S08.E13: Everybody Hates Hitler

[Demented Daisy]

Sam and Dean go up against an group of Nazi necromancers.

 

 

Another episode that I want to love.  Nothing wrong with it, really.  Well, except for the pronunciation of "Thule".  But I digress.  I don't know, the whole episode has an anti-climactic feeling to me.  *shrug*

[DittyDotDot]

Funnily, I think this might be the only episode I can genuinely say I like in S8. There are a couple others that have moments that I like, but as overall episodes don't really do much for me, but this one I actually liked. I wouldn't go as far as saying I love it or anything crazy like that...like is enough. At least it had some wacky to it and I didn't feel like I was being talked down to the entire episode. Liked Aaron and his Golem and liked that scene where Sam was warming his hands over that guys burning corpse.

[AwesomO4000]

I'm just going to point to @DittyDotDot's post and say "ditto!"... especially Jared's (I think) add lib of warming his hands over the corpse. That scene amused me greatly.

 

This is my favorite episode of season 8.

[mertensia]

I like the episode; it was funny and Aaron and the Golem bickering "Everybody loves bacon!" will always make me laugh.

Plus they got Hal Linden! Barney Miller!

The plot is pretty good and it's probably my favorite episode of the season.

[catrox14]

One of my favorite episodes. It was kind of gruesome the way Hal Linden combusted! I loved all the fighting between the Golem and Aaron. 

 

My takeaway is that Dean was disappointed that he was not Aaron's gay thing. That whole bit with Dean being fllummoxed when Aaron was flirting with him was comedy gold. The fact that Dean kept talking about it, sure left me thinking that he might have been kind of intrigued at the idea. Who knows. But he didn't mock him or act grossed out, he was just thrown that Aaron was flirting with him. I love the "Carry on, Citizen" LOL at Dean calling someone "Citizen" too funny.

 

I love that Adam Rose tweeted at Jensen once Jensen got on twitter, that 'He's his gay thing". Perfect.

[rue721]

First of all, Happy Hanukkah, everybody!

 

Second of all, this is by far the best episode of this season (at least so far) imo. It wasn't perfect, but it felt like a Supernatural episode, had some genuinely scary moments, had some genuinely funny moments...And I liked Aaron and the Golem in general.

 

Aside from Sam warming his hands over the burning corpse, which I agree was great, a couple other small touches that I liked:  the Golem pensively walking around the apartment every time they had to do any exposition was great. The college girls at the bar were (unexpectedly!) hilarious imo. And I did get a kick out of Aaron defending himself about using his grandfather's sacred book for rolling papers (the sheets were so thin and vellum-y!). Aaron was fun throughout, tbh. "We're renting here! RENTING!" LOL. It also was nice to see Aaron (and the Golem, sort of?) get their own story arcs -- that made the episode feel a lot more satisfying imo.

 

I also liked that this is sorta/kinda a throwback to when the show would bring urban legends to life, since the Golem is a real-life myth and frightening story. Also, the Golem in this episode was legitimately frightening. And after seeing the horrifying way the rabbi combusted in the teaser, the Nazi necromancers were (again, unexpectedly!) frightening, too.

[Iguana]

I may be damning this episode with faint praise, given how much of season eight I truly dislike, but it's the best of the season in my opinion. I like the introduction of the lair of letters set and that Sam and Dean are not being assholes to each other. There were some truly amusing bits like Sam warming his hands over the burning corpse and Aaron's WTF reaction as well as the bickering between him and the Golem. I also believe that Aaron and the Golam with the Nazi sorcery and mysticism background are strong enough to potentially be the spin off the powers that be are searching for.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Iguana

[DittyDotDot]

Now this is an episode I can believe is penned by Edlund. Its got the quippy and fun use of language and lots of whacky and whimsy. Yep, I'm calling it best of the season--possibly best of the Carver years, too. I probably should also praise Phil Sgriccia too--he seems to get Edlund in a way that many other directors didn't--I think when those two got paired up something special seemed to happen.  Nightshifter, Hollywood Babylon and  Ghostfacers are other Edlund/Sgriccia team ups (although, Ghostfacers isn't as much of a stand out as the other two are, IMO).

