Supernatural: About a Boy
February 5, 2015 11:48 PM - Season 10, Episode 12 - Subscribe
The Winchesters investigate a case where people vanish into thin air, leaving only their clothes behind. Unfortunately, Dean becomes a victim himself.
Well, unfortunately for him. Fortunately for us because Teen Dean is hilarious and spot on!
Well, unfortunately for him. Fortunately for us because Teen Dean is hilarious and spot on!
Supernatural Babies
posted by brundlefly at 1:13 AM on February 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by brundlefly at 1:13 AM on February 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
This one was much better than I expected from its preview! The laws of TV say that of course he had to be restored to adult by the end, but in-story, that was a wonderful problem for Dean, to have to consider staying like that (and slowly growing up again) to be free of the Mark.
The young actor was good, too. After a minute, I forgot about him and accepted him as Dean.
posted by tomboko at 9:20 AM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
The young actor was good, too. After a minute, I forgot about him and accepted him as Dean.
posted by tomboko at 9:20 AM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
The one thing that bothered me was Dean shoving the hex bag in the witch's mouth as he pushed her into the oven. I mean... there was no real in-story reason for him not to keep it to finish de-youthing the other victim.
Making the woman okay with being reduced to a teenager with no money or visible support network felt like another case of the writers taking the easy way out, much like they did by making Randy extra bad before Dean gutted him. (Jensen Ackles is enormously talented and fun to watch, but Dean Winchester has been courting monsterhood for awhile now. He was, if anything, *less* awful as a demon because he was too lazy to go out and do stuff.)
Apart from that, thought it was a very solid monster of the week story, far preferable to anything they're doing with their story arc lately. (I realize this referenced Rowena, but I'd prefer to just look the other way on that.)
Why would they have considered a horrible spin-off like Bloodlines when they could have a Smallville-esque spin-off of young Sam and Dean?
The thing is, I'm struggling to think of a time when something like that went well. TV's current incarnation of the phenomenon is fun to watch, but more in the sense of rubbernecking at a trainwreck. Smallville was fun for a season or two, but dragged on for a full decade of awfulness. Young Hercules was Sorbo-free, but otherwise not very good. The Phantom Menace was, uh... yeah, I got nothing.
Personally, I'm still wishing they'd do a spinoff with Jodie Mills and Mrs. Tran.
posted by mordax at 12:50 PM on February 6, 2015
Making the woman okay with being reduced to a teenager with no money or visible support network felt like another case of the writers taking the easy way out, much like they did by making Randy extra bad before Dean gutted him. (Jensen Ackles is enormously talented and fun to watch, but Dean Winchester has been courting monsterhood for awhile now. He was, if anything, *less* awful as a demon because he was too lazy to go out and do stuff.)
Apart from that, thought it was a very solid monster of the week story, far preferable to anything they're doing with their story arc lately. (I realize this referenced Rowena, but I'd prefer to just look the other way on that.)
Why would they have considered a horrible spin-off like Bloodlines when they could have a Smallville-esque spin-off of young Sam and Dean?
The thing is, I'm struggling to think of a time when something like that went well. TV's current incarnation of the phenomenon is fun to watch, but more in the sense of rubbernecking at a trainwreck. Smallville was fun for a season or two, but dragged on for a full decade of awfulness. Young Hercules was Sorbo-free, but otherwise not very good. The Phantom Menace was, uh... yeah, I got nothing.
Personally, I'm still wishing they'd do a spinoff with Jodie Mills and Mrs. Tran.
posted by mordax at 12:50 PM on February 6, 2015
Oh, and this was another case of 'witches are plainly the top of the food chain in the Supernatural universe, above and beyond even the Judeo-Christian god' - one of them managed to beat the Mark of Cain *accidentally*. Without even noticing.
I really wish they'd never done anything with witches on that show.
posted by mordax at 12:51 PM on February 6, 2015
I really wish they'd never done anything with witches on that show.
posted by mordax at 12:51 PM on February 6, 2015
The one thing that bothered me was Dean shoving the hex bag in the witch's mouth as he pushed her into the oven. I mean... there was no real in-story reason for him not to keep it to finish de-youthing the other victim.
Yeah, I didn't get that at all.
Personally, I'm still wishing they'd do a spinoff with Jodie Mills and Mrs. Tran.
I've been saying this for ages! Although I recently revised it. Sheriff Mills and Sheriff Hanscum go around hunting things. Mrs. Tran is the show's Bobby equivalent. She helps with lore, coming up with new technology and magic stuff, etc.
posted by brundlefly at 3:19 PM on February 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I didn't get that at all.
Personally, I'm still wishing they'd do a spinoff with Jodie Mills and Mrs. Tran.
