Supernatural 5x12 - Swap Meat
Aug. 28th, 2010 04:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meg_tdjPredictably, Supernatural fandom has been crying out for a body swap episode pretty much since day 1. Also predictably, the Supernatural writers decided to give fandom what they wanted... while snickering to themselves, "They didn't specify WHO should be swapping bodies." ;)
First let me just say that Jared was HILARIOUS in this episode. Silly boy thinks he can't do comedy? Pffft. When he primped in that mirror (click for gif), and then went all dazed and spat out his straw (click for gif), I almost DIED laughing. And that was just the teaser! SO GOOD. ;)
Btw, I've gotta wonder if Sam really has women approach him like that. I mean, sure, Sam would have known better than to sit down right next to a lonely-looking woman at a bar, but still. He'd probably slink away in embarrassment if they did, or just nod politely and then ignore them, heh. I thought it was pretty fitting that Gary would see a woman twice his age and just strike up a conversation with her, though, since to him that's his parents' generation and he'd think sex would be the farthest thing from her mind.
Anyway. I love the way they did this, with the actor for each character playing them even after the body switch, rather than relying on impersonations for the whole ep. The mirror shots and wardrobe choices were all that was needed to show who was who, IMO. You could picture the other actor in the scenes, which was fun, and there was nothing to take you out of the moment if the impersonations weren't exactly right. Not to mention that the scenes with Gary and his family/friends would have been way less interesting if it had just been a bunch of guest actors. I'm glad they decided to do it this way.
It was cute that we got to meet one of the boys' old babysitters. And "little Sammy" told her the family secret! I love getting little mentions of their childhood like that. And Donna describing John always "limping home" because he loved his boys... aww. We needed a positive comment or two about John right about then to set us up for the next ep.
Dean asking Sam if he wants the wife-and-kids life... well, clearly DEAN wants it, as evidenced just by him asking the question, but Sam? He says he doesn't, but I wonder if that's just the demon blood thing. He wouldn't want to burden the next generation with it, so I wonder if he's just made himself believe he doesn't want that life anyway. Also, all the loss he's experienced over the past few years has taught him that it's worthless for him to even try to rebuild the life he had with Jess. He's just living for redemption at this point rather than any kind of future.
Something that bugs me - I'm pretty sure getting shot in the neck like that could kill you. There are so many veins and nerves around there, and I doubt those kids had perfect aim. I'm just saying.
Something else that bugs me - GARY THREW OUT THEIR CELLPHONES!!! Did they ever get them back? John's would have been in there, you snot-nosed brat!! I was ready to dive into that dumpster myself to fish it out. :P
Okay, so Dean not realizing that Sam wasn't Sam... I think he's been so used to Sam seeming weird to him that for a while he didn't really question it. Also, he'd made a promise to show Sam more respect and give him more space, and not!Sam did know what Dean liked to eat, and more or less how to hunt, and talked about "the plan" and stuff like he meant the apocalypse. So I can almost see why Dean didn't pick up on it. I do wish he'd clued in a little sooner, though. But I kind of love that it was Sam being all giddy over picking up a woman in a bar that triggered the alarm bells once and for all.
Speaking of which, Gary totally chickened out and ran out of there screaming, LOL. He would have been paralyzed for hours after Crystal was through with him if he hadn't. ;)
Sam at Gary's house was SO FUNNY. Start to finish. I especially loved when the mom called him for breakfast, LOL. His "leave me aloooone" and "alright, I'm comiiiing" (click for gif) were HILARIOUS. And his "I'm amazing at Latin" (click for gif) has to be one of the best delivered lines of Jared's career. ;)
And after all the hilarity in the first half, I thought it was an awesome twist to turn it into a storyarc ep. I did NOT see that coming. It makes total sense, though, that the angels have enlisted help from the "fringier Christian groups" while the demons have enlisted help from Satanists and witches. Funny that it's Dean that both sides are looking for, though. I guess he's all the angels care about getting their hands on, and they want Lucifer to get Sam so the final battle can take place, while the demons would rather kill and/or "vivisect" Dean, knowing Sam would come running to save him and get himself caught as well.
