Supernatural Rox
 

Hollywood Babylon
Original Air Date 04/19/2007

Action on the soundstage of a film studio's production of a ghost movie includes mysterious deaths, so Sam and Dean investigate, discovering a fatal flaw within the script.

Notes

Writer

Ben Edlund

Director

Phil Sgriccia

Guest Stars:

Gary Cole (Brad Redding)
Don Stark (Jay Wiley)
Regan Burns (McG)
Michael B. Silver
  (Martin Flagg)
Elizabeth Whitmere
  (Tara Benchley)
Ben Ratner (Walter Dixon)

Other Guests:

Graeme Duffy
  (Dave the sound guy)

Filming Locations:

Studio soundstage (CMMP)

Review

Wow, this episode had me laughing hard enough to wake the dead! Full of inside jokes and self-deprecating humour, it was truly a fun hour! So let's get on with the review!

Opening scene shows "Wendy" searching for her friends. How cute is it that they recycled the water tower from Crossroad Blues? They didn't even bother to change the railroad insignia on it! A hand grabs Wendy's shoulder and she turns with a start. It's her friend "Brody", who tells her that Ashley and Todd are dead. They have to get out RIGHT NOW!!! Brody runs off leaving Wendy to face the evil alone. As the villain sneaks up behind her, she senses something and turns, releasing a long, unfelt, tepid scream at the scene that greets her: a camera with a yellow tennis ball mounted on top and the faces of three crew members. Hardly a scary sight. "CUT!" the director yells, and an alarm signals the all clear. He takes her aside and encourages her to dial up her scream, telling her that the final shot will look terrifying once Ivan and the FX guys get finished with it. He shows her the concept sketches, and. hold on-- isn't that the Ghost Rider with a chainsaw??? rofl. They take a break while the camera is reloaded, and "Frank" the temp crewman relates the story of how the soundstage is haunted. Frank bugs me a little because he looks so much like Brent Spiner's character in Independence Day. The long frizzled hair, the double chin, even the voice. I don't know if it was on purpose or not, but I find it distracting. The actors don't pay him any mind, they clearly don't believe in these things. Later, as Tara (Wendy) practices her screaming -alone, in the dark- she hears a noise from the fake trees behind her. Thinking it's someone playing a prank, she moves to investigate. When a hat falls to the ground beside her she looks up to see Frank hanging from the rafters. His face is scored by deep claw marks dripping blood, and it's clear that he's dead. Tara lets loose a hair-raising scream of terror that echoes through the soundstage, to which the director responds with glee: "Now THAT's what I'm talking about!".

Insert the flaming Supernatural title card, and cut to our boys.

Dean and Sam ride the studio tour trolley of the WB studio. (through what looks like the Burnaby Village Museum (Scarecrow ep) with a CG backdrop of the Warner Bros. studios against the Hollywood hills. Isn't that Scotty's café in the bottom right corner?) Dean is excited to be there, movie buff that he is, but when the trolley reaches Star's Hollow Sam looks uncomfortable and makes a hasty exit from the tour. Looking around to admire the hustle and bustle of the busy studio, the boys describe the case that brought them here. This is really a beautifully filmed segment, with a long continuous shot of the boys walking while a wide variety of characters and props pass behind them. Everything from medieval characters to astronauts, it's like walking through Alice's rabbit hole. One of my favourite lines from the show is in this segment, Dean says he wanted to come to LA for swimming pools and movie stars, not to work, to which Sam replies "does this seem like swimming pool weather to you? It's practically Canadian!" I was busting a gut; the sky is overcast and the ground is wet, it's the epitome of Vancouver weather and I love that they commented on it! Sam shares that Frank Jaffe (second time they used this surname - see Phantom Traveler) died on set and Dean asks if this could be like Poltergeist, stating that rumour had it they used real human bones as props and at least three people died during the making of the film. Sam says it's possible, and continues on to say that the actress who found Frank is Tara Benchley. Dean perks up at the mention of her name, asking if it's the Tara Benchley from FearDotCom and Ghost Ship. Sam asks if he knows her, but Dean simply says he's a fan of her work.

