Supernatural: Don't Touch That Dial!
300 channels of WInchestery goodness
Oh, the TV takeoffs! How we loved them! There were so many moments of bliss to choose from, but here are some of of favorites:
- The sitcom opening, complete with cheesy theme song, wacky hijinks form the boys (That bicycle built for two! The scooters!), and the reaction of the "live studio audience." Plus, we got to see Dean play his heartfelt "Son of a bitch!" as a sitcom catchphrase.
- The Grey's Anatomy knock-off, "Dr. Sexy M.D.", which even has a ghost. We loved Dean revealing his in-depth knowledge of the show, squeeing over Dr. Sexy, then justifying it as a guilty pleasure. But possibly our favorite bit was Sam preparing to operate on Dean and demanding "a penife, some dental floss, a sewing needle and a fifth of whiskey. Stat!"
- The whacked-out Japanese games how had comely advertising wenches wearing little devil horns and white go-go boots.
- The commercial, watching Sam's discomfort as he shilled a remedy for genital herpes.
- Dean's rant about the cop show: "Calm down? I'm wearing sunglasses at night! You know you does that? No-talent douchebags. I hate this game. I hate that we're in a procedural cop shop and you want to know why? Because I hate procedural cop shows. There's like 300 of them on television and they're all the freaking same!"
- MetalliKITT! With Sam as the car! And him getting deeply uncomfortable when Dean dug around in his trunk! HAH!
There's more -- read on!
The big reveal
Holy crap, the Trickster is actually the archangel Gabriel We did not see that coming! The guys make it sound like Gabriel has been hanging out as the Trickster all along, but we admit to being slightly confused by that -- should an angel, even one who is undercover, really be spending his time creating scantily-clad playmates and wishing up tabloid-inspired punishments? That seems kind of far afield from what we remember from Sunday school. We get that there are smiting, wrath-of-God angels, but anal-probe angels? That seems like a stretch.
All in the Family
Gabriel reveals his interest in the boys -- he wants them to "play their roles" and get this apocalypse thing over with. See, he's tired of watching his brothers tear each other apart: "What you guys call the apocalypse, I used to call Sunday dinner. That's why there's no stopping this - this isn't about a war, it's about two brothers who loved each other and betrayed each other." He just wants Lucifer and Michael to kick the crap out of each other and get it out of their systems.
What's more, Sam and Dean have always been destined to play the roles of Lucifer and Michael's meat suits. It was fated from the beginning of time. And that... well, we're not quite buying it. We can't throw a rock without hitting feuding siblings (in fact, in our childhood, we have thrown rocks, and hairbrushes, and whatever else is handy, at our siblings.) Are Sam and Dean seriously the only set of brothers in all of human history who can serve as vessels? To quote the ladies of Dr. Sexy M.D., "Seriously? Seriously?!?"
We're glad that Dean left Gabriel with a few choice words -- "For the record, this isn't about some prizefight between your brothers, or some destiny that can't be stopped. This is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family." That's right, Gabriel -- suck it up and talk some sense into you siblings!
So what's your take? Did you love the TV bits as much as we did, or did you think they were a distraction? Do you buy Gabriel's reasoning, the the boys are fated to play these roles and it's best just to get it over with? Were you surprised to learn the Trickster's true identity? Were Castiel's brief guest appearances enough to keep you satisfied, or did you want more from him? Did you find the last lines -- "Right about now I wish I was back in a TV show." "Yeah, me too." -- poignant or heavy-handed? Talk about it in the comments!
Comments
I personally dont buy the whole,"It had to be you" part completely either, & i think on some level the boys dont either.But the boys do fit the bill as ideal meatsuits,coz not only they have an unfortunate similarity with Micheal & Lucifer,they also broke the first & the last seal.&I think i get why Sam would be the ideal vessel for Lucifer,coz i guess that is what YED was looking for,a human child who gets transformed(partly) into a demon , raises Lucifer by killing the first demon(Lilith) & ends up being his meatsuit when he walks the earth!! Very elaborate plan,gotta say,but plausible.But i still dont get how Dean became Micheal's perfect vessel,other than the fact that he broke the first seal & acc to Cas"the righteous man who begins it,is the only one who can finish it". As for Gabriel's argument,he was just trying to convince/manipulate them like all the other angels have done in the past,& his whole" The moment Dad flipped on the lights around here,we knew it was all gonna end with you two",was a HUGE stretch,but thats archangel Gabriel for you,(atleast on this show)fretful,overdramatic & with a twisted sense of humor;)
Posted by: Rich | November 10, 2009 3:54 AM
Hi, Jess. My problem is that there have been plenty of feuding brothers with absent fathers throughout all of human history -- but Gabriel said that from the moment God said "Let There Be Light," all of heaven and hell knew that it would be the Winchester boys who would be the endgame. Maybe I'm just not much of a predestination sort of girl, but that strikes me as a bit much.
