S07.E14: Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie

[Demented Daisy]

Sam is forced to confront his childhood fear of clowns when he and Dean investigate a rash of strange murders centered around Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie.

 

 

I don't have coulrophobia, per se, but I definitely do not like clowns.  I don't like that I can't read their faces; the make up hides all facial expression.  *shudder*  

 

If I ever meet Jensen, I am so asking him about Pennywhistle Park.  ;-)

 

Okie dokie, for the episode -- I didn't like the retconning, but it was solid overall.

[catrox14]

What was the retcon?

[Amerilla]

I don't know which part I loved more: that Dean wanted the big Slinky or that Sam got it for him.

 

The story was a "meh" for me, but Sam's coulrophobia and Dean's aforementioned Love of Slinky made it fun. Plus: death by unicorn. Awesome.

[DittyDotDot]

You pretty much summed it up for me @Amerilla. I could care less about the actual case, but there was some definite fun happening in this episode. I have to say, that scene where they chase down and tackle that guy in the whatever it is costume is one of my favorite laugh out loud moments from this show. The first time I watched it I was laughing so hard. And Dean's shark week comments. I don't know, but this one felt like a much needed relief to the heavy season of losses and drinking, so I look forward to it every time.

[Demented Daisy]

What was the retcon?

 

 

It's only a matter of opinion, but Dean "dumping" Sam at Plucky's when they were kids.  Until this episode, we had been told that Dean devoted his whole life to taking care of Sam.  Suddenly, chasing girls was more important than Sam.  *shrug*  

[catrox14]

Oh, right! I agree completely. I was like wait, what??? But it kind of goes right along with the elevation of Bobby to heretofore unknown  SuperFosterDad!Bobby at the expense of Dean being Sam's defacto father and the shitty John parenting, which IMO was CRITICAL to why Dean became Sam's defacto Dad. 

[supposebly]

Oh,  I don't know, it works for me. Even Dean would have needed some time off once in a while, especially teenage Dean. It gives him a bit more layers other than 100% self-sacrificing Dean.

It works with the other Young!Winchesters episodes for me.

 

The Bobby retcon, however, no, they barely seemed to know him when we saw him the first time.

[AwesomO4000]

I agree with @supposebly on all of that, including the layers.

 

I actually didn't find it that to be much of a ret-con. We had scenes of Dean leaving Sam alone in what looked like flashbacks from even post "Something Wicked" time periods, and then we had both Dean and John leaving him alone in "The Girl Next Door" when Sam was in his in his early teens, so I can see a transition period of when Dean was around 15 or 16 - making Sam about 11 or 12 - where Dean would entirely do that, because as supposebly pointed out, Dean would've needed some blowing off steam time sometimes.

 

I more found that episode in season 9 at the boys home - while otherwise good -

trying to get me to believe 16 year old Dean was shy/inexperienced with girls and a 12 year-old? Sam playing with an airplane

to be more of a retcon, myself.

[catrox14]

 

I actually didn't find it that to be much of a ret-con. We had scenes of Dean leaving Sam alone in what looked like flashbacks from even post "Something Wicked" time periods, and then we had both Dean and John leaving him alone in "The Girl Next Door" when Sam was in his in his early teens, so I can see a transition period of when Dean was around 15 or 16 - making Sam about 11 or 12 - where Dean would entirely do that, because as supposebly pointed out, Dean would've needed some blowing off steam time sometimes.

 

I could buy that if not for "Something Wicked"  and "Dark Side of the Moon".

 

IMO, John's withering, contemptuous look he directed at 9 year old Dean in "Something Wicked" because he left Sam alone and the monster came when he  went to play video games ensured that 9 year old Dean would never make that mistake again out of sheer terror of John.  Then it's reiterated in Dark Side of the Moon when we find out Sam ran away in Flagstaff.