 

Even though I don't care for whole the Men of Letters idea, I must say Wanek and his merry band of wizards built a beautiful and amazing set. It's absolutely gorgeous, IMO, and I think this might be only episode that really does that set justice (but that's probably better suited for another thread).

 

I could probably watch an entire series with Aaron and the Golem--for that matter, I think I'd watch an entire series where Barney Miller sits around researching Nazi necromancers too. This isn't unusual for me to feel this way in an Edlund episode--he does have a knack for creating odd and interesting characters--but seriously, the casting for this episode is so very spot on. Even the girls in the bar are interesting to me.

 

Mostly though, I'm delighted that they found an interesting legend to turn and twist to their own purposes--they're far and few between these days, IMO. Add on top a delightful salt 'n burn and I'm in a very happy place!

[Goldmoon]

My takeaway is that Dean was disappointed that he was not Aaron's gay thing. That whole bit with Dean being fllummoxed when Aaron was flirting with him was comedy gold. The fact that Dean kept talking about it, sure left me thinking that he might have been kind of intrigued at the idea. Who knows. But he didn't mock him or act grossed out, he was just thrown that Aaron was flirting with him.

I know.  I just love that Dean is not the typical Bruiser type that would be hateful and threatening in the face of supposed flirting from another man.  I like how they followed through later with Dean telling Sam "he's my gay thing."  I wonder how the hoyay viewing crowd reacted (with joyful squees?) when that first aired.  I just wish that Aaron had genuinely gay so we could have a likable gay character in the show.  He could have been following Dean for the reasons he stated, but I'm just saying.  (I didn't forget Charlie.  I said "likeable.")

 

I loved the set and the fact that Dean was nesting and admitted as much to Sam and knew what to do in a kitchen.  I have heard comments from later that some are disappointed that the boys have a place to go instead of always being on the road, but I disagree.  Since they don't have Bobby and  Bobby's House as a place to regroup, I am glad they have a home base to call their own.  Also, the books!  All that info at their fingertips!  I wondered why they didn't bring Kevin to the base. It seemed that they were afraid the base would be compromised and I don't know how I feel about that.

[AwesomO4000]

I just wish that Aaron had genuinely gay so we could have a likable gay character in the show.

 

For me there will always be Damien and Barnes from "The Real Ghostbusters." I loved that episode, and I loved them.

[catrox14]

For me there will always be Damien and Barnes from "The Real Ghostbusters." I loved that episode, and I loved them.

 

I still want to know if they raised a dragon...and named it Raoul..

Edited March 12, 2015 by catrox14

[Goldmoon]

I watched the commentary for this ep last night.  I had hoped they would say more about the flirting scene but they were talking over it at first, then they got around to saying that Jensen played it like an awkward moment in a rom-com.  They also speculated, tongue-in-cheek I'm sure, that maybe Dean was curious. Not exact words, though.  Jensen is such a treasure in the acting department.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

Finally getting around to posting a few comments on this one:

• Ha ha on me - maybe I've already been watching this show too long and expecting the unexpected, but when they said the box was the "key" I was a little disappointed that it opened up to reveal a real key....
• I liked the Golem.  (And did not know that it was pronounced with a long "Oh" sound.  Huh.)  I should look up who played him, but I'm too lazy.  Dang, that guy was huge.  I thought the whole nazi necromancers was a pretty neat story line though.  Very Indiana Jones-ish.  :)
• I'm glad Aaron took control of his golem and left.
• Very bat cave.  But Sam can't figure out how they have electricity and running water?  At all?  And what about fresh air?  Heat?  Wifi?  I'd think it'd be a priority figuring out the mechanics - in case something goes wrong.  But that's the engineer in me talking.

Edited July 1, 2016 by RulerofallIsurvey
got episodes confused again.

[DittyDotDot]

EVERYBODY LOVES BACON!!! Hee!

That and, "These guys are psychopaths"...

