Supernatural: We all wish we were on a TV Show

On Supernatural this week we get another fun filled filler episode but at least it was entertaining. Sam and Dean go and investigate the death of a man supposedly killed by a bear, or at least that’s what the police are insisting on. When the brothers interview the wife of the man killed, she finally admits that it was actually television’s Incredible Hulk (no we don’t see a cameo by Lou Ferrigno!).

They end up thinking that this must be the work of the Trickster, a demi-god they had encountered back in season two and season three. They get tricked into going to an abandoned warehouse where upon entering they find themselves inside one of Dean’s favorite TV shows, Dr. Sexy M.D. This show of course is a hilarious satire of Grey’s Anatomy where all the doctors are good looking and there’s always some kind of drama happening. As a fan of the show, I appreciate a good comical interpretation!

So the Trickster finally shows up and tells them that they have to play the game in order to convince him to talk to them. Sam comes up with the idea earlier that maybe they can enlist the help of the demi-god in their war against the apocalypse. After Dean gets shot in the back by the husband of a patient whom he was suppose to perform a face transplant on, Sam is forced to perform surgery to remove the bullet. They are then whisked to a new show and it’s awesome! They find themselves on a Japanese game show where if they don’t answer the question correctly, they get slammed in a rather sensitive area. The catch of course is that they are only spoken to in Japanese. Sam fails to answer a question, gets slammed and the look on his face is priceless. Dean starts to freak out, but because they are on “TV” he somehow answers the question correctly in Japanese. Next up they find themselves on a commercial for herpes and after that on a sitcom.

Castiel bursts in finally finding them, saying that there’s something else going on here, that the Trickster was too powerful. He is sent away again as the Trickster tells the brothers that they need to play their parts, namely accept their destinies as vessels to Michael and Lucifer. Sam and Dean finally take action as they are in a show clearly making fun of CSI, with the brothers both wearing matching suits and sunglasses at night. They speak their lines a la David Caruso and stake the Trickster. It looks like they then enter the real world again, only to learn that they are still on a show. Sam has been placed inside the Impala and is now KITT to Dean’s Michael Knight. They park and call the Trickster, claiming that they’ll play their roles. As he appears though, Sam and Dean trap him in a ring of fire burning with holy oil. Turns out, the Trickster is actually the archangel Gabriel.

Gabriel left heaven and came to earth because he couldn’t stand to see his family fight (his father God, brothers Michael and Lucifer, as well as the other angels). When Castiel is returned from wherever he was sent to earlier, Gabriel comments that the search for their father is probably not going so well. He insists that their roles as vessels were predestined because they mirror the relationship between Michael and Lucifer, the former being the responsible big brother and the latter being the rebellious younger one. He reveals that’s why he had taken such an interest in them early on (in the last episode they were all together, the Trickster/Gabriel told  Sam that Dean will always be his weakness and that his enemies will exploit it. He also says that their sacrifice for each other would be fruitless).

Sam, Dean, and Castiel are about to leave when Dean turns on the sprinkler system saying that this is about Gabriel not being able to stand up to his family even after the archangel said that there is no other ending except for the final battle. Slowly the water begins to douse the flames, freeing Gabriel.

So the question is can the brothers find another way out for themselves? It seems like the only one who can do anything is God, who is still incognito. I’m more interested in finding out what happened to the almighty! I hope that it doesn’t end with God just magically snapping some fingers to right the whole world again. That would be a let down. I’m counting on you writers, don’t disappoint!

Best line of the night – “I wish I was back on a TV show.”

Oh Dean, we all do!

Season 5, Episode 8: Changing Channels (Originally aired November 5, 2009).

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Thursdays at 9/8C on The CW

Photographs courtesy of The CW and Jack Rowland