Supernatural: Fear Itself is Funny!
The Joy of Supernatural continues with the tale of a nasty ghost sickness that brings fear and eventually makes the sufferer's heart explode. Ick! The episode struck us as being a mirror image of last season's Bad Day at Black Rock -- a chance for one of the boys to indulge his comedy chops in the service of a scary story. This time, Jensen got to show off his comedy chops when Dean was bitten by the fear bug. And yes, we laughed at his pain. We couldn't help it!
Some of the toughest guys in a small town are dropping dead of inexplicable heart attacks -- fear is killing them. After examining the corpse of one victim, Dean starts getting twitchy-- but Sam seems fine. Hmm. The guys figure out it's a sickness inflicted by the ghost of a man who died in a horrific manner, terrified and brutalized. Now he's striking out at the people who strike him as cocky or scary or downright dickish. Dean makes that list, but Sam is safe.
It was a shock seeing Dean start to get wiggy about the things he loves the most. First he got squeamish around a corpse, then he freaked out at various reptiles, and then he was driving like a granny instead of gunning the engine of the Metallicar. Oh no! It got worse -- he was terrorized by a pink-bowed terrier, and he kept hearing dogs of a more hellish nature. Worst of all, he had a vision of a Sam who had embraced his demonic destiny, and who WANTED him back in hell. At the end, he was menaced by (yikes!) Lilith in another Creepy Little Girl meat suit, crowing that she couldn't wait for him to get back so she and her doggies could reinstate the happy Dean fun times they used to have.
But we have to say this for Dean -- he knew how to face h is fear. Yes, he indulged in a lot of liquid courage, but he had plenty of his own to back it up. Even after he freaked out that this life was too dangerous and he was through with it, and even after he'd turned into a quivering mass of goo, he still reacted well when confronted with the things that scared him most. When he hallucinated that Sam was turning demonic, he lunged for him, not away, and demanded that whatever was possessing him let his brother go. When Lilith appeared, he protested that she wasn't real -- he was going to try to beat the disease even as it sent his heart into overdrive.
Sam, meanwhile, was in the unaccustomed position of being the bad cop -- and what a bad cop he could be. He and Dean figured out that the ghost who started the infection belonged to a former mill worker who was killed when a woman he had a crush on disappeared. See, Luther was big (even taller than Sam!) and scary-looking, and most people seemed unable to see his gentle nature. Jesse, the receptionist at the mill, was an exception. She was also manic-depressive, and she went off her meds, prompting her to run away and hang herself. Before the body was found, her hubby decided Luther kidnapped her, and he chained Luther to his car and dragged him across the road until he was raw meat, and (unfortunately for people who may someday have to destroy his remains) bits of him were smeared across several miles of asphalt. Frank was never prosecuted.
Bobby (Hi, Bobby!) figures out there's a plan B -- you can scare a fear ghost to death (or re-death, we guess). So Sam decides to re-create the circumstances of Luther's death. He lures Luther's ghost into the open by destroying his pictures of Jesse, then gets an iron chain around his neck and tells bobby to gun it. Poor ghostly Luther is tortured to death again. On the upside, that means Dean lives, but we can't help but be shocked by the plan's -- and Sam's -- brutality.
In true Winchester fashion, Sam and Bobby make sure everything is right with Dean by mocking his previous fear. (When Dean offers to hunt anything available. Bobby looks at him and coos "Awwwww... he's adorable!") Sam does try to do a wellness check at the end, asking Dean what his most terrifying visions were. Dean hesitates, then jokes it was howler monkeys. "Just the usual stuff, Sammy. Nothing I couldn't handle." Nothing about Sam, and nothing about Hell. Is it to save Sam's feelings, or is it because Dean still sees Sam as a potential threat?
Comments
I protest! Jensen so didn't know the lyrics!!
Over all another great one!
Posted by: Alex | October 28, 2008 9:33 PM
Fear is an interesting thing but this time fear was fun too. The comedy was spot on and Jensen nailed it as always. For example, Dean screaming like a girl was priceless. I was laughing out loud. Seriously, it was very odd but refreshing to see our fearless Dean Winchester suddenly so openly scared and as something you could consider as a liability during a hunt. Wait - what? I know, Dean as a liability during a hunt, that's laughable. (And it was, literally.)
