Difference between revisions of "Meta Episodes"
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[[4.18 The Monster At The End Of This Book]] marks the episode where Supernatural decided fourth walls were redundant as Sam and Dean discover a [[The Supernatural Books| series of books]] - named after episodes of the Show – that are based on their life. The author of the books is [[Chuck Shurley]] – an avatar for Eric Kripke. Both the writers, and for the first time the fandom of the TV Show, are sent up. At [[Comic Con 2009]] Kripke said he has a "tempestuous, loving, conflicting" relationship with the online Supernatural fan community, and that the meta episode "The Monster at the End of This Book" gave him a chance to lovingly make fun of them. [http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/07/comiccon-supernatural-panelists-talk-lucifer-the-apocalypse-and-returning-characters.html Source]. Supernatural fan – [[Becky]] – appears in [[5.01 Sympathy For The Devil]] and later puts on a [[:Category:Conventions|Convention]] in [[5.09 The Real Ghostbusters]]. | [[4.18 The Monster At The End Of This Book]] marks the episode where Supernatural decided fourth walls were redundant as Sam and Dean discover a [[The Supernatural Books| series of books]] - named after episodes of the Show – that are based on their life. The author of the books is [[Chuck Shurley]] – an avatar for Eric Kripke. Both the writers, and for the first time the fandom of the TV Show, are sent up. At [[Comic Con 2009]] Kripke said he has a "tempestuous, loving, conflicting" relationship with the online Supernatural fan community, and that the meta episode "The Monster at the End of This Book" gave him a chance to lovingly make fun of them. [http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/07/comiccon-supernatural-panelists-talk-lucifer-the-apocalypse-and-returning-characters.html Source]. Supernatural fan – [[Becky]] – appears in [[5.01 Sympathy For The Devil]] and later puts on a [[:Category:Conventions|Convention]] in [[5.09 The Real Ghostbusters]]. | ||
− | Becky is surely the first time a [[Slash]] writing fan character has appeared in the TV show she is writing about. In [[5.01 Sympathy For The Devil]], she is writing a [[Wincest]] fic (which you can [[Becky Rosen|read here]]). This means that the show's writers composed fanfic about their own show, which then appeared in the show. Very meta.! | + | Becky is surely the first time a [[Slash]] writing fan character has appeared in the TV show she is writing about. In [[5.01 Sympathy For The Devil]], she is writing a [[Wincest]] fic (which you can [[Becky Rosen|read here]]). This means that the show's writers composed fanfic about their own show, which then appeared in the show. Very meta! Of course in [[7.08 Season Seven, Time for a Wedding!]] fandom kidnaps canon when she doses Sam with a love potion. |
In a more general meta vein [[Changing Channels]] threw Sam and Dean into a TV world, where the Show got a chance to poke fun at TV Shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and CSI:Miami. | In a more general meta vein [[Changing Channels]] threw Sam and Dean into a TV world, where the Show got a chance to poke fun at TV Shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and CSI:Miami. | ||
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This line is a meta dig at the fact that Sam and Dean keep coming back from the dead. As Ben Edlund said at [[Comic Con 2010]] "...these creatures, these poor men, cannot die. The cruel universe that will not let them die." | This line is a meta dig at the fact that Sam and Dean keep coming back from the dead. As Ben Edlund said at [[Comic Con 2010]] "...these creatures, these poor men, cannot die. The cruel universe that will not let them die." | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | + | ==[[7.08 Season Seven, Time for a Wedding!]]== | |
+ | {{TriviaQuote |Text= | ||
+ | Similar to [[4.19 Jump The Shark]], the title references a TV trope where often late in their run the show resorts to dramatic plot changes, novelty casting or things such as weddings to attract ratings. | ||
+ | }} | ||
+ | {{TriviaQuote |Text= | ||
+ | '''Becky:''' The only place people understood me was on the message boards. They were grumpy and overly literal but at least we shared a common passion. | ||
+ | }} | ||
+ | {{TriviaQuote |Text= | ||
+ | There is an actual Twitter account called [https://twitter.com/#!/superbeckyrosen @SuperBeckyRosen] which has tweets by the character as posted in the episode. It contains some tweets not seen see on the show, and doesn't have Becky's last tweet. The tweets were all posted on 24 September, which would coincide with when the episode was being written. In the episode, when we get a look at Becky's Twitter, and it's not a screenshot of the actual one but a mockup, which includes the last of Becky's tweets we see on the episode. Also the entries are dated 12th October, which would be when post-production on the episode was being done. Notably the dates are not written in US format but the normal dd/mm/yy format. | ||
+ | }} | ||
[[Category:Canon]] [[Category:Fandom]][[Category:Meta]] | [[Category:Canon]] [[Category:Fandom]][[Category:Meta]] |
Revision as of 21:23, 27 November 2011
Misha Collins: What question would I ask the character I play? That's like being in a box of mirrors. With a unicorn. And a pony.
A meta reference, also called a meta-fiction technique or meta-fictive device, in a TV show occurs the show, or a character, demonstrates they are aware of their own fictional nature.
