How do you say "donkey show" in Spanish?

Supernatural – No Rest for the Wicked
In the third-season finale, Sam summons Ruby for help as time runs out for Dean. The brothers, against Ruby’s advice, steal her knife and, with Bobby’s help, prepare to face off against Lilith and her minions.

Mmmm. I love that every season finale begins with “Carry On Wayward Son.” It’s just perfect.

Dean is running through the forest, terrified. He is cornered by a hellhound, who attacks him. And then he wakes up. With 30 hours to go, Bobby has a way to find Lilith. Instead, Dean wants to make a run for Tijuana and see a donkey show. He doesn’t want to rush in half-cocked. Sam wants to summon Ruby, but Dean says no, she is “the Miss Universe of lying skanks.”

Unconcerned, Sam summons Ruby anyway. Of course he does. As much as these brothers love each other, they absolutely don’t listen to each other. Ruby admits she knew Lilith held Dean’s contract, but that the boys weren’t ready before. Sam threatens her, and she is surprised to see how much he has changed. She actually does know how to save Dean – Sam can do it if he uses his dormant abilities. Lilith is afraid of him, because he can destroy her without moving a muscle.

Dean, who knew Sam would defy him, suddenly he pops up and warns Sam that this is all a trick; Ruby just wants him to give in to his demonic side. Sick of proving herself, Ruby says, “This is how you save yourself, you dumb spineless dick.” And then the two of them get into a fistfight. While they beat the hell out of each other, Dean manages to steal the demon-killing knife AND trick Ruby into a devil’s trap. She is pissed.

The boys load up the heavy weaponry. Sam wants to save Dean. Dean wants to save Sam. Dean says he is tired of making the same mistakes over and over; they all keep trading their lives for each other. Dean admits that Sam is his weak spot, and he is Sam’s. The demons are using that against them, and he wants to stop being a martyr. They’ll go after Lilith their way, they way John taught them, and if they lose, that’s that.

Lilith is getting some R&R in Indiana, which apparently means she’s torturing a family by taking over their child and making her do awful things like kill the family pet. The boys are all set to leave but Bobby has nicked some part of the Impala, so it won’t start. He gives them a little speech about family. Bobby totally loves the Winchester boys like they are his own children. During the trip, Sam tries to say a heartfelt goodbye, but Dean is having none of it. Instead he turns on the radio, and the brothers sing Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive” in lieu of saying goodbye.

Suddenly, they get pulled over. Without warning Dean kills the cop, who turns out to be a demon. He could see its real face under its human skin. Bobby says with 5 hours to go, Dean is piercing the veil to hell. This will help them on their way to find Lilith. Dean’s response? “I’m glad my doomed soul’s good for something. This is a terrific plan, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

The team finds Lilith. Dean is still caught up in his own martyr crap, but Sam tells him that this isn’t about saving him. It’s about saving everybody. The brothers fight their way through a couple of demons while Bobby makes holy water. Sam looks totally crazed. Ruby suddenly appears and attacks Dean, but before they can get into it a bunch of demons appear. So much for the element of surprise. But then, the sprinklers come on and start shooting out holy water. Hooray Bobby!

They get into the house Lilith is hiding in, and Sam and Ruby go upstairs to find her. Sam finds the little girl asleep at her terrified mother’s side. The mom tells Sam to kill her – in fact she says it like four or five times – but Sam can’t do it. Looks like Sam isn’t quite as strong as he needs to be, yet, but this turns out to be ok, because when Dean arrives he can see that Lilith is no longer in the little girl’s body.

With no other options left, Sam is all set to unleash his demonic capabilities in an effort to save Dean. Dean says no, and Ruby says they’ve missed their chance. Dean makes an impassioned speech: he has to go to hell. This is all his fault. Sam needs to keep fighting; needs to remember what John and Dean have taught him. The clock strikes midnight, and the hellhounds come.

The team lines the doors and windows in an attempt to keep the hellhounds at bay. I would call this “reneging” on the contract and I am kind of expecting Sam to drop dead. Which would have also been a good ending, but is not what happens. Ruby offers to go outside and fight the hounds off, but right then Dean realizes that she’s not really Ruby. She’s Lilith!



Rubith lets the hellhounds in and they rip Dean to shreds. Sam screams and cries, but Lilith is unswayed. Somehow (I wasn’t quite clear on this part) Sam gets the upper hand and stabs her, but the demon escapes in a cloud of black smoke. Ruby’s body falls to the floor next to a bloodied, lifeless Dean, and Sam bursts into tears. The camera focuses in on Dean’s dead eyes, and we go inside to see Dean chained up in hell. He starts screaming out for his little brother and … the end.

Yep, Supernatural just gets better and better. This episode went exactly the way you expected (unless you were one of those fools who thought Dean would get out of his contract), and it was fantastic. How long will Dean remain in hell? How will he escape? I would like to think that the writers are done with the soul-swapping, so what else can they do? Will Bobby somehow become embroiled in the Winchester martyrdom? We never saw him again after the holy-water-sprinkler trick. Was he left outside to fight the army of demons? Rubith said she sent Ruby “far, far away.” Is Ruby gone for good? And how on earth did she get out of the devil’s trap in the first place? Will Sam become the ultimate bad ass? Will Dean come back from hell a shell of his former self? I’m getting all worked up just thinking about it!

Zombie with skills ... Dr. Quinn, Medicine Zombie.

Supernatural – Time Is On My Side
Sam and Dean investigate zombies in a small Pennsylvania town, where they find a doctor with a sinister agenda. Meanwhile, Bobby learns where Bela is hiding, so Dean confronts her, leaving Sam to deal with the doctor alone.