 

“You don’t remember, do you?” Dean replies. “You ran away on my watch. I looked everywhere for you, I thought you were dead. And when Dad came home….." and he says it with this look on his face? This is why  I'm disinclined to believe that Dean ditched Sam to chase girls.  He would have paid a heavy, heavy price with John.  A price IMO that he would not risk. 

 

?

[AwesomO4000]

But that might have been after the time - How old was Sam supposed to be with the Flagstaff incident? I always guessed about 13... which would've been after the time I would've guessed the Plucky's incidences would've occurred... and also might explain how Sam was able to sneak away.

 

The boy's home episode also had Dean

out playing poker at 16 (or 14), which he would've had to either sneak out of the house and leave Sam behind to do so or drop Sam off somewhere first. It would've been worse if he'd had strange people over to where they were staying to play or if he took Sam with him, so I'm guessing he snuck out at least sometimes.

There was also "Afterschool Special" with Dean's proposed date. I would hope Dean wouldn't take a - I'm guessing - 14 year old Sam on date with him to a midnight showing of "I Spit On Your Grave," since from what I know of that movie, that would potentially scar Sam for life. It also puts into question Dean's idea of a date. ; ).

Edited August 16, 2014 by AwesomO4000

[catrox14]

I'm thinking that Sam was probably 11 ish? when he ran away, but I don't think we know for sure.  I could imagine Dean would take Sam with him and make him sit way far away in the theatre, or stay in the car or give him money to go play video games as long as he stayed close enough and available on cell phone in case they have to jet.  Somehow I just can't picture Dean leaving Sam sitting in a pizza place for hours on end with no way to contact him, even if he wanted to make out with a girl.

[AwesomO4000]

I suspect that Sam had a phone. Also, those types of places are actually safer than would be say an arcade. Not just anyone can go in, and you are checked at the door. You have to get stamped*, and unless you have a kid, they aren't likely going to let you in. And they check you for a stamp on the way out. At least that's how the Chuckie Cheeses work in our area, even in the good part of town. All those clown things set up in this episode were reminiscent of the Chuckie Cheeses in our area... ribbon things (like in theatres) and obstacles like that funnel you to where you're checked and stamped. You can't get in unless you go by there first. So security-wise places like that are actually a good choice.

 

* And the stamp is invisible. You have to have a special light to see it, so not so easy to fake either. I was surprised at all of the security when I took my niece and nephew there, and it was the same procedure each time, so it was a usual thing.

 

I could imagine Dean would take Sam with him and make him sit way far away in the theatre,

 

Heh that would be worse... from what I understand, that movie is rated NC-17 for a really good reason.

 

But I guess there is enough variation that either argument would be valid. I actually like it being canon mainly for the reasons @supposebly gave. For me it gives Dean some depth as a character. And given the security aspect, it also makes Dean rather resourceful. He gets to blow off some steam and keep Sam safe.

 

As for this episode - I love it. I love the good-hearted banter* between Sam and Dean throughout the episode. I enjoyed Sam trying to weasel out of going to Plucky's. I enjoyed Sam playing "bad cop." There's more Dean/kid bonding which I enjoy. And I loved the ending with the brothers sharing a laugh and Dean getting his giant slinky from Sam. I liked some of the bit players also, especially the manager lady.

 

* The shark week quote. The unicorn: "So unicorns are evil?" "Obviously" The giant robot - "At least I'll see it coming." A lot of great stuff here.

Edited August 16, 2014 by AwesomO4000

[rue721]

Oh,  I don't know, it works for me. Even Dean would have needed some time off once in a while, especially teenage Dean. It gives him a bit more layers other than 100% self-sacrificing Dean.

It works with the other Young!Winchesters episodes for me.

 

The Bobby retcon, however, no, they barely seemed to know him when we saw him the first time.

 

This episode is pretty fun, I like how lighthearted it is and that it has a happy ending (for the guys, anyway). The giant slinky was perfect, the clown doll that Dean tried to shame/tease Sam into keeping but that Sam obviously found hideously disturbing was also perfect. My favorite part was the phone call when Dean tells Sam to go on to the arcade without him, and Sam keeps trying to play it cool (and fails completely) because he's scared to go alone to a place filled with clowns. I also liked the dead kid at the end, he was suitably creepy, in an R.L. Stein "Goosebumps" kind of way.

