Dean: "An honest to goodness monster hunt. About time the Winchesters got back to tackling a straightforward black and white case."
I think we could safely say this was one of their comic episodes. I laughed pretty much constantly through the whole thing. I think my favorite bit was Dracula escaping on a moped. No, I'm wrong – it was Dean in lederhosen strapped to a slab in the mad scientist laboratory. How did Dean end up in lederhosen? The shapeshifter must have decided to dress him up in an Oktoberfest costume before electrocuting him. Oooh, I'm the getting the visual.
We had something of brother-against-brother re-set, with Dean and Sam a lot like their old selves and no heavy angel/demon crap to ruin the mood. I particularly liked the revelation that Dean has been essentially reborn with no old scars, although I somehow doubt that he's been "rehymenated." (What about his angel handprint? Is it still there? Hey, couldn't they have stripped Jensen down so that we could see for ourselves?)
There was a tiny bit of seriousness, too, with Dean talking with Jamie about his mission in life. There was an even tinier bit of seriousness about the shapeshifter, too, who didn't know how to be anything but a monster. What do you do if you're born to be a monster and there's no way out of it? Was that a little shout-out to Sam's predicament, perhaps?
"Monster Movie" was yet another example of an insanely high level of creativity executed beautifully. Episodes like this look effortless, but they're not – they're damned hard. High contrast black and white with dense shadows, extreme camera angles, special effects, lighting, soundtrack, acting style, dissolves; the attention to detail was just amazing. It had something of the feel of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, one of the best monster movie parodies ever created. Jamie even looked a little like Teri Garr.
I was just telling a friend that Supernatural has become the best kept secret on television. Why aren't the ratings through the roof? They freaking should be.
Bits and pieces:
— Loved the special credits. They even used the old Warner Brothers symbol.
— This week, we went to Canonsburg, Pennsylvania during Oktoberfest. Sam and Dean were FBI agents Angus and Young. Angus Young is the lead guitarist of AC/DC.
— The mummy sequence was in the Canonsburg Museum of Natural History. Except we immediately saw a second sign that said, "Canonsburg Museum of American History." Oops. We didn't tend to have a lot of mummies in our nation's history. Not that I know of, anyway.
— Lots of great Dracula detail, with Mina and Jonathan Harker. Harkness? Whatever. And the shapeshifter was even a Lucy.
— Todd Stashwick, who played the shapeshifter, was just terrific. Way over the top, and perfect for the part. He played Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy, but in truth, the shapeshifter was the Phantom of the Opera, the monster in love with the beautiful woman.
— Loved Ed Brewer with the three foot tall beer stein. And at one point, the werewolf victim was drinking a monster slurpee.
— This one was written by Ben Edlund, who has become my favorite Supernatural writer. Another great one, Ben.
Quotes:
Dean: "We've still got to see the new Raiders movie."
Sam: "Saw it."
Dean: "Without me?"
Sam: "You were in Hell."
Sheriff: "This killer's some kinda grade A whacko, right? Some Satan-worshipping Anne-Rice-reading gothic psycho vampire wannabe."
Jamie: "Wait a minute. You're a fed? You don't come on like a fed. Seriously?"
Dean: "I'm a maverick, ma'am. A rebel with a badge. One thing I don't play by? The rules."
Jamie: (to Sam) "What can I getcha?"
Dean: "Oh, he doesn't drink. He's a Christian scientist. Doesn't even take aspirin. It's a real drag on stake-outs."
Dean: "We need to catch this freak before he creature from the black lagoon's somebody."
Jamie: "So you guys are, like, Mulder and Scully or something, and The X-Files are real."
Dean: "No. The X-Files is a TV show. This is real."
Sam: "Hey there, Hansel."
Dean: "Shut up."
Gotta give it four out of four stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux adores Supernatural which is a good thing since apparently, it's eternal.
Agree. OMG, it was funny. I couldn't stop laughing. How can this show do serious and funny and do both so well?
ReplyDeleteLove your comments as usual, Billie. You left out two of my favourite bits: The part about Dean talking about being "re-hymenated", and this hilarious quote:
ReplyDeleteJamie: "Ever think you might be lonely because you kill people?"
Dracula/Shapeshifter: "Or maybe I kill people BECAUSE I'm lonely."
The way Todd Stashwick delivered that line was TOO good!
Great episode and good review! I liked the shout out to The Big Lebowski, which is one of my favorite movies -- "And the dude does NOT abide." (what Dean said when he was talking about his re-hymenation)
ReplyDeleteI love this episode! So original and funny. Ben Edlund is my favorite writer of Supernatural and my God, after Joss Whedon.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lot of fun. A much needed breather after the first four!
ReplyDeleteLoved seeing the brothers interacting like that again. Hope it lasts.
One of the rare episodes where my favorite moment does not come from a main or recurring cast member. My favorite is the scene where the shifter gets a pizza delivery, just hilarious. "I have a coupon."
ReplyDeleteFun fact: during the fight scene between the shifter and Dean - don't know which one, sorry - Todd Stashwick had to hit Jensen three times with his arm/elbow. On the gag reel we see that, on the third one, Todd actually connected with Jensen's face. Both of their reactions were hilarious. "I hit you that time." "You did."
I saw the black and white WB logo and groaned. I am not generally a fan of B&W episodes as they tend to be entirely too corny. I haven't been reading your reviews before I see the episode, as I don't want to spoil anything for myself, but I even went so far as to skip down to your rating to see if I should go ahead and watch it or just skip it. What I should have remembered is that Supernatural constantly surprises me and does everything well. I'm glad I watched. This episode was a hoot! Sure, there was corniness, but it was well done. The over-the-top parts were gloriously hokey and fit so well, that they didn't feel stupid. All in all, a fantastic episode. I'm really glad I gave it a chance.
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