Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / Supernatural S 08 E 11 LARP And The Real Girl

Go To

Recap of Supernatural
Season 8, Episode 11

LARP And The Real Girl

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/see_yo--supernatural--_5564.jpg
"Smell you later, bitches." —Charlie

"Now you're here, and if you guys are here, monsters are here. Why do I have such bad luck? What am I, some kind of monster magnet? [Beat] Is there such a thing as a monster magnet?"
Charlie [to Dean and Sam]

Written by Robbie Thompson.

Directed by Jeannot Szwarc.

Air Date: January 23, 2013.

Garth sends the brothers to Farmington Hills, Michigan, to investigate the death of Ed Nelson, who was ripped limb from limb in his locked bedroom. They discover that Ed was a LARPer in a game called Moondoor. Ed's friend and fellow LARPer, Lance Jacobson, dies in police interrogation after a tree-shaped mark appears on his arm. Dean and Sam research the Moondoor website, and find that the Queen of Moondoor is none other than Charlie Bradbury.

Dean and Sam find Charlie, and she agrees to canvass the other LARPers with Dean, once he changes into a more appropriate costume. Sam goes to the tech tent to research other accidents that happened to Moondoor LARPers, including one player being hobbled and another beaten up by his own mace.

Body Count:

For this episode = 2 humans.

For the series so far = At least 855 humans (of which 6 were witches), 121 demons, 59 angels, 48 ghosts, 43 vampires, 36 Jefferson Starships, 19 zombies, 19 gods, 9 hellhounds, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 shapeshifters, 5 werewolves, 4 ghouls, 4 Leviathan, 3 djinn, 3 dogs, 2 Amazons, 2 arachnes, 2 kitsunes, 2 rugarus, 2 vetalas, 1 crocotta, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 Khan worm, 1 lamia, the Mother of All, 1 okami, 1 phoenix, 1 Purgatory creature, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 reaper, 1 shojo, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 wendigo, 1 whore of Babylon, and 1 wraith.