 

In terms of general clown hate:  personally, I'm not afraid of clowns, but I hate how they always seem to want to get right in people's faces. PERSONAL SPACE BUBBLE THX.

 

Anyway, this was a pretty mild retcon imo and I can believe it in a "Dean needed some time off of babysitting duty but didn't want to leave Sam home alone" kind of way, but I don't really think it makes a lot of logical sense as something that they habitually did? IIrc, Dean is only four years older than Sam. At what point would Sam have been young enough to find a Chuck-E-Cheese-type place frightening rather than boring/embarrassing, yet Dean would also be old enough to chase girls? I guess maybe Dean could have been ten or eleven, and Sam six or seven years old? Still seems young for Dean to prefer chasing girls to actually playing the arcade games, but hey. I also think an arcade like that is a weirdly expensive way to keep a kid entertained on a frequent basis. I went to Chuck E. Cheese as a kid, too, but not just to chill, it was an ~occasion~. Idk, the idea of Dean frequently dumping Sam in an arcade that freaked him out isn't impossible, it just seems implausible. WHICH IS NOT A BIG DEAL ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT THIS EPISODE HAS UNICORNS AND SHIT. I just kept wondering about that stuff. Money for the bus, money for the games, money for lunch/dinner -- how much would even one day of leaving Sam there cost?...and apparently I am now keeping a mental (in both senses of the word) tally of how Dean "wasted" babysitting money. First the dumped Spaghetti-Os, now taking Sam on frequent trips to Chuck E. Cheese. What's going to be next, going to a non-matinee movie and buying concessions for the show?! Harumph! For my own peace of mind, I'm going to tell myself that Sam stayed in the (free back in the day!) ball pit and snuck in some candy bars and leave it at that. (joking, joking. I just have this hangup -- apparently, as part of my mental "autopilot," I keep a rough running tally of the guys' expenses in the back of my mind as I watch an episode, because whenever their spending goes past some unknown-to-my-conscious-mind presumed budget, an alarm goes off and I become utterly distracted by the money that these fictional characters might hypothetically be spending over the course of a made-up story. It's weird and I will try harder not to mention it!).

 

Oh, another thing I liked about this episode! That it's not ironic. The Chuck E. Cheese place really was a nice, fun place for kids. The prizes really were cool (heh). The people who worked there were just nice, regular people, none of the adults in the episode was hanging out at the arcade getting plastered or being creepy (except the super smiley villain, but even he was nice to the kids and worked hard at his job). Etc. I like that they didn't take cheap shots, I think it made the episode funnier and more fun overall. But I will say for SPN that it generally doesn't take cheap shots at kid stuff, for whatever reason. Thinking about it, maybe the show even tends to be unusually respectful of kids and kid stuff?

[DittyDotDot]

Once again, I really enjoyed this episode, it's a nice break from all the depression. Lots of funny little bits from the Shark Week stuff to the giant slinky to the chasing down suspects to the food that tastes like ass...like I said, lots of fun stuff, IMO.

 

Personally, I can imagine Dean leaving Sam at one of these places when Sam was like 8 or 9 and Dean was something around 12/13. I don't know, didn't really shock me much. But then again, I'm the youngest and I can totally imagine my siblings ditching me if they could've gotten away with it. It does cast an interesting light on how Sam may have gotten his "clown" thing in the first place, though. I would be interested in learning what spawned that fear--although, I understand since I think clowns are creepy even if I'm not particularly scared of them.

 

Whacky side note of non import: I just learned that the villain of the week is played by Julie McNiven's husband.

