S07.E19: Of Grave Importance

[Demented Daisy]

Bobby's spirit tries to help Sam and Dean as they try to find a missing friend inside a haunted house.

 

 

I don't understand the reason for making Bobby a ghost.  Oh, right.  Cheap drama.  ;-)

[supposebly]

While I wasn't happy with making him a ghost, it kinda ties in with the overall hypocrisy the Winchesters and Bobby have displayed at times. It makes sense that stubborn Bobby would think he can handle being a ghost (compared to regular people) and how that also was influenced with him having unfinished business with Dick Roman.

 

Best scene is when Sam and Dean figure that they all had a "foxhole thing" with Annie at one time.

 

I will always laugh at:

Sam: ....alright well....that happens.....Sam makes a face

Dean: Wait, you too?

Sam: Look, it was a while back, we ended up on the same case, she was stressed, I.....I ..I didn't....have a soul.

 

I liked how they talked about the longer and angrier a ghost becomes, the more they are able to interact with the physical world. Or they can practice.

 

It's not on my best-list if I had one, but I don't mind it so much in retrospect.

[catrox14]

I was never the biggest Bobby fan to begin with. I liked him in the early seasons before he became SuperBobby! But they gave him a graceful exit and just couldn't leave it alone. The fact that they kept going back to the Bobby well, pretty much ruined the character for me.  Bleh

[DittyDotDot]

Well, I generally love a good ghost story, so overall I liked it. Yeah, wasn't excited that Bobby was a ghost, but it did make sense and as @supposebly said, typical hypocrisy and all. I was really hoping that it was all in Dean's head and he just wished he was being haunted by Bobby, that would have worked so much better for me, but alas it's not what happened.

 

I loved the whole "foxhole" exchange though...amused me greatly!

[AwesomO4000]

Well, I generally love a good ghost story, so overall I liked it. Yeah, wasn't excited that Bobby was a ghost, but it did make sense and as @supposebly said, typical hypocrisy and all. I was really hoping that it was all in Dean's head and he just wished he was being haunted by Bobby, that would have worked so much better for me, but alas it's not what happened.

 

I loved the whole "foxhole" exchange though...amused me greatly!

 

In a way I actually liked that it turned out to be Bobby haunting Dean not only because of @supposebly's point, but if nothing else, also for the continuity. In season 4's episode "Death Takes A Holiday" we saw that not only are ghosts affected by their actions, but family members can be affected, too. In that episode, the spirit boy's mother could somehow subconsciously tell that her son was still around and she was mentally affected by that (maybe physically also) in that she got more depressed and couldn't let go. Because Dean was carrying around the flask - and he seemed extremely attached to it, almost addictingly so - he was going to be more affected by Ghost Bobby than Sam was, and so in trying to help the boys, Bobby may have been unknowingly affecting Dean, making him more depressed and agitated and unwilling to let go. In some ways, Dean might have been getting some of Ghost Bobby's revenge vibes and/or they may have been feeding off of each other in that department. It would help to explain some of Dean's depressed behavior in season 7, especially in the second half. Dean unknowingly had Bobby "feelings" with him, haunting him - literally - and maybe that made it more difficult for him to let go of Bobby and his need to avenge Bobby's death.

 

I didn't like Sam keeping the fact that he tried to call Bobby from Dean, but considering Dean's depression and other emotional proclivities at the time (especially obsessive behavior), I can see why Sam had done it. He was likely thinking he could try it out without getting Dean's hopes up and not have to tell him anything if things looked clear. Sam had been pretty good about being straightforward with Dean up until that point, so I'll somewhat forgive him that slip. Hallucifer might've also helped talk him into it, too, depending on when Sam did the summoning, so there's that also.

Edited August 19, 2014 by AwesomO4000

[mertensia]

I get a kick out of the one gal's always insisting that she was a fancy lady.

I thought this was pretty good and the teens going into the haunted house was believable. I just had a problem with Sam and Dean being conveniently near Bodega Bay.

[DittyDotDot]

I'd forgotten about the "fancy lady". That was a bit of funny. I liked Annie and kinda wished we'd gotten to see more of her. It's too bad they didn't seed her in earlier in the season, but then I'd probably just be annoyed that they killed off another ally, so maybe it's best the way it ended up.

