Bedtime Stories
Projected Air Date 11/01/2007

Once upon a time, Sam and Dean visit a strange town where mysterious deaths seemed linked to fairy tales. Meanwhile, Sam summons the Crossroad Demon and threatens her with the rebuilt Colt unless Dean is released from the deal.

Notes

Writer

Cathryn Humphries

Director

Mike Rohl

Guest Stars:

Christopher Cousins
Sandra McCoy

Other Guests:

Kimberley Warnat
Aron Eastwood
Ava Hughes
Chris Cochrane
Michael Coleman
Malcolm Scott
Maxine Miller
Patrick Gilmore
Peter Jenkins
Libby Osler
Tracy Spiridakos
Victoria Duffield
Mary Black
Derek Lowe

Filming Locations:

Completely Useless Trivia:

Dean introduces them as Detectives Plant and Page, after Robert Plant and Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin.

Review

The premise of this week's episode is fairly simple. A comatose child who is too far gone to ever recover is manipulating people into playing out Grimm's fairy tales as a means of lashing out at her situation. Okay, maybe it's not simple, but it's certainly inventive! First off, we have the three little pigs getting eaten by the big bad wolf. How she managed to find three fat little builders to attack, I'll never know. Particularly since their name was "Bacon Builders". At least Sam has a detailed drawing of the culprit.

Sam wants to confront the crossroads demon and force her to give up her contract on Dean's soul. It's a remarkably half-baked idea for Sam, he's usually the one holding Dean back and saying they need a better plan. This time it's Dean pointing out all the things that could go wrong. Flexing his "I'm older" muscles again, he tries to make Sam back down, but it's clear that this argument is not going to work for much longer. Opting to switch subjects before the fight gets too far out of control, Dean asks for a run down on the latest psychotic killer. The brutal attack on the Bacon boys sounds like a werewolf and since the lunar cycle is right they opt to check it out. Problem is, when they question the only surviving victim he denies any animal characteristics in his attacker, insisting it was just an average guy with average teeth, eyes and fingernails. His only defining characteristic was a Wile E Coyote tattoo.

Since one set of victims isn't enough to find the fairy tale pattern, we get to watch poor little Hansel and Gretel get eaten by the gingerbread witch. Little Callie is either really lucky or very talented to be able to find yet another odd pairing of victim and attacker. In this case two hikers are lost in the woods and just happen to stumble upon the only resident in the area; a harmless looking little silver-haired hermit granny living in a picturesque cookie-cutter cottage. I confess I find Ken to be a little wooden, with his obvious eyeing of the cherry pie cooling on the windowsill. I can't help but wonder what a lummox like him is doing with such a cute and obviously intelligent girlfriend. I don't have to wonder for long though; granny makes short work of him, having fed him two laced slices of her pie. There's not much in this world that's more creepy than a smiling senior slicing and dicing a hapless hiker with the same gaiety she might exhibit during a winning streak on bingo night. The contradiction of her smiling face and swinging knife is truly chilling.

The girlfriend, Miss Watson, survives to tell a pertinent detail: there was a little girl watching the events unfold through the window. In another unprecedented reversal of roles, Dean spends six hours doing research at the local library while Sam does, well, we don't actually know what he does but I'm guessing we'd be embarrassed for him if we found out. Dean can't find any mention of a young girl with dark hair and pale skin that has either gone missing or been killed. Ever. Fortunately a giant bullfrog begging to be kissed catches their eye causing them to stop and take notice of a pumpkin on a nearby stoop. I'm not exactly sure how Sam sees a pumpkin and a mouse and jumps straight to Cinderella, but somehow he manages it, and since a vermin-ridden porch is all the proof they need, they go ahead and break into the house. (Take note of how even the frog thinks Sam is gay.) Inside they find poor Cinderella cuffed to the stove because, you know, all evil stepmothers keep handcuffs in the kitchen drawer. The sad part of this little tale is that, as we all know, Cinderella lives. Not only lives, but goes on to marry the prince and live in the giant blue castle with pretty pink ribbons flying from the tallest turrets. But Sam and Dean had to ruin it all for her. (The bastards!) They came storming in and rescued her from the evil stepmother before her fairy godmother could change her street clothes into a beautiful gown. Now the prince will go and marry some other chick and poor Cinderella is stuck living in her stepmother's basement forever. But it's not a total loss; at least Dean gets to see little Callie. If her lily-white skin and ebony hair aren't enough of a giveaway, she leaves Dean with a shiny red apple to punctuate her statement. Even so, it's Sam who makes the connection; Snow White. Dean tries to digress to the porn version he once watched, but Sam keeps him on track with the facts of the tale, an evil stepmother poisons Snow White with an apple. She doesn't die though, she goes into a deep sleep. With this new piece of information, the brothers go back to the hospital to check into comatose girls. They find Callie, Dr. Garrison's daughter, being tortured by the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

