Review for 2x15 'Tall Tales'

[galathea]

It’s the time of sweeps and it seems that the Supernatural writers want to prove that they can do it all – action, religion, drama and comedy – anything goes! John Shiban’s script for Tall Tales covers comedy, obviously, and it’s an homage to the fabulous X-Files episode Bad Blood. While it is a really funny episode in parts, it doesn’t quite reach its predecessor's quality in my opinion. I know a lot of fans regard Tall Tales as the pinnacle of humour in Supernatural, but I prefer Hell House by far, although there was a lot to like about this week’s episode as well.



First off, I think there is something about humour that doesn’t universally translate the way drama does. It seems to me that loss, grief, hurt, pain etc. hit most of us in similar ways, while humour is a lot more dependent on personal tastes, on character and cultural background. Of course there are many different types of humour, ranging from a simple play on words to practical jokes, and while the one might appeal to someone, the other may not. I, for one, am a fan of subtle and sophisticated humour, humour that is based on wordplay and banter, like for example in screwball comedies. I like situational humour, i.e. humour that spontaneously arises out of an everyday situation that isn’t intended to be funny at all, and I love humour that lies within the confines of a character’s usual self, like comedy that plays on eccentric character traits. On the other hand, I have a huge distaste for any kind of physical humour and comedy that needs to resort to extreme forms of exaggeration to make its point. I also rarely like humour that’s only played for humour’s sake, i.e. comedy that puts humour before everything else, like plot and/or the characters.

I think I can safely say that the so-called 'frat boy humour' is my biggest squick when it comes to comedy. I would describe frat boy humour as crude and immature. It often deals excessively with bodily functions and/or sex – although it’s not exclusively limited to that – and its main intent is to humiliate, ridicule or regress the subject at the receiving end of the 'joke'. Good examples for this kind of comedy are the movies Everything About Mary or American Pie. Personally, I simply don’t enjoy that kind of humour, because instead of being amused, I mostly feel embarrassed for the characters subjected to the humiliation. I feel frat boy humour treats characters/people with disrespect and as such it is the lowest form of humour in my opinion. So, since I find this kind of humour repellent, I‘m not very comfortable with seeing Sam and Dean subjected to it.

Now, luckily Tall Tales only flirts with frat boy humour in a few instances and the most cringe-worthy jokes have been reserved for the guest characters of the episode, like the fraternity student, which is fitting I guess. I mean, probing and slow dancing aliens? Yeah, pretty much the lowest point of the episode for me. However, John Shiban’s script also reduced Sam and Dean to caricatures of their usual selves for a considerable part of the episode, and I am not really fond of that either. The narrative plot device to show one character through the subjective eyes of the other is a popular method to comment on genuine character traits/dynamics by means of exaggeration, but it’s a really delicate balance act to walk the fine line between affectionately poking fun at the characters and mercilessly mocking them. I feel that Tall Tales didn’t always manage to keep that balance.

For example, the scene where Dean mindlessly stuffs himself with caramels in the middle of an interrogation missed that mark a mile wide for me. Yes, Dean loves free food and tends to have no table manners whatsoever, and I am sure that Sam finds that highly annoying about his brother. However, Dean also takes his job very seriously and I don’t see him jeopardizing an investigation like that, so the context of this particular scene was all wrong and it would have worked a lot better for me if, let’s say, Sam and Dean had been at a party. Although I would probably still have cringed at the execution of it. The scene where Sam hugs a random witness in the street was similarly irritating for me. Yes, Sam has a tendency to be overly sympathetic, and I have no problem to believe that Dean inwardly rolls his eyes about that at times. So, if the ridiculously cheesy lines Dean deliberately puts in Sam’s mouth would have been the extent of the scene, I would have found it amusing, but the hug just took it that one step too far for me. I have to admit though that the reactions of the student who finds himself subjected to Sam’s enthusiastic hug were hilarious throughout the whole scene.

