Supernatural 5.12 – Would you like a go in Sam Winchester’s body?

5.12: SWAP MEAT
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We open with Sam at a bar… Or is it?

“Good evening barkeep! I’d like to purchase an alcohol please! … Well, I’m 26! As you can see! … A banana Daiquiri, my good man!”

(This entire conversation is gold solely because of Mr. Jared Padalecki’s performance.)
There’s a woman next to him.
“I’m Crystal. What’s your name?”
“Hi Crystal, I’m Gary!”
“Gary, I don’t want to embarrass you, but you are just… you are just a stunning looking man.”
“Heh, I know right!?”
The banana daiquiri arrives.
“So, Gary, you having a good time tonight?”
“Thank you for asking Crystal, this is like the best night ever!”
“Do you think we can make it any better?”
“Probably! I don’t know!”
“I mean, do you want to get out of here.”
“Well. I kind of like this bar. And I just ordered this daiquiri.”
“I mean, do you want to get out of here with me?”
*whispers* “Are we talking about sex?”
“Well… I, yeah, I suppose we are.”
“Crystal… I would looove to have the sex with you.”
“Great! Then let’s go.”

Pan over, and Sam is actually… some teenager?

36 hours earlier, Sam and Dean are visiting with their old babysitter, Donna. She worked as a maid at the place Papa Winchester would leave them while he “worked.” Last time they saw each other, the summer before Sam in 6th grade.

She’s called them to help with their problem… a poltergeist Dean suggests. Two nights ago, it attacked her daughter Katie. On her stomach, scratched… “Murderd Chylde.” The brothers assure them they’ll take care of it.

They go to some diner. Dean orders a delicious, heart-killing meal and Sam gets a salad shake. (“Oh, you shake it baby.”) They talk about probably not having the kind of life Donna has… a normal family. While they talk about the possibilities of what they’re dealing with here, the teenager at the counter… the same guy from the bar in the flash forward is looking intently at them and smiling.

Later that night, Sam goes out to research and as he’s walking back to the motel, he gets a dart shot at his neck. The big redwood tree falls. He wakes up, now wearing the teen Gary’s uniform, in the woods. He walks along the road and the police comes looking for a Gary… him. He gets in the car and the cop takes Sam to Gary’s home where Gary’s parents are relieved to see him home. Sam has no idea what’s going on, they ask if he’s drunk. Sam looks into the cop car’s mirror and sees Gary as his reflection. They think he’s drunk off his ass.

Meanwhile, the real Gary is admiring his new skin suit. Sam’s got a great body. He loves it. Dean comes in wondering where he’s been. Gary plays along with Dean. They’ve got to leave, but while Dean takes a crapper, Gary throws all of Dean’s cell phones away. He wants to drive, Dean lets him, but Gary backs the Impala into the dumpster.

On the other side of town, Sam is trying to figure out what is going on. He tries to call Dean, but he gets the voice mail. (“I think I got asthma.”)

Sam calls the motel, the front desk says the “leather jacket” and the “Sasquatch” already checked out. He searches the room for any clues. He concludes Gary is smart, a virgin… a frustrated virgin (Busty Asian Beauties! Dean’s fave)… and that the guy is into witchcraft. What a little satanic bastard.

Gary’s mother calls him down for breakfast and so Sam comes down, dressed in the latest high school student clothing. He gets grilled on what happened last night, how he could possibly be throwing away his future, the “plan.” Sam replies “Listen buddy, no offense but at the moment I could give a rat’s ass about your plan.”

Sam double takes, he interrogates the family about Gary. He grabs the toast from the mother’s plate, but oops… Gary is allergic to wheat gluten. Little sister laughs.

Sam barfs it up and the little sister brings up the creepy old book. He asks her where Gary keeps it.

Dean and Gary are walking to the Impala. Dean brings up Maggie Briggs, the witch legend Sam had found earlier. Gary says she’s buried in the basement of Isaiah Pickett. Gary relates the real story, Dean is surprised.

