S03.E03: Bad Day At Black Rock

[DittyDotDot]

A rabbit's foot brings both good and bad luck to Sam and Dean, and the other players trying to obtain it.

 

 

______________________________________________

 

 

Speaking of screwball comedies! I love this episode. Sam falling down, loosing his shoe and catching fire will never not be funny to me...never! And Dean's "I'm Batman" will also never be not funny, no matter how many times I see it.

 

 I've decided the art department was doing some kind of shrooms or some other type of psychedelic drugs throughout S3...some of their most delightful motel rooms and such come from S3, IMO. That apartment where the thieves lived--the green chair with the red walls and the grody sink--fantasticly (yes, I'm trying to make this an actual word) horrible. And there's this painting on the wall that's all sorts of terrible...I think I might be in love with Jerry Wanek at times! 😉

 

So, Edlund not only has the gift for the gab, but also creates some of the most delightful one-off charachters. I think I could have watched an entire series about Gordon, Kubrik and that other hunter bumbling around the country looking for monsters in all the wrong places. And the thieves...totally could have watched an entire series about those too as well. Plus, I liked Bella, for the most part. Or maybe I just liked the idea of her...someone with some knowledge and uses that knowledge for her own gain rather than altruistically like the Winchesters did. I also liked that she was smart and a good adversary, it just happened that Dean was just a little better than her on this day.

 

I also found the idea of cursed objects and those boxes fascinating. The idea of good luck and bad luck and the magic getting it a little screwed up was well developed. And John's storage locker was a nice touch, although since Sam nor Dean knew about a devil's trap before the episode Devil's Trap, so I'm not sure that John would have either. Or maybe he was even a suckier trainer and father than I realized. That's just a minor quibble in an otherwise very fine episode, though.

[catrox14]

I liked Bela. She was a great foil for the boys. I don't think she would have ever actually been a love interest except maybe the angry sex with Dean. I love that about her.  She just does not give a fuck.  Love that. 

 

speculation for s10 

I would love to see Bela and Demon!Dean meetup.  That would be seriously combustible. Dean might still hate her, but he wouldn't care LOL.

[Demented Daisy]

Um, does the season number seem off to anyone else?  ;-)

Edited August 17, 2014 by Demented Daisy

[DittyDotDot]

Ah, crap, you're right...would this be my spatial recognition issues, dyslexia issues or just the usual round of me being a loser?  I'll ask a mod to fix it.

[Demented Daisy]

Dammit, I wouldn't let anyone else call you a loser, so why would I let you?  ;-)

 

That's a line from something....

[DittyDotDot]

It sounds a bit motivational to me...I don't think I can get behind that sort of thinking. ;)

[catrox14]

Uh yeah...that's weird re episode number...eek

@DittyDotDot, as a friend of mine used to say.  "Stop being mean to my friend", when I was berating myself.  I need to remember that more often ...

[DittyDotDot]

I forgot to mention that I found it completely hilarious that Bella shot Sam to get basically get Dean to shut up. That's one way to stop a monologue! Hee! ;)

 

ETA:  Thanks for fixing that thread title @SilverStormm.

Edited August 17, 2014 by DittyDotDot

[GirlyGeek]

This ep is good time fun for me, everytime. Love Sam's bad luck, losing his shoe, all the physical comedy. Deans "I'm batman" is always funny. I love how Sam's sitting in the chair (leaning back, too, which the first time I was like 'really? You're gonna break you're neck!") and the a/c unit catches fire, he's loke 'really? I didn't do anything!' Lol

I never had any issues with Bela (or original recipe Ruby either) and I love Lauren Cohen in this, Walking Dead and on Vampire Diaries, so she was fun here!

My one quibble is I really disliked Kubrik. He was way too over the top for me.

[AwesomO4000]

My one quibble is I really disliked Kubrik. He was way too over the top for me.

 

I can't help it. I liked him. His "don't play with my Jesus" is always funny to me.

