Sam: "This was supposed to be a fresh start, Dean."
Dean: "Well, this is about as fresh as it gets."
Poor Sam researched his ass off, cut up dead bodies, wrestled with Gandhi, and beheaded Paris Hilton. And this was a light week.
So it was something of an awkward segue to a standalone episode. They even acknowledged in the opener that it was awkward. I'm way into the arc (in fact, I think their audacity at taking on the biblical has been awesome) but I love episodes like this one, too. Dean and Sam on the road battling evil and making us laugh with a dose of heavy plus ridiculous is why we watch, isn't it?
Wax museums creep me out. There's a reason why they're a horror movie staple. I actually got freaked twice: while Dean was lying under the car (don't lie under a car that killed someone, Dean, really) and when Sam walked right up to Abraham Lincoln and stared at him, with their faces inches apart. It killed the tension somewhat when Gandhi jumped on Sam's back; that made me howl. Sam, vessel of Satan, bringer of the Apocalypse, fan of Gandhi. What's wrong with this picture?
This may have been my favorite guest appearance of Paris Hilton in anything. I loved that she had the nerve to play herself as a waxwork as well as a god that no one cared about any more. Maybe she didn't get the irony. Then again, she must have; it would be hard to miss. Okay, maybe she didn't get the irony.
Paris mentioning that she was going to turn into John got me all excited. I thought for a moment we were going to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan, even though logically I knew they'd save him for something a lot bigger. I really hope they bring him back before the series ends. Hey, as one of my readers posted last week, he could play God. It'd be perfect.
Dean and Sam may have worked as a team again, and Dean may have let Sam drive the Impala and kill the monster, but conferring equal partnership on his kid brother who just started the Apocalypse isn't going to be easy for Dean. He just can't seem to let Sam grow up and take full responsibility for his own actions. And trusting Sam again – deep down where it counts – might just be impossible for Dean now.
But I did love that they decided to keep doing what they do, that Lucifer and Michael may still happen, but they'll go down fighting. Let's hope they don't go down fighting each other.
Bits and pieces:
— Misha Collins wasn't listed in the cast this week. No Castiel, no Bobby (except on the phone where we couldn't hear him), and no Lucifer.
— It was nice to see Paul McGillion (Dr. Carson Beckett from Stargate Atlantis) without the Scottish accent. I wish he'd had a bigger part.
— Leshi was, of course, Sam's fault because he started the Apocalypse. How many people has Sam saved? I wonder when the score will even out and start descending? Maybe it already has, what with the Devil's Gate and all.
— Abraham Lincoln growling. That's not something you see every day.
— Sam speaks some Spanish.
— I've never seen House of Wax. Does that surprise you?
— This week, it was Canton, Ohio and the Nite Owl Motel. The boys were agents Bonham and Copeland: John Bonham was drummer for Led Zep, and Stewart Copeland drummer for Police. Dean also said he was an agent for William Morris something, and they both said they were writing an article on how unsucky wax museums are.
— The episode ran short, and we got a "Soon." A very tantalizing "Soon" that practically made me salivate.
Quotes:
Dean: "I'm sure the Apocalypse will still be there when we get back."
Dean: "Dude, he's short."
Sam: "Hey, Gandhi was a great man."
Dean: "For a Smurf."
Sam: "And who'd did that belong to?"
Museum nerd: "The Fonz. Seasons two through four."
Sam: "Wow. Yeah. That's really cool... ish."
Sam: (with Gandhi on top of him) "Dean!"
Dean: "Is that Gandhi?"
Sam: "Yeah!"
Dean: "Dude is squirrelly."
Paris Hilton: "You people used to have old time religion. Now you have Us Weekly."
Dean: "I don't know, I'm more of a Penthouse Forum man myself."
Sam: "Dude, you just got whaled on by Paris Hilton."
Dean: "Shut up."
For Supernatural, this was froth. It was good froth, though. Three out of four stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux adores Supernatural which is a good thing since apparently, it's eternal.
I wouldn't be 100% sure about Paris Hilton. Did you see her mock run for president during the 2009 election? There's some serious self-mockery there, and you sort of get the impression she knows it: "I'm not from the olden days, and I'm not promising change like that other guy. I'm just hot."
