Supernatural: It's a Terrible Life

Posted by: Stacy  •  April 1, 2009 @ 12:30am

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

I did not even know how to take notes for this one. You know how you watch Supernatural for the one-liners and the attitude and the ZING that the boys give us? All of that stuff is there because they are their own men, they are bad-asses with a cause and their roughness and uniqueness is what makes the draw...at least for me. Ya well, that was not this episode. I guess the question was begged: if the Dean and Sam Winchester were not raised as they were and were not hunters, who would they be? The answer: Sam would be a tech guy and Dean would be...a yuppy??? In a striped dress-shirt and a solid coloured tie, Dean starts out this episode by leaving his immaculate, stainless steel looking loft. He gets in his plastic, newer looking car and turns the rock music playing off in deference for some news radio. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

At work, Sam and Dean get on the same elevator. Sam looks at Dean and asks if maybe they know each other. Dean, finally slightly recognizable as himself, tells Sam to save it for the health club, Pal. Haha. So they do not know each other. Dean goes to his office which has a sign on the door that reads "Dean Smith, Director Sales and Marketing". Sam "Wesson", (haha, get it? Smith and Wesson) goes to his tech job for the same company. Sam tells his friend Ian (not wearing the standard yellow golf-tee, unshaven) about his latest dream of saving a grim reaper from demons. Their other friend Paul did not take a break with them because he is too busy with work, which is not his standard attitude apparently. Paul had just been up to HR because of his tendency to surf porn at work. Sam falls asleep at work (in between calls that consist of: have you tried turning it off and then on? Well, try that. Good, thank you for calling) and has nightmares of demons and vampires and Dean there with him fighting them all off. He runs into Dean again in the elevator and after asking Dean if he believes in ghosts and vampires, Dean tells him he over-shares and gives off the general feeling that he thinks Sam is a freak. At the end of the day everyone goes home except for Paul who didn't back up his work and is frantically trying to find a trace of it after a surge. Calmly, after definitively figuring out that his work is gone for good, Paul breaks a plastic fork off in the microwave and cooks his head inside. The sign above the microwave reads "Don't cook your fish in here, it stinks". I wasn't able to imagine the head cooking in the microwave (he was wearing glasses, so the metal conducted nicely...very graphic), I sure didn't want to imagine the smell.

The next day Sam is back at the grind and Ian is there too, only he has been to see HR now and he has shaved and traded in his slacker look for the standardized yellow shirt. He is called upstairs by Dean because he filled out an incorrect form and Dean just wants him to fill out the right one. After freaking out about how sorry he is, though Dean is very understanding and says it is really ok, Ian goes to the washroom. While in there, the soaps and water start going haywire. Dean sees his breath. Ian takes out a pencil (probably one that he stole from the supply closet yesterday) and stabs himself in the neck. Dean sees an old man reflected in the tile of the washroom, but does not see him when he turns around.

Freaked out, Dean calls Sam into his office. Turns out they both started working at this company 3 weeks ago. They agree that Ian's death was not suicide and that it was something not...natural. Haha. Sam divulges that he broke into Ian's email and that Ian was called to HR in room 1444 but that HR is on 7. So, after some hesitation, the boys head up to room 1444. The door is an old looking door which Sam kicks open. He didn't know he could do that. Inside is where old office equipment goes to die. What I thought were computer screens start turning on and giving the snow-signal and sound like a t.v. that isn't on a channel. The old man ghost, with electricity growing at his finger tips, grabs Sam. Dean swings at him with a wrench and the ghost disappears. So...what? Ghosts are afraid of wrenches? Haha. Sam says he doesn't belong in this kind of job, he doesn't belong here, and neither does Dean. Dean says he is going to do what he does best...research, Sammy. Ha! Dean do research? Not. And don't call me Sammy.

They go online and they find the Ghost Facers. Remember them? They are the geeky idiots with cameras that ended up on a same job as our boys and were taught a thing or two. Then Sam and Dean ended up tricking them and erasing all of their tape. Their advice and the subsequent answers for the boys are as follows:

1. Figure out what you are up against. The original owner of the company was P.T. Sandover. He had no wife or kids and he was a workaholic. He is trying to get productivity up and does this every time the economy is down. Dean's portfolio is in the sewer.
2. Kill it. Salt is like acid to ghosts and other nasties. Iron is bad too. They found this out from "those useless douche-bags the Winchesters. The Winchesters suck ass". Hahaha. Also, rock salt in a rifle works well. Then find the remains of the physical body of the ghost and burn them. IF they were cremated, there should be a lock of hair or other genetic material that has been kept. The boys go back up to room 1444 (originally Sandover's office).

The boys set their phones to walky-talky mode and search the room. Sam is very easily taken away by a security guard and Dean hides so he can later find an old article which points him to some gloves kept in glass in the lobby. The elevator stops mid-floor and the security guard climbs out and tries to convince Sam to do the same thing, just as it comes down and cuts him in half. In the lobby (they took the stairs), the boys take turns whacking away at the ghost with fire pokers until he corners Dean and is about to fry him with his electricity. Sam breaks the glass, takes the gloves and burns them.

After winding down from the excitement of killing the ghost and working so well together (and doing things like Dean making a great catch of the poker that Sam threw to him), Sam doesn't want it to end. They should do this stuff instead of the office stuff. Dean says how? Stolen credit cards? Diner food? Motels? What about health insurance? Me speaking now, come on Dean! This is what you live for! That stuff is who you really are! Sam says his memories are false, he tried to call his old girlfriend and the number didn't exist. This world is wrong. They should be like in his dreams: like brothers, saving the world and not "corporate douche bag(s)"! Dean tells him to go.

The next day the grind starts again. Only this time Sam looks at his ringing phone and smashes the hell out of it with his poker. Then he stands up and calmly announces to the room that he quits. Haha. Dean is in his office and his boss comes in. The boss gives Dean a bonus to make sure he will stick around the 8-10 years that it will take for him to become a vice president. Dean gives his notice. Yay Dean!! The boss says "finally!" and touches Dean's forehead...and Dean suddenly is the Dean we know and love. "What the hell? Was I just touched by an angel?" The "boss" is actually Zachariah, Castiel's superior. He wanted to let Dean figure out for himself that his path was the one he was meant to be on...his REAL path. Dean isn't meant to be another of the "ass clowns in monkey suits". So after Z telling Dean this is what he, Z, is good at besides decoupage (which Dean makes a face at and says "gross"), Dean tells Z that he should stab him in his face and the episode is done. I think the point was made, and I think Dean is back on the right path...hopefully in the right vehicle too because he needs his muscle car and rock music!

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