"The Rapture" Episode Recap

The "Then" recap at the beginning of the episode highlighted the two things we'd be exploring this episode, and they were biggies -- how Castiel came to be in that human vessel he wears and more about Sam's demon blood sucking.

First off, let me say that it takes way longer to watch an episode when you're pausing the TiVo every few seconds to jot down thoughts on your notepad so you don't forget anything important.

~~~~~~SPOILER ALERT~~~~~~~~

After the recap, we launch into the...uh...non-action. Dean is sitting on the end of a pier beside a peaceful lake fishing. It was such an odd image that my brain didn't really engage until Castiel suddenly popped up next to Dean and Dean realized he was dreaming. Cryptic Castiel says he wants to talk to Dean but that it's not safe to talk in Dean's head -- someone might be listening. He hands Dean a piece of paper and tells him to meet him there, now. Dean then wakes up, and we next see him and Sam picking their way through some appropriately dark and dismal building. It's seen better days, and Dean comments that, "There was a fight here." After they spot a painted symbol on the wall, they find Castiel on the floor. Only...

He's not Castiel anymore. Rather, he's Jimmy Novak from Pontiac, Illinois -- aka the person whom Castiel possessed so that he could be seen and heard by humans like Dean. And considering Jimmy has been possessed by an angel for nearly a year, he's way hungry and is eating himself silly in the next scene. Even Dean, who can put away a lot of food, says, "You mind slowing down? You're gonna give me angina."

When the boys ask him what he remembers, he says only bits and pieces. And worst of all, he doesn't remember what Castiel was going to tell Dean or where Castiel has gone. We see the first of Jimmy's flashbacks to his pre-possessed days. He has a wife and daughter, is a devout man, and falls asleep in front of the TV like just about every other man in America. Only I'm doubting that those guys wake up to find their TV freaking out, then hear a piercing noise, and fall to the floor in a seizure. At least I hope not.

As the Winchester boys are apt to do, they disagree about what to do with Jimmy. And this scene illustrates again how much the boys' viewpoints have swapped places. Dean wants to put Jimmy on a bus home to his family; Sam doesn't want to lose the only lead they have to what has happened to Castiel. Besides, he says, if they want to find out what Jimmy might not even realize he remembers, they can bet the demons do too.

Next, we see Sam standing in the motel room with Jimmy asleep in one bed and Dean asleep in the other. He sneaks outside and takes a hit of demon blood from a flask. Oh, no! My Sammy's a demon blood junkie! :( And he lets Jimmy escape while he's doing it.

Jimmy has made it to the bus, and we see another flashback. This time, it's the radio that is going all super-static. When Jimmy's wife, Amelia, arrives home and finds Jimmy with his arm in a pot of boiling water, she freaks. But when he pulls his arm free of the water, it's uninjured and he says Castiel told him to do it to prove his faith. Of course, Amelia just thinks he's had a mental break, which I really don't understand considering the evidence. I mean, how could she explain the injured arm pulled from the boiling water?

Back in the present, the boys are driving down the road, not talking. When Anna pops into the back seat and says "hi", the boys are understandably freaked and the Impala weaves across the road before Dean shoots off a comment about her calling ahead, and then another about her looking good. Ah, Dean being Dean. But the light moment is short-lived when she reveals that Cas has been dragged back to Heaven because he evidently really ticked someone off. At this point, I started to worry that this might be the end of Cas and very nearly yelled "No!" at the TV. I love his character and Misha's portrayal of him.

While I wanted to see the return of Castiel (and in Misha's form), I did hurt for what Jimmy has given up. It's been nearly a year since he's seen Amelia and their daughter, Claire. When he arrives home, he watches them through the window before going to the door and ringing the doorbell. How sad is it to have to ring the doorbell of your own home? While standing there, we see another flashback in which Amelia tells him to take his pills because she obviously thinks he's lost touch with reality, and if he doesn't she's doing to take Claire and leave. Back in the present, he decides to tell Amelia he's been away at a psych clinic rather than ruin his return by telling her the truth. They decide to take it in small steps, starting with a meal of sandwiches over which he says he will not be saying grace.

