Ami’s SPN Rewatch

The fashion in these first few seasons always brings me straight back to college and my early twenties and it’s so fucking weird every time I watch these. The halter tops. The mini skirts. The lacy camisoles with spaghetti straps.

Anyway, this episode isn’t my favorite. Not because it isn’t a good episode or SPN, but because the hook man story in Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark was, like, my favorite from those books as a kid (and the haunted sweater… and the call from inside your house) and I don’t feel like this episode does the hook man justice.

Girl, drive away… your boyfriend is definitely dead or an huge asshole and deserves to be stranded.

WHY ARE YOU GETTING OUT OF THE CAR????

Yeah, see, that’s exactly where this episode bums me out. It was supposed to be the morning after she sat in the car terrified all night and when help arrives they tell her not to turn around, but she does anyway and THAT’S when she was supposed to see her boyfriend hanging over the car. At least that’s the way I grew up reading this story and this just… wasn’t it.

Then again, to conjure Bloody Mary when I grew up you had to splash water on the bathroom mirror in the dark then chant her name three times and she’d turn the water into blood. (3rd grade me was kinda bummed it didn’t work.)

Anyway, back to Dean with his oversized jacket and fluffy spiked hair.

WHO EATS A BANANA WHILE WORKING ON A CAR? Actually, I’ve worked with mechanics before so I guess that’s kind of a dumb question… I’ve seen things.

Every time I watch the scene from the screen cap above I keep trying to figure out what the poster over Dean’s shoulder is all about.

The preacher’s daughter with her little green knit vest reminds me of the vintage Girl Scout uniform I had as a kid.

Why would she talk to Sam and Dean about this shit anyway? This isn’t the kind of conversation you’d have with someone new to your church.

Why would arrest records be archived in the public library?

There are already hook man scratches on the walls of the sorority house. Why? Wait, I can’t remember if her roommate was dead yet or not actually.

THE IMPALA’S SPOTLIGHT! Dawww.

“You don’t have to be a college graduate to be a genius.” <— Right you are, Dean.

Okay, roommate is not dead yet.

EDIT Aug 30, 2021: Apparently, I forgot to finish this episode and my rewatch notes. Fuck it, I had barely any sleep tonight, this is a great time for some vintage spn.

Oh good, the roommate is definitely dead now. Have I mentioned how much the way they did this myth disappointed me because Hook Man was always one of my favorite legends from old ghost story books I read as a kid.

I LOVE this “Told him you were a dumbass pledge and we were hazing you” conversation. It’s so good. It makes me really curious about how many frat parties Dean crashed in his few years hunting alone after Sam and John left him to his own devices.

Why isn’t she suspect number one with the police? Is it just because she’s the preacher’s daughter? I guess she kind of is. I feel like they definitely should have brought her directly into the station for questioning though. Regardless of what Padre Daddy said.

Sure Sam, Dean is also freakishly tall and definitely wouldn’t need the same help up that you needed… totally fine to just fuck off and let him fend for himself.

I also hate the “aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light” presentation in this episode. Ugh. Like, it’s fine, but it’s not great. This show became so much easier to watch when the fucking angels showed up.

“This college thing is awesome!” Okay, Mr. “Never take a joint from a guy named Don.” Or whatever. Like you’ve never been to college parties before.

Dean. Honey, sweetie. You know unmarked graves don’t have headstones, right? So there’s not much reason to point your flashlight at the headstones, right? And in a cemetery that old WHY would that be the one headstone (other that tv prop / spoooooky magic reasons) that looked freshly fucking carved.

I never understood why Sam came off as “totally charming and sweet” and not CREEPY AS FUCK STARING IN MY WINDOW???

I’m glad Sam’s taste in women got better over time. Though this girl was still a villain, I guess. She was a boring, white bread one.

“No one will talk to me anymore.” Girl. GIRL.

She reminds me of the angels. Especially after the fall. The intense moral compass and righteous anger presented in a bad way.

Sam would DEFINITELY be getting arrested along with the girl right now. Like, wtf.

Dean… you’re dumb and adorable. “It’s okay, that’s my brother. HEY. BROTHER!”

“I think it’s latching on to (the girl)”. Wow Sam, Dean only suggested that ages ago.

“The hook?” Dean, you’re smarter than that.