As the boys slip past the door into studio 9 we see the producers and director discussing the film. The executive producer/studio guy asks if they can't make it brighter, you know, because who says horror films have to be dark? He sees Sam and Dean and assuming they're PA's, he calls Dean over to ask for a smoothie from Crafty. Dean, although familiar with all things horror film related, has no idea what Crafty is and has to be rescued by Sam. When he asks Sam what a PA is, Sam says "I think they're kind of like slaves." What a great line! I'm really enjoying how much they hammed up this episode. Notice the two l-r swipe scene changes here. I can't remember exactly what that's called, but it's about as cheesy as it gets and the fact that they use it here shows that they have a sense of humour about their work. Dean manages to find Crafty and gets a tray of smoothies, using them as an excuse to wander the set unimpeded. As the crew get ready to roll cameras again, he uses the time to scan the rafters where Frank was found with his EMF detector. On a side note, the slate for Hell Hazers II shows that they're shooting roll 6 of scene 6 on take 6, and McG is directing with Serge Ladouceur on camera. For those who may not know, McG is one of the executive producers of Supernatural, and Serge is the Director of Photography. Scene 6 is earlier in the film than our opening scene, since Wendy and her friends are all alive and well. Inside a ramshackle cabin the group have a little "fun" by reading a Latin incantation from an old book. With the long Latin phrases droning on in the background, Dean's EMF reader buzzes it's negative readings. There's nothing extraordinary there. In the cabin, Tara is still spouting Latin when one of her costars asks if they'll be finished by tomorrow, effectively ruining the take. Dean meets Sam at the Crafty table to report his findings. When Sam asks what he thinks, he answers that he thinks being a PA sucks, but the food is wonderful! Holding up a tiny sandwich, he encourages Sam to try one, saying that they're like mini Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches. He's so excited about them that while Sam talks about Frank Jaffe, he shoves one in his mouth and chews with a giant piece of beef hanging out of one side. It makes the fangirl in me want to go twizzle it off of him. Sam has found out that there have been four deaths over the past 80 years. Two suicides and two accidents. If they can figure out which death resulted in a vengeful spirit, they can put it to rest. Dean heroically volunteers to question Tara about it, and before Sam can comment, he's on his way. He grabs a stack of call sheets from the production manager and takes them to Tara, meekly asking if she's supposed to get one. Of course Tara finds him endearing, and the two chat about the happenings around the set and her role in the movie Bogeyman, to which she replies "what a terrible script!" Poor Kripke. Just because that movie had all the flow of drying paint or turtle races doesn't mean it didn't have its good points. That whole hotel key/bloody bathtub conundrum was a stroke of genius if you ask me. Anyway, Tara tells him about her experience finding the dead man and how she's sure she saw an unidentifiable shape up there with him. Dean asks about Frank and comments that nobody seems to have known anything about him. Tara says she has his picture, explaining that she takes polaroids of all the crew to pass time on set. I'm sure they added this little tidbit in for Jensen's benefit, as we know that he spends much of his down time with a camera in his hand. Tara shows him the shot of her with Frank, but Dean recognizes the face as that of Gerard St. James.

They knock on Gerard's door, and when he answers Sam points out the obvious - he's not Frank Jaffe and he's not dead - while Dean asks wasn't he "Desert Soldier #4" in Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn. He recognized him because of course he's a big fan. Dean goes on to compliment him on his role as "tractor crash victim" in Critters 3, which garners him an invitation to come inside. Gerard is clearly an accomplished background actor, and he tells the boys that the producers hired him to play dead that day for the hype and free publicity. I have to say, I'm really enjoying this side of Dean. He's geeky and excitable and a fan of all things horror-related. I know he's able to play this so well because of all the fangirls that have acted just like this with him, and even though he's mocking us them, I still find it really adorable.