Supernatural is a show about stories. Urban legends, folklore, religion are society’s stories, most particularly America’s stories. There are personal narratives: the tales families and individuals tell about themselves and their relationships. Including the story telling of pop culture – be it movies, TV the internet or fan fiction – fits perfectly into this. Supernatural takes this commentary one step further, by commenting on itself as a story.
The very first subtle meta nods occurred in the 1.01 Pilot when Dean introduces himself and Sam using the aliases Agents Mulder and Scully – a nod to the Show’s TV ancestry in the X-Files.
Dean is established as a horror movie fan, so the Show gets to reference its genre influences. The Shining in particular is oft-quoted, and visually referenced as well in 2.11 Playthings.
1.17 Hell House was the first episode to start playing meta seriously as we meet the Ghostfacers – the TV version of hunters dropping Buffy references, with an internet fan following that can literally bring the tales they read to life.
In Season 2, it was 2.18 Hollywood Babylon that started kicking hard at the Fourth Wall in an episode about movie making by writer Ben Edlund. The episode centres around a stolen script for a horror movie: Hell Hazers II: The Reckoning. The episode incorporated actual notes from the network that Kripke had received for Supernatural, pokes fun at Kripke’s movie Boogeyman, as well as using incorporated images from Supernatural episodes into movie posters. To top it off the movie producer in the episode is McG – and the real McG (Supernatural’s producer) appears in a crowd scene, as do many of the Supernatural crew.
4.18 The Monster At The End Of This Book marks the episode where Supernatural decided fourth walls were redundant as Sam and Dean discover a series of books - named after episodes of the Show – that are based on their life. The author of the books is Chuck Shurley – an avatar for Eric Kripke. Both the writers, and for the first time the fandom of the TV Show, are sent up. At Comic Con 2009 Kripke said he has a "tempestuous, loving, conflicting" relationship with the online Supernatural fan community, and that the meta episode "The Monster at the End of This Book" gave him a chance to lovingly make fun of them. Source. Supernatural fan – Becky – appears in 5.01 Sympathy For The Devil and later puts on a Convention in 5.09 The Real Ghostbusters.
Becky is surely the first time a Slash writing fan character has appeared in the TV show she is writing about. In 5.01 Sympathy For The Devil, she is writing a Wincest fic (which you can read here). This means that the show's writers composed fanfic about their own show, which then appeared in the show. Very meta! Of course in 7.08 Season Seven, Time for a Wedding! fandom kidnaps canon when she doses Sam with a love potion.
In a more general meta vein Changing Channels threw Sam and Dean into a TV world, where the Show got a chance to poke fun at TV Shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and CSI:Miami.
In 6.15 The French Mistake, the show razed the Fourth Wall and replaced it with a crazy funhouse mirror, when Sam and Dean end up in an alternate reality - the one of the TV show Supernatural, where everyone thinks they are Jared and Jensen.
Contents
- 1 Links
- 2 1.17 Hell House
- 3 2.18 Hollywood Babylon
- 4 4.01 Lazarus Rising
- 5 4.18 The Monster At The End Of This Book
- 6 4.19 Jump The Shark
- 7 5.01 Sympathy For The Devil
- 8 5.05 Fallen Idols
- 9 5.08 Changing Channels
- 10 5.09 The Real Ghostbusters
- 11 5.15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
- 12 5.22 Swan Song
- 13 6.07 Family Matters
- 14 6.10 Caged Heat
- 15 6.15 The French Mistake
- 16 7.06 Slash Fiction
- 17 7.08 Season Seven, Time for a Wedding!
Links
- Fourth Wall, Lampshade hanging, and Meta Fiction on TV Trope
- Producer McG comments 5.09 The Real Ghostbusters
- Becky is my hero: The power of laughter and disruption in Supernatural by Judith May Fathallah
- Tlön, fandom, and source text: The effect of fan works on the narrative of Supernatural by Deepa Sivarajan
- A box of mirrors, a unicorn, and a pony by Jules Wilkinson
- June 14 2011: Sera says that there may be more meta epsiodes to come in Season 7 source.
- A look at the meta episodes of Supernatural by massivehysteria
The following is a list of direct meta references in Supernatural i.e. references to the Show or its fandom.
1.17 Hell House
2.18 Hollywood Babylon
4.01 Lazarus Rising
4.18 The Monster At The End Of This Book
The character is an avatar for Eric Kripke. Source - Rob Benedict talks about Chuck as Eric at Salute to Supernatural Chicago 2009.
Chuck is used as a vehicle to make commentary about the Show's writing - and it's writers.
Chuck: Well, there's only one explanation. Obviously I'm a god.
Sam: You're not a god.
Chuck: How else do you explain it? I write things and then they come to life. Yeah, no, I'm definitely a god. A cruel, cruel, capricious god. The things I put you through -- The physical beatings alone.
Dean: Yeah, we're still in one piece.
Chuck: I killed your father. I burned your mother alive. And then you had to go through the whole horrific deal again with Jessica.
Sam: Chuck...
Chuck: All for what? All for the sake of literary symmetry. I toyed with your lives, your emotions, for...Entertainment.
The book Dean is reading relates the events of 1.13 Route 666.
