Supernatural 1.04: Phantom Traveller.
Right up front, without any spoilers, I gotta say it: this show owns me. This show was designed to own me. There's a little white van owned by the WB that parks in front of my house every Tuesday, and when the people inside it hear the panting yips of glee coming from my TV room, they give each other high-fives and order another episode. Because this program was designed solely for my amusement, and the rest of y'all are just being allowed to watch in order to keep the advertisers happy. Just saying.
So this week, the Winchester boys abandon their beloved Camero in order to go up into the sky on a great big airplane, much to Dean's intense displeasure. I swear, that boy has the most co-dependent relationship with his means of transportation since they caught Captain Kirk humping the warp core. The timing on this episode amuses me immensely, since Phil is coming to OVFF to see me perform in two weeks, and -- despite never having flown before -- he's coming by plane. Heh.
(I promise, Phil, I have never actually heard of anyone's plane being crashed by demons on the way to a convention. You're on your own for the way back, but the way there, demons are very unlikely. Because I would totally kick their asses, and you know it.)
The little 'previously on...' at the beginning of the episode is definitely the credits, which I appreciate, since it's actually a really clever way of getting people into the show even if they haven't seen any prior episodes. The essential facts are all there -- Dad is missing, Mom died in a mysterious way, girlfriend died the same way -- but presented quickly and concisely enough not to be annoying, and since the show's episodes are reasonably self-contained, you don't need to know much more than that. Plus it means the creators didn't have to fight the producers for a mullet rock theme song. (While I would be in favour of something like, say, Hem's 'Carry Me Home', because of the redneck elements, can you really imagine them using a droopy pop ballad to start this show? Can you? I can't. It's Metallica or nothing, and if you can't get the Metallica, go with the nothing.)
We open with a nervous flyer at the airport, frantically washing his face and trying not to contemplate the fact that he's about to go up in the air in the belly of a giant tin can. This really isn't working too well for him, and his day just gets worse as a smoky black cloud of creepy particles oozes out of the vents and pours itself into his eyes. (Phil, so it's said, this has never happened to me in an airport bathroom. Unflushed toilets, yes, smoky black clouds of evil, no.) On the plus side, he definitely seems a lot more confident after he's been filled with the power of darkness, even if it had the unfortunate side effect of turning his eyes matte black. On the minus side, this is probably because he's planning to crash the plane and kill everyone on it. Forty minutes into the flight, he gets up, opens the emergency door, gets sucked out, and yes, indeed, the plane goes down. Smash-bang-boom.
Scene.
Dean sleeps with a knife under his pillow. Awwwwwwwww! That is so cute. It just gets cuter when he protests that it's not fear, it's taking sensible precautions. Things like this make me insist that yes, this is totally the Healys getting their own show, because Alice and Thomas so bred true. Sam doesn't sleep with a knife under his pillow, but he does provide baked goods, and is thus still a part of the family. (Actually, Sam doesn't appear to sleep. I love that he's still broken up over Jessica. Love. Continuity makes me a happy girl.)
Sam asks Dean if anything scares him. Dean says no. This is pretty much a guarantee that a) Dean has a serious phobia, and b) it's going to come up this week. Even without having seen the previews, I would've been betting 'fear of flying', because c'mon, how can you not?
Despite the fact that this scene makes me happier than is strictly legal, it has to be cut short by the ringing Phone of Plot. Unlike the movie Jeepers Creepers, which is worth watching until the phone rings, this is not where the episode goes south; instead, this is where it gets started. It's a guy Dean and Dad did a poultergeist job for a few years back, and he wants to talk to them about the plane that went down at the start of the show. They agree to head on over, and the game is afoot.
The guy who called them in is nice, professional, and very grateful for the past help he's received from the Winchesters, which is another nice nod to continuity; Dean and Dad have been doing this non-stop for twenty years, after all, and some people are going to remember them fondly. Watching Sam's expression as the guy talks about how much Dad used to talk about him is fascinating; here's a man who thought he was getting away from his family, only to learn that they never turned their backs on him. The ongoing education of Sam delights me.
There were seven survivors of the flight, including the pilot, who is a personal friend of the guy (and yes, I've totally blanked on the guy's name). Why did he think this was a job for the Winchesters? How about the incoherent roaring on the cockpit flight recording?
Oh. Right.
Despite the fact that they don't usually do anything involving planes, the boys take the job, and decode the EVP on the flight recording: it says 'no survivors'. Which, given that there were seven survivors, seems a little weird...at least until the pilot of the first flight dies in a freak light-plane incident, exactly forty minutes after taking off. That's also when the first plane went down. After reviewing a bunch of other accidents, they determine that there have been several flights that suffered mechanical failure exactly forty minutes in, and that this was the only one with survivors. Ergo, whatever caused the crash is trying to take out the survivors. Ooops.