Tropes

  • Actor Allusion: Some of the guys in the technical tent are playing Dragon Age II—specifically, Mark of the Assassin. We can see Felicia Day, who plays Charlie Bradbury, as an Ink-Suit Actor portraying Tallis.
  • All Gays are Promiscuous: Charlie makes eyes at quite a few maidens.
    Dean: I'm noticing a lot of these maidens checking you out.
  • All Work vs. All Play:
    • All play is Dean:
      Dean: Maybe we should take the night off. Go see a flick. Hit a bar or two. Have some fun. You remember fun, don't you, Sammy?
    • All work is Sam:
      Sam: Working a case. As long as we're waiting on Kevin, that will be our fun.
  • Anachronism Stew: The medieval clothing and weapons in the modern world.
    • The sign on the tech tent reads "Beware: this is a gateway to the future."
    • When Gerry sees Dean using a cell phone, he says, "Has this oaf attempted to harm you with his blasphemous metalworks?"
    • But defied when the LAR Pers tell Dean that he can't just roleplay an FBI agent in the middle of a medieval setting. They have a rule that limits this kind of "genre mash-up" to happening only every third month, so that it can't interfere with the time designated for Moondoor.
  • Appropriated Appellation: The Winchesters keep calling Charlie by that name, even though she's changed it and it was never her real name in the first place. Charlie just goes along with it.
  • Artistic License – Medicine: Poisoning by belladonna causes dilated pupils, blurred vision, flushing, dry mouth, confusion, hallucination, and convulsions. Lance did not exhibit any of this and went from being fine if a bit emotive to having blood squirt from his mouth and eyes and then collapsing.
  • Ask a Stupid Question...: "Do you mean magic wands?"
  • Badass Longcoat: Sam and Dean wear them while impersonating FBI agents.
  • Bait-and-Switch: Charlie is ambushed by an orc before encountering a real magical menace.
  • Becoming the Mask
  • The Big Board/Model Planning: Charlie's map with the red, blue, green, and black figurines representing the different armies participating in the tournament.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Dean gets seriously pissed when Charlie goes missing, at one point threatening the LARPers with a gun which he makes sure to let them know is real.
  • Big Damn Kiss/Smooch of Victory: Between Charlie and Gilda.
  • Black Cloak/Malevolent Mask: The initial appearance of the fairy.
  • Black Mage: Grayfox the Mystic, aka Lance Jacobson.
    Sheriff: [reading text] I am a mage. I will destroy you.
  • Blood from the Mouth/Tears of Blood: Lance.
  • Breather Episode: No one is murdering angels or forsaking someone they love forever.
  • The Bus Came Back: Charlie Bradbury (Felicia Day), who first appeared in "The Girl With The Dungeons And Dragons Tattoo" (S07, E20), returns.
  • But Now I Must Go: Much to Charlie's disappointment.
    "...call me...maybe?"
  • Call-Back: Dean fills in Charlie on past events, notably "Citizen Fang". His willingness to discuss his own less-than-stellar behavior in that episode shows how much Dean regards Charlie as "family".
  • Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: Gerry told Monty to stomp thrice if he needs to use the chamber pot.
  • Closed Circle: When Charlie tries to leave the tent through the door, she finds herself right back in the tent.
  • Closet Geek: Dean. Despite being frustrated by the hardcore LARPers, not only does he comment that it looks fun but, when Charlie shows him the map of the upcoming Battle of Moondoor:
    Dean: You know, if you move the archers back and your broadswordsmen to the west...
    Charlie: Flank the warriors...
    Dean: Yep.
    Charlie: Hey, good call.
    Dean: Thanks.
    Charlie: What about the southern wall?
    Sam: Guys!
    Dean: Yeah? Right! Sorry... [moves a trebuchet and nods to Charlie]
  • Cover Identity Anomaly: Gerry realizes Sam and Dean have fake IDs. He assumes they're FBI LARPers trying to do a genre crossover.
    Sam: These aren't fake badges.
    Gerry: Uh, yeah, they are, and they're very good, but, um, well, the I.D. number shifted to 10 digits with, uh, two letters mixed in at the end of the year, and, uh, the seal's from last month. Really good work.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Drawn and quartered.
  • Dedication: Spoofed.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Charlie while talking to the Fairy Sexy Gilda.
  • Don't Go in the Woods: Charlie is abducted while going back to the camp through the woods.
  • Damsel in Distress: Done to Charlie, lampshaded by Charlie, and eventually averted by Charlie when she rescues the other damsel in distress, Gilda.
    "I'm the one who rescues the damsel in distress!"
  • Dramatic Thunder sounds when Charlie is informed of the murders by Sam and Dean.
  • Dress-Up Episode
  • Dude, She's A Lesbian: "I don't think you're her type."
  • Duels Decide Everything:
    Lance: I though he broke protocol, so I called Ed after game hours and accused him of cheating. And then I challenged him to a duel.
    Sam: A duel?
    Lance: Wands and swords at dawn.
  • The Dung Ages: Averted Trope, as we see a sign pointing to the "privies" in the opposite direction of the dungeon.
  • Enhance Button: Sam is able to zoom in on the surveillance video so that they can see the tattoo on Lance's forearm clearly.
  • The Fair Folk: The fairy injures and kills people, even if she does so against her will. The Disneyfication of fairies is lampshaded.
    Maria: Wait. Fairy magic can be bad?
  • Fairy Sexy
  • False Teeth Tomfoolery: Monty with his slurred speech, who loses his fangs while in the stocks.
  • Fantasy Character Classes: Ed/Thargrim the Difficult was of the Fighter Class and Lance/Grayfox the Mystic is of the Magician Classes.
    Lance: [about Ed] He was Lancelot to my Merlin.
  • Faux Symbolism: Lampshaded In-Universe by Charlie.
    Charlie: Wait, I've seen this before. It's a Celtic magic symbol. At least, it was in my favorite video game.
  • Fictional Geneva Conventions: Moondoor involves playing by the rules, just ask Gerry, but Dean does not fully appreciate this.
    Dean: Well, there's no laptops in Moondoor. There's no Geneva Convention, either.
  • Fictional Media: The Moondoor universe.
  • Friendship Moment: Sam isn't interested in having fun, knowing it's not going to make him feel any better over leaving Amelia. However he does dress up in cosplay for the final battle of Moondoor, more to help Dean and Charlie than himself.
  • Genre Mashup: Gerry assumes Dean and Sam are dressed as FBI agents as part of a genre mash-up (High Fantasy + Cop Show).
  • Girl on Girl Is Hot: Averted; Dean seems rather bemused by all the action Charlie's getting.
  • Girl of the Week: Sam turns down an obvious invitation to a comely maiden's tent, because he's still in mourning over his lost love Amelia. Instead it's Charlie who gets a girl!
  • Gory Discretion Shot: The blood splatter on the bedroom wall when Ed is pulled apart in the teaser.
  • Green Rocks: Silentium in the Moondoor universe, which is represented with bean bags.
  • The High Queen: The Queen of Moondoor.
  • Oh, My Gods!:
    Lance: Oh, ye gods, Thargrim the Difficult has fallen! [sobs]
  • Red Herring: The Orcs are obvious suspects due to their bad guy role, but the Orc King is just another victim, who adopted the symbol that appeared on his arm because he thought it was cool.
  • Refusal of the Call: Charlie at first plans to take off when she sees the Winchesters, but stays to help them when she realizes fellow LARPers are being hurt and killed.

Top