3.03 Bad Day at Black Rock

Title	Bad Day at Black Rock
Episode #	Season 3, episode 3
First aired	October 18, 2007
Directed by	Robert Singer
Written by	Ben Edlund
On IMDB	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1107710/
Outline	A rabbit's foot brings both good and bad luck to Sam and Dean, and the other players trying to obtain it.
Monster	Rabbit's Foot
Timeline	Three weeks since the events of 3.01, immediately after the events of 3.02
Location(s)	Black Rock,Outside of Buffalo Queens, New York
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Synopsis

Sam tells Dean about his encounter with Ruby, although not about the information she gave him about the deaths of Mary's friends. Dean is angry that Sam didn't kill the demon, while Sam insists that they can use her to get information about the demons they are battling, as well Dean's deal with the Crossroads Demon.

A hunter called Kubrick visits Gordon Walker in prison. He informs Gordon of his discovery that, contrary to Gordon's belief, Sam was trying to keep the Devil's Gate in Wyoming from opening. Gordon states that he doesn't believe Sam is even human, and must be killed.

A phone call on John's Cell Phone alerts Sam and Dean of a break-in at a secret lock-up their father kept. Upon investigating they find a weapons cache, memorabilia from their childhood, and Curse Boxes, one of which is missing.

They use security footage to track the thieves, Wayne and Grossman, who have opened the box and found a Rabbit's Foot inside. Wayne was shot when he tripped a booby trap John had rigged in the lock-up. His luck changes for the better after he touches the Rabbit's Foot: his neighbor turns out to be an ex-Army medic who can tend his wound, and he wins at cards.

After Sam and Dean take the Rabbit's Foot, Wayne’s luck changes again -- this time for the worse -- and he is killed when he slips on a bottle and is impaled on a BBQ fork.

Sam calls Bobby and tells him about the foot. Bobby reveals that the Rabbit's Foot brings the person who has it good luck but when it is lost, the person will die within a week. Bobby promises to research a way to destroy the curse.

Sam starts getting lucky – a set of scratch and win cards yields thousands of dollars, and he finds a gold watch. When he and Dean enter a restaurant, they win a year’s worth of free food. However, when a waitress spills coffee on Sam, she uses the opportunity to steal the foot.

Sam’s bad luck starts immediately, and he slips and falls outside the restaurant. They return to the thieves' apartment, and interrogate Grossman about who hired them to steal the Rabbit's Foot and he gives them Bela’s alias - "Bela Lugosi".

Dean phones Bobby who tells them that Bela is Bela Talbot, a woman who knows much about the world of the supernatural who steals supernatural items for wealthy clients. Meanwhile, Sam’s bad luck continues as he steps in gum, and them loses his shoe down a drain.

With a lead on where to find Bela, Dean leaves Sam at a motel with strict instructions not to move. In Queens, Dean breaks into Bela’s flat, and manages to steal the Rabbit's Foot from her.

A series of coincidences have helped Kubrick and Creedy track Sam down and they capture him; but just as Kubrick prepares to shoot him they are foiled by Dean.

Bobby has supplied the boys with a ritual to destroy the Rabbit's Foot and its curse. Dean scratches a few more winning tickets, and then just as they prepare to burn the foot, Bela arrives. She demonstrates she is not only a thief, but also ruthless and a good shot, when she first threatens Dean and then shoots Sam in the shoulder. Dean distracts her and then tosses the foot to her. Bela] catches it, and becomes cursed. Resigned, she hands the foot over to be destroyed. She leaves -- but not before stealing Dean's winnings.

Returning to Gordon, Kubrick now believes that he is on a mission from God to kill Sam. Even though Gordon obviously disbelieves this, he enlists Kubrick's help in planning his escape.

Characters

• Sam Winchester
• Dean Winchester
• Bobby Singer
• Bela Talbot
• Gordon Walker
• Kubrick
• Creedy
• Wayne & Grossman (hired thieves)

Definitions

• Rabbit's Foot
• Curse Box
• Ouija Board
• Fetishes
• John's Cell Phone
• John's lock-up
• Bela's cat
• Idjit
• Biggerson's Restaurant

Music

• Daniel May - Women's Wear (plays in the diner when Bela spills Sam's coffee; also played in Simon Said)
• Mary Ford and Les Paul - Vaya Con Dios (plays when the boys go to the thieves' house to get info on Bela)

Quotes

Dean (to Sam): She knows what your weakness is. It's me!

Sam: No way. That's my Division Championship soccer trophy. I can't believe he kept this.
Dean: Probably the closest you ever got to being a boy.

Bobby: (to Dean) Watch out for your brother, you idjit.

Dean: What?
Sam: I lost my shoe.

Bela: We’re all going to hell Dean, might as well enjoy the ride!
Dean: I actually agree with you there. Anywho, this has been charming but look at the time. Oh, and this...[holds up rabbit's foot] Looks like you're not the only one with sticky fingers. If it's any consolation, I think you're a truly awful person.