Back at the studio, they're filming Todd, Brody and Mitch in the cabin talking about Wendy and Ashley. The two girls are missing and Brody is worried. It's their fault, he says, they read the chant and brought the ghosts back from hell, they can't leave until the girls are found. Meanwhile, as the lines are spoken we see the sound mixer with his earphones on, listening intently. As the scene progresses the sound gets worse, the dialogue obscured by distortion. They cut, but Dave the sound guy says he needs another take. Everyone groans and resets "back to one" for another go, while Brad, the studio executive gives a few notes. "The rules aren't landing with me" he says, "if the ghosts are in hell, how do they hear the Latin chant? Do they have super hearing?" McG throws it at the writer, who says "how about we throw in an explainer?" That makes our exec. happy, so he toddles off to return some phone calls. He finds a secluded spot and is dialing his phone when he sees a woman in what he thinks is full body makeup. He's impressed with the quality of the work -she's completely black-and-white- but comments that her neck wounds won't track on camera. He thinks they should be red. I like how since she was an actress from the 30's, her ghost appears in black&white. Nice attention to detail on this one! He shouts that he wants to speak to someone in the make-up department, but before he can walk away the woman flashes in familiar ghost fashion to appear directly behind him and taps his shoulder. Without speaking she simply removes her dressing gown and drops it to the floor. She then turns and walks silently up the nearby staircase. Intrigued by the naked woman, the producer scuttles up the stairs behind her. Meanwhile, the cast is going through the scene again with the revised (and abhorrently cheesy) "super hearing" line. Just as the line is spoken, a crash resounds through the set and Brad falls through the ceiling of the cabin. Hanging from a thick rope, his body spins uncontrollably for a few horrifying seconds before bumping the sofa and hanging still. Dying but not yet dead, he twitches just enough to knock his cell phone earpiece to the floor in the traditional "I'm done for" shot. As the camera closes in on the earpiece we hear the loud beeping of the disconnected telephone. Game over for victim #1.

Filming resumes with Wendy cautiously entering the cabin. Mitch is there to profess his love for her while accidentally shining his flashlight in her face. She's determined to keep them safe from the ghosts so she calls for salt. Salt? Why would ghosts be afraid of salt? No one can give a reasonable answer so they turn to the writer. "I'm not married to salt" he answers "what do you want? Are we still sticking with condiments?" Trying to think of what ghosts would be afraid of, he suggests shotguns, but that makes even less sense than salt, according to McG. Dean watches with a full mouth and a look of amusement, half ways wondering if he should make a suggestion. Walter, another PA, is nearby looking through the script before walking off in frustration, muttering that they're all idiots. Sam wanders over and asks how it's going, to which Dean replies that "Tara has really stepped up her performance, probably due to all the sense-memory stuff she's drawing on." Sam, the consummate mother figure, makes it clear in his hen peck voice that he means the case, not the film and besides, doesn't Dean hate being a PA? By way of an answer we're treated to a crotch-shot to remind us that the hound dog is always on the prowl. Sam shares that Brad is really dead, it's not a hoax. Dean takes him to Dave the sound guy to let him listen to the distorted take. There's EVP on the recording, and now they're getting EMF readings as well. It really is a ghost they're dealing with. (When did Dean put on the Hell Hazer's II t-shirt? Also, nice shot here of Diane, the wardrobe guru. Hi Diane!) The boys go to one of the cast trailers (not sure how they, as lowly PA's, are allowed into a star trailer.) to watch a bootleg copy of the dailies. They watch the scene where Brad crashes through the ceiling and find that there's an image of the ghost on the film. Sam recognizes her as one of the deaths from studio 9, and learns that Brad's death mimics hers exactly.

Sam and Dean go to the graveyard where Elise Drummond is buried. Dean has a map to the graves of Hollywood stars, which he says is totally worth the five bucks. They find Elise's grave and dig her up, salt and burn her bones. While they're occupied at the graveyard, Jay the producer is wandering around the set talking on his phone to "Bob", whom I assume is meant to be Robert Singer. He tells Bob how much he hates McG's dailies, but no, of course he loves Bob! As soon as he hangs up the phone the set lights go dark. Surely he'll be safe, since Dean is at this very moment in his oh-so-heroic way lighting the matches that will destroy Elise's power, right? Alas, no. The ghost he meets in the dark is male. With a minor head wound. Minor in the same way the Texas Chainsaw Massacre had some minor cuts and scrapes. You know, what's half the guys brain and an eyeball when this is Kripke we're talking about? Next to the cabin, the giant wind-generating fan clicks on and the ghost flickers out of view. Jay is pulled towards the fan by an unseen hand until his screaming is halted by the chunky spray of blood hitting a nearby light reflector. Yes, you heard me. Chunky. As in bits of gray matter. How they got that past the censors, I'll never know.

