I’ll warn everyone now, this recap is ridiculously long. The longest yet. There are SO many damned details though, I decided to capture every single bit I could. So, this might take a while but at least there will be some nice reading at work when trying to kill a hiatus.
There’s no “Then” and “Now”? I can already tell this is an intense episode. A man is asleep on the floor, his coffee table filled with litter and a pizza box. Considering the budget, the pizza box presence is the most popular device to deliver the message “mess.” Speaking of mess, the man is lying in his underwear with a wide open bathrobe, clutching onto some pages. He flashes on a woman, him drinking, a box of fake id’s, Dean driving the Impala at night, Sam reading in the Impala during the day while it drives backwards, episode titles on a web page and a comic book store. Oh, that’s not the flashback. We’re really there. In other words, an attention getter!
Sam and Dean walk into the comic store, full FBI garb and fake badges. They’re agents DeYoung and Shaw. Seriously? Picking from Styx is cool, but that wuss Dennis DeYoung? The guy who wrote Babe? Young and Shaw would have been WAY better. JY knows how to rock! The clerk is amused as they ask about strange noises in the building like rats in the wall, lights flickering, and cold spots. “The FBI is concerned about a rodent problem?” Come on guys, he’s got you there. Exterminators would have been a way better cover.
The clerk smiles. “I knew it! You guys are LARPing, aren’t you?” They’re confused. “Live Action Role Play. Pretty hard core too.” They’re asking questions if the building’s haunted, like the guys from those books. “Supernatural,” he remembers. It features two guys who use fake ids with rock aliases, hunt down ghosts, demons, vampires. Sounds great, where do I get these books? The dude isn’t a big enough fan though where he can remember the names. After a few wrong guesses, Sam helps him along. “Sam and Dean?” “That’s it!” The guy replies. Sammy’s a little put out.
Dean asks if this was a book and he says books. It was a series. “Didn’t sell a lot of copies though, more of an underground cult following.” Let me guess, they’re printed by a crappy publisher, one that only wants to market books for 18-34 females? He goes to the bargain bin and finds the copy of the first book. The men on the cover are looking mighty buff. Sam looks like Fabio. “Supernatural” by Carver Edlund. Okay, how many out there don’t know two of the show’s main writers are Jeremy Carver and Ben Edlund? Yeah, no one reading this I’m sure. Considering Julie Siege wrote this, she apparently was given the approval to poke fun at two of her superiors, so that’s cool.
The book caption at the back reads: “Along a lonely California highway, a mysterious Woman in White lures men to their deaths”¦a terrifying phenomenon that may be Sam and Dean’s first clue to their father’s whereabouts.” If anyone here doesn’t know that’s the exact description of the pilot, I can’t help you. Sam is freaking now. “We need all the copies of Supernatural you got.”
Then the intro goes into some fast bouncing music with drawings from the books, complete with buff Winchesters, the Impala in its exact form, a few hideous creatures, a man that looks like Bobby, then back to the cover of the book, and “Supernatural, by Carver Edlund.” Awesome. I love it when this show pushes for authenticity in the title shot. It’s “A Very Supernatural Christmas,” “Ghostfacers,” and “Monster Movie” all over again.
Dean’s got a pile of books on the bed with him and he’s reading “Route 666?” Oh come on, pick a good one! At least it wasn’t “Bugs.” Dean is freaked, while Sam’s working on the laptop in the background. “Everything is in here, I mean everything. From the racist truck to me having sex. I’m full frontal in here dude.” Sam is pretty disturbed himself. Dean wants to know why they’ve never heard of these books before. Sam says they’re pretty obscure with zero circulation. There were two dozen put out before the publisher went out of business.
I’m scanning the book titles, and it’s interesting the 24 titles they picked out of 60. The first half of season one is well represented, and then it just gets scattered from there. Interesting how “Red Sky At Morning” is missing, considering there’s an upcoming reference to the ghost ship. Maybe it’s possible the titles combined episodes? I know, I’m putting way too much thought into this.
Wow, Alice, this is one wicked recap. I love it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book, tv show or movie poke fun at itself (and us) better than this. It’s the bomb (if you will).
I notice that Kim Manners was listed as Exec Prod on this one – I suspect this is the last episode he worked on. 🙁 Kind of nice that it was such a fantastic episode.
I wonder if anyone else had the same reaction to Zachariah that I did. I just wanted him to bugger off and leave Chuck free to contact Sam and Dean. GRIN
Sigh, X’ing off the days until April 23rd.
Great recap Alice!
As far as I’m concerned, the longer your recaps, the better I like it.
I don’t think Zachariah is a bad angel. Just one of the more detached ones. At least I hope he’s not the monster at the end. And Cas, I just about cheered when he helped Dean in his sneaky way. He’s learning.
Everyone was wonderful in this episode and I’d give it an A+ for writing and acting.
Am a little scared about what Kripke will leave us with to suffer over the summer.
Hope you find lots of stuff to write about our show when the summer hiatus begins.
Hi, Alice,
Fantastic recap, thank you for all the effort it takes to put those screen caps in there, love that sometimes you get the fade.
I was checking the titles of the eppies at first as well planning to include that in my comments until I realized Red Sky was mentioned but not included…decided to pass it by but they do get high marks for referring back to shown episodes (esp. high marks for JIB and the tats…show those tats anytime please.)
I thought the actress playing the ‘comely dental hygienist’ did a good job of channeling some of what Katie did when she showed Lilith as ‘all grown up and pretty’. Some of the facial expressions and turns of the head are similar and added to the continuity.
Julie Siege is an excellent addition to the writing staff, hope she stays for next season ’cause she’s got three good to great episodes under her typewriting fingers from this season.
Yes, it will be a long, long, long summer…sheesh.
We’ve been away so I’ve got a bit of catching up to do!
I was expecting to hate this episode. Normally it makes me cringe when fiction gets all smug and knowing and self-referential. It sort of bursts the bubble … I know it’s not real but there’s some little bit of my subconcious that thinks it is and doesn’t like to be reminded that the whole thing’s a construct.
Anyway, I got as far as the publisher showing them the tattoo on her bum before dissolving into hysterics. Love it. So many in-jokes and Castiel is just getting better and better.
I think the monster at the end was poor ol’ Chuck. He goes from creator to helpless by-stander. He knows there’s something hideous coming down the line but he can’t warn the boys and he can’t help, he just writes it down and it happens, which makes him feel it’s all his fault.
For my money the best Zep ever was Immigrant Song or Battle for Evermore 😀
Ah the show amuses me with its normal male double standard here. For all Dean and Sam cringe at slash, Dean has no problem with incest when it is too his benefit. For example Magnificent Seven at the very start, Dean is about to have sex with twins (and does) while Sam researches deals in the car. Now really, two women, one man, sex? Even I am not so naive as not to know that those girls would be touching each other as well as Dean
I think it is interesting that though the first song is a famous Zep tune the second song may actually be referring to the original Robert Johnson song and not the Zepplin cover. Yup Robert Johnson of Crossroad Demon fame. The first version of the lyrics fit Dean’s travelin’ woman in every port life style, the second could either be a reminder of Cassie or a creepy reference to Dean’s deal
Oh and I forgot to mention the “get a life” is actually a pop culture reference to Shatner’s Saturday Night live appearance where he ticked off Star Trek fandom.