In the eighteenth episode of the second season of Supernatural, Dean becomes a production assistant. That’s it. That’s the whole episode. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
I swear to y’all that I’m not about to reference The X-Files again just to irritate you. As far as I’ve understood from some of my interactions with Supernatural fans, there’s a healthy respect for the show that gave SPN a large number of cast members and crew, and The X-Files largely paved the way for a show like Supernatural to even exist these days. So, while I am obsessed with that show, I’m only referencing it out of love. I don’t think Supernatural is a copy of The X-Files, and it’s clear that the two shows have very little in common anymore.
Sometimes. Because the whole time I watched “Hollywood Babylon,” I couldn’t help but think of “Hollywood A.D.” in season seven of The X-Files. Now, they’re totally different episodes with different stories. Sam and Dean are trying to solve a murder on a horror movie set, and Mulder and Scully are… you know, you should just watch it. It’s hard to describe “Hollywood A.D.” What they both have in common, though, is a willingness on the part of the writers to poke fun at everything ever. There’s a generous send-up of bad horror films, of Canada, of the absurdity of the Hollywood machine… oh, and of Jared being on Gilmore Girls. AS DEAN. (I messed that up and thought he was named Sam. Shush, I haven’t seen the show in like… ten years? Jesus, that hurts my brain just to think about.)
But Dean is the real focus of this episode, and I love that the writers just go with the idea that Dean would become obsessed with being a P.A. You know, it makes sense for his character to be such a nerd, especially at the level we witness here. Dean is in Hollywood (*cough cough VANCOUVER cough cough*) for like five minutes before he’s freaking out about everything. Half the humor in this episode comes from the fact that Dean can’t seem to focus on the case for longer than 30 seconds. First, he’s distracted by the set. Then he’s distracted by Tara Benchley. Then he’s distracted by the miniature Philly cheesesteak sandwiches provided by the crew. Then he’s distracted by his own cover story. Never have we seen Dean get so into his own disguise!
I really don’t think that “Hollywood Babylon” would work so well if it wasn’t so ridiculous. I mean, even from the start, this is absurd. The studio execs faked the death of the stage hand TO BUILD INTEREST IN THE MOVIE. It sets up a red herring while also commenting on the depths that Hollywood producers will go to promote their work. Well, it’s also a bit of a reference to some of the ARGs that have happened in the past decade, isn’t it? Regardless, it’s studio executives who actually start dying after the first fake death, so it makes sense that perhaps a vengeful spirit is getting revenge for what was done to them many years before. And seriously, wouldn’t you just make it impossible for people to wander the set after the death of the first guy??? WHY ARE YOU WANDERING AROUND A SET, DON STARK? Also, what are you and Gary Cole doing on Supernatural? And how the hell does a fan suck a person into it while also blowing their bloody remains in the opposite direction?
See, I’m willing to not question any of this and just enjoy the experience. After the draining experience in the previous episode, I’m glad that this episode feels like a break for Sam and the audience, and I’m not particularly interested in pulling it apart. I did want to talk about Walter, though, because I’m intrigued with his character. Walter swears that his high-concept horror is the real thing, and while it may be, he wrote mostly exposition. He’s one of those straight white dudes who writes the most detailed and complex fictional worlds imaginable, and then spends most of the text condescending down to you for not understanding it. Walter came across to me exactly like all the assholes I knew in high school who acted like gatekeepers to the world of fantasy. He’s like the first (and only!) Dungeon Master I ever knew who spent my entire inaugural game of Dungeons & Dragons killing me or taking away shit from me, all because I didn’t know how to play the game. BECAUSE IT WAS MY FIRST TIME, ASSHOLE, OF COURSE I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. And while I understand that it might suck to have your story changed and for people to take credit for it, Walter sucks. He murdered people because his ego got crushed! How am I supposed to feel bad about him?
I’m not, since the show has him ripped apart by vengeful spirits in the end. This episode is resolved rather quickly, and I don’t know that it’ll have any lasting impact on this season’s mythology. That’s okay, though, because it was fun and silly and wholly ridiculous. I’m thankful for it because there are only four episodes left in this season, and that means everything is going to hurt very, very soon.
The commission for “Hollywood Babylon” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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