Cut to commercial, but wait! Our commercial isn't really a commercial! It's a promo trailer for Hell Razers II: The Reckoning.
"They never forgive. They never forget. And this summer they're coming back again to settle the score.
. again." From the creators of Cornfield Massacre (AKA Scarecrow episode) and Monster Truck (AKA Route 666 episode) and the director of Charlie's Angels (because, well, you know.), Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Hell Hazers comes a new experience in terror- Hell Hazers II: The Reckoning. (this film is not yet rated)
Note the web page address at the bottom of the credits list, "ww.hellhazers2.con". I guess we have to wait for Hell Hazers 3 to get the third 'w'. The dot-con is cute, though. I'm curious to know how many people tried it to see if it's a real site.

Sam and Dean look on as the police process the scene of the "accident". I can't help but notice that the blood on the reflector is reminiscent of Slither. I wonder if that was on purpose? As it turns out, this death matches another of the previous four deaths, this time it's Billy Beard, a gaffer who had a run-in with a wind generator. Since Elise is toast, they assume it's the ghost of Billy, which Dean comments is weird because ghosts don't usually tag-team.

McG gets out of his spicy little yellow Ferarri, looking much too casual in jeans and tennies for such an expensive car. I can't help but wonder how closely these characters resemble their real-life counterparts? I know next to nothing about the real McG, only that he's highly energetic and enthusiastic. I'm still trying to decide if Kripke is represented by Walter or Martin. I'm leaning towards Martin simply because he has all the big movie posters up on his office wall. Perhaps it's a mixture of both; the detail and accuracy oriented side versus the Hollywood sellout? Not to say that Kripke has sold out or anything, but compromises must be made. I can only assume that Jay Wiley is Kim Manners, although I'd like to find out for sure if he (or anyone) says "kicking ass and taking names" that often. Then again, with the long list of producers for this show, Jay could be any one of a dozen people. McG gets out of his Ferarri and calls everyone together for an announcement. One studio suit wasn't a big loss, but one suit plus one producer equals a shutdown of production for a few days. He gives a very *ahem* "moving" speech about how the show must go on, but not today. With a little free time on their hands, the boys continue to investigate. Dean researches Billy Beard, who as it turns out was cremated, while Sam watches the dailies of the movie to see if there are any clues. Barely staying awake, he comments that maybe the spirits are trying to shut down the movie because it sucks. "Cause, I mean, it kind of does." But he notices something that's worth a second look; the chant that Wendy reads on camera is a real necromantic summoning ritual.

Sam and Dean go to Martin's office to ask how he knew to use the ritual in the movie. Martin is on the phone, and seriously, are they serious about the seriously serious overuse of the word serious??? Again, I can't help but wonder who they're parroting here. I'm trying to remember if I've ever heard Kripke say serious. Seriously. Then again, maybe it's a joke about the "Seriously Supernatural" ad that's on Youtube. Then again, maybe the Seriously Supernatural ad is on Youtube because someone is seriously into overusing the word 'serious'. Okay, I could go on forever on this, so I guess I should let it go and get back to writing the serious part of the review. No seriously, I mean it! So in Martin's office we see the movie posters for some seriously bad movies. (Sorry!) Besides Hell Hazers, there's Monster Truck, Cornfield Massacre, and Carnivore Carnival. This time it's Sam's turn to play awestruck fan. And he does it so well, I can't help but wonder if, like Jensen earlier, he's drawing on his experience with his own tongue-tied fangirls. Sam tells Martin that he read the script, and when asked what he thought of it, Sam answers "yeah." Then for good measure, throws in an "awesome" which is repeated by Dean. I tell you, I was laughing so hard by this point I couldn't even speak. I have always assumed that if I ever met anyone famous I'd be my usual eloquent and intelligent self. Sadly, I've learned that the Squeats that meets famous people stutters and stammers and sounds like a freak. Which I am technically, so I guess that part's okay. It really cracks me up to see Sam Winchester, so knowledgeable and well-spoken, sounding like an idiot fan. And he does it so well too, he must be. how does it go? "drawing on sense-memory stuff". I love it! And Martin is so stoked that they like his script, he sounds like an excited schoolboy. Then he finds out that the part they liked was "that Latin garbage" and his face falls; that part was Walter's writing. Yes Walter, the PA who thinks the producers are idiots. Walter, who has somehow learned a great deal about black magic and written it into a script. Walter, who in the very next scene is meeting with Martin on the abandoned set, directly in front of the wind generator.

