Recap of Supernatural
Season 7, Episode 5
Shut Up, Dr. Phil
- Dean: Look – obviously, you two are capable of wiping each other out, right? But you haven't, huh? Which means that you two – you still value whatever it is you got. A-and you want keep that dance going. Maybe it's – maybe it's punishment. Maybe it's – it's sick, messed-up, erotic, kinky, clamps and feathers kind of love.
Written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming.
Directed by Phil Sgriccia.
Air Date: October 21, 2011.
Sam and Dean deal with a witch who is using her powers to terrorize a small town. They soon discover that she is taking out her anger with her husband, also a witch, who she discovered was having an affair.
Body Count:
For this episode = 3 humans.
For the series so far = At least 706 humans (of which 6 were witches), 88 demons, 55 angels, 36 Jefferson Starships, 34 ghosts, 26 vampires, 19 zombies, 14 gods, 9 hellhounds, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 shapeshifters, 4 ghouls, 3 djinn, 2 Arachnes, 2 dogs, 2 kitsunes, 2 werewolves, 1 crocotta, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 Khan worm, 1 lamia, the Mother of All, 1 okami, 1 phoenix, 1 Purgatory creature, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 reaper, 1 rugaru, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 wendigo, 1 whore of Babylon, and 1 wraith.
Tropes
- The Alcoholic: Sam is jogging but Dean is drinking more than ever.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Did Carl and Dewey really know about Wendy and Don's affair and cover it up, or did Maggie just decide they did out of her own paranoia, and/or due to lies from Sue?
- Was it Maggie's own idea that Jenny was having an affair with Don or was that something Sue told her as well?
- Was Sue really deliberately poisoning Don and Maggie's relationship to facilitate her crush on Maggie (like Don assumes), or was she just trying to be a good friend who only realized how them broken up could benefit her after the fact?
- An Aesop: Sam tries to draw one from this episode's events, to encourage Dean to talk about what's bothering him. Naturally, Dean refuses to admit there's anything wrong in the first place.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: The Starks once Sam's marriage counseling sticks.
- Bait-and-Switch: Turns out both spouses are witches, not just Maggie.
- Bee-Bee Gun: Don has hornets swarm around Dean's face.
- Been There, Shaped History: Apparently Maggie had Pity Sex with Christopher Columbus.
- Big "NO!": Maggie when her paintings start to run.
- Blood Magic: Maggie's spells include drawing sigils on photos using her own blood.
- Bury Your Gays / Off with Her Head!: Sue.
- Casting Gag: James Marsters and Charisma Carpenter played Spike and Cordelia, major characters on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel.
- Conflict Killer: Two hunters bursting in on the two witches causes them to team up.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Don manages to easily stun a Leviathan. The effect lasts for days and leaves it very weak when it snaps out of it.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Innocent bystanders die in a family squabble.
- Distinction Without a Difference: "They will get out, just not alive."
- Drowning My Sorrows: Dean, as per usual.
- Empathic Environment: Plants die and Don's statue cracks when the couple get really pissed at each other.
- Eye of Newt: Dean's really not happy when Sam dumps a bag of chicken feet next to him as he's about to tuck into his cream pie. Turns out it's the wrong ingredient anyway.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Dean searches for "freaky accidents".
- Grow Old with Me: Inverted. Don refers to Maggie as the woman he wants "to never grow old with", but the meaning is the same.
- Hysterical Woman: Don's personal assistant is freaking out after being hexed. Dean mutters, "Shall I slug her?" To be fair, it's a pretty natural reaction to taking a bite out of a cupcake and seeing a tiny beating heart inside.
- Karma Houdini: The witches never receive any punishment for the people they killed.
- The Masochism Tango: Don and Maggie. Their "arguments" consist of ruining each other's lives and killing each other's friends and lovers. They make Buffy and Spike seem functional.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Jenny with Don. And, apparently, a "Medici chick".Sam: You might want to cool things with Don Stark.Jenny: Don Stark? What are you talking about?Dean: You and Don, you know.Jenny: "You know?" There is no "you know". He's married, for God's sake.
- Nail 'Em: One of the victims are killed by a nail gun firing nails through a porter potty. Somewhat lampshaded when the local cops comment that they can't figure out where the nail gun had been plugged in during the attack.
- Out-of-Character Moment: Sam and Dean letting the Starks away with their crimes is a pretty big one, especially since Dean killed Amy on the same principle. Partly justified in that both are incredibly powerful (Don could take down a Leviathan with sheer magical power), Sam and Dean were lucky to escape with their lives.
- Power Incontinence: As the witches' argument gets worse, they start losing control over their powers. They go from killing plants to blacking out the town.
- Punk in the Trunk: Chett has a dead body in his trunk for a snack. It's poetic justice that he ends up hooded and chained in the back seat of the Impala.
- Punny Name: BM Disposal on a Porta-Potty.
- Quick Nip: Dean is drinking on the job now.
- Really 700 Years Old: Turns out this marriage has been going on quite a while.
- Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Not only is Don's chipper, cupcake-baking assistant not having an affair with him (or directly involved in the witch feud) but she seems to have difficulty even imagining having an affair with a married man when the brothers insinuate this.
- Shipped in Shackles: Chett the Leviathan is chained up in the back of the Impala. Though it's clear only the spell is holding him.
- Shout-Out: Bewitched, both versions. There's a sneaky one to Dragon Ball Z when the witches are charging their spell and Don's Magical Gesture looks like he's preparing a Kamehameha.
- Tempting Fate: Dean assures Bobby he's got the spell ingredients right. He hasn't.
- This Means War!: Maggie after her art show is ruined.
- Time for Plan B: When the counterspell didn't work, Sam tries marriage counseling.
- Ungrateful Bastard: How Dean and Sam view Maggie for attempting to kill them after they helped save her marriage. Don is quick to point out, however, that they only did so after their plan to kill her fizzled. All that said, Don averts this, as he's than willing to help save their lives and even gives them friendly advice on the disposing of the Leviathan.
- Walk-In Chime-InLeviathan: And it's not over yet.
- The Worf Effect: Don knocks out a Leviathan like it's nothing.
- Woman Scorned: The first scene features the brutal death of Don's mistress, with Maggie being responsible.
- You Owe Me: Dean says they owe Don one after he saves them from the Leviathan. It's implied Don is returning the favour for them saving his marriage — he originally went there to remove the hex coins Maggie left in their hotel room.
- You're Cute When You're Angry: "You're so cute when you try to tell me what to do."