Edited December 28, 2014 by DittyDotDot

[Goldmoon]

Dean interacting with the little boy who drew the robot was gold.  I don't even like kids myself but seeing how well Dean acts with the guest children is pretty awesome. I'm going to deviate from the popular opinion and say that I really hated this ep.  I didn't find Sam's overblown fear of clowns to be funny, and I didn't enjoy the clowns going postal on Sam either.  I DID like that Sam got the slinky for his brother.

[AwesomO4000]

Dean interacting with the little boy who drew the robot was gold.  I don't even like kids myself but seeing how well Dean acts with the guest children is pretty awesome. I'm going to deviate from the popular opinion and say that I really hated this ep.  I didn't find Sam's overblown fear of clowns to be funny, and I didn't enjoy the clowns going postal on Sam either.  I DID like that Sam got the slinky for his brother.

 

Sam's fear of clowns doesn't bother me too much in that typically most people are afraid of something for little or no apparent reason (for me it's large dogs) and don't quite understand why others are afraid of other things that they aren't. For me it's usually fear of spiders that I don't understand. I've seen people completely wig out over a little spider (or snake), and inside I'm mentally shaking my head, * but I try to be considerate, because I know that to them the spider (or snake) must be terrifying. I'm sure Sam has his reasons, and they likely make just as much sense as someone getting wigged by a harmless spider or snake.

 

Sam getting beat up might've been more disturbing, but because Sam came out somewhat empowered by his experience and he and Dean got to share a laugh about it, it didn't bother me in the end.

 

But I entirely get that miles vary.

 

* I personally find spiders - and snakes -  fascinating, and almost all of them are completely harmless. I pick both wild spiders and snakes (and lizards) up on a regular basis. Especially when it's cooler out, the snakes usually appreciate it. And I know which kinds of spiders and snakes are "bitey" and not to bother them.

[GirlyGeek]

Really liked this one. Good, clean, creepy fun. I personally dislike clowns. But not afraid of them. I did know a girl in elementary school who was deathly afraid of them, though. It was strange to see her wig out.

Loved the brother moments and the dialogue was quirky and fun and smart. Good PIP/guests. Man, that mom was a bitch. Sheesh. It was a little over the top, Imo, and she kinda deserved to get laser eyed by a robot, but oh well.

Loved the slinky from Sam. And hearing and seeing Dean so amused and laughing at the end was MUCH needed. I swear he hasn't laughed like that since the episode with the strippers and Cas (though, I'm sure he has, I just can't think of it). For a sec it felt like I was watching Jensen/ a break in character from Dean... Split sec ;). But it could have been that it was so strange to see Dean laughing, which is incredibly depressing.

[ohjoy]

Loved the slinky from Sam. And hearing and seeing Dean so amused and laughing at the end was MUCH needed. I swear he hasn't laughed like that since the episode with the strippers and Cas (though, I'm sure he has, I just can't think of it). For a sec it felt like I was watching Jensen/ a break in character from Dean... Split sec ;). But it could have been that it was so strange to see Dean laughing, which is incredibly depressing.

I get that same impression from that scene too. We may have seen Dean laugh before, but never like that. However, Jensen looks exactly like that when he laugh alot. (Shocker, I know, with them sharing a face and all.)

I love all the brother moments in this one. For some reason the "ball-washer" joke cracks me up -- not because of the joke itself, but because Sam's exasperated huff just tickles me, especially since Jared had to take his hands out of his pockets to do it. Of course, I love Dean's shark-week comments at the end of the scene too.

[catrox14]

I think Jensen broke a bit on that one, which is pretty rare.  But yes, Dean laughing looks very different than Jensen laughing....ACTING! That's so weird to me.  Like I get crying in character, and being an asshole or accessing whatever emotions when they are in character, but I don't understand how they can laugh in character because laughter is so....organic and automatic...I don't know if I'm making any sense.

[Diane]

Rewatching season 7, this episode amuses more than it probably should. But I swear it gets better each time I watch it. I just love it.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

It's interesting: I watched this ep (and others, for reasons unknown even to me) out of order.  But going back and watching them again, IN ORDER changes some things dramatically.  Anyway...