 

I have to say that even though I didn't like that Bobby was a ghost, that bit of them in the hotel room where he's trying to get their attention is rather amusing to me. "Guys?...I just made that curtain shimmy....Could you look at the right place at the right time?...Balls, this is exhausting!".

[DittyDotDot]

This one really holds up for me on re-watch. It's very old-school Supernatural, IMO. I'm a slight-bit confused at how the ghostly villain was absorbing the other ghosts "power", but really doesn't distract me for long. That's when I know it's a pretty good episode, when the lore doesn't get in the way of my viewing.

 

The awkward at the end of the episode when Bobby says they didn't know Annie like he did is awesome!

[Demented Daisy]

Poor Quentin.  (The guy who told them the history of the haunted building.)  Who knew he'd eventually become 

Crowley's right hand in The Hunter Games

?  ;-)

[Goldmoon]

LIked that the boys could finally see Bobby, and how they built up to it over the past few eps.  I was confused why Bobby couldn't touch things though.  He moved the sword in the previous episode, he knocked a book off the table and even, somehow, managed to drink a bottle of beer.  So why did he have so much trouble now?

[RulerofallIsurvey]

Just watched this in my regular progression.

• So....I think they need to add something to the motto: Saving People, Hunting Things, Stress Relief...You know, The Family Business
• Hey BTW, Sam, I've been feeling really stressed out lately.  Come on by any time.  Soul Optional.(Nah, just kidding about the soul thing.  I did NOT like Soulless Sam.  So glad to see him gone.  Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.)
• Was kinda bummed that Annie bit the dust.  
• What was Whitmore? (Was that his name?) doing with the ghost energy he absorbed?  Just made him stronger?  And how was he able to do that?  That was never explained.  Didn't like that hole.
• Sam looked kinda bummed when Bobby told them Annie thought they were ugly.  Dean's reaction was like, "No way.  She's kidding, right?"  Yes, Dean. Bobby was kidding.  You're gorgeous, hon.
• They didn't bother to ask the museum guy why he thought they should stay away from the house?  Yes, I get all the ghosts.  But you know, he could have actually had other important information.  
• Favorite Sam and Dean moments: oh, erm...yeah, nothing's jumping out at me.  
• I actually didn't mind the Annie/Bobby no Sam/Dean scenes.  I think it was because I liked Annie.  If it had just been Bobby or Bobby/someone else (and I even like Bobby a bit) they would have been more grating.  The one with finding the corpses did drag on.  Why did they just stand there looking at the fire?  One of my pet peeves is when someone in the story takes their sweet ass time getting something done, when they know there is a time constraint (or should know) but for plot purposes, it needs to drag out a little.  I think both Bobby and Annie were smarter than that.
• Why would Bobby take the flask out of Dean's pocket to tether himself to the house instead of the boys?  That didn't make sense to me.  To stay with Annie?  He knew they'd be back to take care of the rest of the ghosts once they figured out the big mystery.  
• Speaking of mysteries - this was kind of Scooby Doo, wasn't it?  Hm. Kind of fun, that way.

[DittyDotDot]

Does anyone ever wonder if Annie is looking for another foxhole when she called Dean? Of course she is. ;)

On 5/11/2016 at 9:17 PM, RulerofallIsurvey said:

Speaking of mysteries - this was kind of Scooby Doo, wasn't it?  Hm. Kind of fun, that way.

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking when Annie and Bobby were walking up the stairs and Annie gives Bobby the stop-dwelling-on-things-they-can't-change-do-the-job speech.

[Hanahope]

Yes this seemed exactly like a Scooby Doo episode with all the ghosts.  Lol at Bobby saying 'oh, my people ' when he's inside the house.

i also didn't get his trouble with moving objects so much given what he apparently did before (book and sword), but maybe he had more emotion then.  

Sad to see Annie die, but it was funny about both guys foxhole stories.

if a ghost can gain power by absorbing others ghosts, are we going to see that with Bobby?  Especially if it doesn't change what happens to the ghost if they'd otherwise just burn the body or now don't even need the body?

