Quick Reaction: 6x09 Clap If You Believe

[hells_half_acre]

And Home! In the SNOW no less. I hope the boys aren't filming outside tonight...it'd mess with the continuity I'm sure.

Speaking of which, let's get to the episode...

I must admit, due to a fear of aliens, I never watched the X-files very much. I've seen an episode here and there, but have mostly blocked it from memory. It was also on back in the days before I built up my tolerance for low-level horror. That being said, my brother and sister were huge fans, so I've seen the theme song more than once...I got a kick out of the Supernatural tribute to it....especially because I know there's a fair amount of overlap over the years with former X-files crew working on Supernatural.

So, aliens! ...and Robert Picardo! 

And apparently having no soul means that you say exactly what all of us want to say, but are too socially conditioned not to. I like how Dean tells Sam that he's going to be his conscious, and Sam starts calling him Jimminy (sp?)...very fitting for the episode.

Of course it was quite obvious that the watchmaker was behind it all. Watchmakers are always behind it all (religious jokes FTW!).

Dean "abduction" was hilarious. Both because of the frantic way he tried to communicate to Sam about what was going on, and the way Sam was so relaxed and joking about it all - and flirting with the waitress. Poor Dean. I mean, I know Sam doesn't care about him, but if he's such a good hunter, you'd think he'd know what the definition of "good back-up" is...apparently not.

Dean still has the same ringtone he had in S2.

I loved Sam telling the girl that his brother has been abducted but he's "had time to adjust" and then she asks if it's been years, and he's like "no, it was like a half hour ago." Hahaha...ok, I know on some level this is horribly tragic, but soulless Sam is pretty damn hilarious.

Not to mention hot. Apparently it was Sam's soul that was keeping him clothed all those years....I LOVED the scene of Dean walking in with Sam in bed with that girl....and not just because Sam was in bed with a girl...solely for their reactions. So funny.

Now, I'd like to point out that although I'm technically not supposed to be noticing their clothes on these episodes and I'm just supposed to be watching and enjoying...I did notice that while he was abducted, Dean's cozy jacket, which he has own for about two episodes every season since S1, got all torn and cut up. I'm going to have to stay tuned to see if the Winchester Amazing Secret Tailoring Skillz(tm) come into play again and the coat gets repaired.

Dean describing the abduction was also hilarious! Oh man...first the "incandescent grabby douchebags" was hilarious, than him describing shooting and hacking at them all hyper about it...hahaha..."They seemed surprised! I don't think anyone has done that before!" This is a lesson for everyone: Do not try to abduct Dean Winchester, you will have bitten off more than you can chew. I also loved Sam telling him to go take a shower, and Dean saying "yeah, and now I'm going to take a shower!"

So good....

The conversation where Sam is trying to understand WHEN it's appropriate to sleep with a hippie chick was funny...but I had a feeling Dean should have been trying to sell the whole "soul" thing a little bit better....we'll return to this, obviously...

Ok, what happened next? I don't even remember. I guess they start looking up aliens while Sam stalks the watchmaker. Oh yeah, and then Tickerbell attacks...and that was also awesome. I loved Dean's "nipples?!" which I actually couldn't hear because my friend was laughing so hard....I didn't blame her...but luckily we were recording while we watched, so we could go back after and confirm that he indeed said "nipples"...and OH MAN...only on Supernatural can they get away with MICROWAVING TINKERBELL!  I really love this show.

So, the trick is that only Dean can see these fairies...but Sam believes him.  So they go see the fairy lady.

This whole scene was also hilarious......(let's count how many times I use the words "hilarious" and "awesome" in this review?...actually, please don't).

I liked Dean's "forcibly interacting" or however he put it...really good.

ETA: I can't believe I forgot to mention "Did you service Oberon, King of the Fairies?" AH hahahaha....(the funny thing for me is that Oberon was in a play I did once, and he happened to be played by a crossdressing lesbian....so, yeah...I either picture her, or Rupert Everett, who also played Oberon in a movie...the latter is not a bad picture at all...so I can only guess the amount of Dean/Fairy slash fic that's going to come from this...because we all know it's going to happen.) 

