Review – “Bad Day At Black Rock”

“Bad Day at Black Rock”
–Robin’s Ramblings by Robin Vogel

Kubrick visits Gordon in jail, who insists, “Sam Winchester must die.”

Driving in the Impala, the brothers fight about Ruby. Dean’s concerned that Sam is trusting a demon, but Sam just wants to use her. There’s a war going on, she can help them” plus, she claims she can get Dean out of the Crossroads deal. The argument is interrupted by JOHN’S phone ringing in the glove compartment; Dean apparently keeps it charged, just in case. John’s Buffalo, NY storage locker, which the brothers knew nothing about, has been broken into.

In Kubrick’s trailer, loaded with Jesus accouterments, Kubrick and his friend, Creedy, discuss how many times Gordon has saved Kubrick’s butt and how dangerous Sam must be. When Creedy takes a ceramic Jesus head out of a cabinet, Kubrick warns, “Don’t play with my Jesus.”

John has booby-trapped his storage locker so that whoever stole anything has gotten hit with buckshot. There’s also a Devil’s Trap painted on the floor. Sam and Dean find blood, Sam’s 1995 championship soccer trophy (which Dean says is the only way they knew he was a boy””BURN!), Dean’s first sawed-off, made in the sixth grade, land mines, guns, and curse boxes, one of which is missing.

In an apartment, two guys named Wayne and Grossman have stolen the curse box, and the latter pries it open. Wayne, annoyed, bleeds profusely from the buckshot wound to his shoulder and picks up the rabbit’s foot inside. At that moment, a neighbor, Foster, rings his bell to complain about their loud arguing””and he happens to be an army medic who can take care of his shoulder. Sam and Dean have tracked them down via a security camera that caught their license plate. Grossman and Wayne play cards, and the latter, who can’t lose a hand, wonders if his lucky streak isn’t coming from that rabbit’s foot; maybe they won’t give the foot to “that stuck-up bitch” they stole it for.

Sam and Dean, guns in hand, burst into the apartment. A balletic, hugely funny fight ensues, with Dean’s gun going off and the bullet ricocheting and knocking Sam’s gun out of his hand. When Sam is getting choked, he reaches out for the rabbit’s foot, which has fallen on the floor, and grabs hold of it. Instantly, the fight turns in the brothers’ favor, with Dean’s gun jamming at just the right moment and both Wayne and Grossman ending up unconscious.

Sam and Dean head to a shopping center, where Dean buys lottery tickets for Sam to scratch. The first wins $1200.

Wayne awakens, goes into the kitchen to throw water onto his face, trips on a beer bottle, and falls backward onto a barbecue fork sticking up from a dish drainer. It protrudes from his mouth as he shudders for a few final moments before dying. That’s how Grossman finds his friend shortly after.

Called at home, Bobby is upset to learn Sam touched the rabbit’s foot””that is a very cursed object! When you have it, it’s very lucky, but lose it, your luck turns very bad, and then you die. Sam finds a gold watch on the ground and assures Bobby he won’t lose it. EVERYONE LOSES IT! shouts Bobby, assuring Sam he’ll do more research. Dean tells Sam they’re up 15 grand on the lottery tickets. They go into a Biggerson’s restaurant, where, as the millionth customer, they’ll be able to eat free for a year! Balloons and confetti fall, and they are photographed. Sam’s smile is forced, but Dean beams. He wants to go to Vegas; Sam can be Rainman! He eats an ice cream sundae too quickly and gets a headache. A pretty waitress comes over to pour more coffee and gets very close to Sam, spilling coffee on the table and him. The two brothers watch her pretty ass walk away, but when Sam knocks over two servers after that, he realizes she stole the rabbit’s foot from him.

They dash after her, but the fake waitress has already discarded her wig and has wrapped the foot in a dish rag and put it away. The brothers pursue her, but Sam stumbles and falls, ripping his jeans and his knees. “You suck,” says Dean.

On his computer, searching for someplace to eat, Kubrick spots Sam on Biggerson’s web site. He looks up and thanks God.

Grossman sits sadly, pouring booze on the floor in honor of his dead friend, gazing at a photo of the two of them. “Vaya Con Dios” plays in the background. Dean and Sam show up, with the latter taking a nasty fall amongst the furniture as soon as they arrive. Dean asks the name of the woman they stole the foot for. At first, Grossman says “Screw you,” but Dean says he knows people, and he doesn’t think Grossman wants others to die over the evil the foot can cause. Apparently, Dean’s words work.

When asking questions about the Winchesters at Biggerson’s comes up blank, Kubrick assures Creedy a higher power will lead him to Sam. He’s sure of it.

Bobby calls with a cleansing ritual he found for the rabbit’s foot, but is very agitated to learn it was stolen from Sam by Bela Lugosi. Bobby immediately makes the real thief””Bela Talbot. While Dean speaks with Bobby, Sam finds gum on the bottom of his shoe and tries to scrape it off on a storm drain. Bobby orders Dean, “Look after your brother, ya idjit!” Dean turns to Sam, who glumly says, “I lost my shoe.” (Best. Line. Ever.) Dean throws up his hands and walks away.

Dean, on his way to the motel where he’ll leave Sam while he faces Bela in Queens, passes by Kubrick’s parked trailer. Dean orders his brother to sit in a chair and not even scratch his nose! Of course, Sam’s nose itches immediately, and he scratches it.

