Robin’s Rambles – “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”
“Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”
–Robin’s Rambles by Robin Vogel
No long synopsis here, you can go find that over at www.moogi.com under SUPERNATURAL. This episode made me cry a lot, not just for Bobby, which is to be expected, but for Sam and Dean, too. By the way, what happened to poor Dean’s plea the last time we saw him? After that fervent request, no one responded? Damn, that’s cold. What does the title mean? I keep typing “Dean Men Don’t Wear Plain.”
For the first time, Sam and Dean are caught in their pose as FBI agents, and it’s Bobby’s fault, because it’s his Podunk town and his sheriff knows everyone in it! Jody easily recognizes Bobby’s voice. She also knows Bobby as someone who has a drinking problem and has committed mail fraud! Wonder what that’s about? It’s really weird though, how Jody allows the killer zombie (LOL) to go free, yet arrests the brothers! Brings up lots of questions, at least until we learn that Jody’s own little boy is amongst the resurrected.
The scene with Sam and that white-drooling, ancient crone all over him?–more disgusting than most blood scenes, IMHO! I nearly threw up and had to turn away watching that.
This ep was a tour-de-force for Bobby and excellent acting on the part of Jim Beaver! To have someone you love come back from the dead the same way you remember them, gentle, loving, singing, baking, so sweet! And whether Karen knew it or not, she was preaching to the choir about wanting to keep a loved one smiling and protected–while Dean isn’t IN love with Sam, he has the same feelings about his little brother that she feels for Bobby, so Dean understands only too well what she’s talking about!
We learn here that Bobby gets no respect from the townsfolk–quite the opposite. He’s apparently considered the town drunk by the sheriff and many others. Given what Bobby has seen, who can blame him for getting drunk? On the OTHER hand, he needs to remain sober, given what is going on; he needs his wits about him with the apocalypse nigh and all. Still, my heart ached for Bobby in this ep. Learning that he’s apparently a town joke was very upsetting. Now, at least, Jody will feel differently toward him, much the way Hendriksen would have toward the Winchesters, had he survived.
As I watched Bobby sitting vigil with Karen, talking about what Death told her to tell him, her urging him to kill her and assuring him that it was OK, I was crying and thinking about weird things. Perhaps Bobby felt it fair that Karen kill him, given that he had once done the same to her. This way, he wouldn’t have to worry about being in the hated wheelchair anymore. His guilt about Karen would be eased, at long last. He knew that after she killed him, someone else would take on the responsibility of killing her, but at least it wouldn’t be him. Then again, Bobby insisted that HE take care of Karen in his own way, and actually ordered Sam and Dean, his family, off his property so he’d be able to do so without their interference. Life has been unfair to Bobby, that’s for sure, and it isn’t stopping now!
I get the distinct impression from this episode that Bobby wants out, don’t you? Having his beloved wife for five days, then having to kill her–again–may not have literally murdered Bobby Singer, but I suspect his spirit has been stripped from him. Why else was he silent when Sam asked him if he was going to be all right? It’s not easy being on the side of the Winchesters. If you’re lucky, you just end up dead. If you’re REALLY unlucky, you just wish you were.
This episode was very impressive. It had many moments of wit, as when the newly risen zombie got all huffy when he learned Dean was going to shoot him and called himself a taxpayer or when Dean referred to Karen as an American doll zombie or the Bride of Frankenstein.
The overwhelming feeling of “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid,” however, was one of tragedy. Jody and her husband got their dead son back, so briefly, and were elated, just as Bobby was thrilled to have his lovely, sweet singing-while-cooking Karen back in his life again. Like all happiness in SUPERNATURAL, it didn’t last, and indeed, turned horrific. Jody lost both husband and son; Bobby lost his wife and was forced to kill her for the second time. All this so Death could leave a message for Bobby– stop getting in the way of Sam saying yes to Lucifer!
It appears that the evil ones believe that isolating the Winchesters from those who love them might be the only way to get what they want. How, I wonder, will they be able to separate Dean from Sam, and vice versa?
Oh, Bobby, you poor man, you did make me cry a whole lot during this episode!
The title comes from a Steve Martin movie, which I never saw. Also I understand the CW switched the episodes so that MBV was shown on Valentines week. That’s why there was no continuity.
Townsfolk not exactly a Bobby fan, I wonder how often he’s saved their ass.
I’m with you Robin, I got that same I-want-out vibe in that last scene. It was wonderfully played, as if he was so shattered, he couldn’t even tear up, just emotionally drained. How could he not be? Hope he remembers Dean’s words about how wounded soldiers are still soldiers. They’re gonna need the old man, no question.
Killing Bobby would’ve been the easiest route, but hey, this is Lucifer with the buckets o’ pride. Why go for the kill when you can go for the crushed heart and soul.
One thing I have always loved about Supernatural is that the real heroes are seen by the rest of the world as criminals, losers, and the insane.
Regarding Bobby, I don’t think Lucifer just wants him out of the fight, I think he wants him to actively turn his back on the Winchesters (particularly Sam), to blame them for the hell he is in. Why else would Death send the message “I am doing this to you because of them”? Bobby’s death would hurt the Winchesters, his condemnation could destroy them.
There is a stereotype with small towns that they will label their citizens and once labeled it sticks no matter how much they may change. Not being from a small town myself, I have no idea if that’s true or not. I imagine that the first time Bobby’s wife died, he originally turned to alcohol. Hunters are known to abuse their drink and Bobby has more than once been shown to on occasion drink excessively, especially when Dean had died. I envision when Bobby was first exposed to the supernatural, he went a little crazy and in those moments of drunkenness raved and stumbled about. Enough to get himself arrested a few times. It would have been then that he was labeled the town drunk. He at some point pulled himself out of the bottle and became a fine hunter, but at that point he was labeled by the citizens of Sioux Falls and I don’t think he ever bothered to try to change that opinion. He never did anything that a small town might consider a change for the better and who knows what that mail fraud is about. He still buys copious amounts of alcohol for Dean and Sam and other hunters who come to visit and in a small town that gets noted. He’s isolated enough that folks in town don’t know about his guests, so they assume he’s drinking it himself. And how better to stay under the radar than by being dismissed as a drunk. So I’m sure Bobby has let folks continue to think what they want and more than likely he really doesn’t care one iota what anyone thinks anywho.
Cas getting his powers back and healing him would make Bobby’s mental recovery too easy, at least IMHO. Bobby must be a very strong man to have withstood everything he has and still be mostly in his right mind. That goes for Sam and Dean, too, for that matter! My hope is that Bobby is temporarily down but not out. He might even APPEAR to back out on the Winchesters, for their own safety, but when the chips are down, I’m betting Bobby is in Detroit, ready to argue the brothers out of saying YES to both angels. Dean may not have added Bobby to Team Free Will, but Bobby is surely a member, too.
Let’s not forget:
“Family don’t end with blood, boy!”