Recap: “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester”

Ah Halloween. That time of year where everyone gets together to celebrate peace, love, joy and the miracle of,no wait,that time where everyone puts on their spring floral best and gathers in harmony over bunnies and the miracle of,no wait,the time when leprechauns and green beer,no,ah yes, Pagans, rotting pumpkins, sorting through the countless racks of costumes at Walmart, and kids so strung out on sugar you’re driven to drink to drown out the hyperactivity. That’s the holiday!

 

I’m not sure I got why a horror show felt the need to do a Halloween themed episode, but they likely needed a reason to recreate the campy teen kills in all those bad horror films from the 1980’s and 90’s. Thank heavens this was a stunning mythology episode too, for if we only got homages to a genre that many of us giggle over rather than scream in fright, it would have fell flat far worse than what we got. 

 

 

Right from the start the setup hinted to us that the writer watched way too many of these films growing up, for we get happy suburban family (Kripke’s favorite target) and overdone Halloween decor everywhere, making me wonder why people who do this don’t realize that both Halloween and Christmas are Pagan holidays. She’s carrying a large pumpkin and a massive bucket of candy, and judging alone from the number of kids in my sub, she doesn’t have enough. 

 

Of course we knew hubby was going to snag the candy at first chance. They do that! Razor blades in the candy. Oh, why not start with the stupid urban legend. Hubby chokes, spits out blood and falls to the floor with carved up insides. Wife finds him and screams, so it already feels like a campy kill fest. 

 

I NEVER get tired of seeing Sam and Dean in suits. The same ties from last week are back, and I say fans should band together and send them some new ties. The red striped one has got to go. It sucks the pretty out of Jared. I know the budget is tight, but please. They ask all the uncomfortable questions while Dean finds the poorly hidden hex bag and its time for the research in the hotel room scene. 

 

I know this is a new writer, but I could have plotted this. So far the formula is as vanilla as the murdered dad. Dean eats candy while Sam reveals the contents of the hex bag, and I’ve forgotten what else because the episode is already dragging. All the items of the hex bag are serious witchcraft, which means they’re dealing with something powerful. When are they not?   

 

Now for the usual teen bad party scene, and we wait eagerly for the horrific kill that’s about to happen to the nameless teen we don’t care about. This one comes courtesy of a boiling pot during bobbing for apples, and I have to admit, the visuals are pretty good on this one. One of the better useless teen riddances I’ve ever seen. The acting is really bad here too, but I suspect it’s on purpose, for we weren’t dealing with Academy Award winners with Friday The 13^th either.  

 

Sam and Dean are FBI again. This scene would be really useless if not for the Winchester eye candy. Dean is agent Seger (as in Bob), so what is Sam? Agent Cooper? (as in Alice). Sorry, trying to pair up my Detroit rock icons there. Anyone right now wonder why authorities don’t question that the FBI is there? I know, the same thing happened on The X-Files. Mulder and Scully could walk into anything, but hey, they were actually FBI agents. Except not since this is TV. I’ll shut up now. 

 

Another hex bag found. Damn witches. Sam has the answer. Uber geek Sam kicks into college lecture mode to explain the ritual o’ week that’s going to get them into big trouble. I’m listening, but I’m also wondering what motel room would have a purple bedspread, brown walls, and a bright green couch. That would make most of the designers on HGTV barf. Anyway, Sam talks about three blood sacrifices in three days with a smile on his face, and we wonder about his warped sense of accomplishment from finding this out. Poor boy needs some more validation in life! 

 

The last sacrifice has to happen before midnight on the final day of the final harvest. According to the Celtic calendar, that be Halloween. The witch is summoning the demon Samhain when the “veil is the thinnest between the living and the dead.” Masks were put on to hide from him, sweets were left on doorsteps to appease him, pumpkins carved to worship him. So now Halloween is less about blood orgies and more about brats in costumes begging for candy. So it’s suburbanites that twisted this holiday and not the Pagans? I knew they were the true evil ones. 

 

Samhain can only be raised every 600 years and the mark is tomorrow. I don’t know about everyone else, but I get pretty excited over being alive for a 600 year anniversary. It’s like the turn of the millennium, many don’t live to see it. Samhain can raise ghosts, zombies, all sorts of the dead, but Dean won’t have to worry about leprechauns. At least until the St. Patrick’s Day episode. Sam is all doom and gloom, for they might have to face “every awful thing they’ve ever seen.” Maybe that will involve leprechauns after all. Unicorns too. Oh and clowns, don’t forget the evil clowns.  

 

I heard from a few people that Samhain in Pagan lore is not a demon and there were some inaccuracies about the legend in general. Okay, I accept that, but considering this show has always taken liberties with all sorts of folklore, I’m giving them a pass. I liked Samhain as a powerful demon, because we got one hell of a scene later. 

 

Dean’s on a stake out, and Sam thought it was a good idea to leave the bag of candy in the car? Dean chows down, looking as squeamish as my kids the day after Halloween. Dean spots the blonde from the party and finds she’s the dead guy’s babysitter. She’s the witch. Ooh, ooh, let me guess, they’re going to talk to a witness now. Someone who might give said info on babysitter. She was suspended from school, so time to talk to the teacher. 

 

This part grasped my fading attention. Dean looks at poorly done masks hanging from the ceiling, and the best done one catches his eye. Oh, but he isn’t critiquing the art, it’s a blood red demon and it hits home. Screaming and flashes. Something’s being triggered. A kid is trying to put a large bong shaped object in the kiln and Dean does give his appreciation for that. Really Dean? I figured that would more be for Sam in his college years. 

 

 

They meet the chipper Don, and this time they’re agents Geddy and Lee. Judging by the use of “Tom Sawyer” on this week’s Chuck, Kripke isn’t the only fan of Rush. Don talks about how disturbing Tracy is, how she’s an emancipated teen, and the setup is too heavy handed. We get it, she’s the evil one, move on.