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Supernatural Season 5 Episode 8

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9.0

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 11/5/09

Dean and Sam find themselves mystically trapped in a series of real-life "TV shows" and there appears to be no escape. They believe their old enemy the Trickster is responsible, but discover someone or something else is involved.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (36)

One of my favorite episodes ever...

10

By jdwilhm, Feb 24, 2013

I like the funny episodes because this show can get very dark. The comic relief episodes are necessary and this is probably my second favorite behind French Mistake.
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Need the name of the song!!!

10

By smartzzz, Feb 04, 2013

what is the name of the song on the comedy show Intro??
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only 3 words..

10

By smbronde, Dec 28, 2012

Best episode ever!
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IMO this episode is close to perfection and here is why...

9.5

By uk18flashback, Sep 20, 2011

This reminded me of why I love this show they throw in these stories which are just fun. It brought memories of the good old days were there was just simple hunting. They make fun of all these different shows like CSI: Miami with the one liners and the glasses it was hilarious to watch. I love that they brought the trickster back because I love him and his in another one which I won't mention but he is great. And him turning out to be the Archangel Gabriel ,who saw that coming? I didn't.

It is a perfect combo of the Angel story-arc and the episodes pasted.moreless
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Pure fun, but also some pretty great reveals about one of the best adversaries the Winchester's have had up until this point.

9.0

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, May 13, 2011

I knew about this episode long before it aired, and the premise alone was enough to get me excited. Just about every TV show that Supernatural lampooned and made fun of in this episode are shows that I also don't enjoy. Supernatural did an incredible job of parodying other shows that air in the same time-slot, as well as foreign television shows, hilarious, yet awkward commercials and cheesy 80's theme shows. Besides the heavy mythological reveals near the end, this is the kind of episode you could show to any person who's never watched this show in order to get them watching.

The Grey's Anatomy/CSI: Miami parodies were by far the most entertaining, as we got to see numerous jokes cracked at the expense of Grey's Anatomy and all other corny, melodramatic hospital shows, and with the CSI: Miami parody, we got hear some pretty ridiculous Horatio-type quotes from Sam and Dean. The episode mostly revolved around The Trickster sending Sam and Dean through a number of different television shows in order to teach them a lesson, so we got to see him appearing every now and then throughout the episode, which added to the humor of the episode.

However, as the episode progressed, it turned out to be less about a Trickster screwing around with the brothers and more about the war between angels and demons. We learn a pretty important detail about the Trickster that completely changes our views on him and makes the war between these two sides that much more interesting. Castiel also makes his usual small appearance in the episode, showing up to inform us that the Trickster is not who he says he is.

By the end of the episode, we're left once again where we started, with the brothers travelling across the US like they did in Season 1, solving supernatural crimes on a case-by-case basis. However, after seeing the end of the episode, I have a feeling it's not the last we'll see of the Trickster.. and I have no problem with that whatsoever.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Jared Padalecki	Sam Winchester
Jensen Ackles	Dean Winchester
Misha Collins	Castiel