OFF TOPIC: Anyone else head canon Dean meeting Cassie while she was getting her journalism degree and they bonded over research and learned techniques from each other? Cause it’s one of my favorite personal head canons I have for them.

Squeaky doors.

“Stay out of her underwear drawer.”

“Trust me, this guy, he’s no angel.” I mean… you really don’t know them yet.

“They didn’t deserve to be punished, I do.” <— WOW THEME FOR THE WHOLE GODDAMN SHOW.

Seriously Sam, the necklace was long enough she could have slipped it over her head or took it off correctly. I always hate when they break jewelry in tv and movies like that. Like, damn dude, that would hurt like a bitch.

Wow, you guys got a fire in a residential home hot enough to melt silver? Ohhhkay.

Dean is so worried about Sam here. He’s even willing to let Sam stay in town with a monster girl. I mean, sure, it was all up to the eeevil necklace, but she still had that righteous rage going on.

Okay, I’m gonna try to type while I watch this time instead of forgetting this blog exists until the episode is almost over.

You can tell the footage for the previously on segment was saved on a VHS copy instead of the original film that the show was shot with because even in the HD iTunes version I have it looks low quality as fuck. And jumpy in the way that brings me back to my teens watching the WB all the damn time.

I love this song. WTF is this song. Shazam says “Good Deal” by Mommy and Daddy. I… have no comment, except that it sounds like everything I was listening to in college at the time this shit was airing.

Aaaaand not!Dean turns around to face the SWAT team after obviously torturing some woman. THAT is a cold open.

I wanna know what that car is in the background. It’s pretty. Maybe a convertible Impala? They have similar grills. This is not at all important.

Also, I love that with these higher definition versions of the episodes you can see that Sam’s email is lawboy and whatever dot com and that people in the fandom have started calling him Law Boy. It’s hilarious.

DEAN: Well, what exactly do you tell ‘em? You know, about where you’ve been, what you’ve been doin’?

SAM: I tell ‘em I’m on a road trip with my big brother. I tell ‘em I needed some time off after Jess.

DEAN: Oh, so you lie to ‘em.

SAM: No. I just don’t tell ‘em….everything.

DEAN: Yeah, that’s called lying. I mean, hey, man, I get it, tellin’ the truth is far worse.

SAM: So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life? (DEAN shrugs.) You’re serious?

DEAN: Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can’t get close to people, period.

Aaaaand now I have Dean and Cassie feelings again and we haven’t even gotten to her episode yet.

SAM: No, man, I know Zack. He’s no killer.

DEAN: Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you.

Aaaaaand now I have Dean and Lee feelings and we’re nowhere near Lee’s episode in season 15.

YOU JUST BLEW THROUGH A STOP SIGN DEAN WTF.

Little Becky. Oi with the reusing of names.

Of course Sam made friends with a bunch of rich kids while he was at college in a desperate attempt to try to be normal.

SAM: You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack’s house.

DEAN: We could.

REBECCA: Why? I mean, what could you do?

SAM: Well, me, not much. But Dean’s a cop. (DEAN laughs.)

DEAN: Detective, actually.

I love that Dean was like “how dare you call me that.”

Okay, after a bit of research, I totally want to take a day trip to Bisbee, Arizona, but it’s already in the 90s here in the desert and it’s not even May so that trip is going to have to wait until… winter or something. There is no way in hell I’m going deeper into the desert when the weather gets hotter.

It’s a historic mining town tourist trap looking place now which is exactly the kind of shit I love.

SAM: Bec, look, I know Zack didn’t do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he’s innocent.

I mean, not technically, technically you would 1) NOT FUCK WITH A MURDER INVESTIGATION YOU’RE NOT LEGALLY INVOLVED IN BECAUSE ANYTHING YOU FIND WOULD BE INADMISSABLE IN COURT 2) find evidence to provide a reasonable doubt for the jury that he did commit the crime. You know, like a lawyer would need to do, Law Boy.

DEAN: I just don’t think this is our kind of problem.

When I made my husband watch this show with me (he’s seen it all at least once now over the years) this is the recurring thing that drove him crazy.

You guys can’t even go in through the back door? Or shut the front door behind you? Really?

REBECCA: (tearfully) Well, there’s no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in.

