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- TV Series: Supernatural
- Episode: Sam, Interrupted
- Starring: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins
- Written By: Andrew Dabb, Daniel Loflin
- Directed By: James L. Conway
- Network: CW
- Series:
Supernatural: Sam, Interrupted Review
Crazy Is What Crazy Does in Supernatural By Kent Ninomiya
January 22, 2010
Is Dean Really Crazy?
© CW/Bob Trate
You know that you are into a crazy show when the characters tell the truth and are considered insane for it. Sam tries to infiltrate an insane asylum where some supernatural deaths occurred by pretending to be crazy. He convinces the psychiatrist of this by saying he started the apocalypse and was hunting Lucifer. Apparently when the truth is considered crazy, only the crazy tell the truth. Dean finishes the story by talking about Sam's addiction to demon blood and gets committed too.
Once inside they make contact with a former hunter named Martin, who is now a patient in the asylum. They find out that a creature is sucking the patient's brains dry then making their deaths look like suicides. It seems like a fairly typical whodunit episode until the brothers run into some unexpected and humorous twists.
While inside the asylum, Sam and Dean are forced to confront all those emotional issues that they are too manly to talk about. When they are sent to different counseling sessions because the psychiatrist says the brothers are dangerously codependent, they are stunned speechless. In that moment they have an epiphany and realize how true that is.
Of course there is a hot woman playing a shrink in the asylum. It couldn't be an episode of Supernatural without a hot woman. When she describes Dean as a paranoid schizophrenic with narcissistic personality disorder and religious psychosis, he is again speechless. Too much of that assessment is true for comfort. Fans of Dean's zany side are treated to numerous displays of hilarious spontaneity like when Dean channels Hannibal Lecter and when drops his pants and screams “pudding.” We also get to see another side of Sam when he is drugged and spacing out. In that scene the brothers switch roles and Dean plays the straight man.
Halfway through the episode, the writers throw a brilliant twist at us. What we thought was real, really isn't. We are forced to wonder if the brothers just sound crazy or really are crazy. For a while we don't know what is going on. If this was any other show, that might be annoying. Since this is Supernatural, the mystery draws us in. There is an excellent climax when the villain and method are revealed. The writers do a good job disguising the real culprit.
The true brilliance of this episode is the use of the asylum as a vehicle to force Sam and Dean into introspection. The villain does not make the brothers crazy, only amplifies what is already there. The experience makes Sam realize that he is consumed with anger. Dean is there to slap him back to reality and say “so what?” This episode reiterates that Supernatural is primarily a character driven show about the relationship between Sam and Dean. We care about the show because we care about the Winchesters, not the monsters they kill every week.
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Amen! I was bout to die waiting for Supernatural to be back and the "PUDDING!" scene was soooo funny!! i feel bad for my neighbors though, i laughed really long and hard at that one!