At the high school, Sam continues trying to call Dean. A guy and a girl come along, Gary’s friends. They ask him what’s up. Sam plays drunk. He asks them Gary’s locker number and Sam goes to it to find the witchcraft book. “Oh no Gary… this is a very, very bad book.”

Sam and Gary are at the house and go to look for the body. Gary inflicts Dean with some 2000-teen lingo. Dean is weirded out, but proceeds to dig the grave. Behind him, Gary takes aim but is hurled backwards. Dean goes to help him up, but then he gets thrown at the wall. The witch appears, but dissolves just as she gets to Dean. Gary burned the body.

Sam leaves school with the book, but the two kids from earlier follow him. They want to talk. Sam doesn’t want to. The guy shoots another dart at him.

We’ve reached the bar scene. Dean continues being suspicious of this strange Sam.

Gary leaves the bar with Crystal. Dean begins thinking.

The two teens, Trevor and Nora, have Sam tied up in a basement. They call Gary, asks if he’s killed Dean already. Gary is getting ready for the sex. Sam demands to know what’s going on.

They tell Sam that Dean is hell’s most wanted. They’ve been talking to demons. “You have no idea what you’re messing with!” Sam tells them. They want to collect on the reward on Dean’s head.

Nora tells Sam about them goofing around with the book when suddenly Gary went into a trance and began tracing a picture of Dean on paper. He heard a voice in his head, demons putting out a bounty on his head.

Sam warns them this isn’t a game, they’re crossing a line they won’t come back from. Nora is having second thoughts. Trevor loves his satanic lord. He takes the book and wants to summon a demon to hand over the brothers. That is not a good idea, Sam says.

At the motel, Gary is back from the sex and gets ready to shoot what he thinks is a sleeping Dean, but Dean punches him in the face instead as demands to know who he really is.

Trevor begins reciting the demon summoner and the demon possesses Nora. Trevor tells her where Dean is, and the demon realizes it is Sam in the 98 pounds of nothing tied up there. The demon then realizes they’ve got Dean and a fresh Sam Winchester meat suit ready for the taking. “An empty vessel waiting to be filled.”

Trevor wants the reward. The demon says he has her undying gratitude. Trevor won’t have it. He wants his reward. She gives it to him via a hand through his gut. Bye Trevor. She licks the blood… yum! “Tastes like moron.”

Dean checks his voice mail via the motel phone and finally hears Sam’s messages. He demands Gary tell him everything.

The demon-possessed Nora has reached the motel room. Dean is on the floor, Gary is crying. Sam tries to break free from the ropes using his muscular broad chest and shoulders… oops he doesn’t have his muscular broad chest and shoulders right now.

Nora unties Gary. She asks what he wants for his reward but also says before he can get it, he must meet the big boss. He doesn’t really want to, but she says it’ll be fine.

Dean comes at her with a knife, but she fights back. Gary begins reciting some Latin to exorcise her. She grabs him by the neck. Dean continues, she drops Gary… the guys take turns finishing the spell. The demon leaves Nora’s body.

Everything is calm now. Gary does the spell to switch him back with Sam. Sam is relieved. Gary, not so much but what can he do.

Dean scares Gary into shaping up, quitting the demon stuff or they’ll come back and kill him.

Sam and Dean take Gary and Nora back home. Sam gives him a pep talk, telling him his life isn’t that bad. Rebel a little bit, in a healthy non satanic way. The two teens walk inside. Sam tells Dean he lied. Gary had a sucky life. It sucked ass. They get in the car. Sam says they didn’t miss out on anything not having a family life… but Dean says maybe they don’t know what they’re missing.

The drive on.

Episode Thoughts
Another fun episode this week. Not the heavy end of the world stuff, but still fun and they managed to include a little bit of it with Sam’s meat suit being up for grabs.

Still, this episode was mainly about Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles doing some comedy and having some fun about Jared being a buff giant. Throw in a little more about how the Winchesters haven’t lived a normal life and overalll it was enjoyable and fun.

Now next week, it looks like we really do get back to business, so here’s to some great mythology and seeing Matt Cohen and Amy Gumenick as little John and Mary again.

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