But the peace is short-lived. A friend from before he left comes by, and Jimmy is glad to see him. While Amelia goes to get the friend a beer, he leads Jimmy into another room. Wait for it...yep, the friend isn't the friend anymore. He's possessed by a demon who says he's going to kill Claire. When Amelia returns to the room, she thinks Jimmy is still crazy because he's beating his friend, saying he's a demon, and telling her to run. Amelia doesn't believe until the friend grabs Claire and brings a knife to her throat, the guy's wife (also possessed) joins the party, and the Winchester boys arrive just in time to save the day. We see further proof that something is wiggy with Sam because he's too weak to exorcise a lower demon when he previously could take on the likes of Alastair. When Dean later asks him about it and says he's scaring him, Sam admits that he's scaring himself.

The boys convince Jimmy that his family will only be safe if he leaves them behind -- forever. Poor Jimmy, he's facing a Winchester fate of a never-ending battle and life on the road. But wait! There's 20 minutes of the episode left. Jimmy gets a call, supposedly from Amelia. Alas, she's now possessed by a demon too, and the Impala gets turned around so Jimmy can save his wife and daughter. Only, the demon Amelia shoots him in the gut and tells her goons to kill Claire. This time, it's Castiel who shows up just in time, in Claire's body, and takes care of the baddies. A dying Jimmy begs Castiel to take him and let his daughter be because he knows what's in store for her if Cas stays in her vessel. Cas takes him up on his offer, and poor Jimmy's short return to his normal life and family comes to an end. I was glad to have Cas back, but I was sad for Jimmy and his family.

When Dean asks Cas what he wanted to tell him, we learn that the Cas we have now is much more like the version we saw when we first appeared to Dean in human form and not the Cas of recent episodes. He says he learned his lesson while whe was away. "I serve Heaven, not man, and certainly not you." Ouch! This tidbit left me with questions: Did he mean what he said? If so, what did they do to him to change his tune? And if not, when will we find that out? Will we see Castiel fall? That's what I had been expecting before the end of the season, but Kripke and company threw me a curve ball.

The jam-packed episode isn't finished yet though. Bobby calls and tells Sam that he and Dean need to get to this house pronto.

Sam: "What's going on?"
Bobby: "The apocalypse, genius. Now get your asses over here."

When they arrive, Sam asks what the big demon problem is as he walks into a metal cell (Is this the spirit-proof room?). Bobby, with a sad but determined look on his face, says, "You are. This is for your own good," and locks him inside as Dean watches. I have to admit I didn't see this coming until Sam walked in that room. This, combined with the previews of coming episodes, drives an even bigger wedge between Sam and Dean, and I'm afraid of what's to come. I hope we don't have a fifth season with them on opposite sides, coming together only at the end. That would blow.

So, what are your thoughts about "The Rapture?" How do you think this season will end?

No More Blues Brothers

Not too long ago, it occurred to me how comfortable the boys have become in suits. And that made me think of how the episodes now compare to previous seasons. Let us count the ways the Winchester Brothers have changed (or not) in four years...

The Suits

Remember in "Phantom Traveler," they came out of a shop looking like the Blues Brothers in cheap black suits? Dean complained about that, and walked like the whole thing itched.

Contrast that with "Jump the Shark," when the bartender took him for a cop or fed right from the get-go. Both boys have a couple of suits stuffed in their duffels now, and not only don't hesitate to pull them out for a pretext, but wear them as if they were born to do so.



Yum.

Their pretexting (cover stories) have gotten slicker, though Dean does still like to use the rocker names, and they even have backup for their covers (ref. Bobby in "Sex and Violence" with his wall of agency phones).



The brotherly comfort level has changed, too, but it's come full circle. In season one they had the same goal but different motivations. They butted heads because of it, and their methods often grated on each other. They held things back from each other, too, especially after Dad died.

When Dean saved Sammy and consigned himself to hell, they came together in a new way. They relied on each other more, and even though it wasn't all smooth sailing, they were closer to partners (at least at times) than they ever had been before.

But now they've come to the joining of the mobius strip (like "full circle" but twisted away from how it started), and they're once again keeping things from each other, with different motivations taking them toward the same goal.

Whew. Got dark for a moment there. Let's lighten it up.

Every Season Has Its...

Ghost Episode(s)
Spirits manifest in different ways in the Supernatural universe. Ghosts are a classic staple, and they use them extensively.

