Dean: "Do I look like I'm joking? Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?"Fear of flying is all about loss of control. Well, it's also about being trapped in a huge, flammable metal tube in the sky, but loss of control is the basic issue. Dean has difficulty letting his brother drive his Impala. So it was logical that Dean, the fearless monster hunter, would be a white knuckle flyer. Not to mention hilarious.
The whole second half of the episode was a real hoot, with Dean working through his fear, and Sam all cool-headed, self-possessed and chanting in Latin as the plane was rocketing toward the ground. Almost as funny as Dean on a plane was Dean's homemade EMF detector made out of a Walkman. It even had earphones.
Daddy Winchester appears to be alive because he's referring people in trouble to Dean. It doesn't make sense that he'd do this and not even contact his sons, but there must be a good reason. Or it's just a plot device to keep the boys on the road, doing what they do. Probably the latter.
Since fear was a catalyst for the demon, I thought they were setting up the "traveler" possessing Dean. Did they run out of time?
Bits and pieces:
— The "traveler" demon knew about Jessica. Maybe there's a demon newsletter somewhere.
— Now we know that it's pretty much impossible to work the Latin name of God into a casual conversation.
— United Britannia Airlines. Britannia? In the United States? Too bad they couldn't use Oceanic.
— Dean said that the number 40 traditionally meant death. I also noticed that the gate number was 13, and the first victim of the "traveler" was married for 13 years.
— This week's itinerary: Kittanning, Pennsylvania; Indianapolis; and a lot of air space.
— The guys masqueraded as Homeland Security in Blues Brothers black suits and ties. Dean also said he was Dr. James Hetfield from St. Francis Memorial Hospital. James Hetfield is the lead singer of Metallica.
Quotes:
Jerry: "Dean and your dad really helped me out."
Sam: "Yeah, he told me. It was a poltergeist?"
Guy: (overhears) "Poltergeist? Man, I loved that movie."
This isn't all that funny written down, but it sounded funny in the episode.
Sam: "Homeland Security? That's pretty illegal, even for us."
Dean: "This goes way beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup."
Sam: "You're never afraid."
Dean: "No, not really."
Dean: "Stow the touchy feely self-help yoga crap. It's not helping."
Sam: "Are you humming Metallica?"
Dean: "Calms me down."
Dean: "This is gonna sound nuts, but we just don't have time for the whole 'the truth is out there' speech." Another X-Files reference.
Good one. Two and a half out of four stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
A good one and scary because I too have a fear of flying.
ReplyDeletebtw, love your comment about a demon newsletter existing.
I want to receive the demon newsletter! I bet it gives nasty paper cuts. If I were Dean, I would have asked for a Monte Cristo sandwich.
ReplyDeleteI totally thought the same thing about asking for a Monte Cristo! :D
DeleteI'm glad you are watching this show, as it is one of my favorites. I actually happen to be in the middle of a rewatch, in fact; though, I'm way up at season 8 now. I was pretty hooked on the show by this point, too, but I also agree with Billie, that if you can stick with it to the 11th and 12th episodes (Faith and Scarecrow), that's when the show reveals its true potential. If I hadn't already been hooked by that time, those two would have done it.
DeleteI HATE flying...and the idea of demonic possession. Needless to say this one was quite the nail-biter for me.
ReplyDeleteI did find Dean's unusual loss of cool to be absolutely hilarious, though. And I rather think Sam did too, at first.
One thing, though, it is possible to work that Latin word into everyday conversation. Just stub your toe or something and then 'swear'...they might think you're an odd geek but it works.
So, on the recommendation of half the internet, all of Tumblr and most importantly Billie, I finally started watching Supernatural and I was really enjoying it until...
ReplyDeleteChristo.
The Latin there is so horribly wrong I physically flinched.
Christos = Greek for 'anointed one'
Christus = Latin version of the Greek word, so also 'anointed one'
Christo = dative or ablative singular of Christus (that is, in a sentence talking about something happening with, from, in, on or at Christus, the word would be spelled 'Christo')
Jesus is called 'Christ' because he is, according to Christian teaching, the anointed one. The Latin for 'God' is 'Deus'.
I just needed to clear that up.
Dean's fear of flying only got funnier as it went on, his expression when the scene came back from the commercial cut was a different expression of fear and he seemed to sell it so seriously that it was somehow even funnier. He's so good when the show isn't leaning too hard on the Dean = stoic, Sam = probing him for his fee-fees (feelings) dynamic.
ReplyDeleteThe natural rhythm of the episodes still needs to be worked out IMO, and I'll try very hard to keep Smallville comparisons to an absolute minimum but that was definitely a more captivating show by this point. Supernatural feels oddly bare but I think it's just the adjustment period switching from a show with a farmhouse as a hub to the nomadic motel rooms.
Also I sound like a creep because the helpful flight attendant's beauty doesn't really draw attention to itself but I couldn't stop staring at her face the whole time. She's really pretty
It's kind of charming how off some little things are about the first season of a show. I remember 24's "timer" cut to commercials had the beeps sounding slightly off in its first season. And in Supernatural the sudden, I don't know how to describe it, the sudden "door-slamming" sound that ends a scene still has kind of poor timing, sometimes taking a second too long or it's being used to end scenes that weren't even all that dramatic. lol
Starting a rewatch as I have never finished the entire series. Getting through the first ten episodes. The demon floating around reminded me quite a lot of the Black Oil in The X-Files. Only one of several homages in this episode.
ReplyDelete