Review for 4x05 'Monster Movie'
Oct. 17th, 2008 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
galatheaAs was to be expected Ben Edlund came next in the rotation of writers and Monster Movie definitely wore his signature. Like so many Supernatural episodes it follows in the footsteps of a classic X-Files episode, this time their wonderfully bizarre black & white horror homage The Post-Modern Prometheus. While Monster Movie at times undoubtedly veered into questionable territory (uhm, rehymenation?!), it’s for the most part a fun ride for every fan of classic horror movies.
Let’s get something out of the way first: Monster Movie was originally intended to air as the third episode of S4, but the network wasn’t comfortable with launching such an out-of-the-ordinary and rather whimsical episode so early in the season and asked the producers to push it further back, and I have to say that I am extremely torn about that decision. I admit, the first four episodes made an intense and rather self-contained mini-arc, not only addressing some plot points that were left open in S3, but also exploring new ground in terms of mythology, and I think that this focus was needed after the dramatic finale of last season. Additionally, last week’s episode provided a temporary resolution to the ongoing drama between the brothers, so this was a good point in time to jump into a more light-hearted plot, without leaving the audience (and characters) hanging with unresolved emotions.
However, the switch of the episodes does pose the usual problems with transition and characterisation for me. The transition from Metamorphosis to Monster Movie wasn’t completely smooth. The opening dialogue in the car clearly ties to the end of Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester, where Dean learned of Lilith’s plans from Castiel, a conversation he obviously relayed to his brother. Sam’s initial objections against working a run-of-the-mill casefile, while something as epic as the apocalypse lurks right around the corner, comes as a natural reaction shortly after hearing those news, three episodes later that reaction seems to be a bit delayed.
More importantly, Sam’s feeling that they have now more urgent things to do than hunting vampires, delivers a good additional motivation for sneaking out with Ruby in In The Beginning in order to interrogate the demon about Lilith’s whereabouts. With his new knowledge he has a renewed interest in finding Lilith. Also, Sam playing the indulgent little brother, who is amused at Dean’s eccentricities, simply doesn't follow as naturally from their tension filled and strained relationship in Metamorphosis as from their easy brotherly relationship in Are You There God? It's Me Dean Winchester. As the third episode Monster Movie makes perfect sense: Sam just got Dean back from hell and he visibly loves to have him at his side again, acting overtly affectionate towards his brother. For a short moment their interaction is unburdened by the secrets Sam keeps from Dean and they simply revel in the miracle that was Dean's resurrection. I think it would have been extremely important to have this lighter episode between them earlier in the season, before everything came crashing down again. To have this episode after their big confrontation in Metamorphosis simply feels wrong.
An even bigger problem that arises out of the switch is the read on Dean’s characterisation: The episode would originally have taken place before Dean learned that the purpose of his resurrection was to stop Sam and not because he is a good person or an invaluable asset as a hunter in general. Dean’s hesitant admission that he might have come to think of hunting as a mission from God, and that he found renewed purpose in his profession, after he struggled with weariness and doubts about the meaningfulness of his job for so long, actually makes more sense in the direct aftermath of Are You There God? It's Me Dean Winchester. It is easily interpreted as Dean acceptance of Sam and Bobby’s attempts to convince him that Castiel’s appearance is a good omen and that higher powers actually care about him, personally. Additionally, Castiel’s spiel about Lilith and the 66 seals probably lead Dean to believe that he was brought back in order to help prevent the apocalypse in his normal capacity as a hunter. So, a strengthened belief in the purpose of hunting as a result of these events seems believable.
After learning about his true mission from Castiel in In The Beginning though, I can see this renewed belief in the purpose of hunting waver again. After all, Sam’s destiny and Dean's own part in it was one of the main burdens that weighed him down in S2, one of the reasons that made him question his life in the first place. Dean’s realisation that his resurrection wasn’t about him at all, and that he only came back to be damned with a different version of John’s last order for him in In My Time Of Dying, doesn’t really work well with the feeling that his burdens were lifted after he came back from hell.
