RECAP/REVIEW

Recap by Smallvile-29

4.17 – It’s a Terrible Life

Intro, Then featuring clips from “On The Head of A Pin” Now, Dean is pouring his health drink, putting on his suit, getting into his Prise and listening to to light music… he gets to the office and is greeted by his fellow workers… “Dean Smith” is his name, he does research and talks on the phone all day while eating salad for lunch, his boss tells him that he’s doing a great job. It’s night time and he heads for the doors… in the elevator he runs into Sam from tech support, Sam asks if they know each other and Dean says no.

“It’s a Terrible Life”

Sam is working and helping people on the phone with their printer problems, “Sam Weston” is his name. His fellow co-worker go to get coffee and they ask their Buddie to come with them, he wont because he’s working… apparently he got busted for porn and they think that’s why he’s working harder, in the break room Sam talks about the dream he had of him “saving a grim reaper named Tessa.” the friend makes fun of him and leaves. Sam is sitting at his desk when he falls asleep, he sees flashes of him and Dean hunting from previous episodes, he goes and gets in the elevator where he meets Dean again…. he asks if Dean believes in ghost, or vampires, Dean thinks he’s crazy. He asks if he’s ever had any weird dreams, Dean says no and gets out… Sam is searching the Internet for vampires, his friend makes stops by his desk asking if he got a note from human resources, Sam says no… across from him he hears his co-worker getting mad, apparently his computer froze and he lost everything. That night the co-worker is the only one still there and he’s trying to save his data, all the sudden he gets up and walks to the break room… he grabs a couple forks and sticks his head in the microwave, he’s dead.

Commercial #1

Sam and Dean glance at each other while their taking the body out, Sam and Dean both look at their computers and don’t get why he would kill himself when he only had two weeks left until retirement. Sam’s other friend is acting weird, working hard and wearing his uniform… Dean calls his friend up to his office, apparently the guy made a mistake filling out some paperwork, Dean shows him what happened and asked him to redo it… the guy starts to freak and gets so mad at himself, he walks off and Dean follows him to the bathroom, all the sinks start running and then the guy pulls out a pencil and stabs himself in the neck, he’s bleeding bad. Dean sees a figure in the mirror, he turns around and nothings there. He tells the police what he saw, Dean call’s Sam up to his office asking him whats going on, Sam says he doesn’t know. Dean tells him that he saw something, and they both started working there 3weeks ago… Sam thinks that there not suicides, Dean asks “how” and Sam says “instincts”, Dean says “I got the same instincts.” Sam did some research and apparently both victims had gotten emails to report to HR on floor 14, but HR is on floor 17… some worker is entering a room on floor 14 when the door slams behind him, the ghost shows up and just before it gets to him Sam and Dean come in. They both get shoved down and then Dean picks up a wrench and swings it through the ghost… it disappears.

Commercial #2

Sam and Dean are at Dean’s place, he calls Sam, Sammy, Sam tells him to not do it… they get online to try and figure out what to do next… Dean finds the Ghostfacers website and watch and instructional video. It Tell’s them to “figure out what there up against”, Sam looks around and finds a picture that looks like the ghost they saw, his office used to be on the 14th floor and when the stock market crashed in 1929 that building had 17suicides, they think that this guy loved his work so much that he makes all the bad workers get super into their work and then commit suicide. Then the video talks about using salt, iron… also they mention learning something from “those useless douchbags the Winchesters.” and then talk about rock salt… also they say that you have to burn the remains, dig up the body maybe… and if the body has been cremated you look for a lock of hair, etc… the ghost has been cremated so they need to find what’s left. Their going to go to his old office and look for something, while their looking around security sees Sam and comes in and stops him, security takes him away and down the elevator… the elevator stops and the security guard opens it up, he crawls out of it and tells Sam to come too, Sam wont so the guard reaches back in to get him… the elevator drops and the security guard is cut in half leaving Sam soaked in blood.

