This week’s episode of Supernatural certainly isn’t subtle. In many ways it hits you over the head with a frying pan. The Ghostfacers, amateur supernaturalists Ed and Harry, are back, and their entire story arc in this episode mirrors everything that Sam and Dean have been going through. By the end it feels like the writers literally took the brotherly fight scenes from the last few episodes, then copied and pasted them into this script for Ed and Harry.
It may not be subtle, but since Sam and Dean are being big babies, subtly is overrated. They need this kind of obvious metaphor. And in an added pleasant twist, this week’s episode takes the Ghostfacers name literally, with an homage to Scream.
Still Fighting
Dean finds a case and almost leaves without Sam. The two are still fighting, barely even talking and being super passive-aggressive about it. Sam comes along to investigate a girl killed by a possible ghost in her selfie.
However, Sam and Dean aren’t the first ones on the case. Ed and Harry, aka the Ghostfacers, are in town. The Winchesters track them down and have a hilarious stand-off in a diner where the incompetent Ghostfacers demand to be taken seriously. Having these losers as a mutual enemy is exactly what Sam and Dean need to bond.
The Legend of Thinman
Ed and Harry have become the foremost experts on Thinman, a modern-day urban legend of a creepy man who appears in the background of photos and videos moments before someone dies. Despite Sam and Dean’s warnings, the Ghostfacers refuse to leave. The main reason is that Harry is obsessed with proving to his ex-girlfriend that he’s not a loser.
After a second victim turns up, Ed thinks they should quit, but Harry dresses up like a ninja and goes into the woods to find Thinman. Yes, it’s as ridiculously stupid as it sounds.
Secrets Ruin Relationships
Sam and Dean bond over a memory about the time when they were kids and jumped off a roof to try and fly. It’s sweet, but interrupted when Ed shows up to spill the beans. He made up Thinman in order to keep Harry from leaving the Ghostfacers and settling down with his girlfriend in a corporate job. But now, somehow, the fake legend he made up is real. Sam makes the parallels very obvious when he says that “secrets ruin relationships.”
In the woods, Harry gets stabbed by Thinman, but Sam, Dean and Ed arrive to save him. The Ghostfacers have a big fight when Ed comes clean, and let me just spell it out.
Harry = Sam, a guy who wanted a normal life and a family, but who got dragged back into fighting the supernatural when his closest friend lied to him.
Ed = Dean, a guy who lies to his best friend in order to keep him from leaving.
A Scream Homage
In a weird twist, the episode turns into an homage to Scream (which is also appropriate since that film’s villain is known as Ghostface). Sam and Dean follow a lead but get tazed by the local deputy. He and his friend (the busboy at the diner) are Thinman, a pair of psychos using the legend to kill people they don’t like. There are no monsters or demons or ghosts, it’s just crazy humans.
They almost kill Sam and Dean, but the Ghostfacers show up to try and save the day. They almost do, but then get captured, only to have Sam and Dean escape, get the upper hand and take out the bad guys.
In a nice twist, the deputy is about to shoot Ed, but Harry shoots deputy instead. You see, since Harry is basically Sam, this is a metaphor proving that Sam was lying when he said he wouldn’t save Dean.
It’s Complicated
In the end, Harry and Ed have a fight that is, in every way, identical to the various fights Sam and Dean have had over the last few episodes. They even use some of the same phrases about not saving each other and people die because of them and everything else. They basically break up and Harry asks Sam and Dean for a ride.
Hopefully this is the wake-up call Sam and Dean need. Not only do they see how miserable Harry is now that he’s lost his best friend, but the fact that these two losers are fighting about the same things that Sam and Dean are should make them realize how idiotic and childish they’re being.
Next time on Supernatural: The show is back in two weeks with an episode about Crowley’s addiction to human blood. It’s also the episode with Snooki!
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
