Supernatural: Bad Day at Black Rock

Sam and the No Good, Very Bad, Awful Day by Sylvia Bond
Supernatural Episode Review – Season 3, Episode 3

At last Kripke has revealed all. The blonde chick is named Ruby, and the brunette is named Bella. I guess she’s a brunette, though her hair was scraggy enough in the back for it to lighten to dark blonde. I am tempted to call her Scraggy, as well, just for fun, though it is likely that someone will drunk post me and tell me that if I’m going to mock anything on the show then I’m not a True Fan. (Yeah. You three, you know who you are.) Maybe I’ll stick to calling her Rubella, regardless which gal is on screen. That way no one will get confused, least of all me.

The plot is that someone has stolen something from Dad’s weapons cache outside Buffalo. The boys follow up, find Thief # 1 and Thief # 2, and discover that the item is a lucky rabbit’s foot. Or an unlucky one, because when you loose it, you die. The rabbit’s foot is wanted by Bella, who is a thief for money, so she is on the boy’s trail. Also on the boy’s trail are Gordon’s new pals, who, led by Jesus, want to kill the boys. (Gordon, you recall, is an embarrassed looser with an axe to grind. Being in jail ticks him off, too.) At one point Bella gets the foot, then Dean gets it back, there’s bad and good luck all around, and finally Dean is able to burn the foot and break the curse.

There’s lots going on in this episode besides the plot and for some reason there’s more than one thread. Has it always been thus, or did I just miss it last season? More plot threads means that there is less time spent on what interests me most, and that is the boys together. I’m not saying that the others are bad plot threads, but if I am buying crack, I don’t want weed. You know?

One of the threads is about two Goofy Thieves. I say they are goofy because they aren’t very threatening, spend lots of time arguing, and frankly, anyone willing to break into one of John Winchester’s weapons caches for a hundred bucks is soft in the head. C’mon! You know they are all booby trapped, right? In this case, one of the thieves gets spattered with buckshot, which is enough to slow them down, but doesn’t foil their plans. They get the box, and go home to open the box, thinking to sell whatever is in there and keep all the money for themselves. Except that Sam and Dean are soon upon them (the fight scene here is totally funny), and when the boys get the lucky charm back, bad things start to happen to Goofy Thief #1. (Cause remember, when you loose the foot, you die.) Even I saw this one coming from a mile off, but it wasn’t enough to prevent me from cringing and hiding my eyes. The set up is an empty bottle on the floor and a very long steak fork (the kind you use at cookouts to turn the meat) standing straight up in the dish drainer. Yeah, it was like that. Goofy Thief #1 slips on the bottle as he’s walking away from the sink and the fork goes through the back of his head and comes out of his mouth. As he gurgles and bleeds, I am glad it didn’t get him in the eye. Urg.

Later, when Dean and Sam come back to visit Goofy Thief #2, Dean tells the thief that he “gets it” and that while the thief is a thief and a scumbag, he is not a killer, and could he help the boys by telling them who wanted the item stolen. It’s an interesting difference Dean makes, the shades of grey as to the type of bad guys are out there. I want to tell him, Dean, honey, this is standard T.V. fare. (Still, I enjoyed watching Dean clarify this difference.)

Meanwhile, Gordon is in jail. One of his pals comes to visit him. This is Wacky #1, who travels around in an RV. It’s nice inside, with velvet paintings of the crucified Jesus, and lots of canned food. What I liked about this thread was the fact that Gordon soon learns that Wacky #1 is even crazier than Gordon is, if that’s possible. You can see him wince, but he’s grateful to have another man in his army, which he is building to destroy Sam. Yeah, he’s on a mission, one of his own making, and the Good Reason he wants to kill Sam is because he believes that Sam was part of the gang that let open the gates of hell. (Fans are glad that it has been clarified that the boys did not open the gates.) The Real Reason he wants to kills Sam is because Sam’s brother (that’s Dean) left Gordon tied to a chair to linger in his own filth for three days. But because of the natural order of things (and 19 more episodes to go), Gordon is foiled in his nefarious plans. I’m sure that off screen he raised his fists and griped about those meddling kids, or maybe we’ve got a bit of the Hulk scenario going on. Gordon thinks that Sam is the Devil Hulk and he is going to find him! (Though I somehow don’t think that Bill Bixby would make it very far in this universe.)