[bettername2come]

Annie completed the hunter trifecta. Good for her. She reminds me of Ellen and that's high praise. "Spectral voice transference." "Ghost juju." It's nice to see a basic old haunted house story every once in a while. Dean in the shower! And we get an arm. Eh, I'll take it. "I can kill werewolves, fix a Pinto and bake cornbread. I will be damned if I can't get zen." Heh. Dean called for "Slimer." "I hate these indie films. Nothing ever happens." Poor Victoria the fancy lady. She deserved better. The house has secret passageways. With hidden bodies. Well, it's classic for a reason. "You didn't know her like I did." Oh, Bobby. Good music over the closing with Bobby listening in the backseat to Dean saying he doesn't think this will end well. 

[Wayward Son]

On 19/08/2014 at 8:17 PM, AwesomO4000 said:

 

In a way I actually liked that it turned out to be Bobby haunting Dean not only because of @supposebly's point, but if nothing else, also for the continuity. In season 4's episode "Death Takes A Holiday" we saw that not only are ghosts affected by their actions, but family members can be affected, too. In that episode, the spirit boy's mother could somehow subconsciously tell that her son was still around and she was mentally affected by that (maybe physically also) in that she got more depressed and couldn't let go. Because Dean was carrying around the flask - and he seemed extremely attached to it, almost addictingly so - he was going to be more affected by Ghost Bobby than Sam was, and so in trying to help the boys, Bobby may have been unknowingly affecting Dean, making him more depressed and agitated and unwilling to let go. In some ways, Dean might have been getting some of Ghost Bobby's revenge vibes and/or they may have been feeding off of each other in that department. It would help to explain some of Dean's depressed behavior in season 7, especially in the second half. Dean unknowingly had Bobby "feelings" with him, haunting him - literally - and maybe that made it more difficult for him to let go of Bobby and his need to avenge Bobby's death.

 

I didn't like Sam keeping the fact that he tried to call Bobby from Dean, but considering Dean's depression and other emotional proclivities at the time (especially obsessive behavior), I can see why Sam had done it. He was likely thinking he could try it out without getting Dean's hopes up and not have to tell him anything if things looked clear. Sam had been pretty good about being straightforward with Dean up until that point, so I'll somewhat forgive him that slip. Hallucifer might've also helped talk him into it, too, depending on when Sam did the summoning, so there's that also.

Sam mentioned that the first time he tried to summon Bobby was “when that beer disappeared”. That took place during their initial grieving in Rufus’ cabin. So that’s one of the few instances he tried summoning Bobby accounted.

 

There were four on screen incidences involving ghost Bobby that we saw

 

• He drank Dean’s beer (how this is possible I don’t know but anyway) - A confirmed summoning attempt was mad here. 

• He flipped the table so the page containing text on the Amazons would be seen (and apparently knocked himself out for two weeks) - IMO this is likely to be the event that led to the other attempt to summon as both brothers were present. 

• Making the book fall over and show the business card of the hunter that would lead Dean to Emmanuel/Cas. - I think this one is unlikely as only Dean is present and we don’t see him mentioning it to Sam on screen. Of course I’m not ruling out he mentioned it off screen just saying it’s unlikely IMO. 

• The sword flew into Dean’s hand. - This isn’t it as this took place after the conversation between Sam, Dean and Garth.

 

Based on that Id say Sam made two attempts. The first was sometime after the events of Adventures in Babysitting and the second was after the Slice Girls. Both of which were prior to him letting Lucifer in during Repo Man.

 

On 04/03/2015 at 6:35 PM, Goldmoon said:

LIked that the boys could finally see Bobby, and how they built up to it over the past few eps.  I was confused why Bobby couldn't touch things though.  He moved the sword in the previous episode, he knocked a book off the table and even, somehow, managed to drink a bottle of beer.  So why did he have so much trouble now?

 If I’m being kind, and not just assuming it’s writer inconsistency, I would say Bobby would have been experiencing heightened emotions on those occasions. He was likely extremely frustrated when he drank the deer due to his inability to help the boys and probably angry he couldn’t say or do something to help on the other occasions. In other words i think Bobby had adrenaline moments when things looked bad, but he couldn’t move stuff when he was reasonably calm.

[DittyDotDot]

6 minutes ago, Wayward Son said:

If I’m being kind, and not just assuming it’s writer inconsistency, I would say Bobby would have been experiencing heightened emotions on those occasions. He was likely extremely frustrated when he drank the deer due to his inability to help the boys and probably angry he couldn’t say or do something to help on the other occasions. In other words i think Bobby had adrenaline moments when things looked bad, but he couldn’t move stuff when he was reasonably calm.