So, overall I feel, that the original order of Are You There God? It’s Me Dean Winchester followed by Monster Movie and then In The Beginning builds a more natural and logical progression in the characterisation for both Sam and Dean. I really wished the network would stop meddling with the show. Anyways, while these shifts in characterisation caused by the switch in episode order are frustrating, I can work around it, and in my further analysis I will proceed as if the episode was intended to air in this spot.
Dean: "I still got to see the new Raiders movie!"
Sam: "Saw it."
Dean: "Without me?"
Sam: "You were in hell."
Dean: "That’s no excuse!"
Hm, now why do I have difficulties to imagine that a grief-stricken Sam went to the movies while his brother was in hell? So I just assume Sam saw that movie as pay-per-view in a motel on a particularly rough day when he missed his brother, imagining to watch the movie together with Dean. Yeah, that works for me. ♥
The easy companionship and banter between the brothers was wonderful to watch after the heavy angst of the last couple of episodes. Dean’s wish to go back to the Winchester version of 'normal' is easily understandable. None of that complicated 'save the world' crap, but hard leg work, interviews, research, saving people, hunting things, with a side dish of flirting. It’s what Dean is most comfortable with, and it’s a good starting point for him and Sam to find common ground again after their big fallout last episode. A straightforward case, nothing of the moral murkiness and identification issues that accompanied Jack Montgomery's fate last week.
Sam is obviously willing to play along, at least on the surface. It’s good to see Sam smiling again, indulging his big brother’s eccentricities with affectionate amusement. In a sense he nearly lost Dean again when the truth about his activities came to light, so I think that slipping into the familiar role allocation with his brother gives him just as much a feeling of security as Dean.
There was an abundance of great brotherly comedy moments in the episode, for example Sam’s disbelief at Dean’s bar wench & rehymenation speech, or Sam finding his brother dressed-up in Lederhosen and promptly calling him 'Hansel', or Dean’s exasperated expression after Sam’s pitiful attempt to kick the door in the basement open - only for the door to keel over from the impact just a second later - or Sam’s smug smile at correctly guessing the movie Dean would model his life after. That end scene was priceless. ♥ Porky’s 2, really?! Oh man!
Dean: "Last few years, I started thinking like that. It started weighing on me, of course that was before - A little while ago I had this, let’s call it, a near death experience, very near. And when I came to, things were different. My life’s been different. I realised that I help people, not just help them, but I save them and I guess it’s awesome. It’s kind of like a gift, like a mission. Like a mission from God."
I am a bit ambivalent towards Dean’s little moment of introspection: As mentioned before, this particular moment would have worked a lot better for me if it had aired as planned after 4.02, but in addition I don’t quite buy that Dean only now realises that he saves people. Already back in Wendigo he stated that helping people was his motivation for hunting in the first place and only in S2, when 'saving people' became about saving his family and the burdens started to take their toll on him, he began to question his life. He always knew that he saves people, but he started to doubt that it has any meaning in the grander scheme of things.
So I think this is less about Dean acknowledging that he does good with his actions, but about finally realising that other people (and maybe even God) acknowledge that as well. It lends a new validation to his life’s work. Sure, Sam, Bobby and Lisa told him before about the enormous impact he has on people’s lives, but he was in no frame of mind to accept it back then.
While it is totally in character for Dean to confide in a relative stranger rather than Sam, after all he often tries to avoid showing his emotional vulnerability in front of his little brother, I would have preferred Dean talking to Sam instead of Jamie here. It was Sam who stood at his side and offered reassurance when Dean expressed his weariness with their job in Croatoan, Hunted or What Is and What Should Never Be. I am sure it would be a relief for Sam to hear that Dean feels like he found his center again and that maybe Sam’s attempts to convince Dean that Castiel’s appearance means a good thing, played a role in that.
Shapeshifter: "It is a monster movie, after all!"
It’s obvious that everybody on set had a field day with this episode, from set designers, to wardrobe, from score composers to camera and lighting. A lot of love to detail went into the recreation of the mood and atmosphere of a classic horror flick from the 30’s. The stage sets had the typical cheap and artificial feel, the work with shadows and harsh lights was beautiful and the score, alternating between overly dramatic and playful themes, set the right mood from the start. Also, I adored the intermission screens!