Season 1: A dead boy gets revenge from his watery grave, a dead woman gets revenge from reflective surfaces, a dead priest gets revenge through his hook... And just to be a little different, a dead mother gets revenge on a poltergeist who dares to go after her sons.

Season 2: The ghost was good! The drug addict one, anyway. The HH Wells one was the epitome of bad. *shudder* The little girl ghost was just as vengeful/angry as any have been, but we got to see her as a normal person, and the resolution in that episode didn't come, for once, from the boys. (Aside: That ep provided one of my all-time favorite quotes, "Dude! You're not gonna poke her with a stick!" and the drunken exchange.) They took things even further with a ghost who didn't know she was a ghost, a bunch of celebrity ghosts being controlled by a vengeful writer, and one applying her own brand of justice to prison inmates in death as she had in life.

Whew. I never realized just how hard they ply the revenge theme in this show!

Truncated Season 3 only hit the ghost episodes twice, with a girl who wasn't actually dead and a lonely, creepy guy who was incidental to the real purpose of the show: bringing back the Ghostfacers!

By Season 4, they've really run out the genre. We saw some spirits conjured by Lilith (out for revenge) and the "Whoops! We're not really ghosts!" episode, also dealing with revenge. There were 3 other ghost episodes so far this season, but I've rattled on long enough. I'm kind of shocked there were so many, and used in so many different ways. Kudos to the writers for their creativity.


Every Season Also Has Its...

Faith Episode

Imagined dialogue in the writer's room while breaking episodes:


Season one: "Let's explore how ephemeral yet powerful faith can be, especially in desperate circumstances."

Season two: "Faith was so much fun last year, we should explore it again. Dean is a non-believer, but Sam believes wholeheartedly. Won't it be cool if they both have good reason to feel the way they do, and it's the same reason?"

Season three: "Dean's going to hell and we're sitting on our asses with this strike. Let's just hold off until season 4."

Season four: "Eh, what the hell. Let's stop pussyfootin' and just go all the way."



Then there's the...

Flashback or Alternate Reality Episode

1.18, Wee!Dean rebels against his tedious, self-sacrificing role taking care of Sammy, and almost lets him get taken by a striga.

Michael: You said you're a big brother?
Dean Winchester: Yeah.
Michael: You'd take care of your little brother? You'd do anything for him?
Dean Winchester: [in a very heartfelt way] Yeah, I would.

2.20, A djinn gives Dean everything he thinks he wants, but it turns out to be...flawed.

Dean Winchester: Bitch.
Sam Winchester: What're you calling me a bitch for?

3.8, more Dean taking care of Sam, this time giving him girl presents and getting his necklace in return--something he almost never takes off.

Dean Winchester: Remember that wreath dad brought home that one year?
Sam Winchester: You mean the one he stole from, like, a liquor store?
Dean Winchester: Yeah, it was a bunch of empty beer cans.
[laughs]
Dean Winchester: That thing was great.

Season 4 goes all out, with TWO flashback episodes AND an alternate reality:

4.3, in which Our Hero learns his mother was a Hunter.

Young Mary Winchester: I want a family. I want to be safe... You know what the worst thing is I can think of, the very worst thing? It's for my children raised into this like I was.

4.13, in which Our Other Hero recalls high school and kicks some bully ass.



and finally, 4.17, where they put Sam in a snug, short-sleeved polo shirt and crammed his gigantic bulk into a cubicle a quarter of the size of a normal one, and...

I'm sorry, I don't remember anything else.



This is getting really super long, so let me rush through my other thoughts.

Meta Episode

How much fun are "Hollywood Babylon" and "The Monster at the End of this Book"? The links will take you to the lists on the Supernatural Wiki of all the little self-referential things they tucked into the scripts.

You Think You Know All About X, But...Episode

Some redundancy here, but we have:

"The Benders" — "Dude, they're just people."

"The Usual Suspects" — Ghost who's actually being helpful

"Roadkill" — Ghost who doesn't know it

"Sin City" — Demons are actually kinda a lot like humans

"Lazarus Rising" — ANGELS, baby!

"Wishful Thinking" — Existential teddy bear

"Jump the Shark" — Ghouls. Whoa.

