The WFB Admins’ Top 15 “Supernatural” Episodes List: #8
Number 8….half way there (give or take a 1/2). So are you ready for today’s choices? One thing’s for sure, we may all have different favourites, but we’re pretty confident you’d agree that they’re all rockin’ good episodes!
So here it is….our picks for 8!
sweetondean’s #8:
“The Monster at the End of This Book”
Why: I toss between season 4 and 5, as being my favourite seasons, maybe ask me again tomorrow and I’ll tell you a different story! “The Monster at the End of This Book” is my second favourite season 4 episode (you’ll have to wait for the favourite).
This episode starts with a great big dose of Meta. It’s the first time “Supernatural” crossed this line. Not the last of course, they manage to drag us into their reality highly successfully!
“The Monster at the End of This Book” is just smart. I remember thinking how damn clever it was when I first saw it, working the show into the story like that. There’s lots of references to earlier episodes, like “Bugs” and “Red Sky at Morning”, both of which are referred to as bad writing and happen to be a couple of the fan’s least favourite episodes and not coincidentally, Kripke’s. Dean talks about being full-frontal when reading the book, “Route 666″ ““ an episode with a rare Dean love scene. Chuck’s pen name is Carver Edlund, a mash up of Jeremy Carver and Ben Edlund. The list of Chuck’s books online, match the real episode titles and there are mentions of Sam having to kill Madison, Dean going to Hell and the boys crying! “I mean, the best parts are when they’d cry.” I was with the boys in leaning about slash, I’d never heard of it until then, I didn’t discover the fandom until between seasons 4 and 5, so I was even fairly ignorant of Deangirls and Samgirls even though I was a dyed in the wool Deangirl without even knowing there was such a thing! It really was the first big nod to the “Supernatural” fandom…a gentle poke at us…a wink that they knew what we’re up to out here and how we think!
Even now all this stuff makes me giggle with fangirl glee.
We meet Chuck for the first time in this episode and he’s so wonderful, I love Chuck, LOVE HIM. He’s so nervous, and jittery and tiny! I remember the first time I met Rob I thought, he’s a bit like Chuck! (Then I had the awkward moment when I said to my friend that I was a little in love with him and wanted to take him home with me and he was standing right next to me…grinning, oops).
I love how no matter what the boys try, they end up doing exactly what’s in the books. There’s no escaping it. Pink flower Band-Aids, the Red Motel, the plastic tarp on the back window of the Impala; the bacon cheeseburger, there was no escaping any of it. Even though they try to do the opposite, they can’t change what Chuck has already written in the gospel of the Winchesters, hence, doing something he is yet to write was the only way they could make things go their way.
One of my favourite parts of “The Monster at the end of This Book” is Cass. Because this is the first time he really disobeys. We’ve seen him obviously develop affection for the Winchesters, well Dean mostly, but this is the first time he actively goes against the rules and helps Dean help Sam, by obtusely telling Dean about the archangel tethered to Chuck. I love the look on his face when he says, “Just so you understand… why I can’t help.”
It felt to me then and it still does now, that this was a turning point for Cass, even though he slipped back to towing the line for a bit, this was when I felt like Dean and his relationship shifted.
Favourite Quote: Oh gosh, I think probably: “I am the prophet, Chuck!” because it’s so ridiculous. So, so ridiculous!
Honorary mention goes to Dean: “I’m sitting in a Laundromat, reading about myself sitting in a Laundromat reading about myself. My head hurts.”
Favourite Scene: I love the Laundromat scene with Sam’s brooding and pensive shoulders, but I think I’ll go with the scene when the brothers are in “˜Kripke’s Hollow’ diner, trying not to have a fight, because Chuck’s pages say they have a fight, so they’re attempting to stay calm but they’re so obviously jonesing to yell at each other!
Dean: It frustrates me when you say such reckless things.
Sam: Well, it frustrates me when you’d rather hide than fight.
Honorary mention goes to the Dean and Cass scene, because I really like the portents of their coming relationship.
Such a terrific episode.
Love your picks for # 8. “The Monster at the End of this Book” was also the episode for me where I learned what a slashfan was, yuk! 😡
“Monster Movie”, I have always been a fan of the old b&w monster movies, 2 for 35 cents on Saturdays (yes, I am not young). It was just so beautifully shot, the black and white was pristine and the guys looked so freaking good! 🙂
And “Changing Channels”, I was floored when we found out the the Trickster was Gabriel. We need him back, stat! 😀
Three more that are not on my favorites list, but I like them all and want to watch them again now. I laugh out loud every time I watch that laundromat scene. Dean’s line about reading about himself kills me – and then Sam saying the guy is good is just classic! Thanks so much again for doing these lists!
Sylvia – I am with you – I had never heard of that before this episode and I had the same reaction. I am sure (or I hope) I am missing something, because I cannot imagine that people are actually advocating incest.
I have been inspired and have now ranked my favorite 30 episodes, so I actually have a top 15 now too. Of course, every time I read one of the favorites here, I want to add more.
Going with Monster at the End of This Book. There are 4 episodes I always keep on my DVR and this is one of them.
( Mystery Spot, The End, French Mistake)
I just started watching SPN durning season 4 and this epi gave me an inside into the madness that is SPN fandom.
My fav scene is in the publishers office. Every minute of that scene cracks me up every time I watch it. The total disgust on Deans face when he has to show her the tattoo is just priceless. Deans face when Sam starts what looks like is going to be a strip tease 😆 and then shows her his tattoo to prove he is a fan, again is just perfect. Then she drops her pants to show them her tattoo.
I do agree the discussion in the laundry mat is one of the best! Carver Edlund (real life) are two of the most talented writers on TV.
@sweetondean
As soon as I saw MATEOTB I was wondering if your favorite line would be the same as mine and it absolutely was!
Sometimes I just picture Rob giving that line reading and it makes me laugh out loud.
OMG, I love ALL of these episodes! Actually, that will probably be my reaction from here on out. But oh, I had actually forgotten about the VD commercial! Brilliant. Bit of a spoiler perhaps, but I picked “Tell me… is there garlic on this pizza?” as my favorite quote too.
My #8 episode is “A Very Supernatural Christmas”. It strikes the balance between horrifying and hilarious; it is both heartwarming to heartbreaking. That poor kid watching Santa get ripped apart is authentically creepy, as is the Basement of Gore. The guys getting called out for coming to “Santa’s Village” with no kids is my favorite laugh of the episode, though the Winchester rendition of “Silent Night” to drunk Santa was close! Some of the best brother moments here in both flashback and present day. I could go on, but I’m already repeating what you’ve said in your lists, so I’ll stop now.
“You fudgin’ touch me again, I’ll fudgin’ kill ya!” – Dean