We open in Erie, PA which for some reason makes me think of the old show Eerie, Indiana. I loved that show; it was the preteen version of shows like Buffy and Supernatural. Anyway, a man is attacked and thrown in the trunk of his car. Later he appears at a hospital, covered in blood and begging for help. A nurse tells him she’s seen everything, but when he opens his coat she screams her head off.

Meanwhile, Sam & Dean interrogate a demon, trying to find out which demon holds Dean’s contract. This demon won’t talk; the only thing he’s afraid of is the demon holding Dean’s ticket. Besides, there are plenty of demons in hell that are dying to meet Dean Winchester.

In other news, Sam finds a case. The guy at the hospital was covered with the fingerprints of a man who died in 1981. Dean is irritated, as usual: “You’ve been on soul-saving duty for 3 months, and now you’re up for some hot zombie action?” The man’s liver was missing – not ripped out, but removed surgically. Sam realizes that John had hunted this zombie: it’s Doc Benton, who was obsessed with alchemy, especially eternal life. As his parts wear out, he just replaces them.

A man is jogging at night and gets attacked. He wakes up strapped to a table with a freaky ass doctor bent over him. Ah, this is the guy in the promo photos that caused so much hubbub on the web. He does kinda look like Dean. Fucking hell! Just the idea of using a rib spreader on someone who is conscious makes me shudder!

Bobby calls to say that he’s heard Bela is in Vermont. Dean wants to go after her and the Colt; Sam wants to finish the case. He thinks chasing immortality is what’s going to save Dean. Dean says he won’t let Sam stay, and Sam says “How you gonna stop me?” Wow, Sam’s asserting his newfound strength and independence. The boys separate. Again!

Dean goes to see Rufus, the hunter who told Bobby about Bela. Rufus is stubborn, unhelpful, and awesome. Dean sways him with scotch. Rufus wants to know why Dean is wasting the three weeks he has left chasing Bela. I love when the hunters on this show give speeches; they’re always so dark. Rufus says no peashooter is going save Dean. It’s the job. Even if he manages to get out of this one, there’ll be something else down the road. There ain’t no happy ending in this life. “I’m what you’ve got to look forward to if you survive.”

When Dean finds Bela, she claims she has sold the Colt. We learn that Bela killed her parents when she was 14 and inherited millions. There is a quick B&W flashback to Bela’s childhood that implies that she was abused. She doesn’t tell Dean that, though. He is about to shoot her when he sees something on the wall above her and says she’s not worth it. After he leaves, Bela calls a number and says Dean found her, but Sam wasn’t with him.

Sam tracks down the doc. He calls Dean and says he found the doc’s lab book, and his formula. Its not black magic; it’s just science. Dean can use it, and Sam can use it too. And then Sam is attacked. He wakes up with his eyelids taped open. The doc starts to scoop out Sam’s eyeballs, but Dean arrives and shoots him. It doesn’t work. Dean stabs him. Doesn’t work. But Dean has dipped the knife in something – I think a sedative of some kind – which apparently does work. The dying doc says he can help them with the formula. Sam’s all for it, but Dean says no. He won’t be a monster.

Bela goes to a motel and shoots two sleeping figures. Who are not Sam and Dean. They are blow up dolls. The phone rings and it’s Dean. He knows Bella is trying to hold hell hounds at bay. She didn’t kill her parents; a demon did her dirty work and now her bill is due. She stole the Colt to save her soul, but the demons changed the deal. She begs and cries, but Dean says she should have told them the truth, and asked for help sooner. Bela says the demon that holds her contract is the same as the demon that holds his: Lilith. Dean hangs up. And the hell hounds come for Bela.

I cannot wait for the season finale. I think Dean has to go to hell, even if only for a short while.

Is that BustyAsianBeauties.com?

Supernatural – Long Distance Call
Dean gets a mysterious phone call that appears to be from his dad, explaining how to get out of the deal, and he decides to follow the advice despite the fact that Sam doesn’t believe it was really John on the line.

It’s a dark and gloomy night. A man named Ben is drinking Scotch. He seems tortured. He gets a phone call from Linda, with whom he is apparently having an affair. He says she can’t keep calling, and hangs up. The phone rings again. She says she won’t sop calling; he says he loves her and he’s sorry, and hangs up. The phone rings again. He rips it out of the wall. The phone … rings again. So he says “Ok, you win, I’m coming” and shoots himself in the head. How I love this show.

Bobby calls the boys about the case of the mysterious phone calls. But the boys are already on a case – Dean’s case, trying to break his deal. Dean, who is becoming increasingly frustrated, finally admits to Sam that Ruby doesn’t know how to save him. Sam is sad, but is also pissed that Dean didn’t tell him. Ahhh, brotherly strife.

The boys go to Milan, Ohio. The dead man’s phone has caller ID, and Sam sees that a call came in at the time of death. Ben’s wife says that she once heard him on the phone with a woman named Linda, but when she picked up the other line there was nobody there. He was talking to no one. The boys discover that Linda was Ben’s high school sweetheart, killed by a drunk driver. The phone number is a century old. They boys visit the phone company and meet Stewie, who spends his days looking at porn while flies buzz around him. He traces the number, and finds that it is responsible for calls to 10 different houses in the past month.

The brothers split up to check on the people who have received calls. Sam meets Laine, who acts shifty and doesn’t believe that he works for the phone company. He calms her down, and she admits that she’s been talking to her dead mom. Sam calls Dean, who has also learned that “stiffs are calling freshes.” They hang up, and suddenly Dean gets a call from his dad.