How Dare They Introduce Women Episodes

Cassie — everyone hated her (well, I didn't, but I seem to be the only one)

Jo — everyone hated her (probably wouldn't have if we'd been told she was a little sister type, which is how it came out, instead of love interest)

Ruby — everyone hated her (until we got a new Ruby, then everyone loved Katie better)

Bela — see Monday's post

I had intentions of talking about growth (Jared got...what's a word for "bigger than gigantic"?...and became a tremendous actor along the way; Bobby's influence on their lives increased; etc.) and the things that have remained constant (John's influence on their lives, Dean's beauty and heartbreaking pain, etc.), but obviously, I've gone on way too long already. So I'll just leave you with something new at YouTube.

Feel free to add stuff in the comments that I missed, or correct me if you think I'm wrong!

In Defense of Bela

SPN is, deservedly, known for its masculine characters (Dean and Sam, obviously, and John, who continues to shape the boys' lives and the show far beyond the eps Jeffrey Dean Morgan actually appeared in; Bobby; Castiel). But the writers also give us recurring female roles. In Season 2, we got Jo and Ellen. In Season 3, we get the juxtaposed Ruby--a demon who, strangely enough, wants to help and has most of her scenes with Sam--and Bela Talbot, a human...an exploitative thief who has absolutely no interest in helping anyone but herself (although that doesn't stop her from asking the brothers' assistance) and has most of her scenes with Dean. For someone who only appeared in a half dozen episodes, Bela certainly got a strong fan reaction--much of it negative as far as I can tell. Several reviewers would devote whole paragraphs of their recap to snipe about her accent or what she was wearing; fans I've met at conventions turned nearly red-faced in their enthusiastic renumerations of why they didn't like her; some viewers were actually snoopy dancing in forums when Bela finally died in "Time Is On My Side." And I have to say, I don't get it. I actually liked Bela.

Okay, don't throw rotting produce at me. I know that Bela actively worked against our guys on more than one occasion and shot Sammy and snitched to Gordon on them. I mean, I'm not suggesting we nominate her for sainthood (which would be a waste of time anyway, since I think people who make deals with demons are automatically disqualified.) But I think she added a lot to the show.


A breath of fresh air




Bela was a thief ("a great thief") seemingly unencumbered with morals. And I don't know if you've noticed, but a lot of the people on Show are seriously encumbered. They're bogged down by curses, regrets, vengeance, angst. Oh dear heavens, the angst. You know I love Sam and Dean (especially Dean!) but between the two of them, they have enough baggage to put Louis Vuitton out of business. We began Season 2 with John's death and ended Season 2 with Sam's, so we came into Season 3 with a lot of heavy.* Bela's breezy unrepentance was actually kind of charming in the fun love-to-hate her way.

Maybe I was predisposed to like her because I thought that "Bad Day at Black Rock" (in which she was introduced) was a vastly entertaining episode that had good follow through with the past (Gordon in prison continuing to seek Sam's death) as well as forward momentum (setting up both Bela's and Gordon's return spots). Plus we got Bobby (calling Dean an ijit) and a slew of laugh out loud pratfalls and one-liners (Sam cracked me up as the world's tallest preschooler pouting, "I lost my shoe" but Dean's "I'm Batman" was probably my favorite.)

One criticism I've heard is that Bela's character, the "sophisticated" thief, is a bit of a cliche. And I'll admit, there was a similar character (Gwen) who guest starred a couple of times on Angel and Bela would probaly slip right into the ensemble of thieves and con artists over at TNT's "Leverage" (whose great cast includes Aldis Hodge, better known to the Winchesters as Jake Talley). Did the writers play off of a commonly established stereotype? Sure! But perhaps you've heard of the Chosen One, the Father Figure, the Trickster, the religious zealot? Kripke and Co. frequently borrow plot elements, folklore, familiar-feeling settings and archetypes. But then they weave it together and make their own show--in fact, I've argued before that their use of stuff already in our collective social psyche adds more oomph.