Commercial #3

Dean finds a display case of old stuff from the building and in it are the guys gloves from way back when, Sam gets up their and they break the case open… the ghost shows up and Dean hits it with the iron, then it pops up again and again until Dean is on his back down the hall, the ghost looks at Dean and starts to reach for his head when Sam grabs the gloves and burns them just in time. Their in Dean’s office, Sam Tell’s him that he thinks they should do this all the time, hunt demons and stuff…. Dean is hesitant, he doesn’t want to. Sam tells him that in the dreams he has that him and Dean are fighting together, Sam says he thinks that the ghost is scrambling their minds because this isn’t who their supposed to be. Dean says that “my dads name is Bob, my moms name is Ellen and my sisters name is Jo.” Sam asks when was the last time he talked to any of them? That their meant for more! Dean Tell’s him to go.

Commercial #4

Dean’s boss comes in and offers him a bonus, telling him that they want him to be with them for a long time and that if he puts the work into it that he can make it big time with them… Dean looks at the bonus and says that he’s giving his notice, that he just can’t do this anymore. His boss smiles and touches his head, Dean is now Dean with all his memories, his boss is an angel… Zacharia, Castiels Superior. He came to show Dean that no matter what the circumstances are he’s a hunter, not because of his dad or anything else, because it’s who he is. “I know, I know, your not strong enough, your scared…” he tells Dean. “Look around, there are plenty of fates worse then yours… so are you willing to step up and be who you really are?”

The End

“This is your life, are you who you want to be?.” – Switchfoot

Review by Gaelic

Stream of Consciousness, episode 4.17 review from Gaelic

I am made of fail.

I fully intended to have this completed last night when I returned from book club, but we were discussing “I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids,” and if there is anything 8 women can discuss for hours upon end, it’s the ups and downs of motherhood.

Upon returning home, I barely made it to bed, let alone to the TV, so I sacrificed my work-out this morning to watch our boys. I think I chose wisely.

Because? This episode was a kick in the ass. Figuratively and literally. *HUGS SHOW*

I loved this episode. I love how it slipped against my life. I love how it shook Dean up and set Sam sideways and gave them back that synchronicity that they needed to see in each other. My hope from last episode—the hope that Sam cared so much for Dean that he was afraid of losing him, not convinced that Dean was worthless in this fight—was renewed.

As the Kinks roll out with A Well-Respected Man we are treated to a snazzy-dressed (we’re talking tie, collar/cuffs, suspenders, the works, baby) Dean steaming his morning cappuccino in his ultra-modern, very stainless steel, direct from the Ethan Allen catalogue apartment. He heads outside to his *gulp* Pruis and turns off rock ‘n roll in favor of *doublegulp* NPR. No offense to you NPR-lovers out there, but… *yawn*

Heading in to the high-rise office of Sandover Iron and Something (didn’t catch it), he does the nod/wink to fellow corporate forward-thinkers, slips into his office where his nameplate says Dean Smith, Director of Sales and Marketing and slips easily into the Jerry MacGuire BSing role of telling people what they want to hear. Eating salad (SALAD?!) at his desk with dead eyes staring at a computer, he continues his day with his boss stepping in to say “Good stuff” and “Big things” (WTF??), then writes down a recipe for weight loss because of his sad, sedentary lifestyle.

If I might slip into the gutter briefly, the man could wear a burlap sack and I think my pulse would quicken. Make no mistake—I love me some holey jeans, a gray T-shirt, flannel, leather, our Dean. But the corporate suit? The suspenders? The styled hair? Dude, I’d take it if those eyes were staring out and those lips were serious and pursed in my direction. He. Was. Yummy.

Okay, so, the only thing I knew about this episode was what we were shown in the previews from last week, and honestly? I was so shaken up by the events of that epi that I didn’t really let the ramifications of what this episode would include sink in. Now I’m watching my hero live the life so many of us have been doomed to—existing on survival mode because what the hell else is there, learning to like coffee because we need the legal hit of a stimulant and sometimes because we need to fit in. Finding the crack of promise in a two-word compliment from the person that holds your financial livelihood in their hands.

God. Just… God.

