Supernatural

Long-Distance Call

Season 3, Episode 14, Aired 5/1/08

Episode Summary

The town of Milan, Ohio, is plagued by a series of calls where the victims are contacted by dead loved ones, and urged to commit suicide. When Dean and Sam investigate, Dean gets a call of his own and the two brothers are soon at odds.

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Cast & Crew

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Jensen Ackles

Dean Winchester
Jared Padalecki

Sam Winchester
Jeffrey Dean Morgan

John Winchester

Fan Episode Reviews (38)

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Still not back on its feet after the strike

7.0

"Good"

By entil2001, May 17, 2010 Report Abuse

After the previous episode, an attempt to ease back into production after the writers' strike, the story gets back on track with this installment. This is all about the shift in Dean's attitude about his own survival. Unlike the beginning of the season, Dean is feeling every inch of his mortality as his deadline approaches. The frustration is mounting with every new failure, and he's ready to accept any chance of a come-from-behind victory.

So when the demonic creature in this episode uses a cell phone connection and John Winchester's voice as a ruse, Dean falls for it hook, line, and sinker. "John" gives him the opportunity to take down the demon with control over his fate, and nothing Sam says will ever get in the way of that. After all, it very seldom has.

Sam, on the other hand, is all about discovering the truth and surviving the threat. He simply doesn't believe that their father is calling, and it puts the brothers at odds. It also eventually puts Sam in exactly the same position as the previous episode: tied up and forced to watch a civilian die. Either the writers completely missed the repetition, or the downtime had a more profound effect than anyone imagined.

The "phone calls from the dead" were very creepy and well-done, especially with the little boy, but the rest of the episode felt a little "off". Perhaps it was the tension between the Brothers Winchester; the brothers haven't really been a solid team in the forefront of an episode since "Jus in Bello", and there was tension there as well. The conversation at the end of the episode did much to repair the damage, but the writers would be better served to let the brothers work together.

That said, I'm beginning to get very concerned about the resolution of this season arc. A lot of time was lost by the strike, and it seems impossible (with the relative lack of progression in the past couple episodes) that the writers will come up with a satisfying season finale. I maintain my long-standing prediction that Sam will save Dean by agreeing to take his place as leader of the demonic horde (at least, those still supporting him), but I also believe it will now feel rushed. The reality of a fourth season helps mitigate the disappointment, but with the actors' strike now looming, I can't help but wonder how much further the series arc (and the series itself) will be damaged.moreless

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4 1
A good pre-finale episode, enriched by two great character actors but slightly diminished by a not-so-scary monster.

8.5

"Great"

By Snape83, Jul 01, 2009 Report Abuse

Crocotta are first mentioned by Pliny, who compared them to a dog-hyena hybrid, foe both to men and dogs. Pliny also said that the offspring of a Crocotta and a Lion (Leucrota) is perfectly able to imitate the sound of the human voice. In this episode, written by Jeremy Carver, the Crocotta is a humanoid monster that uses the voices of the dead to lure its victims into traps and hence devour their souls. As a monster of the week, the Crocotta is pretty weak and there are some little inconsistencies (if the Crocotta uses the modern phone technology, how was it able to reach the toy-phone? Otherwise, if it has such powers, why bother using modern technology?) in its depiction. Nevertheless, as a storytelling device to tell Dean's desperation and fear and Sam heart-wrenching attempt to save his brother's soul, the Crocotta is perfect. And when it imitates the voice of John, the episode becomes suddenly dramatically intense and deeply emotional. And this is, in the end, the most important thing.moreless

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Interesting premise that ends up being just okay.

8.7

"Great"

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, May 06, 2009 Report Abuse

The idea of John Winchester returning, even if it was just a voice cameo, was compelling and I was fully excited to see an episode that really brought the chills, the twists and the laughs. Well, I suppose we got a little of each, but in the end, it ended up being a somewhat filler episode.

I did enjoy the plot that the monster set up for Sam and Dean.. It's clever the way he set everything up so that Dean would truly believe it was his father talking on the other line. I was secretly hoping that John would be making another appearance from Hell, but apparently, a voice cameo is all we're going to get.

The episode itself was good, but just not the high quality that this show is known for. It was just one of those episodes that exists as an interesting look into another new monster, although they did keep me on pins and needles as to whether Dean would truly find a way to save himself or not.moreless

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Crocotta.

8.5

"Great"

By Canogaparkcindy, Dec 21, 2008 Report Abuse

Finally a serious episode after Ghostfacers. They finally bring up Dean going to hell. Which is jut perfect for me. It is all really escalating to the season finale. Dean looks like he is becoming desperate. Trying to kill a man to save his soul. And now Ruby definitely can't help him. Is this the end of Supernatural. Is Sam going to carry on the legacy. We'll never know. I like how they fit in the Crocotta plot. AN unexpected plot for me. It all pieced togetehr in the end which is what I love in Supernatural episodes. This episode was amazing! 2 episodes to go.moreless

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Great Episode

9.1

"Superb"

By Shinigami124, Aug 15, 2008 Report Abuse

Man this episode was good. I liked the demon he was pretty cool. I thought the episode really knew how to keep your interest and not bore you to death like fear itself and other bad poser horror shows. So Dean tried to talk to his dad huh? i thought it was pretty interesting when he kept getting the phone calls. I liked how the guy was told that his daughter was killed by Dean, and the fight scene was pretty good too. Did this episode have some kind of message or something? about community and strength i mean it might have. I don't knowmoreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- When Sam is trying to get out of the cables binding him there is blood on his wrist. When he is fighting the crocotta there is no sign of blood. Edit
- Near the end of the episode, it is revealed that the crocotta uses the phone lines to communicate with people, yet he still managed to call a toy phone earlier in the episode. During the episode's first scene, the crocotta was also able to call Ben Waters even after Ben had ripped his phone from the phone jack. Edit
- Trivia: BustyAsianBeauties was a website previously mentioned in "Tall Tales." Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- International Airdates: Denmark: May 11, 2008 on TV3 Latin America: May 21, 2008 on Warner Channel UK: June 15, 2008 on ITV2 Australia: June 15, 2008 on TEN Norway: September 7, 2008 on TVNorge Spain: November 24, 2008 on AXN Sweden: December 7, 2008 on Kanal 5 Portugal: February 5, 2009 on RTP 2 Germany: March 16, 2009 on Premiere Film Finland: July 23, 2009 on Sub Czech Republic: April 23, 2010 on Prima COOL Slovakia: October 6, 2010 on Markiza Edit
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan is heard but not seen. Edit
Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- Dean: Pack your panties, Sammy. We're hitting the road. Edit
- Dean: Wow, man, a couple of civvies are freaked out by some ghosts. Newflash, Sam--people are supposed to be freaked out by ghosts! Edit
- Lanie: (to Sam) Since when does a phone guy drive a rental or wear a cheap suit? Edit
Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS
- Dean: Like Oprah. This refers to the talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who on her show is famous for calling people on her show Oprah to tell them they've have won something or are on international television. Edit
- Dean's Voicemail: This is Herman Munster. Leave a message. This line refers to the character Herman Munster, who was the lovable oafish father of the monster-ish family in the popular CBS series, The Munsters (1964-1966), as played by Fred Gwynne. Edit
- Dean: Just watch out for Chris Hansen. Referencing the Dateline NBC reporter who runs stings operations on sexual predators who locate their victims via the Internet. Edit