1.17: Who ya gonna call?

[llywela]

Interesting episode to come on the tails of Shadow, which ended on such a downbeat note – battered and bruised boys having to hightail it in the opposite direction to their father after a comprehensive defeat.

Barely any mention of that this episode – clearly enough time has passed for their injuries to heal. What happened is mentioned, though, and rightly so.

SAM: Look, we let Dad take off, which was a mistake, by the way. And now we don’t know where the hell he is, so, in the meantime, we’ve got to find ourselves something to hunt. There’s no harm checkin’ this thing out.

That one line could be interpreted as a bit of a cop-out, paying homage to continuity so that they can get on with the nice amusing standalone episode. But it's also in character for the boys. Time has passed. They've come to terms with what happened in the only way they can, by getting on with things, and while it might have been nice to see the immediate fallout, moving the action forward in this manner is satisfying in entirely different ways.

This was an entertaining, standalone episode. That one line of Sam's aside, there's not even a glimmer of ongoing plot development. And, as much as I love ongoing plot development, it's oddly refreshing to get this late into the season and still be able to have standalone episodes.

And I like that the relationship between the boys remains solid in this episode, since the events of Shadow could have driven a rift between them – Sam's little dig proves that he still thinks splitting up was wrong, but he isn't dwelling on it. Neither of them are – they can't. For their own sanity they have to stay busy. So they're back to the hunt.

So much that's amusing in this episode – written with a nice, light touch. I do have to admit that I watched it backward – after a weekend away I got home just in time to see the second half, which I couldn't resist. Then in the morning I watched from the beginning, at which point everything started to make a lot more sense!

The prank war between Dean and Sam…Dean initiates it, but Sam doesn't hesitate to partake. Brothers messing around…but only a few episodes it would have been unthinkable; things were still too strained between them. Now they're reverting to childhood habits a little more, relaxing a little more – becoming completely comfortable around one another again. Maybe having seen their dad, if only for a few brief minutes, played a big part in that – it removed a huge burden they'd both been carrying around for the whole season. Whether they agree with the decision to split up or not, at least now they know why.

Highly amused by the hugely varied stories told by the first bunch of kids about their ghostly encounter.

An active phone wire can mess up the readings on the EMF? But what about all the times they've used it around far more actively habited dwellings than this? Presumably they'd have had all kinds of equipment to mess up the readings?

Like seeing the lads work the 'ghostbuster' duo, Ed and Harry.

And then, just when the light-hearted amusement looks likely to continue to the bitter end, we're reminded that this show is about dark and creepy matters, at its core. A second bunch of kids, a girl entering the house on a dare – and losing her life at the hands of the ghost.

"Who ya gonna call?" Lots of LOL

But again, the serious is mixed in with the funny – ghost Mordecai proves immune to rock salt and the boys have to seriously run for their lives.

I love that despite everything they've seen, all the deeply creepy stuff they've fought and destroyed, they can still get freaked out.

HARRY: Sweet Lord of the Rings—run!

That line amused me so much more than it should have.

Dean recognises one of the symbols painted in the house as being nothing supernatural at all – a logo for Blue Oyster Cult. Again, so much more amusing than it should be. And that reminds me of something that bugged me about the house right from the start – none of the legends about Mordecai and the murders even remotely explained why there would be occult symbols of any description painted all over the floor and walls: they were said to be straight murders and suicide, no mention of black magic or any other explanation. Only a prankster deliberately setting people up for frights would put those there.

And so it proves – the whole haunted house was a prank gone horribly wrong.

The tulpa is an interesting idea – a symbol that enables something to become real if enough people believe in it. Interesting use of the internet, too!

'What Would Buffy Do?' Now there's a post-modern mantra for ya! And again, the boys manipulate Ed and Harry beautifully. And the pranks back and fore between Dean and Sam continue, woven around all this ongoing plot.

I like that in the scene after Dean picked up the bottle Sam had smeared with glue, he shifts uncomfortably handling his gun rather than just throwing the line about losing skin off his palm out there, nice touch. On a shallower note, I also love watching the boys work a room, so very much the professional double act covering one another's backs in spite of the pranks – there's a clear demarcation between off-duty and on-duty. Plus, Dean with the gun and flashlight = very hot.

The server crashed, the site went offline, and thus the plan failed…as an internet user, I appreciate that little twist so much. Then while Sam's being choked by the ghost and I'm busy wondering where the heck Dean has got to…he comes dashing to the rescue at last with impromptu flamethrower, which is just very cool. And sets fire to the house as a clumsy but very practical solution to the ghost problem.

SAM: That’s the solution? Burn the whole damn place to the ground?

DEAN: Well, no one will go in anymore. I mean, look, Mordecai can’t haunt a house if there’s no house to haunt. It’s fast and dirty, but it works.

SAM: But, what if the legend changes again, and Mordecai is allowed to leave the house?

DEAN: Well, then, we’ll just have to come back. (They are silent for a moment.)

SAM: Kind of makes you wonder—of all the things we’ve hunted, how many existed just ‘cause people believed in ‘em?

Interesting and thought-provoking notion.

And then the prank war ends with pranks being pulled on the departing Ed and Harry rather than each other, and a truce is called…at least for the next hundred miles. Hehehe.

Great fun.