Of course it needs to be the Winshesters -- we don't care about anyone else -- but I'd rather it be "You're the right guys for this era" rather than "It's always been you." Your mileage may vary.
Posted by: Sarah | November 9, 2009 11:52 AM
My favorite quote when Cas showed up in the gameshow
host: Mister Trickster don't like pretty boy angel.
haha that was awesome. So correct. <3 Misha
Posted by: alyssa | November 7, 2009 3:21 AM
Something I don't get... is cwsource's problem with the Winchesters being the vessels for the archangels. Yes there are 8 billion other people out there in the world, but we're looking for brothers that fit the description with what Gabriel said + the absent father. True, that may not cancel out all 8 billion, but it certainly would cut out quite a bit. And within those pool of brothers, why can't it be the Winchesters? I just don't get your big problem with having the Winchesters as vessels. Would you rather have some random guest stars coming in every episode and to which the audience hasn't connected with? Supernatural would also have to spend a good chunk of episodes explaining why they'd also be perfect vessels with their respective backstory. Oh please, I think having Sam and Dean as Lucifer and Michael vessels respectively will have the most impact on the audience, not some random other characters.
Anyway, about the episode... I was somewhat surprised that it turned to be a rather serious -> tying into the apocalyptic, mythology storyline. Although I liked it. It was like the 'Monster at the End of this Book' where it seems like a hilarious ep but it delves into a serious part of the apocalypse. It made me laugh lots ;D good times.
Cas was right, the trickster seemed way too powerful and I was shocked he could just fling Cas away so easily. Glad to see that Cas wasn't weak - Trickster was actually an archangel.
Although I agree, I'm a little confused with the humorous personality Gabriel has. I always pictured him more serious than that.
Looking forward to more Supernatural season 5 :D
Posted by: Jess | November 7, 2009 2:27 AM
Aww. D: You got me all excited. The badges just say 'Dr. S. Winchester MD' and Dr. D Winchester MD'. They really should have done something funny with that!
Posted by: Kelly | November 7, 2009 12:28 AM
This episode was freaking amazing! I was laughing my butt off at the genital herpes commercial. lol But I missed the Knight Rider part, I've gotta see that!
Posted by: Liz | November 6, 2009 10:41 PM
I think the reason why the Trickster acts the way he does is because he is a fallen angel. Craving for sex and sweets seems to fall in line with the fallen angels. Also, he's probably just angry at the world.
Posted by: Erin | November 6, 2009 6:29 PM
They actually had their own names. Dr. S. Winchester and Dr. D. Winchester.
Posted by: Kimberly | November 6, 2009 5:53 PM
I liked everything about this episode.
I freaking loved the opening credits!! TANDEM BIKE, FOOTBALL, MINIBIKES, THE THEME SONG!!! EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT WAS AWESOME!!
It was a nice twist with the Trickster that I had never seen coming. I hope there's more with the Trickster/Gabriel later.
I bet Jared and Jensen had a kick out this episode especially doing the credits. I want a lot of this episode to be on the Season 5 DVD...gag reel, making of this episode, commentary. Actually, I wouldn't mind one whole disc to be about this ep.
Posted by: Linda | November 6, 2009 5:44 PM
I did not to see this coming. Castiel wasn’t the first Angel to appear on Supernatural, because The Trickster is Gabriel, The Archangel? Who would have thought?
This episode shows us that The Archangel Gabriel didn’t care with side won and doesn't care who suffers in this war.
The Archangel Gabriel, like Raphael and Zachariah want the boy’s to say yes, because it’s their destiny. He encourages Dean to embrace Michael and Sam embraces Lucifer.
One brother has to kill the other. Gabriel pushing for Dean and Sam accept their roles and get the final batter over with.
This episode shows us again that Dean and Sam only have Castiel. Once again Castiel risked his life for the boy’s. Even after being banished, he made his way back to the boy’s because they here in danger.
So far Castiel is the only Angel to real like the boy’s, and the only Angel that have faith.
None of the Angel’s (Gabriel, Raphael, Lucifer, Anna, Zachariah) exhibited any faith. They exhibited powers and contempt for all humans. The trickster (like Raphael or Zachariah) is a pretty nasty Angel.
Posted by: Bella | November 6, 2009 4:30 PM
Did anyone catch what the brothers' names were when they were in Dr. Sexy MD? I'm sure its some sort of joke but I can't find an image large enough to read their badges.
Overall a great and hilarious episode!!
Posted by: Chene | November 6, 2009 4:26 PM