Supernatural: Bedtime Stories

Two Somewhat Grim Brothers by Sylvia Bond
Season Three – Episode 5
“Bedtime Stories”

As the episode opens, I spot the three little pigs right off the bat and that makes me feel pretty smart. It’s the whole “we shoulda used cinderblocks” line, along with the snort that the 3rd little pig makes that helps me. Then, unfortunately, two of the little pigs die, and that makes me sad. Then, the boys have a huge argument in the Impala, and that makes me happy! (The range of emotion this show evokes is incredible, really.)

A scene like this, in the Impala (which is probably going, say, 70 MPH), is like watching two panthers circling each other in a fast-moving cage. Neither brother is afraid to yell and snap, and when fire flashes from their eyes, I want to duck to avoid getting singed. This time, the argument is made even more intense because of what the boys are arguing about. Sam wants to do something about Dean’s deal with the crossroads demon, and the entire screaming match is the fallout from before that I’ve been waiting for. Not waiting for as in “I’m wishing, I’m wishing, for the one I love,” but more in a shaking-my-head-it’s-bound-to-happen kind of way, and then being the almost-unwilling witness to such a private conversation. Arguments like this seem so personal, especially when there’s shouting.

And there’s shouting, you see, because Dean’s not merely pissed that Sam wants to summon the crossroads demon and use the Colt to force her to break the death deal, he’s Furious. He’s got his Angry Eyes, and his teeth are bared, like he’s gonna take a chunk out of Sam if Sam doesn’t step down and behave. The whole “because I said so,” comes into play, thrown in there by Dean, to which Sam responds, “You’re not Dad!” Oh, a lovely shiver races down my spine at this, the whole of what that implies. If you are a Winchester boy, you don’t bring up Papa Winchester casually. The fact that Sam does so here indicates to me that Dean has pushed Sam to his breaking point.

Dean knows he’s gone too far. And how does Dean defuse this situation, still rocketing down the highway at 70 MPH? Well, Dean asks the very normalizing question, “Tell me about the psychotic killer.” It’s interesting to watch Sam turning down his own volume because it takes him a while. There’s steam coming out of his ears and again, I’m the fly on the wall, witnessing something I shouldn’t. Does it take him longer to calm down because Sam isn’t 100% pure Sam?

Not that I’d want him to be anything but my own dear boy, but as he sets his jaw, and unfolds the paper to start reading off the facts about the killer, there’s a certain light in his eye, a tone to his silence that tells me, somehow, that the only reason Dean isn’t going headfirst into the steering wheel courtesy of Sam (yes, at 70 MPH), is because what is pure Sam loves his brother very, very much. (The other fun part about this ep at this point is that what they’re chasing might be a werewolf, which brings with it a great deal emotional baggage. And who doesn’t love the fact that even though they only have two days to the full moon to find the werewolf, Dean’s reply is “No sweat.” What confidence! What verve!)

The hospital scene, the usual Q and A with the remaining little pig, has the boys posing as detectives, with Sam as the local sketch artist. (The whole rock n’ roll Plant and Page reference is a throwaway, but a cute one.) The scene treats me to the sight of Sam and Dean in suits. Dean is in the brownish suit, looking very glam and slick, but Sam, in the darker suit, seems to have troubles mixing patterns and stripes. And, how, I want to know (as I always want to know) do the boys manage to keep those suits so wrinkle free? I never see any garment bags hanging from the little hanger thing in the back seat, and there aren’t any sideways creases along the knees or anything, so the suits would have to be rolled up. Do the boys then carry an iron to do some spot treatment before donning said suits? When? In the early morning hours so no one can see? These questions distract me. Just as the little swirl of hair above Sam’s right eye distracts me. Since I’d rather be distracted by his hair than questions about irons and suits, I’ll just focus on his hair and let everything else go by the wayside.

I also adore the terrific “the things he can do with a pen,” comment from Dean, and Sam’s scoff in his brother’s direction. It’s a low key scoff, but I’ve not seen it in what feels like ages, so it’s an old friend. Dean once again sets his brother up to be humiliated (because that’s what brothers are for, after all), and indeed, Sam’s sketch looks about as good as what a first grader could do. Which is reassuring in a way, because if there was still some demon-ness inside of Sam, I would think it would have done a better job.