Quite literally MOMENTS before watching the epi this morning, I had said to my good friend Ash (and yes, I do have a good friend named Ash) that I wasn’t who I was supposed to be. I’m not kidding—you can ask her. We had been talking about being Mothers the night before and I said that I wasn’t the same person now that I was before I had Mo Chuisle and I didn’t know who I was now, but that I wasn’t sure I was who I was supposed to be. I wasn’t meant to simply be her mom. I had a different journey. She was a crucial part of that journey, but she wasn’t the end of it.

Many of the other ladies said that their destiny was to be a Mom. They are satisfied with this point, but some were fearful of what was going to happen when the kids no longer needed them as they do now. I don’t have that fear. I have different fears, like missing the point of it all, or being so concerned with what I’m not to see what I am, but all I could articulate at the time was that I was meant to be something else. Something more.

And then… I watched our boys. Dude, seriously? I felt all weird and shaky. I can’t tell you how much I loved this episode on so many different levels—the metaphor, the lessons, the correlation with real life. I’m gonna try to get that all out in this ramble if you hang with me.

JazzyIrish, who wrote this one? I didn’t pay attention. Again. Although, I did see that Kim Manners was exec producer. *sniff*

Okay, anyway, day ends and Dean Smith gets into the elevator with a nicely-buff looking Sam in a yellow shirt and khaki’s (which, oddly, worked nicely to frame that sweet ass of his). Sam is looking at Dean strangely and eventually is compelled to ask, “Do I know you?” After some uncomfortable shrug-offs, Dean shuts him down with a “Save it for the health club, pal.”

HA! *Gaelic guffaws*

We head to the yellow-shirt cube farm where Sam Wesson is working tech support, headgear framing his ear while he taps the bobble head of a cartoonish vampire and drones, “Did you turn it off then turn it back on?”

First of all? Smith and Wesson? Oh. My. God. *LAUGHING SO HARD* The writers had an awesome time with this episode. I have never wanted so badly to have been in that room while an episode was being born.

Second? I now feel extremely guilty for all the many times I’ve had to call tech support and/or the IT guy to help me fix something that turned out to be so flippin’ simple he must have just wanted to kill me. I learned a lot from him, though. Enough that I can now run my business from my own house. I only have to call Geek Squad like, oh, once a quarter. *ahem*

ANYWAY, Sam has a rapport with Ian, the flannel-shirt-wearing, devil-may-care tech guy who likes to “shop” in the office supply closet. Sam has shared with Ian his dreams about fighting ghosts and vampires, the most recent being that he saved a grim reaper named Tessa. Ian chortles saying “thank God we have Harry Potter to save us from the apocalypse!”

“Dick!”

“Wizard!”

*snicker*

Bored out of his skull, Sam falls asleep at his desk and dreams quick flashes of Season 1 and Season 2. Jerking awake, another day has ended and he heads to the elevator where he’s eventually left alone once more with Dean Smith, who is looking highly uncomfortable under Sam’s scrutiny.

“Can I ask you a question?” leads to “What do you think about ghosts… vampires.” Dean says he’s not given them much thought and Sam confesses that he’s been having these dreams… Dean does a public service and says to Sam, “You overshare.” *smirk*

Sam returns to his “turn it off/turn it on” excitement and Ian says he got an email to report to HR, hoping they “spank him.” Oooookay then. Paul, an older techie who was previously shown to be REALLY into his work, starts to have a massive freak out about losing a days worth of work and when left behind for the day completely loses his shit, heads to the break room, and stuffs his head in a microwave.

I KNOW! I was skeeved out beyond measure. I mean… guuuhhhhhh.

So, next day, Paul’s body is being wheeled out and both Dean and Sam are watching, both obviously feeling something isn’t right about this. They individually figure out that poor Paul was two weeks away from retirement before he zapped himself. Sam brings this up to Ian, who is now wearing the Yellow Shirt and is as focused on work as Dead Paul had been prior to the whole microwave incident. Sam’s all, wtf, dude, and Ian gets a call to go up and see a manager.

Said manager just so happens to be Dean Smith, who simply wants him to fill out a TPS report. Or something. Anyway, Ian flips out, runs out of Dean’s office with Dean hot on his heels, heads to the bathroom to stare at himself in the mirror with complete self-loathing. Cool air, water and soap coming on and Dean’s creeped out. He demands that Ian Look At Him (and that voice, mrroww).