There's also a lovely semi-comic subplot involving the boys making new fake IDs and presenting themselves as Homeland Security in order to get a closer look at the wreckage of the first plane. This involves putting them in full-on black suits, with ties, causing Dean to complain that he looks like a Blues Brother. Honey, you can be a Blues Brother for me anytime. Their ploy works enough for them to get access to the plane, and find sulphur residue on the escape hatch handle, which one survivor said he'd seen opened in midair (despite several tons of pressure being on it). And then the real Homeland Security guys show up, and we get a fun running away sequence. Life is good.
Sulphur means demons, means demonic possession, means fun for the whole family, and means they need to find out which of the other survivors is likely to fly. It turns out that one of them, Amanda, is a flight attendant, and she's flying that same night. Of course. So we get the mad dash to the airport, followed by the attempts to keep her off the plane, followed by the Winchesters giving up and just getting on the plane. Dean does not want to get on the plane. Dean really, really, really does not want to get on the plane. But he's also not willing to let Sam go off alone, and so...Winchesters! In! Spaaaaaace!
Kinda.
On the plane, Dean freaks out, Sam is amused, they check Amanda (and confirm that she's not possessed), they determine that the co-pilot is possessed, they convince Amanda to help them get him to the back of the plane, they begin the exorcism, the demon gets out, the plane starts to fall, they finish the exorcism, the plane stops falling, Dean demands a fresh pair of jeans and never flies ever ever ever ever ever again, for any reason. Period. Amanda mouths a 'thank you' at the boys as they leave, presumably to take the Greyhound back to their car, but does not kiss either one of them, thus breaking the streak.
Back at the airport, the guy who called them says he appreciates what they've done, and that he'll always know how many lives they saved. Dean asks how he got the number to call, and he says 'from your father'. Apparently, Dad has updated his voicemail. They call, listen...and hear the same message.
End episode.
What I liked:
* Dean and the knife under the pillow. I think we've kinda covered this, but still. The fact that he comes across as totally loosy-goosey, yet is always fully prepared and on his guard is just perfect. If you let it get to you, you snap, and so he doesn't let it get to him. He just lets it ride, and keeps the weapons in easy reach. I have to wonder if part of his anxiety on the plane was the lack of easily accessible weaponry.
* The fact that both boys have been so extensively trained that they can hear EVP without the playback -- and that they reminded us of that in this episode. More on this in a moment.
* Dean's adorable handheld EMP locator. "It looks like a busted-up old Walkman." "That's because that's what I made it out of." Bliss and glee and glee and bliss and squee and awwwwwwww.
* Sam playing research-bunny. Go, Sam! Embrace your Watcher heritage!
* Dean humming Metallica to calm himself down on the plane. Because that is just about the absolute cutest damn thing ever. Seriously. And Sam going 'ha ha you're not perfect', but not actually teasing him, because he loves his brother? Terribly adorably cute.
* The folklore. They keep getting it right, and thus it keeps delighting me on all sorts of levels, and in all sorts of ways.
What I didn't like:
* The first plane crash sequence really seemed designed to be way too much of a tasty enticement to the 'Lost' fans. Now, maybe that seemed like the best way to go, in which case, I withdraw my objection, but it was kinda jarring for me at the time.
* The exposition. Hello, guy who wrote this episode? Yours was the first ham-handed exposition we've had, so stop it. The 'it's Christos in Latin' bit made total sense, given that Dean was freaking out, but the boys bantering about cursed and haunted planes? Smacked a bit too strongly of catching the audience up on the situation. There were other people they could have explained things to. Please keep in mind that both Winchesters know what they're bloody well doing, mkay?
* The fact that they cited Japanese demons as being responsible for individual and manmade disasters, yet used a Christian deity to annoy them enough into revealing themselves. Make up your minds, y'all.
What I wanted more justification on:
* How did they manage to get tickets for a plane that should have already started boarding? Unless they called their friend with the airline for freebies? I'd be cool with that, but a throw-away mention would have been nice for those of us who fly way, way too much for our own good.
What I need to ponder:
* So the demon knew what happened to Jessica. Does this mean that whatever killed her -- and Mom -- was a demonic force? And if so, why? Is there a curse on Sam, as Phil seems inclined towards, or on the brothers being together? After all, Jessica lived until Dean came back...
