7.09 How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters

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S7ep08promostill.jpg
Title How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters
Episode # Season 7, Episode 9
First aired November 18, 2011
Directed by Guy Bee
Written by Ben Edlund
On IMDB How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters
Outline Sam, Dean and Bobby become actual hunters when they track a creature that has been attacking people in the woods. Meanwhile, the local Biggerson's special sandwich is making people crazy.
Monster Leviathans
Timeline
Location(s) Wharton State Forest, The Pine Barrens, New Jersey
Hammonton, New Jersey
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Synopsis

Something kills and eats a camper in the Wharton State Forest, and Dean, Sam and Bobby squat in an abandoned house while they investigate that and a number of missing persons reports. Dean complains about their living conditions over the last few weeks, but Bobby is insistent that they need to follow Frank Devereaux's advice and stay off the grid while the Leviathans are after them. Dean, though, is fed up and points out that the world is always on the verge of ending — maybe it wants to end. Bobby tells him not to think about it.

Sam's research uncovers conflicting reports about a creature dubbed the Jersey Devil hiding in the forest, so their first stop is to interview a park ranger. Chief Ranger Rick Evans meets them at a Biggerson's, and they question him about the state police's conclusion that a bear is behind the camper's death. As he eats a Turducken sandwich, he tells them that a bear wasn't behind it. Also, he and his assistant, Phil, have been finding partially-eaten animal remains in the woods for a while now. When Rick mentions that he hasn't seen or heard from Phil in a while, Sam asks Rick if Phil could be missing. Rick is strangely unconcerned — just says that he should probably report it and continues eating his sandwich.

Bobby arrives at Biggerson's from the morgue and tells Dean and Sam that the wounds on the camper's body don't seem to have been caused by a Leviathan, a werewolf, or a wendigo. They take a break for lunch, and Dean happily devours his Turducken sandwich as Sam fills Bobby in on what they learned from Ranger Rick. They decide that something weird is definitely going on and that they need to search the woods themselves. Before they go, their unaccountably aggressive waiter shouts at his manager and storms out.

Once in the woods, Bobby's hunting and tracking skills quickly lead them to Ranger Phil's mangled body hanging from a tree. They call Ranger Rick, who arrives at the scene after dark and again seems strangely calm and disconnected. He uses his radio to call for backup just before he's snatched by something fast-moving. Bobby, Dean, and Sam raise their weapons, but are too slow. Bobby urges them to turn off their flashlights and then closes his eyes to better hear the sounds the creature makes as it starts to eat Ranger Rick. Eyes still closed, he shoots his .30-30 rifle up into the trees... and hits his target.

What falls out of the tree is a thin man with a strange blue tint to his skin and clouded eyes. He appears to be dead from Bobby's single bullet, but once they get him back to their base of operations, he revives and jumps up to attack. They pump him full of bullets until he falls dead, and then Dean pulls a wallet out of his pants. According to his ID, he was once a 235 lb. man named Gerald Browder.

While Dean watches, Bobby and Sam perform an impromptu autopsy on Gerald's body and are disgusted by the procedure, which uncovers a strange blue-gray goo throughout his body, disturbing stomach contents, and an extremely swollen adrenal gland. Dean is unaffected, however, and insists on heading back to Biggerson's Restaurant for dinner, where he orders another Turducken sandwich. As Bobby and Sam research Gerald on Sam's laptop, Dean seems unconcerned. Instead, he's strangely intent on his sandwich. When Sam and Bobby look around the restaurant they realize that everyone else is just as focused on eating Turducken sandwiches, and Sam snatches Dean's so that they can leave to investigate what's left of it.

Back at the abandoned house, Dean is irritated that Sam and Bobby won't let him eat his sandwich. He says that he feels fine — great, even. For once, he's not upset about Castiel or the Leviathans because he just doesn't care anymore. Sam says that he sounds stoned, and Bobby points out that he's acting just like Ranger Rick and the rest of the dinner crowd at Biggerson's. They're still arguing when the half-eaten Turducken sandwich suddenly erupts with blue-gray goo.

While Dean sleeps off the effects of the goo, Sam and Bobby stake out the Biggerson's Restaurant. They see a nondescript truck drop off a shipment of meat and follow it back to an unmarked warehouse. Dean wakes up as they arrive, and they all watch as a car parks next to the truck. The Leviathan Edgar steps out, pulls a hooded figure out of the trunk, and forces him inside the warehouse.

