"Maybe we're called 'fans' because the celebrities are so hot?"
Part One: Summary
It's Vegas week for the Winchester brothers as they go on their annual road trip to Las Vegas, Nevada but things don't go as planned when Sam suddenly decides to go camping alone and leaves Dean for four days. It is on the fourth day that Dean receives a strange text from Sam telling him to meet at a chapel near by. Dean enters ready to investigate a case but finds out that Sam is getting married to Supernatural's (referring to the books by Chuck Shurley in the show) "number one fan" Becky Rosen. Surprised and disgusted, Dean immediately notices that something is wrong with Sam as he takes off with Becky to Pike, Delaware where it is discovered that Becky is attending her high school class reunion. Dean follows the couple there and comes across a strange story in the local paper, that townsman who won the lottery was killed in a "freak accident." Dean tries to win Sam back by visiting him and telling him about the case but instead finds out that Sam and Becky are already investigating it. Flustered, Dean calls Bobby to help but Bobby refers him to his old hunting partner, Garth. Together, Garth and Dean race Becky and Sam to see who can solve the case first but as they gather information more "freak accidents" begin to happen at the end of a week when the victim seems to make a deal with a demon but there is something stranger than demon activity happening and Becky is hiding something from the brothers that could eventually have her killed just like everyone else.
Part Two: Review
For the first and only time, the title credits for this Supernatural episode open up with an exploding wedding cake. The irony of this is perfectly highlighted by Dean's question to Sam after the wedding, "Have you forgotten the life span of your hookups?" This is in reference to the multiple girls that Sam has slept with and later died either in the same episode or sometime later (i.e. Madison from "Heart" 2X17 and more obviously, Ruby). It also mocks Sam's old typical "American Dream" complex of wanting to go to college, have a great job, get married, live in a big house, and have children. This episode also mocks a large percentage of the population: fandom.
Becky Rosen was introduced to us in the season five opener "Sympathy For The Devil" when she is writing slash fiction, which is a "genre of fan fiction that focuses on interpersonal attraction and sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex" (Dictionary.com) and in this case hers is about Sam and Dean. Throughout that episode it becomes apparent that writer Eric Kripke and director Robert Singer were trying to use Becky as a humorous representation of the Supernatural fandom, more specifically "fangirls".
In "Time For A Wedding", Becky takes her obsession from the computer screen to the real world as she "drugs" Sam with a magical love potion made by her Wiccan "friend", Guy. This potion tricks Sam into "falling in love" with Becky who then forces him to marry her. Becky believes that she is living her dream, which is obvious when she goes to sign in for the high school reunion and one of her ex-classmates bullies her until Sam arrives to hug Becky which shocks the ex-classmate. But this dream beings to dissipate as Sam wakes up from the illusion. In a panic, Becky knocks him out and takes him to her parent's cabin where Sam wakes up with no pants. Sending the wrong signals maybe? Definitely.
The poor representation of fandom through Becky Rosen's character has infuriated a lot of people. If only you were there to hear our discussion on this episode in last week's class... Anyway, this episode was written by Andrew Dabb, who helped write more entertaining episodes such as "Yellow Fever" and "Hammer of the Gods" and Daniel Loflin, writer of more intense episodes such as "Weekend at Bobby's" and "Family Matters". It comes as a surprise that these two would write such an absurd episode, which besides having a poor portrayal of fandom also creates more unnecessary tension between the brothers when Sam goes off on Dean when he confronts Becky about her con as it alludes to when Dean went off on Sam as he tried to tell him about Ruby's con (geez, what a pattern). I brought this scene up because Sam says this, "I went after her, Dean. Maybe that's what's bugging you. That I'm moving on with my life. I mean, you took care of me, and that's great, but I don't need you anymore." How many times has that or something similar been said by Sam and yet he comes running back to Dean?
The one saving grace this episode has is the introduction of Garth. A retired dentist, Garth picked up hunting when he claimed to have slain the Tooth Fairy. Having "Bobby-like" characteristics, Garth is a clumsy character that is adorable with his Southern one-liners and shocking ability to deliver wisdom to the boys when they least expect it. But the audience doesn't get to see that side of him until later on when he appears in "Party On, Garth" (7X18). In "Time For A Wedding" Garth is merely a comic-relief trope with his clumsiness and immediate hit-on with Becky, but it sets him up to be a more dynamic character when he appears later on. Garth is too love-able for words.
In the end, this episode is a ludicrous attempt to win the affection of fans by doing a mediocre job of portraying the dream of a fan marrying a celebrity. The usual pop culture references and puns said by Dean are no where to be found and using a Wiccan as a crossroads demon cover up is another poor representation of a percentage of real-world population. This episode could have been a more humorous filler about Vegas week, but instead is an unnecessary satire.
Part Three: Questions/Concerns
My class knows exactly how much I despise this episode and I didn't realize that I was assigned it until after the class was over so this was a cringe-worthy writing experience. Season seven overall, in my opinion, doesn't exist because it is buried under all the "Dick" Roman jokes and the obscene amount of ridiculous episodes, such as "The Slice Girls." What saved this season, in my opinion, is the introduction of Charlie.
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