Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things

Season 2, Episode 4, Aired
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Episode Summary

Dean and Sam investigate the death of a young college student who died in a car accident, but whose grave is now surrounded by a circle of dead plants.
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Fan Episode Reviews (58)

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  • We dealt with vampires, now zombies!

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By ZaleIsBackAgain, Oct 09, 2010 Report Abuse
    Can we expect werewolves, maybe even Frankenstein next? Anyways, an excellently executed episode that was running on all four cylinders throughout the entire episode. From the start we had no idea what the supernatural enemy was going to be, and it wasn't until we actually found out that we discovered what it was--unless you read into the episode title. The only weak part of the episode was the conclusion leading up to the defeating of Angela, but everything else about the episode was definitely solid. Loved how well Dean's sidestory about how hard he's taking his dad's death intertwined with the story. Beautiful acting, in fact his and Sam's acting seems to get better by the episode.moreless

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  • Biggest contrast of performances, most unexpected MotW and another one of my all-time SPN guilty pleasures.

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By JaneDoe2007, Jul 31, 2010 Report Abuse
    I often find myself going back to specific scenes in this episode: Dean's admission "I'm being an a*s" and the subsequent monologue, Sam's innocent smile at the line "right now we've got a frickin' zombie running around " and his "our lives are weird man!" Touch!!

    The other scene I always go back to is the final scene, it was extremely emotional and heartbreaking seeing Dean like that, and Jensen did such a marvelous job his face, his voice, the tears, it was perfect. Especially that slight fading of his voice when he said "so tell me, what could you possibly say to make that alright?" that line was enough to make me melt!

    On the other hand this episode marks Jared's worst performance to date (except the scene at Mary's grave), don't get me wrong he's an incredible actor, but with the high standards he set throughout this show this was at least mediocre! There were scenes where he was barely saying his lines, he looked out of place and incoherent, for the first time you can tell he's "acting". Other scenes his reactions were just off, not right somehow! I've said that before in a forum -BIG MISTAKE- and people took it the wrong way, I did some acting back when I had time for it so I know a little about this, and in this episode I didn't FEEL Sam, does that make any sense?. (The best thing about this show has always been the credibility of its characters regardless of how insane the story is, this time Sam didn't seem so credible, didn't seem real)

    The plot was ok, with everything we've seen on this show I guess the zombie idea is plausible, but still I never thought they'd go there, they did it well enough. And that Neil character had "guilty" written all over his face, turns out he's into necrophilia too *gag*.
    Considering everything it was a good episode, and it gets extra marks for Jensen's brilliance.moreless

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  • this was a good ep

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By cube2k8, Jun 12, 2010 Report Abuse
    in this ep of the show supernatural dean and sam are driven and they come across this case of a college student that crashed and died and the only thing is there seems to be stuff growing around were the crash happend and dean and sam must figure whats happening and what is causing it this was a good ep i thought and it was very intense and interesting and i thought season 2 is really getting good since season 1 and that is why i gave it a 9 for being really interesting and really good it shows that supernatural is keeping its rythemmoreless

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  • Yet another solid Season 2 episode

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Apr 13, 2009 Report Abuse
    One thing that I noticed right away from Season 1 to Season 2 was the hunts that Sam and Dean go on. They're no longer simply about finding out about a hunt and then accomplishing it. Usually, the hunt was just something they were doing that really had no relation to what they were doing. They were side plots that filled in the time until Sam and Dean found their father (at least that's how I see them, some people may disagree, but I feel like the overall arc of the story is about the Winchester's and the events that occurred in their life that lead them to where they are now).

    However, with Season 2, the hunts relate more to Sam and Dean. With Bloodlust, Gordon's talk about "black and white" ended up connecting with the moral dilemna that Sam and Dean found themselves in. And in this episode, the hunt for the zombie was very related to Dean's guilt over surviving while his dad died. This makes the hunts more emotional and personal, instead of just seeming like an episode of Buffy or something (not that I've ever thought the show was exactly like Buffy; I think this show covers the stuff better).

    The aftermath of John Winchester's death remains the focus of the episodes up until this point, and I really enjoy seeing how the brothers cope. Dean's way seems to be as rude as possible and get the answers as fast as he can (which leads to some pretty funny lines) while Sam is following his heart and doing what he thinks his dad would want. The interaction between the two brothers is superbly written. There could be a whole episode of them just discussing everything that's happened in the past year and I'd be pleased, just because the connection between the two actors is great.

