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Supernatural: Party On, Garth

"A monster you gotta be drunk to see. Cool. Also hard to fight."

This episode was about a ghost connected with alcohol that no one could see. How appropriate.

So now we know who the ghost is. Why can't the boys see Bobby or communicate with him? And why did Bobby choose to stay behind when he knows full well that he might end up like the monsters he used to hunt? He must have had a good reason. Maybe he needs to tell them something about the Leviathans. Or maybe he just couldn't bring himself to leave them. I'm sure we'll find out, since the season finale is approaching.

I'm glad that Sam is finally all better, and free of Lucifer. (Now if only Castiel were out of the mental hospital and in the back seat of the Impala again. Except we don't have the Impala, either.) Dean and Sam seemed to be enjoying hunting again to some extent, although maybe they were both just genuinely amused by Garth Fitzgerald the Fourth. (I really wish we'd gotten a bit more of Dean and Sam drunk together. The brief scene we got was great but not enough; they've got a well to tap there.)

Garth was a lot of fun. He's actually a good hunter in an unconventional sort of way, although he might think about retiring Mister Fizzles, the psychotic sock puppet. (Loved that the sock puppet looked so much like Garth. Uncanny resemblance.) I thought the shojo monster was creepy and sort of cool, too, and how appropriate that the victims were siblings. Although I think what I enjoyed most about the shojo plot was Dean hitting up the guy in the Japanese restaurant for translations and blessings. He must have thought Dean was out of his mind.


Although the monster was new, we did get little flashes of old episodes, as usual. In particular, the hunting trip with Bobby right before he died. How appropriate. And Sam tried to contact Bobby with a talking board, like he did with Dean in "In My Time of Dying." I wish we'd seen that.

Actually, with Castiel last week and Bobby this week, it's been sort of like old home week. Weeks. Are they rethinking writing out both characters? (Please say yes.) Any chance we could have them both back if we get a season eight, even if one of them is incorporeal?

Bits and pieces:

— The previews didn't give the Bobby twist away, and yet Bobby was in them, talking on the phone about Garth. Good work, people at the CW who usually give the plot twists away in the previews but didn't this time.

— Jim Beaver also didn't give away his return on Twitter. He made up a role in a movie that had something to do with the abominable snowman.

— The opening scary story around the campfire was about ghosts losing their humanity. Good touch.

— The first scene with Garth was at a burger joint. Wouldn't it be interesting if we had a vegan hunter for a change?

— "Thighslapper Ale." Great name. I also noticed "Headspinner" and "Hard Head Imperial Stout." I thought it was the beer that was cursed or something, so the saki was a good misdirect.

— The little girl screaming and pointing at the shojo right before the chestburster was very Aliens.

— I thought I saw pillows flying through the air when Garth went through the window. I guess it was levitating sacks of hops, though.

— No mention of Becky, although Garth was talking to someone he loved on the phone ("I heart you more").

— This week: Junction City, Kansas, at a motel called "Mark & Diane's Last Resort" that featured wood paneling and hot tubs. Garth masqueraded as "Corporal James Brown," a soldier about to ship out. That's one the boys haven't done.

— The next new episode is on Friday, April 20.

Quotes:

Garth: "Your ganking days are over. You've been Garthed."

Dean: "So. Invisible ghost werewolf?"
Garth: "Why do you think I called for backup?"

Dean: "Beer isn't food. It's whatever water is."

Garth: "I don't even usually drink beer. It messes with my depth perception. (belch) Especially when I skinny dip."

Sam: "Can you even get drunk any more? It's kind of like drinking a vitamin for you, right?"
Dean: "Shut up."

Sam: (drunk) "So he let that thing out of the box and it must have just followed him to the place with all the thingies."
Dean: (drunk) "Yes, yes. That's smart."

Dean: "You have the CEO of the douchiest microbrew in the U.S. gagged in your hot tub? You really think that's going to end well?"