In her sumptuous Queens apartment, Bela has a gorgeous Siamese cat. On the phone, she reminds “Luke” they agreed to 1.5 million and if he doesn’t accept their handshake agreement, she’ll take it elsewhere. Hearing a noise, Bela grabs a gun from her wine cooler. An error code on her security system and a Post-It note that says “Turn around” has her face to face””and gun to gun””with Dean.
Sam can’t catch a break””his air conditioner begins to smoke, then bursts into flames. He puts it out with his bedcovers, then discovers his sleeve is on fire. He grabs holds of the drapes to put it out, pulls them completely down, and knocks himself out, exposing himself to Kubrick and Creedy, who are standing outside his window, staring at him.

When Bela explains to Dean that the charms he uses to fight off evil could put his children’s children through college, he’s aghast at what she does with such items, knowing about what’s out there in the dark.

Kubrick and Creedy tie Sam up and proceed to threaten and beat him, explaining that Gordon told them what he is and wants a bullet put in his brain. Kubrick is here on God’s mission.

Still circling each other, guns drawn, Bela and Dean dicker; she insists hunters are sociopaths and everyone is going to hell, might as well enjoy the ride. He tells her that he needs the rabbit’s foot to save Sam, and she agrees to give it to him””for 1.5 million dollars. He asks her how she located it in the first place, and she shows him her talking (ouija) board. Those who died via that foot were quite attuned to its whereabouts. Dean holds up the rabbit’s foot to prove Bela isn’t the only one with sticky fingers, then exits her apartment in a hail of bullets that don’t touch him. “If it’s any consolation, I think you’re a truly awful person,” is his parting line.

No matter how much poor Sam protests, Kubrick accuses him of being part of the plan to open the gate, knowing what the demons’ next move is, that he’s a weird psychic freak””and keeps smacking and punching him, throwing water into his face when he falls unconscious. When Kubrick pulls out a gun, intent on shooting Sam, Creedy intervenes; he didn’t think they were going to kill anyone! Kubrick outlines the string of incidents that brought them here, far too many to be coincidence! Sam tries to explain about the rabbit’s foot, but Kubrick orders him to shut up, this was DESTINY!

That’s when Dean shows up. Kubrick orders him to put down his gun or he’ll be scraping Sam’s brains off the wall. Dean does so, warning Kubrick, “This is my lucky day.” He picks up a pen and tosses it directly into the barrel of Kubrick’s gun, plugging it up. Creedy runs at Dean, misses, hits the wall. Kubrick removes the pen from his gun and aims at Dean, who pitches a TV remote, hitting Kubrick in the head, rendering him unconscious. “I’m Batman!” declares Dean in a deep, victorious voice. “Yeah, you’re Batman,” agrees Sam mockingly.

Sam and Dean have taken the rabbit’s foot to the cemetery to perform the ritual Bobby sent them. Bela shows up to take it back at gunpoint. Dean does his “I know people well” thing, positive she won’t shoot anybody, but she isn’t Grossman, and shoots Sam in the shoulder to prove how badly she wants the foot and what lengths she’ll go to to secure it. “What the hell is the matter with you?” demands Dean in disbelief. She orders him to place the rabbit’s foot on the ground, but clever Dean plays “Think fast” with her and she catches it bare-handed. She’s forced to allow them to burn it, losing her 1.5 million dollars. In revenge, she steals 46 thousand dollars worth of lottery tickets, which she needs a lot less than they do. She tears out of the cemetery when Dean discovers the theft. Sam is laughing, although that may be Jared as Dean yells, “SON OF A BITCH!”

Back in prison, Kubrick tells Gordon they’re on the same page””Sam Winchester must die! This is what God wants! Gordon is pleased””now they have to break him out of jail. His face is cruel and implacable.

1. There’s nothing worse than someone who believes they are doing something in God’s name. I got chills at that last visit with Gordon. I’m sure he doesn’t even believe in God, but if Kubrick does and that will help him break out of jail and kill Sam, he’ll support it! Scary, isn’t it? Worse than demons!

2. What did you think of Bela and her almost James Bondian relationship with Dean? Any sparks fly there? I actually thought them a nice-looking couple, and I liked their disagreements about hunter vs. thief viewpoints. She is gorgeous, and practical. I like her clipped accent and that she can piss Dean off so easily. I hate that she’s mean to him, but she sure is a fun villain.

3. Does Jared do comedy well or what? His falls alone were hilarious! He says he’s not much for comedy, yet he does it SO WELL! “I lost my shoe.” ADORABLE! And when he was trying to put out the A/C, then himself? Better than Jerry Lewis!

4. Supporting guest actors so good this ep! Grossman and Wayne were funny and silly in their fight with Sam and Dean, yet it was touching when Grossman bid Wayne goodbye with the boozy drops on the floor and “Vaya Con Dios”. Kubrick and Creedy were funny yet scary, and I did not like them beating on Sam! Very mean!

5. John’s storage locker! That was so cool! All that stuff in there? I saw a sled! I keep hoping they go back there, because it’s such a treasure trove. Mementos from the boys’ childhood, from Mary””it could have its own episode!

6. Dean’s good luck was a hoot. Being Batman, avoiding Bela’s gunshots””he relished it while Sam took it all as the good before the bad. That’s our Dean, living for the moment, especially now, with death so close.