Line #26 Recap/SupernaturalS01E17HellHouse


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2	Previous: Recap/SupernaturalS01E16Shadow\
3	Next: Recap/SupernaturalS01E18SomethingWicked]
4
5	'''[[Recap/{{Supernatural}} Recap]] of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''''\
6	'''Season 1, Episode 17:'''
7
8	!Hell House
9	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Hell_House1_6797.jpg]]
10	[[caption-width-right:320:Of all the things we hunted, how many existed just because people believed in them?]]
11
12	->'''Dean:''' People believe in SantaClaus. How come I'm not gettin' hooked up every Christmas?
13	->'''Sam:''' [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments 'Cause you're a bad person]].
14
15	Written by Trey Callaway.
16
17	Directed by Chris Long.
18
19	Airdate: March 30, 2006.
20
21	Sam and Dean run into two amateur paranormal investigators while investigating a haunted house in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richardson%2C_Texas Richardson, Texas,]] they discovered on a website.
22	------------
23
24	The brothers get a tip about a cabin haunted by a ghost named Mordechai Murdoch in Richardson, Texas from [[http://www.hellhoundslair.com/ Hell Hound's Lair]], a website run by amateur paranormal investigators [[Characters/SupernaturalGhostfacers Ed and Harry]], but when they investigate, they realize that the supernatural creature described on the website isn't a ghost but is a [[Characters/SupernaturalMonstersAndSupernaturalBeings Tulpa]] that has been [[{{Tulpa}} brought into being by the belief]] of everyone who reads the site. They try to manipulate the website to give the Tulpa a weakness, but the website server crashes before it can come into effect and the brothers are forced to burn the house to stop the creature and save the hapless Ed and Harry. Dean and Sam are also embroiled in an escalating prank war throughout the episode, which ends when they both prank Ed and Harry instead and call a truce.
25
26	!!Body count:
27	For this episode = 1 human.
28
29	For the series so far = At least 133 humans; 9 ghosts; 1 god; 1 rawhead; 1 shapeshifter; 1 wendigo.
30
31	----
32	!Tropes appearing in this episode:
33
34	* BigBad: Mordechai Murdoch, a [[YourMindMakesItReal Tulpa]] created from a fake history.
35	* BreatherEpisode: This episode is more comedy-centered, right after the previous WhamEpisode.
36	* BurgerFool: One of the teenagers who saw the girl hanging from the rafters in the cabin also works at the Rodeo Drive-In and is in uniform, complete with hat, when interviewed.
37	* ChekhovsGun: Dean blasts "Fire of Unknown Origin" by Music/BlueOysterCult when he puts the spoon in sleeping Sam's mouth.
38	* ContinuityNod: Sam still thinks [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E16Shadow letting Dad leave alone was a bad idea]].
39	* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority:
40	-->'''Dean:''' You know, I hate to agree with authority figures of any kind...but the cops may be right about this one.
41	* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: Sigils + concentrated thoughts of hundreds of websurfers = Mordechai the meme-ghost.
42	* ContinuityNod: We again see Sam's [[http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-laptops Dell Inspiron]] laptop sporting the logo for [[http://covebike.com/ Cove Bikes]]. The laptop was previously seen in [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E07HookMan "Hook Man" (S01, E07)]], [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E10Asylum "Asylum" (S01, E10)]], and [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E12Faith "Faith" (S01, E12)]].
43	* CreepyBasement: The root cellar.
44	-->'''Teenage guy:''' Oh look, it's the evil root cellar. You know, where Satan cans all his vegetables.
45	* CreepyCrosses: Drawn on the walls of the cabin [[FauxSymbolism to give the impression]] of [[HollywoodSatanism devil worship]].
46	-->'''Dean:''' ''[whistling]'' Looks like Old Man Murdoch was a bit of a [[GenericGraffiti tagger]] during his time.
47	-->'''Sam:''' And after his time too. That reverse cross has been used by Satanists for centuries, but this sigil of sulfur didn't show up in San Francisco until the 60s.
48	-->'''Dean:''' That is exactly why [[TheSmartGuy you never get laid]].
49	* DeadlyPrank: The Hell House itself: two teenagers inadvertently create a Tulpa that kills a girl.
50	* ElectromagneticGhosts:
51	** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when Dean finds that the power lines and the transformer nearby make the EMF readings unreliable.
52	** Later a ParodiedTrope, when Ed and Harry are excited about the strong EMF readings caused by the power lines.
53	* EnvironmentalSymbolism: The [[TheWildWest Western-themed]] motel and drive-in emphasize the Winchesters' roles as gunslingers who are not bound by authority.