The hooded figure is the Biggerson's waiter Brandon, and he has developed the same hyper-aggressive behavior as Gerald Browder. In the warehouse, Edgar greets the Leviathan Dr. Gaines and tells him that he needs to be more careful because the adverse reactions that some people, like Gerald and Brandon, have to his formula are drawing attention. Dr. Gaines seems optimistic about his experiments, even his failures, but Edgar warns him that Dick Roman is coming and that he needs to burn his "mistakes."

Bobby, Sam, and Dean are still watching the warehouse when Dick Roman shows up. Bobby and Sam instantly know who he is: a famous billionaire and one of the 35 most powerful men in America. Dean realizes that Crowley was talking about Dick Roman when he mentioned "hating Dick" during their last encounter, and Bobby points out that the Leviathans must have big plans if they're taking the identities of men like Dick Roman. Bobby gets out an advanced listening device and plans to find a higher vantage point to spy on the Leviathans from.

In the warehouse, Dr. Gaines shows Dick Roman the results of his experimentation. The food additive that he's introduced into the Turducken has a "near 100%" success rate. It makes humans crave more at the same time that it alters their DNA, slowing their metabolism and causing weight gain, as well as stunting emotional responses. Dick Roman is unimpressed, however, because the .03% of people who reacted negatively to the food additive have drawn media attention.

Dick and his assistant Susan lead Dr. Gaines up to an office, and Dick tells him that they're shutting his program down. Bobby, who has a high vantage point on a nearby building, listens in and watches through a pair of binoculars, horror-struck, as Dick forces Dr. Gaines to "bib" himself to atone for his mistakes. The ghastly ritual involves tying a lobster bib around Dr. Gaines' neck and then making him eat himself, starting with his right hand. Bobby starts to tell Dean and Sam what he's seeing, but a Leviathan finds him on the roof and knocks him unconscious.

Bobby is taken hostage by Dick Roman, and Dean and Sam are determined to rescue him. While Dick talks to Bobby, Dean and Sam burst into the warehouse and spray the four Leviathans, including Edgar, that they encounter with sodium borate. Dick hears their screams and leaves Bobby alone to go deal with them, one gun from a pair of dueling pistols tucked into the back of his pants.

The minute he's alone, Bobby starts going through the files on Dick's desk. He reviews them as he loads the second of the two dueling pistols, and something in the papers he reads gives him pause. He decides to take the papers with him and is just leaving Dick's office when Susan appears. He shoots her in the forehead and she stumbles back, giving him time to escape the room.

Meanwhile, Dean and Sam are still dealing with the Leviathans, and Dick has Sam cornered. Bobby appears and shoots Dick in the back, and then Dean pours the last of the sodium borate over him. They run out of the warehouse, Sam and Dean reaching the van first and pulling it up to the back door. Bobby finally runs out, but Dick is right behind him and fires his pistol at them as Bobby jumps into the van and they drive away.

Sam and Dean think that they've gotten away clean, but Sam sees Bobby's hat in the front seat and there's a bullet hole in it. Sam looks back, worried, and shouts Bobby's name. Dean echoes him.

Characters

Definitions

Music

None

Quotes

Dean: This is stupid. Our quality of life is crap. We've got Purgatory's least wanted everywhere and we're on our third "the world is screwed" issue in what, three years? And we've steered the bus away from the cliff twice already!

Sam: Someone's got to do it.

Dean: What if the bus wants to go over the cliff?
Dean: We'll make sure this is not just some backwoods crackhead who likes to roll glampers.

Bobby: What the hell's a glamper?
Dean: Sam?

Sam: A high-end camper. TV, A/C, Wifi. Back to nature — zero inconvenience.
Dean: Hey! Uh, Brandon. We grab a booth?

Brandon: Hey, uh, douchewad, a hostess will seat you. Do I look like a freakin' hostess?

Dean: Do you want to look like a hostess?
Brandon: Sidewinder soup and salad combo goes to Big Bird. TDK Slammer to Ken Doll. And a little Heart Smart for Creepy Uncle.
Dean: It's funny, I couldn't give two shakes of a rat's ass. Is that right? Do rats shake their asses or is it something else?
Dean: I think you pissed off my sandwich.
Sam: Okay, so whatever turned Gerry Browder into a Pumpkinhead... and is currently turning Dean into an idiot.