Did anyone else get the vibe that the demon who showed up seemed to know Sam personally? I wonder if it was supposed to be a demon we've met before.
The dual exorcism was AWESOME. Good thing Dean's been memorizing his Latin! Well, except for the last two words, but that's okay. ;)
You know what's funny? I bet when Sam was growing up and was struggling to excel in his schoolwork in spite of John moving them around from school to school and trying to get Sam into hunting, he WANTED a family like Gary's, who would support him in his "plan" to get good grades and a scholarship to university. I get that Gary obviously didn't want to spend his days and nights just studying, but at his age that's exactly what Sam wanted to do, and he wasn't allowed to. Was Sam's reaction at the end supposed to mean he only wanted that life because he couldn't have it? Being a scholar was his way of "rebelling"? Hmm.
Randomness -
*Sam and his salads! (Click for shaky-shaky gif, one of my fave moments EVER.) It's amazing how he manages to sustain himself and those massive muscles of his when that's all we see him eat. But at least we DO see him eat these days. I guess when he was skinnier he was just starving himself. :P
*Little Sammy gave himself a summer reading list. Awwww! I'd love to know what was on it.
Quotes -
Gary-as-Sam: Evening, barkeep. I would like to purchase an alcohol, please.
Bartender: Uh-huh. What can I get you?
Gary-as-Sam: Well, I'm 26. As you can see. From my license.
Bartender: Congratulations. What can I get you?
Gary-as-Sam: A banana daiquiri, my good man.
Crystal: Gary, I don't want to embarrass you, but you are just... you are just a stunning-looking man.
Gary-as-Sam: I know, right?! *primps in mirror*
Donna: Dean and Sammy Winchester. So, how long has it been?
Sam: Summer before 6th grade.
Donna: Mm, I remember. You assigned yourself your own reading list.
Dean: *laughs* That's right! I forgot about that.
Gary: Bacon burger turbo, large chili cheese fry, uh, and a Health Quake salad shake?
Dean: I know. I know, it's uh... it's not mine.
Sam: *shaking salad, sees Dean staring*
Dean: Oh, you shake it up, baby.
Dean: You know, poltergeist aside, Donna looked pretty good, don't you think?
Sam: Dude, don't tell me you've still got the hots for our babysitter.
Dean: What? No. Weird.
Gary-as-Sam: *flexing in mirror* Oh yeah. Bring it! Holy crap.
Gary-as-Sam: *revving Impala's engine* Oh, this is so sweet!
Dean: You wanna get the lead out, Andretti?
Dean: Reverse. Reverse!
*car slams backwards into dumpster*
Dean: It's in reverse!
Sam-as-Gary: Dean, I've called every phone we got. Where are you, man? So... this is gonna sound crazy... really crazy, but um... I think I'm in the wrong body, heh heh. Could use a little help here. *pause* And I think I got asthma. Call me back.
Motel guy: 102? Oh, no, man, those guys checked out, middle of the night.
Sam-as-Gary: Wait, guys? Plural?
Motel guy: Yeah, uh, one leather jacket, one sasquatch.
Sam-as-Gary: *rooting through Gary's stuff, finds advance schoolbooks* Smart kid. *finds Star Wars t-shirts* Virgin. *finds porn stash* Frustrated virgin. *finds witchcraft props* Witchcraft, huh, Gary? You little Satanic bastard.
Mom: Gary! Breakfast!
Sam-as-Gary: *mutters* Leave me alooooone.
Mom: Gary!
Sam-as-Gary: *rolls eyes* Alright, I'm comiiiing!
Dad: What happened with the plan, buddy?
Sam-as-Gary: The plan?
Dad: SATs, MIT, the plan. You wanna be an engineer, you need a full ride, so tell me, how does getting drunk fit with the plan?
Sam-as-Gary: Right, yeah, um, listen, buddy... no offense, but at the moment I could give a rat's ass about your plan.
Dad: Excuse me?
