Season 4, episodes 5-8
You’ve all warned me of the darkness of season four, but so far, all of the episodes have had nuances of the funny that I like, and there have even been some completely light and hysterical episodes (see “Monster Movie” below). I think what makes season four “darker” is that we’re really getting more into the psyche of the boys, and it should be dark, because they’ve been through a lot in the last four years. It’s just Supernatural staying true to the characters, something they do so well.
“Monster Movie”
Dean and Sam encounter a shapeshifter who takes on the form of monsters from the old movies in a very tongue-in-cheek episode.
“So you guys are like Mulder and Scully or something, and the X-Files are real?” – Jamie, guest bimbo
“No, The X-Files is a TV show; this is real.” – Dean
Someone’s not only a monster movie fan, but I’m thinking either Kripke or Edlund dig Young Frankenstein too (one of my all-time favorite movies). This was beyond normal Supernatural humor; I kept waiting for the rimshot after some of the lines. It was nice to get a light episode of pure fun after the intense stuff at the beginning of the season. Supernatural always seems to time it right when they mix it up.
I’m just going to list some of my favorite moments from this episode:
“Yellow Fever”
Dean catches “ghost sickness” and nearly scares himself to death; it’s a good thing Bobby and Sam figured out how to outsmart the spirit.
“No one is possessing me, this is what I’m going to become, this is what I want to become and there’s nothing you can do about it.” — Sam to Dean, as a yellow-eyed hallucination
There was a lot to love about this episode, from the opening with Dean running from the pint-sized puntable fluff dog with the pink bow, to the names of the softball teams the victims were on (Gamecocks and Cornjerkers). I adored Dean’s uncomfortable moment when the coroner handed him the victim’s heart during the autopsy, and the trump moment of the spleen juice splattering Sam’s face. And I do believe this is the first time that a witness picked up on the names Dean and Sam gave, Agents Tyler and Perry in this case. Sam blows it off with a “Yeah, small world,” but that was a great touch.
The whole exchange when Sam explains to Dean why he’s infected is priceless. Basically, the victims were all dicks who used fear as a weapon. So Dean counters, “You’re a dick too.” And Sam retorts, “Apparently I’m not.” Ah, brotherly love. The writers were even taking jabs at Dean, with his reading the hallucinations “You’re dying again loser” and “Baby gonna cry?”
I wrote last time about the awesomeness of Bobby, but I just loved the way they slipped in the little fact that he reads — and speaks — Japanese.
Now I’m really starting to wonder if my theory about Demon Sam is wrong. They are seriously shoving it down our throats now. It has been hinted since season one that Sam might turn bad, but Dean’s hallucinations, with Sam as yellow eyes (and again after Dean was better, we saw them flicker) are a bit in-your-face.
One thing I didn’t get, though, is what Lilith said to Dean in his hallucination. He didn’t know why he got infected, and she said to him, “You know why you got infected — listen to your heart.” Is there something there? Or was she just trying to tell him he’s a dick, like everyone else in this episode?
Other moments I enthusiastically enjoyed and have to mention even though I’ve written a whole post on this one episode now:
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Psych-like outtake at the end, showing Jensen Ackles lip-synching to “Eye of the Tiger,” with Jared Padalecki roaring with laughter in the background. It’s nice to know they have fun on the set.
Random observation: my four-year old has Dean’s haircut, complete with side-part cowlick — is there something weird about that?
“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester”
Ancient witches raise Samhain, which is one more of the 66 seals that is opened.
“Witches, man — they’re so friggin’ skeevy.” – Dean
The thing that really stood out for me in this episode was that Castiel admitted that he has doubts and he doesn’t know what is right or wrong anymore. Uriel was a badass (and a jerk, threatening Sam and outing the fact that Dean remembers Hell) angel compared to Castiel, and I’m thinking now that he is the one I don’t trust.
Sam’s reaction to meeting the angels was so… Sam. Of course Sam, with his high ideals and belief in prayer would be disappointed in meeting the two dicks. I love how Dean tries to pep talk him into thinking that maybe God hates them too, that they are the bad ones of the bunch and not who Sam has been praying to.
The look on Dean’s face when he saw Sam sending Samhain back to Hell was perfect. The way Supernatural stays true to the characters is remarkable. I’m wondering if Dean thinks Sam’s powers really are all that bad.
Other things worth mentioning:
“Wishful Thinking”
When they wish on a wishing well in a Chinese restaurant, people’s wishes come true but with very bad consequences.