I also, personally, thought that the actress had good chemistry with Jensen Ackles. (I've always felt that, as a romantic, I should have been more affected by the season 1 ep where we meet Cassie, who was supposedly so much his True Love that he told her the family secret! Yet I got far more invested in his scenes with Lisa in season 3's "The Kids Are Alright" or even his brief interactions with Amy Acker's single mom in early 'sode "Dead in the Water.) When Dean breaks into Bela's loft to take back the rabbit's foot, she seems almost appreciative of that. And of him. (Some found her to be a little smirky and smug, but, um have you met Dean? Love him dearly, but argue that in this respect, Bela's a pretty well-matched opponent.) If she and Dean don't respect each other's professions (in light of Gordon's character, her comment about hunters being obsessed sociopaths wasn't completely off the mark) they seemed to respect each other's capabilities.

And Bela was capable.

I've heard people complain that there aren't strong or well-written women on the show. (Overall, I disagree, but we'll save that for another post). Bela had flaws--and, as it turned out, a relevant backstory--but she was strong, smart, sexy and occasionally got the drop on our boys. Honking her horn as she drove off with their lotto tickets and keeping the gun with the wine gave her style, and set her apart from the more frequent worlds of small town greasy spoon diners we normally see through the Winchesters' eyes. Even Bobby seemed to feel some grudging respect for her, if not affection. I wonder if people would have been more forgiving of her actions if they'd known sooner that she was a desperate woman looking for a way to break her deal with Lilith. Yes, she told Gordon where the boys were (although, he tracked her down and threatened to kill her), she shot Sam (in the shoulder. "I can aim.") and stole the Colt (not that it always worked the way it was supposed to, anyway). But she was trying to avoid a very specific and gruesome fate--the fact that she couldn't only added to the gravity and nail-biting tension of late Season 4, as we got closer and closer to Dean's own, er, expiration date.

Personally, I find it impressive that the writers crafted a character who, while bantering with Dean, could break the looming tension, then turn write around and use the same character's impending doom to heighten it! Besides, she also helped save Bobby in "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and she gave the boys info on Gordon. She wasn't all bad. She wasn't all good. She had some internal conflict, even if we weren't let in on it until late in the game, and her external conflict (scenes that pitted her against the boys) were often entertaining to watch.

Say what you will, I'll take Bela and Dean sizing each other up over watching someone get beat up/slice/tortured for ten minutes any day! (No, seriously, say what you will...I'm curious? Did you like her? Cheer when she left the show? Or was she so forgettable that you read this whole post thinking 'Bela who'? Share your opinion--and we know you have one--in the comments)





* Of course, when I watched Season 3, Season 4 did not yet exist. In retrospect, some of last year's "heavy" seems like cheeful children's programming...

Coming this week

Oh, do we have good things in store for you this week!

Monday -- Tanya's post is called "In Defense of Bela." Hmm, I bet our readers have interesting comments on this one.

Wednesday -- Natalie does a four-season comparison as we get closer to the end of the fourth season.

Friday -- Trish recaps and shares her thoughts on this week's episode, "The Rapture."

"Jump the Shark" episode recap

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!!!!!



Wellll, just GREAT. Tonight’s the night to do the recap and my TIVO decided the first 6 minutes weren’t IMPORTANT!!!! Actually, I think it’s the network. 6 minuters of recorded static. Still, GRRRR. Anyway, I came in when Dean pulled a gun on the kid, John’s son, under the table.

Wow, Dean is defensive. Poor Dean. What a shock to hear that John took such interest in this kid, that he taught him to drive the Impala, that he took him to a baseball game. The kid (still don’t know his name) got the normal life Sam and Dean never did.

And now Sam and Dean have to help him find his mom.

What terribly Photoshopped pictures! It looks like John still had a relationship with this boy’s mother. Is that why the kid called John for help? How much younger is this boy than our boys? If John passed through the town in 1990, he’s about 9 years younger than Sam. So John didn’t learn about him until Sam was in college. (I’m thinking about Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s own secret baby, too.)

ALWAYS with the scissors, Dean! But Sam would have never fit in that vent. (According to my brother, all that crawling around would be impossible.) And ew!!! All that blood and bits. Is this a shapeshifter?

Now it’s time to take the kid’s innocence. Sam insists the kid needs to know. He’s a bit trusting, though, taking it all in, accepting. This should have been a clue to me. Hey, there’s the journal. Haven’t seen that in awhile.

Ah, Adam. That’s his name. I should have remembered from the previews. And he’s pre-med, smart like Sam.

