{"id":4614,"date":"2015-04-23T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4614"},"modified":"2015-04-13T17:31:34","modified_gmt":"2015-04-14T00:31:34","slug":"mark-watches-supernatural-s09e15-thinman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/04\/mark-watches-supernatural-s09e15-thinman\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Supernatural’: S09E15 – #THINMAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifteenth episode of the ninth season of Supernatural<\/i>, a case involving an urban legend leads Sam and Dean to an uncomfortable place. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

HOLY SHIT THIS WAS SO AWKWARD.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I said towards the end of the video for this episode, I think the parallel storytelling is heavy-handed, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s necessary. Not only do Ed and Harry get their own story that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complete (and gut-wrenching), it reflects on the relationship between Sam and Dean. This actually reminded me of a lot of the monster-of-the-week episodes in the early seasons of the show, especially since both stories were so strong. LET US TALK ABOUT THIS.<\/p>\n

#THINMAN<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not uncommon for the show to address popular trends or themes, and I admit to being skeptical about the Slender Man reference in this episode. How do you make something that pervasive scary? How can you change the stories and perception of it in a way that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entertaining? People are already going to be biased against the inclusion of this meme, so the show was up against a wall. That was the case for me, too! At the same time, I was interested because I wanted to see how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d explain this thing and give it any sort of motivation.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think they went overboard with references to the Internet and how an urban legend spreads online. There was the proper amount of horror on the part of the Winchesters once they learned that a monster had a fan group<\/i>. Because RIGHT. Nothing deserves fans more than a murderer! (I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even joke about that because there are people in this world who are honestly huge fans of serial killers, GOD BE WITH US.) And I think it was probably the best monster for this specific story. This would not have worked as well as it did if it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t an online urban legend. It had<\/i> to be something that had a life of its own, that could be chased due to endless new rumors and sightings. That aspect of it is what made Ed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lie possible.<\/p>\n

Ghostfacers 2.0<\/b><\/p>\n

It was clear early on in this episode that the Ghostfacers were not the same team as they used to be. Obviously, the loss of the rest of their staff is an obvious difference, but even the dynamic between Ed and Harry had changed. From Harry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s angst over breaking up with his girlfriend to pursue Ghostfacers, to Ed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s insistence that they turn over the case to the Winchesters, this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the same team. Many of their techniques were the same, sure. The show didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shy away from displaying their more exploitative tactics (including that gross scene in Casey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bedroom). But the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desperation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for ratings, for validation, for fame \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was so much more apparent than ever before. They both had reasons for desiring that kind of success. Ed wanted a reason to justify staying with the project; Harry wanted a reason to keep Ed around as well.<\/p>\n

And lord, did this all fall apart spectacularly.<\/p>\n

Intentions<\/b><\/p>\n

The problem at the heart of Ed and Harry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s issue is horrifyingly similar to Dean and Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conflict this season. Harry, in a last-minute effort to prevent Ed from leaving the team, invented the Thinman. He did it in a way to convince Ed that it would be worth it for him to stay on, and he did this believing that it would be best for their friendship. His intentions were good \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he wanted to keep his best friend in his life \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the result of that is a fucking disaster<\/i>. Like Dean, Harry wanted nothing but the best for his friend, but he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see how that might appear selfish to Ed.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a matter of perspective. Regardless of Harry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intent, the invention of the Thinman hurt<\/i> Ed, terribly so. Even stranger? He unknowingly inspired to murderers to assume the identity of the Thinman so they could act out their horrible fantasies. (I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe I sort of guessed the correct ending and then immediately discounted it. SO CLOSE! And yet, so far.) All of this is because Harry didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just ask<\/i> Ed to stay. He built up this lie over the years, and if this case hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t dropped in the Winchesters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 laps, I bet Harry wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have ever have told his friend the truth.<\/p>\n

While I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think the show would split up the Winchesters in any significant way, it was still brutal watching Ed and Harry go their separate ways. I appreciated that the writers respected the fact that Ed wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ready to forgive Harry. As Sam said, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something Ed has to figure out on his own, and nothing is going to make it easier. So how is this going to affect Sam and Dean? Can<\/i> their be forgiveness, or will this always be something that Sam can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forgive? Which is his right, by the way! But perhaps this experience has given Dean the insight he needs to understand why his brother is behaving as he is. I think both characters could learn something from the events in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153#THINMAN.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d At the very least? These two need to take my advice from a thousand seasons ago:<\/p>\n

PLEASE SIT DOWN AND HAVE A MATURE CONVERSATION.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153#THINMAN\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S., Canada, Europe, the U.K., and Ireland. Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be the remainder of The Legend of Korra<\/i>, series 8 of Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>– Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a> I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
\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!
\n<\/a>– Please check out the MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"