Rewatching 9-4 Slumber Party
I had a really hard time getting here to this editing screen… and then an even harder time finishing LOL. But when I did, darn LJ told me it was too long. I have no idea how I can shorten it though, so I've divided it into two. And I sincerely appologize for the length. How could I write something so long about an ep I have so little excitement for? At least you can enjoy the gifs :)
I liked the theme for Charlie in Season 8 - realizing that she is a hero in the real world, not just in the fantasy LARP world, and this episode's theme seemed like the complete opposite of that with Charlie wanting to live in a fantasy world and ending up running away from "reality" in the end. I hated the writers for letting me down. I didn’t particularly like Dorothy either. Her personality and looks are a bit strong - especially in the beginning. But I did get some new insight as I cleaned up screencaps and thought about the ep this time around and I have a feeling I’m going to get a bit more out of it then I did before. Plus we now also know what happened later on with Charlie and how she felt about OZ then, so this rewatch is a tad different from before. (I'm still disappointed with Charlie though for being so idealistic and stupid - when she is so smart in other ways.
I want to take a look at some other themes of this ep. Because it is about OZ, the ep is also about “There’s no place like home.” How do each of the characters view "home"? It is also about family. Parents and children. How parents keeping secrets about the big bad world affects their children in the long run, and how loved ones have to be set free in the end, to create their own stories, etc. Basically we still have an underlying theme of Dean keeping a secret from Sam and how that is going to affect Sam. We also have some thoughts on rookies/youngsters and veterens ... kind of tying it in with last ep where the rookie was blaming Sam for all that went wrong in the world while the veteren understood that everyone made mistakes. We have some thoughts on the written word (MoL) and action (Hunters) and how scholars can be just as important for the cause, as well as fantasy, which should NOT be taken literally, but can often be used as guides. It's actually very thought provoking.
The episode goes back and forth between the past and present for a while, but I am going too go through the past happenings first so we can go through the main story with the background covered already.
We start off with a rookie Man of Letters, Peter Jenkins, his first time in the newish Bunker, with an old-timer, James Haggerty. Peter Jenkins is totally excited by the bunker and thinks it’s fantastic. James Haggerty calls the place a “dump.” Not quite sure why. Maybe he’s just seen better accommodations. Maybe he’s just showing off and acting superior. But Peter Jenkins calls it the “Epicenter of the Chess Match between Good and Evil." After a while of nothing to do but sit and play chess (The irony!), Peter Jenkins is also calling the bunker a “dump” but not for the same reasons - he wants excitement and adventure, which the bunker is not giving him. James Haggerty tells him adventure sucks - it just gets you killed. We see this exchange mirrored by Sam and Charlie later on.
They get a call from Dorothy, who doesn’t remember the new password first, but seems to get it the second time. She needs their help. When she gets there, she has a Wicked Witch in a burlap bag, with her tongue cut out no less. She has used various methods to kill the witch and has failed. Do they have the knowledge there at the bunker?
Peter Jenkins is excited! Here is the legendary daughter of “Jack” who did something unbelievable for his daughter. We don’t find out exactly what this is, but it could be just the fact that he wrote the books about (and for) her.
Dorothy dislikes her dad. She thinks he talks too much and doesn’t act enough. She calls him a glorified librarian. She feels that the Wizard of Oz books he wrote are stupid because they don’t portray how it actually happened which was much more gruesome and dangerous. She also dislikes males in general for how women are treated. She is a stereotypical womans lib advocate, and yes, the MoL are rather discriminatory toward her, disbelieving when she tells them that she captured the witch herself etc., but she is harboring resentment they don’t particularly deserve the brunt of.
Peter Jenkins excitedly assures Dorothy that this is the last fortress of goodness and is just full of knowledge so of course there must be something on how to kill a wicked witch from OZ.
While they are talking, the witch is busy cutting the rope around her with her long nails. She gets free, and the first thing she does is put a spell on poor Peter Jenkins so that he starts talking as the witch - the witch has lost her tongue so she needs a voice.
Peter Jenkins tells them that they have something of hers and she wants it. Dorothy asks James Haggerty if they have a lab and he tells her where it is while he wrestles with Peter/Witch. He finally stabs Peter, and as poor Peter lies dying he is himself again and tells James Haggerty that he had been right to say adventure only led to death. Parallels galore later on.
Now, when James Haggerty goes to help Dorothy after Peter dies, he sees a flash through the door of the lab. He goes in, and Dorothy and the witch are gone. What Dorothy has done (as we find out later) is make a potion that traps both her and the witch in the jar.
