Photo Courtesy Of The CW
Warning: Spoiler Alert
The CW series “Supernatural,” presented their 200th episode this week entitled “Fan Fiction,” it wasn’t a typical episode of the series and subsequently, this recap will vary from the norm as well. Promoted as a “Love Letter To The Fans,” it succeeded, with many inside jokes and some poignant moments, in the play and the episode. It also reopened and in this writer’s mind settled a controversy that’s perplexed fans for the last five years; who really is Chuck Shurley? But we’ll return to that subject in a while.
The episode opens with the usual “Then” graphic, followed by a blank white sheet of paper in a typewriter and we see the words “Supernatural: Pilot Created By Eric Kripke,” followed by the “Now” graphic. We’re on a stage in an auditorium, a girl sits in a chair reading, when the lights start to dim and she asks aloud whatever can that be? A ghost prop appears, and two teens walk through the front door of the house set and one says “Ghost, meet the Winchesters,” followed by a voice offstage calling cut. Two girls wearing glasses and school uniforms approach the actors and ask if they’re taking things seriously, and we realize the two teens are also girls wearing wigs. One says she’s only doing it for the college credits and a shoving match ensues.
The drama teacher blows up at the students, says she’s had enough drama and the play’s being cancelled, she’ll talk to school principal Salazar the next day. The girl wearing the beret, Marie tries to change her mind but without luck. The teacher Mrs. Chandler’s, walking to her car blowing off steam on her cell phone, when something frightens her, some vines come and pull her towards whatever the vines emanate from, then we hear screams.
Next morning, Dean’s working on the Impala and when Sam wakes up, Dean announces they’ve got a case in Flint, Michigan as a teacher disappeared without a trace. Sam says there’s nothing that says this is a paranormal situation and Dean argues the opposite tactic, then says he needs to start working, so off they go.
As they pull into the school’s parking lot, Sam tells Dean that the teacher that disappeared was the drama teacher, and Dean complains about theater kids. Sam replies he’d been a theater kid and Dean responded barely, he’d been pretty good in Our Town, but then he did that lousy musical. The younger brother reminds him it was Oklahoma and Hugh Jackman did that play and Dean reminds Sam, that he was only involved in tech.
They walk into the theater during a rehearsal of the first act of the play, the students will perform, the music starts and the Winchesters become stunned by the opening song:
John and Mary, husband and wife
Bringing home a brand new life
His name is Sammy
I’m big brother Dean
The perfect family
So it seems.
The two girls in glasses, director Marie and stage manager Maeve, believe “THE BOYS,” are with the publishers, but they flash their FBI badges, then fake Sam and Dean flash theirs in return. The Winchester’s get flustered and each introduce themselves as Agent Smith, no relation, and they’ve come to ask about Mrs. Chandler. Marie tells the truth and when they’re asked where they believe she was going, Maeve replies, a bar, or a liquor store or possibly both. Marie says the teacher went through a tough divorce last year and currently keeps herself comfortably numb.
Dean then starts ripping the play, saying there’s no singing in Supernatural and if there were, it’d be Classic Rock. Marie replies it’s her interpretation, and in Act Two, they cover “Carry On My Wayward Son,” a staple of the series. Sam wrinkles up his nose and asks Really? Dean and Marie simultaneously say it’s classic.
Sam pairs with Maeve to scope out the set and Marie and Dean head to Chandler’s office,, and nearly empty liquor bottles, are strewn throughout her office. Dean sees a robot head and asks what’s that and Marie tells him that’s for Act Two, Dean counters that there’s no space travel or robots in Supernatural. Marie says she adores the Carver Edlund books, but she hated the way it ended in his last book “Swan Song,” with Dean and Lisa a couple, and Sam back from Hell, but not with Dean. So she invented her own ending involving robots, ninjas, space-travel and near the end Dean becomes a woman.
Which takes us into our intermission to discuss, Carver Edlund, whose real name’s Chuck Shurley and wrote about the first five seasons of “THE BOYS,” adventures and called the series Supernatural. (Castiel said in the future, they’ll be referred to as “The Winchester Chronicles.”) He’s also said to be a prophet of God, and disappeared after finishing writing The End on “Swan Song,” as the fifth season concluded.
