Sam and Dean Carry On, Supernatural “Fan Fiction” 

The 200^th episode is over. I’m dying to find out what everyone thinks. I like most of it but I especially worship the last nine or ten minutes of “Fan Fiction.” To me it just brings everything back to the brothers. Not just for the fans. But for Sam and Dean, too.

Confession: I may have had something in my eye for much of these ten minutes. Don’t judge. This just proves how attached I still am to the story of the Winchester brothers. Apparently that connection is never going to quit. Maybe not even when the show is over for good. It’s season ten and I can still be moved by Supernatural. I’m okay with that.

There are tons of nods to earlier seasons and earlier characters. Most significantly, there are tons of nods to what goes on outside canon. In this episode we hear about things like the subtext between the brothers (Wincest); the subtext between Dean and Cas and even Sam and Cas (Destiel and Sastiel). I think my favorite of all is the fixing of an action that caused major upset in fandom: the throwing away of the Samulet. It’s back. Sort of. Now Sam and Dean are riding around in a Baby that features a fake Samulet. I appreciate what the show is trying to do for those of us upset at the amulet’s disappearance back in season five. I’m glad the symbol of the Winchester’s brotherly love is back in some capacity. I’ll take what I can get, I guess. I still wish Sam had saved it from the trash, though. And I still wish Dean were wearing it.

As amusing as a lot of these little moments are, there are different beats in those final few minutes that I’m a fan of. Big time.

 –There’s the portion of “Single Man Tear” (I’m assuming that’s the name of the song. I’ll change it once I find out) that Musical Sam sings about his brother, Dean:

Musical Sam: “A single man tear slips down his face. He shows emotion without a trace. He hides behind a mask so strong, worried that he could be wrong. I wish that he could see the way I see him: a perfect brother…a man without sin. Cause underneath, the manly sheen, is my brother, a boy named Dean. A single man tear, a single man tear, a single man tear…”

What do we in the fandom call Jensen’s uncanny ability to let loose a single man tear? I think we call it Dean Winchester’s One Perfect Tear, right? Or is it Single Perfect Tear? Either way, love that they incorporated this aspect of Dean in song.

-The Goddess Calliope sums up the show pretty well. I think all reporters, writers, bloggers and convention-going fans can cross the “What is Supernatural” question off their lists.

Calliope: “Supernatural has everything: life, death, resurrection, redemption…but above all, family.”

The MOTW goes on to say that it isn’t some “meandering piece of genre dreck. It’s epic.” Agreed.

–The two Sams get to save the day in synch – up on stage and in the basement. What’s great about Sam these days is that he no longer needs to be redeemed. At least not in my book. It’s simply nice to see him get to be a hero without all of that other baggage that weighed him down in previous seasons. Even for a minor MOTW like this one.

-The scarecrow going boom and splatting all over the audience and the audience loving it all so much it resulted in a cheesy slow clap moment? AWESOME.

Dean (to Musical Sam/Marie): “Take a bow, Sammy.”

-Maeve the stage manager is wonderfully sassy. Love her interactions with Sam as much as I love Dean’s interactions with Marie. The two actresses (Joy Regullano and Katie Sarife) are really good. They fit right in and are able to deliver Supernatural’s witty dialogue with authority.

Maeve: “You know if you cut your hair a little, you’d make a pretty good Dean.”
Sam: “Thanks.”

HA! (And conversely, Dean had to hear Marie gush about Sam. Love that moment as well)

–Marie gives Dean the Samulet. Marie speaks for fans everywhere.

Marie: “You never should have thrown this away.”
Dean: “It never really worked. I don’t need a symbol to remind me how I feel about my brother so…”
Marie: “Just take it. Jerk.”
Dean: “Bitch.”

-The brothers agree that they need to get back on the road, doing what they do best. I guess for now, this might signal a time when it’s monsters of the week versus mythology episodes. But the mythology will be back.

–“Carry on Wayward Son” is my absolute favorite moment of the 200th episode. But before we get to that,  “Sam” and “Dean” are in the Impala.

Musical Dean: “You’re right, Sammy. Out on the road. Just the two of us.”
Musical Sam: “The two of us against the world.”
Real Sam (turns to Dean): “What she said.”

Sam utters three words there, “What she said.” But those words once again trigger more than a few single perfect tears. And they would last to the credits. I just love that those words come from Sam. They mean so much. So much.

Then the girls in the production playing characters we’ve loved for years and years sing what is in essence the theme of this awesome show. And I become a bit of a mess. Have I mentioned this yet?

Carry on my wayward son

There’ll be peace when you are done

Lay your weary head to rest

Don’t you cry no more 

Once I rose above the noise and confusion

Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion

I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high

I do so love the mention of Adam Winchester here. It lightens things up for a second. And then I go back to being a mess over this “Carry on Wayward Son” performance.