Sam is way skeptical about the call from John, and cannot figure about why anything supernatural is gong on in the town. Dean, however, has found that Milan is home to a museum that houses Thomas Edison’s “spirit phone.” Sam doesn’t think the spirit phone has anything to do with anything. John calls again. In a heartbreaking conversation, he asks how Dean could sell his soul, and Dean replies, “I was looking after Sammy like you asked me too.” John tells Dean this wasn’t what he wanted, and that he loves him. John claims to know a way to save them both. I had forgotten that Sam will drop dead again if Dean backs out of the deal.

Considering the case that these boys are working, I find it hard to believe that Dean doesn’t think his dad calling him is related. Anyway, Laine gets an IM from her mom asking her to kill herself so they can see each other again. Creepy!

Dean becomes obsessed with the idea that the demon with the contract to his soul is in town. Sam tries to talk sense into him; neither he nor Bobby think the exorcism John “rattled off” will work. He asks why Dean still has such blind faith, and Dean retorts, “Maybe blind faith is all I got!” Sam wants to check on Laine again, and Dean is angry that Sam isn’t more interested in saving his life. Sam asks Dean not to go anywhere until he gets back.

Sam goes to see Lanie, who is totally freaked. While they’re talking, her little brother Simon gets a call from Mommy. When Laine tells Sam her mom said “Come to me,” Sam realizes what’s going on. Meanwhile, John calls again so Dean breaks his promise to Sam and goes to a house. Laine sees that Simon is gone; Dean enters the house. Simon walks into traffic; Dean spray paints stuff on walls. Sam saves Simon, then calls Dean to tell him they’re hunting a crocatta. Dean says, “They live in filth. It’s the flies at the phone company.” But when Sam arrives at the phone company, Dean isn’t there. It’s all a trick.

Sam attacks Stewie, but then another guy we saw for like 3 seconds when the boys visited the phone company pops out and hits Sam and Stewie over the head. When Sam and Stewie come to, and they’re tied to chairs. Clark stabs Stewie, then eats his soul. Sam realizes he didn’t actually call Dean; the crocatta intercepted the call.

Meanwhile, a policeman gets a call from his dead child. She says she knows who killed her, and he’s at the house right now. The policeman arrives at the house and tries to shoot Dean, but Dean lures him in a devils trap. Since this guy is not a demon, it doesn’t work. At the phone company, Sam manages to untie himself and attacks Clark. At the house, Dean fights off the cop. I could count on one hand the number of times we’ve seen the boys separated during a showdown, but it did illustrate that Sam might be ok once Dean dies. He is becoming stronger.

Reunited at last, Sam and Dean are thrilled to see each other in the usual way: stoically. Dean admits that he’s really scared, but immediately starts joking around. It’s the Winchester way.

Listen here, chisel chest...

Supernatural – Ghostfacers
Sam and Dean star in a paranormal reality show that takes them to an abandoned estate that turns into one of the most haunted places in the US for one night each year.

Wow. Just … wow. “Ghostfacers” didn’t advance our base story at all, but what a fantastic episode. If you didn’t watch it you absolutely must find it online, because there is no way this post can do it justice.

The episode opens with Harry and Ed (of HellhoundsLair.com fame) pitching a new TV show. They talk about the writer’s strike (ha) and how reality TV is the new thing. Their show, called “Ghostfacers,” follows them as they hunt down ghosts: “We face the faceless, we face the dead.” Seen through Harry & Ed’s cameras, this entire SN episode is set up as an ep of “Ghostfacers.”

First we meet the team: Ed and Harry, who SN fans will remember from season one episode “Hell House.” Their intern Corbett, who saw Ed putting up fliers and thought, “Where do ghosts come from?” Maggie, Ed’s adopted sister. And cameraman Spruce, who is 15/16 Jew, 1/16 Cherokee. (And excellent casting all around). The humor is nonstop, and with the mock-documentary format it’s like I’m watching The Office, but its Supernatural. Crazy.

There is a legend that the Morton House becomes the most haunted place in America every four years, on February 29th. The Ghostfacers team breaks into the house, only to run into Sam and Dean pretending to be cops. Unfortunately, Ed and Harry remember the brothers from their run-in in West Texas, so their little charade fails.

The gang begins to see ghosts reliving their deaths, which Sam explains are “death echoes.” What they can’t figure out is why: none of these people died in the house. Sam & Dean come close to getting everyone out of the house before midnight, but Corbett sneaks back upstairs and gets attacked. In a quick side moment, we learn that at this point Dean has two months to live. Spruce asks if it’s cancer. Digging through the house, Dean finds toe tags for the people whose ghosts they’ve seen. They realize the guy who owned the house, Daggett, was a hospital janitor who took people’s remains home with him. Right then there is a huge surge of EMF activity, and Sam disappears.



Sam ends up in the same place as Corbett, sitting at a table set for a birthday party with a bunch of dessicated corpses surrounding him while Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” plays. It’s pretty fucking freaky. The ghost sticks a spike through Corbett’s throat. The gore on this show never ceases to surprise me. Dean and Spruce start downstairs and the door automatically locks behind them, separating them from everyone else. Dean finds Sam, who explains that Daggett was “Norman Bates stuff your mother” lonely.

Upstairs, Corbett’s ghost appears, gasping and tortured. Ed wants to help pull him out of his loop. Harry says that Corbett had feelings for Ed: “You gotta go be gay for that poor dead intern.” Ed approaches Corbett’s ghost and says he loves him, and Corbett snaps out of his trance. At the same moment, Daggett attacks Sam and Dean, but Corbett’s ghost saves the day. This all happens really quickly and is very slightly anti-climactic. In the end, Sam and Dean leave an electromagnet behind to destroy the footage that the Ghostfacers took, thereby preserving their precious anonymity.

In addition to showing the boys cursing up a storm (bleeped a la Arrested Development), this episode was chock-full of fantastic quotes:

Ed, trying to put his foot down with Dean:
“Listen here, chisel chest…”

Corbett, delighted by a compliment from Ed:
“You think I look like Robocop?”