[nms:CW Supernatural,3,0]

So let’s talk about Boobella. Oh, wait, let’s call her Booby. (Did she have any?) And what about those high heels? I think Kripke is hiding her feet from me on purpose, so I can’t instantly tag her as being the stereotypical, skinny, high-heel wearing, terrific fighter. Not that she did a lot of fighting, just a lot of shooting and posing and talking. And like I said, her hair in the back looks like mine does when I can’t seem to coordinate the blow dryer and that stupid round brush, so I’ve got sympathy. My other beef with her (besides the swank apartment she owns, which seems to be de rigueur for T.V bad guys. Yet, at the same time, she’s a thief who sells things for millions, so I guess she can afford it. It just gets old. Ya know?) is her English accent. This seems to be a marker that those in Hollywoodland use to indicate to us, as if we were an oblivious audience, that there is some sort of ambiguity as to her badness. Or maybe it’s to give her a cosmopolitan sophistication that would otherwise be lacking. (Air you sayin’ air accents in Umerhica ain’t sophisticated? Buddy, where’s mah gun at?)

She follows the boys around because they have the foot and she wants it to sell for lots and lots. The marvelous part about her is that she gives us a chance to watch Dean moralize about, well, about morality. He’s got her at gunpoint and has found out what she plans to do with the rabbit’s foot, which is sell it for 1.5 million. This should be enough money to make Dean’s head spin, but he’s more concerned with the fact that she’s making decisions that are not supporting the common good. He says, “So you know about all this, and this is what you decide to do with it?” This is a grown up thing for Dean to say, really. You know he thinks it, and he certainly lives by it, but to hear him say it? Maybe it’s because this particular speech contrasts with the rest of the episode, where Dean is happy-go-lucky (as much as he can be given his death sentence), and seems not to have a care in the world. By his speech we can see that he’s not forgotten his duty, his obligations, nor the very short time in which he has to fulfill them. It’s very charming to watch Dean shift from being a careless 12-year old to an adult 28 at will. He knows what he’s doing.

As to the Sam and Dean thread, like I said, there was not enough of it, but what was there was gold. Solid, rocking, take it in both hands gold.

First up, is the argument in the Impala. Dean has found out that Sam is planning to sleep with the enemy. Dean thinks that Sam should have tossed holy water on her, not stopped to chat. (Dean’s sarcasm makes me giggle right away.) Sam insists that he’s going to use Ruby, not make friends with her, Dean! (Bury me when I get tired of Sam saying Dean’s name this way, okay?) That’s the basic argument, but the way it’s delivered is hilarious and shows us a lot. In Dean’s mind, no way, no how should you have any truck with a demon, not even if they say they can help you. Because undoubtedly, they will be helping themselves a great deal first. For Dean, it’s black and white. (Though he does seem to be completely forgetting the deal he made with the crossroads demon.) Sam, though, he’s willing to use her, and maybe even to sleep with her or whatever it takes to help Dean. He starts out by saying she can help “us,” which is the Good Reason, and then switches to the Real Reason, which is that she can help Dean. This demonstrates Sam’s greater willingness to deal in ambiguities. Like, if you have to sleep with a demon to save your brother, do you do it? Or, if you do that, do you then become less of what he’s prepared to die to save, and then maybe that would lessen the worth of what he’s fighting for? (Oh man, this could go round and round!)

Dean delivers a great line to defend his objections to Sam’s stupid plan, and that is, “She knows I’m your weakness.” First, I love the fact that this truth is acknowledged out loud. The whole idea that Dean is Sam’s weakness is absolutely beautiful and perfect. Second, I love the fact that Dean knows that he is Sam’s weakness. And third, I love the fact that now Sam knows that Dean knows. You know, the whole “he knows that I know that you know that he knows” thing. Twisted and angsty and good. Stuff like this is why this show rocks.

