RearView Review: Supernatural 10.04 “Paper Moon”

“Paper Moon”
Season 10 Episode 4
Written by Adam Glass
Directed by Jeannot Szwarc
Airdate: October 28, 2014

By Wednesday

THEME
“Say, it’s only a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea 
But it wouldn’t be make-believe
 If you believed in me”

When you “believe in someone” you put faith and trust in that person.
When someone “believes in you,” you gain confidence from their love and support.
When two people “believe in each other”, they are buoyed above the tired, fake world
and it becomes magical. 

PLOT & CHARACTERS
CLUES
The full moon provides the first clue. The howls of “Werewolves of London” (Warren Zevon) provides another.
You are the werewolf strolling into Panheads Roadhouse.
The Bikers mistakenly ogle you like you are a piece of meat.  There are glimpses of the true werewolf’s identity.

Barker (Chris Lundgren) takes the bait. When his shirt is ripped open,
he smirks, “Damn. Girl after my own heart.”
(Literally.)
He stares in disbelief as claws appear.
His blood sprays on a painted ANCHOR.
He goes down. (A glimpse of blonde hair.)

SHADES
A boat roars by Sam and Dean lounging in lawn chairs.
As advised by Castiel, they are taking some R&R.
A sign nearby reads, “No Hunting.”
It’s a BLUE world; even Baby’s BLUE
Baby waits patiently, a connecting clue in her side mirror.
Although Dean teases Sam about his injured shoulder, something seems off. It’s the shades.
They hide behind their sunglasses, afraid to get real.
They have both gone “dark” and it still tints their perspective of the world and each other.
The boat lays ANCHOR.

Dean claims he’s GOLDEN when Sam asks.
Lying and avoiding what needs to be said, the topic turns to the three kills in the paper.
Sam says he’ll call someone to take care of it, but that’s not what Dean wants.
“Look, Sam, what we’re doing here, it’s good, okay? You and me hanging out. But I need to work…I NEED THIS.”
They’re not alone.  (Mark of Cain)
It’s Monster Of The Week time. Let’s see if they’re ready.

GAME  ON/OFF
Game Wardens, Sam and Dean, head to the Sherriff’s office. Dean’s
game is off. He flounders for a good story bewildering Sam and the Sheriff. “Oh. Well, uh, where do we start? What with,
uh, Logging… Bitcoin. Yeah. Obama.” Sam rescues him and
they get a tip on a witness, Tommy.
(Sam’s face!)

Back at the Roadhouse, Tommy (Primo Allon) is persuaded to reveal a
ghost girl sighting out at the Sturgis’ farm. “I don’t give one red cent in hell what the cops say.
She was there. She was eaten. She’s a freakin’ ghost.”

♥CHICKEN HEARTS♥

Baby lights up the circles and claws of a Hay Rake at the Sturgis barn.
Sam notes that, “Ghosts don’t shred people.”
Dean fiddles with his gun. “This flea bag. Looks like
she ain’t done chowing down on Sons of Anarchy just yet.”
The “bad boys“ turn on their flashlights. Sam circles the back while Dean passes
fresh chicken kills, minus their hearts.
(This is no place for the chicken hearted)
Dean hears a voice and aims a gun at a woman’s back.

She’s insisting that someone pick up her call. She stops, sniffing the air.
Coriander and leather. It’s Dean. Dean, his gun pointed, does not shoot.
She bolts straight into Sam’s arms. Sam spins the woman around for Dean to see.
It’s Kate, (Brit Sheridan) from “Bitten” (8:04), the werewolf they let go.

~Flashback “Snuff Film”~

At first, Kate’s confused by their accusation of “going all wolverine” but she recovers
telling them to kill her because she’s gone bad. “Do it!” she insists (with the catch phrase of Season Ten.)
Dean, his gun pointed, does not shoot. Sam raises his hand stopping Dean.
Sam doesn’t think Dean’s ready. Sam offers, “Let me do it.” Upset, Dean asks why.
Sam explains Dean “should sit this one out… You’re not ready, Dean.”
While they argue, Kate grows a claw to saw the rope they’ve bound her with.

