{"id":4273,"date":"2014-12-08T13:00:56","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T21:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4273"},"modified":"2014-12-01T19:28:04","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T03:28:04","slug":"mark-watches-supernatural-s07e14-plucky-pennywhistles-magical-menagerie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2014\/12\/mark-watches-supernatural-s07e14-plucky-pennywhistles-magical-menagerie\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Supernatural’: S07E14 – Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fourteenth episode of the seventh season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, FUCK CLOWNS. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of coulrophobia\/clowns.<\/b><\/p>\n

This episode is very interesting in terms of placement, both within season seven and the show as a whole. Aside from one scene at the beginning, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Plucky Pennywhistle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00c2\u00a0Magical Menagerie\u00e2\u20ac\u009d never addresses\u00c2\u00a0anything<\/i> going on in this season. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entirely a self-contained episode\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 except it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of not? It entirely relies on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Everybody Loves a Clown\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for most of its humor. (That episode title is still a lie, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care, FUCK CLOWNS.)<\/p>\n

Still, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inappropriate to say that this episode stands on its own. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unconnected to any greater narrative aside from showing us all that clowns are evil and fuck them all and\u00c2\u00a0NOPE<\/i>. The use of\u00c2\u00a0in media\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>res<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is kind of fascinating, though, since we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re led to believe this will be about clowns, and then the first murder we come across is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 a octovamp??? While this is a familiar thing for\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i> to do, I still think it works really well to keep the audience guessing as to the true nature of the killings here. There are a number of believable suspects trotted out before us, as well as some commentary about parenting along the way.<\/p>\n

Actually, let me talk about that, since I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one thing this episode does\u00c2\u00a0very<\/i> well. Both of the fathers killed in the first half of this episode did something that was undeniably terrible, though their children didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t intend for them to die as part of some revenge plot. So when it seemed clear that Tyler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother was next on the list, I was ready to call foul. While it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fair to Tyler that he was stuck hanging out at his mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s job all the time, I thought it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t analogous to the other parents. At all! She was clearly trying to do her best in a job where she was stressed and unappreciative. SO CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW GREAT IT IS THAT DEAN POINTS OUT TO TYLER THAT HIS MOTHER IS HONESTLY DOING WHAT SHE CAN? Holy shit, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my favorite moment in this episode! (Followed up by that unicorn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rainbow butt, oh my\u00c2\u00a0god<\/i>.) Since this episode constantly tricks us and obfuscates where it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really headed, I thought this was a great way to have this subplot do the same thing. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll also state that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fantastic that Dean calls out Howard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bullshit. Because it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter that Howard\u00c2\u00a0wants<\/i> to help these kids. He can think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s helping all he wants, and it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change the fact that HE ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T HELPING ANYONE ASIDE FROM HIS OWN MISGUIDED SENSE OF RIGHT AND WRONG.<\/p>\n

And then we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Sam. OH, SAM WINCHESTER, I UNDERSTAND YOU SO DEEPLY. The poor guy, first of all, spends part of this episode trying to be a bad cop, which seems\u00c2\u00a0very<\/i> unnatural to us. BUT REMARKABLY, IT WORKS. I was going to say that might be the funniest part of this episode, but then I remembered Cliff trying to open the door in his mascot costume. Then I remembered the choreography for the clown fight scenes. And the glitter explosion. And then I just felt so bad for Sam, who has his literal worst nightmare come true in the worst way imaginable. I mean: clowns who can fight perfectly while still using all the clown mainstays like the seltzer water in the flower and juggling? Seriously, POOR SAM WINCHESTER. I feel like that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an ongoing motif for the whole show, though.<\/p>\n

I liked this episode, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ever return to it because\u00c2\u00a0fuck clowns<\/i>. However, I found it pretty notable that THERE WASN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T A SAD TWIST ENDING. When does that\u00c2\u00a0ever<\/i> happen?<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Plucky Pennywhistle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Magical Menagerie\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– Mark Does Stuff is now on Facebook<\/a>! Feel free to Like the page, which I’m running myself, for updates and SILLINESS.
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running, I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!<\/a>
\n– Please check out the MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next two Double Features are now in the schedule! I will be watching <\/b>The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i><\/b> and then <\/b>Leverage<\/i><\/b>. <\/b>Commission away!
\n– I will be at quite a few conventions and will be hosting events throughout 2015, so check my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page<\/a> often to see if I’m coming to your city!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"