RearView Review: Supernatural 10.13 “Halt And Catch Fire”
“HALT & CATCH FIRE”
10.13
Writers: Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder
Director: John F. Showalter
Air Date: February 10, 2015
BY WEDNESDAY
THEME
CHANGE FORCES CHOICES
A SPOOF about “Ghost in the Machine” and all horror films. Advancements
in technology cause corresponding FEARS that it will change us and cause us to LOSE something.
We fear the dependence and blind trust we invest in technology.
It’s human nature to fear change and the new.
PAIN OR PEACE
Dean, Sam, and others must make pivotal choices.
FEARING THE NEW / HANGING ONTO THE PAST
Should Supernatural go back to their roots? Old school episodes are revisited to say goodbye.
Supernatural must take a leap from the PRESENT Bridge into the unknown.
Let’s tumble through a RearView Review on this Throwback Wednesday episode.
PLOT & CHARACTERS
“The Road So Far” segment depicts important past scenes.
In Spencer, Iowa, Janet and Billy are in search of some grease to help Billy be ‘Ok to drive.‘
Specifically, Billy (Madison Smith) wants some tacos. He puts complete faith in his Navigation app, Trini.
Trini advises them to turn right but Janet thinks it’s a mistake. Billy puts more trust in his machine than his
human companion. “What do you know? Your phone’s 3g. Trini doesn’t make mistakes.”
It’s freezing but the air isn’t on. The truck reaches a DEADEND on a bridge deck.
After commanding Trini to find a different route, Trini reorders him to “Proceed ahead.”
Billy tells Trini to, “Go screw” herself. Trini talks back, “You go screw yourself. Janet, get out of the truck!”
Janet’s confused that Trini knows her name. Trini yells again, “Get out of the truck, now!”
She scrambles out. Billy prepares to follow, except his door locks and
the truck begins to drive towards the barricade. Pumping the brakes is useless.
Billy yells, “No! No!” The truck picks up speed and Trini smugly announces, “Destination dead ahead.”
The truck crashes through and sails off the bridge into the electric blue abyss.
OH TUMBLR
“That looks tasty”
The decadent croissookie Dean consumes represents his deteriorating control over the Mark’s insatiable lust.
He defends the cookie/croissant to Sam and deflects attention away from it by asking about Cas.
Sam relates Cas “discovered riverboat gambling” but he might be closing in on Cain “East of the Mississippi, somewhere in Illinois.”
Dean’s unimpressed because finding Cain is a long shot. “Don’t you think that if Cain knew how to
remove the Mark, he would have done it, like centuries ago?”
Dean appreciates the effort to find a cure, but it’s “like a dog chasing its tail: there’s no end in sight and you just end up dizzy.”
When Sam tries to reassure him, Dean quickly changes the topic to the Iowa truck case.
Baby hits the road to Iowa’s Kasem College. Sam and Dean, posing as agents, walk through the campus.
Dean ogles the young coeds and reflects back to their beginning journey, “Sorry I ever made you leave.”
He checks out another coed, “God, they’re everywhere.”
Two girls come down the stairs. Deans asks them for “Janet Novoselic.”
Janet (Maddie Phillips) identifies herself. (That was easy)
Sam and Dean flash their badges introducing themselves as “Agents Grohl and Cobain.”
Janet’s annoyed, “I already talked to the police like nine times.” Dean tells her it’s “just a follow up.”
Even though she has finals, she joins them in the library.
[Novoselic, Grohl and Cobain are from the early 90’s Grunge band, Nirvana. Cobain died in 1994.
Current coeds would not have been born yet. Aliases and guise go unnoticed.]
MIND THE GAP
Distracted, Dean repeatedly checks out passing girls.
(The Mark’s pushing his desires.)
Janet recaps the malfunctioning of Trini. Dean doesn’t understand the term.
Sam interrupts and apologizes to Janet, “Ah, you have to excuse my partner. When it comes to technology, he’s a little
behind. He just learned how to poke on Facebook.”
Janet explains that Trini is a navigation app and guesses Dean’s a Generation Xer.
Dean launches ahead, the truck went all “Christine.”
Janet doesn’t understand the reference. The truck was “hell bent on killing Billy.”
The gap widens.
Careful questioning uncovers that Billy had a brother, Joey, who died in Afghanistan by an I.E.D.
Billy inherited Joey’s truck. “You know it’s a thing.” Janet adds. Dean understands this reference, but Sam doesn’t.
Dean proudly explains, “You honor the deceased by driving their truck. Sam, they wrote a whole country song about it.
Why don’t you Google it?”
(I did!)
TUMBLRS
GRAVER LE PASSÉ
Armed with FLASHLIGHTS, Sam and Dean locate the SEMPERFI plate. The seat’s covered in “ECTOPLASM.”
Sam uses the EMF meter and guesses it’s Joey.
Dean completely understands, “So big brother didn’t get along with little brother, was pissed that he was driving his baby.”
“What are you saying?” Sam asks. “If you died and I drove your car, you’d kill me?”
“If you stunk her up with taquitos, probably. Alright, let’s do this.”
They BURN the truck. (Goodbye old SPN)
#SCREAM
The anchor man TV makes the comparison “Makes it look like a pool in Reseda.”
(I have no clue??)
Julie (Debs Howard) and Delilah (Ali Milner) are amazed by how time flies by.
(The most unrealistic depiction & typical horror movie portrayal of teens ever. Hilarious!)
Julie has nothing to do but take selfies and chat. PrincessElsa8 pops up to chat.
Horrified, Julie can’t delete the conversation. “PrincessElsa8: 810” pops back up.
She shuts it off but it turns back on. She unplugs her laptop and power cord. (?) Her breath’s visible.