Am I the only one who thought Dean probably drank that beer, but forgot? I mean, setting aside whether ghosts can actually "drink" beer, I always thought it ultimately was as it appeared--Dean was grieving and angry so he wasn't paying proper attention. Which, comes into play later with how both Sam and Dean weren't paying proper attention to the case and both almost ended up as monster chow as a result. 

[Wayward Son]

23 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

Am I the only one who thought Dean probably drank that beer, but forgot? I mean, setting aside whether ghosts can actually "drink" beer, I always thought it ultimately was as it appeared--Dean was grieving and angry so he wasn't paying proper attention. Which, comes into play later with how both Sam and Dean weren't paying proper attention to the case and both almost ended up as monster chow as a result. 

I always assumed the writers intended for us to retrospectively see it as Bobby, since the missing beer was involved in the flashback to things Bobby had done to rouse the boys suspicion shown in Party on Garth. Of course said flashes were prompted by the words of Dean who could have been wrong, but since his belief is never later contradicted I assume we are meant to believe Dean is right about this. 

 

Although, I can definitely understand why you interpret it the way you do.

 

ETA: @DittyDotDot I just checked and both Adventures in Babysitting and Party on Garth were written by Adam Glass. I personally don’t think he would have used it as a part of the ghost Bobby arc in PoG if that wasn’t his original intention when he wrote AiB :)

Edited October 12, 2017 by Wayward Son

[DittyDotDot]

15 minutes ago, Wayward Son said:

I always assumed the writers intended for us to retrospectively see it as Bobby, since the missing beer was involved in the flashback to things Bobby had done to rouse the boys suspicion shown in Party on Garth. Of course said flashes were prompted by the words of Dean who could have been wrong, but since his belief is never later contradicted I assume we are meant to believe Dean is right about this. 

 

Although, I can definitely understand why you interpret it the way you do.

 

ETA: @DittyDotDot I just checked and both Adventures in Babysitting and Party on Garth were written by Adam Glass. I personally don’t think he would have used it as a part of the ghost Bobby arc in PoG if that wasn’t his original intention when he wrote AiB :)

I understand they were seeding in the idea that Dean--and Sam--were looking at this instance being a sign Bobby was haunting them, but that doesn't mean that everything they thought were signs were actually done by Bobby. I think it was clearly Bobby who moved the sword in Party on Garth and rearranged the papers in The Slice Girls, but he also was making curtains shimmy and doing other things here the boys didn't notice. So, I think it's likely that many things the boys thought were as signs weren't necessarily things Bobby did too. Not only do I think it's more realistic, but I think it's more interesting that way too. Not everything we believe is truly what we believe, but that doesn't mean it's not true...if that makes any sense.

[AwesomO4000]

3 hours ago, Wayward Son said:

Based on that Id say Sam made two attempts. The first was sometime after the events of Adventures in Babysitting and the second was after the Slice Girls. Both of which were prior to him letting Lucifer in during Repo Man.

Sam didn't acknowledge Lucifer until "Repo Man," but Lucifer - and other hallucinations, including Dean - were still talking to him from the beginning. And since the hallucinations were just Sam's crazy brain, I can see how he could have talked himself into it so to speak via hallucination. Hallucination Dean talked him into going to that warehouse at the beginning of the season, and even though Sam later knew about his hallucinations, they might still be sometimes tempting to listen to.

Not to excuse Sam here entirely, since Halucifer is really Sam's brain, but I think my point about Dean's emotional state and Sam maybe hoping to find out without worrying Dean is still is valid. And with his crazy brain potentially convincing himself further, I understand why Sam made the mistake.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

Still overall an enjoyable episode on rewatch.  There were some different things I noticed this time around versus first time.  I remember liking Annie a lot more the first time I watched this.  I did like her more as the episode went on, I guess it's just that, being more familiar with Supernatural in general, I couldn't believe she was stupid enough to walk into that house - when she was on a case on which she'd supposedly done research, which to me would have meant she was fairly certain there were ghosts/angry spirits involved - armed with nothing more than a flashlight.  No salt gun, no iron.  Really, Annie?   In the South, that's known as 'too stupid to live.'  But I feel bad saying that because she did die.  ::sigh::

