Welcome to week three of the rewatch, superfans! Something’s different in these episodes. I don’t know if the director forced Padalecki and Ackles to do a series of trust falls before filming or something more drastic, but whatever it was worked. Sam and Dean feel like actual brothers instead two sexy flannel-aficionados who happen to carpool in the same sweet-ass Impala. If you squint, you can almost see a glimmer of the delightfully co-dependent tack their relationship will eventually take.
Cheers to family!
THE OFFICIAL FYA SUPERNATURAL DRINKING GAME
Take a drink every time:
• Dean or Sam flashes a badge and passes for federal law enforcement despite being clad in denim and/or flannel
• A demon possesses some hapless schmuck
• The camera gives tight artistic focus to blood being splattered
• Dean enjoys a cheeseburger crams his face full of junk food
• Sam purses his lips passive aggressively
• Either brother picks a lock
• Someone employs a Titan of Classic Rock as an alias
• The Glorious and Faithful Impala is damaged in the line of duty
1x4: Phantom Traveler
Monster of the Week: Demon on a plane
A nervous flyer heads to an airport restroom, trying to get himself together before his departure. Some Nosy Nelly inside notices his flopsweat, and tells him not to worry; the odds of dying in a plane crash are very long.
Unfortunately, his odds of being possessed by a demon? Much shorter.
Black smoke comes pouring through the vents and into the eyes of the nervous flyer, and we have our first demon possession of the series! * sounds airhorn, throws confetti, takes extra-long drink*
The newly possessed man makes his way onto the flight, seriously creeping out the stewardess when he flashes her a black- eyed grin. Exactly forty minutes into the flight, the possessed flyer makes his way to the emergency exit, cheerfully opening it. He’s sucked out and the plane crashes amidst much screaming!
Jerry, an airplane mechanic who Dean and Papa had previously rid of a troublesome poltergeist, calls the boys for help. He gives them the plane’s black box, which contains a freaky EVP message, saying, “no survivors.” But there were survivors. Seven in fact. With fresh new Homeland Security badges, the boys head off to conduct their usual interviews. The flannel/badge combo fools a grieving widow and a mental patient, but when they need to see the wreckage that’s been locked down by actual Homeland Security, Sam insists they go suit shopping. At a place called “Mort’s for Style.” Aw, buddy. A swing and a miss. Dean laments that he looks like a Blues Brother. Sam corrects him, saying, “You look more like a seventh grader at his first dance.”
Personally, I’d go with funeral director.
But the suits work and soon the boys are looking through the wreckage with an EMF meter Dean hand-fashioned from an old Walkman, which Sam callously mocks.
It’s okay, Dean. I’d craft with you.
Once actual Homeland Security shows up, Dean and Sam use their new jackets to ease their escape over a barbed wire fence. Meanwhile, the demon hops into the body of the surviving pilot and crashes yet another plane.The boys realize it must being trying to pick off the initial survivors, Final Destination-style.
They hop in the Glorious and Faithful Impala, racing to save a stewardess who survived the first crash and is about to get on another flight. Reaching the airport with only minutes to spare, the boys decide they only way to help is to get on that plane. While Dean freaks out about his fear of flying, Sam says he’ll get the tickets and tells his brother to grab whatever is in the Impala’s trunk armory that he can sneak through security. Relatedly, check out this display at my hometown airport showing items people have tried to smuggle in their carry-ons.
Yes, Virginia. There is a hand grenade.
Luckily, Dean plays it smart, bringing only holy water. After they figure out who the demon is possessing (the copilot) with the help of Dean’s EMF walkman (in your face, Sam), the boys enlist the stewardess’s help in luring him to the back of the plane. Dean throws holy water on him while Sam uses his father’s journal to perform an impromptu exorcism. The demon fights back, yelling that he knows what happened to Jess. She died screaming and even now she burns.
Black smoke pours from the copilot as the demon is exorcised. Success! Except the ritual is only half-complete and now that the demon’s out of its human-shaped bag, it’s free to roam. The next thing it chooses to possess?
The freaking plane.
As the aircraft’s systems go haywire, the journal with the exorcism ritual is flung away. Sam fights his way up the bucking plane to recover it, reading the incantation like a champ while Dean cowers in the corner, screaming. At the last word of the ritual, the plane rights. Our heroes have defeated their first demon!
Brotherly Angst Quotient: Fear-stricken
First, Sam still isn’t sleeping. Ever sensitive, Dean asks, “Seriously? You’re still having nightmares about Jess?” God, Sam. It’s been, like, weeks. Get over it.
Still, our insensitive hero has a point when he reminds Sam he puts his life in those massive mitts of his on the regular, so it would be nice if he stayed sharp. He claims the key to success is not taking the job home with at night. When Sam points out the enormous bowie knife Dean keeps under his pillow as he slumbers, he says, “That’s not fear. That’s precaution.”
But big brother soon gets his comeuppance when he realizes that to solve this case, he’ll have to put aside his crippling fear of flying and get on the plane.
And once he's on the plane?
Still not better. Perhaps he can find a way to relax?
But what happens when our heroes encounter demonic turbulence?
Tee hee.
Darlings, I could post these all day, but since I respect your time I will restrain myself. Sufficient to say, while badass Dean is good, adorkably terrified Dean is the best.
Where in the World is Papa Winchester?: In the doghouse. Jerry tells the boys he was able to get in touch with Dean thanks to the message on Papa Winchester’s cell phone. Sam protests it’s out of service. But when they call to check, it’s been reconnected, with a Papa-recorded message saying to contact Dean for emergencies. He’s alive, somewhere, and he hasn’t bothered to let his sons know.
