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Supernatural: Drag Me Away (From You)

Billie: "Working a case? Now?"

Yeah. What she said. Why are we seeing filler like this when the series is ending in only four more episodes?

And if we had to have filler, why was it so freaking dark? They usually give us something to help lighten up the story, at least in the first half. The only thing light in this episode was the orange glare of that motel room.

The four child actors were all pretty good, for what it's worth. (I've updated my Kid Winchesters article to include this episode.) I thought Elle McKinnon as young Caitlin was the stand-out. The boys playing Dean and Sam at 13 and 9, Paxton Singleton and Christian Michael Cooper, were... okay. Oddly, there are three other episodes featuring Dean and Sam at about the same age: "Something Wicked," the excellent "A Very Supernatural Christmas," and "Just My Imagination." Note that this episode included a mention of Sam's imaginary friend from the latter.

We didn't break any new ground, though. It was still Dean as the prodigy monster hunter, Sam longing for college and normalcy, a skeezy motel room with The Shining vibes, and a sad monster story. I almost can't believe that, in fifteen seasons, we haven't seen Baba Yaga before. I did cringe at her grabhanding out of the slot in the vending machine, but for the most part, there were no real scares – just lots of foreboding and foreshadowing and maybe some other fores. We've had talisman-smashing before, too – the Four Horsemen, the pearl in the three-hundredth episode, etc. Oh, well. I did enjoy the possessed game of Boggle.



Billie a.k.a. Death showed up to ask Dean why they were working a standard case at this point, and I felt like she was speaking for me. (And not just because I'm a Billie, too.) Why an episode like this one now? To emphasize what? That Dean still tends to carry the worst of the evil they encounter without sharing, or burdening, his younger brother and partner?

Or was all this about Dean worrying that Jack's planned sacrifice will be too much for Sam?

Bits:

— Was the episode title a reference to a particular horror movie?

— I liked the identical Dean and Sam sneakers. I also liked the still life on the motel bed of the knapsack, the gun, the knife, and the college guide. One of these things is not like the other.

— So it was a bit improbable that Caitlin would have held on to that phone number, which I assume was John Winchester's, for twenty-five years. But okay, they covered it.

— Adult Dean didn't even smile when he passed a motel room where someone was having loud sex. Back in the day, he would have smiled.

— Liam Hughes, who played young Travis, was in Star Trek: Discovery last season as young Spock. FWIW.

— This week: a town called Wadsworth, no state given, and Rooster's Sunrise Motel, room 214. Flashbacks to January 1993.

— That orange geometrically-patterned motel room was something special, even for Supernatural. I really liked that Caitlin's room was exactly like 214 but green instead of orange. Man, you gotta good design, go with it.

— I'd like to add another final plug for my Kid Winchesters article. It's one of my favorites, I worked hard on it, and this episode will be its last entry.

Quotes:

Dean: "It looks smaller."
Sam: "Yeah. Well, we're bigger."

Young Caitlin: "We saw your car when you checked in. Who's your dad? Knight Rider?"
All we saw of John was his hand on the steering wheel. Of course.

Young Dean: "Gotta gun. Gotta knife. I'm good."

Billie: "I just came from one of Chuck's worlds. Watched a whole planet burn alive, reduced to a cinder."
Dean: "Yeah. Well, not to make light of the, uh, Death Star level galactic genocide, but what else is new?"

I was disappointed with this one, and sad that I was disappointed with this one because I was looking forward to it. Two out of four smashed talismans,

Billie
---
Billie Doux has been reviewing Supernatural for so long that Dean and Sam Winchester feel like old friends. Courageous, adventurous, gorgeous old friends.

19 comments:

  1. There was a horror movie called "Drag Me to Hell", so maybe the title was a reference to that.

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  2. I have to agree -- this was episode was a little too "ordinary" for me. Might've worked earlier in the season, but at this point we're ready for major fireworks!

    Thanks for the callback to the Supernatural Kids article -- good stuff!

