raloria

A little late, but I found myself procrastinating about reviewing this eppy. Don't know why, really.

With each of these reviews I'll include 2 cropped caps from the episode. One of Dean and one of Sam. I decided to do something different and make them b&w.

Consider these fanart. If you take either of them, please give credit. :)

Since I've got my comm spn_westcoast to monitor and discuss the episodes as they air with other viewers, I don't get to take notes during the initial showing anymore. These notes were made during my 2nd viewing of the eppy.

Note: "==============" signifies a commercial break.

Recap: The Apocalypse, The 4 Horsemen: War, Famine, Death, Dean has to stop it, Dean is done.

It was a dark and stormy night....no, really, it was. Heh.
Oooh, a corpse just crawled out of it's grave. Must be Supernatural. :P

I love this scene as Mr. Mullethair watches a nature show that has narration that matches what he's going through. Gah! It's Mr. Corpse! This won't end well, especially with a gun that won't fire. Nope.

The boys are in Sioux Falls, SD and can't get a hold of Bobby. Suits!!!!!
They interview "Digger" at the local diner. Apparently he gave himself the nickname, which Dean disapproves of.
Digger: "Who died and made you queen?" LOL! Love it when guest stars get the great lines.
Digger saw Mr. Corpse guy kill the Mullethair dude. Apparently it was revenge for a hunting accident where Mullethair killed Mr. Corpse.
And here comes the local sheriff to see what's what. I like her right away. Yay! Kim Rhodes! :)
She's leery of the boys as FBI agents...heh. Wants to call their superior....Bobby finally answers.
Ooops! She recognizes him. Busted! LOL
Sounds like Bobby's got quite a reputation....drunken disorderly and mail fraud.
She tells them this ends here and now....point taken.

The boys head to Bobby's house....want to know what he's been up to, which he promptly shoots down.
My, but he's clean....in fact the whole house is cleaner than we've ever seen it. Something's up.
Bobby says he's been working, but hasn't found anything. The boys point out the case, but Bobby says it's nothing.

The guys drive past the cemetery and Dean stops the car. He wants to check out the grave site, just in case Bobby's wrong.
Dean's whistling!!!! OMG Why is that cool?
They find the "fresh" looking grave and dig in....there's a ragged hole in the coffin, which is also empty.

The boys head to the dead guy's house and run into Mr. Corpse.
He seems to know why they're there....to arrest him for Mr. Mullethair's murder.
He also knows he's dead....err sorta.
"I don't know what I am."
They escort him outside and Dean's ready to shoot him.
Sam: "Dean."
Dean: "He's a monster."
Sam: "He's a...soccer dad."
Suddenly the sheriff shows up with a deputy, guns drawn. She lets Mr. Corpse go and arrests the boys. Ooops.

Why are the boys so attractive when they're behind bars?
Nevermind.
While they wonder what on earth is going on, they notice Bobby talking with the sheriff.
He springs them out and Bobby finally comes clean. He's known what was going on. The walking dead are all over town. The boys are obviously upset that Bobby's been lying to them, but there's more...
Bobby: "There's zombies....and then there's zombies."

They return to Bobby's place to find a pale-skinned woman setting the table.
Bobby says it's Karen, his wife....his dead wife. Oh.

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Heh. Dean loves his pie! :D
Karen leaves the room and it's time to get the truth from Bobby.
He's really defensive, which is kinda understandable. But he's done all the tests on her.
Thing is, Karen was cremated and somehow now she's back, with no scars or wounds.
There's 15 or 20 who've risen from the cemetery, including the sheriff's young son.
And there were signs....the lightning storms and of course the bit from the book of Revelation, which points to this being the work of Death himself.
Dean: "Awesome. Another Horseman. Must be Thursday." LOL
Dean points out that if Death is behind this it can't be good.
Bobby says Karen doesn't remember dying.
Aw, Bobby....going on about Karen humming while she cooks.
He wants to believe there's nothing wrong with this, but the boys suspect otherwise.
He begs them to let it go.

The boys are back at the diner having some coffee and discussing what to do.
It's a tough choice, but Dean doesn't want to leave Bobby unprotected if Karen decides to rip his face off.
He heads back to the house while Sam checks out things in town.

Love the zoom shot of Dean leaning against the Impala in Bobby's salvage yard! OMG *flails*
Gah! Instant Karen! Heh.
She offers Dean lunch...oooh, more pie! Even Dean can't resist that. :P

Sam heads off to check out the sheriff's house and sees the young boy with the sheriff and her husband.

Dean's back to eating pie. Heh.
Speaking of which....there's a lot of pies in that kitchen. Karen says she can't quit baking them. She doesn't sleep either, which Dean says must be from being dead.
She's not as clueless as Bobby said. She knows she's "a thing" that Bobby and the boys hunt. She remembers everything, too. Karen can see the guilt Bobby carries, but she won't tell him she remembers. "My job is to bring him peace, not pain."

Sam's at another house and there's blood on the doorstep. Uh oh...
He goes in and finds one ugly zombie. Oh boy.
She's coughing and wants to talk to him. Thing is she wants him to come closer. Ugh.
No, Sammy! Don't go over there!!!!
He gets closer and....oh man! She attacks and drools I-don't-even-wanna-know all over his cheek. OMG gross!!!!
He manages to stick his gun in her mouth and kill her as she lands next to the half-eaten body of her husband. Blech!

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Back at Bobby's, the boys point out that the drooling zombie was the first to come up from the ground and the first to go bad.
But Bobby's heard enough, he knows what the boys want to do and he pulls a gun, telling them to get off his property. WTH??? If Karen turns he'll take care of it. He means business so the boys leave....
but only so far. Heh.