When Sam and Dean find Dad’s weapons cache, some interesting ideas trundle forward for examination. First, there is the fact that Dad had a weapon’s cache to begin with, and I suspect that he had more than one, and that they are still hidden all over the country, filled with interesting and dangerous things for the boys to stumble upon later. This cache has land mines, grenades, what looks like smoke bombs, knives, guns, and, no doubt, ammunition. In addition, of course, there are boxes and boxes of scary bad magical things. (Boxes with symbols on them to keep the bad things inside. Boxes that Bobby made, which brings up an oh-so-interesting point, because if he never told the boys about the boxes or the cache, what else is he keeping secret from them?)

Second, and more interesting than what is in the cache, is the boys’ reaction to it. Sam is somewhat quiet, and Dean is almost laughing, muttering “you know Dad,” and remarking rather calmly how there’s probably lots of stuff they didn’t know about him. But even if Dad died early last season, I still thought the boys were overly calm, given what they found. Sam finds one of his soccer trophies that Dad kept. The boys dust it off and admire and Dean remarks that it represents the only time that Sam was a real boy. This heavily loaded statement is shifted aside as Dean discovers the sawed off shotgun that he made himself when he was six. Or was it in the sixth grade? (Still, he was very little to be mucking about with shotguns, sawed off or otherwise.) But more importantly, the two items represent how the Dad saw each of his sons. Given that, and the strong statement that the saved items make, there should have been more of a reaction from the boys. I dunno. Maybe when you’re a hunter, found items don’t mean anything. You don’t keep trinkets and mementos because you need room in your car for important stuff like weapons and food and an extra pair of jeans for when the ones you’re wearing get blood on them. But the fact that Dad kept both of these items, only one of which has any practical purpose at all, seems huge to me. It’s a piece of Dad, so there should have been more heft to the discovery. Plus, what I want to know is, did the boys take the items with them?

Lastly, but not leastly, is the physical, slapstick comedy in this episode, mostly courtesy of Sam, who takes a pratfall just about as good as any on The Carol Burnett Show. I did not know Jared Padalecki had it in him, or rather I did, but I was glad to see it come to the fore. I laughed out loud. Lots and lots. Sam, you see, had the rabbit’s foot. For a while, he had some very good luck, such as being able to quickly scratch off 15,000 in winnings from scratch tickets, which anyone can tell you is impossible. Then the boys wander into one of those 24-hour food places, and win a free food for a year. (This win is publicized, which enables Gordon’s pals to track the boys down.) While downing what looks like the remains of an ice cream Sunday, Dean professes that he never wants to eat anywhere else. (Watching him eat and enjoy it so makes me agree.) Then Sam looses the rabbit’s foot. (Actually, Booby lifts it from his pocket while distracting him with her smile. Whatta thief she is!) Then the fun starts.

Sam discovers that he’s lost the foot and the boys leave the restaurant. Just then, he falls. Or rather, he disappears from the screen, and the next we see him is flat on his face on the pavement. I laughed so hard, I think I spilled something. Sam is astonished and aghast as he gets up, because he and I both know how graceful and coordinated he is with those long limbs of his. Then we see the mess he’s made of his jeans, the torn cloth revealing his bloody knees. Let me stop here and tell you what I wanted. I wanted to see some comfort. I wanted to see Dean sit Sam down and push up Sam’s pant legs, wash away the dirt and grit, and then slather on some pain-killing Neosporin. Oh sure, Dean would tease about putting tincture of iodine on there, but he’d generally be quick and helpful and get Sam back on his feet for more torture, because that’s what brothers are for.