Sam needs to trim those 70s sideburns, do ya think? And stop pointing the gun at Adam when he should be teaching gun safety?



Dean’s touring the mausoleum, but I don’t think I know why. Is this a new body snatching or is he looking into John’s old case? Blast you, local CW! Love the mortician’s line: “Have you thought about where you’d like to spend eternity?”
And Dean’s response: “All the damn time.”

I bet.

So, graverobbers took corpses and opened them up. YUM.

So Dean goes into a bar and gives off a law and order vibe. There’s a joke.



It seems Joe the bartender worked the missing body case back in the day, and assured the locals they’d taken care of the culprit. Hm. And now the body-snatching creature wants Adam? And Sam is willing to use Adam as bait. Remember when Sam didn’t want to use the kid as bait in “Something Wicked This Way Comes?”

Sam is way hot shooting a gun, and also smiling proudly. Looks like he enjoys being the big brother for a change, having someone looking up to him the way he looked up to Dean.

Wow, Sam is telling the kid to cut off his life from friends, just like Dean told him in Season One, the first shapeshifter episode. Dean calls him on being like Dad, but Sam understands John’s attitude, now. He thinks whatever’s coming may be after revenge, but other creatures are out there who will want revenge against John and whoever John loved. Adam is meat if he’s not trained. Dean declares it’s too late for him and Sam, but Adam still has a chance to be normal. The brothers each wonder if the other is jealous of Adam’s innocence.



Here goes Dean, crawling through another tunnel. It’s gotta be a shapeshifter. Oh, YUCK, Sloppy Joe. Classic Dean.

And now, poor Dean, trapped in a crypt. I’m feeling a little breathless here. And of course he has to check out the coffin, which contains a blonde woman.

Hey, Mama’s home, and has gotten into the house that Sam thought he’d secured. Sam tries to drag the kid away from what he’s sure is not human. The kid gets the gun from Sam and his expression changes from confusion to wicked glee when he tells Sam he knows she’s not human, and plows the butt of the gun into Sam’s face, just as Dean opens another coffin to reveal the dead and mutilated body of….Adam.

Whoa. I bow to Kripke. Did NOT see that coming. (And I know I said that in my last review, but DAMN.)

And now Dean is desperate to get to Sam, who was so trusting with this kid.

What are these creatures, and what are they going to do to Sam? Hey, at least he’s not pinned to the wall.

Ah, ghouls. That’s new and unexpected.

Okay, I’m a bit jealous of the mama biting on Sam’s ear.

So Sam and Dean didn’t get the ghouls because of the fresh kills. Ghouls are usually scavengers, and they take on the forms of the last thing they ate, as well as thoughts and memories. “We are what we eat,” Mama Ghoul says.

I’m GROSSING out, the way they’re tasting Sam. Apparently John killed their daddy, who never hurt anyone alive (just ate dead bodies) but why did they wait so long to get back at him? It took 20 years to figure out revenge?

OMG, Sam is bleeding out! And what scars he’s going to have….all kinds. Dean busts out of the crypt (that has a stained glass ceiling? But is underground?) Why didn’t Dean shoot the kid in the head as soon as he was done with Mama Ghoul? That’s unlike him. Maybe if he’d aimed, and hesitated because he’d be killing his brother’s likeness, but no. He doesn’t even look at Adam, instead going straight for Sam, only to be attacked from behind. Dean comes out on top, but did go a little overboard on the beating in the head of the Adam ghoul. Ick. Why don’t they put tourniquets on Sam?

So the boys stand once again at a funeral pyre. What does Dean mean about Adam going out like a hunter? Just because the kid was killed by a ghoul doesn’t mean anything, right? Dean points out that Sam is more like John than Dean will ever be. Sam takes that as a compliment (!!) and Dean tells him to take it however he wants it. I don’t think Dean meant it as such.

Trish is here with me, and we’re puzzling over the purpose of this episode. What was the point? How did it move the story forward? Just to redeem John’s decisions to make his sons into hunters so they could defend themselves?

The dh asked why we’re surprised John had only one son we don’t know about. But in “Home,” John still wore his wedding ring. Being involved with a man like that would be weird, right?

So what do you think? Was this an important episode? Did it teach us anything new? Is it one you’ll watch over and over?