I've been saying this for ages! Although I recently revised it. Sheriff Mills and Sheriff Hanscum go around hunting things. Mrs. Tran is the show's Bobby equivalent. She helps with lore, coming up with new technology and magic stuff, etc.
posted by brundlefly at 3:19 PM on February 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
Call me, CW! Call me!
posted by brundlefly at 3:20 PM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by brundlefly at 3:20 PM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
I was equally hesitant going into this episode, based on the premise, but the one thing you can count on is the actor who plays young Dean. He generally always provides a good performance.
And GEEZ! I about fell off my couch when the cooking witch turned out to be Lesley Nicol, none other than Mrs. Patmore on Downton Abbey! That was a delicious slice of meta right there.
This was much closer to a classic Supernatural episode from the first few seasons and it's good to know that the writers still have it in them to bring something like it forth in the 10th.
Oh, and this was another case of 'witches are plainly the top of the food chain in the Supernatural universe, above and beyond even the Judeo-Christian god' - one of them managed to beat the Mark of Cain *accidentally*. Without even noticing.
I don't know, I could definitely see the Mark suddenly appearing on Dean's arm when he turned the age, to the day and minute, he was when he received it. I don't think it was really beat so much as it has a place in Dean's time line. This could also be me trying to be a bit of an apologist, though.
Finally, I loved the, "Blame Obama," quip. Cherry on top, that.
posted by Atreides at 5:28 PM on February 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
And GEEZ! I about fell off my couch when the cooking witch turned out to be Lesley Nicol, none other than Mrs. Patmore on Downton Abbey! That was a delicious slice of meta right there.
This was much closer to a classic Supernatural episode from the first few seasons and it's good to know that the writers still have it in them to bring something like it forth in the 10th.
Oh, and this was another case of 'witches are plainly the top of the food chain in the Supernatural universe, above and beyond even the Judeo-Christian god' - one of them managed to beat the Mark of Cain *accidentally*. Without even noticing.
I don't know, I could definitely see the Mark suddenly appearing on Dean's arm when he turned the age, to the day and minute, he was when he received it. I don't think it was really beat so much as it has a place in Dean's time line. This could also be me trying to be a bit of an apologist, though.
Finally, I loved the, "Blame Obama," quip. Cherry on top, that.
posted by Atreides at 5:28 PM on February 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Having finally gotten around to watching this in reruns tonight, Tina must be out of her mind to think it's going to go well as a 13-year-old with no family and no income. I can see why "fresh start" of no 50k or ex-husbands is appealing, plus no choice about it (again, stupid to have the hex bag go in her mouth!!!!), but...come on, don't just let a teenage girl roam around free with no parents. We just HAD an episode where we saw a teenage girl get fake-adopted by the first older skeezebucket who'd pimp her out because she was left alone, after all.
I love Teen Dean and Teen Tina, but that was...a terrible place to leave that.
Poor Mrs. Patmore.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:58 PM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
I love Teen Dean and Teen Tina, but that was...a terrible place to leave that.
Poor Mrs. Patmore.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:58 PM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Quotes
Teen Dean: Just try to stay calm, okay?
Young Tina: Stay calm? I'm a freakin' tween, and you look like some One Direction reject. And we're in some freaky serial-killer basement!
Young Tina: You know, before…I thought you were just another drunk.
Teen Dean: I prefer functional alcoholic.
Sam: [Teen Dean has just shown up at their motel room] W-wait a second. Y-you’re a—
Teen Dean: Uh-huh.
Sam: How?
Teen Dean: No clue. Some scarface-looking dude, bright light. Next thing I know, I wake up looking like Bieber.
Sam: Why would someone turn you into—
Teen Dean: Don’t know. Don’t care. Hey, we got any grenades?
Sam: What? Don’t—Wait, wait, wait. Wait a second. Talk to me.
Teen Dean: Really, Sam? Now? I got no grass on the infield, and a girl’s gonna die. Sorry if I’m not in a chatty mood. Look, you wanted me back in the game. I’m back in the damn game.
Teen Dean: Ma'am, allow me.
Motel Guest: [to Sam] Your son is so polite.
Sam: ...
Teen Dean: [to Sam] There was a Taylor Swift song on the bus that I hopped to the motel... and I liked it, Sam... I liked it a lot.
Sam: Okay.
Teen Dean: My voice is weird, and I’ve got like nine zits, and I have zero control over this. [gesturing to his groin] I mean, it’s up. It’s down. It’s up for no reason.
Sam: That’s enough. Yeah, thanks. Uh, let’s just call it puberty.
Teen Dean: Yeah, which sucks. Again.
Katja: [to Young Tina] Don't worry, liebchen. You're too good for soup. I'm thinking a nice, sweet chili glaze, a few hours roasting in the oven. And an apple in your mouth.