Ian turns, grabs one of the pencils he’d stolen, then jabs it into his jugular. GORE! Just before calling for help, Dean sees the reflection of an old man in the bathroom stall door. As the police are questioning him, Dean sees Sam standing in the crowd of onlookers looking on and something crosses his face.

So, at this point I’m watching going… okay, what’s the deal? Trickster? Demon? Are they under the same ghostly spell and aren’t themselves??

Dean calls Sam to his office (where he’s changing his shirt like a good little corporate executive) and they start in on the whole what’s the deal conversation. Both started 3 weeks ago, both have an “instinct” that something is going on here that’s all ghosty and stuff. Sam reveals that both Paul and Ian were sent a memo to report to HR in room 1444. Dean reveals that HR is on the 7th floor. Duh, duh duhhhhh.

“You want to check this out?”

“Right now?”

“You’re right… it’s getting late.”

“Dude, I am dying to check this out right now.”

“Right?!”

Dean’s word for the episode was “Right?!” Loved it.

So now I’m thinking, okay, so this is a lesson for Dean, to teach him what he’s meant to do, right? But if that’s right, then why is Sam dreaming? And why have ghosts in what is essentially an AU? *shut up and watch, Gaelic*

Okay, so they head to 1444, hear some hollering inside from another wayward Techie that has been attacked by the ghostie. Sam kicks the locked door open and Dean’s like “Whoa!” They struggle, fight, and Dean grabs a wrench and swings it at the old man ghostie (that reminded me a lot of the doc from Asylum) and the ghost vanishes.

“How did you know how to do that?”

“I have no idea!”

*Gaelic claps ‘cause she is loving them working together*

I mean, was it me, or were you all feeling a distinct Season 1 vibe through most of this epi?

Okay, so back at Dean’s stainless steel pad, they’re regrouping. Sam wants a beer, but Dean’s “on the cleanse” and got rid of the carbs, so he hands Sam a bottle of water. The conversation segues into “we’ve done this before” territory – but not like Shirley McClain before. Sam’s speech in that moment totally hit home for me.

“Don’t like my job, don’t like my clothes, don’t like my own last name (AWWW!)… think we should be doing something else… something in my blood (ha!)… like we’re destined to be doing something else.”

Dean, however, doesn’t believe in destiny he says. He believes in dealing with what is right in front of him.

How incredibly true to form are both those statements? From the beginning, Dean has been black and white, Sam has been gray. Sam has been the visionary, the “what if” guy. Dean didn’t believe it until he could see, smell, touch, taste. I loved that. I love that they were so very THEM in that moment.

“What do we do now?”

“We do what I do best, Sammy (AWWW! He said Sammy! *sniffs*). Research. “

*Gaelic guffaws at the role switch there.*

We even got a Season 1 throwback of “don’t call me Sammy”… although, seriously? I love love love how easily it rolled off of Dean’s tongue. *pauses for a moment to think about Dean’s tongue*

Annnndddd… high-larity ensues when Dean cries Jackpot and says “I just found the best site ever.” OMG… I needed that laugh. I really did. It came from the belly.

So, we get a little Ghostfacers montage with instructions about what to do (figure out what you’re up against) and how to get rid of it (salt, iron, all that). They bring up the Winchesters – which gets a bit fat nothing from the boys as they watch the “instructional video” – and say that no matter what they learned from the “douchenozzles” that they still sucked.

So, Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson learn that their ghost is none other than PT Sandover, the founder of the company. They realize that he wasn’t afraid of the wrench, but that it was the iron in the wrench. They figure that the ghost appears during times of great economic stress (17 suicides in 1929 – yipe!), and that they have to dig up the remains (which, as the ‘facers point out, is illegal in some states. Make that all states.) They find out the Sandover was cremated—but are told by the ‘facers to NOT PANIC. There is some genetic material (who says milk teeth anymore??) left behind.