Our first view of the present is Sam giving Crowley a crayon and a piece of paper in the dungeon. Apparently, they are trying to get Crowley to give them some more demon names. Crowley asks them for a room with a view in exchange. Sam goes out without talking and Crowley tries to lower his demand to even just a chance to stretch his legs but it doesn’t help.
We next see Sam researching in the bunker. Dean comes down into the room from outside, and is talking about having set up Kevin in a warded motel with 48 hours worth of pay-per-porn and Kenny Rogers. Seems Kevin is a bit burnt out and the whole trip he kept saying “falafel'' over and over as he stared at the angel tablet. Dean has also brought home Season 1 of Game of Thrones for some R&R with Sam.
Sam explains that he'd been trying to figure out how to help Cas stay safe. If you'll remember, Dean had unwillingly had to kick Cas out of the bunker due to an ultimatum by Zeke. Sam doesn't understand why Cas had to leave and Dean explains that Cas decided he should leave in order to protect them.
Sam then goes on to tell Dean that the map that had lit up on the table after the angels fell actually lit up in the exact locations that the angels fell and that it must be a way to find out where evil was. And he was wondering if they could harness that system to find where the angels are now and keep Cas safe that way.
Dean makes a dumb remark about whether Sam came up with the idea by himself,
and Sam asks him pointedly if he sees anyone else there. It's very apparent to us that Dean is thinking of Zeke here but his remark is totally weird. Why would they be working together? Anyway, Sam also excitedly tells Dean that he had followed the wires of the thing to a room he wanted to show Dean.
They go down to the “lab” to check out the computer. Dean is also excited by the room filled with what used to be the most modern computer of the time, powered not by electricity but by some sort of magic. Now, we do see what kind of magic powered it later in Season 10 and season 15, which is rather interesting, but more important is that Dean’s efforts to open up the back of the computer actually made a little bottle with weird gray ooze fall over and the ooze to spill and spread onto the wall.
Dean suggests that they should call Charlie, who knows much more about computers than them, and Sam and Dean go out of the room without noticing the mysterious ooze.
We see a nice reunion with Charlie, where she tells them that she was fired from her job after telling the world that her company was using child labor and she is now spending her time on various things including macrame and … hunting. Lovely combination LOL Sam and Dean are like, what?! Hunting?! on your own?!
Dean and Sam are not happy about her hunting alone. And they mention it again when they get downstairs to look at the computer with her.
She talks about having downloaded all the “Supernatural Books” from a top secret place called Amazon… haha. Sam asks if she really can’t delete them all. Nope. She had also found all the unpublished works that had been uploaded by BeckieWinchester176. We all know who that is but Sam denies knowledge.
Charlie tells them she can do what they want, but it will take some time to download everything on to her computer to work on it.
Sam has an idea! and suggests they watch GOT together, and when it’s finished, he stops Charlie from telling them spoilers because he hasn’t read the books yet.
DEAN: You’re going to read the books?!
SAM: Yeah, Dean, I like to read books… you know, the kind without pictures.
And Dean shrugs like, “well sorry.” I am definitely more like Sam, but also goes to show how much of an MoL Sam is, I suppose.
I guess Charlie feels the same. She mentions how hard Sam’s bed is and asks when he is moving in.
SAM: I am moved in.
DEAN: That’s his style...
SAM: Well, I’m sorry I haven’t hung up the Hello Kitty poster yet, Dean. Feel free to redecorate.
DEAN: So our home is not good enough for the Hello Kitty poster?
SAM: This isn’t our home. This is where we work.
DEAN: What’s the difference?
Sam is feeling a bit defensive.
This is our first introduction to the theme of "home."
Dean walks off to get some more beer, and we have a talk between Sam and Charlie about hunting and how Charlie was brought up reading Tolkien and other fantasy novels and she wished hunting was more magical, with quests and things. (*Puleeeaaase.*)
Now we see the connection between Charlie and Peter the rookies, who have a romantic view of adventure , and between Sam and Peter, the veterans whose experience has taught them how adventure really is not like fantasy novels at all. Much more gruesome and scary when you have to live it.
Next we see of Sam, Dean and Charlie, they are opening the door of the computer room. This is done in sequence with James Haggardy opening the door after the big flash that took Dorothy and the witch into the bottle. The boys and Charlie then notice the strange cocoon in the back of the room that seems to have been hiding behind a book case. Dean cuts it open and out falls Dorothy.