What next...more stalking of the watchmaker? Dean seeing the elves? I guess that was it. 

Then Dean gets stalked himself by that guy in the red hat....and just in case you were wondering why Dean was so freaked out, my friend found me this after the show was over: The dude was a red cap.

So, Dean accidentally tackles a Little Person while yelling about fairies....and gets arrested. Smooth Dean....the question of why he waited around for the cops was never answered, but maybe some people tackled him and made a citizen's arrest. Who knows.

Dean gets thrown in the slammer, where he has to defend his non-homophobic little-person-phobic honour...(ironically, I actually do have a friend who has an irrational fear of little people....actually, come to think of it, doesn't SAM have a fear of little people? Well, I guess it's not specifically said....just implied).

Sam goes after the fairies...I kind of didn't really get why the fairies were all passed out on cream...did the watchmaker drug them or something? I didn't understand why the watchmaker and Sam could just walk up to the safe after the watchmaker made such a big deal about not being allowed before.

Anyway, so they get the spell book....meanwhile, the Red-Cap tracks Dean down. Then the Leprechaun shows up and kills the watchmaker and offers Sam a deal for his soul - Sam shoots him. So, both Winchesters are getting a beatdown from fairies. Only, Sam eventually thinks of trying the salt thing, so he wins the day and saves them both.

Finally, we get a nice conversation-on-the-hood-of-the-impala scene, where our battered heroes drink beer from their favorite green cooler and talk about their feelings...or in Sam's case, lie about their decisions.

Because Robo!Sam who is so knowledgeable on other people's tells, doesn't seem to realize that he has his own...so, when Dean asks him if he wants his soul back, Sam lies poorly. Somehow, it still appears as though Dean believes it. Poor Dean. He really should have sold it better. So far, he's told Sam that having a soul means that instead of having sex, he'd be suffering. Personally, I can't blame Sam for thinking "why the  hell would I want that?...Sex is fun!"

The sad thing is, it's not like Dean can really describe all the good things Sam is missing...like, I don't know, loving and caring about people. First off, even people who are good about talking about emotions have difficulty describing love, secondly, Dean is hardly good at talking about positive emotions.

Over all of course, this was another MOTW. But it was a REALLY FUNNY one. It was so entertaining, it felt like it only lasted a half-hour at most! Ben Edlund really knows how to write a great episode.

I'm calling it now, btw: Sam's soul coming back is going to be the season closer, and not sooner...(and I really hope not later)

So, to sum up: HILARIOUS. AWESOME.

Until next time.... 

Comments

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

You should re-check out the x-files. Like 85% of the episodes had nothing to do with aliens. The middle seasons were full of horror-comedy. And sometimes just straight up comedy. I miss the x-files, sometimes. If nothing else, they did one of my favorite holiday episodes ever.

The one odd thing with this episode is that it feels like it should have been longer. Like the third harry potter movie, where there were a ton of plot details cut for obvious reasons, but it seemed kind of unfinished as a result?

I enjoyed it. There were some great one liners.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was thinking it would have been cool if they had explained the red-cap thing. Though, I guess I often yell at them for over-explaining, so maybe I'm just unsatisfiable :P

Maybe many years from now I'll check out the X-files. I know that the basic thing was that Mulder always went in wanting it to be aliens and it always turned out explainable or something...or maybe not...anyway, it still just creeped me out so much, and I get kind of sick of male-female co-leads where it's all about UST...though, yeah, I probably have it all wrong, because, you know....only seen one or two episodes here and there.

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

you do :) There was UST, but not... well, let's just put it this way. There was enough and little enough at the same time that everyone who watched it seemed to fall into the category of being a shipper or being a noromo, and but both views were reasonable. There was a good argument to be made for both sides as to whether or not Scully and Mulder could/were having romantic feelings for each other.