So, they arm up with salt and andirons, unsure where to or how to get guns on short notice, and head to the skyscraper to look for ancient DNA. They synchronize their Swatches—er, I mean cell phones—in case they get lost, and head to room 1444 (which, they found out, used to be Sandovers office once upon a time).

Still with me? Good. Okay, so Sam gets caught sneaking around by a well-intentioned security guard and Dean is left to keep looking. Sam and Guard are in the elevator when it starts to wig out and I got EXTREMELY NERVOUS. We’re talking, roll into a ball and chant omgomgomgomgomg nervous. So, while Dean is finding a picture of some bridge that gives him a clue as to where the ancient DNA is, Guard pries the elevator doors open and shimmies out while Sam’s like, uh-uh, no thanks, I’ll wait.

You totally knew what was going to happen, but still, hearing the Guard say something about waiting the rest of his life just before the elevator literally cuts him in half, splattering his blood all over a shocked and shaken Sam while his legs (ACK!) are still kicking in reaction… GORE!!! Sam answers Dean’s “are you okay” page with a trembling “call you back.”

Dean tells him to meet on the 22nd floor while Sam implores him to “take the stairs.” They find PT Sandovers gloves and…. FIGHT! And, dudes, it was awesome. None of the angst or the stomach clenching of this season. Just straight up swinging iron bars and flinging salt and getting tossed and Sam yelling “DEAN!” and figuring it out in the nick of time and burning the gloves and a “that was awesome” and a “right?! Right?!”

*CHEERS!* Loved it loved it loved it.

Later, Dean claims that was the most fun he’s had in his life while he’s getting bandages out for both of them. Sam says that they should just do this – think of all the people they could save. Dean scoffs asking what, are they going to live on stolen credit cards, greasy diner food, bad motels… Sam’s like, those are just details. Dean argues that the details are everything. They can’t fight ghosts without health insurance. *frowns*

Sam tells him that in the ghostie dreams he had, Dean was there. They were friends—more like brothers. He doesn’t think they’re living the right life. Dean’s like, dude, I went to Stanford, father is Bob, mother is Ellen, sister is Jo. *HA!!* Sam’s like, yeah, he moved here because he broke up with his fiancé Madison, but he called her number and all he got was an animal hospital. *DOUBLE HA!* I’m telling you, the writers had a BLAST with this. I certainly did!

Dean’s like, you’re saying my family isn’t real? Sam’s like, I have a feeling in my gut that we’re supposed to be something else. I know you.

And I swear to you, it was like gears literally fell into place for me. I didn’t quite get it until the very end—the whole WHY that I’d been looking for throughout the entire episode. But it was that statement from Sam that made it clear. I’ll get to it in a minute, but I know you all are already there. You were there last night, man.

Dean says that Sam doesn’t know him and tells him to leave. Sam complies. Next day, Sam is back in tech support staring at the phone while it rings and rings and rings and bloodyhellmaketheflippinthingstop rings. Took me back to my Admin Assistant days when I just wanted to beat the phone to death. And then? Sam does. I’m not kidding. Stands up and beats it to death with a crowbar. “I quit.”

*CLAPS AND WHISTLES!!!!*

Dean is in his office typing typing typing. Mr. Boss Man comes in and I narrow my eyes at him. I didn’t trust him completely. I don’t know if it was because in this universe he was The Man, or because he gave off a vibe, but… yeah. He sits down and tells Dean he’s willing to reward him for his hard work with a generous bonus because he “wants to make sure you’re not going anywhere.”

Ah-HA! Demon! Right?! Wrong.

Dean gives notice, thanking Mr. Boss Man for his generosity and says he very recently realized that he has some work he has to do that’s very important. “This is not who I’m supposed to be.”

“Dean, Dean, Dean…” And, our hero is touched by an angel, returning to himself in a rush, horrified by the fact that he’s wearing a tie and STARVING. *laugh*

Turns out Mr. Boss Man is Zachariah, Castiel’s superior. After the unfortunate incident with Uriel, he decided that he needed to pay them a visit. Dean gets flippant and Zach says, “starting with your attitude.” Dean’s all…wth is up with the hallucination or whatever and Zach says “you should see my decoupage.”

