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"Swap Meat"

To Watch Our Review - CLICK HERE: https://youtu.be/nfI7vjPLSY4?t=2579

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Episode Synopsis:

A goofy teenager (GARY) conjures up a dangerous body-switching spell and swaps bodies with Sam. It's all fun and games for the teenager until Dean discovers something is up. Meanwhile Sam tries to deal with life as a teenager and discovers the boy's friends have ulterior motives.

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Links To Supernatural Reactions:

Files

Supernatural 5x12 Highlights Swap Meat 1

This is "Supernatural 5x12 Highlights Swap Meat 1" by The Reel Rejects on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Comments

Reggie B

ok normally i watch the ep along with u guys and then the highlights, but tbh for this episode im just watching the highlights ngl lol

marc leech

Hi guys! new patreon here, I found this to be easily one of the weaker episodes in this fantastic season, it felt like a filler episode using an idea that gets used often with Sci Fi/horror shows with the whole the whole body swapping (X-files & Eureka for instance). I remember back in your watch in season 4's of The monster at the end of the book where you spoke about how they managed to start off with the funny idea of their stories being written by someone and it seemed like it would just be a funny episode but it managed to naturally play an important part of the overall arch. This felt like it tried to do the same thing with the tone and story but was all over the place (much like my comment I think haha)

Elisa Ingo

Glad this episode is behind us. Really looking forward to the next one!

KB

I agree with you guys that the episode felt off.  I found it oddly frustrating because I actually loved the concept but didn't feel it was executed properly.  I think back to Yellow Fever and wonder how great this could have been if they actually just let Jared play this out with the new personality. I think that Jared should have stayed playing Gary as it was in the opening scene.  I would have found this more entertaining and appreciated how it would have fixed so many continuity errors.  I also think it would have helped us "feel the stakes" as you guys mentioned.  That is one of my favorite things about this show... since it is long running with such well established characters, they can actually quickly and drastically change the circumstances or personality (in this case) of one of the boys and you are immediately invested.  But I do think that works much better when directly with Jared/Jensen acting. Lastly, I narrowly avoided a spit take when Jon said, "You're about to discover a lot about yourself, son."  Great reaction as always.  Happy birthday.

Toasted Toad

Happy belated birthday John, and hope you're feeling better, Greg. Agreed. Definitely a weird episode, this one. It had potential, but I think they just didn't execute it well. I think it might have worked better if they'd done the proper Freaky Friday thing instead of just Jared playing Sam and Gary's actor playing Gary. That would remove all the problems with eyeline etc. I think the original plan was to do a Sam/Dean bodyswap, which might have been fun. I don't know why that didn't happen.   The biggest problem I have with the episode, and the biggest inconsistency with SPN as a whole, is that it takes Dean FOREVER to realize it's not Sam. That's what makes it seem like the writers are so unfamiliar with SPN. It's been shown time and again that the brothers realize instantly when something is off.   Also, they just take these teens home at the end of the day saying "live your life well, it's not so bad". The fact that a boy was murdered seems to be completely ignored. Nobody seems to be thinking about him at all. Having said all that - this episode is a guilty pleasure for me. Couldn't say why, as it's not good. I still enjoy it! I think this is the last dud this season, though.

Reggie B

agreed. from here on out the rest of the season, EVERY ep is awesome

JC00

PS, skip all recaps

CC

Newly caught up with these reactions and looking forward to seeing them as they come out now!! Belated happy birthday, John! I do agree that this episode is...odd. In fairness I'm not a massive fan of body swap episodes in the first place, but this one does leave me a bit cold. The eyeline stuff doesn't bother me too much, just because we're not seeing what the characters are seeing to begin with, so the extra things like eyelines and Sam's voice on the voicemail feel like just part of that suspension of disbelief for me. It does bug me that it takes such a weirdly long time for Dean to realise something's wrong, and that Sam didn't (at least as far as we see) even try calling Bobby or Cas. And Gary gets off way too easy. Do they even take the book away from him? 😬 But hey, Jared Padalecki's delivery of "I would love to have the sex with you" makes me laugh out loud every time, so pros and cons 😂 I don't dislike the ep, but I don't think it's one I'd watch outside of a show rewatch 🤷‍♀️ Gotta agree with other comments about the rest of the season from here, I really hope you guys enjoy them! In my very humble opinion it's a really strong run from here to the finale.