• I realize more and more why I like Sam so much.  I agree with him on so many levels.  Clowns are creepy.  Okay, Not as afraid of them as Sam obviously is (too cute!) but I remember watching IT from Steven King and being way more scared of Pennywise, than than the giant spider at the end.  In fact, I was extremely disappointed it was only a spider.  I was like "call the Orkin man" while my friends were freaking out.  And licorice is gross.  Just saying.
• I liked Sam repeating Dean's advice "if it bleeds, you can kill it" as a way to help him overcome his fear.
• What in the world did they do to Sam to make him so afraid of clowns?  I'd like to know.  Then again, it might be really gross and I'd wish I didn't know.
• I"m with others who did not see this as a retcon.  In those earlier flashbacks, they both were pretty young.  And if Dean is 4-6 years older, I can see a 13-16 years old Dean dropping a 7-10 year old Sammy off at a Chuck E Cheese knock off for a few hours.  Doesn't mean Dean was a jerk.  Just means he was a normal teenage boy.
• the ball pit scene was perfectly reminiscent of a shark attack. Jaws.   Creepy.
• Was that a Starsky and Hutch car they were driving?
• Dean being so juvenile and making Sam repeat "the ball washer" = Cute.  And then being able to turn around and be completely serious about the dead person was terrific.
• Is anyone really afraid of "bad cop" Sam?  Lol. I wouldn't be.
• Ah Cliff.  I liked  him.
• Sparkly Sam might be my favorite.  :)

This was such a fun episode.  So many good moments.  I need more like this.  

[mertensia]

The whole conversation about the Giant Killer Robot about to kill mom always makes me laugh. "At least I'll see it coming".

[DittyDotDot]

OMG, I love this episode. It's kooky but still has a heart and soul--basically, it's everything Supernatural likes to be and everything I love about the show. Even Lofflin and Dabb trying to work out their bully issues doesn't bother me on this one.

And apparently Dean was right, unicorns do ride on silver moon beams and shoots rainbows out of their asses. Now I want to have an episode about unicorns for real. ;)

[GirlyGeek]

Yes, on re watch this episode was still great.  Hits all the right notes, even the silly ones, and the brother moments are spot on. Gifts at the end... Awww.  I mean how often do we see the boys get/give gifts?!

On August 20, 2016 at 8:45 AM, DittyDotDot said:

And apparently Dean was right, unicorns do ride on silver moon beams and shoots rainbows out of their asses.

Ha ha, yes I always think of HotH when I see the rainbow unicorn, lol

[Hanahope]

Nice lighter episode.  I always loved clowns but my kids hate them.  No circus for us.  The villain  was a bit too obvious though.  Amazing how such random people get their hands on real spell books. 

[bettername2come]

Seriously, how is Satan not sitting off in the corner with popcorn while Sam is beaten by clowns? "If it bleeds you can kill it." Good survival mantra. Okay, that kid in Plucky's looks like Todd from Wishful Thinking. "They say if these fears run wild it affects kids long into adulthood." Nice touch with Sam the hell survivor scared of clowns. Tiki hotel room! In Kansas. Heh. Ball washer. Dean's right about Shark Week. "Right Friggin' Now." Nice twist with the dead brother. I hope Sam stole the giant slinky. His "we earned that" makes me think yes. This one was better than I remembered. And Dean calls Sam "hermano" which I enjoyed. 

[DittyDotDot]

8 hours ago, bettername2come said:

Seriously, how is Satan not sitting off in the corner with popcorn while Sam is beaten by clowns? 

I think Satan is there, so to speak, it's just that Sam took control by deciding what was real and believing in it. So, as long as Sam doesn't engage the Lucifer hallucination, he's just background noise Sam can ignore. 

8 hours ago, bettername2come said:

Tiki hotel room! In Kansas.

Doesn't it feel as though the art department found some shrooms laying around from S3?

8 hours ago, bettername2come said:

This one was better than I remembered.