Martin clearly doesn't take Walter seriously. He is so convinced that he "fixed" the script that he can't understand why Walter would be upset about the changes. He says they don't care about "real" in Hollywood, and ghosts aren't real anyway so who cares? But Walter cares and he's going to prove just how much. With a black talisman dangling from his upraised hand, he repeats the words we heard Wendy chanting in the movie. Martin just laughs and turns away, but finds the ghost of Billy Beard standing right behind him. The fan clicks on and Martin is dragged towards it just like Jay was, but before he gets too close a shot of rock salt comes out of nowhere and repels the ghost. Dean steps out from behind the fan, shotgun in hand, and Martin delivers that great line that made us all eager to watch this episode: "you're one helluva PA!" Sam confronts Walter, telling him that interfering with the spirit world is like playing with fire. When he sees he can't get rid of the boys, Walter again raises his talisman and spouts some Latin. The rumbling in the building speaks of his success, and three spirits appear. At this point I find myself asking about these three ghosts and how they died. Sam stated earlier that of the four violent deaths, two were accidents and two were suicides. We already know that Elise Drummond was one of the suicides, and we assume that Billy Beard was an accident. That means that one of the other two must be the other suicide. The problem with this is that the three remaining ghosts all look like accident victims. One man is missing an arm, Billy is missing half his face, and the woman is burned. Are we to believe that she threw herself into a fire to commit suicide? Unlikely. Did Billy throw himself into the fan on purpose? Possibly. Perhaps the other man was trying to slit his wrists but couldn't find a razor. Next best thing would be a chainsaw, right? That must be it. Either way, these three ghosts are at Walter's command, and he's out for blood. The three spirits advance on Sam, Dean and Martin. Dean aims his salt gun, but before they get close enough for him to use it, they all disappear. The boys look around, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, Sam goes flying, thrown by an invisible hand! Dean leads the way into the only shelter around; the tiny cabin. As the three run through the door and slam it behind him, we're treated to Dean's (quite good) Bruce Willis impression: "Come to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs". It's a great parallel between their situation and that of John McClane of the Die Hard movies. Dean was expecting to come to Los Angeles for a good time, but finds himself in mortal peril yet again. With the door to the cabin firmly closed they feel a sense of safety, (although why they would think a rickety wooden door would protect them from ghosts is a mystery to me) until Dean turns around to see the open fourth wall. This is a studio set after all. He searches for signs that the ghosts are coming through but can't see anything. Sam, remembering that the cameras picked up the ghost of Elise Drummond, checks his cell phone camera to see if it will reveal these ghosts as well. Sure enough, the camera sees what they eye cannot and he is able to direct Dean where to fire. Through the open roof he sees Walter scuttling away through the catwalks and he decides to go after him. He gives his phone to Martin to help Dean, and goes to intercept Walter. Realizing that his plan is thwarted, Walter smashes the talisman on the ground. Sam takes this as an opportunity to give an explainer of his own, telling Walter that by smashing the talisman he's freed the ghosts from his control. They will be angry that he brought them back and forced them to kill, and without the talisman there's nothing they can do to stop them. With the foreboding words hanging in the air, Walter suddenly flinches in pain, falling to the ground writhing while deep red bloodstains appear on the back of his shirt. With Sam and Dean looking on, Martin raises the camera phone to reveal all three ghosts viciously attacking Walter. Now some people might think that this seeming lack of action is out of character for Dean, that he should have fired his salt gun or tried to rescue Walter somehow. Let me just remind you that this is intended to be a farcical episode, and just like we saw earlier with the "super-hearing" explainer line, Sam has just explained why they don't have to do anything. I for one find it hilarious that with one simple line, "we can't stop them now", Sam and Dean gain the freedom to sit back and watch while the villain gets his comeuppance. Not to say that I'd like to see this from them more often or anything, but for once we get to sit back in good conscience and say "HA! Take that!" to the bad guy. It's only in a comedic episode like this that we're given these kinds of freedoms, and I prefer to savor the moment knowing that it's a one-time thing.