There’s been speculation as to whom Chuck Shurley is, some including reportedly series creator Eric Kripke have inferred that Shurley might indeed be God, however I believe Shurley represents another creator, Kripke himself. Kripke was only the show-runner for the first five-seasons of the series, then became an Executive Consultant, his vision of the show ended at the battle between St. Michael and Lucifer. So it wasn’t God that disappeared as Season Five ended, it was the creator of the Supernatural Universe that vanished. This episode just solidified my theory, as the truth in my mind.
To reinforce that, lets return to the episode when Dean tells Marie he’s gotten hooked up by a friend with the unpublished Supernatural books. Dean tells her, Sam came back from Hell without a soul, Cas released these Leviathans to the topside, they lost Bobby, then Dean and Castiel went to purgatory, then returned. Sam went through a series of challenges trying to close the Gates of Hell but it nearly killed him, they got a new prophet, then lost him, then Dean became a demon. Marie looked at him and told him his buddy gave him the biggest pile of garbage ever and she’ll send him some far better links.
The Winchester’s now convinced there’s no case for them there and head back to their motel ready to leave in the morning, but a new incident keeps them around. That evening another student Maggie says, she’s quitting and telling Principal Salazar to stop the play, she walks away with her bike but sees a monster that picks her up and carries her behind the dumpster. Marie heard Maggie’s screams and followed the monster behind the dumpster but they vanished.
Sam and Dean come back in the next scene and Marie asks if they’re going to laugh at her as well. She tells them what she saw and the police told her she has an over-active imagination. She says she knows it’s true she’s not crazy and Maeve says she wants to believe. Sam looks at them and says they should believe, because it’s all real, monsters, ghosts, scarecrows and they’re real also. He introduces himself as Sam Winchester and Dean as his brother. The girls sit there silently, then crack up laughing. Marie says she believes in monsters but the Winchesters are fictional characters. Maeve said they’re far to old to pass for Sam and Dean, maybe Rufus and Bobby. Dean says they’re what in the book they refer to as Hunters and Maeve thinks they’re FBI-Hunters and gets impressed.
They deduce that the monster’s The Calliope, who manifest characters from the story she’s tuned into and stops anyone that tries to keep the author from completing their vision. So they need to run the show, but the downside’s that Calliope eats the author as the show concludes, but Dean and Sam promise to keep her safe. First she panics, then she decides to embrace it all, she’s been Sam’s understudy, but she’ll do the role on stage.
Sam and Dean see the entire cast before they go on stage and Sam asks Marie where’s Chuck? She says she loves Chuck, but the whole author inserting himself in the narrative’s not her favorite. She says she hates the meta-stuff and both Sam and Dean say in unison, me too.
The play begins and both Sam and Dean have their wooden sticks to kill the scarecrow and stand on either side of the stage, but the scarecrow captures Sam and they disappear, Dean looks everywhere without luck. Turns out Sam wakes up in the school’s basement in a locked room with Maggie and Mrs. Chandler, then Calliope reveals herself. Sam tries to stab her, but she’s ready for him and forces him backwards and he drops the stick. After some back and forth dialogue, Maggie picks up a school book and slams Calliope on the head, then throws Sam the stick and he stabs her in the abdomen and her eyes glow strangely.
On the stage, Dean’s battling the scarecrow but the monster flings him across the stage like a rag doll, Marie picks up the stick and stabs the scarecrow in the stomach. Simultaneously, Calliope and the scarecrow explode, the scarecrow spewing purple goo over the first three rows of the audience. The crowd thinks it’s a special effect and gives a standing ovation.
Just before the second act starts Marie realizes Dean’s actually Dean Winchester and gives him his old pendant from the early days of the series and says he shouldn’t have thrown it away. Sam and Dean watch the cast sing Wayward Son, before they leave, the song started by Mary, then John and Bobby join her, then another character who Maeve tells Sam’s their half-brother Adam who’s still inside the soul-cage in hell. The brothers both show they’re moved, then they get in the Impala and drive off into the sunset.
The show over, Marie’s getting congratulations and flowers, when Maeve tells the director someone from the publisher watched the show. She nervously approaches the man, thanks him for coming and tells him, she hopes he enjoyed the show. This man looked at her, smiled and said not bad.
Photo Courtesy Of The CW
The Story Continues Next Tuesday Night at 8:00 pm on The CW.
