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3.13 Ghostfacers

Harry: "Ed, you've got to go be gay for that poor, dead intern. You gotta send him into the light."

Loved season one's "Hell House," so of course, I loved seeing the "new future of reality TV". It echoed a lot of stuff: Ghost Hunters, mostly, which I don't watch because of my basic dislike of reality shows, The Blair Witch Project, and the nerd troika on Buffy (Harry in particular was like a cross between Andrew and Jonathan). The queezy cam, the cheesy soundtrack, the genuine flavor of idiotic reality television on a not-major network -- it takes a tremendous amount of good writing, acting, and filmmaking to pull off a parody this good.

The death echo thing was initially played for laughs, but I also liked the way Ed forced himself to help poor, dead Corbett, and the way Ghost Corbett attacked Daggett and saved the night. The interior of the house was genuinely scary, mostly because we never got a good look at it. The birthday party scene was creepy, although it also reminded me a little of the dinner scene in Rocky Horror.

For me, the best part of any episode like this is seeing the Winchesters through the eyes of other people. Yes, Dean and Sam are brave, cool, handsome superheroes, but the contrast with Ed and Harry made the Winchesters look braver, handsomer, and yet even cooler. And -- silly of me, I know -- I really loved the skull bleeps. Dean and Sam finally got to swear. It felt so natural.

All through the episode, I was bothered by what I thought was a big plot boo-boo: that the FBI believed Dean and Sam were dead, and appearing on a television show would have been, well, a problem. Fortunately, they addressed it with a great big, funny electromagnet.

(I wonder if Ed and Harry will eventually become real hunters? Naaahhh.)

Finally, we were pointedly told that Dean only has two months left. I am assuming that means the crossroads deal will be the focus of the season finale, which makes sense. I keep getting the uncomfortable feeling Dean actually will go to Hell, since we're getting a fourth season and they won't have to leave him there. I hope I'm wrong. I don't want Dean to go to Hell, even temporarily.

Bits and pieces:

-- As I mentioned in my earlier review of "Hell House", two of the original characters in the movie Ghostbusters were Egon Spengler and Winston Zeddmore.

-- Loved Ed and Harry doing fake slomo in the opener, with the cars whizzing past.

-- Early on, the Ghostfacers told Corbett he looked like RoboCop. That was actually a pretty big clue that Corbett was going to die.

-- The movie poster up in the Ghostfacers garage said, "Coven. A writer's terrifying journey into the dark world of a demonic self help group."

-- Man. Where do the producers find houses that look like that?

-- This week, the action took place somewhere in Wisconsin, on leap year day. (I assume they intended the episode to air in February.) The brothers briefly masqueraded as cops.

-- Ghostfacers credits ran at the beginning. The usual Supernatural credits ran at the end.

Quotes:

Harry: "I don't really like rats. They're gross. Rats are, like, the rats of the world."

Dean: "Listen, you and Rambo need to get your girlfriends and get out of here."
Ed: "All right. Listen here, chisel chest. Okay? We were here first."

Dean: "There's some salt inside my duffel. Make a circle and get inside."
Ed: (long pause) "Inside your duffel bag?"

Dean: "I'm not going to whine about my [bleeping] problems to some [bleeping] reality show. I'm going to do my [bleeping] job."
Spruce: "Is it cancer?"
Dean: "Shut up."

Sam: "Daggett was the Norman Bates stuff-your-mother kind of lonely."

Ed: "War changes man."
Harry: "And Maggie."
Ed: "War changes man. And one woman."

Ed: "And here we were thinking we were teaching you, and all this time you were teaching us. About heart, about dedication... and about how gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day."

Sam: "It's bizarre how you all were able to honor Corbett's memory while grossly exploiting the manner of his death. Well done."
Dean: "It's a real tightrope you guys are walking."

My rating: three stars. Reader poll: the same,

Billie





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