Was this the most awesome episode ever? No. Did it entertain me? Hell, yes! :-)
Ed and Harry opening with their backyard version of the Masterpiece Theater parlor set? Hilarious. Ed and Harry trying to walk all slo-mo (because they lack the technology to do the real thing, and we get to see cars WHOOSHING past at real-speed behind them)? Priceless. Then the Ghostfacers are sneaking around in the dark when what do we hear?
The belly-gnawing growl of a Chevy big-block engine - and Grand Funk Railroad's "American Band!!" *SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!* OMG, how sweet is that? Plus Dean's all granite-jawed at the wheel, while a scowly and dangerous looking Sam sweeps a light out the open window - *thud* It is officially canon that when The Boys roll into town, they are 3,000 pounds of solid steel very, very bad news. *shivers with nearly orgasmic delight*
Don't mind me, there. I'm having a Metallicar Moment. *G*
Anyhow. On with the show. I thought this episode took a few minutes too long to bring the Boys on-camera. They could have shaved maybe 3 or 4 minutes of the Ghostfacers to bring that. I thought they could have shaved a couple more minutes before the boys broke in all cop-like. (And OMG, how I love when both Sam and Dean get all big-chested and shouty!) *twitter*
And honestly? While I surprised myself by actually liking Corbett - he was played as a total dork, but such a sweet and sincere one - I thought the whole gay shtick was heavy-handed. I presume Kripke intended it as a wink-wink-nudge-nudge to the fans, but it just ... felt forced to me, markedly when it got to Harry employing the "gay love" thing to help Corbett escape the loop thingie. If Kripke was *aiming* for an overall dorky feel, though, in keeping with the Ghostfacers in general ... he shoots, he scores. ;-)
As for the story, I liked it! Hubby and I got a HUGE charge out of the jabs at all the phony ghost-hunting reality crap out there. The unsteady frames, the hideous camera angles, the shrieks at nothing, and the jagged, jerky shots of empty rooms - perfect! Take that, you reality show twits! *glee* Plus the Ghostfacers made me chuckle several times with their self importance and how it kept getting puctured. (Dad abruptly opening the garage door - ROTFL!) The format made me feel like I was in there with the Ghostfacers, with stuff happening that I didn't understand until Sam or Dean offered an editorial comment. This gave *me*, anyhow, a sense of immediacy. Whoops, why's Sammy beating on the doors, what's happening? Oh, damn, it's a supernatural lockdown! I got a kick out of that. :-)
Also, the evil ghost dude was TOTALLY icky, and I loved that we never entirely got a good look at him. He was the best FX of all, just rags and legs and arms, and a scabby-looking hand: a shadowy shape we never really saw. The genuinely creepy parts were genuinely creepy (even hubby thought so) - and ewwwwwww, the spike thing through Corbett's neck!. Plus the guy who got hit by a train was also really good, and the WHAM that took him out made me jump! The ghost guy who got shot, though, looked ...kind of cheezy. But whatever. I'll forgive them one lame 'ghost'. ;-)
Also, I ended up actually liking the supporting cast. Maggie and the chunky camera guy and poor Corbett, and yeah, even Ed and Harry. They were amusing, even if we could have clipped a few minutes of them off for you know who. ;-)
And while I would have preferred more of the boys, I really liked what we got. I loved that this episode took the boys out of *their* world, and dropped them squarely and in living color into *ours*. The demarcation was marked and abrupt, and for reasons I can't even articulate, I adored it. This felt as if the usual SPN episode is the historian's version, the slightly sanitised rendering of The Winchester Tales, as recorded for posterity.
This, however ... was the uncut, uncensored, real version of The Boys, and it tickled me all to pieces. Dean's potty mouth, followed by Sam's somewhat less emphatic profanity ... I chortled. And so did hubby. This may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but it was definitely mine. ;-)
Plus I like what happens when we get an outside POV of Sam and Dean. The only other time we got that was "Usual Suspects", but that kept us at a farther remove. This put us right in the room with Sam and Dean. I loved that, even from the Ghostfacer's POV, the brothers were totally in sync as a team, even to the unspoken communication and following each other's line of snark. Yeah. ;-)
Randomly and in no particular order ... Corbett's death was particularly affecting for me, just an awful sense of waste that made me feel for him, and for Sam, trapped and unable to save him. Corbett was a good kid, you know? Then Dean getting his geek on and piecing everything together at light speed - OMG, that was great! He's under pressure, Sammy is missing, people are gonna DIE , here ... and you can almost hear the wires sizzling as he puts it all together. I love this Dean, competant and sharp and driven. Heh, and after dead!Corbett whammied the evil ghost, the camera dude totally interrupted Sam and Dean almost having a 'bro-are-you-okay-here-let-me-touch-and-be-sure' moment. *g*
Finally, the electro-magnetic thingie! HEE! Our boys are just too good!
So, there you have it, my random squee. Not my fav episode, but only because I would have liked it edited a little differently, with a few less minutes of the Ghostfacers and a few more minutes of the Ghostfacers filming Sam and Dean. That's the one detail I think will cost fandom love for this episode, and I think it will be an ep that people either love or hate. But ... I also think Kripke is entitled to play and enjoy his own story, and I'm not going to tell him that he can't take time out to just have fun. I had fun right along with him!
And for a Thursday night after too long without our boys? That's good enough for me.
Cheers ~
Erin
WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
3.13 Ghostfacers
Airdate: 24 April, 2008
Writer: Ben Edlund.
Director: Phil Sgriccia.
The boys from Hellhoundslair.com , Harry Spangler and Ed Zeddmore (Season 1 episode, Hell House ), are back. This time they are working on the pilot for a new show, Ghostfacers , and, like all their competition, they now have more crew members, Corbett, Harry’s sister, Maggie, and, enormous cameraman, Spruce.
The Ghostfacers break into a notorious haunted house to investigate. Of course, they meet up with Sam and Dean, who must also be there to stop the “ghost echoes” of people’s deaths that are happening in the house. Sam and Corbett end up missing, in the hous.
The Ghostfacers end up producing the pilot into a “tribute” to their fallen “intern”.