Sam, irritated with Dean:
“Oh, let’s go hunt the Morton House, it’s our Grand Canyon.”

When Dean tries to help Ed & Harry by yelling through a locked door:
Dean: “There’s salt in my duffel bag, make a circle and get inside.”
Ed: “ Inside your duffel bag?”

When Harry explains Corbett’s feelings to Ed:
Harry: “He wanted you.”
Ed: “He wanted me to what?”

Ed & Harry reflecting on their adventure:
“We’ve learned that gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day.”

How are we gonna Houdini out of this one?

Supernatural – Jus In Bello
Sam and Dean are double-crossed by Bela, who has them arrested, but when Agent Henriksen arrives to take them into custody he discovers they’ve been surrounded by demons intent on killing everyone.

Just another fantastic episode of Supernatural, and a great taste of what's to come as we go into the break. The boys track down Bela, but arrive at her hotel room to find that she has eluded them yet again. She phones them, and when Dean says he believes she will sell the stolen Colt, Bela replies, “You don’t know me at all.” There have been some subtle hints that Bela isn’t 100% bad girl, but so far all her actions have been at odds with that notion. I am not a fan of the character, but I am interested to see how she will develop. Personally I hope she doesn’t come around to the boys’ side. She is an unsentimental, unscrupulous foil to the Winchester boys … and yet they are inexplicably attracted to her (and I don’t just mean physically).

Bela sics FBI Agent Henricksen (the beleaguered agent from “Night Shifter”) on the boys, and they are arrested. When he takes them to the prison in whatever small town they happen to be in, he explains to the sheriff and his men that Sam and Dean are grave-desecrating, Satan-worshiping killers. We always see the relieved reactions of those people Sam and Dean save, but we rarely see the POV of those individuals who can't see the big picture and believe that the Winchesters are monsters.

The FBI deputy director arrives to escort the boys to a maximum-security prison, but it turns out that he’s possessed and he shoots Dean in the shoulder. Sam exorcises the demon and the man’s body collapses, dead. Henricksen’s partner discovers that all the policemen who were outside are dead, then is killed himself. Henricksen takes control of the station, thinking that Sam and Dean are plotting an elaborate escape plan.

Sam coerces frightened secretary Nancy into giving him a towel for Dean’s shoulder, but when she approaches the bars of the cell he attacks her. She manages to escape, and the whole thing is totally confusing for a moment until we realize that he stolen her crucifix. The boys discuss how strange it is that the demons are suddenly coming right for them, as they’ve never done so before. “You think its cause we’re so awesome?”

The sheriff comes to let the boys out so everyone can make a run for it, but Henricksen shoots him point-blank in the head. Holy shit! Turns out Henricksen is possessed, but he doesn’t die when Sam exorcises the demon. I totally did not see that coming. It’s a nice twist, though, because now Henricksen is a believer. “Demons are real. So are ghosts, vampires, werewolves, changelings, and evil clowns who eat people.”



Dean ventures outside to get some weapons from the Impala, and sees a huge cloud of black smoke (read: demon energy) swirling above them. Inside, the gang paints symbols on the floors and lines the doors and windows with salt, creating a stronghold the demons cannot penetrate. Dean and Henricksen bond as they discover they have a lot in common, and at this point I’m thinking that if Henricksen survives he could make a powerful ally for the boys.

Ruby arrives and the boys let her into the building. She tells them that the “new rising power” mentioned in the last episode is named Lilith (as a religious studies major I take some issue with this, but whatever), and that Lilith has sent the army of demons to kill Sam. Dean is furious that Sam has kept the knowledge about Lilith to himself, adding a nice layer of strife. The boys have been getting along so well lately that this is rather refreshing. The relationship between the brothers is always more interesting when there is a level of discontent brewing just below the surface.

Ruby offers to cast a spell that will destroy all demons within a one-mile radius – including herself. She needs the heart of a virtuous person, and the meek secretary is just the ticket. The secretary actually agrees to this, wanting to save everyone, and Sam is down with the plan as well. Dean, however, is flabbergasted and tells Sam there is no way they are going to kill the poor girl. “Stop! Nobody kill any virgins!”



They decide to let the demons in, and fight. As they break the salt barriers there is lots of shouting and shooting. Meanwhile, in another twist I didn’t see coming, the secretary and deputy are hiding on the roof. Once all the demons are inside, they re-salt the doors and windows – although one demon manages to escape while they are doing so. Inside, Henricksen broadcasts a tape of Sam reciting the exorcism ritual through the PA system, and since the demons cannot escape they are all destroyed. As the boys leave, Henricksen says that he will tell everyone they were killed.

Later, a cute little girl shows up asking about Sam and Dean. When the secretary asks her name, the little girl says, “Lilith” and her eyes turn white. White, not black. This must be important.

Back at the hotel, Ruby shows up and turns on the news. The police station has been blown to bits, and everyone inside – that means Henricksen, damn it! – is dead, including “two fugitives.” Ruby gives the boys protective amulets and rails on them for not letting her cast the spell. “Don’t you know how to fight a war? You leave no survivors, so then no one can run to the boss.”

Sam Winchester cries his way through sex.

Supernatural – Mystery Spot
Dean is shot and killed while investigating the disappearance of a man with Sam, who is stunned when he wakes up the next morning to find his brother alive and well. He realizes he is reliving the previous day, and tries to prevent Dean’s death.

A fantastic turn for Supernatural, and one that was much less humorous than the previews led us to believe. We open with Sam awaking to Asia’s “Heat of the Moment.” He and Dean go through their morning routine and sit down to breakfast at a diner. Dean wants to hunt Bela and the Colt, but since they have no leads they are looking into the disappearance of a professor at a local “Mystery Spot.” The brothers check out the spot after hours, but the owner, thinking they are trying to rob him, accidentally shoots Dean in the chest. And he dies. Ouch!