Simpatico is the name of a poster on the Television Without Pity message boards.
Sam: As in Sam slash Dean together.
Dean: Like together, together? They do know we are brothers right?
Sam: Doesn't seem to matter.
Dean: Well that's just sick!
Sam Girls and Dean Girls are fans dedicated to one or other of the brothers.
Slash fanfiction is stories written by fans depicting characters in a same-sex romantic and/or sexual relationship. In the Supernatural fandom, Sam/Dean is known as Wincest.4.19 Jump The Shark
In a TV Guide interview Eric Kripke said of the episode title:
- "When we were breaking the story about the third Winchester brother, we knew the fans would scream that we had jumped the shark. Of course, adding a new sibling or relative to an established series is a classic and cherished shark jump, Cousin Oliver being the patron saint of the practice. Anyway, it became clear that we should beat the fans to the punch and title the episode, 'Jump the Shark.' Though rejected titles included: 'When Leo Joined Growing Pains,' or 'The Raven Symone Episode.'
- "For fans who are worried that we are truly jumping the shark... watch the episode, decide for yourself. Personally, I don't think we're gassing up the motorcycle quite yet, but you tell me. And stay tuned for next season, when the boys take trips to London and Hawaii (haunted Tiki dolls!) and Sam and Ruby get married. And Ted McGinley joins the cast as the thoughtful (but hot!) college professor."
See also
- Definition at TV tropes
- Jump The Shark on TVGuide - how your favourite show jumped the shark.
Adding a young kid to a cast is called doing a Cousin Oliver and is often seen as a sign of the show jumping the shark.
On the wall of Cousin Oliver's café are a number of photos of waterskiers, as well as a poster advertising a waterskiing stunt show starring a Fonzerelli. This is another more specific Jumping the Shark reference, namechecking Arthur 'The Fonz' Fonzerelli, who 'jumping the shark' was named after.5.01 Sympathy For The Devil
5.05 Fallen Idols
5.08 Changing Channels
5.09 The Real Ghostbusters
Jared and Jensen always say to us like the joke is they always say to me and Bob, “Why don’t Sam and Dean have bungee cords on their wrists?”
The Hookman fan also says "Yeah, how original. Supernatural bringing in more creepy children. Sigh."
Fans have long referred to Sam's Puppy Dog Eyes - the pleading look he gives someone, frequently Dean, when he wants something.
5.15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
This is a reference to the airing day of Supernatural, Thursday. from 1.17 Hell House til the end of Season 5.
5.22 Swan Song
6.07 Family Matters
Crowley: Since... What's today, Friday? Since, let's see... Mind your business.
6.10 Caged Heat
This episode marks the first time since 5.21 Two Minutes To Midnight where Castiel and Crowley were in the same scene.
6.15 The French Mistake
"The almost fictional cast and crew of Supernatural"
Bob: Ha! Right! You answer the hate mail.
When references are made to events in real life like this it is referred to as Lampshade Hanging. Another example is Sam mentioning that not many people watch the show, and of course Misha's tweeting.Dean is holding up a copy of the Supernatural: Official Magazine - Issue #11 from August 2009. Blue Steel is a signature modeling pose of Derek Zoolander, first referenced by Dean in 2.19 Folsom Prison Blues, and demonstrated by Jared and Jensen on every gag reel, and at numerous conventions.
A running gag during the episode is the fact that in this universe, Jared and Jensen are not on speaking terms. In real life, they are good friends as evidenced by the fact that they were groomsman at each other's weddings in 2010.
Supernatural is filmed in Vancouver, Canada. (Except for the Pilot which was filmed in L.A.)
Dean: (opening it to reveal a tanning bed) George Hamilton Dracula!
It is not known whether they have adopted any otters or own an alpaca.
The real Bob Singer was a producer on the '90s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman which starred Dean Cain as Superman/Clark Kent. Other Supernatural crew who worked on the series include Phil Sgriccia, Jim Michaels and composer Jay Gruska.
The words: #Misha, #metamadness and #kripke all made it into the top ten Trending Topics as the episode went to air.
Bob: He sold Octocobra? Mother of God they'll buy anything
Sam: You're kidding? So the character in the show - Bobby Singer...
Dean: What kind of a douchebag names a character after himself?
Sam: Oh that's not right!
'Variety' is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine.
7.06 Slash Fiction
Slash fiction is also the name of a genre of fanfiction which pairs two characters of the same gender in a sexual relationship – see Slash for more information. There are references in the episode that compare Sam and Dean to a couple - Honey Bunny and Pumpkin from Pulp Fiction, Mickey and Mallory from Natural Born Killers as well as Mr and Mr(s) Smith.
This video compares scenes from the episode with the original movies
And the final scene was one that Jensen mentioned at Salute to Supernatural Chicago 2011 as one that both he and Jared thought made Sam and Dean sound too much like a married couple, so they rewrote a couple of the lines.This line is a meta dig at the fact that Sam and Dean keep coming back from the dead. As Ben Edlund said at Comic Con 2010 "...these creatures, these poor men, cannot die. The cruel universe that will not let them die."