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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Episode Review: Mannequin 3: The Reckoning


The episode picks up right where it left off. Sam's fiery pit relapse, which was one of the worst WTF-moments I ever had while watching Supernatural. Sam is lying unconscious on the ground, while Dean's calling out his name. His voice is filled with desperation and keeps rising with each 'Sammy'.  Flashback 'All Hell Breaks Loose, part one" anyone?? I sure did, and I was already fighting back the tears when Sam finally awakes with a loud gasp and fire in his eyes, literally. Although it leaves almost instantly, we all caught that. Sam seems to be alright, and Dean helps him up, so they can go fight some monsters! Or dollies...

The scene changes, and suddenly we're looking at an anatomy doll in Great Falls Junior College. The difference in eyes already freaked me out a bit, but hey I'm tough, so I kept watching. We see a slightly overweight janitor mopping the floors. No big deal, right? Wrong! Because we're not the only ones watching. No, the creepy eyes turn towards the poor guy and then, out of nowhere, the janitor's head starts to bleed.

"What the..." The janitor starts and all I can say to that is, "Yeah, man, my thoughts exactly."
It gets chilly, a platter clatters to the floor and the ominous hook we saw a couple of seconds before, starts to dangle. Of course, the janitor does exactly what we all expected him to do.
"Run, Forrest, run!"

His questionable speed doesn't prove to be helpful as the creepy plastic monster appears in front of him and with a loud scream, and some splattered blood, yet another life has been claimed on 'Supernatural'.

We switch back to our favorite brothers, where Sam suffers a massive headache. In his own words, he feels like he's been hit by a 'planet'. Dean offers him some Joe, grub and...pills.

Sam: What are they?" 
Dean: Effective.

Yeah, that wouldn't make me want to take pills from unknown origin, even from my brother and neither does Sam. During the talk about Sam's trip to memory-Hell, which was surprisingly vague, Sam seems to have sustained some brain damage, or maybe he's playing dumb to avoid the topic. Hm?

Dean: Do you want to talk about it?
Sam: It?
Dean: Yeah, whatever that was. I mean, it was like you were freaking being electrocuted. 
SAM stares. DEAN stares back. SAM reluctantly speaks. 
Sam: Look...I mean, it wasn't fun, but I'm fine. 
Dean: Fine...It was hell wasn't it? You got a big fat face full of hell. Ever crossed your mind that you could have died? 
Sam: Oh come on.

The talk gets even more heavier and Dean's brotherly advice is useful as ever.
"You shove it down and let it come out in spurts of violence and alcoholism."
It apparently works for him. Ah, don't we all just love Dean...Sam protests a little, but gives in and agrees to stay in the dark about his soulless dickbag-days. And then we're finally back to business, when Dean not so subtly changes the subject to a case in Paterson, New Jersey. Of course, Sam's on board and here starts their quest for the creepy mannequin!

Sam: Where we off to?
Dean: Paterson, New Jersey. Hey, maybe we'll have a Snooki sighting.
Sam: What's a Snooki?
Dean: That's a good question.



It stays pretty quiet around the doll, when the brothers can't seem to get a useful lead. At least Dean is having fun.

Dean: Be my Valentine?
Sam: Dean we're working, put it back.
Dean: Have a heart!
Sam: Dean...
Dean: Buzzkill.

His fun gets cut short, not only by Sam being a 'buzzkill', but because Lisa's calling, which he decided to ignore. And then the EMF is acting up around the plastic mannequin. Did the ghost need a lover or is something else going on? Thank God for Big Brother, who taped the whole thing. It's unfortunate how there's static during the good part though. Well, still no clues for Dean and Sam.

It really seems like this case is going nowhere, so why won't you answer the goddamn phone when Lisa calls, Dean? You've got time. Hell, Sam's doing the work and even he doesn't discover anything useful. Although we do know what goes on between couples during a Glee episode.

Dean: What you find out from the mop jockey's girlfriend?
Sam: Nothing, just how great he was. Went to church, donated to charity, rubbed her feet during Glee.
Dean: I just threw up in my mouth!

Dean didn't do much better at the science lab either, since the most exciting thing that happened was some guy dousing his crotch in acid. Not smart, dude.

Ten minutes into the episode, it's finally time to kill off another late worker. The guard seems to think someone by the name of Johnny is yanking his chain, but he couldn't be more wrong. He only starts to believe something's wrong, when the mannequin keeps moving and finally plunges a pipe into him. Bye bye, Steve.

Investigating his dead at the Salzman & Sons Apparel factory, the EMF goes nuts again around the mannequin, although it's not the same one. Will this be the key to cracking this case? Sam seems to have it all figured out, but next time he shouldn't use such long words to explain it to Dean. 
"What exactly are you accusing me off?"

So Sam explains again and finally Dean's up to speed, although he's kind of skeptic about the whole thing at first.