I was completely a shipper, but it wasn't in a dewy-eyed romantic sense. What the show demonstrated was two people who, through the course of everything they experienced, definitely had a very deep relationship. A very solid friendship with a lot of trust who depended on each other a great deal (but in a healthy way! not in a Winchester way). As time went on, and due to all the weird crap, they probably knew each other better than anyone else, because they had all these experiences they couldn't really share with family members, etc.

I personally liked to see the potential for it to evolve to something romantic, because it seemed so natural. But it didn't have to be, if that makes sense. And even if it were, it didn't follow the usual tv romance path of Lust! Chemistry! Pining! Romance! And then relationship.

They definitely had the relationship first. (or, depending on your view, they only had the relationship, none of the romance.)

Mulder didn't see aliens in everything, but he did tend to go for the outlandish explanations first ("this person was obviously murdered by voodoo.") and Scully, a medical doctor, went for the more realistic explanations ("Mulder, the man didn't eat anything that wasn't deep fried. he had a heart attack." Mulder: "A heart attack caused by VOODOO!")

Of course, Mulder tended to be right. Well, earlier on. As the season progressed, the truth usually ended up lying somewhere in between.

But man, there were some great episodes you should watch, even if you don't get into the whole show. There's the episode that's from the POV of a brain-eating monster (he works at a fast food joint, fantasizes about brains, and joins over-eaters anonymous hopping to kick the habit.) There's the episode with Luke Wilson where you hear both Mulder and Scully's versions (in Scully's version, Luke Wilson is incredibly charming if folksy, in Mulder's he's a redneck with HUGE buckteeth.) There's Cylde Bruckman's Final Repose, which is one of the greatest episodes of television ever (and funny!). Oh. man. And Der Hand Die Verletzt. That's fantastic. It'd work really well as an episode of supernatural. Seriously creepy, but with an excellent opening hook/twist.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Huh. It really does sound like I had it all wrong. I wouldn't mind a show that had a male and female having a relationship without it being romantic, actually. I thought the UST was palpable by the way some people talk about it, but I guess those some people were just shippers...I suppose in that way it IS a lot like Supernatural, where you have the ardent wincesters and then the no-wincest fans like me.

As a kid, I also found it way too scary, but since it was on TV, it probably wasn't even that bad by my standards today.

Ok, you've convinced me. I'll definitely move it up the list. Can't promise when I'll check it out, but I'll definitely leave myself open to checking it out.

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't compare it to wincest. Blech. There wasn't anything that triggered deep-seated taboos. And I'm pretty sure Kripke wasn't going for the incest angle, but some of the x-files writers definitely wanted the audience to be at least aware that it was possible that the platonic love between M&S might be the door to something more.

I guess the main thing that made it un-USTy for me is that they were both adults about it. They had their jobs, they did their jobs, and if there was chemistry, there was chemistry, but no lust. No "we could fall into bed at any moment!" They just seemed incredibly comfortable with each other.

(There's a great body switching episode where Scully realizes mulder isn't mulder right off the bat because he suddenly goes all USTy.)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I just meant that it was like Wincest in the way that people who wanted to see it saw it and people who didn't want to see it didn't...not whether or not the writers actually go for it. Though, I could point out that although Kripke doesn't go for the whole incest angle, he certainly pokes fun at the fact that a portion of the fanbase does.

[raloria.livejournal.com]

Nice recap! I loved it and like you, my review is going to be full of "hilarious". :P

The watchmaker said a line about the cream being like tequila to the elves before he and Sam got to the spell book. I noticed most of the eppy was filmed on the Watchman set. ;) Would love to find that last scene though.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

It's too bad they don't google-streetview the railway lines around here...though, I suppose you could find the railway lines and then streetview the roads that cross them...might take a while.

Ah, ok...so I missed that line about the cream being like tequila.