The screen fills with 810. She closes the laptop and runs to the door. The door slams.
The laptop displays more 810’s.
A cord animates and wraps around her neck. She strangles.
ICU
Dean swivels around so far to watch a couple of coeds that he ends up following them.
“I’m not gonna make it.” Sam tells him to “Focus.”
A Detective (Jacqueline Samuda) ducks under the crime scene tape followed by Sam.
Dean smashes through the tape.
(Some things don’t change)
The Detective reveals that roommate Delilah, after all night studying, found Julie strangled with the doors locked.
Fortunately, Delilah supplied her with passwords. “And nowadays, the only way to find out anything about teenagers
Sam steals the laptop.
Delilah maintains that’s all she knows. (Tell: too much head shaking)
“THAT LOOKS PLENTY”
Dean arranges his food to go.
X SPOT
She gathers memorial flowers by a pole and stuffs them into a garbage bag.
In Sync, they pull out badges. She says she’s throwing away dead flowers but Dean notes they’re not dead.
She does recall a long red haired girl in Greek letters leaving flowers.
“THIS IS HUNGRY WORK”
Like any mystified adult, Sam asks, “Are you gonna eat all that?”
“I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER”
Delilah leaves.
(Don’t show Dean!)
(Clearly, Ghost Andrew is a Generation Xer)
The music increases to a deafening level.
Blood streams from every visible orifice and probably the invisible. “Death by Decibels.”
THAT’S A NEW ONE!
Against Empire
They turn to Delilah wanting answers. Delilah reflects back on Andrew Silver’s “accident.”
FLASHBACK
Billy and Kyle are texting while Delilah and Julie take selfies.
Distracted, Billy almost hits another car head-on. He barely swerves out of the way causing Andrew’s car to hit a pole.
A sparking wire descends. Andrew’s car catches fire.
“Someone else will call the cops.”
“Ghostbusters”
“Sure.” Dean answers. “First things first, though. You need to stay inside the SALT CIRCLE.”
“Mostly to avoid the nightmares. My mom’s thrilled with my GPA, but I’m just miserable.
I think about Andrew all the time. And I’ve never even met the guy.”
“I’LL TELL YOU MY SINS”
Sam shines his flashlight up to the wires on the pole and over to a tower.
Dean gives his CROWBAR a workout.
the lack of Wi Fi and devices will prevent Andrew bypassing the lines.
TUMBLING
“I’LL TELL YOU MY SINS”
“YOU CAN SHARPEN YOUR KNIFE”
(A message Sam?)
PAIN OR PEACE
They try to leave but the door’s locked.
But take it from me, the more you kill, the crazier you’ll get. The blood fuels the rage. So it looks like to
Andrew shoves Dean and starts choking him.
Do this for me. Do it for us. Goodbye.” Andrew lets go of Dean and vanishes.
“LET ME GIVE YOU MY LIFE”
Dean agrees. He, too, has accepted peace. “My peace is helping people. Working cases. That’s all I want to do.”
Dean’s done trying to find a cure but he’s not “giving up.” He’ll fight the Mark all the way.
(But, he is going down.)
Tumbles?
THE SCRIPT
the theme: accepting the transience of the world around you.
[Please note: all lines from songs appear in yellow throughout this review.]
SUPERNATURAL’S FUTURE
I’m ready. I hope you’ll join us
.
DIRECTION AND CINEMATOGRAPHY
Director John F. Showalter /Cinematographer Serge Ladouceur
The above smash cut of the truck going off the bridge into the SPN title was a work of art.
BEAUTIFUL SHOTS
The tower & post mean Andrew’s there. Their breath is visible.
TECHNOLOGY
Wi-Fi gadgets everywhere!
YE OLD SHOTS
(How many did you see?)
HIGH ANGLE
DARN DOORS
SFX
POSTER CREEPIN
SOUND
“Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” The Avett Brothers
“Work, Breed, Consume” Against Empire
“Take Me to Church” Hozier
Fun with Horror Music
BEST PERFORMANCE
Bravo Bro. Come Back.
Congratulations, Aaron Paul Stewart!
You can follow him on TWITTER here: https://twitter.com/AaronStew117
Halt and Catch Fire, ETC.) If you recognized an allusion, please comment below.
FROM THE REARVIEW
Barbara Kottmeier (Corey Silver) played Candace Armstrong in 4.08 “Wishful Thinking”
indulgy.com. j-between-the-scenes-of-x-halt-and-catch-fire
I might have to watch this one again. I thought it was easily the worst episode of the season. It wasn’t funny. I was embarrassed for Jensen ogling barely out of their teens coeds. Jared once again had little to do. A ghost in the Wi-Fi? Really? Just so ridiculous on every level.
I didn’t care about any of the characters or the story. There wasn’t any movement on the MOC other than a brief conversation to remind us it was still a problem. The middle section of the season was very frustrating to say the least.
Hey, cheryl42
The movie title I was trying to think of while typing this article was “Scary Movie.” I referred to it as ‘Scream’ because I remember it being spoofed.
So this is a “Scary Movie” spoof of Supernatural. It was actually done very well. It was an intended parody and mocking of Supernatural, so things like
Dean’s ogling and eating were definitely exaggerated. But what was cool was, it actually fit in with the Mark story line. So, I hope you enjoyed the re-watch.
Thank you for commenting.
I haven’t gotten that done yet but I am going to watch it with a different perspective. I didn’t watch it the first time as a spoof. Maybe that will make a difference.
I’ll let you know…:)
I was tipped off in the scene when the two coeds were talking in their spacious dorm room. Julie throws something like a pen at Delilah and calls her “#slut” I was, “pfft. Ya like right.” Then her make up in that scene was so bad. Then I got it. They were being deliberately over the top bad. Yes, please let me know what you think.