Sam-as-Gary: Uh... *nervous laugh* Listen, uh, have I seemed, uh... moody lately? Withdrawn?
Sydney: Wow.
Sam-as-Gary: Any, any occult fixations?
Mom: What?
Sam-as-Gary: Let me guess, I'm amazing at Latin.
Mom: You have an ear for languages.
Sam-as-Gary: Mm. *nods* Um... any of the neighbourhood pets go missing recently?
Dad: Are you smoking drugs?
Mom: Leonard! He is not smoking drugs.
Sam-as-Gary: Have any of you seen me with, with, with a book? It'd be big and old, uh, leather-bound, maybe some strange writing on it? Or... *sighs* Frankly, I'm probably hiding it. *swipes some toast, takes a bite*
Mom: Gary, no!
Sam-as-Gary: What?
Mom: You're allergic to wheat gluten!
Sam-as-Gary: *comes out of bathroom, doubles over, groans* Gluten.
Sydney: You've seriously sprung a leak.
*rock-n-roll music comes on*
Gary-as-Sam: Oh man, turn it up!
Dean: Seriously?
Gary-as-Sam: Hell yeah!
Sam-as-Gary: Dean! Someone has stolen my body. The guy right next to you is not me! Check your freakin' voicemail, dammit!
Trevor: Gary!
Nora: Are you okay?
Sam-as-Gary: Yeah, I'm Gary. Uh... Gary is okay.
Trevor: So, we're referring to ourselves in the third person now.
Nora: We heard about last night. What happened?
Sam-as-Gary: Got drunk. No big thing. Look, uh, what's my locker number?
Trevor: What, are, are you still drunk?
Sam-as-Gary: Yeah. Yeah, I see, like, three of you right now. Um, so, so what's my locker number?
Sam-as-Gary: Oh no, Gary. This is a very, very bad book.
Gary-as-Sam: Booyah, Master Chief is in the house, bizatches!
Dean: Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Sam?
Gary-as-Sam: What do you mean?
Dean: Bacon cheeseburgers now?
Gary-as-Sam: I don't know. I eat 'em, don't I?
Gary-as-Sam: I can't be in a good mood?
Dean: Yeah, I guess, I just... No, actually. That's not really your style, Sam.
Gary-as-Sam: Well, then, it's a new me. I mean, come on, why shouldn't I be happy? I got a gun, I'm getting drunk, and I look like THIS.
Nora: We were down here goofing around with that book.
Trevor: Um, yeah, I wouldn't exactly call praying to our dark overlord "goofing around."
Nora: Don't be a loser, Trev.
Sam-as-Gary: Yeah, Trev.
Demon: Sam? Is that you in there? *laughs, squishes his face* Well, aren't you just 98 pounds of nothing?
Demon: So, if Sam's in this body, who's in Sam's?
Trevor: A dangerous warlock... named Gary?
Sam-as-Gary: Oh, for God's sake, Trevor, just shut up and RUN.
Dean: Alright, pal, either you start talkin' or I start waterboardin'.
Dean: Adios, bitch!
Gary-as-Sam: Uh, it's audi nos.
Dean: So, are we good?
Sam: Yeah, we're good. Oh man, it's nice to be back.
Gary: Yeah. Awesome.
Dean: So, Gary.
Gary: Yeah, I know. My bad.
Dean: "My bad"? Kid, "my bad" ain't gonna cut it. See, if you were of voting age, you'd be dead. Because we would kill you. So either you straighten up and fly right, or we WILL kill you. Are we clear?
Gary: Crystal.
Dean: Good.
Sam: Gary, take it from someone who knows - shut up, man. Your life ain't that bad.
Sam: You don't like their plan for you, tell 'em to cram it. Rebel a little bit, in a healthy, non-Satanic way, of course. By the way, you know why Nora's into witchcraft?
Gary: What do you mean?
Sam: She doesn't like Satan, you moron, she likes you.
Dean: That was a nice thing to say.
Sam: Totally lied. Kid's life sucked ass. All that apple pie family crap, it's stressful. Trust me, we didn't miss a damn thing.
