Supernatural: Weekend at Bobby's

Bobby: "I'm damned if I'm going to sit around and be damned."

It can get awkward when a supporting character, even a strong one, has to carry an entire episode. Not this time, I'm happy to say.

Bobby has a busy, extremely stressful life. The Winchesters constantly call on him for help, but they don't see the hours of research, sleepless nights, breaking and entering libraries, torturing demons in the basement, and burying Japanese monsters with a backhoe that goes on in the background. I was surprised that Bobby was also the home office for other hunters, not just the Winchesters, making him even busier. I thought this week's Most Obvious Symbolism was the ginger peach cobbler, representing normalcy; Bobby never had time to sit down and actually eat it.

I love Crowley. He liked Bobby enough to give him his legs back, but I never once thought he'd blithely return Bobby's soul. I was relieved that the boys didn't double cross him and torch his bones, because I hope they bring him back again, and I bet they will. Especially now that he's the new big cheese in Hell. (Where's Lucifer? And Michael? What happened to Adam and Sam? They still haven't told us.)

Always kind of liked Rufus before, but now I love him. He was terrific in this episode, and surprisingly funny. Like Bobby, Rufus is quite a hunter, with an encyclopedia of knowledge in his brain. And there was even an interesting addition to the mythology. Apparently, demons are nasty ghosts with attitude, and they're vulnerable; burning the bones can take them out. That actually makes sense.

What's with all of these international monsters showing up? Must mean something.

I also liked that we got to see another side of Bobby as a love interest. And not just for peach cobbler blondie, because I think Sheriff Jody Mills sort of digs him, too. She certainly likes him enough to risk her job to help him take out monsters. They got her family, just like they got Bobby's wife, Mary Winchester, Jessica, and so on. It seems to be the horrible way a lot of people get into hunting, but maybe she's destined to be a hunter, too.

Supernatural is skillfully directed and shot, and has its own specific sort of pacing and look. This was Jensen Ackles' directorial debut, and I'm going to give him the ultimate compliment – I couldn't tell. Terrific job.

Bits and pieces:

— The title is, of course, a take-off of the classic dead man comedy, Weekend at Bernie's, a movie that I found funny, sort in spite of myself.

— Woodchipper. Ew. Ew. Laugh out loud, and ew again.

— I'm not a fan of Kenny Rogers, but I thought "The Gambler" worked as accompaniment for the way Bobby lives his life. There's a good reason why he has managed to stay alive for so long. And hey, he was smart enough to get his soul back from the King of Crossroads. No small thing.

— For me, this episode heightened Bobby's resemblance to Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who spent many sleepless nights researching demons for Buffy as well as doing a lot of hands-on fighting.

— Crowley's human name was Fergus Roderick Macleod, born 1661, who sold his soul for, um, three more inches. You'd think a big boss demon would be a lot older, but then his bones probably wouldn't still exist.

— Dean hasn't been on a plane since "Phantom Traveler," has he? Another little callback to season one.

— Rufus uses the alias, Luthor Vandross. Famous singer.

— Dean's cell phone is under the name John P. Jones. Google says "John P. Jones" is a canine training franchise. Was that a little hellhound joke on Dean's part?

— Kenosha, Wisconsin; Bobby's place in Sioux Falls; Andover, Massachusetts. And Scotland, our first international location, I think. The boys have never gone to Canada, have they? :)

— The motel in Wisconsin had a Swiss cheese motif.

Quotes:

Crowley: "Paragraph eighteen, subsection B, which is on your naughty bits, I only have to make best efforts to give you back your soul."
The writing all over the body was cool. And ouch.

Bobby: "I'm going Dateline on your ass."
Blue light Devil's trap. Cool.

Bobby: (covering the screams coming from the basement) "Stupid horror flicks. Guilty pleasure."
Marcie: "I love scary movies. Have you seen Drag Me to Hell?"
Bobby: "Trying to avoid it."

Bobby: "Monsters lately. Is it me or is it weird?"

Rufus: (eyeing Bobby's backhoe) "Man, I know what I want for Hanukkah."

Rufus: "How 'bout Godzilla?"
Bobby: "Put her down."
Rufus: "So you just happened to have a bamboo dagger blessed by a Shinto priest laying around?"
Bobby: "Woodchipper."
Rufus: "Ah, okey dokey, woodchipper. That pretty much trumps... everything."

Crowley: "I thought when I got the corner office, it was all going to be rainbows and two-headed puppies."

Lovely. Three out of four extremely messy woodchippers,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

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