Masquerading as a man with a reason

My charade is the event of the season

And if I claim to be a wise man,

Well, it surely means that I don’t know 

Carry on my wayward son

There’ll be peace when you are done

Lay your weary head to rest

Don’t you cry no more no!

Carry on…

The action cuts from the singers to close ups of Sam and Dean and you can tell they are affected. Jensen and Jared sell this so well. You can see what the Winchesters have been through, what ordeals they’ve had to face. You can see the pain they’ve felt. But you can also see some hope. These two guys — the JJs — are gold.

-I like Sam and Dean driving off in the Impala. It’s the Winchesters against the universe, complete with fake Samulet and requisite turns to look at each other. The brothers are off on another adventure and I can’t wait to see what they’ll face next. After all, we once again hear these words in “Fan Fiction” just like we heard them in the pilot: “We have work to do.”

-And the final beat of the ten minutes that close the episode: the appearance of Chuck. OMG. I screamed. I did. I don’t mind admitting that. I screamed even though I knew there was going to be some sort of Chuck thing happening. When I talked to Rob Benedict at last week’s Supernatural 200^th Episode Fan Party, he told me he was still happy to be relevant in “Fan Fiction.” When I asked him what he meant by that, he said, “Chuck is still around. I just can’t totally talk about it yet.” And now my heart is happy at the fact that somehow, someway, Chuck has returned. Let’s hope and pray to Chuck that he pops up in another Supernatural sooner rather than later. I feel like I’m walking on air right now, I’m so happy over this development.

The only things that die in this episode are the MOTWs. There’s nothing scary about it. And it’s not meant to be. It’s supposed to be a light, fun hour of television that entertains and celebrates a program that once was this little show that could. Now it’s a character-driven, action-packed, (sometimes) scare-tastic (sometimes) meta-tastic series that inspires loyalty in its millions of fans.

And in “Fan Fiction,” the moments that resonate for me make this an episode worth watching (over and over again). Sam and Dean get to see a different perspective of their story. However, I’m super happy they didn’t get to see the second act that’s filled with robots and tentacles and spaceships and whatever else.

QUICK MOMENT OF HOTNESS
Photo Credit for below Images: Katie Yu/The CW

• Dean fixing Baby. Tight t-shirt. And then Sam sans sling joins him looking mighty spectacular. And the whole thing is set to Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown.” Hot guys. Classic Rock. Cool cars. Thank you, Show. So thankful this milestone hour of TV includes some classic rock.

A few more Random Thoughts:

-I liked how the Supernatural Pilot page typed out with Kripke’s name made up the “then” portion of the previously. Go, Kripke!

-I LOVED the retro recap of all the show’s title pages over the years. This episode definitely sends me into flashback mode.

-The recreation of the hilarious Dean/Cas scene from “The End” is pretty epic. There’s Dean trying to get some sleep in the hotel room and Cas standing and waiting at the side of the road somewhere. And the fact that it’s set to music and lyrics is even better. “I’ll just wait here, then. I’ll wait for you.” Classic.

-I wonder if we’re ever going to hear Dean do the “Jerk” “Bitch” routine with Sam this season. So far he’s done it with Crowley and now Marie, the writer, director and star who Barbra Streisand’d (sp?) this bitch known as the musical, Supernatural.

-I think Dean takes a small bow as the crowd roars at the intermission. I almost missed that. So great.

-The BM scene translation is so spot on. Both Sam and Dean think BM stands for bowel movement. This is why they are brothers. BM actually means, the boy melodrama scene.

Marie: “You know, the scene where the boys get together and they’re driving or they’re leaning against Baby. Drinking a beer, sharing their feelings. The two of them alone but together. Bonded. United.”

-There’s a Harvelle’s sign. I miss Ellen and Jo. So much.

-Writer Robbie Thompson had the risky job of trying to pay homage to the fans without being disrespectful. I think he hit the right notes. The songs are catchy and poignant. According to Robbie’s Twitter, he wrote them with Supernatural’s music men, Jay Gruska and Christopher Lennertz. Also according to Robbie’s Twitter, music from the 200th episode will be available on iTunes tomorrow.

FYI, the songs from #Supernatural: The Musical will be available on iTunes tomorrow! cc: my partners in crime… @jaygruska, @CLennertz

— Robbie Thompson (@rthompson1138) November 12, 2014

I know I missed a lot of little moments from the episode. But there are just too many to mention so I’ll just give them all a blanket shout out. Tell me your personal Moment of Goodness from “Fan Fiction” in the space below. Supernatural airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW.

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