Cut to Sam waking up to “Heat of the Moment” again. This is not a new plot device for television, though here it is done better than most. While it is clear that Sam is reliving the same day over and over, the days move along at a nice clip. Sam tries a variety of tactics, but Dean ends up dying every time: he gets hit by a car, crushed by falling furniture, chokes on a piece of sausage, slips in the shower, gets food poisoning (“these tacos taste funny to you?”), gets electrocuted, gets killed by a dog, and – my favorite– watches as Sam takes an axe to the Mystery Spot only to get struck by the axe himself.

After 100 Tuesdays in a row, Sam is feeling defeated. Suddenly, he notices that a man in the diner has strawberry syrup instead of maple, and the brothers goes after the guy. Turns out it’s our old pal the Trickster, who the brothers thought they killed in “Tall Tales.” The Trickster tells them that this exercise is to teach Sam he can’t save his brother. Sam threatens to kill the Trickster, who promises he will let them out of the time loop if they let him go.

Bam! Sam wakes up to “Back In Time.” It’s Wednesday! Alas, as Dean is loading the car he gets shot by a mugger and dies. But this time, Sam doesn’t wake up.



Cut to a medley of scenes showing “life after Dean.” Sam has become a hard-as-nails loner, taking on dangerous fights by himself and pulling bullets out of his torso without flinching. Over this, we hear numerous voice mails from Bobby, and it becomes clear Rogue Sam hasn’t spoken to Bobby in three months. Flashes of his “research wall” show that he has become as obsessive about finding the Trickster as his father had been about finding the Yellow-Eyed Demon. Bobby leaves a final voice mail saying that he’s found the Trickster, but when Sam shows up Bobby tells him they need a gallon of fresh blood. Unperturbed, Sam prepares to kill an innocent person, but Bobby offers himself instead. At this point it is clear that “Bobby” is in fact a creation of the Trickster, who reveals himself when Sam stakes “Bobby” in the back.

“Holy Full Metal Jacket,” says the Trickster, and proceeds to inform Sam that the lesson he’s trying to teach is that nothing good can come of Sam's obsession to save Dean. “Dean is your weakness and the bad guys know it. He’s going to be the death of you.” Sam cries and begs to have his brother back, and the Trickster says, “This stopped being fun months ago." This implies [to me] that the Trickster has set up this entire exercise at the request of another (perhaps Ruby) in order to knock some sense into Sam and toughen him up. However, while Dean is Sam’s greatest weakness, he’s also the source of Sam’s strength. Catch-22, my friends.

The next ep looks like a season finale, with the return of Agent Henriksen and an army of demons poised to kill everyone in sight. However, now that the strike is over we will supposedly be treated to 4 or 5 additional episodes that will air in April/May. Will Dean die? Will Ruby turn out to be truly good? Will Dean and Bela have sex? Will Sam and Bela have sex? Will they kill Bela off already and move on? Only time will tell!

Everybody got into hunting somehow.

Supernatural – Dream a Little Dream of Me
Bobby is poisoned with a dream potion and lapses into a deadly coma, so Sam and Dean take the potion themselves to enter the dream and save him … but to do so they must confront their own personal nightmares.

This Supernatural ep was a little different from the usual fare. It opens on Bobby, who is having a terrible nightmare while asleep in his hotel room. The maid cannot wake him up, so he is taken to the hospital and the doctor calls Dean, who is listed as Bobby’s emergency contact. Adorable.

In Bobby’s notes, the brothers discover a reference to a murdered doctor, and learn that he was involved in sleep studies – more specifically, helping people who cannot dream using a plant, Silene capensis, commonly known as African dream root. Dean talks with a student named Jeremy, a test subject in the murdered doctor’s experiments. Reading up on the legends, Sam finds that with practice, a person using this plant could become “a regular Freddy Krueger.” [A reference to Nightmare on Elm Street, for those who don't know].

The boys call Bela for help, and surprisingly she brings them the herb. When asked why she’s helping, she claims that Bobby once saved her life. Also, Sam has a fantastic sex dream about her before she shows up. This is fun. I get the impression that Bela is hot for Dean, and I keep waiting for them to hook up at some point. For Sam to have a schoolboy crush on her [“Nice to seeing you, Bela!”] adds a dimension of humor but also a darker layer of possible future resentment between the brothers.

The Winchester boys go into Bobby’s deliciously creepy dream, where Sam encounters Jeremy. Dean finds Bobby cowering in a closet, and we learn that some time ago Bobby killed his wife because she was possessed, and he didn’t know what to do. Dean begs Bobby to wake up, saying he's like a father to him. Awwww. This works, and the three spring back to life – Bobby in the hospital, the bros in their hotel room. When the trio reunites, they don’t discuss the situation much beyond Bobby explaining that everyone becomes a hunter for a reason.

They try to stay awake for several days, but finally Dean gets fed up and goes to sleep, with Sam taking more African dream root so he can tag along. When we enter Dean’s dream world, we see Lisa sitting serenely on the grass with a picnic, talking about Ben. This has huge implications for Dean’s character. For those who don’t know/remember, earlier this season Dean had come to believe that an ex-girlfriend’s son belonged to him. This was later disproved, but that was the second of two eps in which Dean ponders a different future for himself. The first, of course, was second season’s “What Is and What Should Never Be,” when Dean is drugged into a comatose state and imagines what his life would be if his mother had never been killed. His vision of Lisa is yet another reminder that for all his bravado, Dean desperately wishes he could have a “normal” life.