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Richard Speight Jr.	Trickster	Guest Star
D. Garnet Harding	Cop	Guest Star
Steve Bacic	Dr. Sexy	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- When Dean is shot, the bullet wound is on the left side of his back. When he falls to his knees, however, the wound is on the right side.
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QUOTES (13)
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- Cathy Randolph: I could have sworn I saw... the Incredible Hulk.
  Sam: The Incredible Hulk?
  Cathy Randolph: I told you, it's crazy.
  Dean: Bana or Norton?
  Cathy Randolph: Oh, no, those movies were terrible. The TV Hulk.
  Dean: Lou Ferrigno?
  Cathy Randolph: Yes.
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- Dean: Ally with the Trickster?
  Sam: Yeah.
  Dean: A bloody, violent monster... and you wanna be Facebook friends with him? Nice, Sammy.
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- Dr. Piccolo: Doctor, seriously.
  Sam: What?
  Dr. Picolo: Seriously, you are brilliant, you know that, and a coward. You're a brilliant coward.
  Sam: Uh, what are you talking about?
  Dr. Picolo: As if you don't know.
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- Sam: It was you on the police scanner, right? This is a trick.
  Trickster: Hello? Trickster.
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- Dean: How long do we have to keep doing this? (Studio audience laughs)
  Sam: (fake-smiling) I don't know. Maybe forever? We may die in here. (studio audience laughs)
  Dean: How is that funny? Vultures.
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- Game Show Host: No, no, no, no. Mr. Trickster does not like pretty boy angels.
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- Sam: I am doing all I can, to slightly lessen the spread of... of genital herpes. And that's a good thing.
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- Herpexia Disclaimer: Patients should always consult with a physician before using Herpexia. Possible side effects include: Headache, diarrhea, permanent erectile dysfunction, thoughts of suicide and nausea.
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- Sam: You've got to calm down.
  Dean: Calm down? I am wearing sunglasses at night. You know who does that? No-talent douchebags. I hate this game. I hate that we're in a procedural cop show. And you want to know why? Because I hate procedural cop shows. It's like 300 of them on television, they're all the freakin' same.
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- Trickster: Wow. Sam, get a load of the rims on you.
  SAM the Car: Eat me.
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- Trickster: Where'd you get the holy oil?
  Dean: You might say we pulled it out of Sam's ass.
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- Trickster: Where'd I screw up.
  Sam: You didn't. Nobody gets the jump on Castiel like you did.
  Dean: Mostly it was the way you talked about Armageddon.
  Trickster: Meaning?
  Dean: Well, call it personal experience. Nobody gets that angry unless they're talking about their own family.
  Sam: So which one are you? Grumpy, Sleepy, or Douchy?
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- Trickster: (to Sam and Dean) You sorry sons of bitches. Why do you think you two are the vessels? Think about it. Michael, the big brother, loyal to an absent father. And Lucifer, the little brother, rebellious of daddy's plan. You two were born to this, boys! It's your destiny. It was always you. As it is in Heaven, so it must be on Earth. One brother has to kill the other.
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NOTES (5)
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- The opening credits are in an 80s family/sitcom style: different opening theme, different font for the credits, and shots of Sam and Dean engaging in brotherly humor and ghost-hunting.
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- The episode parodies two of the shows on opposite Supernatural: CSI on CBS and Grey's Anatomy on ABC.
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- Music: Move You (Anya Marina), Not A Through Street (Anya Marina), Something Real (Renee Stahl), Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who), Knight Rider Theme (Stu Phillips and Glen A. Larson)
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- Injoke: In the Dr. Sexy MD skit, Dean is explaining to Sam that the woman is having a relationship with a ghost. In the show Grey's Anatomy Jeffrey Dean Morgan (John Winchester) played a character named Denny who died and could only be seen by his girlfriend.
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- International Airdates:
  UK: March 24, 2010 on LIVING/LIVING HD
  Australia: April 5, 2010 on Channel TEN
  Portugal: May 24, 2010 on AXN
  Sweden: June 18, 2010 on Kanal 5
  Spain: October 11, 2010 on AXN
  Germany: January 24, 2011 on Sky Cinema Hits
  Czech Republic: August 26, 2011 on Prima COOL
  Finland: April 24, 2012 on Sub
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Cathy Randolph: I could have sworn I saw the Incredible Hulk.
  Specifically referencing the CBS TV series running from 1978 to 1982, starring Bill Bixby as David Bruce Banner, and Lou Ferrigno as his alter-ego, the Hulk. Dean's subsequent question "Bana or Norton" refers to the two actors who played the character in the movies.
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- SAM the car:
  The glowing red light, control panel in the car, and hip background music reference the NBC TV series Knight Rider, which ran from 1982 to 1986, and featured KITT, a talking car with a computer intelligence.
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