Vel

Yep. This was originally going to be a Dean and Sam swap. There are a few J2 panels where they touch on it, and Jared especially would have been happier had they just gone with it. IIRC, some of tptb were sketchy on the concept for...reasons. But I agree that it would have cleared up all of the issues of the episode. G &J are right when they said nothing was fully committed to. But I like this episode, too. I like seeing Jared flex (literally and figuratively)...this episode had both.

Toasted Toad

Do you know anything more about the reason they didn't do a Dean and Sam swap?

theGeekOutGirl

I kept trying to figure out where I know Nora from lol. She plays April from Grey's Anatomy. Lol Supernatural is one of those shows that I just see actors and I know I've seen them in other shows XDDD

thereelrejects

Hey man, welcome!!! And no worries - your comment is perfectly intelligible 😝 I think that's a good point - contrasting with the Monster at the End of the Book episode. Was hoping it'd pay off in a qualitative way more akin to that, but... it wound up reminding me kind of of the half-brother episode; where they introduce a pretty big turn/new circumstance only to just kinda wrap it up & compartmentalize it to that one episode.. Not without its charms, but... yeah, not one of the season's best or most solid by my metric. I hear the rest of the season's pretty fire though, so looking forward to the next one!!

thereelrejects

Glad we're not insane! 😅 This one reminded me a bit of the half-brother episode, the way that kind of takes this huge side-step that feels like it could be pretty significant, but then.. just sorta wraps it all up and we.. move along? I can see arguments for why they went about this the way they did - it was only gonna be one of a couple ways haha - but I can't help but wonder what might've played better with the representations switched. And, like you said, play into the charms of being able to pick up on the mannerisms & realizing that Sam is off, etc. Aaaand I'm glad I was able to bring you right to the brink without going full spit-take lol 😝 Thanks for the birthday love!!!

thereelrejects

Thanks so much, Toad!!! It's been an oddly-shaped series of days haha, but Birthday's been happy & Gregorio's feelin' better 😊 I hadn't thought of it from that angle, but I think it's a very fun prospect to have a Sam & Dead body switch. I imagine that'd make for some different character threads/drama, but... also yeah, I'm a little surprised they didn't go/haven't gone there.. although, I get this angle too. But yeah, as much as the way they did it here did allow for some fun gags, it seems like it would've been stronger with them actually just performing like one another. That's a great point re: Dean, too. Especially on the heels of the New Earth episode of Dr. Who, I was half expecting Dean to surprise us by seeing through it without letting on right away... for a split-second I thought the jig actually was going to be up when he dropped the whole "who are you and what've you done with my brother?" line. Cuz yeah... I have a hard time believing he wouldn't question any further after so many out-of-character moments from Sam. I've said this a couple times above, but this one sorta reminds me of the half-brother episode as the stakes feel similarly HIGH & PERSONAL, but... yeah, then a couple people die, the experience is compartmentalized, and we move on.. Both sorta teasing at what felt like it could've been something SUPER-significant... and then, yeah, not even really addressing the one kid's death. Also a little torn on Gary. Seems like he's scared reasonably straight here, but... still was into some deep, dark shit. I can see what's to enjoy, though. I think this ep. gets a lot of mileage out of eyebrow-raising wackiness. Either way, though, glad the rest of the season's lookin' solid!!

thereelrejects

Gahhh, this has become something of a conundrum haha. We do try to skip the ones that are important to skip.. if that makes sense? We currently keep them in most of the time as A) it is kinda nice to get a memory jog, given how much content we take in each day/week 😅 and B) since we're watching from Netflix (currently), it helps avoid syncing problems if we can start from the very beginning of the stream, which, most of the time, is the recap. At very least I'll try to pay much less attention to the recap than I did here :P

thereelrejects (edited)

