Everybody Loves a Clown
Original Air Date: 10/05/2006

Sam and Dean meet a woman (Samantha Ferris) from their father's past who may be able to help them track the demon, but they get sidetracked by a homicidal clown who talks children into letting him in their house, kills the parents and vanishes.

Notes

Writer

John Shiban

Director

Phil Sgriccia

Guest Stars:

Alona Tal (Jo)
Samantha Ferris (Ellen)
Chad Lindberg (Ash)

Filming Locations:

Planet Ice in Maple Ridge

Completely Useless Trivia:

The Missouri plates on Bobby's minivan read 5R7 BC0.

This episode was dedicated to the memory of Peter Ellis, who directed The Benders and Bloody Mary episodes. Peter died on April 24, 2006.

Review

The Then/Now recap was much more to my liking this week. Set to Time Has Come Today by the Chamber Brothers, it had just the right mix of emotion to set off the clips. I loved how they flashed the clips of John to the "tick tock" of the cowbell, a not-so-subtle reminder that our time with him is up.

I love the blood-covered camera lens at the start of this episode. We see the still scene through the garish red, then in the blink of an eye the blood is gone and we find ourselves in a cheerful bustling carnival. These kinds of details really make this show something special and I love that someone took the time to put that in!

The teaser introduces the clown, who seems to reveal himself only to children. While I have no problem with clowns in general, I have to admit that the way this one waves is particularly sinister. He follows the family home and encourages the little girl to unlock the door and let him in. Why she isn't worried about letting a grown man into her house in the middle of the night is a mystery to me! Don't kids have any sense? Apparently not.

Dean and Sam watch as the body of their father burns on the funeral pyre. Sam asks if John said anything after he left the room. Dean chooses to follow in his father's footsteps and lie to Sam, saying no. As always, Sam's emotions are displayed for all to see, while Dean maintains his control, although I'm pleased to say that he sheds a single tear for his father. I believe this is the first time we see Dean actually let a tear drop.

A week later and the Impala is still looking woebegone, but at least it's alive! Dean has been working hard to get it into shape, but with his shirt on, I'm sorry to say! Isn't Missouri too hot for that kind of work? Sam offers to help, but Dean knows what a girly. well, Dean says no thanks. Sam pushes for some sharing time, to which Dean responds "Come here, I want to lay my head gently on your shoulder." Totally cracked me up! As always, Dean avoids his emotions through sarcasm. Sam tells Dean about a message he found on John's cell phone from Ellen. The fact that John saved it for four months is a testament to its importance. Sam traces the number and finds an address, and since the Impala isn't ready yet, they borrow Bobby's only working car, a minivan, and go to find Ellen. I love how when they pull up to the Roadhouse, strains of One More Time by Captain & Tenille waft out the window. It totally fits their pitiful vehicular predicament!

Caught breaking into the Roadhouse bar, they meet Jo and Ellen. Dean shows his lightning fast reflexes by relieving Jo of her rifle, and Jo returns the favour by popping Dean one in the nose and taking it back. When Ellen hears the boys' names, she realizes who they are and introduces herself as an old friend of John's. She says she can't do much herself to help with the demon, but introduces the boys to Ash, the resident computer genius. Ash takes John's research and says he'll be able to track the demon with it, just give him 51 hours to whip up a program. Dean considers hitting on Jo to fill the time, but changes his mind. It's too soon after his father's death for him to enjoy himself again.

Although I thought I would hate the character, I gotta say I absolutely LOVE Ash! He's the perfect blend of genius and ineptitude. He obviously has the computer stuff down pat, but socially he's a little backward. Chad Lindberg did an excellent job, and this is one character I'll love to see again. The jury is still out on Jo, though. While she did a fine job, I still don't see her and Dean hooking up. She's just so young! She doesn't seem his type, but then again maybe it's because she's not what he's used to that she will be able to get past his defenses and into his heart. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I'm willing to suspend judgement until I see more. Ellen was also excellent. She seems like a strong and stable character and she'll fill the void that John left with her mature outlook and hunting knowledge. I certainly hope we'll eventually find out the nature of her relationship with John. I can't imagine they were romantically involved, but obviously they shared something important. I look forward to finding out what it was!

