Eric Kripke types out the pilot for Supernatural.
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The curtains draw back on a rehearsal of a musical based on the Supernatural novels. The student, Marie, and her stage manager Maeve remind the girls playing Sam and Dean--Siobhan and Maggie--that "Dean" isn't wearing the right amulet. Maggie--playing Dean--doesn't care and Marie starts shoving her. The drama teacher, Mrs. Chandler, finally has enough of Marie's production and tells her that it's over. Outside, the teacher complains about how now there's no truth in Supernatural. As she takes out her phone, animated branches grab her and pull her into the trees.
The Winchesters are at a motel and Dean is out front working on the Impala when Sam comes out. Dean is happy to tell his brother that he's found them a case about Mrs. Chandler's disappearance at an all-girls school in Flint, Michigan. Sam doesn't think it's their kind of case, but Dean says that they need to start hunting again. They drive to the school and check in with the local sheriff, who says that Mrs. Chandler disappeared outside of the auditorium. The principal, Ms. Salazar, takes them there and they're surprised to find a girl, Katie, dressed up as Bobby. They watch as the girls recreate Mary being killed for the musical.
Marie and Maeve figure that the Winchesters are from the publisher. The brothers assure them that they're FBI agents and Dean insists that there is no singing in Supernatural... and if there is then it should be classic rock. Sam gets the conversation back to the disappearance and Marie tells them that Mrs. Chandler had been drinking regularly since her divorce, and is probably off on a bender. Sam isn't so sure and has Marie show Dean backstage while Maeve takes him to see the teacher's office. Before they go, Sam privately admits to Dean that it's kind of charming. Dean doesn't.
As Marie show Dean their prop weapons, Dean notices that the girls playing Siobhan and Maggie are very close together. Marie explains that they're real-life girlfriends, and that she's including plenty of subtext—S-E-X—in her musical.
In the tech booth, Sam tries to talk tech production with Maeve, since he was the technician in high school. Maeve quickly leaves and the actresses look up, annoyed, as Sam starts playing with the lights.
Dean finds the liquor bottles in Mrs. Chandler's office, and wonders why there's a robot head there. Marie admits that she's made a few changes for the sake of her music, and didn't like the stories after Chuck stopped writing. She created her own ending for the musical, which involves robots, spaceships, and ninjas... and Dean becoming a woman for a few scenes. Dean isn't happy with that and tells Marie what really happened since Chuck stopped writing the novels. Marie dismisses it as bad fan fiction and explains that Castiel and Dean in the musical are romantically involved because of the Dea-stiel sex subtext.
Once the brothers check out the auditorium, they meet back up outside and Sam admits that they've got nothing. Dean figures that it's all just a coincidence and Mrs. Chandler is just sleeping off a drunk somewhere.
That night, Maggie storms, off, disgusted at Marie's changing the Supernatural canon for her artistic vision. She plans to go to the principal and get the production shut down. As she walks her bicycle away, a scarecrow-like creature steps out and grabs her. Marie hears Maggie scream and goes to investigate. She catches a glimpse of the scarecrow and runs over, but it disappears leaving nothing behind but a small purple flower.
The next day, Sam and Dean hear about the new disappearance and go to the auditorium. The police tell them about the purple flower and how there was a similar one at Mrs. Chandler's disappearance. Marie tells them what she saw and admits that she saw the scarecrow. She worries that they won't believe her, but Sam assures her that they do and that everything in the books are real. When Sam and Dean tell Marie and Maeve that they're really Sam and Dean, the girls point out that they're way too old. Dean finally convinces the girls that they're hunters, and Marie explains that she adapted the local legend of a creepy scarecrow for the musical. She figures that the scarecrow might actually be a tulpa, from the novel "Hell House." Sam isn't so sure, reminding Dean that a tulpa takes a lot of psychic believe to manifest. He remembers reading about the flower in the lore and goes to check it out while Dean checks out the scarecrow with Marie.