Nice parenting skills there, jerkface.
How Drunk Are We?: Sloshed. Thanks to some extra-plain clothes policing, an aggressive demon, and Sam’s passive-aggressive lips, take 10 drinks.
Soundtrack: “Riot Time” by Powerman 5000
The Quotable Winchesters: Dean wins again. When Sam suggests he breathe to deal with his fear of flying, Dean snaps, “Dude, stow the touchy-feely self-help yoga crap! It’s not helping.”
Moment Most Likely to Inspire Troubling Fan-Fic:
“Rise and shine,” Sam thought, as he lingered in the doorway watching Dean sleep.
Notable Cameo:
Jamie Ray Newman of Eureka and the short-lived but fantastically booze-filled Eastwick, playing the stewardess.
1x5: Bloody Mary
Monster of the Week: Bloody Mary
A trio of preteens in Toledo, Ohio play truth or dare. One opts for truth, but when confronted with a question regarding makeouts, immediately switches to dare. As a veteran of several intractable slumber-party-conflicts, I approve this choice. She’s dared to call on Bloody Mary, the ghost who appears in mirrors and scratches out her summoners’ eyes. The dare-ee locks herself in the bathroom, reciting the name three times. Nothing happens.
To her, anyway. But Bloody Mary has answered the call, and lurks in the household mirrors. When the preteen’s dad goes to the medicine cabinet, she’s waiting. An older sister comes home to find him lying in a puddle of his own blood and liquefied eyeballs.
Dean and Sam show up at his funeral where they interview his grieving daughters. The clever preteen saves them a lot of legwork, straight up telling them Bloody Mary did it. Only problem now is finding out who, exactly, Bloody Mary is. After the boys romp around the local public library for a bit (STOP THAT IT’S TOO SEXY), they discover Mary was a girl whose eyes were cut out by her estranged surgeon lover before he murdered her.
Meanwhile, the teenagers of Toledo continue to summon Bloody Mary. Man. I’d hate to see test scores in THAT district. Mary obliges, committing another murder and stalking a second teen. Thanks to a black light and some bloody messages left on the victims’ mirrors, the boys discover Mary only comes after people whose dark secrets have resulted in another’s death.
Values are important!
You know who has such a dark secret, darlings? Our own Sammy. He insists on acting as bait. The boys head to the antique shop where Mary’s original mirror is located, breaking into it in the dead of night. But no sooner has Sam finished calling her name the third time when the cops show up. Dean commits a classic horror blunder, leaving Sam alone while he goes to deal with them.
Bloody Mary attacks, taking on Sam’s own form in the mirror and taunting him about the death of Jess. You can really see Jared Padalecki stretching his acting muscles here.
Too bad you can also see him pull those muscles. *drops mic*
While Sam’s going all veiny, bleeding from the eyes, and grappling with his own issues, literally, Dean’s outside. He tries to shoo away the cops, telling them he’s the shop owner’s son. When the cop asks, “You’re Mr. Yamashiro’s kid?” Dean decides to take another tack.
Oddly satisfying.
He runs back inside, smashing the mirror. Sam drops to the floor, still crying blood, but feeling punchy enough to correct his brother when he calls him “Sammy.” All is well. You know. Until Mary crawls out of the broken mirror, all ghostly distortion made flesh. First sharks and now a pseudo-Samara from The Ring? IT’S LIKE THE SHOW HAS BEEN READING MY FEAR JOURNAL.
BRB, I have to throw a blanket over my tv.
Corporeal Mary attacks the boys. Quick-thinking Dean picks up one of the nearby mirrors for sale, giving her a taste of her own medicine, Medusa-style. She accuses herself of committing horrible murder and promptly dissolves into a puddle of goo.
Brotherly Angst Quotient: Nightmarish.
Sam’s nightmares continue. The audience is treated to several retreads of this territory with one change. Jess is now speaking, asking just before she immolates, “Why, Sam?”
Dean’s dying to know Sam’s dark secret. But while he’d die for his brother, he’s not ready to share it. But because showrunner Kripke loves the audience, we discover it. Sam feels responsible for Jess’s death. Not just in the well-worn survivor’s guilt sense. Turns out he had prophetic visions of her death for days before it happened and chose not to say anything. As the Impala rolls through town, he sees a vision of Jess watching him from the corner.
Dude. Messing with Wonder Woman/Mockingbird? Bad idea.
Sam’s not just angsty. He’s literally being haunted by psychic visions. *tries to keep horror-nerd squee to a low roar*
*fails*
Where in the World’s Papa Winchester?: No progress on this front.
How Drunk Are We?: Swaying to music no one else can hear. Thanks to the loving camera focus on blood and Sam’s lockpicking skills, take 7 drinks.
Soundtrack: “Bones into Dust” by Fred Haring
The Quotable Winchesters: Both Winchesters get nods for shouting out Harry Potter by referring to Bloody Mary as “You-Know-Who.” But Sam pulls out the win this week for his deadpan description of his Jess nightmares as “lollipops and candy canes.”
Moment Most Likely to Inspire Troubling Fan-Fic:
When Sam trains a night vision camera on Dean, he casts a winsome glance over his shoulder, asking, “Do I look like Paris Hilton?”
Notable Cameos:
Genevieve Buechner from The 100 and Caprica, plays the first Bloody Mary summoner.
Next week: Shapeshifters!