (even if Baby isn’t in it *sigh*).
Her is Sera Gambles sneak peak clip. Definitely Leviathans at work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyN26uZG5Wg
I got this posted in the article now.
Despite having no clue what a Jersey Devil is (it looks like a cross between a boar and one of Santa’s hairy reindeer!), I’m really looking forward to this episode. And I’m really excited about Sera Gambles promise for the last few minutes. I also wonder if we’ll see Crowley again. I really want to see if he’s still taking part in ‘Movember’…..
Thanks Sablegreen, and happy watching.
Well now we know why all the Bobby build up. They only build up a fav character so they can take them away. Will TPTB never learn? And just when their ratings were going up too. Really hope they have more sense than this!
Good eppie though. Way to go Guy and Ben!
GAHHHHHH!!!!!!!
That is all.