Gods, I love this one SO MUCH. Just the idea to go so meta and bring in fan conventions into the actual show was brilliant.
Straight from the start when they park the Impala next to….more Impalas.
Dean’s disgust and astonishment at the entire idea of a SPN con is hilarious.
All the bad costumes and corny merch and themed drinks….YUP, totally happening. It’s a shame that they weren’t able to include a Castiel costume contest, because he wasn’t yet in any of the books. THAT would have been perfect.
And in return the incredulity of Barnes and Damien when they see ghosts are real and the Salt-n-Burn actually works is priceless.
I do like that Chuck tries to stand up to the Winchesters about not having any other skills and needing to publish more books. And Rob KILLED it at the neverending Q&A panel! HAHAHA – it was so painfully awkward.
It’s also a real accomplishment that the episode still manages to have a real creepy case and even a nice twist on who the bad guy is amongst all the chaos of the con.
And making the FANS save the day by salting and burning the kids’ bones was awesome. To me that was a nice nod of the head from the writers to the fans acknowledging that WE keep Sam and Dean (aka the show) alive!! And as unrealistic and fictional as it all is, I would hope that SOME real fans would be brave enough to jump into action when we finally find out that it IS all real and the world is in peril. LOL
I always applauded the choice the writers made to focus on a pair of gay partners RPG’ing Sam and Dean and the particular actors who were cast. They were a joy to watch. Not sure if the writers meant to poke fun at the mountain of slash fan fic out there at that point but I liked it.
LOVE the difference in how Sam and Dean are dealing with the RPG crowd. Dean just want to punch them all in the face for quoting his own lines and Sam trying to cooperate to get somewhere quicker in the investigation. And even Sam playing along with Becky’s good bye speech was sweet.
Underneath all the fun and obvious jokes, though, we still get a real emotional sense on how hard it is for Dean to see his life “played with” and his choices and decisions to be rolled out in front of his eyes. He likes to bury things…being made to look at it again must be extra painful for him. Especially such scene as the Asylum conversation.
But that whole situation really grounds the episode and makes it emotional and relatable. When the two RPG guys in the end tell Dean that he’s wrong and how much Sam and Dean mean to them and inspire them….that was beautiful and speaking straight for all of us fans!
I am glad they only gave us a little hint at Dean being taken aback to find out Barnes and Damien are gay. He made condescending remarks about “nice to get out of your parents basement and make some friends” but I’m glad they left it at “OH” and “Howdy partners” for the rest!
A ton of fun AND heart!
And the final twist with Becky knowing about Bela, Crowley and the Colt!! WOW. I always wondered what else Sam and Dean could have learned from reading the books that they didn’t already know.
Ask the fans!! They know more about your story than you do. HEHE. YUP, we do!