 

6 hours ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

Very bat cave.  But Sam can't figure out how they have electricity and running water?  At all?  And what about fresh air?  Heat?  Wifi?  I'd think it'd be a priority figuring out the mechanics - in case something goes wrong.  But that's the engineer in me talking.

Yeah, plus, I'd want to know what kind of supernatural I was dealing with before I used it. They never do seem to learn to look before leaping. At least this one hasn't bit them in the ass yet.

6 hours ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

 liked the Golem.  (And did not know that it was pronounced with a long "Oh" sound.  Huh.)  I should look up who played him, but I'm too lazy.  Dang, that guy was huge.  

John DeSantis. He also played the guy with the corpses in the basement in the S3 Ghotfacers episode. He does the Canadian-shot show circuit quite a bit. Most recently I recall seeing him on the new X-files. He is huge. On the commentary, Edlund and Scriggia talk about how difficult it was to find someone who looks large standing beside both Jared and Jensen--even with some of the camera trickery they implored. Perfect choice, if you ask me

6 hours ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

Ha ha on me - maybe I've already been watching this show too long and expecting the unexpected, but when they said the box was the "key" I was a little disappointed that it opened up to reveal a real key...

Right there with ya on that one. Fun little tidbit: apparently Edlund originally had some very funky ideas about the bunker standing outside space and time and was kinda like walking into an Escher painting of sorts. Unfortunately, it wasn't producible on their budget and all, but might have been interesting for them to implore something like this for the box and key?

Edited July 1, 2016 by DittyDotDot
Stupid Kindle is stupid!

[RulerofallIsurvey]

3 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

EVERYBODY LOVES BACON!!! Hee!

That and, "These guys are psychopaths"..

Oh I forgot about those bits!  The bacon line was really funny after having already seen S11 and chuck eating bacon.  Aaron didn't know how right he was.  And the psycopaths line - says the guy with the golem.  heh heh.  

3 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

Yeah, plus, I'd want to know what kind of supernatural I was dealing with before I used it. They never do seem to learn to look before leaping. At least this one hasn't bit them in the ass yet.

Seriously - that bugs me that after all this time and all they've been through, they still don't seem to learn.  But then, I was watching another episode last night and got thinking about how after they've both been to hell, they don't seem to have too many memories/after effects from it.  Personally, I'd think an experience like that would definitely have long lasting/far reaching consequences as far as the person I was or wanted to be.  But here they are this season still bitching at each other like nothing's ever changed....I don't get it.

3 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

On the commentary, Edlund and Scriggia talk about how difficult it was to find someone who looks large standing beside both Jared and Jensen--even with some of the camera trickery they implored. Perfect choice, if you ask me

I'll bet it was hard fining someone bigger than those two!  Especially someone who looked A LOT bigger.  He was a good choice.  

3 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

Right there with ya on that one. Fun little tidbit: apparently Edlund originally had some very funky ideas about the bunker standing outside space and time and was kinda like walking into an Escher painting of sorts. Unfortunately, it wasn't producible on their budget and all, but might have been interesting for them to implore something like this for the box and key?

Okay, that may have been too surrealistic for me.  Plus, I'm not sure what the ramifications would have been for the guys spending time in the bunker then.  When they came out, would time have passed?  How much time?  It could have been interesting, but I think it may have led to more problems than they wanted.  

I was thinking something more along the lines of the pipe in National Treasure and there'd be a mysterious  hidden indentation in the wall to which the carvings in the box matched up and slid open a stone panel that had no visible hinges, etc.  

[DittyDotDot]

3 hours ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

Seriously - that bugs me that after all this time and all they've been through, they still don't seem to learn.  But then, I was watching another episode last night and got thinking about how after they've both been to hell, they don't seem to have too many memories/after effects from it.  Personally, I'd think an experience like that would definitely have long lasting/far reaching consequences as far as the person I was or wanted to be.  But here they are this season still bitching at each other like nothing's ever changed....I don't get it.

Oh man, don't even get me started on being tortured in Hell but still the same old, same old...