54	* EscalatingWar: Of the prank variety detailed below.
55	** Dean puts a plastic spoon in Sam's mouth [[HeavySleeper while he is asleep]], takes a photo, then turns the music on really loud, waking Sam up and startling him.
56	** Sam turns the car radio's volume all the way up, startling Dean with a Latin music song.
57	** Dean puts [[InconvenientItch itching powder]] in Sam's underwear while he is in the shower.
58	** Sam [[StickySituation glues]] Dean's hand to a beer bottle.
59	** Sam calls Ed and Harry, [[ModelScam pretending to be a producer]] offering them a movie.
60	** Dean puts [[Film/TheGodfather a dead fish]] in the back seat of Ed and Harry's car.
61	* {{Foil}}: Ed and Harry for Sam and Dean.
62	* HauntedHouse: The abandoned cabin.
63	-->'''Dean:''' So much for curb appeal.
64	* LocalHangout: Rodeo Drive-In, where they find the teenagers in Richardson, Texas.
65	* ModestyTowel: Sam and [[{{Fanservice}} his nice abs]].
66	* MonsterMisogyny: The spirit haunting the cabin is originally described as only killing girls, though in a variation on the trope it's implied to not be out of a hatred of women, but because he (and by extension the ghost) is insane and the ghost still thinks he's "mercy-killing" his starving daughters.
67	* NewMediaAreEvil: Or, at least, the internet is unreliable.
68	-->'''Dean:''' Most of those websites wouldn't know a ghost if it bit 'em in the persqueeter.
69	* NoodleIncident: Dean mentions putting Nair in Sam's shampoo bottle as part of a prank war when they were younger.
70	* OccultDetective: Ed and Harry are pretty much what we'd expect Sam and Dean to be like in RealLife, effectively putting one big {{lampshade}} on the entire premise of the show.
71	* PaterFamilicide: The original explanation for why Mordechai Murdoch's spirit was trapped in the cabin was that he was unable to feed his six daughters during the Depression and so killed them all before killing himself.
72	* ThePowerOfCreation: The {{Tulpa}} is born from the imagination of some bored teenagers.
73	%%* ThePrankster: Both Dean and Sam.
74	* RashomonStyle: The teenagers describing what happened in the cabin to Sam and Dean.
75	* RightBehindMe: Of a particularly grisly form with a body hanging from the rafters.
76	-->'''Teenage guy:''' It's just a basement full of skank-filled jars in some crap farmhouse. I don't see anything scary. Do you? ''[other teens look horrified at something behind him]'' What? What is it? ''[turns around and screams]''
77	* ScareDare: Jill has to get a jar from Mordechai's cellar as part of a game of Truth or Dare.
78	* SchmuckBait:
79	** Dean dares and then double dares Sam to drink the contents of one of the cans in the cellar, but Sam doesn't go for it.
80	** Harry and Ed do go for the story about Mordechai shooting himself with a .45.
81	* ShirtlessScene: Sam in a towel out of the shower.
82	* ShoutOut:
83	** Dean recognizes one of the symbols in the cabin as being the Music/BlueOysterCult logo.
84	** Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler are references to the characters Winston Zeddemore and Egon Spengler from ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}''.
85	** When Harry wants to turn back, Ed asks him, "Would [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edward John Edward]] go?"
86	** When Harry and Ed see the Winchesters run out of the cabin followed by Mordechai they yell:
87	-->'''Ed:''' Sweet Lord...
88	-->'''Harry:''' ...[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings of the rings]]. RUN!
89	** One of the bumper stickers on Ed and Harry's trailer says "[[Film/{{Poltergeist\|1982}} Step into the Light Carol Anne]]".
90	** When facing Mordechai, Ed yells, "[[Film/TheExorcist The power of Christ compels you]]."
91	** "WWBD? What would [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] do?"
92	* StonersAreFunny: Ed gets the giggles from smoking pot.
93	* TelevisionGeography: Richardson, Texas is a rather rich and developed area, right next to Dallas. Not the small podunk town that has only a small fast food joint to hang out in or a small farm cabin in which could be a haunted house. Sam and Dean would have had to go to clubs in downtown Dallas or to major hangouts to talk with teenagers in the area. Nor is I-35, north of Dallas, a small two-lane highway, but instead a major highway all the way to the Oklahoma border.
94	* WhatWouldXDo: "What would [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] do?"
95	** "But, Ed, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments she's stronger than me.]]"
96	* WhoYouGonnaCall: Dean even {{Lampshades}} this by yelling it out.
97	* YouCanNotKillAnIdea:

Context Recap / SupernaturalS01E17HellHouse