Marie takes Dean to the boiler room and shows him the scarecrow, which she personally finds terrifying. The prop isn't at all scary, and Dean tosses it into the furnace. When they go back upstairs, Sam tells them that he's found a reference to the purple flowers in the lore. They're the token of Calliope, the Greek goddess of epic poetry and storytelling. Calliope attunes herself to stories and manifests the creatures from them, and the only way to stop them is to kill Calliope with a blessed stake. According to the lore, Calliope encourage an artist to finish their vision, but then eats the artist. Upon hearing that, Marie wants to shut down the show immediately. However, Sam reminds her that the scarecrow abducted Maggie and Mrs. Chandler when they tried to shut down the show, and would do the same to Maggie. Dean figures that the only way to get Calliope to appear is to put on the musical. Marie panics and starts gasping into a paper bag, and Dean tries to reassure her. He says that if she wants to save her friends then she has to fully believe in her interpretation of Supernatural. Marie figures that she has to be brave, just like Sam would, and live up to his example. Since Maggie is gone, Marie has no choice but to go on as her understudy and play Dean herself.
On opening night, the audience comes in. Sam gives a blessed stake to Dean. Dean then tells the cast and crew that they have to do everything that Marie wants them to do and put in as much sexual subtext as is needed. Marie goes out and greets the audience, and tells the people in the front row to put on the ponchos provided because it may get messy in the second act. She goes on for a while until Dean figures out that she's stalling and tells Maeve to get the show going.
As the show runs, Sam and Dean split up to watch for the scarecrow. It appears behind Sam and grabs him, and by the time Dean gets there, it's disappeared with his brother. Marie sees the whole thing and realizes that she's in an artistic struggle for her life.
The scarecrow takes Sam to the school basement, locking him up with Maggie and Mrs. Chandler. Calliope arrives and tells them that they're going to miss the big show, and easily slams Sam back when he tries to impale her.
As the musical continues, Dean tells Marie that they have no choice but to stick to the plan and finish it, and then let the scarecrow attack her.
Calliope explains that she knew the musical would be a great achievement because the inspiration for it was there. However, she hates the second act and plans to kill Marie early.
Marie sings the finale and sees the scarecrow. Dean sees it as well and tries to attack it without much luck. As the scarecrow tosses Dean around, Maeve calls in the understudies.
As Mrs. Chandler and Maggie slip to the side, Sam keep s Calliope distracted by asking her why the musical is so appealing. She talks about how it's not dreck like modern-day TV and has everything.
The scarecrow continues beating up Dean. It knocks him aside and goes for Marie.
Maggie grabs a book and hits Calliope in the head with it. Mrs. Chandler kicks the stake to Sam, who impale the goddess with it.
Realizing that she has to save her own life, Marie grabs the stake and impale the scarecrow with it. It backs to the edge of the stage and explodes into purple goo, covering the front row audience.
Calliope explodes into purple goo.
The audience gives Marie a standing ovation, and Dean tells her to take a bow.
During intermission, Maeve thanks Sam for saving Marie, and tells him to get a haircut so he'll look more like Dean. Meanwhile, Dean tells Marie that it's been... educational seeing Supernatural from her perspective. Realizing who he really is, Marie gives Dean the samulet and says that he shouldn't have thrown it away. Dean assures her that he doesn't need it because he doesn't need a symbol to remind him of how much he loves his brother... and takes it anyway. The second act begins and as they watch, Sam concedes that Dean was right about them getting back to hunting. On stage, Siobhan and Marie give a speech about how it's just the two of them against the world. They sing "Carry on Wayward Son" with the rest of the cast as Sam and Dean agree with the onstage sentiments.
Once the show is over, Sam and Dean hit the road in the Impala. As they drive off into the sunset, Dean puts the samulet that Marie gave him onto the rearview mirror.
Maeve tells Marie that someone picked up the publisher ticket that she left at the box office. Marie goes up to the visitor and asks him what he thought. Smiling, Chuck tells her that the musical wasn't bad.
Written by Gadfly on May 22, 2016