Yeah, that doesn’t even really mean that she knew her attacker. Just that it was someone she let her guard down around or got in some other way. See: The Son of Sam and Nightstalker, etc.

Love the pinup magnet on the fridge. I’d throw shade at that, but I have a pinup magnet on my fridge too so… pot kettle and all that.

Okay, both people in the next couple are gorgeous.

And oh wow those special effects changing eyes… wow.

This poor couple. I feel so bad for them in this episode.

How… how are the police gonna explain the way he was able to beat himself over the head with a bat??? I…

I love that 5:30 in the morning on TV is clearly like… 10 AM.

Okay, this is a really unrelated point, but the graffiti on the dumpster here reminds me of the Teen Wolf fandoms use of the name Void!Stiles when Stiles Stilinski was possessed by a Nogitsune… I just spent way too long digging through YouTube and my Tumblr tags from back when those episodes were airing looking for a few specific videos and couldn’t find them. The TL;DR reason I bring it up here is goofball, bi-coded main character guy getting possessed by an entity set on destroying the people he loves. SOUNDS LIKE THIS EPISODE AND A WHOLE LOT OF SPN RIGHT. I love that all these monster hunting shows call out to each other.

This scene haunts me years later and I don’t even WATCH Teen Wolf. I just watched the fandom on Tumblr collectively lose it’s shit then tripped down a Hale Pack fanfiction rabbit hole.

ANYWAY

Back to Supernatural, a show that also treated its fan base, cast, and characters like garbage! Huzzah!

DEAN: Well, there’s another way to go—down. (They look down and notice a manhole.)

I’m gonna be mature and ignore the double entendre there…

But I love that Dean thinks of the world in 3D. Which sounds like a dumb statement to make, but this is honestly a good example of that in action.

SAM: I bet this runs right by Zack’s house, too.

Really Sam, sewers run by houses? SO WEIRD. I WOULD HAVE NEVER GUESSED.

DEAN: You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape—maybe it sheds.

SAM: That is sick. (DEAN puts the bloody pile back on the ground.)

Guys, there is a WHOLE ASS EAR in that pile of yuck you’re looking at. I think it’s pretty safe to assume the shapeshifter indeed sheds its skin like a snake. A much… gooier snake.

Sam’s friend is rightfully pissed at him for fucking with the crime scene.

This is before the pearl gripped guns?! Wow. I never noticed that before.

Also, this whole episode gives me feelings.

++++

Cool. Tumblr mobile ate a whole section of my notes on this when it crashed for NO APPARENT REASON. Love that.

It always boggles my mind that actors can trust the people they’re working with enough to let people “tie” ropes around their neck or put them in actually dangerous positions in a scene.

SHAPESHIFTER: He’s sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?

SAM: Where is my brother? (The shapeshifter leans in close to SAM.)

SHAPESHIFTER: I am your brother. See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me. (He backs away.)

SAM: What are you talkin’ about?

SHAPESHIFTER: You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin’, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It’s not without its perks. (He laughs.) I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let’s see what happens. (He smiles and covers SAM with a sheet.)

This exchange is just… so much. So many feelings. And I will forever (unless we magically get a fix-it fic mini season someday…) be SO MAD that none of this got resolved in that pointless, trash heap of a finale.

REBECCA: Okay, so, this thing—it can make itself look like anybody?

SHAPESHIFTER: That’s right. (She chuckles.)

REBECCA: Well, what is it, like a genetic freak? (The shapeshifter laughs.)

SHAPESHIFTER: Maybe. Evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else. (REBECCA looks around, uncomfortable. The shapeshifter’s eyes glint silver, and he smiles.)

It always amazes me how much of this show is a pile of accidental queer allegories parading around in an ill-fitting toxic masculinity suit.

Vulcan mind meld! I love nerd!Dean. Also, I’m rewatching Star Trek: TOS with my husband, because that is what my life amounts to these days, rewatching comfort TV and flailing over the bits I love.

This post does a better job than I can do of pairing up screen caps with the dialogue of this next scene. SIX EPISODES IN. They’re dumping all of this character depth SIX EPISODES IN. FUCK THIS SHOW FOR NOT EMBRACING ITSELF.

Okay, I love that he screams back in her face after he threw the phone. It’s not something to laugh at because the situation is horrifying, but I can’t help laughing at it every time.