    Let's hope, from now on, it's Apocalypse or Bust!

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  3. A kind woman named Lisa Gordon in a large Supernatural Facebook group said the title of the episode might be from the Toto song, "Africa." "It's going to take a lot to drag me away from you."

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  4. Why did Dean see Young Sam in yaba Gaga nest?

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  5. Unknown, the Baba Yaga was playing on its victim's fears.

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  6. Yeah, I was disappointed too. We need more than this so close to the end.

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  7. i personally liked some of this episode i liked the flashback section i feel like the writers wanted 1 more filler episode before the big episodes

    but yeah it was BORING at time and once again sam and dean are fighting uggggggggh

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  8. I'm guessing that the phone number wasn't John's but was one of Bobby's FBI numbers. The ones they give to confirm they are with the FBI. We know that Jody answers those numbers now that Bobby is dead, so maybe?

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  9. Hey Billie, I’m sorry, this has nothing to do with Supernatural, but I didn’t know how else to message you. I know you are a Science fiction fan and I was wondering a few things. Have you seen the 2009 film Moon and if so did you like it!? If you haven’t seen it, I highly highly recommend it! I just watched it for the first time and I recently read some of your film reviews Terminator, Blade Runner etc and was thinking you would might enjoy this film! I checked if you had done a review hoping to read your thoughts on it!

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  10. Hcckdude, yes, I saw Moon a few years ago and I remember thinking it was pretty good, although (clearly) I wasn't inspired enough to write a review.

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    Replies
    1. I gotcha, I’m also a huge Sam Rockwell fan, so I might be a tad bias. But I was truly mesmerized by his performance and the material was really thought provoking for me. Thank you for the response!

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  11. I definitely had mixed feelings about this one. I agree with you and the others who felt that it is a little late in the game for a filler story. And I, too, am anxious for the final battle to begin.

    That said, I was really happy they included a story about Baba Yaga. She has been one of my favorite legends since I was in college. I took a class on ancient myths, legends, and folklore and I learned a lot of stories involving her. I even did a paper on her. They got several elements of her right, but a few things wrong. She didn't only eat children and she was not always a villain. She was often a quest-giver, though she was almost always unreliable. You always knew that she was looking out for herself more than for anyone else.

    The picture of her that Sam found was actually an old illustration of her (except that it usually was not in color; they added that for the show). You can sort of see it in the picture he finds, she didn't fly on a broomstick, but she rode in a flying pestle with a mortar!

    I was mostly disappointed that they didn't mention her house. It walked around on two gigantic chicken legs and would rarely be in the same place twice. So those seeking her advice could never find her unless she wanted to be found.

    Anyway, thanks again for writing these reviews, Billie. I enjoy reading them as soon as I finish watching the episodes and right now, I am reading all of them in order to kind of catch up with where we are. :)

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  12. JBA, thanks so much for the kind words and for the info about Baba Yaga. I'd forgotten about the gigantic chicken legs! It's really too bad that we didn't get to see them in this episode because they'd be perfect for Supernatural. :)

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  13. I agree, the chicken legs would have been so fun to see! Imagine Dean's reaction to seeing that! Just thinking about it makes me laugh.

    And I just realized I accidentally reversed pestle and mortar. I meant she rode in a flying mortar and steered by holding the pestle, but I'm sure you knew what I meant!

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  14. The only thing light in this episode was the orange glare of that motel room.

    Weirdly this appeared to be one of the rare times the boys stayed in a hotel and not a motel. Motels don't usually have hallways, the door typically open to the parking lot.

    Also: Dean called Baba Yaga's ring her "Precious", which by my count is Dean's 4th Lord of the Rings reference.

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  15. This episode didn't do much for me, either. As you said, so close to the end and they're doing a case of the week?

    I wonder if it would have felt better if we hadn't gotten the COVID hiatus. One last time with the boys as boys, I guess?

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  16. The episode was advertised as their first hunt but they don't hunt together in the flashback

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