And then the dream turns even darker. The boys are separated, and Jeremy reveals himself to Sam again, after [literally] crucifying him to the ground. Sam uses his knowledge of Jeremy – and perhaps some of his latent psychic ability – to gain control of the dream, revealing Jeremy’s abusive father. Dean, meanwhile, encounters himself. Dream Dean says that John always loved Sam more [all demons try this angle], that Dean simply provides blindly obedient muscle, and that he hates himself so much he can’t be bothered to try and save his own life. Real Dean is having none of this, so he shoots himself in the chest, and the brothers wake up only to discover that Bela has stolen the Colt. Bitch!

After all the fun dies down, Dean finally admits that he doesn’t want to die. Part of the beauty of Supernatural is the stoic emotional scenes between Sam and Dean – there is rarely voice cracking or tearing-up of eyes because, you know, they’re tough. This huge moment is simple and clean:

Dean: Sam?
Sam: Yeah?
Dean: I've been thinking. And the thing is I don't want to die. I don't want to go to hell.
Sam: Alright, yeah. We'll find a way to save you.
Dean: Okay, good.

But in Dean’s head, Dream Dean pops back to life as a black-eyed demon, screaming, “You can’t escape me, Dean! You’re gonna die, and this is what you’re gonna become!”

Woah.

She's a regular Martha Stewart, except for the devil worship.

Supernatural – Malleus Maleficarum
Unrequited love becomes vengeful witchcraft, which in turn leads Sam and Dean into a coven of suburban witches whose black magic is drawn from a much more sinister source. Photo © The CW.

Ahhh … Dean Winchester. My life is again complete. Although why the CW chose to pit this new ep against the Lost premiere is beyond me.

We open with a man and woman coming home from a party. The woman goes to brush her teeth, and we cut to an unknown figure casting a spell over a toothbrush. The woman’s teeth start falling out, and blood is pouring down her chin. Supernatural seems to have a boundless capability to gross me out. The woman dies, and her boyfriend is sad.

Sam & Dean pose as the CDC (what?) but the boyfriend, Paul, is evasive when questioned. Sam finds a hex bag, so the brothers realize they are dealing with a witch, and Dean is bummed because the problem with witches is that they’re human. No killing allowed.

We cut to a new character, Amanda, who arrives home looking sinister. She takes rotting meat out of her oven, and looks fondly at it. Apparently this is meant to imply that she’s a witch. Cut to Paul in a car, listening to “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” eating a burger, and missing his dead girlfriend. Back at home, Amanda casts a spell over the rotting meat, and Paul’s burger turns into maggots. Gross! Paul chokes, but Sam & Dean save the day. At the same time, however, Amanda is slashed to bits by an unseen force. The bros break into her house and find another hex bag, and Dean has some choice lines, including “I hate witches, always spewing their bodily fluids everywhere” and, “A little witch on witch violence. Why are witches ganking each other?”

WHY do more people not watch this show?!?! Anyway, Sam thinks Amanda’s book club – Renee, Elizabeth, and Tami – is a coven. Which is true. But they use their powers for … not evil. Like winning raffles. Sam & Dean visit Elizabeth as detectives Bachman and Turner (nice), and she acts totally guilty.

Sam tells Dean the women have to be stopped, and Dean replies, “Stopped, stopped? They’re human, Sam.” But Sam doesn’t care. He tells Dean that he needs to become more like him so that he can survive once Dean is gone. Suddenly, the Impala breaks down and Ruby appears. She tells them to leave town because the witches serve a demon that is more than they can handle, but Dean refuses to trust her.

When they get back to the hotel, Dean starts spitting up blood. Sam can’t find a hex bag, so he goes to Elizabeth’s and realizes that Tami is the demon. Meanwhile, Ruby saves Dean’s life with some weird green liquid. Back at the ranch, Tami gets the upper hand and tells Sam they’ve been looking for him. He says he knows, he’s the chosen one, destined to lead a demon army. And this is where it really gets interesting…

Tami tells Sam that he’s not their Messiah; that they don’t believe in him. There is a new power rising “in the West,” and they want Sam gone. This is both ominous and kind of cool, that they would use that particular word. I know I'm a geek, but this is what Wikipedia has to say on the concept [my emphasis]:

In English today, it is used in three main contexts: in a Jewish context, it refers to the anticipated king of the Davidic line prophesied by Isaiah. In a general sense, it means any saviour or liberator of the world. Among Christians, it refers to Jesus of Nazareth.

"Liberator of the world" has a lot of potential if this show continues into a fourth season. Anyway, Dean & Ruby arrive and Ruby fights the demon. We learn that Ruby was once human; that she was a witch and therefore a servant to the Tami demon “around the time of the plague." Elizabeth does some sneaky magic that disables Tami momentarily and allows Dean to stab her with the demon-killing knife, but Tami takes Elizabeth down with her. There seems to be a lot more human death than usual in this ep.

Back at the hotel, lights flicker and Dean looks panicked. Ruby appears and they have as close to a heart-to-heart as is possible. She tells Dean that every demon was once human (this is something the Winchesters didn’t already know, which seems odd). Being in hell destroys their humanity. And yes, it will happen to him. Ruby admits that she cannot help save Dean, despite what she has told Sam. But she does want to help them; she is different from other demons because she remembers what it is to be human. And she wants Dean to toughen Sam up so that he will be able to fight in the coming war without his brother by his side.

IF this is to be the last season of Supernatural, which I can easily see because I don't think it's ratings are that great, I kind of want Dean to die in the finale. I’m a sucker for sad endings. Perhaps he could die but end up in heaven rather than hell, just to sweeten the deal. The rational side of me knows he probably will not die, although thus far the show has done nothing but tell us that he cannot be saved. No way, no how. According to TV Guide, we have three eps to go. This should be interesting…

If you fudging touch me again, I’ll fudging kill you.