We should be used to the coincidences by now, but I still have to chuckle when I see the grandmother "struggling with the latch". In the story it's the latch to the front door she can't be bothered with, but on the screen it's the latch to the minivan. The funny part is that it's a remote-entry vehicle, the woman has already pressed the button to open the door when the "wolf" comes along to help her. Still, seeing "Little Red Riding Hoodie" makes up for all that. What a cute interpretation! Although it's interesting that she's wearing her red riding hoodie but all those bikes belong to other children. I had also hoped that at some point she would say "what a big tattoo you have!" for a little taste of the original story, but alas I was disappointed.

With the story already playing out in Red's home and Dean off to stop the wolf, it's up to Sam to tell Dr. Garrison the news about his daughter. He takes it well since he has already seen her himself. I suppose he just needed someone to confirm it for him. Sam believes that Callie has been trying to tell her father the truth but hasn't been able to get through. If he will only listen to her then this should all be over.

Dean is playing the huntsman in the tale and although the Brothers Grimm made it sound like a cake walk, it turns out the wolf isn't nearly so easy to cut open. I also doubt very much they'll find granny alive and well inside him. Despite the playful tattoo, the wolf is actually a force to be reckoned with. Larger than Dean, he appears to have the advantage but Dean is much more experienced. And more feisty. He manages to grab granny's knitting shears and while I take a moment savour the memory of the rock-paper-scissors moment from the Heart episode, I also can't help wondering how granny could manage such a huge pair of scissors when she couldn't deal with the remote door lock button for her minivan. As for Dean, I'm glad the wolf knocked the gun away and forced him to find the scissors. The Winchester boys have gotten far too fond of guns and I miss the variety we used to see. Giant knitting shears are an excellent weapon and although I was putting even money between the shears and the knitting needles, I realize that Grimm's tale called for shears. Dean is poised and ready to plunge the shears into the wolf, but before he strikes the blow the wolf snaps out of it. Dr. Garrison has managed to get through to Callie's spirit and now knows the truth behind her illness. How hard it must be for him to realize that the woman he spent most of his life with was responsible for consigning his daughter to this miserable existence. But although the truth may hurt, it will also set you free. Or at least it will set Callie free. Having been given the opportunity to explain and say goodbye to her father, she lets go of the dormant life she's been living and moves on. This scene is an excellent example of the quality casting choices made on this show. Young Callie has no spoken lines, yet she is by far the most expressive character in this episode. Comatose Callie is a perfect match for her younger counterpart's looks. The colouring and hairstyle are a perfect match, and the ruby-red lips and cheeks are a nice touch for the Snow White look. It's just too bad her prince couldn't come along and wake her up from her slumber. It also could have been fun to have a dwarf or two in the mix. Having Happy and Dopey wandering the halls of the hospital would have had me in stitches, particularly if they were there because of a freak mining accident.

To end our little tale, we watch Sam sneak out to do exactly what Dean has forbidden; summon the crossroads demon. Sandra McCoy plays the role this week, and although I had looked forward to her participation in the show, I have to say I'm a little disappointed. The other two actresses who took on this character both had a simmering sultry demeanor about them, almost as if being around the great Dean Winchester was all it took to turn them on. Maybe it's because Dean isn't the one summoning her this time, but I find the sensuality is missing. She has the same playfulness about her but without the sexual undertones. It's still a shock when Sam shoots her though. He really has become a lot more like his brother this season. Dean once threatened to exorcise the crossroads demon, it seems to me that Sam could have done the same thing, although this would leave too much room for revenge on her part. I suppose it's better to have her dead and gone, it just seems too brutal an act for Sam. He knows full well there is an innocent girl trapped in there somewhere and he has it within his power to save her. Why would he choose to kill her instead? Is it like the YED said, he's no longer 100% pure Sam? Or is it because through Jake and Ava he has seen the dark side of humanity and no longer values human life like he once did? Either way, he has made short work of the crossroads demon and now has to start from scratch thinking up ways to get his brother out of this mess. Hope he doesn't take too long.

Bedtime Stories Projected Air Date 11/01/2007