That's funny, this is one of my favorites of S7. 

[Katy M]

10 hours ago, bettername2come said:

Okay, that kid in Plucky's looks like Todd from Wishful Thinking. "

He's actually the kid from Black.  Hope that doesn't count as a spoiler, since that literally says nothing.

 

10 hours ago, bettername2come said:

Nice twist with the dead brother.

I actually felt really sorry for him.  Not sorry enough to let him kill people.  But, his parents were truly horrible.  You don't lay that kind of a guilt trip on a kid.  Never.

 

2 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

That's funny, this is one of my favorites of S7. 

Me, too.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

Oh Plucky’s, how I love thee.  Let me count the ways:

1. It starts in the Then with the reminder of Sam’s fear of clowns and sitting in the clown chair to the  “Apparently clowns kill!’ line. 
2. How the Now immediately starts with Sam running from something and then the crazy clown prancing after him.  Prancing.
3. They used glitter on the title card!
4. Sam getting knocked around by the killer clowns that bleed glitter.  I don’t know who the two actors were that played the creepy killer clowns, but they were excellent!
5. Ooh: shallow moment: Sam with his shirt sleeves rolled up at the motel.  And then his desperation trying to get out of going to Plucky’s.
6. The SUV Sam drives fits him.
7. The entire scene when Sam first goes to Plucky’s.
8. The Jaws ballpit scene.
9. “Seabiscuit the Impaler”. 
10. Jean Holiday, the shift manager.
11. Sam being so bad at playing Bad Cop.
12. Dean having so much fun playing skeeball.
13. Tyler.
14. Laser eyes.
15. The chase when lion man Cliff runs.
16. The attention to detail paid by the set designers, like the unicorn, maybe from an old carousel, in the background when Dean puts his gun down.
17. RIGHT FRIGGIN’ NOW
18. The giant slinky from Sam.
19. The clown doll left on the ground with it's head ripped off.

[supposebly]

Re-watching a little Supernatural and I noticed that the board behind "bad cop" Sam says: No sideburns.

Heh!

[Iju]

i LOVE this episode! one of my favourite dean saying "sammy" moments, in the beginning of the episode. it was soft and teasing but also kind and caring. dean's laugh at the end really surprised me, i actually jumped a bit lol. i think it's the first time i ever heard him legit laugh, rather than all the harsh chuckles he does. it sounded lovely, it looked beautiful, aaaaand we won't see it ever again i bet. oh well. great while it lasted.

that aside, i just liked the episode overall. fun ep^^

On 8/15/2014 at 5:12 PM, Demented Daisy said:

 

It's only a matter of opinion, but Dean "dumping" Sam at Plucky's when they were kids.  Until this episode, we had been told that Dean devoted his whole life to taking care of Sam.  Suddenly, chasing girls was more important than Sam.  *shrug*  

i don't see how that's a retcon. dean left sam for a couple hours or so when they were kids in the shritka episode.

[The Companion]

On 3/15/2015 at 3:44 PM, garnetarden said:

I get that same impression from that scene too. We may have seen Dean laugh before, but never like that. However, Jensen looks exactly like that when he laugh alot. (Shocker, I know, with them sharing a face and all.)

I love all the brother moments in this one. For some reason the "ball-washer" joke cracks me up -- not because of the joke itself, but because Sam's exasperated huff just tickles me, especially since Jared had to take his hands out of his pockets to do it. Of course, I love Dean's shark-week comments at the end of the scene too.

It was such  a great sibling moment. 

This one was great. I am not particularly scared of clowns, but I know so many people who are. I loved that the clown did a fakeout by winding up with one arm then hitting with the other. It was such a clown move. It cracked me up. I realized the other day that clowns have been largely relegated to creepy and my son associates them with scary movies . Like he didn't know they were supposed to be silly. 😆

The ridiculous deaths were great, but the best was getting the brothers being brothers.

[rhofmovalley]

The unicorn farted rainbows.  Hee.