AND THE WAY THEY CUT THESE SCENES. Going from him winding his hand back to backslap her directly to him dropping the chains on the table to show how hard he must have hit her without actually making the actors hit each other. Good job editing department!

I… don’t understand the shifter’s motivation for killing people. If he can take over people’s identities without killing them, why kill them? Is it just because he’s a homicidal, rapist piece of shit? Cause that’s all it seems like.

How did the SWAT team even know she was being attacked? Why can the snipers aim no better than Storm Troopers?

Ugh, these kind of transformation body horror scenes are exactly why werewolf stories have never really appealed to me much. Like, I could do without watching your ribs move and teeth fall out, dude.

BUT.

THIS FUCKING SCENE.

I looked up the song that’s playing over shapeshifter!Dean being caught by the SWAT team and then going through the grotesque transformation. (And as far as I know, the iTunes version has the original music from the episodes.)

It’s a song called “Mary” by The Death Riders

Who's your mother, who's your mother here boy // Who's your mother, whos your mommy dear // Who's your father, who's your father here boy // Who's your father, who's your daddy dear

Silently screaming // Where everyone knows // Daddy's always watchin' // Where everywhere - everywhere I go

I don't wanna be a freak show pretty boy anymore // I don't wanna be a full time slave // I don't wanna be your midnight cowboy anymore // I just want to be Mary

This is… a fascinating choice. Here are the rest of the lyrics. The song as a whole has a weird incesty kinda vibe to it? Kinda like when SPN tries to straight-wash itself and misses the mark wildly. (Like Dean’s male siren episode.)

The midnight cowboy line reminded me of 12x11 and the bull riding scene with “Broomstick Cowboy” by Bobby Goldsboro playing over it

Dream on, little Broomstick Cowboy, // Dream while you can; // Of big green frogs, // And puppy dogs, // And castles in the sand.

For, all too soon you'll awaken; // Your toys will all be gone. // Your broomstick horse will ride away, // To find another home. // And you'll have grown into a man, // With cowboys of your own. // And then you'll have to go to war, // To try and save your home.

And then you'll have to learn to hate; // You'll have to learn to kill. // It's always been that way, my son; // I guess it always will.

Because, you know, why not add tons of feelings into the lyrics, right?

Props to the people who can embrace their rewatches and reclamations of the show with ease. Because every episode seems to remind me of how hollow and tragic Dean’s ending was and I just… struggle all over again.

Anyway, back to the episode so I can move on with my day.

REPORTER: An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white male, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home. (A sketch of DEAN appears on the screen.)

DEAN: Man! That’s not even a good picture. (SAM looks around cautiously.)

SAM: It’s good enough. (He walks away.)

DEAN: Man! (He follows SAM.)

(CUT TO: Alley. DEAN and SAM are walking. DEAN steps into a puddle.)

DEAN: Ugh, come on.

I love that we get two tiny little back-to-back vanity moments for Dean here. One commenting on the sketch artist rendition of him being broadcasted on the news and the other tripping in the puddle. There is literally someone running around the city trying to kill people while wearing Dean’s face, but Dean is still concerned with how he looks appears to others. He’s still concerned with keeping up his own performance. The shifter left him with just a t-shirt, so he doesn’t even have his usual comfort layers on and at any moment someone could spot him and call the police or try to kill him for assaulting Sam’s friend. His life is wildly out of control in that moment and the only thing he can try to focus on is his appearance (something semi-controllable) and finding the shifter before any of that other shit can happen.

One day I want to put together a like top 10 episodes focusing on / explaining each TFW character from the series. Like the kind of list you could show someone who’s never seen the show, but has OPINIONS about the characters (or who hasn’t seen the whole show and seen the growth they went through… you know, like the people responsible for the travesty of 15x20). This episode would be on that list. I’m not sure how I could manage to make a list of only 10 episodes to understand Dean Winchester by, but eh.

SAM: What are you gonna do to me?

SHAPESHIFTER: Oh, I’m not gonna do anything. Dean will, though.

SAM: They’ll never catch him.

SHAPESHIFTER: Oh, doesn’t matter. Murder in the first of his own brother? He’ll be hunted the rest of his life. (He picks up a sharp knife and examines it.)