Although Dean was as cute as his line "I don't wanna be a clue." it felt beyond great to have the old Dean back at the end of the episode. I mean, the Dean that fears but often hides it, turns it into anger or sarcastic remarks. He's still scared for his little brother, imagining (that's what I'm guessing) a yellow flash in Sam's eyes. But Dean stood strong as usually, telling his Sammy that he can handle this.
I really liked Sam in this episode as well, remaining cool for the sake of his terrified brother, constantly telling him not to scratch and calming panicked Dean down. Love, love, love. In my opinion the yellow-eyed Sam threatening his brother was Dean's scariest hallucination. The words, tone, laugh... all kinds of creepy! Brilliant job, Jared. The girl who played Lilith wasn't bad either, she and Jensen acted those few scenes wonderfully.
If it wasn't official before, it's official now. Bobby is awesome! Gotta love the man who's always there for the brothers. It was good to see him working with Sam, we haven't got too many Bobby/Sam scenes yet. I loved the scene where he and Sam teased Dean and he said Dean's adorable. Japanese, that was pretty clever.
I said this on one SN forum and I repeat it now. Dean spoke German ("Monster Movie"), then Bobby spoke Japanese. So what's next? Sam starts speaking Finnish? Hell yeah, that would be something!!!
Looking forward to the Halloween and the next episode.
Posted by: WarriorGirl | October 27, 2008 11:36 AM
Favorite moment HAS to be when Sam opened up the locker door and the kitten got out... that scream was the BEST high pitched guy scream in the history of television!!!! Jensen totally rocked here!!!
As for Sam's eyes at the end I think those were real and not from Dean's imagination. I think that somehow the evil inside of Sam wants to play tricks to Dean... but that's just what I think!!!!!!!! I guess we just have to wait up and see what happens (remember that we're just 6 episodes in this season!! Anything can still happen!!!!!!!)
Posted by: Julie | October 27, 2008 7:36 AM
What Bobby says in Japanese is more or less this:
Sam: You speak Japanese?
Bobby: (in Japanese) "Since from before you were born."
Posted by: Keka | October 25, 2008 4:39 PM
I totally agree that Dean's scream at the cat in the locker was the best moment. I laughed so hard the first time I watched it that I missed what happened next, which may have been even funnier: Dean smiling sheepishly while exclaiming "That was scary!"
And Kudos to the girl playing Lilith. She is sooooo creepy!
Posted by: Pam | October 25, 2008 2:41 PM
Yeah - Dean totally backed off of telling the truth because he saw Sam's eyes flash yellow .. but hmm, did that happen 'for real' or was that Dean's imagination? Time will tell, right?
I LOVED this episode. I wasn't expecting it to be as funny as it was during the first half (I stay away from spoilers and saw just short preview). I was just laughing SOOO much. There's so much funny that when I rewatched it the next day .. I had forgotten a bunch of the funny scenes. This is definitely one that can be watched over and over again!
Jensen really did such an awesome job (as always) with selling the fear (even the silly irrational ones) and taking it from worry/uneasiness all the way up to scared enough to die (which we know they film out of order, which makes it even more amazing).
And Jared .. OMG .. his facial expressions too .. (it reminded me a bit of "Phantom Traveller" .. Sam having to step up because of Dean's fear of flying). Jared did a great job.
I have to say I wonder what Sam was really saying during the hallucination Dean had about Sam going YED. He wasn't hallucinating that Sam was there (he really was), just what Sam was saying/doing (I did love when his version of Sam told him he was going back downstairs "and it's about damn time" LOL).
A number of folks have thought that Sam wasn't sympathetic enough to Dean's problem (which I disagree with - he needed to remain calm etc, or Dean would've been worse off .. afterall, someone has to stay calm in a crisis) .. and that there was a lack of urgency about time remaining on the clock towards the end (but to me this is THEIR "job," they are constantly up against 'crunch time' about one thing or another, and they actually did come up with a plan).
I also saw complaints elsewhere about Bobby and Sam from the end of the ep, when they made fun of Dean's fears .. whereas I also thought (like Sarah) that THIS is how the guys deal with the stuff they have to deal with .. by making fun of things when they can. And considering the outrageously over-the-top irrationality of most of the fears (up until right at the end) .. and knowing that this was Infected Dean and not our Regular Dean .. totally gives license to joke at his expense.
And hey, Bobby got to drive the Impala!
