3.08 A Very Supernatural Christmas

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3-08 A Very Supernatural Christmas.jpg
Title A Very Supernatural Christmas
Episode # Season 3, Episode 8
First aired December 13, 2007
Directed by J. Miller Tobin
Written by Jeremy Carver
On IMDB A Very Supernatural Christmas
Outline As Christmas approaches, people are disappearing up their chimneys.
Monster Madge and Edward Carrigan
Timeline December 22nd - 25th, 2007
Location(s) Seattle, Washington (2006)
Broken Bow, Nebraska (1991)
Ypsilanti, Michigan
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Synopsis

Seattle, Washington - 2006
A man visits his grandson at Christmas. As he dresses as Santa, he hears a noise on the roof. As his grandson watches in horror, he is yanked up the chimney and his bloody boot drops into the fireplace.

Present Day
In the guise of FBI agents, Sam and Dean are in Ypsilanti, Michigan, visiting Mrs. Walsh, whose husband has disappeared. The only clue they find is a bloody tooth in the fireplace. Sam finds out he is the second man in the town to disappear and speculates that they may be dealing with an evil Santa, as there are many legends, such as that of Krampus, about a being who punishes the wicked at Christmas. The boys check out "Santa's Village" which both men visited before they disappeared. Dean says that he’d like to celebrate Christmas but Sam refuses.

Broken Bow, Nebraska - 1991
Young Sam and Dean are in a motel room, waiting for their father to return. Sam is wrapping a present for his Dad, which he got from Uncle Bobby, and is asking questions about John – what he does, where he goes. Dean brushes off the questions, but gets angry when Sam asks about their mother.

Present Day
At Santa's Village, Sam and Dean observe the man who is playing Father Christmas, who walks with a limp and smells of candy just like legend says the evil Santa does. That night the boys stake out the man’s trailer. Dean pushes Sam again, asking why he doesn’t want to celebrate Christmas. When they hear a scream from inside the trailer they enter, armed, but find a disheveled 'Santa' watching porn with a large bong and a bottle of liquor on hand. To cover their mistake, they pretend to be carolers and sing an out-of-tune, and poorly remembered, version of "Silent Night".

Elsewhere the same night, another man is taken, up the chimney, in a sack. When Sam and Dean investigate the next day, Sam notices the family has the same unusual wreath over the fireplace that he saw in the Walsh house.

Sam identifies the plant in the wreath as meadowsweet – an herb used in pagan rites to summon gods to a human sacrifice. Sam concludes they’re looking for the pagan god of the Winter Solstice, who grants clement weather. Back at the motel, Dean again suggests that they celebrate Christmas. When Sam asks why, given that he hasn't mentioned it for years, Dean admits that he wants to celebrate this year as it his last year. Sam responds that he can't celebrate for that very reason.

Broken Bow, Nebraska - 1991
Young Sam reveals to Dean that he has read John's Journal, and asks whether monsters are real. Dean reluctantly confirms that they are, but that their father is a hunter who kills them. Sam is upset and afraid that the monsters will come after them.

Present Day
The next day Sam and Dean visit Madge and Edward Carrigan, who appear to be the perfect suburban couple. Further research reveals that they were in Seattle the previous year when three men disappeared. Bobby advises them that, if they are indeed the pagan gods, spears made of evergreen wood will kill them.

The boys return to the Carrigan house. In the basement they find human remains and the latest victim, still in a sack. Madge and Edward attack them, knock them out, and take them captive. The boys wake up bound to chairs in the kitchen. The Carrigans confirm that they are pagan gods who, since the rise of Christianity, have been trying to blend into human society, taking only a few human victims each year. They start the ritual sacrifice, taking blood from Sam and Dean and pulling out one of Sam's fingernails. Just as they are about to extract one of Dean's teeth, they are interrupted by a neighbor at the front door, and when they return Sam and Dean have escaped. A fight ensues and the boys kill the Carrigans with stakes made from branches of a Christmas tree.

Broken Bow, Nebraska - 1991
Dean wakes Sam and explains that while he was sleeping, John returned and left a tree and presents. When Sam opens his presents – a Barbie and a sparkly baton – he challenges Dean, who admits he stole them from a house down the street. Sam wants to give Dean the present meant for his father. Dean at first refuses, but then accepts. It is the amulet that he wears to this day.

Present Day
Dean returns from buying beer to find that Sam has decorated the motel room with a tree (hung with air fresheners), and made eggnog. The boys exchange presents, all bought from the local gas station. Dean gives Sam porn magazines and shaving cream, and Sam gives Dean motor oil and a candy bar. Sam starts to say something, but is overcome with the emotion of the moment and instead suggests they watch a football game on TV.