Anyway, these are just a few examples, but generally I feel that most of the flashback scenes that show the brothers' subjective perspective of each other were just overdone, which pushed them into the realm of mockery, ridiculing the characters instead of just affectionately highlighting their quirks. Additionally, some of the scenes were just not that believable, like for example Dean being drunk while working a job. I mean, we have never seen Dean drunk on the job, not even once – he even scolded Sam for drinking on the job in Playthings – so I didn’t buy that scene, not even through Sam's annoyed eyes. Now, that’s not to say that I didn’t also enjoy some of the flashback moments, like Dean’s own perspective on his smooth conversation with 'Starla' for example, but overall I liked the idea behind the flashbacks, i.e. to show how Sam and Dean perceive each other, more than the actual execution. Obviously, the lines between 'funny' and 'cringe-worthy' are just as subjective as Sam and Dean’s opinions of one another. :)

Dean: "What’s wrong with my food?"
Sam: "It’s not food anymore, Dean! It’s Darwinism!"

That all being said, however, there is also a significant part of the episode that’s dedicated to a type of humour that I absolutely love, namely comedy that is based on quirky character traits and banter. A lot of the 'normal' scenes in Tall Tales, i.e. the scenes that are not distorted through the lens of one of the brothers’ perspective, play on the inevitable clash of Sam and Dean’s different temperaments and habits. While these scenes have the same thematic direction as all the other jokes in the episode, they have a different tone. Those 'normal' scenes work beautifully for me, because they don’t need to stretch the characters into caricatures of themselves to have a humorous effect. It’s comedy that naturally arises out of the base premise of the show, namely that the main characters are two vastly different young men, who are forced to live in close quarters almost 24/7 and although they love each other, they also drive each other crazy at times. This part of the episode is very reminiscent of one of my favourite classic comedies – The Odd Couple with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon – with Sam playing the fussy Felix and Dean as Oscar, the slob.

A lot of that humour revolves around domestic disputes, obviously, like for example, Dean deliberately trying to drive Sam to distraction by eating greasy food on his bed or playing the music too loud, knowing very well how to get a rise out of his brother. Or Sam complaining about Dean’s sloppiness, pointing out the 'darwinistic' food in the fridge or his dirty socks in the sink. Their bickering about Dean using Sam’s laptop or Sam messing with Dean’s car was hilarious, wrestling match and all. I love these kinds of insights in their everyday interaction. Sam and Dean's unusual living conditions barely allow for any privacy and over the years barriers and inhibitions when it comes to personal effects and/or space unsurprisingly eroded, even more so than amongst normal siblings. So, even though Sam and Dean’s interaction is still slightly magnified by the Trickster’s manipulation here, it’s only a small stretch from their normal behaviour. I don’t think I will ever grow tired of this kind of banter and bickering between the brothers. ♥

As a side note: The humour in the episode Hell House is based on a similar principle, i.e. the play on natural siblings dynamics. The prank war between Sam and Dean plays on the brothers’ childhood experiences, believably justifying a slightly more juvenile behaviour of the characters, while still mostly retaining their adult personalities. The writers still sneaked in a parody, but it was cleverly achieved by contrasting Sam and Dean with Harry and Ed, the nerdy Ghostbusters. As a result Sam and Dean never come off as silly or ridiculous, despite their childish prank war. Harry and Ed take the brunt of the mockery instead.

Dean: "Hey, me too." (emo!look between Sam & Dean)
Bobby (incredulous): "You guys are breaking my heart! Could we please just leave?"

I was very happy to see Bobby back so soon. I think he is one of the best recurring characters the show has introduced so far, and I hope we’ll see a lot more of him in the future. I really loved to see that there was no awkwardness between Bobby and the brothers, considering the severity of the events in Born Under A Bad Sign that wasn’t necessarily a given. I have to mention here that I am a bit disappointed that the events from Born Under A Bad Sign aren’t even referred to once and that the writers offer no insight in how the boys dealt with the fallout to Sam’s possession. Bobby even mentions that not a lot of time passed since they last saw each other, so it would have been easy to just drop a couple of lines in there.