Urban Legend Up Close: Bloody Mary

As urban legends go, Bloody Mary has always been particularly scary to me, which is why episode five of Supernatural really freaked me out! I remember first hearing about Mary at a slumber party in sixth grade. My girlfriends dared each other to go into the dark bathroom and summon her. When it came my turn I flat out refused, persuading them to play Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board instead.

Strangely, although no one knows Bloody Mary’s true origins, this terrifying test of courage among teens has gone on for generations. The rules may vary, but it generally goes like this. Step into a darkened bathroom, heart hammering, hands trembling, light one candle, look into the mirror and say Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, while you turn yourself around and when you stop, and look back at your reflection, pray like crazy she’s not there to claw your eyes out.

(Sheesh, I have the heebies just writing this!)

Of course, there are variations to the incantation and the consequences. On SPN the victims’ eyes explode and bleed out. Others think Mary will drive you insane, appear behind you and claw your face or leap from the mirror and yank you in with her.

Why a mirror? Well, many believe mirrors are portals to the spirit world. In fact, some cultures will cover the mirrors in a home where someone has died so the soul can't get confused and become trapped in the looking glass. Makes you wonder what, er, make that who, is on the other side, doesn’t it?

Speaking of who…who’s Mary? There again the folklore is fickle. Some believe she’s a vengeful witch, others think she’s a terribly scarred woman who died in a car crash and a few call out “Hell Mary” to summon the devil himself. However, the majority seem to think she’s either Mary Worth, a child murderess, who can be summoned by saying, “I believe in Mary Worth,” or she’s actually Queen Mary I who had two “phantom” pregnancies and earned her nickname, Bloody Mary, by persecuting Protestants and can be called by taunting her with, “I have your children” or “I killed your baby.”

Whatever you believe, the question is, will you summon Mary? Or have you already?

As for me, in the interest of this article I thought long and hard about facing my fear. I even went into my dark bathroom, stared at myself in the mirror and whispered “Bloody Mary” once in my head. That’s as far as I got….

Fan Interview: Author Anne Mallory

The lovely and talented Anne Mallory and I have been friends since 2003, the year we both (along with MJ) were finalists in the same writing contest. She has gone on to wonderful things, including publishing seven historical romance novels and finaling in the prestigious RITA contest this year. She is also a big Supernatural fangirl too, so I decided to talk to her about her love of the Winchesters. (BTW, that's me, left, with Anne, right, at a conference in San Francisco last summer.)

Q. Have you been a fan of Supernatural from the beginning? If not, how did you find the show and when?

A. I found the show about halfway through Season One when we were in London of all places. They were re-running the first episodes, three in a row, and we kept catching them. We looked the show up when we got back to the States and have watched it ever since.

Q. Dean Girl or Sammy Girl?

A. Dean girl. All the way.

Q. What have you thought of this season so far? What do you think of the introduction of angels to the storyline?

A. I think it's interesting. I had wondered where they were going to go after last season, and they've really opened up the world of the show even more. There's some nice dread with what they've hinted at for Dean and whether being on the Angels' side is going to be a positive thing for him. I love how they've switched up the brothers and the theology aspects as well throughout the series.

Q. What is your favorite episode(s)?

A. There are so many great ones, but one that sticks out is the one with mini-Dean. Season three - The Kids are Alright.

Q. What about the show makes you a fan?

A. The relationship between the brothers and the witty banter. Great writing and great chemistry.

Q. To you, what has been the scariest bad guy/urban legend the boys have encountered?

A. The Season One episodes were the most suspenseful, I think. Followed by Season Two. They have gone more to developing overriding arcs than the monster-of-the-week types. But even when they do monster-of-the-week eps now, they still don't do the same edge-of-your-seat, peeking-through-your-fingers, holy-crap-I-can't-watch suspense, I don't think. I remember the painting one making me peek through my fingers. The most powerful bad guy has probably been the trickster, but not the scariest. The guy who took parts to make himself immortal was pretty creepy. Wow, it's kind of hard to choose!

Thanks so much for being with us today, Anne. You'll have to let us know what you think of the remainder of the season and what you think Kripke and company have in store for Season Five.

For everyone else, has something Anne said ring particularly true for you? What do you think has been the creepiest urban legend or bad guy?