Supernatural Recap: Episode 3.08 - A Very Supernatural Christmas
Supernatural 3.08 A Very Supernatural Christmas
Original Air Date: December 12, 2007
Seattle, Washington: A little boy answers the door, and let’s his granddad inside.
Later that night, Granddad is dressed as Santa, putting gifts around the tree, and ringing some bells to stir his grandson. The little boy comes down and sees “Santa” at the tree. Suddenly, there’s a loud crashing sound on the roof, and debris comes down the chimney. Granddad looks in to investigate, but some creature reaches down and yanks Granddad up the chimney.
The next morning, “Agent” Dean Winchester is at another house, talking to a young Mrs. Walsh, whose husband is missing after they heard a crash on the roof. “Agent” Sam comes out the front door, after looking around inside.
Sam tells Dean he thinks it’s “Evil Santa”, Santa’s dark brother. Dean, somewhat disbelieving at first, then remembers that both victims had visited the same Christmas “village” the day before they were snatched. Dean tells Sam that he wants to celebrate Christmas, this year. Sam is entirely resistant to the idea.
The boys visit the “Christmasland”.
Flashback: In Broken Bow, Nebraska, Sam and Dean, as boys, are discussing whether their dad is going to be there for Christmas.
Sam snaps out of his flashback.
The boys’s research leads them to looking for Anti-Claus, a Santa-like man who walks with a limp and smells like sweets to lure children. When the Santa working at this attraction gets up from his station, they find he limps and smells like candy, according to Dean’s nose. Sam thinks it’s more like distilled beverage –ahem.
Later that evening, the boys stake out the suspicious Santa’s house. Dean mentions, again, that he wants to celebrate Christmas to which Sam bristles. They hear a scream, and rush into the house. They find Santa drinking, and sitting with an enormous bong, watching porn –the source of the woman’s scream. Dean covers their blunder by beginning to “carol”. Sam joins in and they stumble through the song and exit quickly.
In another house in town, a small boy watches for Santa to come down the chimney. Instead, he sees “Anti-Santa” exit the hearth. The “monster” walks past the boy, and heads upstairs. A woman screams. The “Anti-Santa” drags down the stairs a sack containing a man struggling to vocalize and to get free. The boy watches, as “Anti-Santa” –off-screen- produces a crunching sound, quieting the man in the bag. The “monster Santa” approaches the boy, but reaches over him to take a cookie, then leaves.
Dean and Sam are talking to the boy’s mom. Sam recognizes the family’s wreath on the wall. It matches one he noticed at the Walsh’s house. Both contain meadowsweet, which Sam explains to Dean is a powerful herb used in pre-Christian northern European rituals to summon gods.
They visit the shop that is selling the meadowsweet wreaths. The man tells them that he’s out of the wreaths. He says that Mrs. Carrigan gave them to him for free. The wholesale price seems suspicious to the boys.
Dean reflects out loud on a beer-can wreath that their dad brought home one Christmas. Sam questions why he is so into Christmas after so many years. Dean wants to celebrate because it’s his last one. Sam, on the other hand, can’t consider Christmas, because he knows Dean won’t be around, next year.
Flashback: Young Dean comes into the hotel room/apartment. Young Sam confronts Dean about monsters. Apparently, Dean and John Winchester had been protecting Sam from knowing what John does. Sam shows Dean that he has found their father’s journals, so knows what’s going on. Dean tells Sam that their dad is the coolest in the world. Dean spills about their dad’s hunting adventures, and promises that nothing will harm Sam. Their dad will always be there for them, and to protect them.
Sam and Dean visit the Carrigans. Mrs. Carrigan says she’s out of the wreaths. The couple seems a little stiff, sporting a very over-the-top provincial charm. Mr. Carrigan is a bit short with them, seemingly hiding something.
The boys discover that the Carrigans lived in Seattle, the year before, when some people went missing. Sam says the holiday trimming in their house was verbane and mint. Bobby tells Sam over the phone that they must be ancient pagan Winter Solstice gods. He also tells them that wooden stakes will work against them.
That night, Sam and Dean break into the Carrigan’s house. The boys go down to the basement to find a scene full of gore and bloody “Santa” sacks. The Carrigans surprise the boys and easily knock both of them out.
Sam and Dean wake to find themselves tied back to back in kitchen chairs. The Carrigans come in and begin letting the boys’ blood into bowls with Sam’s fingernail, and various other ritual items. As the boys try to taunt them a bit, the couple tell of the ancient times when they were freely worshipped annually at the Winter Solstice. For the past two millenia, they’ve had to “blend in”, and lay low, using other means to feast each year. The Carrigans’ quaint charm and aversion to vulgarity very much reminds me of the mayor from Buffy.
When a neighbor comes to the door, the Carrigans answer it. When they return to the kitchen, they find the boys missing and the door swinging. The boys trap them in the kitchen and start tearing the Christmas tree apart for stakes. Before they finish, the Carrigans get out and begin to smack the boys around. The boys succeed, though, in staking the couple with branches.
Flashback: Young Dean wakes Sam up. He tells him that their dad came and tried to wake him to see all the presents. When Sam opens them, they’re all girl gifts, tipping Sam off that Dean stole the gifts and lied about their dad coming.
Dean comes into the hotel to find Sam had decorated and put Christmas music on. They exchange their gas station gifts, and share some extra strength eggnog.
I loved this episode. I really like the dive into new realms of the brothers’ relationship. What did you think? Was it the best ever? Did you think it was over the top? And how about those Winter Solstice gods, eh? Charming? Hello, Mayor?
Tags: 3.08, 3x08, anti-santa, christmas, Dean Winchester, episode, holiday-special, holidays, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, meadowsweet, mistletoe, pagan, pagan-gods, pagan-ritual, recap, ritual, Sam Winchester, santa, scary-christmas, spoiler, supernatural, synopsis, very-supernatural-christmasRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Supernatural Recaps
1 opinion for Supernatural Recap: Episode 3.08 - A Very Supernatural Christmas
Lord Phorse
Feb 11, 2008 at 8:05 am
I liked the episode, but I don’t think they were ‘Pagan Gods’ … more likely demon worshippers. Pagan Gods would not be so easy to trap in a room or kill… even if they had done all the right rituals for it….
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