The scene ends nicely with little pig asking Sam how he would feel if his brother died. (Trust Kripke to never let us forget that Dean’s fate is still on the table). Sam says, “I can’t imagine anything worse.” Sam has his Sad Eyes, and Dean, hearing this, looks sad too. This gives me heart pangs, and makes me happy. What is the sick thing in me makes me enjoy all this angst so? Why on earth do I want to watch them suffer? I like it when the boys laugh, too, so it’s not that I want them to be miserable, at least not all the time. Just some of the times, so I can see their faces turned gloriously beautiful by boatloads of emo. Nobody expresses emotions anymore, you know? But these boys do, and that’s why they’re so fun to watch.

[nms:CW Supernatural,3,0]

Then we move along to the Hansel and Gretel part of the story. I figure that one out when the couple, hiking in the woods, stumbles across an isolated house, and a lonely old woman, who says her house is the only one left out there in the wilderness. If she lives there, that means there’s a road. And if there’s a road, the hiking couple can use it to get out. But they don’t. (Why are some hikers so dumb? Where is their map? Can they even read one?) They are lured into the old woman’s house and I figure they deserve what they get for not listening to their instincts. At least the hiking female shoulda listened because she of all people should know that there’s nothing such as a “harmless old lady.” True to form, the hiking couple is stuffed with cherry pie and then the hiking male gets sliced open while blood spurts everywhere. I just love Supernatural! Meanwhile, at the window, I spot a young lady watching all of this. I think she’s Snow White, given her hair and garb. But we’ll see.

The hiking woman ends up in the hospital, making me wonder why the old woman let her go, and how on earth she made it back to town (Turns out she shoved the old woman, who banged her head real hard on the stove.) But then Sam and Dean walk in wearing suits again, different ones this time, and I start wondering, focusing not on all this plot stuff, but instead on whether the boys each have two suits? Or did they just switch off? They’ve got different ties, too, though poor Sammy is still having troubles with those patterns and stripes. (I think they do this on purpose to jangle the nerves, to give us viewers the heads up that all is not right with Sam. Or it could be meant to be merely cute, and I’m reading too much into it!) Sam is in the light suit and Dean is in the darker one, and, as with the last time, the suits are wrinkle free. Do they have a suit press somewhere in the trunk of the Impala? A tie rack? Shoe shining kit? I think it would be more realistic if the boys always wore the same suits over and over, a little wrinkled, a little patched, which would be more in keeping with their on-the-go lifestyles. Although, you know, they look really good here.

Anyway, the boys soon change out of their suits and have a chat (whilst poking around the old woman’s house) about the strange happenings in Weirdville. This conversation also harkens back to why I like Supernatural so, because now the brothers have one of their infamous conversations. Sam postulates that they’ve stumbled onto occurrences that may have to do with fairy tales. (I like it when he postulates. He throws his arms around and looks dead sexy.) Dean mocks his brother, asking if he thinks about fairy tales often. I sense a running joke coming on galloping hooves. Dean says, then, “We gotta do research now, don’t we.” To which Sam answers with a shrug. All the while Dean is fondling his bandanna. What the hell is up with Dean and that bandanna? I personally carry around a variety of colors, and have over a dozen, so I know Dean is carrying one because they’re useful. But he can’t seem to pack it without playing with it so I’m wondering if there’s something else he’d like to tell us.

The boys go walking through the park and continue to discuss the whole fairy tale issue. (Sam and Dean are my own personal Hansel and Gretel here as they walk, or maybe it’s Hansel and Hansel. Anyway, they look like two innocent babes in the woods, and I’m so glad to see they’re getting some exercise and fresh air, though I am worried about those circles under Dean’s eyes. Either they are there to show us how tired Dean is, and the makeup team is to credit, or they are there courtesy of Jensen Ackles, in which case I’m worried about him! Is he getting enough rest, that one?) They spot a large frog, which Dean states he will not kiss, and then Sam spots a pumpkin on a porch. He starts talking about Cinderella, and mice, and coachmen, and then Dean asks him, “Dude, could you be more gay?” This question is so loaded and I’m laughing so hard, I forget to breathe, and watching Sam’s face is a joy and a pleasure as he struggles to come up with an answer. Luckily for him, Dean tells him not to answer that, but unluckily for me, I am out for the count, and need to get up for water. Thank goodness for the pause button. Five minutes. Five minutes it took me to come back to earth from this scene. Where do they get lines like that and don’t they know what it does to fangirls?

