Supernatural: Ghostfacers!
OK, the folks from Supernatural were having WAY too much fun with this episode. They managed to skewer reality shows while still creating a scary beastie that made us jump. Plus, we had some classic lines, some serious gross-outs, and the a couple of lessons to live by -- like don't get in the way of the Winchesters!
Supernatural is pre-empted by "Ghostfacers," the scariest thing to come out of reality TV since Brigitte Nielsen met Flavor Flav. It's from the minds of Harry and Ed, the geniuses we first met in "Hell House." They've got a stunning pilot to present to network execs recently hit by the crippling writer's strike ("lazy fatcats!"), and promise it will be the scariest hour of television -- and of our lives!
Ed and Harry now have a team -- Maggie, Ed's sister; Spruce, a cameraman, and Corbett, an intern, who has a crush on Ed. They're going to stake out the Morton House, where a ghost appears every four years. No one has ever lasted the night in the house on Leap Day -- but the Ghostfacers pledge to break that streak!
Of course, things get more complicated when the Winchesters crash the party.
They tell the Ghostfacers that it's not so much no one has ever lasted the night, it's more that everyone who's been in the house past midnight on Leap Day has disappeared. They want to get everyone out -- but Ed and Harry aren't leaving when they're getting such great footage! Already they've seen a mobster type gunned down upstairs. Sam and Dean explain it's just a death echo, a ghost caught in a loop and reliving the moment of his death over and over again. They encounter another such echo -- a drunken guy getting hit by a train. But that's weird -- death echoes usually happen where a person lived or died, and these people didn't die here. What's going on?
Investigation shows that the house was own by a hospital janitor with a talent for taxidermy and an unhealthy dose of Cold War paranoia. Before they can figure out much more. Corbett goes hunting alone -- and disappears, screaming. Then Sam gets snatched. We find them both tied up at a table, surrounded by strangely immobile party guests. The ghost of the house wants more guests as his party, and he's willing to kill to get them. He's an undead Norman Bates, picking off victims and stuffing them so he won't be alone. He kills Corbett, but Dean manages to find the bomb shelter where the party is hidden before Sam can be pithed.
Ed, Harry and Maggie are upstairs, cowering in a salt circle, when Corbett's death echo appears. He's reliving his gruesome death. Harry realizes they've got to snap himout of it -- and convinces Ed to pledge his love to the poor dead intern. That gives dead Corbett a new lease on, um, afterlife, and he attacks the original ghost. Our heroes and the rest of the team make it out alive.
Of course, now there's the problem of Sam and Dean being caught on camera... but they quickly take care of that with an electromagnet that wipes out every electronic recording the Ghostfacers have. Sorry, guys -- no reality stardom for you. Better luck next time!
What did you think of the episode? Was it worth the wait? Did you enjoy the funny, or were you hoping for a more serious return? Do you think the guys at Ghosthunters are laughing or calling their lawyers? Talk about it in the comments!
Comments
OK, I have to agree with mvit (above) that the kitchen sink quote was hands down the funniest, followed closely by the 'in your duffel' and 'not cops, just hicks' comments. Brilliant!
I loved it - really interesting seeing the same show but looking so different - and the swearing bizzarely added to the reality...ah I have become jaded.
Great to have comedy before the tragedy...saw the trailer of the next one and cannot wait.
Hooray for new Supernatural! Please sir, can I have some more?
P.S. Dean was, as usual, perfection, and his reaction to the guy saying he was really strong and also to having someone hovering with an EMF detector in his face were priceless.
Posted by: freefalling | April 30, 2008 5:36 PM
Baseball pre-empted my tivo'd supernatural - and then when baseball ended, Smallville was on instead of Supernatural, so i didn't get any of it.
I watch no tv live, all my viewing is from tivo/dvr recordings.
Any chance of a re-play of this episode?
Posted by: mvit | April 29, 2008 10:13 AM
Oh, c'mon. You aren't going to include the line,
"There's the kitchen sink."
"Copy that."
It was one of the only lines that made me laugh outloud during the episode.
Posted by: Samantha | April 28, 2008 12:24 PM
I expected much more from the first post-strike episode. And the awful, terrible ratings didn't help. What happened? Didn't people know that new eps were on?
Posted by: K | April 28, 2008 9:35 AM
I really liked the episode. Ed and Harry and the crew were funny, but poor Corbett! He was so sweet.
Dean was AMAZING! I love that he was so annoyed by the cameras and the "amateurs" in his way of getting the job done, yet he understood that it made them feel better to see the scary stuff through the lense of the camera. "Is it cancer?" "Shut up!" Hee.
He was smart too -- he figured out the bomb shelter and made the magnet thingy in the end. Yay Dean!
Sorry to say that I hardly noticed Sam much at all in this ep. He was kind of in the background, except for the psycho birthday party. Or maybe I was just too distracted by how gorgeous Jensen looked in this ep. Yowza.
It looks like Jensen is going to break my heart in the next episode. It looks amazing.
Posted by: Claire | April 28, 2008 9:12 AM
It was a great way to get us back into the season... and to follow up Mystery Spot. I was beyond confused when Jus in Bello followed Mystery Spot (until I figured out the whole episode swap/potential season finale thing). Sam wasn't acting right. after the events of jus in bello (you try watching your brother die a thousand times and then spent six months alone on a vengence gig to bring him back), There shouldn't have been any way Sam was as calm and queit as he was in Jus in Bello.
That was what I was most worried about with Ghostfacers... but they handled it pretty well. So now we know Dean's got two months left, and He's worried, but not sarcastic anymore. Sam's Clearly trying to keep the panicking to a minimum and is really dead set agaist (ha ha. "dead set") Dean getting into anymore life-threatening situations.
All in all, a great episode that did exactly what it had to. I can't wait for the next one!
Posted by: SS Leif | April 27, 2008 4:48 PM
This episode was wizard...I haven't laughed so hard during an episode in so long...I think we really needed a lighter episode before we jump into the angst of deans deal for the next three episodes :D
Posted by: Rosalinda | April 27, 2008 6:43 AM
Was GhostFacers a spoof off of the tv show Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi?
Where ever it was from, it was pretty cool!
Posted by: Matthew | April 26, 2008 7:30 PM
I think Ghostfacers is not so much about being a piece of art, as it is an episode, simply created to get people talking about the show again before it finishes for this season in only 3 more episodes with a loud bang...because we just know it won't vanish with a silent "poof" just yet.
To quote Sam "It had it's moments" - even though they were a little shaky.
Posted by: Nana | April 25, 2008 4:58 PM
Thank goodness Supernatural's back on!! Thursday nights just aren't the same with out it. This episode was most definitely worth the wait. It was hilarious times infinity. Ghostfacers ... Supernatural has the best writers in the business.
Posted by: Mel | April 25, 2008 3:02 PM
This was soooo worth the wait! Comedy, goor, and the Winchesters in one episode!! I loved the skull appearing when they cursed. Hillarious! Next week looks amazing!
Posted by: Kelli | April 25, 2008 1:52 PM