Trivia
The song played at the end of the episode is "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift. In 2015, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Osric Chau, Misha Collins, and many other former cast members teamed up with The Hillywood Show of YouTube to do a Supernatural parody video of this song called "Mark of Cain". In 2018, The Hillywood Show and the cast and crew of Supernatural reunited to do a second parody video, this time doing a "Supernatural goes Ghostbusters" theme.
Dylan Everett, the actor who played 14-year-old Dean, was 20 years old when the episode was filmed. Coincidentally, Everett's birthday is on January 24th, the same day as Dean's. In another fun coincidence, in "The Curious Case of Dean Winchester" (ep. 5.7) when Dean gets turned into an old man, Old Dean is played by actor Chad Everett. Chad and Dylan are unrelated.
Dean asks Tina what JP's problem was, she says, "What wasn't? You're in here getting stunned while the sun's still up, your life's a regular Charlie Foxtrot." Charlie Foxtrot is military slang for a disaster.
In one scene, a cuckoo clock can be heard chiming the hour. Cuckoo clocks are native to the Black Forest region of Germany, whence the original tale of Hansel and Gretel comes.
Sam tells Dean, "So we'll get you changed back and then light Sabrina's ass up." Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a 1970's Archie comic book series.
The episode gets its title from the 1998 coming of age novel About a Boy, by Nick Hornby, and subsequent 2002 drama/romance movie of the same name starring Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Grant.
When Dean asks Tina if she knew JP, she says, "This isn't exactly Cheers but yeah." Cheers is a 1980's TV comedy set in a Boston bar, where as the theme song says, "everybody knows your name".
At the site of the first death Dean mentions, "A cheap suit and a pair of Florsheims." The Florsheim shoe company was founded in 1892, and by 1930 was one of the largest American manufacturers of high quality men's footwear. In the 1950s Florsheim stores were common enough that the very name was slang for shoes in general. Dean's use of the term is oddly dated for a guy his age.
Lesley Nicol (Katja) plays a cook named Mrs. Patmore in the series Downton Abbey and there is a clear reference to this character when she is chopping onions, making a soup, and planning a meal in this episode.
"Hansel" and "Gretel" are diminutive forms of "Hans" and "Greta" respectively. They are names that children use. As the children grew up, they would begin to be called, and to refer to themselves, as "Hans" and "Greta".
Dean is reading a book about Cain at the beginning of the episode that contains a quote from Cain that he will be a wanderer of the earth and whoever finds him will kill him.
Captured by Katja and stalling for time, Dean says, "I mean, word on the street is people kind of taste like chicken." Granted, "human flesh tastes like chicken" is a very common cliché. But long ago the cannibal tribes of the Melanesia islands referred to human flesh as "long pig" because they thought the taste resembled pork. A number of contemporary cannibals have said it tastes like mild beef, veal, pork, and (in the case of a Japanese cannibal) sushi.
posted by orange swan at 10:11 AM on December 3, 2021
Teen Dean: Just try to stay calm, okay?
Young Tina: Stay calm? I'm a freakin' tween, and you look like some One Direction reject. And we're in some freaky serial-killer basement!
Young Tina: You know, before…I thought you were just another drunk.
Teen Dean: I prefer functional alcoholic.
Sam: [Teen Dean has just shown up at their motel room] W-wait a second. Y-you’re a—
Teen Dean: Uh-huh.
Sam: How?
Teen Dean: No clue. Some scarface-looking dude, bright light. Next thing I know, I wake up looking like Bieber.
Sam: Why would someone turn you into—
Teen Dean: Don’t know. Don’t care. Hey, we got any grenades?
Sam: What? Don’t—Wait, wait, wait. Wait a second. Talk to me.
Teen Dean: Really, Sam? Now? I got no grass on the infield, and a girl’s gonna die. Sorry if I’m not in a chatty mood. Look, you wanted me back in the game. I’m back in the damn game.
Teen Dean: Ma'am, allow me.
Motel Guest: [to Sam] Your son is so polite.
Sam: ...
Teen Dean: [to Sam] There was a Taylor Swift song on the bus that I hopped to the motel... and I liked it, Sam... I liked it a lot.
Sam: Okay.
Teen Dean: My voice is weird, and I’ve got like nine zits, and I have zero control over this. [gesturing to his groin] I mean, it’s up. It’s down. It’s up for no reason.
Sam: That’s enough. Yeah, thanks. Uh, let’s just call it puberty.
Teen Dean: Yeah, which sucks. Again.
Katja: [to Young Tina] Don't worry, liebchen. You're too good for soup. I'm thinking a nice, sweet chili glaze, a few hours roasting in the oven. And an apple in your mouth.
Trivia
The song played at the end of the episode is "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift. In 2015, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Osric Chau, Misha Collins, and many other former cast members teamed up with The Hillywood Show of YouTube to do a Supernatural parody video of this song called "Mark of Cain". In 2018, The Hillywood Show and the cast and crew of Supernatural reunited to do a second parody video, this time doing a "Supernatural goes Ghostbusters" theme.