Speaking of season 15 in general, this right here. This was Chuck’s villain story arc thesis statement. AND THEY DROPPED THE GODDAMN BALL WITH IT. I think that’s the thing that honestly pisses me off the most these days (about 5 1/2 months from when the finale aired) is that they tried making the whole thing a tragedy but did such an awful job with it that it just ended up like a deflating condom balloon at a dive bar concert. Disappointing and gross. The finale for season 14 set them up SO FUCKING WELL and it just… didn’t get there.

Becky’s parents are gonna be pissed at how torn up their house is after all this shit…

And you’re not shooting him when you first see him strangling Sam because…?????

I like that he took the necklace back. Also, is this kinda Dean death number .5 of the show? Like it wasn’t him but it was also kinda him. Eh.

Guess who forgot to continue doing these posts when I finally got back to trying to rewatch the show!

I had to go back and do some from memory notes on episode 4 and I’m… 28 minutes into this episode before starting my notes here.

I think my favorite part of this episode is knowing the little girl who started the whole Bloody Mary chant in it came back later in 14x04 “Mint Condition” which is honestly one of my favorite episodes of the whole fucking show. She’s the Sam twin comic bookstore owner/employee in it.

Anyway, in this Bloody Mary episode the ghost of a woman who was murdered by her married lover is killing people who have secrets that resulted in other people dying. I’ve reached the point in the episode where they’ve got a girl named Charlie (oh hey, reused name!) in their motel room and have just finished covering up all the reflective surfaces in the room. Except the stained glass divider that Jerry Wanek put in there.

It was when I got to this bit that I started yelling at my screen and remembered that I have this lovely little rewatch blog waiting for me.

SAM Now listen. You're gonna stay right here on this bed, and you're not gonna look at glass, or anything else that has a reflection, okay? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you.

I was yelling because, with the way the scene is lit with the still open fucking curtains into the room (you can see the inner curtain behind Dean up there) Sam’s eyes are basically little dark mirrors (which is… hilarious) reflecting back at her and it was just a funny / bizarre statement to make when his eyes were SO reflective in that moment.

Like, look at that shit. Hilarious. This is the kind of shit that makes this my favorite monster hunting soap opera.

SAM Well Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean she moves around from mirror to mirror so who's to say that she's not just gonna keep hiding in them forever? So maybe we should try to pin her down, you know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it.

DEAN Well how do you know that's going to work?

SAM I don't, not for sure.

DEAN Well who's gonna summon her?

SAM I will. She'll come after me.

Okay, also moments like THIS are why I keep coming back to this trash heap of glorious tidbits. Because this right here is their entire dynamic for 15 seasons in two lines. I love it.

DEAN You know what, that's it. {He pulls the car over.} This is about Jessica, isn't it? You think that's your dirty little secret that you killed her somehow? SAM, this has got to stop, man. I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night—it's gonna kill you. Now listen to me—It wasn't your fault. If you wanna blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or hell, why don't you take a swing at me? I mean I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place.

And this monologue!

Like, on the one hand, the utter, devastating grief that Sam is going through. And the echoes forward to Dean losing Cas over and over and grieving harder and harder each time. And the spiraling blame and guilt and ugh. This fucking show.

Secrets. So many secrets and grief fueled guilt and Dean trying his damndest to keep his lying bastard family members from getting themselves killed and leaving him alone.

…

They’re in the antique store now. I think they just left Mary’s crime scene photo on the store counter? Good job, guys!

He said the thing! Dun dun DUUUUUUN!

“Smash anything that moves.” Is that a life motto there, Dean? Or just the one you want people to think you have?

Like the police outside wouldn’t hear the mirrors being smashed?

You can see the latex below Jared’s eyes for the blood effects. That’s awesome. Mostly in a special effects makeup nerd kind of way.

DEAN {bends down to the floor to SAM} SAM, SAMmy!

SAM It's SAM.

Aaaaand he’s still an asshole. That’s hilarious.

Dean grabbing another mirror to show to Bloody Mary is one of my FAVORITE things. Like what kind of galaxy brained dumbass move is that? It’s great.

DEAN This has got to be like...what? 600 years of bad luck?

I mean with all the time you guys collectively spent in Hell and other worlds before ultimately dying in the world’s most pointless, lackluster finale ever? Yeah, basically.