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on this one, Billie. It was frothy, but not completely froth, because the brothers needed to dicker a bit and Sam had to remind Dean that he's an adult now and doesn't need his big brother in the same capacity anymore. Dean really seemed at a loss about that, didn't he? YES! He needed his little brother to remind him that he's now an adult and needs to be treated as one, as an equal. It's going to take time for Dean, as you said, but he'll catch up. Both MEN will need to learn how to relate to each other differently before the trust returns. Love, Robin
ReplyDeleteWow... I love your John as God idea!! Something has just occured to me... Lucifer rebelled against God, Sam rebelled against John. Micheal is God's most powerful angel, Dean did everything his father told him. Has the entire show been building up to this? The parrallels are amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteThat thing about John as God came from KAM's comment on my review of "Free to Be You and Me". I absolutely love the idea. It's perfect. I'm going to try not to be disappointed if it doesn't happen.
ReplyDeleteR. Berger -- good point about Paris Hilton. I remember loving that ad when it aired.
ReplyDeleteHi Billie, love your review as always. I like Paris Hilton mocking herself, the reference of new idols instead of old gods, and the reference to House of Wax and the look on Sam/Jared’s face was priceless.
ReplyDeleteOn the brothers’ relationship, it do seems kind of strange to me, I guess it was ok for Sam to remain Dean that he is an adult now, but for me it was more like a demand to be treated like one, kind of out of the blue when it seems to me from the last episode that he was willing to do anything to prove that he is worth the trust, so you are one day “I will do anything to prove you I’m trustworthy” to demand three weeks later to be an equal partner. Don’t know why but it was a bit confusing for me, not to mention the fact that he went for out with Ruby because he wanted to take a distance to bossy big brother (when he was dead?). Maybe I’m one of those with lack-of-big-brother issues, but is it really so bad to have an overprotective almost bossy big brother that you go with the enemy?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving the season so far, and I’m way into the arc as you Billie, and having a refreshing monster of the week episode with fun bits on it is good, but there is something in the brothers relationship that I still don’t get.
Apart from that, the parallelism between Dean – Sam and Michael – Lucifer is outstanding; continuing with Ben’s comment, have you notice that Michael was the one who locked Lucifer and Dean already locked Sam? One last thing, Dean is again this apparently fresh and light man again, way to different from last season troubled one. Love both.
Cecile
No you are totally right, I felt exactly the same concerning Sam's impatience about Dean only slowly letting him back into the fold. Though I wasn't confused like you so much as annoyed at Sam lol. How freaking entitled of him! Is he already over Cindy?
DeleteA point to quibble - Sam didn't start the apocalypse alone. Dean was equally responsible. So if we're gonna point fingers, you need two of them, one leveled at each brother. The trust issues Dean still has with his brother had better not be tied to the apocalypse.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost certain Paris Hilton completely understands any irony contained in her guest appearance on Supernatural. Consider the fact that both she and Jared Padalecki were in House of Wax. ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat review Billie. FYI - The agency Dean mentioned is William Morris Endeavor. I am willing to bet that either the writer and or the actors are represented by them and that's why they got the shout-out.
ReplyDeleteThis felt like a short episode and there wasn't a whole lot of plot. It felt like, "oh Paris Hilton is the bad guy" great, no need to write a fourth act people.
But I liked the downshift of pace, the training wheels metaphor felt like that's what the writers were trying to do. So kudos to them.
I really, really like this episode. It was so much fun and I´m not a Paris Hilton fan but I loved seeing her here.
ReplyDeleteRe Michael Colvin:
ReplyDeleteJensen is indeed repped by WME! :)
I thought this was one of the weakest episodes in a long time. Paris Hilton? Really? If they were trying to make the point about celebrities being the new 'gods', it's been done -- a lot.
ReplyDeleteI also spent a lot of this episode irritated with Dean. He is the one who kick started this whole mess and he is the one who called Sam back into the fold. Like Sam, I'm tired of listening to him whine.
By the end, he seemed to have come to his senses a bit, so I hope we can all move beyond the Sam made a very bad mistake thing.
One of the things that made this show unique and so special was the relationship between the two boys. I'm afraid that if that goes, I will be tempted to as well. Especially as the season finale seems so obvious so early.
Interesting impression of Gandhi. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe first standalone of the season is the first episode where I really liked the credit shot (following the cold open I mean, I love it on its own too). I think it's because the earlier episodes always ended with a blackscreen pause before the opening logo... this time it was more seamless, and cooler.
ReplyDelete