Supernatural: "A Very Supernatural Christmas"

"Another great installment"
Christmas a la Supernatural.

The Anti Claus. A demon St. Nick who goes around killing people when they hang special wreaths in their homes.

Only on "Supernatural."

I'm sorry I missed this series in the first season. But after watching a replay of the first season finale before the second season premiere, I've been watching ever since.

Bobby was mentioned several times in the "Present" and the flashbacks. Ruby and Bela were absent--again. Ruby does have a link with Sam and Bela is a riot, but I wonder if they merited being added to the cast? Too bad the CW execs're interfering with a dark show by insisting that female cast members be added, shooting the episodes during the day, and cutting down on the alternative rock score. If someone had to be added in, Jo from Season 2 would've been great IMHO. She would've been the Princess Leia to Dean and Sam's Han and Luke duo. Too bad the actress is unavailable.

About the episode, it's a hoot (in a dark, disturbing way) to see an evil Claus going around to collect people (adults not children) to snack on.

As the episode goes on, it flashes back to Dean's and Sam's boyhood. We see that they're living on their own with Dean looking after Sam while their dad and Bobby are hunting demons. Dean is trying to keep Sam in the dark about monsters and what their dad's doing, but Sam's a smart kid and he figures things out. Seeing Dean give Sam some presents he lifted--er, got from a nearby convenience shop was nice.

Dean and Sam catch wind of some Christmas time kidnappings around Ypsilanti, Michigan. The producers didn't show enough of the setting for those who know Michigan to see how realistic it was, but it wasn't too important. Anyhow, the brothers investigate, posing as FBI suits at the homes of the missing people. Very sharp looking when they're gussied up. They then go to a run down Christmas theme park, where they see if they can spot a demon among the part-time holiday workers. They focus on one broken-down, grizzled Santa who tells a kid he has something special for the kid. When he hobbles away with a hemmorhoid? limp, the brothers decide to follow "St. Nicotine." The brothers're in their car outside St. Nicotine's trailer house when they see the old man pull the drapes on his window shut, then hear a scream. They rush in with their sawed off shot guns loaded with salt, and see St. Nicotine watching a movie. They then start singing "Silent Night" off tune and wing it where they forget the lyrics. St. Nicotine joins in and they step out with uncomfortable smiles. LOL.

The brothers (Sam really) notice that the victimized homes have wreaths of meadowlark? (wrong spelling) hanging over the fire place. They trace the wreaths to the home of the Carrigan's, an older WASP-looking couple taken straight out of the "Beavers." Ergo they're the demons.

The brothers investigate their basement, find a red demon Santa suit, some butcher cutlery, and...a sack with body parts. Just as they're about to open it, the Ma and Pa Carrigan get the jump on 'em, toss 'em around like they're rag dolls, and knock 'em out.

Dean and Sam wake up in the Carrigans' kitchen bound to chairs. The Carrigans say they're pagan gods only taking their due. They've adjusted over the last 2000 years since Christianity kicked in, going down from a few hundred sacrifices per year to 2-3. And they've gone to great lengths to assimilate, playing bridge every week with their neighbors. They're readying Sam and Dean, taking some blood from both and a fingernail from Sam. When Sam swears, Ma Carrigan suggests he says "fudge," which he adopts. Frequently. Pa Carrigan's poised to yank a tooth from Dean's mouth when someone knocks at the door. Reluctantly they answer it to find a neighbor inviting them to go caroling. They beg off and go back to the kitchen, which is empty.

Dean and Sam lead 'em into the living room and go mano a mano with 'em again. They use branches from the Carrigans' real live Christmas tree to stake 'em.

Dean and Sam cap things by exchanging presents they lifted--obtained at a store, reflecting on how it may be the last Christmas for Dean.

If there was one thing I thought could've been done, it was to show Sam's growing darkside in the context of the episode. And maybe the confrontation with the pagan gods could've happened at night. And since they were defeated without special measures, maybe it would've been better to class 'em as pagan demigods. I'd think that gods would be untouchable for mere humans to take out with what's at hand.

Good episode all around, though. Hopefully, this season will be brought to a satisfying conclusion considering the WGA strike is upon us.