Supernatural – A Very Supernatural Christmas
Sam and Dean investigate murders committed by an “anti-Santa” who pulls his victims up chimneys. Meanwhile, Dean wants to celebrate a traditional Christmas since it will be his last, but Sam refuses. Photo © The CW.

The kitsch factor was super high in this one, and the episode was all the better for it. Yes, it’s times like these that highlight why I love this show so freakin’ much. Investigating the murders of people who have been pulled up chimneys at Christmastime, Sam and Dean believe they are hunting the “anti-Santa,” Santa’s rogue brother. [Note: in the Season 2 DVD special features, I learned that every story on Supernatural is based on actual lore. Sure enough, Wikipedia does turn up articles on the “anti-Santas” Sam tells Dean about - yikes]. But after a quick call to Bobby (who, in true Bobby fashion, tells them they’re morons), the brothers realize they’re barking up the wrong tree.

Eventually the discovery of meadowsweet wreaths leads the boys to the home of Madge and Edward Carrigan, an overly bright-and-cheery Cleaver-esque couple that immediately raises red flags for our intrepid hunters. Played by Merrilyn Gann (Everwood) and Spencer Garrett, Madge and Edward turn out to be pagan gods who “assimilated” with the onset of Christianity. They proceed to torture the boys, and Supernatural proceeds to gross me out by showing Sam’s fingernail get pulled off. When a peppy neighbor interrupts the proceedings to invite the Carrigans caroling, Sam and Dean manage to turn the tables. A brief scuffle ensues, ending with the boys ripping apart a Christmas tree with their bare hands and stabbing the Carrigans with the branches.

Seriously kids, this show is awesome.

The subplot was built around flashbacks to Sam and Dean’s childhood. Today, Dean wants to have a “real Christmas” because he believes it will be his last. Sam refuses, partly because he still can’t accept his brother’s impending death and partly because he has terrible memories of the holiday. In the flashback, we see that Sam and Dean spent Christmases alone, with John off hunting. Dean does his best to protect young Sammy from the truth of their lives, but around age 8–10 (I’m really bad with kids’ ages), Sam finds his father’s journal and realizes that his big brother (who’s what, 10–12?) sleeps with a gun under his pillow.

Although I’m not a big fan of the childhood flashbacks, this one did have its moments. I particularly loved the bit when young Sam asks, “So monsters are real? But Dad said there were no monsters under my bed,” and young Dean replies, “That’s because he had already checked.” Then, there was the scene in which young Dean wakes Sam up on Christmas morning. Sam, disappointed that his father has not returned home, gives Dean the gift meant for John. I’m thinking, “Please let it be something he still has,” and lo and behold, the gift turns out to be the amulet necklace that Dean wears.

In the end, Sam decides to give his big brother what he wants. Dean returns to their hotel room to find that Sam has decorated and made some (very potent) eggnog. The brothers exchange gifts wrapped in newspaper: porno mags and shaving cream for Sam, motor oil and a candy bar for Dean. For an instant it seems like Sam is about to get weepy, but instead he turns on the TV and the brothers settle in for a nice holiday together.

Beautiful.

Other good bits:
Sam telling the elf at Santa’s village they’re only there “to watch.”
The brothers attempting to sing Silent Night: "Round… the table…"
Dean reminiscing about their family’s beer-can wreath.

In other news: kittens on parade

Pushing Daisies - Girth
When horse jockeys start turning up dead, Olive must face her past and admit a dark secret. Meanwhile, Chuck and Olive take their first steps toward a tentative friendship, and Ned goes to the aunts for hints about his own past. Photos © ABC/Justin Stephens.

Does the narrator of Pushing Daisies always rhyme? I'd never noticed before, and last night I found it profoundly irritating. But! This is the first episode since the pilot that I have really enjoyed. Kristen Chenoweth and Chi McBride are amazing, and it was a delight to see an episode that used -- nay, revolved around -- the fact that KC is about 4 feet tall.

Perhaps I am too angst-ridden, but when I first heard about PD I expected the show to be a hell of a lot darker than it is. Admittedly, this expectation came from nowhere. I imagined that the romance between Chuck & Ned would be more ... unrequited. Actually, that's a poor choice of words. I guess I mean ... veiled. (This is becoming a theme, dear reader. Obviously I am a fan of the "we like each other but keep it a secret" plot). I thought there would be an even mixture of cuteness and awkwardness and sadness, and this would be compounded by the fact that they can't ever touch. I didn't think they would instantly be in love. I mean honestly, they haven't spoken since they were children, so they don't even know each other. I didn't think they'd be all cutesy, kissing through plastic wrap and hand-holding with gloves on and whatnot. I thought they'd be "moodier than a pumpkin full of PMS," to steal a phrase from last night's episode. I cannot suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy this relationship.

That being said, I am interested in the nicely-developing triangle consisting of Olive, Chuck, and Ned. When Ned rescued Olive, literally sweeping her off her feet, I felt a little thrill. And then when he dropped her -- again, quite literally -- to rush to Chuck's side, I thought "ah yes, this is the show I wanted." More character development, more moodiness, more angst -- now that's a PD I can get behind. As for the scenes from the next episode, I don't hold high hopes for Olive and Ned ending up naked (nice bit of cropping there, ABC) and I can only hope that their kiss does not take place in a dream.

Top bits:
-- "And he's going to kill agem."
-- Chuck trying to convince herself that she's the scary dead person.
-- And then throwing oyster crackers at Emerson's head when he startles her.
-- Digby's matching ghost outfit.

Where do I recognize Barbara Barrie (Mrs. Jacobs) from? A quick look at IMDB leads me to believe it's from Dead Like Me, though that doesn't seem right. Anyone know what it might be? Comment us!