Anyway, the fact that Sam and Dean still feel that they can trust Bobby and ask him for help and that Bobby in return doesn’t hesitate to come to the brothers’ aid, shows that the bond between them is very resilient. It’s clear from the last couple of episodes that Bobby is far more than just a hunter friend and that he knows the brothers for a very long time, probably even when they were still kids. The fact that he almost immediately knows that Sam and Dean’s bickering is a tad too tension filled to be entirely normal, just speaks volumes of how well he knows them. The incredulous looks Bobby shoots both brothers when they tell their 'tall tales' as well as his deadpan comments are just hilarious.

And to quote Dean: 'The man knows his stuff!' He effortlessly pulls the facts together from the brothers’ convoluted story, instantly recognising the pattern of the Trickster, and sets the record straight for Sam and Dean. I really enjoyed their team work in bringing the Trickster down. At the moment Bobby is the most trustworthy and knowledgeable ally the brothers have at their disposal, and I am very happy they have someone like Bobby watch their backs. ♥

What else was noteworthy:

(1) I liked the Trickster, even though I didn’t exactly enjoy his preferred kind of humour. I loved especially that he seemed to genuinely like Sam and Dean, and while he mischievously played on natural resentments in the brotherly relationship, he never set out to really harm them until they attacked him first. So, the Trickster is clearly not evil in the classic sense, he falls more into a morally grey area. While he certainly has no moral qualms about the fact that people die as a result of his deadly pranks – it obviously serves his own skewed sense of justice, if they fall for his traps out of stupidity or greed – he also doesn’t randomly wreak havoc with his considerable powers and only targets self-important fools. Anyway, the fact that in the end the Trickster survived his confrontation with Bobby, Sam and Dean, gives reason to believe that he might show up again in the future.

(2) I really love that little moment just after the Trickster is 'defeated', where Dean asks Bobby and Sam if they are alright, although he is the one who is bleeding and swaying and groaning with pain. It’s so typical for Dean to dismiss his own well-being, while inquiring after that of his companions first thing. ♥ Also, I simply adore the fact that Sam and Dean couldn’t even wait until they safely fled the scene of the crime after killing the Trickster and instead halted in their escape to instantly apologise to each other. It’s obvious that there will be no lingering resentment between them.

(3) I am sure that after all the heavy angst this season, Jared and Jensen had a blast with this episode, and I can’t wait to see the bloopers for it. How they managed to get through a single scene with a straight face remains a mystery to me. :) While I was all over Jared’s terrific acting last episode, I felt he wasn’t always quite up to par with Jensen in Tall Tales. I felt he overacted Sam’s behaviour in some scenes, even beyond the exaggeration the scene was asking for in my opinion, most notably in the bar scene (Dean’s PoV) and in the 'hugging' scene. It’s a very fine line in terms of acting and I think Jared didn’t always find his comedic balance here, which, given that the comedic material wasn’t very balanced either, might not be such a surprise.

In conclusion: Tall Tales was an amusing episode, even though I wished the writers had dialled down some of the more flashy jokes. In the end the concept was more promising in theory than in its actual execution, but I still enjoyed it, for the most part at least. I can’t wait for the rest of the season to come along. But damn, it’s hiatus time again!

Comments

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

GMTA. But then, we already know that, right?

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

*g* I guess we do *hugs* and we just file HotH under 'exceptions that confirm the rule' ;)

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

There's always an exception that proves the rule *G*

[impalalove]

It’s the time of sweeps and Supernatural seems to say: See, we can do it all! From action to spiritual from angst to comedy, there’s no limitations for our show! And I really hope the tv execs watch and listen!

They better. And I think you rhymed. No, you didn't, but it sounded like a sing-song voice coming on for a second there. But I like the tune.

Great meta, as always, but Bobby? Perfecto role model than someone like say, Ellen.

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

ROFL *hums a jolly tune*

Thanks Kallie :) and yep .. I won't grow tired to emphasize how effortlessly Bobby slipped into the role of a fatherly guide for the boys. *heart*

... damn, I need a Bobby icon *g*