Kubrick: No...more... lies... There's an army of demons out there pushing at a world already on the brink. We're on deck for the endgame here, right? So maybe, just maybe, you can understand why we can't take chances. [draws his gun]

Sam: Whoa, OK, OK, hold on a minute!
Creedy: Kubrick...
Kubrick: No! You saw what happened Creedy. Ask yourself, why are we here? Because you saw a picture on the web? Because we chose this motel instead of another? Luck like that doesn't just happen!
Sam: Look, I can explain all of it...
Kubrick: Shut up! It's God, Creedy. He led us here for one reason: to do his work. This is destiny.
Dean: Nope. No destiny. Just a rabbit's foot.
Kubrick: Put the gun down son, or you're gonna be scraping your brain off the wall.
Dean: Oh, this thing?
Kubrick: Yeah, that thing.
Dean: OK... but you see, there's something about me you don't know.
Kubrick: Yeah? What would that be?
Dean: It's my lucky day. [throws pen into the gun barrel and jams it] Oh my God, did you see that shot? [Creedy lunges at him, misses, and slams into a wall] I'm amazing. [throws TV remote at Kubrick's head, knocking him out] I'm Batman.

Sam: Yeah. You're Batman.

Dean: Now... what do you say we destroy that ugly ass piece of dead thing?

Trivia & References

Bad Day at Black Rock is the title of a 1955 film starring Spencer Tracey as a mysterious stranger who arrives in a small town in search of someone and ends up changing life in the town forever.

Bad Day at Black Rock is also the title of episode 1.06 of The A-Team.

Kubrick's name is possibly a reference to movie director Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick directed The Shining, one of Dean's favorite movies.

Kubrick (referring to the Devil's Gate in Wyoming: Big. St Helen's big.
Mount St Helen's is an active volcano in Washington State, that last erupted in 1980.

Dean: Don’t worry, Bobby will find a way to break it. Until then I say we hit Vegas. Pull a little Rain Man. You can be Rain Man.
Rain Man was a 1988 movie starring Tom Cruise as Charlie with Dustin Hoffman as his autistic-savant brother, Raymond. During the film, Charlie uses Raymond's mathematical genius to win at the casino's in Vegas.

Creedy: It's like watching Jerry Lewis trying to stack chairs.

Jerry Lewis, best known for his stand-up act and movies with Dean Martin in the 1950s and 60s, was renowned as an exponent of physical comedy.

Dean: I'm Batman!

Sam: Yeah. You're Batman.

Batman aka The Caped Crusader is a superhero created by DC comics in 1939. His secret identity is as millionaire Bruce Wayne. Unlike many superheroes, he doe not possess any special powers, but is renowned for his physical abilities and particularly his use of gadgets and technology. Batman also featured in a 1960s camp pop TV series, and a series of blockbuster movies.
This may also be a reference to a Seinfeld scene where Kramer relates to Jerry and George how he fights of a mugger to save a woman's pinky-toe. His fight with the mugger is in a ridiculous fashion similar to how Dean fought off Kubrick and Creedy. As Kramer is telling his story, George says "You're Batman". To which Kramer replies, "Yeah, I'm Batman." Here is a link to the scene: Kramer Fights Off a Mugger

John Winchester used the alias Edgar Cayce, a renowned American psychic from the first half of the twentieth century, who is considered the antecedent of the modern New Age movement.

Kubrick drives (and lives in) an RV. On the rear left side it has three stickers: "How would Jesus drive?", "Don't make me come down there - God", and "Bethlehem or Bust".

Sam and Dean win at Big Gerson's

Sam and Dean win a years supply of food to Biggerson's Restaurant. The same chain later features in 5.14 My Bloody Valentine and 6.06 You Can't Handle The Truth

Inside John's storage container Sam and Dean find Sam's 1995 Division Championship Soccer trophy, and the first sawed-off shotgun Dean ever made (in 6th grade).

This is the first episode we find out the name of the Demon helping Sam - Ruby

The pseudonym Bela gives - Lugosi - is a reference to Bela Lugosi, an actor from the early 1900s who most infamously played Dracula.

John's lock-up has many visual references to a scene in the film 'The Silence of the Lambs' where in Clarice Starling investigates Hannibal Lecter's storage facility and discovers a severed head in a jar. Similar items can be seen in both including stuffed birds, animal skulls and a red and blue flag draped over a coffin/hearse.

Wayne and Grossman are playing poker as Sam and Dean are sneaking into the apartment to get the rabbit's foot. Wayne gets four kings, and later on says he got two royal flushes in eight hands. The odds of getting a royal flush are 649,740:1, four of a kind 4,165:1

Kubrick: I'm on a mission from God.
A reference to the famous "We're on a mission from God" line in the movie The Blues Brothers.

Dean: Say goodbye, wascawy wabbit.
A reference to Elmer Fudd's famous term (and pronunciation) for Bugs Bunny.

Dean: Don't go away angry, just go away!
Probably a reference to the Motley Crue song "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)"

Minutiae

• The thieves' license plate is Connecticut CTC-880
• Bobby appears to be working on the Colt
• Sam wears the same jacket he was wearing when he was stabbed by Jake Talley^2.21
• In John's lock-up the boys find Sam's 1995 Division Championship Soccer trophy and the first sawed-off shotgun Dean ever made (in 6th grade)
• In the final scene, Dean's "son of a bitch" was ad-libbed. You can see Jared break character and laugh.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

• 3.03 Bad Day at Black Rock (transcript)

Promotion

• Episode Stills
• Episode Promo: 3.03 Bad Day at Black Rock
• The CW's official description for 3.03 (includes title, writer, director, and synopsis)