Meanwhile, little Evan is in the carnival fun house finding out just how scary clowns can be. Evan has an excellent "scared" face, I must say! He's very talented for such a young actor. His dad wanted him to be more afraid of the horror show, if he only knew! He tells Evan not to be afraid, that clowns are our friends, so when the clown comes calling later that night, Evan dutifully listens to his father and makes friends. I bet he's really afraid of clowns now! Poor Evan.

While waiting for Ash to do his thing, Sam notices a folder behind the bar with the details of the murders. He offers to look into it for Ellen, and he and Dean leave for the carnival. I love the chat they have in the car on the way. Dean teases Sam about his fear of clowns; "you bust out crying every time you see Ronald McDonald on television!" and Sam responds with "At least I'm not afraid to fly!" Dean: "Yeah? Well planes crash!" Sam: "and apparently, clowns kill." That shuts Dean up. Nice job, Sammy! They discuss the various possibilities, thinking it's a spirit attached to a location or an object. They need to find whatever object it is; Sam calls it a "carnival scavenger hunt". At the Cooper Carnival, Sam waits while Dean asks around. A very cute "diminutive" clown wanders by and checks him out and much to my enjoyment a smile tugs at the corner of her mouth when she realizes he's a little scared of her. This little scene is ever so slightly reminiscent of Sam's midget stripper comment on the gag reel, I'm glad they included it in the episode! Dean comes back and asks if Sam got her number, and Sam tells him that looking for a cursed object in a carnival is like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. Noting the "help wanted" sign, they go to see about getting a job. Dean asks the blind knife-thrower if he's seen Mr. Cooper, inciting an unwinnable argument about how a blind man would trade his eye teeth for a chance to "see" Mr. Cooper. Another midget comes in to see what the problem is and is likewise offended by Dean's "just a little misunderstanding" comment. Dean's backpedaling does no good and Sam is enjoying the fiasco far too much to offer any assistance, but they do eventually find Mr. Cooper.

In his office, Dean hustles for the normal chair, leaving the freakish clown chair for Sam. When they ask for work, they're treated to a really moving "live regular" speech from Cooper. He tells them they should be at school chasing skirts, to leave carnival to the freaks. Dean's expression shows that he considers himself a freak, but before he can say anything Sam gives his own impassioned statement. "We don't want regular. We want this."

Cooper hires them on as janitorial workers and they wander the grounds picking up trash and checking for EMF readings. Sam ventures into the fun house where a skeleton drops down and scares him, giving him an idea. He calls Dean, who says "What's the matter? You sound like you just saw a clown!". "Skeleton, actually". Sam wonders if the spirit might be linked to it's own remains, used somewhere in the carnival. After the phone call, Dean is stopped by the blind knife thrower who heard the whole conversation. He grills Dean about the call, telling him that carnies watch out for their own and don't welcome outsiders. When Dean finally meets up with Sam, it's just in time to hear another little girl say "Look mommy! A clown!" But mommy can't see the clown, and neither can Dean or Sam. The boys stake out the girls house and watch as she invites the clown in to play. As she leads it upstairs to meet her parents, Sam grabs her from the hall and Dean shoots it with rock salt. Bad news, it's not a spirit. It vanishes and blows out the glass in the door on it's way out. This is our first clue that although it's invisible, it's still a solid creature.

Knowing that someone probably noted the licence plate, they ditch the minivan and walk back to town. Sam again tries to talk to Dean about their father, but Dean shuts him down, saying not to dump his own issues on Dean. He goes on to explain that Sam is trying to overcompensate for his actions before John's death by being the perfect, loving, obedient son. But it's too little, too late. Nothing he does now will make a difference to John. Dean insists he's fine, that he's dealing with the death in his own way, it's Sam who's not dealing with it. Sam cuts the conversation short by calling Ellen to find out if she's heard anything. She believes it's a Rakshasa, a hindu creature that sleeps on a bed of dead insects and feeds on human flesh every twenty or so years. It can't enter a home without being invited in, so it uses the clown disguise to entice children to open their homes. To kill it, the weapon of choice is a brass dagger.