Dean: Or we don't know what we're missing. *turns music on*
Sam: Oh, come on, man. Turn it down.
Dean: Welcome back, Kotter.
First let me just say that Jared was HILARIOUS in this episode. Silly boy thinks he can't do comedy? Pffft. When he primped in that mirror (click for gif), and then went all dazed and spat out his straw (click for gif), I almost DIED laughing. And that was just the teaser! SO GOOD. ;)
Btw, I've gotta wonder if Sam really has women approach him like that. I mean, sure, Sam would have known better than to sit down right next to a lonely-looking woman at a bar, but still. He'd probably slink away in embarrassment if they did, or just nod politely and then ignore them, heh. I thought it was pretty fitting that Gary would see a woman twice his age and just strike up a conversation with her, though, since to him that's his parents' generation and he'd think sex would be the farthest thing from her mind.
Anyway. I love the way they did this, with the actor for each character playing them even after the body switch, rather than relying on impersonations for the whole ep. The mirror shots and wardrobe choices were all that was needed to show who was who, IMO. You could picture the other actor in the scenes, which was fun, and there was nothing to take you out of the moment if the impersonations weren't exactly right. Not to mention that the scenes with Gary and his family/friends would have been way less interesting if it had just been a bunch of guest actors. I'm glad they decided to do it this way.
It was cute that we got to meet one of the boys' old babysitters. And "little Sammy" told her the family secret! I love getting little mentions of their childhood like that. And Donna describing John always "limping home" because he loved his boys... aww. We needed a positive comment or two about John right about then to set us up for the next ep.
Dean asking Sam if he wants the wife-and-kids life... well, clearly DEAN wants it, as evidenced just by him asking the question, but Sam? He says he doesn't, but I wonder if that's just the demon blood thing. He wouldn't want to burden the next generation with it, so I wonder if he's just made himself believe he doesn't want that life anyway. Also, all the loss he's experienced over the past few years has taught him that it's worthless for him to even try to rebuild the life he had with Jess. He's just living for redemption at this point rather than any kind of future.
Something that bugs me - I'm pretty sure getting shot in the neck like that could kill you. There are so many veins and nerves around there, and I doubt those kids had perfect aim. I'm just saying.
Something else that bugs me - GARY THREW OUT THEIR CELLPHONES!!! Did they ever get them back? John's would have been in there, you snot-nosed brat!! I was ready to dive into that dumpster myself to fish it out. :P
Okay, so Dean not realizing that Sam wasn't Sam... I think he's been so used to Sam seeming weird to him that for a while he didn't really question it. Also, he'd made a promise to show Sam more respect and give him more space, and not!Sam did know what Dean liked to eat, and more or less how to hunt, and talked about "the plan" and stuff like he meant the apocalypse. So I can almost see why Dean didn't pick up on it. I do wish he'd clued in a little sooner, though. But I kind of love that it was Sam being all giddy over picking up a woman in a bar that triggered the alarm bells once and for all.
Speaking of which, Gary totally chickened out and ran out of there screaming, LOL. He would have been paralyzed for hours after Crystal was through with him if he hadn't. ;)
Sam at Gary's house was SO FUNNY. Start to finish. I especially loved when the mom called him for breakfast, LOL. His "leave me aloooone" and "alright, I'm comiiiing" (click for gif) were HILARIOUS. And his "I'm amazing at Latin" (click for gif) has to be one of the best delivered lines of Jared's career. ;)
And after all the hilarity in the first half, I thought it was an awesome twist to turn it into a storyarc ep. I did NOT see that coming. It makes total sense, though, that the angels have enlisted help from the "fringier Christian groups" while the demons have enlisted help from Satanists and witches. Funny that it's Dean that both sides are looking for, though. I guess he's all the angels care about getting their hands on, and they want Lucifer to get Sam so the final battle can take place, while the demons would rather kill and/or "vivisect" Dean, knowing Sam would come running to save him and get himself caught as well.
Did anyone else get the vibe that the demon who showed up seemed to know Sam personally? I wonder if it was supposed to be a demon we've met before.