* The boys know EVP when they hear it. They didn't say 'crap, EVP' when they heard Dad's new voicemail message, and that means Dad is still alive. So where the heck is he?
Overall, my rating is four shotguns out of five. I am a very happy bunny. And next week, Bloody Mary!
I love my show.
So this week, the Winchester boys abandon their beloved Camero in order to go up into the sky on a great big airplane, much to Dean's intense displeasure. I swear, that boy has the most co-dependent relationship with his means of transportation since they caught Captain Kirk humping the warp core. The timing on this episode amuses me immensely, since Phil is coming to OVFF to see me perform in two weeks, and -- despite never having flown before -- he's coming by plane. Heh.
(I promise, Phil, I have never actually heard of anyone's plane being crashed by demons on the way to a convention. You're on your own for the way back, but the way there, demons are very unlikely. Because I would totally kick their asses, and you know it.)
The little 'previously on...' at the beginning of the episode is definitely the credits, which I appreciate, since it's actually a really clever way of getting people into the show even if they haven't seen any prior episodes. The essential facts are all there -- Dad is missing, Mom died in a mysterious way, girlfriend died the same way -- but presented quickly and concisely enough not to be annoying, and since the show's episodes are reasonably self-contained, you don't need to know much more than that. Plus it means the creators didn't have to fight the producers for a mullet rock theme song. (While I would be in favour of something like, say, Hem's 'Carry Me Home', because of the redneck elements, can you really imagine them using a droopy pop ballad to start this show? Can you? I can't. It's Metallica or nothing, and if you can't get the Metallica, go with the nothing.)
We open with a nervous flyer at the airport, frantically washing his face and trying not to contemplate the fact that he's about to go up in the air in the belly of a giant tin can. This really isn't working too well for him, and his day just gets worse as a smoky black cloud of creepy particles oozes out of the vents and pours itself into his eyes. (Phil, so it's said, this has never happened to me in an airport bathroom. Unflushed toilets, yes, smoky black clouds of evil, no.) On the plus side, he definitely seems a lot more confident after he's been filled with the power of darkness, even if it had the unfortunate side effect of turning his eyes matte black. On the minus side, this is probably because he's planning to crash the plane and kill everyone on it. Forty minutes into the flight, he gets up, opens the emergency door, gets sucked out, and yes, indeed, the plane goes down. Smash-bang-boom.
Scene.
Dean sleeps with a knife under his pillow. Awwwwwwwww! That is so cute. It just gets cuter when he protests that it's not fear, it's taking sensible precautions. Things like this make me insist that yes, this is totally the Healys getting their own show, because Alice and Thomas so bred true. Sam doesn't sleep with a knife under his pillow, but he does provide baked goods, and is thus still a part of the family. (Actually, Sam doesn't appear to sleep. I love that he's still broken up over Jessica. Love. Continuity makes me a happy girl.)
Sam asks Dean if anything scares him. Dean says no. This is pretty much a guarantee that a) Dean has a serious phobia, and b) it's going to come up this week. Even without having seen the previews, I would've been betting 'fear of flying', because c'mon, how can you not?
Despite the fact that this scene makes me happier than is strictly legal, it has to be cut short by the ringing Phone of Plot. Unlike the movie Jeepers Creepers, which is worth watching until the phone rings, this is not where the episode goes south; instead, this is where it gets started. It's a guy Dean and Dad did a poultergeist job for a few years back, and he wants to talk to them about the plane that went down at the start of the show. They agree to head on over, and the game is afoot.
The guy who called them in is nice, professional, and very grateful for the past help he's received from the Winchesters, which is another nice nod to continuity; Dean and Dad have been doing this non-stop for twenty years, after all, and some people are going to remember them fondly. Watching Sam's expression as the guy talks about how much Dad used to talk about him is fascinating; here's a man who thought he was getting away from his family, only to learn that they never turned their backs on him. The ongoing education of Sam delights me.
There were seven survivors of the flight, including the pilot, who is a personal friend of the guy (and yes, I've totally blanked on the guy's name). Why did he think this was a job for the Winchesters? How about the incoherent roaring on the cockpit flight recording?
Oh. Right.
Despite the fact that they don't usually do anything involving planes, the boys take the job, and decode the EVP on the flight recording: it says 'no survivors'. Which, given that there were seven survivors, seems a little weird...at least until the pilot of the first flight dies in a freak light-plane incident, exactly forty minutes after taking off. That's also when the first plane went down. After reviewing a bunch of other accidents, they determine that there have been several flights that suffered mechanical failure exactly forty minutes in, and that this was the only one with survivors. Ergo, whatever caused the crash is trying to take out the survivors. Ooops.