Back to the not learning and your comment above about Dean's rush to do this first trial without all the information: oops, just realized that was in the Trial and Error thread...moved it over there.

3 hours ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

Okay, that may have been too surrealistic for me.  Plus, I'm not sure what the ramifications would have been for the guys spending time in the bunker then.  When they came out, would time have passed?  How much time?  It could have been interesting, but I think it may have led to more problems than they wanted.  

Yeah, it obviously couldn't really work for this little show from just a budgetary standpoint, but also the show is supposed to be grounded in a sort of real-world way. I do find it interesting how far out there Edlund would go on occasion and then reel himself back in--or be reeled back in--to a place somewhere in the middle that actually works. I'm weird that way, though.

Edited July 1, 2016 by DittyDotDot

[Dobian]

Evil Nazis, so Indiana Jones.  It's great these guys finally have a base of operations, living out of their car and motel rooms was getting old.  This episode does beg the question, can't Sam and Dean just borrow the golem for all their missions from now on?  It would make things so much easier.  "Me smash!"

[Hanahope]

There were a lot of good lines in this episode.  The bacon one mentioned above.  I also just loled at how the grandson smoked the golem instruction book.  Stupid evil Nazi for telling him how to 'control' the golem and bind him, but aren't we glad that thule nazi's aren't the smartest.  I liked that the golem wasn't dumb and silent like I've seen in other shows that used the golem mythology.  

And now we have another good villian besides Crowley.

I would think Sam/Dean would tell Garth about their new lair, since its got so much good info and Garth is pretty savvy.  And Kevin too for that matter.  Kevin may never be able to return to his former life, even if the demon gates are closed, so he might as well use that 'advanced placement' brain of his.

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, Hanahope said:

I would think Sam/Dean would tell Garth about their new lair, since its got so much good info and Garth is pretty savvy.

If you want to get technical, I think all the hunters should have equal access to the bunker. What makes it Sam and Dean's?  Because their grandfather they only barely met was an almost full member?  Some of those other dead MOLs had to have children or grandchildren, too.  Right?

[catrox14]

22 minutes ago, Katy M said:

If you want to get technical, I think all the hunters should have equal access to the bunker. What makes it Sam and Dean's?  Because their grandfather they only barely met was an almost full member?  Some of those other dead MOLs had to have children or grandchildren, too.  Right?

They probably do but at this point, this is all new to Sam and Dean and they are Legacies and Hunters. I don't know why they would cede the Bunker over to Hunters in general.  Give access to the hunters they know and trust and that's it. I think they are wise to limit who gets in the Bunker and who doesn't until they figure out all that the bunker offers.

spoilers for future episodes 

Spoiler

Of course in 3 short years every entity in the universe and their literal brother and  sister will be able to get into the bunker. LOLOL

[Hanahope]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

I think all the hunters should have equal access to the bunker. What makes it Sam and Dean's?  Because their grandfather they only barely met was an almost full member?  Some of those other dead MOLs had to have children or grandchildren, too.  Right?

I did kindof assume that there must have been other MoL out there, but the question is how would Sam and Dean find them.  Some secret societies are pretty good at hiding themselves.  Certainly, S/D never heard of MoL before, and none of their hunter friends ever mentioned it either (yeah yeah, I know, because the writers probably hadn't thought of it then).  Same with the Thule.  So it might not be easy to find other MoL "legacies."

As for S/D keeping the bunker secret from other hunters, well, many that we have seen have been pretty brutal and "ape-like."  I think its wise to pick and choose whom to tell.  I'm sure if Bobby was still alive, they'd have told him.