They think Cooper is the creature since he worked on both carnivals where there have been killings, so they go to check him out. Sam checks his bed for insects while Dean goes to the blind knife thrower to find a brass dagger. The knife thrower tells him to look in the trunk, and inside is the clown costume. Dean can't quite believe it, but the blind guy takes his dark glasses off to show perfectly normal eyes. Then with evil laughter ringing in the air, he disappears slowly, much like Alice in Wonderland's Cheshire cat, leaving only a pair of glowing green eyes hanging in the air. Dean tries to open the locked door, and a knife lands inches from his face. He kicks the door open and runs, finding Sam outside. They still need a brass dagger, so Sam suggests the fun house. Once inside, the boys are separated from each other by a door that slams shut on it's own. Sam goes to a mini pipe organ and tries to pull out a pipe, while Dean circles around through the maze. Just as Dean reaches Sam, a knife flies out of nowhere pinning his arm to the wall. Another hits a bit higher, and he's thoroughly trapped. Meanwhile, Sam has managed to get the pipe, and turns to see a dagger flying straight at his face. Very cool effect here, the dagger came from the hall of mirrors, so it looked like it flew on forever before reaching Sam. He dodges it and searches for the Rakshasa. Dean, unable to get free, helps in the only way he can. He opens the pressure valve for the pipe organ, allowing the room to fill with steam. The Rakshasa creates a void within the steam allowing the boys to see it. It sneaks up behind Sam who uses the pointed end of the pipe to stab the creature. He hits it dead on, and is rewarded with a very disgusting waterfall of blood out the other end of the pipe. Yuck! Dean turns the steam valve off and as the room clears we see the bloodstained and empty clothes of the creature lying on the floor. It has dissolved into nothing.

Back at the Roadhouse, Jo decides Dean is a great catch and tries to make her feelings known. Dean again tells her the time isn't right, but leaves room for something to happen in the future. Ash shows them the program he's made to search for the demon's activities worldwide, and assures them that if any of the signs crop up that he'll let them know right away. The boys go back to Bobby's to finish the repairs to our beloved Impala, and Sam makes a last-ditch effort to talk to Dean about John's death. He gives a teary and impassioned speech about how Dean is right about him. He's sorry he didn't try harder to get along while John was alive, and now it's too late. He admits that he's not all right, but he also knows that Dean is not all right either. He says his piece and leaves, with Dean looking after him with an expression filled with suppressed emotion. Dean calmly walks over to where a crowbar stands against a junked car. He picks it up and lets loose his anger, smashing the window of the car. But it's not enough. He turns to the Impala and attacks it with all his anguish, pouring his grief into every stroke until its trunk is dented and destroyed. Even after he stops the assault, we can see in his eyes that he's only scratched the surface of the pain he feels.

I find it interesting that he chose to attack the trunk of the Impala. This is where the weapons are stored, and to me that indicates a resentment towards the life he's been forced to live. Also, the choice to damage the Impala at all suggests that he may still associate the vehicle with his father. It was originally John's car, after all. I hope we are given the opportunity to watch Dean sort these feelings out as the season progresses.

Although it had its moments, overall, I'm not terribly impressed with this episode. They tried to split the time equally between the emotional scenes and the hunting sections, but I thought they were too evenly balanced. I would have preferred if the relationship issues had taken place in the background of the hunting scenes, instead of keeping them so separated. I suppose it has to do with how much information they had to cram into this episode, with the new character introductions and the grieving process, I almost wish they had left the clown out altogether! Of course that's what they did last week so I suppose they had to hunt something this time. All in all, I would have to say that by the end of the season I doubt very much that this episode will have made my top ten list.

Everybody Loves a Clown Original Air Date: 10/05/2006