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Supernatural: Slash Fiction

Frank: "Well, I'll be darned. Psycho Butch and Sundance. You're on CNN right now."

Was that a record number of beheadings in a single television episode? I don't remember ever seeing that many, even in an episode of Highlander.

This was the first time the Leviathans as the big bad really worked for me. The weird extended torture scene in the basement was surprisingly fun in a sick sort of way, and they desperately needed to introduce a way to kill the damn things. (But... borax? How random.) The Winchesters work out their relationship issues in such interesting ways. Dean not only cut off Sam's head, he cut off his own. Even Bobby got to trade bon mots and childhood traumas with himself, with yet more beheading.

Parts of this episode had me laughing out loud. The scene in the car with the pony squeak toy and Dean singing Air Supply with Sam just looking at him was a gem. I also enjoyed the boys doing Pulp Fiction. When they "Pumpkin'd and Honey Bunny'd the diner," the dialogue was practically word for word, minus the profanity. I also liked uber-paranoid Frank Devereaux. He was hilarious.


Where the episode wasn't as strong was the repetition. The second half was pretty much a recycled "Jus in Bello," with Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica as Henriksen. Did he and his daughter have to die in the end? The deliberate revisiting of the locations of the first few episodes of the series worked, though. It was a smart way for the Leviathans to get Dean and Sam to go to a specific place.

And I'm so pleased they brought back Jody Mills. I particularly liked the bit when she thought Bobby was going to kiss her, and instead he gave her a head in a box. I was sure Jody was a Leviathan, but thankfully, no. They probably brought Jody back because it was unlikely that Bobby would stop to scrub the floor of the cabin when he was busy with Chet. Could they please not kill Jody? She's suffered enough, and it would be nice if at least one continuing female character made it to the end of the series.

I was also very happy to see Crowley again. I enjoyed that scene in the limo with Dick Roman, the head Leviathan (not Misha Collins? Rats). Leviathans apparently see demons as even more revolting than humans, and Dick rejected Crowley's offer of an alliance. That may have been an error, Dick. I'm pretty sure I know who Crowley will be approaching next.

Yes, the title of the episode wasn't just about Pulp Fiction. The "slash" was about Dean and Sam and their couple issues. Dean's clone spilled the Amy beans, and Sam stalked off. I don't think they'll be apart for long, though. Their co-dependent connection isn't just that of brothers and business partners. It's life and death, and they're pretty much stuck with each other. Notice how I avoided saying "to the end," there?

Bits and pieces:

— No more rock shout-outs? Nooooooo! Maybe now that they're dead again, they'll rethink that. For a moment, I was afraid the Impala would have to go, and that absolutely cannot happen.

— I'm glad the Amy thing was revealed. Maybe now we'll stop seeing Dean killing Jewel Staite in the previews.

— I knew that Morris and Valente, the FBI guys, had to be Leviathans. Although I think they started out human, because they were confused about how Dean and Sam were able to get a thousand miles away so quickly. They probably got jumped somewhere in the middle of the episode.

— Bobby was a high school drop-out, his father was an alcoholic and they had a difficult relationship, and his favorite singer is Joni Mitchell. Bobby/Clone did a very good brief John Wayne impression.

— I kept expecting Chet to escape during the scenes in the cabin. Too bad we didn't see how Chet's head got back on his body. Did it develop tiny little feet? Pseudopods?

— Dean wanted to keep the clone heads. You don't suppose he actually will? If he keeps them together, could they keep talking to each other?

— We revisited several places from the first few episodes of the series, ending in Ankeny, Iowa.

— Last night after the episode, I dreamed about walkers from The Walking Dead who were also Leviathans, and they were after me, my son, and one of my two cats. And "Footloose" was playing in the background. It's not so bad when you wake up from a nightmare and laugh out loud.

Quotes:

Bobby: "Great. Just what we need. A Mensa monster."

Dean: "Those sons of bitches xeroxed us."

Bobby: "In the meantime, I'll keep working on Chatty Cathy here, see if I can figure out what makes him die."

Frank: "My condolences on the doppelgangers. Now who sent you? NSA? the Feeb, March of Dimes?"

Frank: "Little tip from a pro. There is no such thing as a random series of robbery-murders by your evil twins. Have yourself some uppers and look at that some more."

Jody: "I wanted to come thank you."
Bobby: "Thank me?"
Jody: "Yeah. Seeing as they were fresh out of 'thanks for saving me from my liver-eating surgeon' cards at the store."

Dean: "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."
Sam: "You know that's a line from..."
Dean: "Swayze movie. Swayze always gets a pass."

Dean clone: (re: burger) "You know, he has one of these every day? And in his heart, he thinks they're almost as good as sex. This is disgusting."
Sam clone: (re: salad) "Dead plants with creamy goo. It's like eating self-righteousness."

Sam clone: "Idea! Wanna trade? I mean, I'll take Chuckles over Schizo."
Dean clone: "No, I like this one's hair better. You can stay in the big one."

