Recap of Supernatural
Season 9, Episode 04
Slumber Party
You said you were looking for adventure. Well, here it is, Red. Come help me find my damn dog.
Written by Robbie Thompson.
Directed by Robert Singer.
Air Date: October 29, 2013.
Hoping they can reprogram the bunker's computer to track angels, Sam and Dean call in Charlie. While they're working on it, a bottle falls over, which contains Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. Dorothy enlists their help in killing her.
Body Count:
For this episode = 2 humans and 1 wicked witch.
For the series so far = At least 1065 angels, 924 humans (of which 7 were witches), 135 demons, 51 vampires, 48 ghosts, 36 Jefferson Starships, 20 gods, 19 zombies, 10 hellhounds, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 djinn, 5 shapeshifters, 5 werewolves, 4 ghouls, 4 Leviathan, 4 reapers, 3 dogs, 2 Amazons, 2 arachnes, 2 kitsunes, 2 rugarus, 2 Thule, 2 vetalas, 1 crocotta, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 familiar, 1 Khan worm, 1 lamia, the Mother of All, 1 okami, 1 phoenix, 1 Purgatory creature, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 shojo, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 Titan, 1 wendigo, 1 whore of Babylon, 1 wicked witch, and 1 wraith.
Tropes
- Anachronic Order: The episode flips back and forth between 1935 and the present day.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: Sam asks Crowley what the Wicked Witch said to him. Crowley replies:Crowley: Something along the lines of..[loud hissing noise]
- Autobots, Rock Out!: AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock".
- Back from the Dead: Charlie.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: L. Frank Baum was a Man of Letters. Dorothy, it turns out, is his disillusioned hunter daughter.
- Bottle Episode: The Witch opens a portal to Oz and Dorothy and Charlie later head down the Yellow Brick Road, but the action of the episode takes place entirely in the Men of Letters compound.
- Breather Episode: Complete with Sam, Dean, and Charlie hanging out in Sam's room to drink beer and watch Game of Thrones.
- But Now I Must Go: Dorothy has to return to Oz to help with the rebellion; she invites Charlie to come with her.
- Call-Back:
- Sam's figured out what made the bunker's Big Board light up at the end of the last season finale: clusters of falling angels.
- Castiel has left the bunker. Sam points out how completely illogical it is for him to leave the safest place he could be when he's at his most vulnerable; Dean says it was Castiel's idea to avoid bringing trouble down on the Winchesters.
- Kevin Tran, the other resident IT genius (as proven in "Devil May Care" (S09, E02)), showed signs of Sanity Slippage in that episode that have apparently worsened offscreen. Dean sets him up in a warded motel room in Branson, essentially putting him on mental health leave for the next 48 hours.
- Ezekiel tells Dean that he really can't keep bringing his just-killed friends back from the dead; it drains his angelic battery, which is still at less than 50%. He does it anyway.
- Charlie calls all the way back to the the pilot episode by repeating Dean's line about "Saving people. Hunting things. The family business."
- She also recalls the Supernatural books having been uploaded to the Internet... by someone with the username "BeckyWinchester176".
- Combat Stilettos: Those ruby slippers aren't actually slippers.
- Curbstomp Battle: Dorothy vs a possessed Sam and Dean. She's disarmed immediately and throws one(unsuccessful) punch before she's subdued and about to be carved up with a knife.
- Darker and Edgier: Dorothy is far tougher and meaner than she's made out to be in the books.
- Crapsack World: If what Dorothy was talking about in regards to Oz was true.
- Lighter and Softer: L. Frank Baum had written the Land of Oz series to downplay the real Dorothy's misadventures there. Dorothy bitterly refers to her father as a "glorified librarian" and his work as "revisionist history."note
Charlie: Stop ruining my childhood! - Deadpan Snarker: Dorothy."Yes, despite all my lady parts, I managed to capture the Wicked Witch."
- Death Is Cheap: Dorothy lampshades this aspect of the Supernatural universe, saying "you're not a real hunter until you've died and come back again."
- Deus ex Machina: Averted. Ezekiel and Crowley don't fight the wicked witch, leaving only the Badass Normal characters to face her. One would assume an angel and/or the king of hell would have resolved the situation too quickly.