[raloria.livejournal.com]

Was there rail lines in that last shot? I didn't notice. I usually miss a lot of stuff because I'm busy typing up my notes at the same time that I'm watching it live. Still, without any kind of landmark or sign to go by, I bet it'll be tough to track down.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I thought there were, yeah. It looked to me like they had pulled up and stopped just before crossing tracks.

Maybe you (or I) will find something identifying about it on a rewatch....but yeah, from what I remember, besides the tracks it was pretty generic. I'm not sure if the DoD lands have tracks on them either - if they're in there, then you'd be screwed for confirming.

[raloria.livejournal.com]

Got my download tonight and checked out that last scene. No railroad tracks. It's a farm, a cornfield, a dirt road (that the Impala's on), and some power lines. I keep thinking it might be near the Thomas Joseph Brown house. I'll have to look around there on Google.

I hope the boys aren't filming outside tonight...it'd mess with the continuity I'm sure.

I've been told, by those who went on the VanCon location tour that Russ said they take the whole week off for the American Thanksgiving, so more than likely the guys are already out of town until after next weekend. Good thing with all that snow around. ;)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oh, ok, I stand corrected. I wonder why I thought there were tracks...odd. I'll have to rewatch too.

Nice that the boys get a full week off. Hopefully the other productions that film around here weren't working last night either. It was gorgeous, but would have been impossible to film in. :P

[msninacat.livejournal.com]

I'm calling it now, btw: Sam's soul coming back is going to be the season closer, and not sooner...(and I really hope not later)

Or the season opener to Season 7. You know they like torturing us. ;D

Also I feel like an uber nerd now because in reading a lot of reviews, no one knew what a Red Cap was until the show was over and I yelled "OMG Red Cap" when the dude popped up. I guess it just helps with my beta work since I'm a friend's canon whore for her HP nano. lol

[katsheswims.livejournal.com]

Yeah! I've been surprised no one knew it was a red cap either. I also yelled out as soon as I saw the guy. (And surprisingly enough I think the first time I heard of a red caps was in a Supernatural fanfic.)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

The first time I heard about red-caps was in HP fic, but they were little things...like, ankle height. So, it was the height of the dude that threw me off the trail, because I had associated red-caps with SMALL creatures.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Or the season opener to Season 7. You know they like torturing us. ;D

Oh man! I hope not, but that's probably totally going to be what happens...ugh, show!

[auroramama]

I think that's awesome. See, I knew what a Red Cap was, but it never occurred to me that the menacing fairy in the red cap was one - duh.

[baruchan.livejournal.com]

Robert Picardo! He brings back good memories...he just made me want to watch all the Doctor-centric Voyager episodes again.

I already found a fic request asking for Dean being taken into Faerie, deaged and servicing Oberon. ;p

Also, I snerked at the Red Cap. I love it when the show brings in some subtlety - they should have more of that. :D

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I already found a fic request asking for Dean being taken into Faerie, deaged and servicing Oberon. ;p

Even when it's not incest, they still find a way to make it squicky...DEAGED! Sigh...*shudder*

[trystan830.livejournal.com]

oooh very cool about that guy being a redcap! wow.

and i had three possibles for when Sam gets his soul back: 6x11 (right before hiatus, but i don't think so), 6x12 (right back from hiatus, but i still don't think so), or 6x22. (but maybe not, cause that batshit part of the fandom will get all batshit about it. but from a storytelling POV, i'm still thinking 6x22. ;)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm hoping for 6x11/6x12, but I really don't think it's going to happen. They'll drag it out to 6x22, and, as a commenter above pointed out, we might not even get to see it until 7x01.

[trystan830.livejournal.com]

if they wait untikl 7x01, they've lost their audience. even if they wait until 6x22, i really think the ratings will drop throughout the season. and then there'll be wank, too.

but storywise, i'm figuring on 6x22.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they're going to need another hook in the next two episodes in order to keep the audience engaged.