Supernatural - Bad Day At Black Rock
After the Winchester brothers discover their father's secret storage facility -- and that it's been broken into -- they find a cursed rabbit's foot that gives anyone who touches it good luck ... until you lose it, and then you die. In a race to save their own lives, the pair runs up against a mysterious thief who steals cursed items in order to line her own pockets. Photo © The CW.

I am now caught up with Season 3 of Supernatural. Without commercials, the episodes fit perfectly into my lunch breaks at work -- pop open the iBook, pop on the headphones, and ignore the weird looks people give me when they pass my cubicle, because obviously it looks like I'm wasting time while on the clock.

It is a disappointment that nobody I know watches this show, because it is SO GOOD. Hot boys, check. Perfect mix of creepy and silly, check. Hot boys, check. Hot father, even! What's not to love?!?

Sure, it blatantly steals from about 100 other sources (The Ring, 28 Days Later, Children of the Corn, Final Destination, to name a few) but it doesn't care. And neither do I. So far Season 3 is a lot bloodier than the previous seasons; yesterday I found myself making little "eek" noises out loud (thus provoking even more weird looks from co-workers), especially when that dude fell onto a barbeque fork and it stabbed him through the throat. Gross!

I love the new baddie, who is hopefully sticking around, cause Michael Massee is awesome. Side note thanks to Wikipedia: Massee has the unfortunate distinction of firing the gun that killed Brandon Lee during the filming of The Crow, though it was found to be an accident. Huh. Anyway, the man is perfect as a crazy hunter who believes he's doing God's work and is hell-bent on killing Sam Winchester. Poor Sam just can't catch a break, can he? Damn!

This episode also introduced Bela, a British chick who steals artifacts in order to sell them. She does not appear to have a conscience. The writers should stick with that. I was doubtful when I heard that Supernatural was going to introduce two female leads -- Ruby (a.k.a. "Blondie Demon") and Bela. Fortunately Ruby is a demon, and Bela is a bitch. But, I do foresee some type of romantic involvement between Dean and Bela (even if it's just flirting), so we'll see how that goes. I'm sure she has some sob story about why she became a thief. Blech. The angle that there is little difference between Dean and Bela is nice, though. I loved her back-talkin' speech after Dean bad-mouthed her:

"[Hunters are] a bunch of obsessed, revenge-driven sociopaths trying to save a world that can't be saved. We're all going to hell ... might as well enjoy the ride."

However, hands down the best line in the entire episode came earlier, when crazy-hunter's friend was trying to convince him to eat at a particular restaurant by showing him the menu online and crazy-hunter replied, "Looks good. I like that when they dip a whole onion in the fryer."

In other news...
* Whatever will we do?!?!
* Felicity is in a new movie. And it looks really terrible.
* ICK!
* Chuck's Zachary Levi enjoys nerding out.
* And what's wrong with The Simpsons, I ask you?
* More Friday Night Lights love.
* Yeah, sure it is.
* Like Project Runway?
* Spoilers from Ausiello.
* HIMYM's Barney lost his virginity to...

Unorthodox Urban Honey Pioneers

(C) ABC
Pushing Daisies - Pigeon
Emerson, Ned, and Chuck are hired to prove that a pilot was murdered, but become entangled in a case involving stolen diamonds and a one-armed bandit.

So, Pushing Daisies. I was a huge champion of this show after the pilot (even before that, really) and I told everyone I knew to watch it. And now I feel a little bit bad about that. I want to love it, I really do. But there is something missing, some crucial element, and the show just doesn't do it for me. It is gorgeous to watch. The characters are endearing. The schmaltz is tolerable (mostly). But every episode is the same! It's boring! Even with the addition of guest stars that hardcore TV addicts will instantly recognize (Gavin Price/Professor Landry as a Ritalin-fueled fiend, Lynn McKennan as a one-armed bandit, Heroes' waitress Charlie as a lovelorn windmill caretaker), I just can't get behind this show. And frankly I've been shocked that the overall feedback in the blogosphere has been nothing but glowing. Last night's episode clinched it for me -- I'm not giving up on it entirely, but I'm not going to be too upset if I miss an episode here and there.

And as I wrote this, I realized what it is that I don't like about this show. After the pilot, I described it as "a cross between Tim Burton and Wes Anderson." And that, against all reason, is the problem. It is exactly like too many other things that have come before. The music last night could have been taken directly from the Royal Tenenbaums. The hermetic aunts could have been taken directly from Lemony Snicket. It all just feels too recycled. We've seen all this before.

In other news, yesterday on my lunch break I watched the season three pilot of Supernatural. Words cannot do justice to how much I adore this show. I liked Jensen Ackles (Dean) and Jared Padalecki (Sam) in previous roles, but together they are truly outstanding as angst-ridden, orphaned, demon-hunting brothers. (Yes, I realize how ridiculous that last sentence sounds). I am a bit worried that opening of the gates of hell (which happened at the end of season 2) was partly a plot device that will allow Sam & Dean to meet more hunters. I am not a fan of this. I love the "brothers against the world" theme that the show currently has going, and I am wary of the introduction of new, lasting characters. On the other hand, I do like the development of Bobby as a replacement father figure, and I want to see where that goes.

Dean's impending death makes it seem likely that this will be Supernatural's final season. I don't believe that they will actually send him to hell (although that would be quite an awesome ending), but considering the CW's overall ratings this show can't last much longer. From the various side comments Dean made in the pilot (i.e. not sweating his cholesterol level) it seems obvious that he will use his bargain with the devil to excuse doing all sorts of overly crazy and dangerous stuff. Which should be fun!

Best moment of the episode:
Dean: "I feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel."
Sam: "That's hellfire, Dean."