“Gross. No thank you.”

*BWAH!!!*

Turns out this is a real place, a real haunting, but Zach took the boys and dropped them in there without their memories. Basically for this:

“To prove to you that the path you’re on is in your blood—you’re a hunter. Not because your dad called you, not because God called you back, but because it’s what you are. You love it. You find your way to it in the dark because you’re miserable without it. You will stop it.”

Dean’s listening, his face set, his eyes deep, his lips twitching. At this he bellows with the jaw muscle rippling along his cheek, “Stop what? The apocalypse? Lucifer? Be specific, man!”

“You will do everything you’re destined to do. All of it. I know, I know, you’re not strong enough, you’re scared, you’ve got Daddy issues…”

Dean: “Angel, or not, I will stab you in your face.” ATTA BOY!!!

“You get a chance to change things,” Zach continues. “Save people. It’s not a curse, it’s a gift. So quit whining about it. There are plenty of fates worse than yours.”

The screen goes black with that call to action and Dean lifts his face, his eyes meeting the angels and something shifts there. A light. A purpose.

This was the kick in the ass that he’s needed. I have friends that do that for me – virtually and in “real life.” I have the ones who will pet me and offer me condolences. I have the ones that I can go to for all my justification needs. And I have the ones that will smack me around like Cher and yell, “Snap out of it!”

This was Dean’s smack. This whole illusion was placed put on so that he can see that this wasn’t thrust upon him. This wasn’t his burden to bear. This was him. And not just Dean, but Sam, too. Sam had to be in this AU for two reasons, as I saw it:

One: He is crucial to Dean’s being whole. Without Sam there, there isn’t a reason for Dean to be who he is. He needed that interaction with Sam to come back to himself. He could have done that whole thing on his own—the research, the fight, all of it. But it was the chemistry with Sam that trigger the want to do it in him.

Two: Sam had the memories, the dreams, the gut-instinct of destiny. But it was more than that—he needed to remember that it was about a journey of two. In all of his dreams, Dean was there. They were “like brothers” in those memories. And no amount of power or destiny or what have you erased that. He needed Dean to walk that path with him. He didn’t want to do it alone. And that’s important—it’s vital that they both remember that.

Zach’s vicious shake wasn’t without understanding, though. It wasn’t as if all that Dean was feeling or suffering from/with wasn’t valid and/or justified. His life has been hard. And Daddy issues suck out loud. And yeah, he’s scared and scarred and beaten and tired. But… all that aside? He’s strong enough. He’s good enough. And he can do this. He just had to be reminded. No amount of soft-eyed gazes and cryptic messages from Castiel or pleas to “get angry” from Sam was going to fix this. The only other thing that might have worked would have been John saying, “I need you to do this.”

But even that would have been a cop-out. Because Dean needed to come back to himself because HE deserves it, because he is worthy. Not because Dad asked him to.

Like I said at the beginning, I loved this episode. I love how it slipped against my life. I love how it shook Dean up and set Sam sideways and gave them back that synchronicity that they needed to see in each other. My hope from last episode—the hope that Sam cared so much for Dean that he was afraid of losing him, not convinced that Dean was worthless in this fight—was renewed.

Tune in next week when you’ll hear Gaelic say…

GUEST STARS

Kurt Fuller as Mr. Adler / Zachariah imdb.com | gallery	Jack Plotnick as Ian imdb.com | gallery
A.J. Buckley as Ed Zeddmore imdb.com | gallery	Travis Wester as Harry Spangler imdb.com | gallery
David Milchard as Dean’s Co-worker imdb.com | gallery	Richard Side as Paul Dunbar imdb.com | gallery
John Hainsworth as P.T. Sandover imdb.com | gallery	Brian McCaig as Security Guard imdb.com | gallery
Steven Elliot Unkown imdb.com | gallery

IMAGE GALLERY

No Episode Stills

Episode Screen Caps:

Full Episode Screen Caps Gallery

TRAILER/CLIPS

Episode Trailer – Clip 01 – Clip 02 – Clip 03

MUSIC

A Well Respected Man, by The Kinks

QUOTES

Dean: Oh, so what? This was all some sort of a lesson? Is that what you’re telling me? Wow. Very creative.
Zachariah: You should see my decoupage.
Dean: Gross… no thank you.

