Supernatural OAD 11/12/2009: The Real Ghostbusters

[Peter000]

Pretty entertaining episode! It was fun seeing the writer's love/hate relationship with their fans. Loved the gay Sam & Dean... I just did not see that coming for some reason. Even though I'm aware of the fanfic et al, and it was even alluded to earlier in the show!

Another solid installment. I feel like we've been meandering around the main story of the season. Lot's of filler eps. Is it just that there's not much story left there to tell?

Is this going to be a full 22 episode season?

[danterner]

I know I'm going to be in the minority here, but I didn't particularly care for this episode. I was even a little put off by it. (I love Supernatural, generally, so this is definitely the exception to the rule, for me). I felt similarly with regard to S05E01, Sympathy for the Devil, where the character of Becky was first introduced.

First, I thought the central mystery of this episode was pretty weak. As Supernatural ghost-hunting stories go, it was lackluster. The show has done ghost stories much better. S04E17 "It's a Terrible Life" comes to mind, as do practically any of their other episodes involving ghosts. The real reason for this episode was not to tell the story of Letitia Gore (or whatever her name was), of course, it was just to provide a backdrop for the episode's primary purpose: making fun of its fans. As a fan, I found myself a little offended. I think it's one thing for fans to make fun of themselves. It's another for the show to do so. It reminded me of that classic Shatner SNL skit, only I felt like I was one of the fans in the audience being told to "Get a life!"

While I understand that the portrayal of the fans doesn't fall far from the mark, and while I recognize that the fans weren't necessarily portrayed in a bad light (well, at least sort of), and while some of the humor really was funny, when I laughed it was kind of in an uncomfortable "I'm laughing, even though I know the joke is on me" sort of way. I saw the episode not so much as fan service but more as fan dis-service.

[sean67854]

You seriously think this episode was written primarily to make fun of its fans?

I disagree wholeheartedly. I saw it as a poke at the other cult shows with the rabid fanboys. Kripke and the rest have been to ComicCon so they are aware of the kind of "rabid" fans they have.

What I got out of this episode reinforced my idea that the writers of this show just "get it". It's a very dramatic show, with very serious storylines, but it's like the writers understand that despite all that, it's still a TV show. Unlike some of the other dramas on TV *cough*CSI:Miami*cough*.

Maybe I'm not explaining that right, but it just seems like the writers have a very good handle on who most of the viewers are and their level of understanding. Now I know I didn't explain that part right.

[danterner]

Yes, I was being serious. I think the episode absolutely was a commentary on fandom, and specifically Supernatural fandom. I didn't get it as being an indictment of other cult shows at all. The only question, for me, would be whether the show was casting the fans in a positive light or a negative one. I'd argue that the principal fake Sam and Dean of this episode (the couple) were portrayed positively, but Becky is a pretty negative depiction. However, I'm very open to being convinced otherwise.

[sean67854]

I agree with your assessment of the portrayal of fake sam and dean and becky. I guess I just didn't see it as making fun fans as much as you did.

I wonder if the issue you see is the way the fans interacted with the real Sam and Dean. I mean by acting like they were better Sams and Deans and stuff?

It just seems like we have a different perspective on this stuff. Have you ever been to a Trek convention? The Supernatural convention in this episode was beyond tame by comparison. I went to one in high school with a friend of mine that wrote for a Star Trek magazine. The featured celebrity was the woman that played Dax on Deep Space 9. In the afternoon after she spoke she was signing autographs and I actually heard a guy ask where her spots were and then tell her she smelled nice.

[Rob Helmerichs]

Yeah, I don't think they were mocking fans so much as wondering what Sam & Dean would make of such people. And I suspect in that context, they were very, very kind to the fans! :D

[danterner]

I've never been to a con, Trek or otherwise, though I'd LOVE to go to one some day. I'd probably go to PAX or ComicCon before going to a Trek convention, though I do like Star Trek, too. I've certainly seen my share of video footage shot at cons, so I feel like I have a sense of what they're like and the lengths to which many fans go, but I know that's no substitute for the experience of actually having attended one: my saying I know what they're like may be like someone saying they know what Rocky Horror is like if they've only watched it at their own home, I suppose.

I'm trying to understand why I feel the way I do about the episode, so I'm glad for this dialog. The best I can come up with is: (1) I consider myself a fan of the show; (2) I wasn't comfortable looking in the mirror the show held up; (3) therefore, I didn't care for the episode. Using a different metaphor: I've never really liked any caricatures I've had drawn of myself, although I can appreciate the artistry behind them. I appreciated this episode, but I didn't like the caricature it painted of me as a fan. I guess the difference between my view and yours is that you felt the portrayal of fans was more accurate than I did, and so felt less like the show was poking fun than I did?

[sean67854]

That could be it. I really felt they did a pretty good job of portraying the fans withought going over the top. I also thought they did a good job of showing how even thought those two were "rabid" fans and LARPing, they were smart enough to pick up on reality, which is also usually true. And the scene with the hook guy questioning why they didn't put their weapons on bungees is pretty accurate too. There's usually one guy that questions the common sense of some something in the fictional universe as though it was reality. The only quirk in this scenario is that the universe they think is fictional really is reality.

And to go along with that, I found the scene where Dean lost the poker really funny when he said, "Maybe we should put these things on bungees."

[JYoung]

I'm trying to understand why I feel the way I do about the episode, so I'm glad for this dialog. The best I can come up with is: (1) I consider myself a fan of the show; (2) I wasn't comfortable looking in the mirror the show held up; (3) therefore, I didn't care for the episode. Using a different metaphor: I've never really liked any caricatures I've had drawn of myself, although I can appreciate the artistry behind them. I appreciated this episode, but I didn't like the caricature it painted of me as a fan. I guess the difference between my view and yours is that you felt the portrayal of fans was more accurate than I did, and so felt less like the show was poking fun than I did?


Seriously, Becky is actually very mild compared to some fans out there.
(After all, "fan" is short for "fanatic".)

And people do write Sam/Dean slash fan fiction and post it on the Internet.

[Peter000]

In the end, I think they (the writer's) were very kind to the fans. It's like they were kidding them as a friend would, not really being vicious about it. And the two LARPers at the end actually saved Sam & Dean.

Completely unrelated, I think it was interesting that the writers didn't bother with the exposition about the iron weapons being the way to disapparate the ghosts momentarily, and the salt in front of the door keeping them out. I guess they figured if anyone is watching at this point, they're not new to the mythology.

[cheesesteak]

I thought this episode was more of a love letter to the fans than an effort to make fun of them.

I chuckled every time the camera showed the guy dressed up as Bobby.

[cal_s7]

what happened to the 3rd kid?

there were 4 kids. 3 bad ones and the one that got scalped. 2 of the bad ones went up in flame. what happened to the 3rd bad kid? Iron only works for a few seconds. I kept expecting the 3rd kid to show up at the end but he never did. The Fans only dug up two graves when they took out the kids.

[nirisahn]

...Have you ever been to a Trek convention? The Supernatural convention in this episode was beyond tame by comparison. I went to one in high school with a friend of mine that wrote for a Star Trek magazine. The featured celebrity was the woman that played Dax on Deep Space 9. In the afternoon after she spoke she was signing autographs and I actually heard a guy ask where her spots were and then tell her she smelled nice.Having worked many a convention myself, this is very true. Some fans are so obsessed, they do treat this stuff as if it were real and not fiction. It would be really funny at Q&A's when fans would ask questions that would only pertain in the real world, and the person answering would have to remind them that this is fiction, it's only a tv show and the question has no answer. Some of the fans would get really belligerent about being reminded that the shows aren't real.