Oh man, I do not miss early 2000s eyebrows. Also, I feel like that actress was in something else I’ve seen a lot of, but I don’t feel like looking to up.

That transition between the beach picture and the dude sitting up into the screen is still hilarious to me. He looks like he just snorted a bunch of coke, tbh.

“What are the odds of dying in a plane crash?” Fuck you, dude.

The flight attendant is another actress who I can’t remember if she’s familiar just because of this episode or if she’s been in something else I’ve watched a lot of. Still not bothering to look it up.

This episode always makes me want to start rewatching Fringe. Their pilot had a similar episode. Oh, and this moment with the door... straight out of The Boys. (Spoilers, sorry not sorry.) All three of those things (with the exception of the TV adaptation of The Boys comic) were right at the height of the post-9/11 planes are gonna be terrifying for a long time thing.

Spooky music revealing... dumbass little brother. “It’s about 5:45.” With that much sun out? That always annoys me in TV shows.

“All this, it never keeps you up at night?” “No, never.” Not yet anyway.

I love that this previously on recap is basically a commercial for the show. It needed to be for the time, but it’s funny to see now.

OMG tracksuits! I forgot about tracksuits. “Guys don’t like buff girls.” That’s okay, I’ll appreciate them just fine. She cute. Too bad she dies soon? I can’t remember but I think she’s the cold open victim. Yep she was, bummer.

Awww, Dean’s bracelets! I miss those.

I mean, to be fair, a lot of lake deaths don’t turn up bodies. Same with rivers and whatnot.

“People don’t just disappear, people just stop looking for them.” ... “Until then we’re gonna kill everything bad between here and there.” Love it.

Oh, I love the stylized Impala nyoooom shots there for the transition. They’re framed pretty well, actually.

Ford and Hamill. Uh huh.

With the way that this show portrays cops makes me really confused about why people (the nutwork) seem to think this show is, like, in favor of them.

Hey it’s Fred! Or whatever her name was on Angel. And her character’s poor little boy.

“Must be hard with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line.” LOVE IT.

Lol, one episode in and we already have a recap. Man, I do not miss the days of having to wait for reruns to see an episode you missed of whatever show you like.

Oh man, throwback tech! I remember those Nintendo DS consoles and videophones. Also, the kid in the bandana looks like a Power Ranger to me but I can’t remember which one. Tommy? The red ranger? Fuck if I can remember, but he always looks familiar.

There’s a podcast I’ve been listening to recently called The Hidden Djinn that goes into the actual lore about Djinn and how they’re super offended by people peeing on trees and whatnot. I dunno if Wendigos are related to Djinn, but it makes sense if they are and went after these guys for pissing in the woods.

I like that Sam didn’t bring her regular store bought roses. The bouquet he got is really pretty. Poor Sam. Also, why does everyone from the mid-80s have the middle name of Lee? (I also have the middle name Lee and I’ve known a ton of other people who have it too.)

Aww, back when Dean actually offered to let Sam drive once in a while before deciding that it was not a thing that needed to happen. (I will forever be salty about Cas never getting to drive Baby...)

“Dad will have answers. He’ll know what to do.” Oh man, you can hear young as fuck Dean having to say the same thing after a couple weeks in a motel to keep Sam calm.

“It’s no nature hike, that’s for sure.” Sam. Sam, honey. IT’S THE GODDAMN FOREST WITH A FUCKING TRAIL YES IT’S A NATURE HIKE. I’m fine.

Fuck you Mr park ranger guy.

“Since when are you all shoot first and ask questions later anyway.” Right? Sam turning down a chance to study or do research? Bad sign.

I’ve seen this episode so many times that I can’t remember if this actress who plays the sister is actually familiar only from this show or from something else I watched around this time. I don’t care enough to look it up, but eh. Again with the 100% realistic middle class wardrobe and styling here for the time.

“Can I see the pictures he sent you?” There we go Sam! That’s more like you.

Watching this scene where Sam is pulling out all of his research and laptop and infodumping about the case... yeah, Sam girls definitely didn’t get enough of this in the later seasons. Yes, he was the research guy, but it was more of a check a box to justify having him in the scene kinda thing and less of this genuine excitement? Maybe I’m still just burned out from the finale.

Definitely Sam with his magic wifi powers working right here. No bars in 2005 would have free fucking WiFi.