The dual exorcism was AWESOME. Good thing Dean's been memorizing his Latin! Well, except for the last two words, but that's okay. ;)
You know what's funny? I bet when Sam was growing up and was struggling to excel in his schoolwork in spite of John moving them around from school to school and trying to get Sam into hunting, he WANTED a family like Gary's, who would support him in his "plan" to get good grades and a scholarship to university. I get that Gary obviously didn't want to spend his days and nights just studying, but at his age that's exactly what Sam wanted to do, and he wasn't allowed to. Was Sam's reaction at the end supposed to mean he only wanted that life because he couldn't have it? Being a scholar was his way of "rebelling"? Hmm.
Randomness -
*Sam and his salads! (Click for shaky-shaky gif, one of my fave moments EVER.) It's amazing how he manages to sustain himself and those massive muscles of his when that's all we see him eat. But at least we DO see him eat these days. I guess when he was skinnier he was just starving himself. :P
*Little Sammy gave himself a summer reading list. Awwww! I'd love to know what was on it.
Quotes -
Gary-as-Sam: Evening, barkeep. I would like to purchase an alcohol, please.
Bartender: Uh-huh. What can I get you?
Gary-as-Sam: Well, I'm 26. As you can see. From my license.
Bartender: Congratulations. What can I get you?
Gary-as-Sam: A banana daiquiri, my good man.
Crystal: Gary, I don't want to embarrass you, but you are just... you are just a stunning-looking man.
Gary-as-Sam: I know, right?! *primps in mirror*
Donna: Dean and Sammy Winchester. So, how long has it been?
Sam: Summer before 6th grade.
Donna: Mm, I remember. You assigned yourself your own reading list.
Dean: *laughs* That's right! I forgot about that.
Gary: Bacon burger turbo, large chili cheese fry, uh, and a Health Quake salad shake?
Dean: I know. I know, it's uh... it's not mine.
Sam: *shaking salad, sees Dean staring*
Dean: Oh, you shake it up, baby.
Dean: You know, poltergeist aside, Donna looked pretty good, don't you think?
Sam: Dude, don't tell me you've still got the hots for our babysitter.
Dean: What? No. Weird.
Gary-as-Sam: *flexing in mirror* Oh yeah. Bring it! Holy crap.
Gary-as-Sam: *revving Impala's engine* Oh, this is so sweet!
Dean: You wanna get the lead out, Andretti?
Dean: Reverse. Reverse!
*car slams backwards into dumpster*
Dean: It's in reverse!
Sam-as-Gary: Dean, I've called every phone we got. Where are you, man? So... this is gonna sound crazy... really crazy, but um... I think I'm in the wrong body, heh heh. Could use a little help here. *pause* And I think I got asthma. Call me back.
Motel guy: 102? Oh, no, man, those guys checked out, middle of the night.
Sam-as-Gary: Wait, guys? Plural?
Motel guy: Yeah, uh, one leather jacket, one sasquatch.
Sam-as-Gary: *rooting through Gary's stuff, finds advance schoolbooks* Smart kid. *finds Star Wars t-shirts* Virgin. *finds porn stash* Frustrated virgin. *finds witchcraft props* Witchcraft, huh, Gary? You little Satanic bastard.
Mom: Gary! Breakfast!
Sam-as-Gary: *mutters* Leave me alooooone.
Mom: Gary!
Sam-as-Gary: *rolls eyes* Alright, I'm comiiiing!
Dad: What happened with the plan, buddy?
Sam-as-Gary: The plan?
Dad: SATs, MIT, the plan. You wanna be an engineer, you need a full ride, so tell me, how does getting drunk fit with the plan?
Sam-as-Gary: Right, yeah, um, listen, buddy... no offense, but at the moment I could give a rat's ass about your plan.
Dad: Excuse me?
Sam-as-Gary: Uh... *nervous laugh* Listen, uh, have I seemed, uh... moody lately? Withdrawn?
Sydney: Wow.
Sam-as-Gary: Any, any occult fixations?