I also wasn't crazy about the foxhole conversation.  I'm sure it was meant to be funny, and put the guys in an uncomfortable situation that they've all had intimate relations with the same woman, but...how can I put this delicately?  The line 'that's a lot of foxholes' came across as rather judgemental of Annie.  And well...pot and kettle, you know?   Put three women in a room together who've all 'known' Dean and would they be allowed to remark that was a lot of foxholes?  Probably not.  It's a double standard I don't like.  I think one reason it bothers me is that Dean doesn't usually seem so judgemental of women like that, so it seemed like an odd thing for him to say.  Maybe it was because she was with two other men he actually knew and is close to and that weirded him out.  I don't know.  Still don't like it.  Mmv.

Bobby and Annie standing in front of the fire lolly gagging still bothered me.  They had to know Whitmire, Whitmore or whatever his name was would be back soon and they were taking their time.  It's not like they could actually feel the fire and enjoy the warmth anyway.  I felt really sorry for Annie when she was looking at her own corpse.  What a weird experience that had to be.  I hope she got a nice afterlife - not just nothing like she speculated - and got someone with whom she could enjoy it. 

[Iju]

On 10/12/2017 at 9:39 AM, DittyDotDot said:

Am I the only one who thought Dean probably drank that beer, but forgot?

no, i assumed that as well.

ah, new characters in SPN. either you can't trust them or they die within the episode. rip annie.

[The Companion]

I liked this one, personally. All tbose ghosts were creepy. I wonder why there were no reapers. How does someone die and not get reaped?

Annie was a fun character and I was a little sad we didn't get any of her. I thought she was really entertaining.

I assumed it wasn't Bobby because that would be too obvious, but I was glad to discover it was. I really like Bobby and I enjoyed watching him try to navigate the world.

[Katy M]

12 hours ago, The Companion said:

I liked this one, personally. All tbose ghosts were creepy. I wonder why there were no reapers. How does someone die and not get reaped?

I've fanwanked that the head ghost guy had warded the house against reapers before he went around killing people.

[The Companion]

46 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I've fanwanked that the head ghost guy had warded the house against reapers before he went around killing people.

Yeah, I think that is a reasonable fanwank, though the mechanism of death is still really confusing on this show. Absence of a Reaper stopped death from occurring in Death Takes a Holiday. I am fine without an explanation, but it would be nice to know the writers had one in mind. 

[Katy M]

2 minutes ago, The Companion said:

Yeah, I think that is a reasonable fanwank, though the mechanism of death is still really confusing on this show. Absence of a Reaper stopped death from occurring in Death Takes a Holiday. I am fine without an explanation, but it would be nice to know the writers had one in mind. 

Death Takes a Holiday irked me to no end on that score.  I really felt that there should have been increased ghost activity that brought them to town instead of miraculous survivals.

[rhofmovalley]

Just watched this last night. Have questions. If what's his name was "burning" ghosts who ticked him off by throwing their bones into his fireplace how was he able to attempt to "burn" Bobby? He didn't have his bones and Bobby hadn't died in the house. Did he get ahold of the flask somehow and I missed it?

[DeeDee79]

8 hours ago, rhofmovalley said:

Just watched this last night. Have questions. If what's his name was "burning" ghosts who ticked him off by throwing their bones into his fireplace how was he able to attempt to "burn" Bobby? He didn't have his bones and Bobby hadn't died in the house. Did he get ahold of the flask somehow and I missed it?

I don't think that he needed their bones in order to kill them. When he killed Dexter and Victoria he just stuck his hand through their chests and they ignited. It makes sense that he only needed to do the same to Bobby to kill him also. It was probably because of how powerful he was; Victoria did say that they were food to him.

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, DeeDee79 said:

I don't think that he needed their bones in order to kill them. When he killed Dexter and Victoria he just stuck his hand through their chests and they ignited. It makes sense that he only needed to do the same to Bobby to kill him also. It was probably because of how powerful he was; Victoria did say that they were food to him.

Not to be obnoxious, but he put his hand through Dexter. He did burn Victoria's bones.   

[DeeDee79]

21 hours ago, Katy M said:

Not to be obnoxious, but he put his hand through Dexter. He did burn Victoria's bones.   

Ok..