There's also a lovely semi-comic subplot involving the boys making new fake IDs and presenting themselves as Homeland Security in order to get a closer look at the wreckage of the first plane. This involves putting them in full-on black suits, with ties, causing Dean to complain that he looks like a Blues Brother. Honey, you can be a Blues Brother for me anytime. Their ploy works enough for them to get access to the plane, and find sulphur residue on the escape hatch handle, which one survivor said he'd seen opened in midair (despite several tons of pressure being on it). And then the real Homeland Security guys show up, and we get a fun running away sequence. Life is good.
Sulphur means demons, means demonic possession, means fun for the whole family, and means they need to find out which of the other survivors is likely to fly. It turns out that one of them, Amanda, is a flight attendant, and she's flying that same night. Of course. So we get the mad dash to the airport, followed by the attempts to keep her off the plane, followed by the Winchesters giving up and just getting on the plane. Dean does not want to get on the plane. Dean really, really, really does not want to get on the plane. But he's also not willing to let Sam go off alone, and so...Winchesters! In! Spaaaaaace!
Kinda.
On the plane, Dean freaks out, Sam is amused, they check Amanda (and confirm that she's not possessed), they determine that the co-pilot is possessed, they convince Amanda to help them get him to the back of the plane, they begin the exorcism, the demon gets out, the plane starts to fall, they finish the exorcism, the plane stops falling, Dean demands a fresh pair of jeans and never flies ever ever ever ever ever again, for any reason. Period. Amanda mouths a 'thank you' at the boys as they leave, presumably to take the Greyhound back to their car, but does not kiss either one of them, thus breaking the streak.
Back at the airport, the guy who called them says he appreciates what they've done, and that he'll always know how many lives they saved. Dean asks how he got the number to call, and he says 'from your father'. Apparently, Dad has updated his voicemail. They call, listen...and hear the same message.
End episode.
What I liked:
* Dean and the knife under the pillow. I think we've kinda covered this, but still. The fact that he comes across as totally loosy-goosey, yet is always fully prepared and on his guard is just perfect. If you let it get to you, you snap, and so he doesn't let it get to him. He just lets it ride, and keeps the weapons in easy reach. I have to wonder if part of his anxiety on the plane was the lack of easily accessible weaponry.
* The fact that both boys have been so extensively trained that they can hear EVP without the playback -- and that they reminded us of that in this episode. More on this in a moment.
* Dean's adorable handheld EMP locator. "It looks like a busted-up old Walkman." "That's because that's what I made it out of." Bliss and glee and glee and bliss and squee and awwwwwwww.
* Sam playing research-bunny. Go, Sam! Embrace your Watcher heritage!
* Dean humming Metallica to calm himself down on the plane. Because that is just about the absolute cutest damn thing ever. Seriously. And Sam going 'ha ha you're not perfect', but not actually teasing him, because he loves his brother? Terribly adorably cute.
* The folklore. They keep getting it right, and thus it keeps delighting me on all sorts of levels, and in all sorts of ways.
What I didn't like:
* The first plane crash sequence really seemed designed to be way too much of a tasty enticement to the 'Lost' fans. Now, maybe that seemed like the best way to go, in which case, I withdraw my objection, but it was kinda jarring for me at the time.
* The exposition. Hello, guy who wrote this episode? Yours was the first ham-handed exposition we've had, so stop it. The 'it's Christos in Latin' bit made total sense, given that Dean was freaking out, but the boys bantering about cursed and haunted planes? Smacked a bit too strongly of catching the audience up on the situation. There were other people they could have explained things to. Please keep in mind that both Winchesters know what they're bloody well doing, mkay?
* The fact that they cited Japanese demons as being responsible for individual and manmade disasters, yet used a Christian deity to annoy them enough into revealing themselves. Make up your minds, y'all.
What I wanted more justification on:
* How did they manage to get tickets for a plane that should have already started boarding? Unless they called their friend with the airline for freebies? I'd be cool with that, but a throw-away mention would have been nice for those of us who fly way, way too much for our own good.
What I need to ponder:
* So the demon knew what happened to Jessica. Does this mean that whatever killed her -- and Mom -- was a demonic force? And if so, why? Is there a curse on Sam, as Phil seems inclined towards, or on the brothers being together? After all, Jessica lived until Dean came back...
* The boys know EVP when they hear it. They didn't say 'crap, EVP' when they heard Dad's new voicemail message, and that means Dad is still alive. So where the heck is he?
Overall, my rating is four shotguns out of five. I am a very happy bunny. And next week, Bloody Mary!
I love my show.