Sam: Can I ask you a question?
Dean: Look, man, I told you, I’m not into the, uh…
Sam: Oh dude, come on, I’m not either. I just wanna ask you one question.

Zachariah: Real place, real haunting. Just plunked you in the middle without the benefit of your memories.
Dean: Just to shake things up? So you guys can have fun watching us run around like assclowns in monkey suits!?
Zachariah: To prove to you that the path you’re on is truly in your blood. You’re a Hunter. Not because your dad made you, not because God called you back from Hell, but because it is what you are and you love it, you’ll find you to it in the dark every single time and you’re miserable without it. Dean, let’s be real here. You’re good at this.

Zachariah: You’ll do everything you’re destined to do, all of it. But I know, I know, you’re not strong enough, you’re scared, you got daddy issues, you can’t do it, right?
Dean: Angel or not, I will stab you in your face.

Zachariah: All I’m saying is, it’s how you look at it. Most folks live and die without moving anything more than the dirt it takes to bury them. You get to change things, save people, maybe even the world. All the while you drive a classic car and fornicate with women. This isn’t a curse, it’s a gift. So for God’s sakes, Dean, quit whining about it. Look around: there are plenty of fates worse than yours. So you with me? You want to go steam yourself another latte, or are you ready to stand up and be who you really are?

Dean: Should we go check this out?
Sam: Like… right now?
Dean: No. No, it’s getting late. You’re right.
Sam: I am dying to check this out right now.
Dean: Right?

Sam: I just can’t shake this feeling like I… like I don’t belong here. You know what I mean? Like I should do something more than sit in a cubicle.
Dean: I think most people who work in a cubicle feel that same way.

Dean: We do what I do best, Sammy. Research.
Sam: Okay. Did you just call me “Sammy”?
Dean: Did I?
Sam: I think you did. Yeah. Don’t.

Ed Zeddemore: First, salt. It’s like acid to ghosts.
Harry Spengler: Burny acid.
Ed Zeddemore: Not LSD.
Harry Spengler: No. It’s a bad trip for ghosts.

Ed Zeddemore: You have to burn the remains. Okay, this next part gets a little gross. Sometimes you might have to dig up the body. Sorry.
Harry Spengler: It’s illegal in some states.
Ed Zeddemore: All states.
Harry Spengler: Possibly all states.

Dean: How would we live? Come on, you got to be kidding me. How would we get by–with stolen credit cards, huh? Eating diner food drenched in saturated fats? Sharing a crap motel room every night?
Sam: Those are details.
Dean: Details are everything! You don’t want to go fighting ghosts without any health insurance.

TRIVIA

When Paul was working in the middle of the night trying to retrieve his files, the screen was white with black text. Typically computer “command run” programming section is black screen with white text.

Dean says that his mother’s name is Ellen, his father’s name is Bob, and his sister’s name is Jo. These are characters from the 2nd season. Bob is most likely Bobby Singer. Ellen owned the roadhouse and her daughter Jo worked there until she went off hunting by herself. Sam says that he just broke up with his fiance Madison. Madison was the werewolf that Sam fell in love with in the episode “Heart.”

ALLUSIONS

Ian: I mean, thank God we got Harry Potter here to save us from the Apocalypse.
Referencing the title character in author J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter series. Harry is the boy wizard who over the course of seven novels is destined to defeat the ultimate evil wizard, Voldemort.

Dean Smith & Sam Wesson
Referring to Smith & Wesson the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. The corporate headquarters is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Smith & Wesson is known for the many types of ammunition it has introduced over the years and for its revolver expertise.

Title
References the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) starring James Stewart. A guardian angel helps George Bailey, a compassionate but frustrated businessman, by showing him what life would have been like if he had never been born. The classic movie is frequently aired around Christmas and illustrates the positive effect simple acts of kindness and generosity can have on generations.

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