Mom: What?
Sam-as-Gary: Let me guess, I'm amazing at Latin.
Mom: You have an ear for languages.
Sam-as-Gary: Mm. *nods* Um... any of the neighbourhood pets go missing recently?
Dad: Are you smoking drugs?
Mom: Leonard! He is not smoking drugs.
Sam-as-Gary: Have any of you seen me with, with, with a book? It'd be big and old, uh, leather-bound, maybe some strange writing on it? Or... *sighs* Frankly, I'm probably hiding it. *swipes some toast, takes a bite*
Mom: Gary, no!
Sam-as-Gary: What?
Mom: You're allergic to wheat gluten!
Sam-as-Gary: *comes out of bathroom, doubles over, groans* Gluten.
Sydney: You've seriously sprung a leak.
*rock-n-roll music comes on*
Gary-as-Sam: Oh man, turn it up!
Dean: Seriously?
Gary-as-Sam: Hell yeah!
Sam-as-Gary: Dean! Someone has stolen my body. The guy right next to you is not me! Check your freakin' voicemail, dammit!
Trevor: Gary!
Nora: Are you okay?
Sam-as-Gary: Yeah, I'm Gary. Uh... Gary is okay.
Trevor: So, we're referring to ourselves in the third person now.
Nora: We heard about last night. What happened?
Sam-as-Gary: Got drunk. No big thing. Look, uh, what's my locker number?
Trevor: What, are, are you still drunk?
Sam-as-Gary: Yeah. Yeah, I see, like, three of you right now. Um, so, so what's my locker number?
Sam-as-Gary: Oh no, Gary. This is a very, very bad book.
Gary-as-Sam: Booyah, Master Chief is in the house, bizatches!
Dean: Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Sam?
Gary-as-Sam: What do you mean?
Dean: Bacon cheeseburgers now?
Gary-as-Sam: I don't know. I eat 'em, don't I?
Gary-as-Sam: I can't be in a good mood?
Dean: Yeah, I guess, I just... No, actually. That's not really your style, Sam.
Gary-as-Sam: Well, then, it's a new me. I mean, come on, why shouldn't I be happy? I got a gun, I'm getting drunk, and I look like THIS.
Nora: We were down here goofing around with that book.
Trevor: Um, yeah, I wouldn't exactly call praying to our dark overlord "goofing around."
Nora: Don't be a loser, Trev.
Sam-as-Gary: Yeah, Trev.
Demon: Sam? Is that you in there? *laughs, squishes his face* Well, aren't you just 98 pounds of nothing?
Demon: So, if Sam's in this body, who's in Sam's?
Trevor: A dangerous warlock... named Gary?
Sam-as-Gary: Oh, for God's sake, Trevor, just shut up and RUN.
Dean: Alright, pal, either you start talkin' or I start waterboardin'.
Dean: Adios, bitch!
Gary-as-Sam: Uh, it's audi nos.
Dean: So, are we good?
Sam: Yeah, we're good. Oh man, it's nice to be back.
Gary: Yeah. Awesome.
Dean: So, Gary.
Gary: Yeah, I know. My bad.
Dean: "My bad"? Kid, "my bad" ain't gonna cut it. See, if you were of voting age, you'd be dead. Because we would kill you. So either you straighten up and fly right, or we WILL kill you. Are we clear?
Gary: Crystal.
Dean: Good.
Sam: Gary, take it from someone who knows - shut up, man. Your life ain't that bad.
Sam: You don't like their plan for you, tell 'em to cram it. Rebel a little bit, in a healthy, non-Satanic way, of course. By the way, you know why Nora's into witchcraft?
Gary: What do you mean?
Sam: She doesn't like Satan, you moron, she likes you.
Dean: That was a nice thing to say.
Sam: Totally lied. Kid's life sucked ass. All that apple pie family crap, it's stressful. Trust me, we didn't miss a damn thing.
Dean: Or we don't know what we're missing. *turns music on*
Sam: Oh, come on, man. Turn it down.
Dean: Welcome back, Kotter.