Bobby clone: "Aw, Bobby. You are ten pounds of sad in a five pound bag."

Dean: "You want me to Desperate Housewife these mothers?"

Dick: "You shouldn't have. I love a muffin."
Crowley: "One hundred percent organic baby uvulas. Gluten free."

I enjoyed this one a lot. Four out of four assorted heads in boxes,

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

16 comments:

  1. I give it a four personally. I just loved this episode. Almost everything worked for me.

    This is my favorite appearance of the Leviathans, and they really seemed to be a decent villain this episode. I loved how they doubled everyone and revisited their first hunts. And we have a way to stop them! Huzzah! The only thing I didn't really like was how Cas wasn't the Big Bad. But Dick shot down Crowley so all is well!

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  2. I gotta say Billie, that nightmare sounds awesome! Scary, gory, whacky and musical...it lacked nothing!

    I really liked this ep as well. The clones were scary and fun at the same time. Paranoid Frank was a hoot and told the boys what they needed to hear. The FBI guys were predictably incompetent but I think only the blond was a leviathan. I like where the Bobby/Jody thing seems to be headed. Liked that an anti-fungal/insecticide is leviathan kryptonite. Leviathan as uber-cockroaches works for me! And the Amy secret is out - Hooray! Glad I was wrong on that one.

    Could have lived without the split up at the end but I won't dock it much for that since the preview reveals the split won't last long. I will have to subtract a point for Bobby telling the sheriff to drop the severed head into water. Isn't that where leviathan are strongest?

    Overall a very strong episode, among the best of the young season.

    RoseCompose

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  3. One thing I forgot to mention - I didn't realize that Dick Roman was THE head honcho we've been waiting for. That went right over my head. Are we sure about that?

    RoseCompose

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  4. With a name like that, how can he not be the head honcho?

    This was a fun episode. More Crowley, please!

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  5. I don't watch this show, but I have a question:

    What are the "Leviathans?'

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  6. I liked this one more than the last few. I haven't been loving the show of late, so this was a nice change of pace. I'm much relieved the Amy secret is out, so we can finally deal with it and move on. Hopefully, not with the brothers split up. Been there, done that. I understand why Sam needs his space right now, but the "separate ways" thing feels like an uninspired retread.

    Did love Dean lip syncing to Air Supply. Especially Sam's horrified reaction. No, Sam. You really don't know him at all these days.

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  7. HBR, Leviathans are ancient monsters from Purgatory who managed to slip into our world recently. They possess a human's body, can shape-shift into anyone they touch, they eat people, and until this episode, nothing could stop them. I know you're a Buffy fan, and Supernatural has become Buffy-worthy -- it's probably the closest thing to Buffy on the tube these days, although it's very much its own show as well. You might want to give it a try.

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  8. They can't die, there's never just one, and borax/boric acid kills them? Leviathans are cockroaches!

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  9. RoseCompose, the FBI leviathans reported to Dick and he threatened to "bib" them (eat them, maybe?) so I assumed Dick was the boss. Plus Crowley was trying to negotiate with Dick, and brought him treats. Felt boss-like to me.

    I hope that doesn't preclude a return engagement by Misha Collins. I want him back, preferably as Cas.

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  10. Best thing about this episode: Reading your review and hearing about your hilarious nightmare Billie.

    Worst thing: Finding out that Boss Leviathan isn't Misha Collins. It was a really fun scene and Dick seems to be an interesting character but I really felt like it was the only chance we'd see Misha again. I just can't see him coming back as Castiel. I hope I'm wrong, even though his story arc came to a pretty final end.

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  11. I liked this one a lot. And I´m also glad that Sam found out about Amy. Let´s just see how he handles it.

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  12. I loved this episode so much! It had super smart writing-kudos Robbie Thompson, with snappy dialogue, good plotting, and lots of fun references to past episodes.
    Sorry about your nightmare though, my gosh-soundtrack to footloose! How traumatic!

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  13. Thank you Billie for the reviews because I pressed paused and checked the season one reviews to see of they were actually the right towns from the first few episodes. I knew and you always posted where they are.

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  14. Amy is out of the bag and Sam is gone, but I bet it's not for long. The shoutouts to season 1 and season 3 feel like he show is doing it's victory lap. Is this the last season?

    I'm glad the sheriff is back and that Bobby might get a shot. But of course he can't be happy so i'm afraid that Jody will die soon.

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  15. This is why I love this show as much as I do. One minute, I am laughing so hard I have to "rewind" the show (or whatever one does on Netflix when you move the cursor back) because I have missed some of the dialogue. The bit with Swayze getting a pass and Air Supply was vintage Dean and Sam and I just loved it. I watched it four times, wiping tears.

    But then, at the end, my heart is breaking as these two break up -- again. They keep falling into the same patterns of lies and evasions and then wonder why they get so upset with other. I want to both shake them and hug them.

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  16. Love Dick Roman! "Don't roofie me and call it romance." That little smile kills me.

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