Characters

Definitions

Music

  • "The Twelve Days of Christmas (Instrumental)"
plays at the beginning in the 'Seattle, Washington, one year ago' teaser
  • "All Because of Mr. Santa Claus" by Hal David & John Cacavas (Bruton Music)
plays when Sam and Dean first enter Santa's Village
  • "Jingle Bells"
plays during the first flashback scene
  • "Silent Night"
the...interpretive...version Sam and Dean sing when they pretend to be carolers
  • "Silent Night"
plays during the second attack, when the child witnesses his father being taken up the chimney
  • "Joy to the World (Instrumental)"
Dean and Sam question Mrs. Caldwell about her husband's disappearance
  • "Deck the Halls"
Dean and Sam question the shopkeeper about the wreaths
  • "Sleigh Ride (Instrumental)"
Dean and Sam ask Madge Carrigan about her wreaths
  • "O, Come, All Ye Faithful (Choral)"
Sam and Dean break into the Carrigan house
  • "O, Come, All Ye Faithful (Instrumental)"
plays when Dean and Sam are snooping around the Carrigan house
  • "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"
plays before the Pagan Gods torture Sam and Dean
  • "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Rosemary Clooney
plays at the end, when Sam gives Dean his Christmas

Quotes

Dean: What could you possibly say that sounds crazy to me?

Sam: Um... evil Santa.
Dean: ...Yeah, that’s crazy.

Sam: Yeah... I mean, I’m just saying that there’s some version of the anti-Claus in every culture. You got Belsnickel, Krampus, Black Peter. Whatever you want to call it, there’s all sorts of lore.
Dean: So, this is your theory, huh? Santa’s shady brother?

Sam: Well, ah – I’m just saying, that’s what the lore says.
Dean: Santa doesn’t have a brother. There is no Santa.

Sam: Yeah, I know. You’re the one who told me that in the first place, remember. Yeah, you know what, I could be wrong. I... gotta be wrong.
Young Sam: Why do we move around so much?

Young Dean: 'Cause everywhere we go, they get sick of your face.

Young Sam: I’m old enough, Dean. You can tell me the truth.
Sam: Um... lore says that the anti-Claus will walk with a limp and smell like sweets.
Dean: Great. So we’re looking for a pimp Santa. Why the sweets?
Elf: Uh, sorry. No kids over... 12.

Sam: No, he’s just kidding. We only came here to watch.
Elf: Eww.

Sam: I-I didn’t mean that we came here to w— y— thanks a lot, Dean. Thanks for that.
Dean: Christmas is Jesus’s birthday.

Sam: No, Jesus’s birthday was probably in the fall. It was actually the winter solstice festival that was co-opted by the Church and renamed 'Christmas.' But I mean, the Yule log, the tree, even Santa’s red suit – that’s all remnants of pagan worship.

Dean: How do you know that? What are you gonna tell me next? Easter bunny’s Jewish? So you think we’re gonna dealing with a pagan god?
Sam: Huh... When you sacrifice to Hold Nickar, guess what he gives you in return.

Dean: Lap dances, hopefully.
Sam: Mild weather.

Dean: Like no snow in the middle of December, in the middle of Michigan.
Young Dean: Well, the first thing you have to know is we have the coolest dad in the world. He’s a superhero.

Young Sam: He is?
Young Dean: Yeah. Monsters are real. Dad fights them. He’s fighting them right now.
Young Sam: But Dad said the monsters under my bed weren’t real.
Young Dean: That’s ’cause he had already checked under there. But yeah, they’re real. Almost everything’s real.
Young Sam: Is Santa real?

Young Dean: No.
Dean: You bitch!

Madge: Oh, my goodness me! Somebody owes a nickel to the swear jar. Oh, do you know what I say when I feel like swearing? Fudge.
Dean: I’ll try and remember that!
Edward: You boys have no idea how lucky you are. There was a time when kids came from miles around, just to be sitting where you are.
Sam: What do you think you’re doing with those?
Dean: You fudging touch me again and I’ll fudging kill you!

Madge: Very good!
Young Sam: Here, take this.

Young Dean: No. No, that’s for Dad.
Young Sam: Dad lied to me. I want you to have it.
Young Dean: You sure?
Young Sam: I’m sure.

Young Dean: Thank you, Sam. I–I love it.