They’re interrupted by the Sheriff reporting another animal attack less
than an hour ago, making it impossible for Kate to have done it.
While Sam and Dean discuss the conflicting information
“Werewolf Barbie” breaks free and flees.

Dean wonders why she’s pretending to be the “big bad wolf” if she’s innocent.
Sam wisely guesses she might be protecting someone.
Dean thinks it’s foolish because she was “about two seconds away from taking a dirt nap.”

Dean pulls out Kate’s pink phone and redials her last “booty” call to the Lincoln Motel.
Back in the Impala, Dean resumes defending his offended pride.
“So what’s this about me not being ready back there?”
Sam maintains he doesn’t want to start anything.
(The best defense is a good offense.)
Dean goes on the attack. Me, what about you? “Are you ready?” He brings up Lester.

~Flashback LESTER~

♥HEART TO HEART♥

Dean figures that if Sam wants to “open up veins” Sam might want to share about Lester.
Sam defends himself. Lester? “The guy who you then killed, right?”
Dean excuses himself. He was a demon and besides,
“Lester was gonna pay for that soul shake sooner or later.
So technically, it’s still on you.”
Sam’s frustrated by Dean’s attack.
“What do you want from me, Dean? Look, I’m not happy about it, okay?
But I needed to find you. So if I had to… bend a few rules…”
Dean suggests Sam had to “go dark.”
Sam grudgingly agrees, “Go dark. Sure. Label it if you want.”
Dean digs for more information. Just how dark did Sam go?
“You know, between Lester and the others…”
Sam denies it. “There weren’t others!”
Dean makes his point: it wasn’t just him who needed time off.
“Maybe we both needed that time off. This is good. This is good.”
(If Dean’s logic confused you, have a look at Sam’s face.)

STAKE OUT

Their early stake out at the Lincoln Motel pays off. A young woman leaves for a morning jog.

They follow.

The young woman (Emily Tennant) follows a jogger.
Dean suspects she’s looking for “breakfast.”
They pull guns and point them at the woman who turns,revealing she’s not Kate.
Terrified, she raises her hands. “Oh, god. Please, don’t. I’ll give you anything you want.”
Dean, his gun pointed, does not shoot.
They decide to “test” her.
(Can you imagine if this were you? These guys are scary.)
Dean pulls a silver knife and approaches her. She yells, “No!
Help! Somebody help me!” Dean tells her to take it easy.
(Easy to say if you’re not being threatened with a knife. But, not to worry, she had it coming.)
She reveals her werewolf self.

She slams Dean to the ground and jumps on Sam attempting to strangle him.
Kate shows up and hauls the fanged female off Sam. The woman runs.
Dean pulls his gun but Kate jumps in front.
“Don’t! She’s my sister.”
Dean, his gun pointed, does not shoot.

Dean cannot find Kate’s sister and returns to them pulling his gun and demanding Kate explain.
Sam cautions Dean to “put the gun down.”
Dean, his gun pointed, does not shoot.
Kate has some explaining to do at a café.

Kate claims she’s clean and has never “eaten a human heart.”
She kept her promise to them and sticks to animals. She also finds yoga and meditation help tame the beast in her.
This could be good advice for Dean but he’s not into that “hippie-dippie new age crap” and it doesn’t seem to be working for her sister. 
He reminds her, “saying it and doing it are two different things.”
(Ya, Dean.)

~FLASHBACK KATE~

Kate, lonely, watches her family through a window. She couldn’t endanger them.
Later, she hears about her sister’s car accident and rushes to her side.
Tasha was dying. Kate saved Tasha by turning her into a werewolf.
But, Tasha refused to follow Kate’s guidelines. Kate finds Tasha feeding on a human.
Kate claims it’s her mess; she’ll clean it up. Tasha is family and worth “eating a bullet for.”

Kate plans to take Tasha away to the woods to get her under control.
Surprising everyone, including Sam, Dean announces he has a cure for Werewolves.
All Kate has to do is round up Tasha. Kate desperately latches on to this small hope.
She’s willing to take them to a family cabin where her sister’s hiding.
(Sam’s face, again.)