 

As for him being over-the-top, I can definitely see that, and you aren't alone in disliking him. I think that I mostly respected that he believed in something *, And in this verse it's actually not that far-fetched a thing to believe in - in the sense that in this verse as we find out later

God really does exert his "will" on certain things/people/destinies, so God's will isn't that crazy of an idea.

even if Kubrik was wrong in this case. For a hunter, his motivations and beliefs weren't all that bad. We sure see a lot worse later on in the show, in my opinion. During season 5, I came to believe that most hunters in this verse are over the top and/or a little bit crazy.

 

* I felt similarly about a one-off character later on in the series -

Paul

- for his not believing and sticking by that non-belief.

[Diane]

Ok I have my regular job and then I work retail part time. So right now with extended hours I only have time for 1 hour of tv a day, I am watching my faves each night and tonight this was it. Love it, the comedic bits are great. One liners are really good. This is in my top 10.

Edited December 9, 2015 by Diane

[bethy]

"I lost my shoe."

[Dobian]

Too bad Bella got in the way.  Take your scratcher winnings to the track, bet on the long shot, walk away with a few million, then burn the rabbit's foot.  Ah, what might have been...

[Diane]

On re watch still just love this ep. Never gets old "I lost my shoe"

[DittyDotDot]

Or, "I'm Batman". ;)

[pixelcat]

I know the first was posted by catrox in the media thread, but he just did the second and they're too cute to not share here!

 

[Demented Daisy]

"Yeah, you're Batman."

Love the line delivery there.

[catrox14]

6 hours ago, pixelcat said:

I know the first was posted by catrox in the media thread, but he just did the second and they're too cute to not share here!

 

I think my favorite bit of these is the "SPLOOSH" LOL

[bethy]

Dean's delight in this picture will never not make me grin:

[catrox14]

He's a 6 year old all over again LOL.

So do they still get freebies at Biggersons?

[DittyDotDot]

It was only for one year, so, I'm guessing not. ;)

[catrox14]

oh stupid me. For some reason I thought it was longer than that

[bettername2come]

On 7/18/2016 at 3:30 PM, DittyDotDot said:

Or, "I'm Batman". ;)

"Yeah. You're Batman."

Great physical comedy in the scene where Sam gets the rabbit's foot. So well-choreographed. The horror of seeing random pointy objects on this show when you know that's how someone's about to die horribly. "Oh, look a barbecue fork pointing straight up. Nothing dangerous there." I love that Bobby made the curse boxes. What can't Bobby do? Also, first use of Biggerson's! 

Jared is great this episode. He's excellent at falling down. He looks so comically sad when his luck goes south. "I lost my shoe" is classic, but also the realization when the AC breaks and catches on fire when he's doing absolutely nothing. And when Dean tells him not to scratch his nose, so of course it starts itching and he has to check that Dean's gone before scratching his nose. He's so childlike. I also love the moment where he starts to laugh and hides it when Dean yell "Son of a bitch!"

The "turn around" post-it is now my third favorite use of a post-it in the series. 

I never liked Bela. She shot Sam, so I could never like her. I do think the actress does well and I've consistently liked her characters outside of this series. She and Jensen play off each other well. I want that blue top.

[sarthaz]

On 6/2/2017 at 10:27 PM, bettername2come said:

I also love the moment where he starts to laugh and hides it when Dean yell "Son of a bitch!"

I came to post about that.  Saw this again on re-watch today, and it's hilarious how Jared can't hold it together before Dean's "Son of a bitch!"

[Iju]

On 19/07/2016 at 7:10 AM, pixelcat said:

I know the first was posted by catrox in the media thread, but he just did the second and they're too cute to not share here!

 

dawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

On 19/07/2016 at 7:10 AM, Demented Daisy said:

"Yeah, you're Batman."

Love the line delivery there.

and dean's face afterwards, when he realised the sarcasm at the last minute. lol!

On 09/01/2017 at 3:31 PM, bethy said:

Dean's delight in this picture will never not make me grin:

omg his happy af smile was cracking me and my family up, we absolutely LOVED it!

On 30/11/2017 at 3:32 PM, sarthaz said:

I came to post about that.  Saw this again on re-watch today, and it's hilarious how Jared can't hold it together before Dean's "Son of a bitch!"

