Supernatural: Hell House
May 29, 2021 12:16 PM - Season 1, Episode 17 - Subscribe
When their investigation of a seemingly run-of-the-mill haunting begins to go haywire, Sam and Dean find that Harry and Ed, two bumbling, wanna-be paranormal investigators, are already on the case.
This was a nice bit of lighthearted fun and a bit of a palate cleanser after the previous outing. Do we ever get to see Ed and Harry again?
posted by sardonyx at 6:28 PM on May 29, 2021
posted by sardonyx at 6:28 PM on May 29, 2021
They're IMO the best intermittently recurring characters on the show. Never a huge deal but always fun to see again.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:16 PM on May 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:16 PM on May 29, 2021 [2 favorites]
Always liked this one, and it's super rewatchable. And I agree, Jared Padalecki's weird high-pitched cackling giggle is a thing we never heard enough of. I know Kim Manners worked on both shows, but this episode in particular has the vibe of the funnier X-Files one-offs, especially the scene where they're getting different incoherent stories from all the kids.
They have a thin line to walk with the Ghostfacers because they're awkward, incompetent, pretty broadly written, and not especially sympathetic. But they're playing against these two very large very attractive jocks of main characters who know a lot more and are better at their jobs and have very little patience or tolerance for them, and it kind of makes Ed and Harry the natural underdogs by comparison.
In the original version of the scene where Dean startles Sam awake by cranking the volume on some random pop song, it's Blue Oyster Cult and Dean wakes him scream-singing "FIIIIIRE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, TOOK MY BABY AWAY" and does a whole little drum solo on the steering wheel and it's a) very funny, mostly because it's b) so fucked UP, DEAN, JFC, why is that song even in your car and I am sorry later viewers do not get that enjoyment.
It's not the first or last galaxy-brain plot thing they'll drop in and never return to, but the whole concept of tulpas is super interesting in the context of the rest of this universe and probably would've been too tricky to take very far. But as MOTW plots go, making a monster beatable by manipulating what people think they know about it about it is a neat idea.
posted by jameaterblues at 9:18 PM on May 29, 2021
They have a thin line to walk with the Ghostfacers because they're awkward, incompetent, pretty broadly written, and not especially sympathetic. But they're playing against these two very large very attractive jocks of main characters who know a lot more and are better at their jobs and have very little patience or tolerance for them, and it kind of makes Ed and Harry the natural underdogs by comparison.
In the original version of the scene where Dean startles Sam awake by cranking the volume on some random pop song, it's Blue Oyster Cult and Dean wakes him scream-singing "FIIIIIRE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, TOOK MY BABY AWAY" and does a whole little drum solo on the steering wheel and it's a) very funny, mostly because it's b) so fucked UP, DEAN, JFC, why is that song even in your car and I am sorry later viewers do not get that enjoyment.
It's not the first or last galaxy-brain plot thing they'll drop in and never return to, but the whole concept of tulpas is super interesting in the context of the rest of this universe and probably would've been too tricky to take very far. But as MOTW plots go, making a monster beatable by manipulating what people think they know about it about it is a neat idea.
posted by jameaterblues at 9:18 PM on May 29, 2021
In the original version of the scene where Dean startles Sam awake by cranking the volume on some random pop song, it's Blue Oyster Cult and Dean wakes him scream-singing "FIIIIIRE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, TOOK MY BABY AWAY" and does a whole little drum solo on the steering wheel and it's a) very funny, mostly because it's b) so fucked UP, DEAN, JFC, why is that song even in your car and I am sorry later viewers do not get that enjoyment.
I wonder if this scene being removed after original broadcast led to that great scene from the ghost sickness episode.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:03 AM on May 30, 2021
I wonder if this scene being removed after original broadcast led to that great scene from the ghost sickness episode.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:03 AM on May 30, 2021
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Dean: Start what up?
Sam: That... prank stuff. It's stupid, and it always escalates!
Dean: Oh what's the matter Sammy, afraid you're gonna get a little Nair in your shampoo again, huh?
Sam: All right. Just remember you started it.
Dean: Oh ho, bring it on baldy.
Dean: [realizes his hand is glued to his beer bottle] You didn't.
Sam: Oh, I so did.
[later, as Dean is holding both a gun and a flashlight]
Dean: I barely have enough skin left on my palm.
Sam: I'm not touching that line with a ten foot pole.
Dean: [looking into Ed and Harry's trailer] Oh, look at that. Action figures in their original packaging. What a shocker.
The pranking match between Sam and Dean was inspired by Jared Padalecki's penchant for pranking people on set. You don't hear Sam really laugh very often in the show -- he has a cackling sort of laugh.
This case took place in Richardson, Texas, which is Jensen Ackles' hometown.
posted by orange swan at 12:20 PM on May 29, 2021