The abundance of visual references to classic horror movie moments was fantastic as well. From small details like the exaggerated light beam over Dracula’s eyes, to the famous shot of the mummy’s hand reaching out of the sarcophagus or the play of silhouettes against an illuminated canvas, they successfully recreated these well-known movie scenes. Kudos to Robert Singer for a really beautifully shot episode. I also loved how they, very tongue-in-cheek, made fun of the genre, by setting mundane counterpoints to the over-dramatic scenery, for example when shapeshifter!Dracula makes his exit on a pathetic little vespa or when he walks from his gloomy laboratory a la Frankenstein in the basement into his utterly ordinary living room to accept the pizza delivery.
The shapeshifter was the perfect choice for the MotW to give the crack-y premise of the story at least a halfway believable background. As was already mentioned in Skin and Nightshifter before, shapeshifters are driven by normal human emotions, in this case loneliness. The creature that turns into a monster because it is rejected by normal society is a horror movie cliché in itself and hence worked great for the plot as well.
What else was noteworthy:
(1) There is no way in hell that I would find it believable, that Dean would not know who shapeshifter!Dracula refers to when he mentions Mina and Harker. Dean has consistently been depicted as a hardcore horror movie fan in the show and in almost every Dracula movie, from the classic Bela Lugosi flick to the modern Coppola version, these characters are integral part of the story. So Dean’s ignorance in this case is ridiculous. That’s not cool, Mr. Edlund!
(2) Jamie was a great one shot female character. I loved how easily she saw through Dean’s charade of the week and reciprocated his cocky flirting with ease only to turn him down on his first attempt. Heh, I guess that doesn’t happen very often to Dean. I liked how collected she reacted to the revelation that monsters are real and her sympathetic demeanour towards Dean after she realised how much responsibility he shoulders and how much of his own life he sacrifices to help others was heart-warming. She showed courage when confronted with the shapeshifter and in the end even saved the day by killing him. She reminded me of Sarah in Provenance, that’s probably why Sam liked her too. *g*
(3) I have an unhealthy amount of love for the title sequence of this episode: The old WB logo, the overly dramatic symphonic score, the ugly font used for the credits, the ominous lightning & thunder, the 'you enter Pennsylvania/Transylvania' street sign and the fade out with the narrowing of the camera lens made an absolute fabulous intro to the mood and theme of the episode! ♥
In conclusion: Monster Movie is a 'love it or hate it' episode, just like Ghostfacers and I can say for my part, I loved it. Most of the jokes worked for me and apart from the characterisation problems resulting from the episode switch, which wasn’t really Ben Edlund’s fault, the brotherly interaction was enjoyable to watch.
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no subject
Date: 2008-10-18 05:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-18 07:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-18 05:54 pm (UTC)I agree that the stupid Powers that be should have let the order as it was, but I also imagine fangirls would have gone rabid if they had to watch a filler after only 2 eps. I'm the kind that likes this kind of filler comic eps (like Bad Blood on XF to say one), but I know that SPN watchers usually don't...
So, I guess we know that the order was changed and we try not to put too much weight on the wronged characterization, but people that don't know about that will probably not appreciate that ^^'
no subject
Date: 2008-10-18 07:27 pm (UTC)The brotherly banter is my comfort-zone. I adore it and Jensen and Jared do it so well. ♥ So any episode that features it heavily, like this one, has me right from the start LOL. The characterisation stuff is only visible for people who think about this show entirely too much anyways. I guess most viewers didn't even notice the hitch in the story.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-18 11:25 pm (UTC)Dean's too much of a movie buff in general, not to mention his attention to detail when it comes to horror movies, not to have known this. I've purged the ignorance from the record and call a do-over.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-19 07:59 am (UTC)P.S. May I just say here that I adore your SN drawings. ♥ Absolutely stunning work!
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Date: 2008-10-19 01:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-23 01:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-23 07:47 am (UTC)