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Supernatural: Swap Meat

Dean: "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Sam?"

Supernatural Lite. I thought it would get darker than it did, possibly with a teen massacre at the end. Instead, Gary and Nora Learned a Valuable Lesson and just might live happily ever after; only their nasty friend got smushed.

Lovely performance by Jared Padalecki as Sam and as Gary. He was just terrific in the opening scene with the booze and the pick-up. And I particularly liked how Sam just accepted the situation and asked everyone about himself, no matter how weird it sounded. (Like "Where's my locker?" "Have I been carrying around a big weird book?") It took longer for Dean to catch on than I expected, but that was probably because Gary was acting the way Dean has always wanted Sam to act. Definitely a theme that has been explored several times before, and rather sad.

Sam's admission that he no longer wants a life like Gary's was also sad, since Gary was a lot like Sam used to be. (A bit nerdier, and Sam would never have played around with demonology, but still.) And don't you think Gary would have made an excellent hunter? Very smart, great with the research, and he caught on and burned the bones fast enough to save Dean. Not to mention Dean and Gary tag-teaming the Latin as they exorcised the demon out of Nora.

So there's a demon bounty on Dean. Nice touch. It certainly made more sense than three teenagers dabbling in the dark arts stumbling on Dean and Sam by accident. And when the demon told Gary that she wanted him to meet Lucifer and say yes to his question, I wondered if this episode might be set-up for how Lucifer acquires Sam's body in Detroit. Does someone else say yes? The Trojan horse idea was supposedly Gary's, but was it really? Are demons recruiting bodynappers all over the country?

Bits and pieces:

— Speaking of good performances, Colton James (Gary) did a great job channeling Tom Hanks in Big. And Sarah Drew (Nora) was terrific as the demon. Which demon was it? Was it one we know? They never said.

— No Castiel this week. He probably would have known Sam wasn't Sam immediately, so that was convenient for the plot.

— How did the Impala survive that collision with the dumpster without a scratch? A stop for body work would have put a crimp in the action, though.

— This week: Housatonic, Massachusetts. The motels were the Lucky Star Motor Inn and the Cloverleaf on Route Six. Was that intentional, maybe in a "they were lucky this time" sense?

— I also liked that they were helping out one of their old babysitters instead of a stranger. Sam was in sixth grade when they stayed with her. But wasn't John leaving them alone when they were that age?

Quotes:

Gary: "A banana daiquiri, my good man."


Crystal: "Gary, I don't want to embarrass you, but you are just... you are just a stunning looking man."
Gary: "I know."

Sam: "Wait. Guys, plural?"
Desk clerk: "Yeah. One leather jacket, one Sasquatch."

Sam: (picks up Advanced Placement Physics) "Smart kid." (picks up Star Wars tee shirt) "Virgin." (picks up Busty Asian Beauties) "Frustrated virgin."

Gary: "Why shouldn't I be happy? I got a gun, I'm getting drunk, and I look like this."

Nora/Demon: "Yum. Tastes like moron."

Sam: "It's your life. You don't like their plan for you, tell them to cram it. Rebel a little bit. In a healthy, non-satanic way, of course."

Three out of four banana daiquiris,

Billie
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Billie Doux adores Supernatural which is a good thing since apparently, it's eternal.

11 comments:

  1. On your comment about John Winchester, I feel that though he was leaving them by themselves, he would still not give up the chance to have them be watched by a grown up for once.

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  2. -- I also liked that they were helping out one of their old babysitters instead of a stranger. Sam was in sixth grade when they stayed with her. But wasn't John leaving them alone when they were that age?


    After Jump the Shark, I think Donna was a "babysitter" who was having a fling with John. He may have made up a cover story for the boys about her being a babysitter and that was why she was around so much. Dean would have bought it, because he saw John as being devoted to Mary. Sam may have been too young to catch on to any other meaning.

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  3. This episode better not be set up for how Lucifer gets hold of Sam's body. I think they are just covering their bases by doing the "we acknowledged the the body swap possibility". Sam needs to say yes to Lucifer of his own free will (well, I'm sure Luci will be holding a metaphorical gun to his head, but still). If it goes down any other way that'd be such a cop-out, which this show doesn't really do.

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  4. yeah fun episode but its soo frustrating....another filler? really? THE END OF THE WORLD, THE APOCALYPSE...DEATH!.....remember those? You dont go there and then go back to casper and scooby doo. This is the last season or should be and every episode should be going for broke.

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  5. Hey, Billie, enjoyed your review! I don't like the idea that ANYONE inhabiting Sam's body can say yes to Lucifer; it seems immoral, somehow. It should be SAM, only. Otherwise, they can get someone else to inhabit his body, an ally, and just get it that way--seems too easy. Bad guy or not, Lucifer is an angel, and there should be some kind of moral high ground here.

    As for Donna, the babysitter, I immediately wondered if she and John were bumping uglies. John loved Mary but was no saint, as the birth of Adam proves. For all we know, her daughter is John's! Just kidding, I doubt he slipped another one past the goalie.

    I also feel Jared turned in a top-notch performance in this ep, and both the kid playing Gary and Nora/demon did a wonderful job, too.

    Love, Robin

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  6. Yeah, I think you're all right about the "babysitter" being one of John's former amours. That makes sense. Thanks for the great comments.

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  7. These comments are so interesting. I'd just assumed that she was a housekeeper at the motel who was kindly enough to keep an eye on the kids.

    This was not my favorite episode ever: the body-snatching thing felt perfunctory, and I read somewhere that the writers were calling it "The Obligatory Body-Swap Episode," since every good genre show has to have one at some point (even Lost has done it!). Dean and Sam are really getting on each other's nerves. Poor boys, they need a spa-week.

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  8. But what happened to the poor freind who got killed? And who takes resposibility for the murder? I didn't like how they just glossed over that fact..dropping the kids off as if there's not a dead body laying around to be found. Still loved the episode, thought Jared was very good.
    Christine

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  9. Pretty good review. I agree with a lot of what you said. I’m really happy to have Supernatural back and I love see Sam and Dean, so I’m giving the writers and Eric a wide OK this is the stupid bad episode for Season 5. Good think that’s out of your system, or it better be.

    What is tragic here is writers missed a wonderful opportunity to delve into the problems that still exist between Sam and Dean. It would have been exceptional if Dean and Sam swapped bodies and through a MOTW show having to fight together but literally from different sides could have given them insight to how each of them thought and felt and maybe, just maybe start to mend their relationship.
    Nitewoman

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  10. I actually feel this is one of the worst of the series. This is an irrelevant filler and out of character for Dean.

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  11. Fun fact: this was originally supposed to be Sam and Dean switching bodies. Fans are disappointed they changed it, J2 were incredibly relieved that they changed it. :D

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