[bettername2come]

The bunker! My favorite thing about season 8. I never really liked them at Rufus's old place since they barely knew him, and I've missed Bobby's as their base of operations. I still want to know how the place has wifi. Seriously, how did they equip that when they don't know how water and electricity work there? Why am I such a sucker for Dean calling Sam "little brother?" Dean needs to play with a scimitar in a bathrobe more often. No, Sam, he won't take off the robe. He'll be wearing them for the next four years. What can you say about an episode with a spontaneously combusting rabbi and a potato-faced lunatic golem? This show has a variety definitely. Love nerdy Sam knowing the call numbers. Nice makeup/effects after they got hit by the dart guns. Love Sam warming his hands over the body. I Think I read somewhere that this was caused by Jared misunderstanding the director telling him to act cold. "The boy smoked the pages." Bwahahaha. Overall I like this episode. Sam and Dean kill Nazi necromancers, what's not to like? Sometimes the show goes off the rails in new and interesting ways. I like that Aaron, Sam and Dean all accepted their legacies at the end. 

[Wayward Son]

This is easily my favourite episode of S8 and one of the handful of episodes I genuinely like from this season. It had an enjoyable monster of the week, which had the potential to be revisited if and when needed, it had delightful side characters in the form of Aaron and the golem. It had several comedic scenes that made me chuckle such as Aaron and Dean’s “gay thing” and of course Aaron’s “these guys are psychopaths” as Sam casually warms his hands using the fire disintegrating the Thule members body. I also loved the introduction of the bunker. The scene where they first enter it and the final scene of the boys were beautiful and kudos to  Phil Sgriccia for those. 

On 28/08/2014 at 4:56 PM, catrox14 said:

My takeaway is that Dean was disappointed that he was not Aaron's gay thing. That whole bit with Dean being fllummoxed when Aaron was flirting with him was comedy gold. The fact that Dean kept talking about it, sure left me thinking that he might have been kind of intrigued at the idea. Who knows. But he didn't mock him or act grossed out, he was just thrown that Aaron was flirting with him. I love the "Carry on, Citizen" LOL at Dean calling someone "Citizen" too funny.

Haha, at the risk of getting into that debate this episode was definitely a good one for those who view Dean as potentially bi-sexual. The way Jensen played that scene was so rom com and Dean definitely came off as disappointed when he found out the truth. Edlund and Sgriccia also seemed to think so based on their commentary ;)

[Iju]

i really hate the whole "you have to suffer for that race you are/culture you grew up with" plots. just no. it ALWAYS finds some way to shame the character because he didn't do what his "ancestors" did. aaron is allowed to make his own choices, not just automatically take up the chain/baggage of what he doesn't want. i liked that in the end, he made a choice to follow in his past's footsteps and he wasn't forced, but i still have problems with that type of storyline.

as for the "men of letters" place, i don't think giving the boys a home would be a good thing, because anytime anything nice comes into their life it's taken away. so at this point i can't even be happy for the boys because i'm just waiting for the time they have to leave it or it explodes or whatever.

On 7/1/2016 at 5:24 AM, DittyDotDot said:

EVERYBODY LOVES BACON!!! Hee!

That and, "These guys are psychopaths"...

 

haha, and i'm sure jared added the part when sam is warming his hands out of nowhere...just wth lmao

[The Companion]

I loved this episode so much. I have loved the folklore surrounding golems since I read a short story in middle school about one, so I was already inclined to like this one. Add in interesting side characters and a gorgeous bunker with library and I was done. Definitely the best of the season. Plus Team Winchester was running on all cylinders.

I have to agree that Sam warming his hands on the fire was hilarious. I loved that Dean was flattered to be hit on. I was left wanting to know what happened next for the Golem and Aaron. 

To me, this was what they do best. A balance of humor and horror.

[FlickChick]

On 12/24/2019 at 12:48 PM, The Companion said:

I loved this episode so much. I have loved the folklore surrounding golems since I read a short story in middle school about one, so I was already inclined to like this one. Add in interesting side characters and a gorgeous bunker with library and I was done. Definitely the best of the season. Plus Team Winchester was running on all cylinders.

I have to agree that Sam warming his hands on the fire was hilarious. I loved that Dean was flattered to be hit on. I was left wanting to know what happened next for the Golem and Aaron. 

To me, this was what they do best. A balance of humor and horror.

I've been waiting for you to get to this one. I loved it as well; and the bunker - their new home - a place they can come back to after a long hard fight. Aaron was really good and even the evil necromancers were well cast. Oh, how I miss Ben Edlund.