YES.

it was funny and all but they were out 50k bucks....ouch.

-----

bella shot sam and that makes her a dead woman walking in my book. if i ever saw her again i would shoot her in the shoulder and say "What? It was just in the shoulder. I can aim you know." and if i ever saw her again i would probably kill her, i would tell her that too. how dare she casually hurt my brother. okay so i'm getting personal about it but still. anyway loved this episode so much, definitely in my rewatch list. jared really brought it on with his sorry patheticness of having bad luck, poor guy.

dear God, i can relate to this SO MUCH, and i have no bad luck! :P this is me 100% of the time.

me: *trips on literally nothing, tries to regain balance, it only makes it worse and i stumble madly until finally smashing onto the ground*

my brother: *sigh* you okay?

me: *sheepish* yeah, i'm fine.

and of course:

poor sammy. poor poor sammy, lol (whatever, they both need a new wardrobes pronto anyway!). jared really made him look like the younger brother here, more than ever and i love it. jensen wasn't too bad either, he was even funnier than in tall tales.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Iju

[Zipper]

Man, I laughed my butt off on this re-watch. Sam's bad luck is JP's good fortune, hilarious bits of falling, catching fire, and the big sad, slumped shoulder "shoe" line kills it. As does the little toe wiggle around the grate. Poor Sammy. 

[gonzosgirrl]

I'm Batman. Classic! And his utter outrage over the scratch tickets. 

[The Companion]

On 8/17/2014 at 2:06 PM, DittyDotDot said:

Ah, crap, you're right...would this be my spatial recognition issues, dyslexia issues or just the usual round of me being a loser?  I'll ask a mod to fix it.

You sure you didn't happen to lose a rabbit's foot?

On 6/2/2017 at 9:27 PM, bettername2come said:

"Yeah. You're Batman."

Great physical comedy in the scene where Sam gets the rabbit's foot. So well-choreographed. The horror of seeing random pointy objects on this show when you know that's how someone's about to die horribly. "Oh, look a barbecue fork pointing straight up. Nothing dangerous there." I love that Bobby made the curse boxes. What can't Bobby do? Also, first use of Biggerson's! 

Jared is great this episode. He's excellent at falling down. He looks so comically sad when his luck goes south. "I lost my shoe" is classic, but also the realization when the AC breaks and catches on fire when he's doing absolutely nothing. And when Dean tells him not to scratch his nose, so of course it starts itching and he has to check that Dean's gone before scratching his nose. He's so childlike. I also love the moment where he starts to laugh and hides it when Dean yell "Son of a bitch!"

The "turn around" post-it is now my third favorite use of a post-it in the series. 

I never liked Bela. She shot Sam, so I could never like her. I do think the actress does well and I've consistently liked her characters outside of this series. She and Jensen play off each other well. I want that blue top.

Yes to all if this. The physical comedy was amazing. I laughed out loud at the lost my shoe line and the nose scratch.

It was good to see Maggie. Weird to hear her real accent. I expect her to sound like Maggie. 

I am a sucker for physical comedy and for final destination type scenes where you are just waiting for something to happen. Each moment of tension and fake out. Looking around for what is going to get the character. 

That is twice in three episodes that Louisiana is mentioned. I am in New Orleans and take it as a personal shout out. Obviously.

I was intrigued by Bella (Bela? per closed captions). Not everyone who finds out about this stuff would react by becoming hunters. Interestingly, I think her cynicism lined up with Dean's in some ways. 

I really enjoy Bobby. I loved his commentary about them being idiots for touching it, etc.

I don't need the rabbit's foot to be a complete mess. I describe myself as the protagonist of a Roman comedy before the montage. So Sam was pretty much me. 

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, The Companion said:

t was good to see Maggie. Weird to hear her real accent. I expect her to sound like Maggie. 

Are you talking about Bela?  That's not her real accent.  The actress is American.

[The Companion]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

Are you talking about Bela?  That's not her real accent.  The actress is American.

So I guess I have never heard her speak in her real accent. I knew she was raised in England and that her accent on TWD is fake. She actually has a bit of a hybrid accent in interviews.