Trivia & References

Right before we see Dean enter the motel when Sam is on his laptop, we see various illustrations of Krampus. These are from Christmas greeting cards known as Krampuskarten which have been popular in Central and Eastern Alpine countries of Europe since the 19th century. One of them has "Gruß vom Krampus" on it which is German for "Greetings from Krampus".
On the back of the motel door it says "The Thomas Kinkade Suite," and the painting on the wall is reminiscent of a Thomas Kinkade painting. This is a shout-out to Jared's role as Kinkade in The Christmas Cottage.
Dean: So, was I right? Is it the serial-killing chimney sweep?

Sam: Yep. It's, uh, it’s actually Dick Van Dyke.

Dick Van Dyke, an actor who played a singing and dancing chimney sweep in the Disney film Mary Poppins. Dean has no idea what Sam is talking about.
Sam: There's some version of the anti-Claus in every culture. You got Belsnickel, Krampus, Black Peter.
Belsnickel is the German "anti-Claus".
Krampus appears in the folklore of Austria, Bavaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Northern Italy, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
Black Peter is the Dutch companion of Santa Claus.
Dean: No, we’ll get a tree, a little Boston Market, just like when we were little.

Sam: Dean, those weren’t exactly Hallmark memories for me, you know.

Boston Market is a chain restaurant known for their rotisserie chicken.
"Hallmark" is a reference to Hallmark greeting cards.
Dean: All right, Grinch.
The Grinch was a Dr. Seuss character made famous in the book How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which was later adapted as an animated television special narrated by Boris Karloff (an actor known for his horror roles) and a film starring Jim Carrey.
The movie on TV in the first 1991 flashback is the 1974 stop motion animated Christmas television special The Year Without a Santa Claus, although the music overlaying the scene is changed from the original "Here Comes Santa Claus" to "Jingle Bells".
Dean: Tell me you didn't smell that. That was candy, man.

Sam: That was Ripple -- I think. Had to be.

Ripple is a cheap, strong, syrupy wine frequently referenced by Fred Sanford in the TV show Sanford and Son.
The picture on Sam's laptop when they're talking about Hold Nickar is a drawing of Oak King, a mythical figure associated with Midsummer and summer solstice in various cultures' folklore.
Sam: I mean, since when are you Bing Crosby all of a sudden? Why do you want Christmas so bad?
Bing Crosby was an American singer and actor, and one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century. The biggest hit song of Crosby's career was his recording of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas."
Dean: So what, Ozzie and Harriet are keeping a pagan god hidden underneath their plastic-covered couch?
"Ozzie and Harriet" is a reference to the perfect 1950s couple Ozzie and Harriet Nelson in the long-running TV series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
Edward Carrigan: Hardy Boys here make five.
The Hardy Boys is a series of juvenile criminal detection books, chronicling the fictional adventures of teenage brothers Frank and Joe Hardy.
Nearly all of the titles of the Supernatural recaps on TWOP jokingly refer to the Winchester brothers as the Hardy Boys. It is a running gag on the site for the same reasons it is used as a joke in this episode.
Dean: Well, you say it like that – I guess you guys are the Cunninghams.
The Cunninghams were major characters in the TV series Happy Days, which presented an idealized vision of life in the United States in the mid-1950s to mid-1960s.
In both the past and present, Sam wraps his gifts for Dean in the comics pages from a newspaper. The comic strip Dilbert is visible on the motor oil wrapping. Dean gives Sam his gifts in brown paper bags.
In the present day, Sam gives Dean motor oil and a Zagnut bar, and Dean gives Sam the skin mags Frolic & Backside as well as shaving cream. Both boys have purchased their presents at "The gas mart down the street."
The final scene of the episode closely resembles the ending scene of The X-Files episode "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas."

Minutiae

There was a special Christmas-themed title card for this episode.
Ridge Canipe, who plays young Dean in the flashbacks, also played young Dean in 1.18 Something Wicked.
The flashbacks take place in 1991. Sam is eight and Dean is twelve, and they are staying at a motel in Broken Bow, Nebraska.
Anachronism: Young Dean reads a 2007 edition of Hot Rod magazine.
The presents young Dean steals for Sam are a Sapphire Barbie and a sparkly, twirling baton with tassels.
Young Sam gives young Dean his amulet, originally intended for his father. Young Sam obtained the amulet from Uncle Bobby, who told him it was "real special."
Sam uses Little Trees disposable air fresheners and fishing floats as Christmas decorations on the Christmas tree he has placed in an empty paint can.
In a con panel discussion found here, Jared and Jensen talked about the fact that as a prank, Jared had heavily spiked the eggnog that Sam gives Dean, and that the face that Dean makes after his first sip is really Jensen's first reaction to the rum-laden holiday drink. His facial expression worked so well that they decided to keep it in the episode.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

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