The boys break into the house with the pumpkin (in broad daylight, I might add, which just ain’t in keeping with the whole creepy vibe the show usually has), and Dean follows up with a “who knows, maybe you’ll find your fairy godmother” remark to Sam, letting me know that yeah, the whole fairy gag still has plenty of legs to it. Anyway, with a sexy click to each of their respective pistols, the boys rescue Cinderella, after which, Dean follows a little girl in a white dress. Once again I’m struck by the use of little kids in this show (and the implication that it is Dean who relates better to them), and then when Dean asks the mini Snow White who she is, she disappears, leaving behind a red apple. (The dark circles under Dean’s eyes really show up in this scene. I am always moved by a person who looks like they’ve not gotten enough sleep, because I can so relate. There is nothing worse than feeling tired. As it is, I just want to make up a bed with nice clean sheets and slide Dean inside of them.) As Dean holds the red apple, bringing up the “temptation in the garden” theme again (making me wonder who is going to be tempted with what during this ep), but Dean shrugs it off and later asks Sam if the red apple and the little girl mean anything to “fairy tale boy.” See? Told you it had legs and is still galloping strong. (Even more fun is Dean’s recollection of a Snow White story, but his version is rated XXX. God bless you, Dean. Don’t you go changing. Ever.)

Then the boys are at the hospital, talking about patients, doctors and stuff, and I realize that Sam’s neck is all exposed by the shirt he’s wearing. He was wearing this shirt earlier in the ep when the brothers were examining the cottage in the woods where the hiking couple was attacked. Only now, in the light of the hospital, I realize that the buttons on the shirt are of the snap variety. I think there’s dialog and I think the plot moves forward, but all I can think about are undoing those snaps. With one big r-r-r-r-rip. Man. Who put that shirt on that boy? (There’s a woman in a coma, and I wonder, since she’s in a coma, where are all the tubes and stuff? Oh, never mind. I’ll just look at Sam’s neck for a while.)

A grandmother is admitted to the hospital. Sadly she’s dead, but for some reason the paramedics feel free to give out the address of her next of kin (a granddaughter, natch) to Dean and Sam. (Oh, wait, the boys have fake badges.) Then the boys do something naughty. The s-e-p-a-r-a-t-e. Here I was, such a happy camper, and then Dean starts snapping out orders for what Sam is to do while Dean goes off on his own. Doesn’t Kripke know by now how much I hate this? It’s not enough that the episode isn’t very scary (which I miss), or that the plot lines this season have had more silliness than they ought, he’s gotta make them work alone instead of together? It just ain’t right.

But okay, Kripke gives me a little treat to tide me over. Dean says, “I’m gonna go stop the big bad wolf…which is the weirdest thing I’ve ever said.” Then he goes off and the camera focuses on Sam. Sam’s got a look on his face, which, in light of the “big bad wolf” line, makes me think that he’s not thinking about fairy tales or pumpkins or grandmothers. He’s thinking about bad things. About sad things. About Dean going off to fight something else, while maybe the thing he might soon be fighting is hiding within Sam. Right now. Right this minute. There’s a force inside of Sam, and Sam knows it. Poor baby.

The force is particularly forceful when Sam starts in on the doctor whose comatose daughter is causing all of the ruckus his ep. Sam barges into the patient’s room, and when the doctor moves towards the phone to call the police, Sam moves towards the phone, too. And I mean MOVES, his whole body going forward, shoulders braced, head lowered, and as his hand covers the phone, you can see why the doctor hesitates. I would too, were I to see Sam coming at me warningly like that. It’s the stuff of dreams, you see. (I mean, would you look at that neck of his?) Then the scene tapers down to normal as the doctor admits that he’s seen the ghost of his daughter, too. To whom he shortly says “I’m sorry” and “goodbye,” whereupon, she disappears, leaving Sam with his very own Ghost Whisperer moment. (Jennifer Love Hewitt would be very proud.)

