"Ruh-roh."
I laughed every time I saw a promo for this episode, so my expectations were high. Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed. I laughed so hard I almost hurt myself – especially during the Sam belly rub scene, and Dean leering at the French poodle with the porn music in the background. This episode showed how terrific Jensen Ackles is at doing comedy. Yes, he can act convincingly like a dog. Of course he can.
While comic Supernatural episodes are usually very funny, there's always something creepy, sad and/or gross out about them. They managed to hit all three categories this time. They did indeed address the unhappy life and often inevitable death of pound animals with the belly rub addict and the elderly dog who knew she would never be adopted. The taxidermy came across as nearly as creepy as the monsters we see on this show. (The Game of Thrones joke went right over my head.)
And the animal lover in me was creeped out by the "endangered animals as a delicacy" thing. The cat-eating in particular was a bit much. I had to tell my cats to leave the room. They didn't, but they watched most of the episode with their paws over their eyes.
The Colonel, our canine guest star, looked a lot like Bear on Person of Interest and I kept thinking that dogs, or pigeons, for that matter, wouldn't speak so intelligently; they'd probably sound like Doctor Seuss. (I've imagined that if my cat Spike could talk, he'd say "Feed me now!" and "Pet me now!" and that's about it.) But hey, this is fantasy. I did like that Chef Leo got smacked with animal karma and ended up dog chow. I wonder if eating the heart of an angel's vessel really would have cured his cancer?
But why didn't Chef Leo just stab Dean while Dean was tied up? Why slow down the action to eat a wolf heart? That felt like they just needed time for Dean to get out of his bonds. A bit clumsy. And it was a bit too neat that the Colonel ended up with the nice vegan couple in the end. And Zeke saved Sam's life again. How did they ever manage without him? Sam is very smart. If he doesn't know by now that something is wrong, it's out of character.
The Colonel was about to tell Dean the real reason for the existence of dogs when the spell abruptly wore off. That's okay, Dean. The answer is probably "42."
Bits and pieces:
— Best title ever. Well, almost. "The Monster at the End of This Book" and "The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo" are probably my favorites, but "Dog Dean Afternoon" is pretty darned cute.
— No Kevin or Castiel, and Crowley is still languishing unseen in the dungeon. It's that uncomfortable time in the season when the arc stops dead so that we can get stand-alones.
— This week: Enid, Oklahoma. The boys were agents Michaels and DeVille. Bret Michaels and CC DeVille? They were also impromptu, unconvincing health inspectors.
— The vegan animal rights couple were ridiculed a bit, but they turned out to be cool, didn't they?
— Why does Dean hate patchouli? What's patchouli?
Quotes:
Sam: "How is that kid still recovering from Branson?"
Dean: "What can I say? He's an amateur. The Slippery Nipple shots at the Dolly Parton Dixie Stampede nearly killed the guy."
And if we show him sick in the bathroom, or telling Sam about Inuit spells, we'll have to pay him for an episode.
Sam: "Poor guy's a human pretzel. You tell me what's got that kind of strength."
Dean: "A demonic luchador?"
Dean: "Always knew I'd find the source of all evil at a vegan bakery."
Dean: "You know who wears sunglasses inside? Blind people and douchebags."
And David Caruso.
Dean: "Hey boy. You speak sign language?"
Sam: "That's monkeys."
Dean: "I don't have the urge to sniff butts."
The Colonel: "Yet."
Sam: "Do you really have…"
Dean: "No! Come on!"
Pound dog: "I need a Raquel Welch poster and a rock hammer."
Fluffy pound dog: "I want… a belly rub."
Dean: "Okay."
Fluffy pound dog: "Not from you, sweetie. From that big one, over there."
Very funny the first time through, but I didn't love it as much the second time. And I'm taking half a point off for cat eating. Two and a half ghastly refrigerators out of four,
Billie
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Billie Doux has been reviewing Supernatural for so long that Dean and Sam Winchester feel like old friends. Courageous, adventurous, gorgeous old friends.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I got another reference that makes a total of three.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get the Game of Thrones joke at all, and I'm hoping your other commenters can enlighten me.
I love this site, and I don't feel like I've seen a show until I've gotten a chance to view it through the prism of your reviews. This isn't to say I agree on every particular, but I know I can count on you to bring something fresh to my understanding.
Patchouli is that smell that comes off of Abercrombie & Fitch stores in waves. I agree with Dean. It's disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy I'm not the only one who didn't get the GoT joke! I watched it like three times and I can't even tell what kind of animals they're supposed to be.
The parts with Dean were really funny - I particularly enjoyed the game of fetch - but the cat eating was soooo icky. Poor kitty. I also wasn't a fan of the sexy poodle joke.
I liked that Dean set all the dogs free. I hope he's over his hellhound-related dog issues now. :)
Katherine, thank you for your lovely comment. :)
ReplyDeletesunbunny, I've never been to Abercrombie & Fitch. Maybe that's why I didn't know what it was. Somebody must like patchouli, or A&F would be out of business. Right?
Patchouli oil is a perfume normally associated with hippies. It was massively popular in the 60s and 70s, and you can still buy it now. It stinks. Of hippies.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that the only joke surrounding the Game of Thrones taxidermy was the fact that it was Game of Thrones taxidermy. I don't think there was any deeper meaning other than the ickyness of dead animals dressed in costume.
Excellent episode. I've really been enjoying this season. Supernatural is one of those rare shows where I don't groan when a stand-alone comes along. In fact, some of my favourite Supernatural episodes have been stand-alones.
