Supernatural: Golden Time
November 22, 2019 4:26 AM - Season 15, Episode 6 - Subscribe

 
This was a sweet episode, I'm surprised but glad that they chose Eileen as the one that would be resurrected with a one-shot spell. However, like Dean said, I don't know what's God and what isn't. This could be just Chuck letting them have this one nice thing that he's gonna rip away later.
posted by numaner at 1:14 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]


Trivia:
- Keegan Conner Tracy, who played Witch Mother, previously played Karen Giles in 2.07 The Usual Suspects and Sera Siege in 4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book.
- Jennifer Spence, who played Melly Krakowski, previously played Jean Holliday in 7.14 Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie.
- Jodelle Ferland, who played Emily, previously played Melanie Merchant in 1.19 Provenance.
- Art Kitching, who played Sheriff Alden Roy, previously played Serge Ladouceur in 6.15 The French Mistake
- In the script it was made clear that Eileen couldn't manifest in the Bunker initially due to the warding. After Sam saw her while out running, he and Dean powered down the warding to let her in.
- Eileen Leahy is revealed to have been dragged to Hell by the hellhound that killed her in 12.21 There's Something About Mary.
posted by numaner at 1:34 PM on November 22, 2019


Castiel's plot almost played like the backdoor pilot for a spin-off. I can totally see a series about a wayward angel who travels America, hunting monsters, getting close to some family but then always leaving town alone with the sad music, Incredible Hulk-style. The Shadow's threat, about how Castiel will go to the Empty if he's ever truly happy, that could be a good, ongoing worry. Maybe Misha Collins has aged out of the CW heartthrob bracket, but I hope somebody there is considering it!

It was good to see Eileen again, and for her to get out of Hell, although when they were talking about putting her in a ghost trap I did wonder if there wasn't some way they could send her to the Empty or otherwise consign her to oblivion instead of letting her suffer forever. Was I sensing some tingles between Sam and Eileen? That'd be nice, if so. It seems like it's been six or seven seasons since he's had a flirtation going with anybody.

I can't remember why Castiel's power seems to be fading. I assume it's a grace thing, but he's lost his grace and gotten it back so many times, it all kinda blurs together.

Jesus, that thing about the superglue in the toothpaste. Dean's lucky Sam EVER forgave him!
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:22 PM on November 22, 2019


I'm baffled by Sam suddenly being a super-powerful witch. It feels very out of left field.
posted by sarcasticah at 12:49 PM on November 23, 2019


I wouldn't say so. Sam's always been the one to hit the books, and over the seasons he's done various spells. It would be kind of surprising if he ends the series as a powerful warlock (or man-witch) but it wouldn't be totally out of character.

When the first witch started to bleed out in Rowena's place, I actually wondered if Rowena was going to pop up as a ghost or something. But no, it seems she's gone for good... although I wouldn't be too surprised if she ends up as Queen of Hell!
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:39 PM on November 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


I'm baffled by Sam suddenly being a super-powerful witch. It feels very out of left field.

I didn't get the impression that he's "super-powerful", just that he's competent enough and knows his way around casting a spell enough that he could crib off Rowena's notes. Anybody can seem smart if they're copying the answers from the smartest kid in the class, right?

But really nice to see Eileen again! She was a surprise candidate for a one-shot resurrection but if they're not gonna rezz Charlie (yes Supernatural, I'm still mad about how that shit went down), Eileen's actually a really solid choice.
posted by mstokes650 at 5:04 PM on November 23, 2019


The voiceover continues to be odd; I'm assuming the mistakes (referring to Sam as Dean a couple of times in Rowena's apartment, calling Dean "Dan" at the end) are intentional, but who could the show pull out who'd be plausible as a "narrator" but who'd also mix stuff like that up? I'm a little unclear how closely I'm supposed to be listening, since the sound mixing in both episodes has been so rough I can barely tell the VO is there under the music. Just, it's weird. (Sam and Dean are totally going to hear the voiceover at some point, aren't they. Or possible be the voiceover.)

Sam as a magic-user actually feels like a reasonable development to me, especially since a decent amount of the magic system on this shows seems pretty...practical? Or, that's not the right word, but it's like cooking? Information that a smart but regular person can learn how to use and manipulate, rather than a totally inborn ability. I wouldn't want him to end up with witchcraft being his whole deal, like I wouldn't want him to suddenly decide to restart the Men of Letters just because he would've been good at that too. But with his demon blood stuff he's had some kind of superpowers a couple of times, and as others have said, a lot of this show's magic starts with in books and that's always been his thing.

I dunno, it's not a thing I'm wildly interested in for various reasons, but especially with no other access to magic users right now, I can see this being something that's useful for them to have some working knowledge of, and close enough to Sam's skillset that he could pick it up. If this weren't the last season I'd think it was potentially going towards a Dark Willow thing (see, do a little magic and save your friend from Hell, what could go wrong!?), but I'm not quite getting that vibe, and at any rate they kind of already went to that well with the demon blood.
posted by jameaterblues at 8:41 PM on November 24, 2019


Wait, what voiceover? I don't remember anything like that, either in this episode or others. Like, a narrator, but you can hardly hear them and they don't seem very accurate? Could it be that you switched on some descriptive service for visually impaired viewers?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 9:56 PM on November 24, 2019


...Wait, really?

