Recap – “The Monster At The End Of This Book”
Guy in bathrobe from the teaser is back, pulling pages from the printer. He begins to read out loud his work (an excellent writer’s trick BTW), and hysterically what he’s reading is exactly what the camera shows Sam and Dean doing outside his house. It’s really funny because he’s not only showing what they’re doing, but he’s in their heads. He’s got their standard faces down too. “Sam and Dean traded soulful looks.” Oh man, I’m using that in the future.
The doorbell rings after Chuck reads that it’s going to, and Dean introduces them as the Dean and Sam he’s been writing about. Chuck isn’t impressed and shuts the door. Dean tries again, and Chuck, while he’s always pleased to see fans, gives advice. “I strongly suggest you get a life.” Hey show, are you giving us hints or something? Dean grabs the door and he and Sam charge in without permission, demanding to know how Chuck knows so much about them and what they hunt. “Is this a Misery thing?” Chuck asks while helplessly sprawled on the couch. Dean says no, so Chuck wants to know what they want.
Sam takes over. “I’m Sam and this is Dean.” “Sam and Dean are just fictional characters!” Chuck exclaims, thinking this is crazy. Yeah, I think Sam and Dean are still stumped too. They next show Chuck the full arsenal in the trunk of the Impala (“Are those real guns?”), but he still thinks they’re crazed fans. He offers to get them posters inside, but their patience is shot. Sam asks how much he knows about the angels and Lilith breaking the seals. Now Chuck wants to know how they know that, since those stories weren’t published. Dean asks how he knows. “Because I wrote it.” He kept writing after the publisher went bankrupt.
Now for the convincing part. “Well nice to meet you. I’m Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sam.” Chuck turns white, for he never told that to anyone. He didn’t even write it down. So, after pounding some whiskey and finding Sam and Dean are still there (aka NOT a hallucination), a rational explanation hits him. He’s a God. Whatever he writes comes to life. “A cruel, cruel, capricious God. The things I put you through. The physical beatings alone. I killed your father. I burned your mother alive, then you had to go through the whole horrific deal again with Jessica.” Sam tries to talk, but Chuck isn’t listening. “All for what? For the sake of literary symmetry. I toyed with your lives, with your emotions for entertainment.”
Dean tries to tell him he didn’t create them, but Chuck is still overwhelmed with guilt. “Did you really have to live through the bugs?” Dean says yes. “What about the ghost ship?” “Yes that too.” “I am so sorry. I mean horror is one thing, but to be forced to live bad writing. If I had known it was real, I would have done another pass.” Please! You guys are killing me here! My sides will be hurting for days! Dean tries to convince Chuck he’s not a God, and Sam speculates he’s psychic. “No,” Chuck says. “If I was psychic do you think I’d be writing? Writing is hard.” Man, he is so right there!
Sam and Dean both agree he’s just focused on their lives. “Yeah, like laser focused,” Dean says. He asks Chuck if he’s working on anything now, and Chuck remembers the pages he just wrote. What he’s working on is pretty weird, like Vonnegut weird. “Slaughterhouse Five Vonnegut or Cat’s Cradle Vonnegut?” Dean asks. “What?” Sam exclaims, stunned that Dean knows Kurt Vonnegut’s work. Come on Sam, I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but he did write some rather compelling and very popular science fiction. You know, Dean’s sort of thing. It’s Kilgore Trout Vonnegut, for Chuck wrote himself into the story. He wrote himself at his house, confronted by his characters. Yeah, this is getting pretty weird now.
Now for my favorite scene of the episode, Sam and Dean in a Laundromat. I’m not sure why I love this so much, but we’ve gone 78 episodes wondering how they wash their clothes. Okay, maybe not wondering a lot, but the thought had to pass once or twice, didn’t it? Dean is reading the manuscript, while Sam does the clothes. This isn’t another meta thing hinting the Sam is the woman, is it? Yeah, it probably is.
“I’m sitting in a Laundromat reading about myself sitting in a Laundromat reading about myself. My head hurts.” Dean reads on, while Sam is annoyed. This is just one of those scenes where I just need to transcribe the whole thing. It’s that good.
Sam (while grabbing a load of clothes out of the dufflebag): There’s gotta be something this guy’s not telling us.
Dean (reading): “Sam tossed his gigantic darks into the machine. He was starting to have doubts about Chuck, about whether he was telling the whole truth.”
Sam (turns to Dean annoyed): Stop it!
Dean (still reading): “‘Stop it’, Sam said.” Guess what you do next?
(Sam, really agitated now, turns away and goes back to his laundry.)
Dean (reading more): “Sam turns his back on Dean his face brooding and pensive.” (Which it completely is). I mean I don’t know how he’s doing it, but this guy is doing it. I can’t see your face but those are definitely your brooding and pensive shoulders.
(Sam sighs and his face gets bitchier).
Dean (reading more): “Sam turns his back on Dean his face brooding and pensive.” (Which it completely is). I mean I don’t know how he’s doing it, but this guy is doing it. I can’t see your face but those are definitely your brooding and pensive shoulders.
(Sam sighs and his face gets bitchier).
Dean: You just thought I was a dick.
Sam (turns around, impressed): The guy’s good.
(Dean has a look of offense).
This is also a great point to give huge kudos to the directing in this episode, especially this scene. It’s so well done for while Dean is reading the story, he’s in the background while Sam’s up close in the foreground, emoting the exact words. I’m so thrilled to see Mike Rohl being used more in the rotation. I think out of all the directors, he is the one that captures the Kim Manners style the best.
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.