I have to say as a long-time Supernatural fan, I definitely appreciated this episode. There were so many small moments throughout that only those who really know the show would understand (evidenced by my boyfriend asking me just what the heck was going on and when I explained saying it sounded like gibberish), that I found myself having a little giggle to myself quite often.
Let's get on to the recap, though! In Flint, Michigan, an all-girls school is putting on a musical production of the Supernatural book series. The drama teacher in charge of said production is less than enthused by what she's seeing from director Marie's vision, and when she decides she's going to go ahead and tell the principal to cancel the whole thing, promptly gets swept up by some mysterious vines to points unknown.
Meanwhile, Dean is working on his beloved. You know, the impala that he was so rudely neglecting as a demon. And also looking up cases, such as this possible disappearance in Michigan. Sam is reluctant to go out on another case that seems highly unlikely to be a supernatural one, but Dean is rather insistent. And when they get there, of course, things turn priceless as they realize just what is going on. Honestly, the plot isn't super important in this episode, so I should be able to wrap this up fairly quickly here.
But! Basically, they're both flabbergasted at what is going on, though Sam seems a bit more flattered and amused by it than Dean, who is, of course, being very Dean about it, especially all the mentions of subtext. Anyhow, when they do some exploring and come up empty, though, they decide it must not be ghosts or monsters after all. But, duh, that's before another girl goes missing, right in front of director Marie's eyes. Taken by some scary Scarecrow with vine hands. D'oh.
The brothers inform Marie and her AD that the world of the supernatural is real, and attempt to tell them that they are, in fact, the brothers Winchester, but the ladies only believe the supernatural part. At first they think the monster terrorizing the play may be a Tulpa, but the weird flowers it leaves behind just don't fit. Sam, being the geek boy he is, figures out that it's actually the Greek god Calliope, who feasts on those trying to stop works of authors, basically. So, since both of the girls were trying to stop the play from happening, they were taken. And when the play is over? It's the director's turn to bite the dust.
Of course, they're not going to let that happen. But they can't just stop the play because that's what caused all the disappearances in the first place. So, the show must go on, and only after when she comes for Marie will they then be able to dust Calliope. Things don't always run smoothly in the Supernatural world, though, and Sam gets captured by Calliope. Luckily, he manages to still stake her eventually with whatever wooden stake thing is meant to kill her, just as the scarecrow monster was about to take Marie on stage, resulting in an explosion of purple death goo all over the audience, who loves it.
And that's only the first act of the play! By this time Marie has kind of figured out that Dean and Sam are legit after all, and they stick around to watch the rest of the play, as Dean has kind of softened to the idea after spending time with them, and they get to watch the final BM. You know, the brother melodrama, not the bowel movement.
To leave things on one final note for the fans, though, the "publisher" of the novels shows up at the play... and it's none other than Chuck himself, or perhaps God if you believe that. While I'm sure all of us would like to believe that may mean he was coming back again, I feel like that was just a little nod to the fans rather than something more. Also funny because earlier in the episode they were wondering where Chuck was in the cast of characters and Marie had said she didn't much like that storyline, so she cut it. Har har.
Random Thoughts:
- Loved all the title card in the beginning! Always fun to see all of them at once like that.
- Also loved the "we've got work to do" nod with the shot from inside the trunk. Yes!
- Dean nodding along to the music was pretty hilarious. The songs
were all pretty funny, actually. And it was also nice to have the group
number of Carry On there at the end, with the boys watching.
- What's so great is how much this show can poke fun at itself. Not many shows really do that, but these meta episodes really just show how much they listen to and appreciate the fans, and how we can both be amused by each other in equal measure.
- Also enjoyed all of the nods to the Amulet aka Samulet, with Dean putting it on his mirror there at the end as well. Aww.
- Don't you kind of wish we saw the robot tentacles in space?
- This episode has become an instant classic, for sure. I'm sure watching it back again there will be even more Easter eggs for fans.
- There were really too many different quotes to get all of them down, but the below are some of the ones that stood out at the time.
Quotes:
Sam: Oklahoma? Hugh Jackman got cast in Oklahoma.
Dean: You ran tech, Wolverine.
Sam: Shut up.
Sam: Casdean?
Dean: Shut your face. Get in the car.
Sam: It's not a Tulpa.
Dean: Come on say it one more time, but more Arnold... it's not a Tulpa...
Marie: Writer. Director. Actor. I'm gonna Barbra Streisand this bitch.
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Hey, great review as always! One thing that bothered me was the use of the last name. When we first met Chuck he said he didn't use Winchester and that he never even wrote it down. Did I miss where the last name was introduced to the books? That aside, I did like this episode a whole lot. I'm with Dean, I would have liked more classic rock. I really liked the amulet at the end. I'm starting to feel like things are right with/between the boys.
ReplyDeleteHmm yeah I forgot about the last name thing. Maybe they were added on later? I can't really remember if he said their last names in Swan Song or not in the voiceover.
DeleteMy friend, who is just now getting into the show and is only midway through the first season, watched last night's ep and thought it was hilarious, so even fans who don't get every nuance can appreciate it if they have the basic premise down (I only had to explain to her who Chuck is). And watching their faces when they hear Wayward Son applied to their lives for the first time was just amazing and made me cry.
ReplyDeleteYeah my bf has seen quite a few episodes but he was confused at some of the references still, particularly the whole Chuck storyline and the books being a thing part of it, which is fairly important to the whole episode.
DeleteAnyway, good to hear it was still enjoyable for those just starting out.
And yeah the Wayward Son at the end was great.