Don’t forget that Dean is off to granny’s house to go after the big bad wolf, and given the parameters of the Red Riding Hood story, if he’s going to rescue Little Red, then that makes him the huntsman. What I want to know is, where is his axe? Instead, he’s got a pair of shears used for knitting, which, juxtaposed against Dean’s masculinity, is fairly hilarious. He’s got a great fight scene with the wolf guy, there’s lots of Tossing of the Dean, and finally, when Sam breaks the spell, the wolf guy comes to his senses and asks Dean to stop. Which Dean does. This feels like an easy out to me, because I think that while Dean in the middle of a fight would be able to control his killing impulses, he would be hard pressed to believe a guy who was, a minute ago, trying to kill him. But such is the plot. At least I got to see whumpage! (And some blood, courtesy of the Blood Artist, who likes to drape cuts artistically across Dean’s face just for me.)

Kripke never disappoints me, though. With the plot over, I get another present in the wrap-up. The doctor admits he should have let his little girl go instead of hanging on. The boys then say good bye to the doctor and then Dean says to Sam, “That’s good advice.” And Sam says, “Is that what you want me to do, Dean? Just let you go?” I can hear the cracking of fangirl hearts everywhere. From Anchorage to Florida and all over the globe. The expression in Sam’s eyes as he looks at Dean comes at me like a punch. There is love and longing there and a desperate need to SAVE. The scene is all shadows and light, and Dean, even without a word being spoken by him, indicates that his brother comes first and always will. (Kudos to Ackles for never forgetting how to use those eyes of his to express dialog for which there are no words.) Off Dean walks down the hospital corridor, leaving Sam alone for a moment to think it over. Big Brother gets to say who dies and when, though I’m guessing that Sam, as with all Little Brothers everywhere, is not going to let this ruling stand.

But wait, there’s more! Next scene. Interior, motel room. Night. Or maybe it’s early morning. I don’t know. All I know is that I get to see (at last!) Dean in bed. He’s got two pillows under that adorable head of his, and, what’s more, he’s on his side, which you seldom see. (I’ve never seen Dean use two pillows like this, have you?) Then he shifts, like a little kid, burrowing into his pillow. The camera pans left to see Sam…NOT in bed. He’s dressed, standing. He grabs his bag, and with his hair over his eyes (so you can’t see his expression), he opens the door, making me wonder whether he’s possessed or not. Needless to say, he’s leaving. You HEAR? Leaving! Is he running away forever???

I’m shrieking for Dean to get up, get UP, but Dean is sleeping the sleep of the just and the tired. And Sam, instead of leaving for the beyond (which is where I thought he was headed), goes to the crossroads to summon the demon. All I can say is that when Dean finds out what Sam is up to, he’s going to kill Sam himself, so Sam is dead whether he makes it home or not.

The demon is summoned and Sam says that she’s to set Dean free so everyone goes home happy. The demon taunts him with crap about Sam being tired of being treated like the little brother, and having to pick up after desperate, sloppy, needy Dean. The demon reveals that the contract on Dean’s soul is very very valuable, but that her boss has it, and won’t tell Sam who that is. Or us.

It does something to me to have the show demonstrate that it understands that Dean has a broken psyche. Of course it must know, Kripke knows everything that goes on, but to have them admit it? It’s rather like hearing an old family secret spoken aloud. Add to that the “temptation in the desert” that the demon lays at Sam’s feet, and I am riveted to the screen. This is the good stuff. The reveal. Secrets told, truths known. The demon tells Sam that he his stronger than his brother, and I hope Sam remembers that demons lie. Or they tell the truth just to mess with your head. Because while it may be true that Sam is stronger and more self-sufficient than Dean in many ways, it is his brother’s faith in him that keeps Sam going. And faith, I think, is something that the devil and all his minions will never understand. Sam needs Dean just as much as Dean needs Sam. Together they are the complete hero.

Sam, in an almost dispassionate fury, shoots her. She takes a long time to die, making me think she’s an old, old demon, and then as she dies, I see Sam’s face. Gone from my mind are the jokes about fairies and pumpkins and little old grannies and cherry pie. In their place is the darkness of Supernatural that keeps me coming back week after week. There’s the line where Sam says to the demon, “you stop breathing, permanently.” Is it just me, or can anyone else see the Lucifer in Sam’s eyes. Does the demon he’s talking to even know what she’s dealing with? And does Sam realize what he must become, what he’s even now becoming, to save his brother? Yeah. Looking at his expression, I’ll say he does. Oh, Sam.

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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