This interview with the guy who was attacked by the “bear” when he was a kid reminds me viscerally of a scene in the X-Files. After looking it up, it reminds me of the scene in season one “Tooms” (spooky as FUCK episode) where Mulder and Scully interview a detective who worked one of the old murder cases and his place was set up super similar to this guys house. From what I remember.

“There’s something evil in those woods.” That’s definitely true.

Why was there a crying baby in the “corporeal” bickering scene?

“Now we gotta babysit too?” Man, this scene is so good. I reblogged a couple metas from other people doing rewatches of this scene to my main blog. I think I’ll post them here too to capture my thoughts because it’s SUCH a good exchange.

Yeah Dean, a fucking ranger drives a classic car into the forest. Uh huh. HOW is this always overlooked? Does Baby have “I am not the droid you’re looking for” powers to go with Sam’s WiFi?

These kids are having a bad fucking day.

“Whatcha doin, Roy?” Love that. “You should watch where you’re steppin’, Ranger.” YES BITCH.

“You didn’t pack any provisions.” Excuse you he has M&MS! Lol

Sam. I don’t know if you know this, but crickets don’t make a fuck of a lot of noise iN THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN DAY. Also, why would a “ridge” be in the middle of a fucking valley?

Lol, Sam JUST got finished telling Haley to shut up and Dean starts shouting too.

Bobby taught you guys to track things through the woods but not to look for bear traps? Or wear proper shoes? Idjits.

I wonder how many creatures on the planet can mimick human calls for help. I know there are some who sound like humans crying out when they call out. Peacocks sound fucking possessed. So do coyotes.

Why would you put your bags down in the middle of a crime scene anyway?

I’ve been wanting to rewatch the series from the beginning post finale for a long time. Then 15x20 happened and for a minute there I thought I’d never want to watch this fucking show again. But, I saw a bunch of other people reclaiming the show by rewatching it and ignoring the finale and I’m down with that.

Note: I bought the full series on iTunes for myself for Christmas 2019 so the CW isn’t getting more streaming money from me and I’ve never tried live-blogging anything so this might be a dumpster fire. We’ll see.

Also, fair warning, I’m not a huge early spn Sam fan. He grew on me eventually, but it took a while.

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My eyes always glaze over for the first 6 minutes or show of this episode until Dean shows up. Even when I first watched the show I did this. Also, why does Jess seem immediately more interesting than Sam? Maybe that’s just me.

Has anyone ever mentioned that even when Dean is playing up the douchebag hitting on his brother’s girlfriend bit that he doesn’t actually ogle her? He notices her enough to check out the smurfs on her shirt, but when he’s telling her not to put more clothes on he’s holding eye contact. Nice performance there, Dean.

Lol the dramatic zoom in on Sam after Dean repeats himself about John being missing.

“Of course you should be afraid of the dark. You know what’s out there.” I love it.

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to.” <— and that is my second favorite line from this episode.

“Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?” Fuck off, Sam.

Oh man! A mini tape recorder. I had one in college, which was about the same time this episode aired for the first time. What a throwback. I remember using it to record my class on natural disaster science and I never ended up listening to any of the lectures I recorded.

That little swallow and stare from Dean after Sam says that his interview is for law school is subtle but great. So much hidden emotion there. I love how many people are pointing out how much Jensen really added the nuance to Dean’s character now that the show is over.

I love the woman in white’s dress. It’s a little boobielicious for me, but I love the bottom of it being all torn or lacy or whatever.

She looks a lot like Lisa too. Which doesn’t mean anything, but is interesting.

I’d forgotten about her handprint on this dude’s windshield when he went to look for her! It doesn’t look that bad 15 years later. Well, when I watch it on my phone screen anyway. My real tv might be a different matter.

I’m trying to figure out what kind of car this guy is driving. Ah, I was right, it’s an old VW Cabriolet.

Dean and his junk food.

Sam being high and mighty about money. Bitch, how do you make money while you’re in college? Is it just scholarships and student aid? Does Sam have a job? I mean, he never mentioned it, but he acts like he’s used to slaving away for an hourly wage or something.

I also had a cardboard box filled with old cassette tapes when this episode aired. Half of them I inherited from my dad, some I collected from thrift stores in high school, and a couple of them were mixtapes I made for myself.