Then Sam steps in some gum. This is bad enough, because street gum is gritty and almost impossible to get off. While Dean is on the phone, Sam uses a broken sewer grate to scrape the bottom of his foot. The shoe, natch, catches on the broken metal and plops into the water. By the time Dean turns around, it’s all over. Then Sam says, “I lost my shoe,” with about as much pathos as Pavarotti singing his signature aria. And then he pouts. I could hear the sigh of delight from fangirls everywhere, because it was a perfect pout, and Sam doesn’t usually pout. Oh yeah, he frowns and twitches and scoffs, and those eyebrows of his are more articulate than the best semaphore. But this pout, oh baby. He looks about seven years old. (Come here to mama, and I’ll make it all better.)

Sam is nothing but a walking accident waiting to happen, so Dean locks his brother in a hotel room, where Sam is supposed to do nothing. Not even scratch his nose. Which Sam, being human and being Sam, promptly does. He looks resigned while waiting, and somewhat pathetic being left out of the fun he knows his brother his having. Sad little Sammy. Then the air conditioner goes on the fritz and starts to smoke, leaving Sam to make all sorts of fun expressions as he debates getting up to fix the thing or not. Which he does, which leads to it setting itself on fire. Which leads to Sam trying to put it out, which leads to the curtains setting themselves on fire. Which leads to the ineffable and perfect comic timing where Sam discovers that he himself is now on fire. Whereupon he knocks himself out and is easy prey for Wacky #1 and Wacky #2, who duct tape Sam to a chair.

They want information, but I’m so distracted by Sam being tied up yet again, I can’t really follow their line of questioning. I think they want to know about the war and what the demons are going to do, but Sam’s hair is in his eyes, and he looks worried, and I fall in love with him all over again. Sam’s frustration is palpable, but there’s something else being expressed by his beautiful face. Maybe he knows, like we do, that he isn’t really going to die during this episode. Or maybe he knows that he’s the maiden in distress and that Dean will save him. But what carries Sam’s multiple trains of thought is Padalecki’s terrific juxtaposition of exasperation and humor. Like I said, I am distracted by the Sam-tied-up part, but I can be objective enough to notice the great acting going on here. I know that people have simultaneous expressions on their faces, pretty much all the time, but how do you do it on purpose?

Then the smacking starts. Normally I like it when there is whumpage, but this time, Sam was being so sweet that the brutality from Wacky #1 pissed me off. Cause they don’t just smack him once, they keep smacking him till the side of his face is bruised, and his nose is bleeding. At one point, they throw water on him, which tells me he was heading towards unconsciousness, and I’m asking myself, is this necessary? I guess it’s to demonstrate that Wacky #1 is really a bad buy and a force to be reckoned with, but it’s not in keeping with the light tone of the rest of the episode. (I have a feeling that Wacky #1 will be back later.) Anyway, when the smacking doesn’t work, they bring out the gun. You can see Sam’s comic “oh, darn” reaction to this, so I shouldn’t be worried, but Kripke has surprised me before, and no doubt will again, so yeah, I’m worried. Dean, the hero, comes just in time to save the day and take Sam to his castle far away. But what I really wanted to see was Dean taking out his trusted army knife and using the scissors to cut Sam free of the duct tape. And then I wanted to see Dean wipe away the blood from Sam’s bloody nose with his thumb. And then I wanted to see Dean use a washcloth as a cold compress to ease the swelling and bruising in Sam’s face. I’m just saying. You can’t have that much hurt and not have any comfort.

As to Dean, darling Dean, I’ve never seen him have so much fun. When Sam has the rabbit’s foot, Dean has him playing scratch tickets, and he laughs when they win. Then they win free food, and Dean is smiling ear to ear. He’s a kid in a playground on a sunny day and all the swings are open. I think it was time for him to get some joy. Yet, at the same time, he’s all on the case, serious and purposeful, taking care of Sammy like always, and getting the bad guys, pretty much singlehandedly, except sometimes he’s got the lucky rabbit’s foot in his pocket, so it goes a little bit easier for him. (He seems unconcerned that if he looses the foot he will die, but since he’s going to die anyway, I can see him thinking, what the hell.) When he meets up with Bella, his skill at getting into her place and surprising her from behind has very little to do with the rabbit’s foot, since he doesn’t have it yet. But he soon gets it and her shiny bullets as he exits have no effect on him. Watch him smile as he barely ducks. I love that smile. You seldom see it so clearly.