Dylan Everett, the actor who played 14-year-old Dean, was 20 years old when the episode was filmed. Coincidentally, Everett's birthday is on January 24th, the same day as Dean's. In another fun coincidence, in "The Curious Case of Dean Winchester" (ep. 5.7) when Dean gets turned into an old man, Old Dean is played by actor Chad Everett. Chad and Dylan are unrelated.
Dean asks Tina what JP's problem was, she says, "What wasn't? You're in here getting stunned while the sun's still up, your life's a regular Charlie Foxtrot." Charlie Foxtrot is military slang for a disaster.
In one scene, a cuckoo clock can be heard chiming the hour. Cuckoo clocks are native to the Black Forest region of Germany, whence the original tale of Hansel and Gretel comes.
Sam tells Dean, "So we'll get you changed back and then light Sabrina's ass up." Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a 1970's Archie comic book series.
The episode gets its title from the 1998 coming of age novel About a Boy, by Nick Hornby, and subsequent 2002 drama/romance movie of the same name starring Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Grant.
When Dean asks Tina if she knew JP, she says, "This isn't exactly Cheers but yeah." Cheers is a 1980's TV comedy set in a Boston bar, where as the theme song says, "everybody knows your name".
At the site of the first death Dean mentions, "A cheap suit and a pair of Florsheims." The Florsheim shoe company was founded in 1892, and by 1930 was one of the largest American manufacturers of high quality men's footwear. In the 1950s Florsheim stores were common enough that the very name was slang for shoes in general. Dean's use of the term is oddly dated for a guy his age.
Lesley Nicol (Katja) plays a cook named Mrs. Patmore in the series Downton Abbey and there is a clear reference to this character when she is chopping onions, making a soup, and planning a meal in this episode.
"Hansel" and "Gretel" are diminutive forms of "Hans" and "Greta" respectively. They are names that children use. As the children grew up, they would begin to be called, and to refer to themselves, as "Hans" and "Greta".
Dean is reading a book about Cain at the beginning of the episode that contains a quote from Cain that he will be a wanderer of the earth and whoever finds him will kill him.
Captured by Katja and stalling for time, Dean says, "I mean, word on the street is people kind of taste like chicken." Granted, "human flesh tastes like chicken" is a very common cliché. But long ago the cannibal tribes of the Melanesia islands referred to human flesh as "long pig" because they thought the taste resembled pork. A number of contemporary cannibals have said it tastes like mild beef, veal, pork, and (in the case of a Japanese cannibal) sushi.
posted by orange swan at 10:11 AM on December 3, 2021
Agreed with the above posters that Tina heading off on the bus on her own was a terrible resolution for her story. Sure, she's mentally mature, but physically she's an adolescent, she doesn't even have an I.D. or any resources, and she isn't going to be able to get a job or rent a place to live. She needs an adult to take her in and give her a home and protect her. Sam and Dean must surely have known someone who would have done that, at least temporarily. But then perhaps she has extended family to go to.
Dylan Everett does make a good young Dean so far as his affect goes, but again, the brown eyes are so distracting. Couldn't they find contacts that would have given him the right shade of green eyes?
Making Mrs. Patmore the evil witch Katja was inspired and hilarious casting. I notice they took their time with the reveal of Leslie Nicol's face.
Jared Padalecki and Dylan Everett had good Sam and Dean camaraderie going, which is rather impressive considering that they had never done a scene together before this episode.
I rather liked the scene in which Dean has a drink with Tina. He hardly ever gets a chance to just relax and talk to someone about something other than hunting.
posted by orange swan at 10:19 AM on December 3, 2021
Dylan Everett does make a good young Dean so far as his affect goes, but again, the brown eyes are so distracting. Couldn't they find contacts that would have given him the right shade of green eyes?
Making Mrs. Patmore the evil witch Katja was inspired and hilarious casting. I notice they took their time with the reveal of Leslie Nicol's face.
Jared Padalecki and Dylan Everett had good Sam and Dean camaraderie going, which is rather impressive considering that they had never done a scene together before this episode.
I rather liked the scene in which Dean has a drink with Tina. He hardly ever gets a chance to just relax and talk to someone about something other than hunting.
posted by orange swan at 10:19 AM on December 3, 2021
It was very funny to see Sam and Dean listen avidly to what the homeless guy had to say about the vanishing of T.J. ... until he started going on about aliens. Aliens are the one kind of supernatural being that doesn't exist in the Supernatural universe, and they'll keep an open mind regarding any crazy shit but that.
posted by orange swan at 11:12 AM on December 3, 2021
posted by orange swan at 11:12 AM on December 3, 2021
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posted by cfoxhi at 12:30 AM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]