People are going to wank regardless, I think.

I want them to give the soul back in pieces or something...but I'm not sure how on earth that would work. Storytelling wise, though, I definitely see it happening in 6x22, but maybe at a cost - so that we're eagerly awaiting 7x01...who knows.

[trystan830.livejournal.com]

exactly.

and you're right, unfortunately people will always wank. *sigh*

i'd prefer 6x22... it would tie up this season so we're ready for something new in the next one.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I'd prefer sooner rather than later, but they're already banking on a S7, so they're going to be leaving SOME storylines open, or creating a new one in the last ten seconds of 6x22.

[trystan830.livejournal.com]

creating a new one in the last ten seconds of 6x22.
heh that sounds about right. =)

[alexseanchai]

Apparently it was Sam's soul that was keeping him clothed all those years

We always knew he does emotional-connection sex, except when it's Doctor Cara, but that was while he was pretending not to have an emotional connection to Ruby. Now, no soul, no emotions to connect with, so no reason not to have casual sex.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

except when it's Doctor Cara, but that was while he was pretending not to have an emotional connection to Ruby.

I disagree with you there. I don't think Sam ever had emotional sex with Ruby either...I mean, obviously he was emotional while having sex that first time...but I don't think Sam ever had feelings for Ruby beyond a weird begrudging friendship.

I think the non-emotional sex with Doctor Cara was a sign of how being hepped up on demon blood made Sam act a little differently.

Now, no soul, no emotions to connect with, so no reason not to have casual sex.

I DO agree with this. That's exactly what's happening. Soul or not, sex is fun...and the bonus to not having a soul is that you don't yearn for the heightened sexual experience of having feelings for the person you are having sex with.

[katsheswims.livejournal.com]

I also loved this ep. It was hilarious. But there were the undercurrents of misery and sadness between Sam and Dean.

I recognized Dean's ringtone and knew it was one he had before, but is it still the same from S2 or did he just change it back? I remember it rang in S5 a few times (particularly I'm thinking of when Sam called to want to get back together after thier break) but I can't remember if it was the same ringtone then...

In the preview for the next ep. it said December 1 (or 3-whtever day is Friday), so I think they're skipping showing a new ep on Supernatural next week! I don't know why they would do that, but I hope it was a mistype/misplayed thing.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's the same ringtone he had in S5. I'd have to go back and listen. It's definitely the same one he had in S2...so, yeah, either he never changed, or he went back to it.

Sadly, the December 3rd thing wasn't a mistype. They're running repeats during American Thanksgiving...I guess because Americans are too busy to watch TV that weekend, so the ratings wouldn't be good.

[ramblin_rosie]

Yes, between Black Friday shop-till-you-drop sprees, college football, and general family time, SPN wouldn't have much of a chance ratings-wise.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

American Thanksgiving is so crazy to me...I mean no offense by that - it's just the only holiday that Canada and America technically "share" but do almost completely different from one another. It's kind of twilight-zoney.

[akadougal.livejournal.com]

Had to wait until now to watch and therefore to read.

Yes. I really enjoyed this episode and I'm finding myself fond of RoboSam.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Jensen and Jared are both so good at comedy - even though RoboSam is heartbreaking on one level, you can't help love him for being so hilarious. :P

[seesmooshrun.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the Red Cap link! Explains so much. Enjoyed your review. :-)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[marlowe78.livejournal.com]

Bit late, but whatever, right?

Loved this episode! Nearly as much as the one with the dog (did I comment on your jolurnal? Can't remember, so long ago..)

ROBERT PICARDO!

(why? What else should I say????)

Fairys - ha! I think this put a spanner in SO many fanfictions, as it seems the only thing the Winchesters hunted before season one were ghosts, poltergeists and some creatures. Damn... all the funny and good stories about fairies have to be rewritten - or proclaimed AU :-D
But I agree with you, Edlund knows his stuff. Great story-writer.