- The Drifter: Sam seems to see himself as this. When Dean asks him why he hasn't moved his belongings into the bunker, Sam replies that he's never had a stable home like Dean did with their parents, and his attempts to create one haven't worked out so well.
- Dorothy can relate. "Overrated, if you ask me. Yellow bricks or not, give me the open road any day."
- "Eureka!" Moment: Charlie's "pointy end" reference reminds Dorothy about her Ruby Slippers.
- Evil Is Hammy/Evil Laugh: The only form in which the Witch's actual voice is heard is her hammy evil laughter.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Lampshaded by Charlie when she doesn't recognize Dean's usual Batman voice.
- Ghibli Hills: Oz. The show's VFX team really broke out the big guns for this episode.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: When the Wicked Witch possesses victims, their eyes will glow green and they'll speak with the Voice of the Legion...or, as Charlie puts it, the "Batman voice". Jenkins fell victim to this in 1935, as do both the Winchesters now.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Dorothy challenges possessed Sam and Dean to settle things "the old fashioned way". It doesn't end well, see Punch Catch below.
- Groin Attack: Charlie, to ward off a Wicked Witch-possessed Dean.Charlie: Sorry about the 'nards, Dean.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Twice.
- It Was There the Whole Time: The key to Oz that the witch wanted originally appeared a season earlier when Dean was exploring the contents of boxes in the Men of Letters Bunker.
- Jumped at the Call: Compare and contrast Charlie's attitude to adventure between the end of her first episode and this one. One does not simply leave the hunting life.
- No Name Given: The Wicked Witch. None of the hunters are particularly interested in finding out more about her, although Crowley calls her "Ms. Defying Gravity".
- Porn Stash: Charlie finds Dean's while helping him search his bedroom for the key to Oz.Charlie: You keep your porn meticulously organized, but not—?Dean: Don't judge me!
- Off to See the Wizard: The whole episode is an homage to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz books.
- And the movies. The ruby slippers originated in the film, in the books they were silver.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Dorothy faces down a possessed Sam and Dean with nothing but a staff and gives them a Badass Boast. Cut to a few seconds later she's disarmed and bleeding, and her attempt to fight them hand to hand goes just as badly(if not worse; she throws one punch before she gets subdued and it doesn't even connect). Turns out being a plucky Action Girl doesn't really help against two men twice her size, both of which are legendary hunters in their own right.
- Product Placement: Like Arrow, a couple of lingering shots very prominently feature Charlie's Microsoft Surface.
- Punch Catch: Sam pulls this on Dorothy when possessed by the wicked witch.
- Put on a Bus: Charlie
- Riding into the Sunset: Charlie and Dorothy walk into Oz, into the sunset.
- Shout-Out:
- Crowley asks the boys if they've seen Wicked.
- He's also whistling "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" when they come to see him.
- Several to Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings, courtesy of Charlie:
Charlie (to Sam, about hunting): Where are my White Walkers, my volcano and the magic ring they threw in the damn thing?and later:Charlie (to Dorothy): Maybe there's something else from the book we can use. Preferably something with a pointy end.- It's hard to see at points, but Charlie's shirt appears to read Sonmi-451.
- Stealth Pun. Where is the Bunker located again?
- The Speechless: The Wicked Witch. Dorothy cut out her tongue, but she can speak through the humans she possesses.Charlie: What's the matter, Cowardly Lion got your tongue?
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: One girl against two men twice her size whom are fighting things stronger than her nearly every day? Dorothy literally had no chance against the Winchesters.
- Taking the Lightning Bolt: Charlie performs a Diving Save to save Dean from the Wicked Witch.
- There's No Place Like Home: Sam quotes this word-for-word at the end.
- Tin Man: Dorothy apparently kept the Tin Man's head, which looks very Steampunk, for some reason.
- Took a Level in Badass: Charlie's gone on a couple of solo hunts since her last encounter with the Winchesters, though she insists she only took out one teenage vampire and a ghost. She levels up again in the course of the episode.
- Vasquez Always Dies: Averted.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Charlie was brought to reconfigure the computer to be able to track angels. Seems like they forgot about that in the whole Wicked Witch mess.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Dean's lies are catching up to him fast. After learning from Dorothy that she had actually been killed, then brought back to life, Charlie pulls Dean aside and tells him in no uncertain terms that he's got some explaining to do.