Garth: "Come with me if you want to live."

Dean: "Who knows more about being a ghost than Bobby? Instant Swayze, right?"

Bobby: "I'm right here, you idjit. Balls!"

This wasn't a four out of four boxes of saki, but the ending certainly got to me,

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

9 comments:

  1. I hope that Sam's Hell story isn't done for good, considering it was barely on screen at all. I'm also not a big Castiel fan, so I don't need him in the Impala again. Different strokes and all that.

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  2. Smart funny in all the right places. Goes down so smooth like Thighslapper Ale. Plus we finally get the answer to helpful ghosty! Bobby was the obvious choice and if it means we get more Jim Beaver, I'm all for it. Slightly sad that Bobby didn't go to heaven immediately!

    Garth was a hoot!! More please.

    Four out of four Mr. Fizzles!

    Call me turnipseed.

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  3. I liked it though I really need to go watch it again. Trying to focus on a plot while babysitting a two year old doesn't work well for me. I loved Garth, it had some great lines and I was very happy about the ending. Like you, I'd love to have Cas back too (and the Impala).

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  4. Thrilled to see Bobby (I wasn't spoiled, thank God), but Garth is mostly just an annoyance to me (appologies to those of you who like him).

    I enjoyed the brothers being drunk aspect, but the story of the feuding families was very sad.

    Once again, hurray, Bobby!!!

    Love, Robin, check out my articles on Winchester Family Business & www.Moogi.com

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  5. The range of comments on this one is definitely a fine example of "different strokes for different folks." :)

    I really enjoyed most of this episode, but I'm sure it will come as no surprise to regulars that I was less than thrilled with the end.

    I'm downright disappointed that Bobby chose to stay. Not really surprised, mind you. I understand why he might feel unable to leave his boys, and they've been dropping tons of hints, so it came as no shock --- especially since (ironically) Robin's "thank goodness I wasn't spoiled" comment spoiled me on the return. (I agree with Chris B that we all need to be better about what we put in the first couple lines of our comments because they show up on the sidebar and the comments feed). But I'm still damn disappointed. I adore Jim Beaver and Bobby, but it would have been nice to get a fitting and slightly less tragic ending, for once. This road just seems bound to lead to an even more heartbreaking end for Bobby. Sigh.

    Still, I sure did love the Garth stuff and the drunken hunting was a hoot. So this one's a winner overall in my book.

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  6. I liked this one a lot! I agree with Billie that Garth is fun. Funny, fun and yes - he grows on you. I was very much entertained.

    I agree with Jess that Bobby's return will likely end badly. I mean the way SPN has sold the Ghost Always Go Bad thing Bobby pretty much has to either leave for good or become an angry spirit right? It may sound heartless, but I'm getting very excited about the dramatic potential here. Trying not to get my hopes too high.

    Agree with percysowner that I don't want Sam's hell to be completely over. So much good stuff they could do yet.

    A damed fine episode that got a big bump up at the end. 9.0

    RoseCompose

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  7. well the girl ghost from route 66 episode wasnt an angry ghost. she was just confused and looking for her husband. so maybe there is hope that it ends well for bobby.

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  8. I loved Garth and this episode made me laugh out loud a couple of times. Season seven has been realy uneven and I wish Bobby would stay dead but this episode just made so damn happy.

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  9. I'm so glad Bobby's around as a ghost - it always bothers me in series full of ghosts when the people who love the heroes never bother to stick around. Bobby actually has better reason that most not to since ghosts tend to lose their humanity on SPN - as we were pointedly reminded with the girl's brother last week - but it makes sense that he couldn't bear to leave anyway, especially since Dean's been on a downward spiral since somewhere around the end of season 2.

    I definitely want Castiel and the Impala back (at least Cas is sort of back, a bit, in a way). Garth isn't my favourite - like Joxer on Xena, the character type sin't really my thing. But he was fun enough in his way. As long as he comes in small doses.

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