Dean stops the Impala right outside the yard's perimeter.
Dean: "He's crazy!"
Sam: "It's his wife, Dean."
Dean: "So he goes Full Metal Jacket on us? We're his family, Sam."
Sam points out they've got a full town of zombies they've got to take care of not just Karen.
Dean says he'll just have go go back in there and kill her himself...without Bobby catching him.
Sam decides to go back into town and somehow convince the sheriff to help him take out the rest of the zombies.

Looks like the sheriff's son isn't feeling too well. He's burning up and he's hungry. Hmmmm.....
She makes him some soup which the hubby takes in to their son.

Meanwhile, Dean is sneaking up on the house, loading his shotgun.
Karen's fallen coming down the stairs and Bobby notes she's burning up. She's got a nasty cough too.

Back at the sheriff's she's on the phone with the doctor, when she hears a sound. Rusing into the living room, there's a bloody blanket and.....behind the couch her son eating her husband! Yikes!!!!
Sam rushes in and gets her outside before the kid attacks. Btw, did you notice the kid was holding something long and slimy? Like the husband's intestines? Ewwwww. I can almost hear Kripke's glee from here! LOL
Anyway, outside, Sam convinces the sheriff of what's going on. She's in shock, but agrees to help, rounding up people somewhere safe aka the jail. Sam goes back inside to kill the kid. :(

Karen's really hungry. She knows something's wrong, but Bobby is in denial. He won't let her go, even when she pleads with him to shoot her. She confesses to remembering everything.
Bobby: "Then you know why I can't do it again."
She then tells him there was a very thin man at the grave and that he had a message for Bobby.

Dean gets into the house just in time to hear a gunshot.
He finds Bobby has shot Karen, a look of sadness and regret between them as he looks at Dean. Aw, Bobby. :(

Sam is helping to arm folks at the jail and finds out Bobby is known as the town drunk. o.O What?

Dean is stocking up the van and even tells Bobby he can sit this one out. A little late for that as they hear noises. Dean goes to investigate as we briefly cut back to the jail where nothing seems to be happening.
Soon enough there's a zombie attacking Dean! Yikes!

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It's Mr. Corpse! He's knocked the shotgun away from Dean. Where's that bungee when you need it?
Dean manages to get the upper hand and blasts Mr. Corpse's head off. Nice!
Meanwhile, Bobby's shooting more zombies as they come from all directions.
Love those head shots!
One pushes Bobby out of his chair but Dean shows up in time to kill it.
He drags Bobby back into the chair and it's time to start retreating, the two of them blasting zombies as they go! Awesome!
They get inside, but they're running low on ammo. Turns out it's all back at the van where they left it. Cute.
Zombies start coming in through the windows and the two head into a closet, locking door. Nice and cozy. Heh. The zombie horde start banging on the door.
Dean points out the zombies are idiots and can't pick a lock. The banging stops. Ooops.
Sure enough....they're picking the lock!
Bobby: "Don't you ever get tired of being wrong?"
Dean: "I'm makin' this stuff up as I go! Sue me!" Hee!
The door opens and Dean starts hitting them with the butt of the gun.
Sammy and the sheriff to the rescue!!!! He tells Dean & Bobby to get down and the two commence with the zombie shooting gallery. Cool!!!! The splatter of blood at the end was a nice touch. We haven't seen that since Hunted in Season 2. :D
Bleh. That's gonna be a nice mess to clean up.

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At the cemetery, Sam's burning the zombie corpses. Dean and the sheriff approach, reporting they couldn't find anymore in town.
The town's traumatized, as is the sheriff when Sam asks if she's okay. Yeah....not so much, Sammy.

The boys find Bobby having his own private funeral pire for Karen at the salvage yard.
Love the return of the sad music. We haven't heard that in a long time....
Bobby figures he should apologize for losing his head, but Sam says he doesn't owe them anything.
Dean points out that at least he got to spend five days with her.
Bobby: "Right. Which makes things about a thousand times worse. She was the love of my life. How many times do I gotta kill her?"
He then tells them why Death was there, that he brought Karen back to give him a message. All because he's been helping the boys and keeping Sam from saying yes to Lucifer. He doesn't know whether the plan was to kill him or break his spirit, but they wanted him out of the way.
Sam asks if Bobby will be alright. No....I don't think so. Poor Bobby.

Let me say that I got the impression that a lot of fans either missed seeing this episode (possibly because they forgot the return date or due to LA Con) or didn't really think much of it. Sure, it wasn't an epic episode (they can't all be that), but it still was a solidly written one and gave us a lot of insight into Bobby. He loves the boys, we know he does, but he was willing to hold onto his wife despite her being a zombie. Would he have shot the boys to protect her? Maybe....but I can't see him killing them. Such a tough call for Bobby. After all, who wouldn't want to keep their formerly dead loved one around? To have some time with them again? To love them again? You'd overlook the unnaturalness of them being the undead. Common sense tends to fly out the window in the face of that. But in the end, Bobby did what needed to be done. It was sad and tragic and probably succeeded in breaking his spirit like Death wanted. Poor Bobby. I truly felt for him in this eppy.

An awesome shout out to first time director, John Showalter! There were some great camera angles, scene transitions, and shots in this episode!

My favorites:
* The transitions when the boys enter the cemetery, from Dean's flashlight and then from them putting the shovels into the ground.
* The low angle on Sam as he approached the gross zombie woman's house.
* The zoom in on Dean as he leaned against the Impala, watching Bobby's house.
* The POV shot as Mr. Corpse attacked Dean at his house.

Fabulous stuff! I hope we see Mr. Showalter direct again soon. :)