Then, when Dean rescues the maiden (that’s Sam) from Wacky #1 and Wacky #2, he simply can’t loose, and the smile gets even broader, and Dean becomes silly. It’s a good kind of silly and a long time coming. He thwarts the bad guys using a pen and a remote control. The pen he uses to jam Wacky #1′s gun, and the clicker he uses to thwack Wacky #2 in the head. Then, looking rather Michael Keatonish, he says, “I’m Batman.” That would make Sam the Boy Wonder (which he is), but given everything that’s bandied about concerning Batman and Robin, do I even want to go there? I think it may already be too late, I’ve already been.

Finally, as Sam and Dean prepare the charm for destruction, Bella appears. She wants her rabbit’s foot, and she wants it now. Then she shoots Sam. I was stunned. But, now I know for sure that there will be no romantic interplay between Dean and Bella. You know how I know that? Because she shot Sammy. On purpose. Dean wouldn’t sleep with her, not even if she got naked and gave him a private lap dance. That’s just how it goes. If Kripke decides to mess with that and there is a romance there? Then it isn’t Dean, or he’s possessed. (If that’s possible, which I’m beginning to think it is not.) Anyway, Dean is clever enough to toss Bella the rabbit’s foot, so she has to hold it in her hand. Since she’s held it, she’s lucky, but if she sells it, even for lots and lots, she will die within a week. Even to Bella, her life is worth more than 1.5 million, so she hands it over, and the boys destroy it.

Thus goeth episode number three, giving season three some mighty shoulders upon which to stand. The whole Ruby and Bella additions might not be so bad, I’m thinking, because there’s no way any stupid romance stuff can happen, and even if sex does occur, the boys don’t like or trust the girls, and the reverse is also true, so the sex would be dark and nasty. We seem safe on that account. And anyway, I believe in Kripke, so I’m along for the duration of the ride. I want no early exit.

Having said that, I wanted to point out what any fan will tell you, and that it is the brothers’ relationship that makes this show excellent. Though the boys were together on screen more this time around, there’s still a great deal of separation going on. What’s up with that? I felt like there was a blade made of goofy bad guys and crazy bad guys and it was slicing through the brothers being together. I mean, leaving Sam alone in a room for a good chunk of the episode? Whose idea was that? (Although, I do admit, it was kind of fun.) Both boys were very sparkly in this episode and it may have been the material the actors were given to work with, as well as the hidden, comedic talents of both Ackles and Padalecki. This was a fun episode, and I laughed out loud a lot. But, you know, I don’t watch the show to laugh. I watch the show because I want to see something deeper. (Not that kind of deeper. Get your minds out of the gutter.) Perhaps some suit thought it might be a good idea to have the funny up front, and I suspect that if Kripke was in on it, then we are being set up for a huge and ginormous, dark and scary fall, and bad things will happen. I will be ready, sitting in the front row, with all the lights off. C’mon, Kripke, scare me. Give me Sam and Dean angst, full throttle. And give me some Deanskin and Samhair to sigh over while you’re at it, cause I’ve been that good.

Sylvia Bond is a ten-year technical writing veteran with too many degrees under her belt to count. She lives in Colorado, but does not ski, preferring instead to spend her money and time at the annual Great American Beer Festival, taking road trips across the United States, and reading historical fiction from the comfort of her fluffy green arm chair. She has been involved in fandom since 1993 and been writing fanfic since approximately 1993. What she finds most amazing about fandom (besides the open heartedness of fans and the sheer amount of creativity) is how visible fandom has become. “In my day,” she says, “we had to hide behind P.O. boxes to get fanfic. But nowadays, people wear t-shirts that shout their affiliation and share their shiny toys on the internet.” It’s a wonderful world.

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