“I don’t want some giant, pissed off flaming teddy on our hands.” – Dean, when discussing how to take care of the bear.
Only in Supernatural could we get an episode that encompasses a suicidal giant teddy bear and Dean’s heartfelt confession to Sam that he remembers everything that happened in Hell. If that doesn’t explain the brilliance that is Kripke’s brain, I don’t know what does.
This episode had the funny:
And the poignant:
I’m so looking forward to being caught up with Supernatural in time for season five, but alas, I regret that I cannot be rehymenated like Dean. I’ll never be a Supernatural virgin again.
The teddy bear was so funny!!!, these season is great :)
the best part about this show, as you are finding out, is that it really is written and conceived of as a piece. We recently watched some Bones repeats on TNT from the first season(we like Bones a lot) and while there was more animosity between Booth and the squints, the show was pretty much the same (no Cam though). Supernatural doesn’t work that way. they aren’t meant to be standalone episodes — there is true change and growth. You watch the early episodes and think about how naive and excited Sam and Dean are. The recent episodes show them much more somber and weary. They just want it to be over, if it can ever be over. Their father had them to keep him focused, but Sam and Dean only have each other, and if season four had one overall theme (and it had several) it was that bond being stretched beyond redemption. In Season five, they’re going to have to figure out how to trust each other again, in new ways, as adults and not as brothers.
A lot of people always say that you don’t need to watch all episodes but even in standalones you can enjoy the relationship between the brothers MORE if you know the previous episodes. Sam and Dean constantly evolve, they don’t stay the same, the episode always shows what effect the storyline has on the brothers.
At the New Jersey Creation Con in March, a man dressed as the suicidal teddy bear for the costume contest, complete with stuffing sticking out of the back of his head and a chalkboard with the suicide note. Needless to say, he won. The same costumed person made a brief appearance at the LA con during the Jared/Jensen joint panel and their reaction was fabulous.
I watched “Monster Movie” with a hundred other fangirls at a small fan convention and that was a wonderful experience. That’s a great episode to watch in a group.
“Yellow Fever” is funny on the surface–I laughed my ass off upon first watching it–but there’s some fairly disturbing subtext that becomes evident upon a rewatch. The way Bobby and Sam get rid of the ghost is absolutely horrific, yet neither of them seem to react much to that, nor does Sam seem to react to Dean’s impending death with anything other than irritation. I blame it on bad writing and directing–this was the episode for which Kripke had to issue a public statement to clear up a widespread misunderstanding, and Jared made some remarks about it as well. I wouldn’t mind seeing this episode removed from canon. The only thing that saves it is “Eye of the Tiger.” That will never get old.
I saw a youtube video about the teddy! It was hilarious!
hi,
To truly understand what Lilith was talking about, you have to watch 4.10! After Yellow Fever, Kripke made a statement that it was about the fear and not Dean being a dick.
You will never be a SPN virgin again but you can always read reviews of people who experience Supernatural for the first time! ;D
I love the Teddy!!! I’ve never seen anything funnier than a Teddy bear screaming “Why?” cause he couldn’t kill himself.
It was so nice to see Ted Raimi aka Joxer (Xena) again, especially in Supernatural! The guy is a fan, that’s so awesome and Uriel is played by the amazing Robert Wisdom (prison break, the wire).
Enjoy the funny moments cause it’s not getting less darker!
PS: the razor blade scene was sooo gory! I LOVED IT!
I wrote last time about the awesomeness of Bobby, but I just loved the way they slipped in the little fact that he reads — and speaks — Japanese.
Jim Beaver speaks Japanese as well, and he talked about that scene at the New Jersey con. His line, translated, is “Since before you were born, idjit,” and I think he said the translating was done by a local professor and he knew the first translation he got wasn’t right because the epithet was too formal. He also told a funny story about giving a speech in Japan and making an unfortunate (and inadvertent) error.
I thought the teddy bear scenes in wishful thinking, especially the suicide scene was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on TV. Dean screaming at a cat is funny (there is an extended version where Jensen Ackles jumps up into Jared Padalecki’s arms on the dvd blooper reel that is pretty hilarious), but the teddy bear scene forced me to pause so I could laugh for about 5 minutes straight.
Couple of things…
Edlund usually brings the absurd and funny. He wrote “Smile Time,” after all.
Also, the Eye of the Tiger short came about because Jared decided to “miss” a cue, just to see what Jensen would do. I love those boys so hard.