Poor Dean indeed. He's going to be put through the ringer this season - and I was so hoping for something else. Well, nothing light, but maybe a bit more hopeful?

Ah, well.

I'm still holding out hope that we'll get some soul into Sam sooner than e22. As much as I agree with you that Sam soulless is amusing, it hurts me in connection to Dean. So... I'm still hoping (please, if you know more, don't tell me!)

I thought about that red cap-guy too, but I admit only after reading in gaelicspirit's ramble, where she referred to the man as "Red Cap", to give him a name.

Dude, when Dean came back and SAm was ... well, having sex. Dean looked AMAZING in the lighht, didn't he?

And did you notice: JP actually DOES have chest-hair! I was worried that all the men in the world lose their testosteron and actually ARE smooth-chested.
I'm holding out hope that JA has some hairs as well (I don't want a furry Jensen, but a little manlyness would be awesome ;) )

Oh. Did I turn shallow again?
Who cares, right?

Fun episode. Lets see what we'll get tomorrow (Saturday for me) - uh... there isn't another strange holliday over there, right?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Fairys - ha! I think this put a spanner in SO many fanfictions, as it seems the only thing the Winchesters hunted before season one were ghosts, poltergeists and some creatures.

So few people seem to realize this anyway :P Or that they didn't know that what killed Mary was a demon until midway through S1.

As much as I agree with you that Sam soulless is amusing, it hurts me in connection to Dean. So... I'm still hoping (please, if you know more, don't tell me!)

I don't know anything! I completely agree with you though - Soulless Sam is amusing (it's fun to see Dean play the straight-man, and JP stretch his comedic muscles), but the empathetic part of me is just BLEEDING for Dean right now...he's so horribly alone now.

I was worried that all the men in the world lose their testosteron and actually ARE smooth-chested.

Hahaha! I know! It even looks like he has the attractive kind of chest hair...unless he groomed it up a bit before the shoot. I feel sorry for JP having to wax before all those shirtless scenes now though...ouch.

Thinking back to those soccer pictures of JA - I don't remember any chest hair, so either it was just when they were filming 6x03 and he was freshly waxed too - or maybe he actually doesn't have chest hair.

Wait...did I just write an analysis of chest hair as though it were a serious topic? Hahaha...oh man.

Fun episode. Lets see what we'll get tomorrow (Saturday for me) - uh... there isn't another strange holliday over there, right?

Not to my knowledge! But I'm one country north :P Also, it's not tomorrow sadly, but the day after tomorrow. It's Wednesday here.

[marlowe78.livejournal.com]

Or that they didn't know that what killed Mary was a demon until midway through S1.

God, it's starting to piss me off! These stories where the Winchesters hunt demons pre-series, when we've known FROM THE BEGINNING (Phantom Traveller)that they never encountered them themselves!

Also, it's not tomorrow sadly, but the day after tomorrow. It's Wednesday here.

Well, techincally it's Wednesday here too. Damn... Sorry, I sometimes get messed up with time, especially when it's snowing like in freaking Canada here!
Awesome, yes, but not so much if you have to drive an hour, only to walk with kids into the forest. The SNOW-CoVERED forest.
In the freaking cold!
*shudder*
And then drive back an hour.

I' whiney?

Sorry.

I was just trying to cover up my slip :-D
It's Wednesday here as well, and tomorrow is Thursday, not Friday.;-)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Haha, no worries. Sorry about the cold and snow :P

I WISH it were Thursday already though...man, I've got the worst week of work this week (the only week that is going to be worse than this one is next week). Plus on Friday I get lasagna and a chance of pie...mmm....

God, it's starting to piss me off! These stories where the Winchesters hunt demons pre-series, when we've known FROM THE BEGINNING (Phantom Traveller)that they never encountered them themselves!

Me too. I actually sometimes will abruptly stop reading a fic when it happens. I know that's sort of crazy of me, since it's fanfiction and therefore already considered AU, but it's just inconsistent and annoying.