...

...wait, really though?

(Okay, I feel pretty silly but that’s pretty hilarious, I have no explanation but I was a little curious why I’d only seen like one other person mention it. I only ever heard it on this and the Chuck and Becky one, some totally disinterested monotone, I was fascinated by where the show could be going with ANOTHER narrator GOD couldn’t hear. I had a whole theory. I’m a doofus.)

(OMG.)
posted by jameaterblues at 10:21 PM on November 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


Part of me wonders if this IS supposed to be there, but my TV just isn't picking it up! Is the narrator there through the whole episode, or do they just show up for certain scenes? I think it's more likely you have a descriptive service turned on. Did you recently switch cable systems, or have some repairs done? Sometimes after that happens you can automatically get a service switched on or off. We ended up watching most of the run of Battlestar Galatica with Spanish subtitles on, because it was only for that one show and we could never figure out how to switch them off!

If this narrator is describing Sam and Dean as a couple they seem REALLY checked-out, but from what I've seen of similar services it's not rare for these people to be unbelievably bad at their jobs. My folks often have live closed captioning turned on, and it's kind of jaw dropping how much the transcribers get wrong.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 10:54 PM on November 24, 2019


(I think jameaterblues meant that the VO referred to "Sam" as "Dean" as a mistake, a couple of times)
posted by numaner at 12:30 PM on November 25, 2019 [1 favorite]


I didn't recognize Eileen and I love Shoshanna Lonstein, so that threw me off. I second that it seemed odd that she'd be who you bring back from the dead, but I love the actress, so I'm good with that. I also seconded that it seemed like she and Sam had tingles, but this show has given up on romance for obvious reasons, so no point there.

It took me a while to recognize that the lady with Castiel was Grace from Travelers.

Sam: My brother put Superglue in my toothpaste.
Sad Sister: My sister turned me invisible for a week, tried to sell my soul, had my tongue turned into and then got bit by a snake, etc. etc. etc.
Sam: ... uh yeah, not even close to similar here.

Good point that Death swoops down on any loopholes.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:55 PM on November 25, 2019


Grace from Travelers.

I immediately recognized her as that! But I didn't even know she was on Supernatural even before Travelers!
posted by numaner at 4:43 PM on December 3, 2019


Quotes

Sam: [notices Emily staring at her sister's body on the floor] Hey, I can look for something to cover her up.
Emily: Do you think she's pretty? Everyone thinks she's pretty.
Sam: I mean, uh, she's dead.
Emily: For now.
Sam: Were you close?
Emily: She made my life hell.
Sam: Really? What did she do? Listen, I get it. All right? I mean, I... I have an older brother. When I was 10, he... he put superglue in my toothpaste.
Emily: Yeah?
Sam: Yeah.
Emily: Once, she made me invisible... for a week.
Sam: Okay, well, that's not so...
Emily:
EMILY: And she tried to sell my soul to a demon and she turned my first crush into a water balloon... and popped him.
Sam: Oh.
Emily: And then she got mean. Start packing.

Trivia

Castiel goes by the alias Agent Clarence Worley. "Clarence" was the nickname given to him by Meg, after the angel who is trying to earn his wings in It's a Wonderful Life. The name is also a nod to Christian Slater's character from Quentin Tarantino's True Romance.

The witches' van has "Keep 'er Movin'" and "you GO we PACK" written on the side. Wisconsin native, Green Bay Packers fan, and comedian Charlie Berens uses "Keep 'er Movin'" and "Go Packers" as catch phrases in his "Manitowoc Minute" series and other comedy videos celebrating Wisconsin culture. Supernatural production designer Jerry Wanek was born in Manitowoc, WI.

The bait and tackle shop is named "Simmzy's," which is also the name of a small chain of restaurants in the Los Angeles area. They even used a similar font to the restaurant's.
posted by orange swan at 2:49 PM on April 24, 2022


In the opening scene in the bunker kitchen, Dean is wearing flannel pajama pants with a print of burgers on them, heh. I found myself wondering if someone from costuming happened to come across them or the fabric they're made from and thought they'd be perfect for Dean, or if they specifically shopped around for pajama pants or flannel with burgers on them for him.

Rowena had a Madame X-style portrait of herself in her apartment because of course she did.

You'd think Sam would have wanted to box up all of Rowena's journals and other equipment and take them back to the bunker. They could be an invaluable resource. Also... it would be a good idea for him and Dean to learn witchcraft. I'm surprised that's not the norm for hunters, actually.

Good to see Eileen back! And yes, there is definite chemistry between her and Sam and has been from his first sight of her -- they just haven't had a chance to let it develop.
posted by orange swan at 2:52 PM on April 24, 2022


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