    So far, Season 2 has yet to disappoint. If anything, the tension and suspense is being kept at a steady boil and I'm just waiting for it all to over flow.moreless

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  • The perfect pair with "Bloodlust" (2x03)

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Snape83, Mar 26, 2009 Report Abuse
    Alongside with her former partner Sera Gamble (the two of them wrote several episodes together, in Season One), Raelle Tucker is one of my favorite writers on the show, because she is just as great as her co-worker in delivering strong, meaningful, deeply emotional character-driven episodes. Jeremy Carver and Cathryn Humphris are wonderful when dealing with myth-arc and plot-driven episodes, like Eric Kripke, and Ben Edlund's unique touch is evident in the most comedic, sarcastic episodes, but probably Gamble's and Tucker's episodes are the ones I can relate the most to. And this one, "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things", is another great example.

    A clever reinterpretation of the classic zombie figure, very far from Romero and Boyle and - at least in my opinion - even from "Pet Sematary", which is even mentioned during the episode (obviously by Dean), the script was particularly brilliant in uncovering Dean's emotional scars and his sense of guilt over his father's death. At the end of the episode, when he finally confesses to Sam his feelings, the tension between them was really painful: we viewers know that, even if he can't be happy for John's demise, Sammy can't be without his brother (as Season Four premiere demonstrated), and yet he can't tell so to Dean, at least not now. But we know this, and Dean also know, since Sam saved him in "Faith" (1x12). This unsaid between them - thanks also to Kim Manner's direction, which gave us a truly stunning shot of an azure valley, beautiful and sad - was more convincing, more endearing and more moving than million words.

    Aside from the in-depth character elaboration, the episode works really well as an horror tale, scaring, effective and suspenseful. Tamara Feldman did a great job as Angela, like Serge Houde as his father. Plus, the cemetery scenes were extremely atmospheric, very creepy and gloomy. In the end, I rated "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" 9.5 and not a perfect, round 10 (like I did with "Bloodlust") only because I'm more keen on vampires. That's a minor quibble, and both the episodes are perfect.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Trivia: This episode features the first mention of the Casa Erotica porn franchise. It is mentioned throughout the series, typically when someone makes a joke about pay-per-view porn. Edit
    • When Dean is checking out the dead tree at Angela's grave, he is wearing both a beaded chain and his usual necklace with the pendant. When Dean returns to Sam after receiving Angela's details, the beaded chain is gone. Edit
    • Trivia: When Sam deposits his father's dog tags at his mother's tombstone it can be read in them: "Winchester John 306-00-3594 Type - AB Non Religious" Edit

  • Notes

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    • The dead tree seen in the cemetery was a piece of set borrowed from The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The same tree was also featured in the Season One episode "Scarecrow." Edit
    • International Air Dates: Denmark: December 3, 2006 on TV3 UK: February 25, 2007 on LIVING Portugal: April 2, 2007 on AXN France: September 24, 2007 on TF6 Germany: January 15, 2008 on Premiere Serie Italy: July 1, 2008 on Rai2 The Netherlands: December 28, 2008 on NET5 Edit
    • Music: Sad Girl by Supergrass. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Sam: Okay. So what are you thinking? Dean: I don't know, unholy ground, maybe. Sam: Un… Dean: What? If something evil happened there, it could easily poison the ground. Remember the--the farm outside Cedar Rapids? Sam: Yeah. Dean: Could be the sign of a demonic presence. Or=--or the Angela girl's spirit, if it's powerful enough. (Sam nods, rolls his eyes and walks away) Well, don't get too excited, you might pull something. Edit
    • Dean: Why don't we swing by the Roadhouse, instead? I mean, we haven't heard anything on the demon lately. We should be hunting that son of a bitch down. Sam: That's a good idea. You should. Just drop me off, I'll hitch a ride, I'll meet you there tomorrow. Dean: Right. (scoffs) I'll be stuck with those people, making awkward small talk til you show up. No thanks. Edit
    • Dean: Come on, Sam, I'm begging you. This is stupid. Sam: Why? Dean: Going to visit Mom's grave? She doesn't even have a grave. There was no body left after the fire. Sam: She has a headstone. Dean: Yeah, put up by her uncle, a man we've never even met. So you wanna go pay your respects to a slab of granite put up by a stranger? Come on. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Title Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things was the title of a 1972 zombie movie in which a group of actors lead by their director, Alan, performs a black magic ritual on a island graveyard and causes the dead to rise and kill them all. Edit
    • Dean: Naw, she went out to rent Beaches. Beaches (1988 movie) staring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, who have a lifelong friendship which is depicted in various stages including their love for the same man. Edit
    • Dean: My name's Alan, Alan Stanwick. Referencing the movie "Fletch". Dean presents himself to Lindsey as Alan Stanwyck: this is the name of a character in the movie "Fletch". In this movie Chevy Chase is an ace reporter who is able to create "instant aliases" as Dean and Sam do. Edit

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