The first thing that Dorothy says is that if she is out then the witch is out too and they need to do something. Sam and Dean caution her saying they need to talk first and she complains that MoL are all talk and no action and she should have expected as much from MoL and their secretary, but Sam explains that it has been more than 70 years since she was locked away and things have changed. They are hunters, Charlie is not a secretary, and Dean and he are going to go out to find the witch while she should stay with the smartest person in the room to figure out how to kill it.
Cute smile from Charlie there and an attitude change from Dorothy. She smiles!
Then Charlie tells Dorothy that actually the MoL are more action than she thinks. She's found Dorothy's file and learned that Dorothy's case was the first case handled at the bunker. And James Haggerty spent all his spare time trying to find a way to kill the witch and find Dorothy, according to records. Her fathers books, which Dorothy thought were just some children’s books with no value, was what gave him the answer. He had found out that poppy extract could slow the witch down. Charlie tells Dorothy that Haggardy had made a deal with a fairy and got some extract so maybe they could go and make some bullets together.
Here, Dorothy realizes for the first time that the MOL were not just a bunch of talkers. She realizes, more importantly, that her dad had cared for her and tried to support her efforts through the books and that reading/studying can sometimes be just as important as hunting. And that in itself makes her attitude at the beginning more bearable - knowing that she had misjudged these men and the value of the written word, and Charlie had been able to show her otherwise.
We can see how this relates to Sam and Dean, firstly as to how much the bunker IS home to not only Dean but to Sam, who is the one who has the love of books, and how knowledge is important to hunting just as much as action. Secondly, possibly that Sam will misjudge Dean's efforts to save Sam later on and that it will take him some time to truely appreciate Dean's love for him, just as Dorothy didn't see how much her dad actually cared for her. You think I'm reading too much into it? Let's go on and see.
Meanwhile, the Witch has found Crowley in the dungeon and Crowley gives her the crayon and paper so she can write down what she wants.
Sam and Dean make their way to the dungeon, where they find Crowley whistling an OZ song - Somewhere over the Rainbow.
CROWLEY: Well, if it isn’t the scarecrow and the tin man.
Haha. That's funny! Although it doesn't really fit them. Dean fits both characters possibly but Sam I'm sure is not insecure in the knowledge that he has both a brain and a heart.
Although... Dorothy tells Charlie later that scarecrow and tin man were two freedom fighters who protected her (and were turned into the respective characters by the witch). This scenario is perfectly parallel to Sam and Dean protecting Charlie
In exchange for some leg-stretchy time, Crowley shows them the paper, which says “KEY.” Crowley tells them he told the witch that the keys must be kept in the kitchen, so off they go. When they get to the kitchen, it is a mess, and Dean grumbles that he had just cleaned it, to which Sam replies, “really?” Like is that what you are bothered by? But see, this is part of the issue of Dean and Sam and how they perceive the bunker differently. Dean sees it as their home and so he cleans. He makes his room comfortable and lived-in. Sam, on the other hand, has a hard bed and doesn’t think keeping the kitchen clean is a priority.
They go back to talk to Charlie and Dorothy, where they receive two bullets each. When Dean mentions the key, Dorothy tells them it must be the key that can turn any door into an entrance to OZ. She thinks the Witch must intend to go back to OZ and wreak havoc there. She shows them a drawing of the key from her hunting book, and Dean recognizes it from his inventorying of various artifacts. The key is now in his room.
As they file out to get it, Dean takes Charlie aside and tells her that the dungeon is the safest place for her. He doesn’t want her to get hurt. But Charlie is like, a key? A quest? Let’s do it!
Again reminding us of what happened to Peter, who wanted adventure too. And look what happened to him...
Dorothy and Sam meanwhile are having a conversation of their own.
DOROTHY:I can't believe I've lived here for 75 years. How long have you called this place home?
SAM:My brother calls it home. Me, I, uh -- I haven't had that much luck with homes.
DOROTHY:Me neither. Overrated, you ask me. Yellow bricks or not, give me the open road any day.
I will go into this later, but Sam and Dorothy here don’t have the same reasons for “not having much luck with homes.” While they are talking, the witch comes up behind Sam and Dorothy gets a shot into her. The witch turns into smoke and disappears into a vent.
Meanwhile Dean and Charlie are in his room and he is trying to find the key while Charlie waits, thumbing through Dean’s stuff on his desk.
CHARLIE: You keep your porn meticulously organized, but not --
DEAN: Don't judge me.
Just as Dean finds the key, there’s the witch behind him and she takes it from him while smacking him across the room. Then she uses her green magic to try to kill him but Charlie realizes and she gets in the way, getting the weaponized magic instead of him.
Dean shoots the witch but she turns into smoke again and is gone through the vent.
Dean turns to Charlie.
Part 2 HERE