Dean: You're joking...You're not joking. So what? We've got a bunch of killer dolls running around? Like Chucky? I mean, come on, that's just... *stares at mannequin* freaking creepy. 

They're both confused about the traveling distance in between the supposedly haunted objects, and decide to dig further. Sam's first guess could always be wrong, unlikely as it is.
"So we dig, over there. I don't like the way Kim Catrall's looking at me."


Doing what he does best, Sam finds something online about a certain Rose Brown. Already betting on vengeful spirit, they decide to go talk to Rose's sister, Isabel. But not before Dean finally answers his phone. What do you know, it's not Lisa on the phone, but her son Ben claiming that his mother won't get out of bed and is in really bad shape.

At Sam's insistence, Dean heads back to the Braeden's, while he handles the case on his own, for now. The scene switches to Isabel and Sam as they discuss Rose's life. Apparently, our ghost was very loving and giving, but she got picked on a lot because of her shyness. Not good, not good at all.

Sam discovers that the janitor used to work at the same factory as Rose and Steve. Intriguing.
He heads back to the factory to find out more on Rose, and already we can see this isn't going to give us much more information by the way people keep shaking their heads 'no', 'no' and more 'no'.

Then there's this jittery guy, who tries to play it off like he's some cool guy, but you can see the tension rolling off him. He claims he has 'heard' of Rose, but Sam doesn't give up that easily. Johnny finally admits to have seen her around and being friends with the two victims after Sam points out how nervous he appears to be.
I guess we've established who our next victim is going to be, huh?

And then we're finally at Lisa's, where she's just getting ready for a date. Apparently, Ben made up some stuff to get Dean there. But why? That's easy. He wants his daddy-buddy back. Lisa and Dean have a very sad, but eye-opening conversation. They just aren't meant to be after all.

"That's ridiculous. Plants could never kill a zombie."
Dean tells Ben that he's afraid his being there would lead to Ben becoming a hunter, and he doesn't want that life for the kid. Ben doesn't take it too well and accuses Dean of leaving behind 'his' family. So sad. *wipes away tear*

Dean: Just 'cause you love someone, doesn't mean you should stick around and screw up their life. So I can't be here. 
Ben: You think something will follow you home?
Dean: No...No, I don't. But I think my job turns me into somebody that can't sit at your dinner table. And if I stayed, you'd end up just like me.

"We've been Parent Trapped."


Sam had his suspicions about Johnny after the nervous talk before and arrives just in time to stop an attack on the guy. Sam's a little bit, scratch that, very annoyed by Johnny and shows it as he presses for details on how Rose died. Johnny cracks and tells him everything from the bullying down to the accidental death.
"We made Rose think she had a secret admirer." 

Johnny tells Sam where Rose's body's buried and reluctantly waits inside the circle of salt, as Sam goes off to do the necessary. Sam thinks he stopped the haunting after he salted and burned the bones, and calls up Johnny to tell him it's safe to leave.

In the meantime, Dean is heading back and not only on the road. While he drives he takes a trip down memory lane. The flashbacks brought tears to my eyes, because Dean's heartbreak is plain to see.

Then we're at a bar...What? Oh right, Johnny. He takes the door next to the bar and heads inside after a very 'tough' day at work. He orders his 'doll' to pack up so they can move on, but he sure as hell didn't expect his sex doll to show a sign of hearing him. But she does, and turns to look at him. Cue the third victim of this episode.


Sam instantly notices the doll at the crime scene and calls Dean's other, other cell to tell him of his next step. 
Talking to Isabel again, finally sheds some light on this case. The girl carries around her sister's kidney, and makes it possible for the ghost to travel around. Yet, another mystery solved. But how the hell are the Winchesters going to stop her now, since they can't possible cut the kidney out.



Dean: What are you suggesting - we cut it out of her?
Sam: And then what, leave her in a tub of ice with a phone strapped to her hand?

Ha! Great use of urban legends, guys. But seriously, they shouldn't worry so much, because Rose takes care of the matter herself, albeit by accident.  She possesses Dean's 'Baby' and chases him around, accidentally hitting Isabel instead. When Isabel dies, Rose appears to say 'sorry'. She flames out and the monster of this week has been defeated in a very non-Winchester way.
"You leave my Baby alone. She's got nothing to do with this!"



"Well, seeing as how she just got carjacked by Poltergeist, it could be worse."
Naturally, the episode wouldn't be over if there wasn't a heart-to-heart between Dean and Sam at the end. Fixing up the Impala again, Dean takes a break with a bottle of beer as the brothers talk about what they're leaving behind and the things they overcame lately. And to be honest, the brotherly moment at the end made me sniffle for a second. Yeah, I'm a wuss...Sue me.
"For what it's worth, I got your back."



All in all, another awesome episode and I can't wait until the next one.

Shirley Out.

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