♥Heart to Heart♥

Behind the Impala, Sam confronts Dean. “Dude, what are you doing? There’s no cure.”
Dean’s cure is a silver knife.
(Wow! What a low down trick.)
Dean maintains they kill werewolf/ monsters.
Sam defends them saying they’re no different than us.
They fight for each other all the time. Dean notes that saving him may not have been the right thing to do.
After all, he still has the Mark. Sam says they’ll work it out, but not to put their problems on the girls.

♥Heart to Heart♥

On the road, with Kate fast asleep, Sam confesses. He hurt others besides Lester but only demons.
Sam did it because he watched Dean die and carried his corpse. He was driven.
Dean reminds him about the note. Sam scoffs, “Don’t look for me”? That note? Yeah, that was really informative. Thanks.”
Dean confesses, too.
(About all the demons he killed? No, that was the Mark, and he would have killed demons topside anyway.
No, this confession is about what bothered him most about being a demon.)
“It was, “embarrassing. All of it. You know, the — the — that note. Crowley. Everything.”
(Cringe. How does one recover from shame? Dean’s self-esteem took a blow.)
Humiliated, and guilt ridden, he couldn’t say “thank you” to Sam for his undeserving life.
Sam assures him, “You don’t ever have to say that, not to me.”

Dean wakes Kate who volunteers to update Tasha first.
Dean slaps handcuffs on her and locks her to the steering wheel.
Betrayed, Kate pleads for her sister’s life. “Take me…She can be saved.”
Dean disagrees, “No. Tasha’s in too deep. You don’t ever come back from that, not ever.”
(These are haunting words. Dean could be accurately describing his own condition.)

FUMBLES/RECOVERY

Inside the cabin the brothers split and Sam comes across Tasha sitting on a bed holding a doll. (Bait)
“I can’t believe my own sister betrayed me.”
Sam assures her Kate didn’t.

Tasha is not afraid Sam will shoot her because one of her pack captured a sheepish Dean.

Tasha orders Sam to drop his gun. His delay causes “Dreamboat” Dean to get clubbed.

Sam drops his gun while Kate is hustled in.
Tasha introduces Brandon (Scott Sawchuk) and Travis (Daniel Martin) as family.
Dean’s not impressed with this “psycho Brady Bunch.”
Tasha leaps on Sam to continue strangling him. Kate tries to intervene.
Tasha gives her a choice: join her family, or leave. To prove loyalty Kate must eat Sam’s heart.
When Sam tells her “no”, Tasha snarls, “No one’s talking to you, Paul Bunyan!”
Kate shakes her head. Tasha instructs her family to take the brothers.
“Have some fun. Oh, and I want a heart to-go. Put it in a doggie bag.”

The werewolves shove Sam and Dean to the other room. “On your knees!” one growls.
Dean assumes incorrectly that they want to play, “Wow. Well, I’m awfully flat–”
They are slugged to their knees.

Kate does not give up on her sister. Tasha, drunk with power, feels like a superhero.
Kate says not if she kills people. What happened to her good little sister?
Tasha reveals that she wasn’t good, only weak. Now, she can do what she wants.
“I’m not scared. I’m scary.”
Tasha refuses to be on the run from “Mary-Kate and Ashley.” They should kill anyone who gets in their way.

Sam and Dean mock their captors. Dean calls them “minor leaguers” which sets them off.
Sam lurches up with a silver blade and stabs Travis, while Brandon stops Dean’s arm and tries to bite him.
Sam intervenes, stabbing Brandon and saving his brother.
Dean gloats, “Well, welcome to the majors, boys.”
Sam disbelieving his brother’s unearned bravado snorts with laughter.

(Dean is gun shy, blade shy and way off his game.  Could it be that like a recovering addict he
is afraid to taste a kill for fear of losing control? Will the Mark take over and quench its thirst?)
Kate pretends to agree with joining Tasha’s family.
They tell each other, “I love you,” and have one last embrace.
Kate stabs Tasha and flees.

♥Heart to Heart♥

Back in the Impala, Sam and Dean discuss pursuing Kate. Dean was impressed with her.
Sam notes that, “maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t shoot her.”
Dean, a little sensitive about his off game, snaps
“Really? You’re gonna Monday morning quarterback this thing?  If you got an itch to scratch…”
Sam cautiously explains that they both need more rest.
“I mean, Dean… you were a demon. You still have the Mark.”
From a Truck Stop, Kate calls her pink phone which Dean kept.
Sam thanks her for making the right choice to kill her sister.  
Kate knows that the bond and love she felt for her sister was one sided and maybe always was.
Dean tells her to keep clean. Kate says she won’t promise but, she’ll try.
When Dean says, “See you around,” Kate responds, “I hope not.”
Betrayed and disillusioned, she walks away, broken hearted, into a tired, old world,
with no moonlight, only glaring passing headlights.