Posted by: CandyMaize | October 25, 2008 2:15 PM
My favourite moment of the Bonus outtake was when Jensen started scratchin in the middle of lipsynchin&dancing!ROFL! i can imagine Jared was doing the same who was heard in the Background laughing his heart out!
Posted by: rich | October 25, 2008 1:53 PM
What in the hell is Al Queda? A new Latino boy band?
Lord on high.
AL QAEDA. Heck, you COULD have googled it if you weren't sure.
You made no mention of Sam's yellow-eye flash. Perhaps that's why Dean went with "howler monkeys".
My favorite part of Jensen lip-syncing was the fact that he actually changed chords on his calf. *snorts* THAT was funny.
Posted by: miss michelle | October 25, 2008 12:49 PM
I don't know how I feel about this episode. Sam seemed impatient and annoyed by Dean's delimma rather than sympathetic or scared that he would lose his brother, AGAIN. Sam had more compassion for the Ruguru. I guess it goes with Sam's "I don't give a crap about my brother" attitude he has readopted this season.
Dean was infected because he's a d*ck? Seriously? Even Dean with his low self esteem didn't buy it and neither do I. Nice to see Sam in all his pompous, self important glory seems to think so little of his brother. Luther chose the wrong brother. Just ask Ronald.
Luther was a misfit. In the passed Dean has shown compassion to and has even bonded with some of these types of people. Lucas, Ronald, Tiny, Richie, etc. So I just can't see why Luther would infect him. This new writer needs to watch past episodes.
I hated the way Sam and Bobby dealt with Luther's ghost. I think that they should have found a way for him to find peace and save Dean in the process without looking like callous, unfeeling jerks. Or the writer could have had Dean save himself and Luther by having him talk to Luther the same way he has to other "misfits" in the past.
The only thing that somewhat saves this episode for me was Jensen's Awsome performance! The man brought the funny! And yes Bobby, Dean is adorable!
Jensen's rendetion of "Eye of the Tiger" was priceless! I could watch it all day on a loop. If this was Kripke's way of apologizing for the less than steller episode, I'll take it.
Posted by: Con | October 25, 2008 12:43 PM
For the favorite moments you forgot to include Dean's awesome scream when the tiny kitten came out of the locker!
That was the funniest thing ever!
Posted by: dots27 | October 25, 2008 8:18 AM
seriously that part where sam's eyes quickly flashed light yellow freaked me out.
BUT I LOVED THIS EpiSOde SOOO MUCH. it was HELLA funny! i could seriously not stop laughing at that beginning scene. i was petrified thinking an actual hellhound was running after him then i started coughing and laughing like crazy when i saw that small terrier with a pink bow xD
LOVED THE EXTRA. JENSEN ACKLES U ARE AMAZING!!
Posted by: jess t | October 24, 2008 11:49 PM
Why is there no mention in the synopsis of the fabulous rendition of "Eye of the Tiger" by Jensen Ackles at the end??? That was frickin hilarious!!! LOVED IT!!
The episode in general was great.
Posted by: Becky | October 24, 2008 9:31 PM
I loved this eppi! It made me happy=p
And Sammy's eyes turning yellow... Very creepy but I think it was Dean imagining it.
Posted by: Anneabell | October 24, 2008 9:26 PM
Thanks Livy! No one else seemed to notice, but Dean didn't just hesitate before saying howler monkeys. He was going to tell Sam what he saw and then Sams eyes flashed yellow and that's the hesitation. I rewound it 4 times to make sure I saw that right. And to Angie I am right with ya on the cat in the locker. I laughed so hard I cried. That got rewound several times. LOL
Posted by: Constance | October 24, 2008 6:59 PM
Although I look forward to reading these reviews every week, I must make a correction to it.
"Lilith in another Creepy Little Girl meat suit"
It wasn't just another meat suit. It was the same girl that played Lilith in the season finale.
Posted by: Jenna | October 24, 2008 4:42 PM
i love every part of the show. it was funny to see deans reactions and to hear him screem and run out of the place. but i still love him.
Posted by: #1 fan of the show and jensen | October 24, 2008 4:01 PM
Clearly the funniest moment was when Dean screamed like a little girl at the cat in the locker! How did you leave that off the poll!?
Posted by: Angie | October 24, 2008 3:35 PM
Someone pointed this out in the forums. When Dean was talking to Sam at the end, Sam's eyes actually TURNED yellow. Was that Dean's imagination or is Sammy really turning????
Posted by: Livy | October 24, 2008 2:23 PM