Apparently the LA police department subscribes to the superstition that bad things happen in threes, so with the death of Walter everything goes back to normal. Production is back on and Martin has gotten inspiration for his script. With cameras rolling and McG looking on with a passionate excitement, Ashley and Brody sweep the cabin with a cell phone camera and a salt gun to get rid of the ghosts. Ashley gives the same dumb blonde "I don't understand" line that we heard earlier, allowing Brody to deliver the explainer that teaches us how cameras can see frequencies that our eyes can't. Sam can't believe that Martin would take his near-death experience and write it into a B-movie script, but as I said before, this is Hollywood, after all! Cue the mariachi band as Sam goes looking for Dean. He finds him coming out of Tara Benchley's trailer which, only seconds ago was merrily a-rockin'. As Dean, dirty dog that he is, steps out of the doorway with a huge grin on his face, Tara comes to the door in her robe and an equally wide grin saying "You're one helluva PA." Taking full advantage of their hero moment, Sam and Dean walk off into the sunset which, in keeping with the cheese theme of the episode, turns out to be a giant movie backdrop that swings out of the way as they approach.

Wow. Okay, note time. I have to say I loved this episode from start to finish! I believe that this is the first time in the history of Supernatural that I watched an episode in which I wouldn't change one single word! Seriously! (Well, except maybe "seriously". lol) Generous kudos to Ben Edlund who wrote this, it's perfect in every way. I only wish that I had a frame of reference so I'd know why some things are exaggerated. For example, I know that Dean saying "it's WONDERFUL!" about all the food is intended as a burn, but I don't know why or to whom. Same with "seriously" and "kicking ass and taking names". I have no doubt that they're in the episode because somebody must say these things with an annoying regularity, but I don't know the back story. Hopefully it will be explained in detail on the season 2 DVD.

As I said earlier, I particularly enjoyed the parts that had Sam and Dean acting like star-struck fans. I have no doubt that they enjoyed playing those scenes, finally being able to publicly point their fingers at us and laugh. Dean took his fanatics to the next level as he showed his extensive knowledge of horror movies, even those that were so awful they've slipped into the vaults of oblivion. (I just had to throw that word in somewhere! *giggle*) Like most true fans, he has the stories, stars and trivia memorized down to the tiniest detail. Only a true fan would recognize "desert soldier #4" from a Polaroid snapshot.

I don't claim to know everything about filmmaking, but I know enough to see cheesy B-movie moments when I see them, and this episode had them in spades! Everything from the screaming starlet to the moving sunset backdrop was hammed up with such flair that pointed mocking fingers at almost every job in Hollywood. Even Sam and Dean, riding in on the studio trolley instead of Metallicar was a dig in itself. It did not escape my attention that the Impala, representing the only consistently "cool" character in the show, was conspicuously absent this week. I guess they couldn't find any way to make fun of her, she simply oozes heroism and gallantry out of every vent and valve!

Believe it or not, I think this episode rates being in my top 5 favourites of the season. Yes, I know it's out of character for me, who always looks for the intelligent scripts or the awesome effects, but this hour was packed to the rafters with details that made me laugh out loud and that's just as satisfying to me as the angst. I'm sure I'll spend hours watching and re-watching it and still finding things I missed. I can't even complain about the special effects this week! Can you believe it? With the exception of the initial shot of the studio lot that was clearly a fake backdrop of the WB studio, the effects were excellent. The ghosts were scary and the movie set, although unbelievably fake, was intended to look that way. And quite frankly, I think the fake WB backdrop was probably intended to look that way as well. So full marks from me for a job well done. Thanks to all for a thoroughly enjoyable episode!
 
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