Dean admits to Sam that he’s right. He’s not ready to hunt.
“But, I am just trying to do the right thing, man, ’cause I’m so sick and tired of doing the wrong one.”
Dean needs to redeem himself and the only way he knows how is by saving people and hunting things.
And, in this moment, Dean really is “GOLDEN.”

The Script

Revisiting the worst episode ever, “Bitten,” was an inexplicably dreadful choice.
The flashbacks were annoying. Isn’t this why we have the “Road So Far” segment?
The “Bitten” flashback was gratefully minimalized.
The “Lester” flashback: totally unnecessary. We just saw this. Unless Lester is planning on returning as a vengeful demon, he needs to finish dying already.
Kate’s flashback: necessary but too long.
The parallel plot of Sam/ Dean and Kate/ Tasha was a repeat of 9:15 “The Thinman.”
Although it was nice to get a Brother Moment, having five was overkill.
Some of the BM dialogue was vital to the season’s arc continuity, and crucial for understanding character development and motivation;
however, it took ever so long.
It was fun to have a Monster of the Week episode, although it was predictable.
Loose end: Why didn’t Sam and Dean tell Kate about Garth? A phone number, an address?
There was a multitude of disjointed motifs and allusions that the director valiantly tried to convey.
If you eliminate half the flashbacks, half the B.Ms., and ignore the tired parallel and predictable plot, what are you left with?
Surprisingly, some very amusing and very poignant moments and a lot of biting witty lines.

DIRECTOR/CINEMATOGRAPHER

Jeannot Szwarc / Serge Ladouceur

P.O.V.

The opening point of view shot of a werewolf.

SYMBOLS

 The Shades : symbolism of Sam and Dean still in a dark place and hiding from each other.

Claw marks/stripes : walls, shadows, lamp, bedspread, fence. Most notable the five slash marks. 11111

Moon = Disillusionment

The Moon Shape and Claws appeared together. (Side Mirror, Hay Rake, Dart Board)

Nautical Motif:  

Anchors, boat, nautical rope, bell sounds and bait.

Taking the Bait (Here’s Sam and a Dead Fish)

Hits of Dangerous RED

Hits of Innocent Pink 

ALLUSIONS

Paul Bunyan (The Gilmore Girls) Mary Kate and Ashley (New York Minute)

Tasha

(TWEET: Adam Glass:  BTW, my sister’s name is Tasha and she always wanted me
to put her in a #supernatural episode so here you go sis.)

SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE:

THE GREEN COOLER

You can follow the Green Cooler on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/TheGreenCooler

BEST PERFORMANCE:

Baby was a contender from all angles:

And, despite the entertaining confused facials from Jared, and Jensen’s “yellow fever,”

Brit Sheridan held her own, compelling us to feel empathy for Kate. Congratulations Brit!

GREAT LINES

(Many are previously mentioned)

Dean: Taking some ‘we time.’

Tommy: Badge is a badge.

Motorcycle References:

“Sons of Anarchy”  & “Sturgis” & “Panheads”

Werewolf Humour:

“Break some hearts, then you eat ’em.”
 “…you start making pups?”
“Go grab some coffee, maybe some bear hearts.”
“If you want your pound of flesh, take me.”
“If you got an itch to scratch…”

Lincoln Motel: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1611224/

Football References:

“Yeah, a couple of minor leaguers.”
“Well, welcome to the majors, boys.”
“Really? You’re gonna Monday morning quarterback this thing?”

From The Rear View:

Primo Allon – Gunman in 6:11 “Appointment in Samarra”.
8:04 “Bitten” – Robbie Thompson Starring Brit Sheridan.

Thanks To:

Ella Fitzgerald – “It’s Only a Paper Moon” Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Supernatural Wiki

“New York Minute” (2004) Still property of Warner Bros.