Comment edits

2021-07-15 04:43:07 Thank you so much, bud!!! So glad to hear you're enjoying the reactions - congrats on getting caught up! 😝 I can definitely meet you part-way re: the suspension of disbelief with the body-swapping. That's how I (John) was taking it most of the time, just sort of filling in the blanks - although I do think going the with the opposite approach could have made things more interesting while also alleviating some of those seams. But yeah, Dean shrugging off weird-Sam time & again over the course of this one did feel a little bit.. just out of character, I guess? And Sam not calling Bobby, that seemed like a bit of an oversight in the writing. As for Gary... I'm conflicted lol. Part of me can see how he's been sorta scared straight by all this, but... I mean, yeah, he was involved in some really sinister shit (that killed at least 1 friend) and literally participated in an exorcism... I felt like there could've just been a different choice at the end to add some more impact there rather than "ahh, regular life doesn't suck so much!" That said, awkward teen cougar-hunting Jared was pretty friggin' hilarious. Especially as a means of kicking off the episode 😂 but yeah, I think we're ultimately in agreement - it's an episode with some neat ideas & fun gags, but... not one I'd return to on its own. Either way, though, I think your humble opinion is in very good company :) REALLY excited for what's to come!!!
2020-06-17 00:55:34 Thank you so much, bud!!! So glad to hear you're enjoying the reactions - congrats on getting caught up! 😝 I can definitely meet you part-way re: the suspension of disbelief with the body-swapping. That's how I (John) was taking it most of the time, just sort of filling in the blanks - although I do think going the with the opposite approach could have made things more interesting while also alleviating some of those seams. But yeah, Dean shrugging off weird-Sam time & again over the course of this one did feel a little bit.. just out of character, I guess? And Sam not calling Bobby, that seemed like a bit of an oversight in the writing. As for Gary... I'm conflicted lol. Part of me can see how he's been sorta scared straight by all this, but... I mean, yeah, he was involved in some really sinister shit (that killed at least 1 friend) and literally participated in an exorcism... I felt like there could've just been a different choice at the end to add some more impact there rather than "ahh, regular life doesn't suck so much!" That said, awkward teen cougar-hunting Jared was pretty friggin' hilarious. Especially as a means of kicking off the episode 😂 but yeah, I think we're ultimately in agreement - it's an episode with some neat ideas & fun gags, but... not one I'd return to on its own. Either way, though, I think your humble opinion is in very good company :) REALLY excited for what's to come!!!

Thank you so much, bud!!! So glad to hear you're enjoying the reactions - congrats on getting caught up! 😝 I can definitely meet you part-way re: the suspension of disbelief with the body-swapping. That's how I (John) was taking it most of the time, just sort of filling in the blanks - although I do think going the with the opposite approach could have made things more interesting while also alleviating some of those seams. But yeah, Dean shrugging off weird-Sam time & again over the course of this one did feel a little bit.. just out of character, I guess? And Sam not calling Bobby, that seemed like a bit of an oversight in the writing. As for Gary... I'm conflicted lol. Part of me can see how he's been sorta scared straight by all this, but... I mean, yeah, he was involved in some really sinister shit (that killed at least 1 friend) and literally participated in an exorcism... I felt like there could've just been a different choice at the end to add some more impact there rather than "ahh, regular life doesn't suck so much!" That said, awkward teen cougar-hunting Jared was pretty friggin' hilarious. Especially as a means of kicking off the episode 😂 but yeah, I think we're ultimately in agreement - it's an episode with some neat ideas & fun gags, but... not one I'd return to on its own. Either way, though, I think your humble opinion is in very good company :) REALLY excited for what's to come!!!

thereelrejects

Oh yeah haha, you run for that long you're gonna get a ton of "that-guys" and character actors cycling through. Funny enough, I was trying to place where I knew Sarah Drew (Nora) from as well and it finally hit me she was also on Mad Men!! Quite the filmography she's got going haha.

Toasted Toad

Yes. Jared should have played Gary in Sam’s body, and the other actor should have played Sam in Gary’s body. It would have let them throw in more physical comedy gags for one thing.

Vel

TT - I can't say for certain why, but many of my sources and fandom friends claimed it had to do with being too edgy of a concept for the network at the time. It could have given the wrong impression...lol. And I have to agree that the possibility exists, especially when considering the message this episode was trying to convey. It would have been simpler and much more cohesive to swap S&D if the point was to reveal what they both wanted out of life if they were able to choose.

Toasted Toad

Weird. That’s their idea of an edgy concept? Only in their horrible little minds😃! Well, onwards and upwards.