And I'd also be tempted to add 'Leave me alone, I'm sleeping' and 'Stupid Human' to your cat's vocabulary. ;)
I hope Paul is right about there being nothing deeper about the GOT reference, because I didn't really get it either. (And I'm a huge GOT fan!) I couldn't even tell what animal was supposed to be what character, so it just struck me as weird, not funny.
ReplyDeleteI was worried from the promos that this one would be flat-out terrible, but it wasn't as bad as I feared. I even laughed at the sequence in which Dean first started hearing the Colonel and acting like a dog. The fetch and postman bits tickled my funny bone. But then all the subsequent things that Billie highlighted as funny did nothing for me. I found the poodle bit particularly groan-inducing. (The wide differences in what appeals to people comedically always entertains me. It's so interesting to see what makes different people laugh.)
So, on the whole, this wasn't a very good episode for me. Most of the comedy didn't work for me, and the monster-of-the-week wasn't overly compelling. But I'm hopeful that his reaction to the Zeke rescue is the thing that finally clues Sam in. Because between the "Dean lies to Sam again" aspect and the "angelus ex machina" aspect, I'm really getting tired of this plot thread.
I loved this ep. I laughed a lot and enjoyed the ick factor, too. My review is over at Winchester Family Review under Robin's Rambles. Love, Robin
ReplyDeleteI just noticed something really interesting at the end of the episode. When Dean's explaining away Chef Leo's comments to Sam he pauses, worried, while saying, "He was all jacked up on juice, you know? He was possessed by – by something he couldn't control. It was... [long pause] It was a – a matter of time before it completely took over." I've got a hunch this is foreshadowing what will happen to Sam and Ezekiel if Ezekiel manages to reach full power. So far Ezekiel seems like a decent angel, but we've already got hints somethings off by his insistence to remain away from Cas.
ReplyDeleteGood catch, Nox. I've been feeling all along that Ezekiel is going to be big big trouble.
ReplyDeleteI love the comic episodes and this one made me laugh out loud more than once. I thought the MotW was a bit weak, but watching Dean as a dog made it all worth it.
ReplyDeleteLike Jess, I am ready for the Zeke/Sam thing to come to a head. Sam is too smart to not figure it out before long.
This episode was very funny especially how Dean was yelling at the pigeon and wow, the belly rub made me laugh out loud.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this episode as well as the last one. The writers seem to be having a blast. I guess when you've been around this long you can do pretty much whatever you want. Fortunately, the writing and acting holds up to almost any premise. If you had told me that I would enjoy and episode about Oz and another with Dean talking to animals, I probably wouldn't have believed you.
ReplyDeleteGreat episode! (loved, Loved, LOVED the ending where Dean missed the answer to that particular question!)
ReplyDeleteDropping this comment here:
ReplyDeleteDD is under the weather and had to be given meds at night.
"Tell Billie Doux it tasted like ass", she said right before she went back to sleep.
Me: "What the h*ll is wrong with you that you would say that?"
Also me; "Oh yeah me. Sweet dreams".
I'm grinning but also thinking, how do I respond to this? :)
ReplyDeleteI may be the worst parent ever, but I expose them as much as I can to good writing. They enjoy your writing and reviews and they are read repeatedly.
ReplyDeleteI asked DD why she allowed me to repeat so many reviews and she answered intelligently, "I didn't get it all at once the first time".
Just the gift of your writing is more than we can ask.
That is so incredibly sweet. :) You made my week, Katherine.
ReplyDeleteLove your reviews Billie :) I am new to SPN so reading your reviews as I go. the pound dog with shawshank reference was awesome
ReplyDeleteI must have slept through this episode the first time through! Hilarious! Love how Sam kept tossing the napkin and how Dean kept fetching it. I wonder how many takes that took.
ReplyDeleteAw nobody mentioned the talking mice? They were the cutest... especially when they close out the scene with one trying to shush everyone at the loud noise and another starts bickering about being shushed. Idk like they really nailed the cartoon-y voice acting somehow in a way the other talking animals didn't.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mind the broader comedy instances like the poodle attraction (and I guess, as funny as the belly-rub was I did find it kind of iffy they gave it a gay-man voice) but the funniest stuff to me is the smaller bits. Like Sam showing Dean the... ferret or whatever it was in a costume behind the talking guy's back and making a face, Dean reacting to it in disgust and then quickly having to readjust his face to look politely perplexed or whatever at what the guy was telling him. It's all non-verbal but I found it so funny and had to force myself to not constantly interrupt the episode flow by rewatching it LOL.
Also the title card for this season is so good wtf, how did they nail something that matches s2's and 5's this late in the game? Major major props to whichever artist came up with it... the wings exploding is such a satisfyingly severe sound... good shit I'm addicted to it. I hope the season deserves it. So far I'm very happy with it. Crowley is a bit of a disappointment so far I'm not really getting anything out of him in captivity. And I'm just straight-up pitying Kevin lol... I'm glad he's around though of course. It just seems so miserable for him. Dean's "you can totally leave but you'll be fucked" felt manipulative... I feel this odd insincerity about Dean accepting him into the family. Too bad.
On another note since this is my first comment on the season I'm really glad they brought back Abaddon's first actor even after roasting her body and I don't even care if it's plausible. She's awesome and brings the right daddy energy.
I should probably have commented on the appropriate episodes for the earlier bits not pertaining to this specific one but I didn't feel like it until the first standalone gave me a chance to really breathe and get chatty but I'm worried about what I'd let slip going backwards. It's not such a huge dump anyway