Dean: I'm right here. Right here.

Bobby: Is in the Turducken Slammer in Biggerson's.

Trivia & References

The episode title is a play on the famous self-help book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie first published in 1936.
Sam: Motel 6 just ain't leaving the light on anymore.
Motel 6 is a major chain of budget motels with more than 1,000 locations in the United States and Canada. Its tagline "We'll leave the light on for you" has been a part of its advertising campaign since 1988.
Dean: Of course, the sketch looks more like a Chewbacca head.
Chewbacca aka Chewie, is a Wookie who is friends with Han Solo in the Star Wars universe.
Bobby: Hey, we're going honest-to-goodness wilderness hunting. I haven't used my .30-30 in a while.

Dean: Okay, Davy Crockett. Well, safari's gonna have to wait 'til tomorrow, and after our suit-and-tie dance.

Davy Crockett was an American folk hero, soldier, and politician.
Ranger Evans: You can call me Rick. Ranger Rick.
Ranger Rick is a children’s nature magazine that is published by the National Wildlife Federation for 7–12-year-olds, as well as the title character of the magazine.
Ranger Evans: Tell you this, though: You gotta respect Mother Nature. You respect her, or she's gonna string you up, and she'll eat your ass right through the Gore-Tex.
Gore-Tex is a waterproof, breathable fabric membrane used in rainwear and other clothing.
Brandon: Sidewinder soup and salad combo goes to Big Bird. TDK Slammer to Ken Doll. And a little Heart Smart for Creepy Uncle.
Big Bird is a very tall, very yellow, avian character from Sesame Street. See Sam's Height for other references.
Ken is boyfriend to Barbie, known for his plastic good looks.
Dean: New Pepperjack Turducken Slammer. Limited Time Only.
A Turducken is a dish in which a chicken is stuffed inside a duck which is stuffed inside a turkey. Each bird is first boned, and then the entire thing is roasted.
Bobby: You don't shoot Bambi, jackass. You shoot Bambi's mother.
Bambi is a 1942 animated Disney movie about a young fawn called Bambi, whose mother is killed by hunters.
Bobby: Ranger called in his 10-20. His own'll find him.
In law enforcement ten-code, '10-20' means 'location'.
Dean: Maybe it's a LAP-band side effect.
A LAP-band — laparoscopic adjustable gastric band — is a device placed around the top of the stomach to decrease food consumption and treat obesity.
Sam and Bobby's zombie autopsy, in which they pull bizarre items from the creature's stomach, may be a reference to the famous shark autopsy in Jaws, where amongst other things, a license plate is found in the shark's stomach.
Bobby: I'm no Dr. Oz, but I think that's his adrenal glands.
Dr. Oz is an American T.V. presenter and physician.
Sam: Okay, so whatever turned Gerry Browder into a Pumpkinhead - and is currently turning Dean into an idiot.
Pumpkinhead is a vengeance demon which possesses a corpse dug up from a pumpkin patch in the 1988 horror movie of the same name.
Bobby: He's sleeping it off. Tryptophan coma.
Tryptophan coma is the nickname given to the sloth and sleepiness experienced by many after Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey is (falsely) believed to contain very high tryptophan levels and said to work as a sedative. This episode aired just before Thanksgiving 2011.
Bobby: Aren't you full up just playing Snuffleupagus with the Devil all the live-long?
Snuffleupagus is a woolly mammoth-like creature from Sesame Street. In the early years, only Big Bird could see him.
"All the live-long day" is a lyric from the American folk song I've Been Working on the Railroad.
Dean: No, Bobby, don't go all Sigmund Freud on me right now, okay? I just got drugged by a sandwich.
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist, most famously known as the father of psychoanalysis.
Bobby: Now, you get a case of the Anne Sextons, something's gonna come up behind you and rip your fool head off.
Anne Sexton was a poet known for writing about her emotional issues and distress. She committed suicide in 1967.
Famous people Dick Roman is pictured with in his news feature The Rise of Dick include: then Vice President Joe Biden, Prince Harry, then Chinese Ambassador to the United States Zhang Yesui, then United States Navy admiral Michael Mullen, then U.S. secretary of defense Robert Gates, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton
Bobby: Now I have officially seen it all.

Sam: Bobby, what is it?
Bobby: He's making the doctor eat himself.

This may be a reference to the following line from Team America: World Police:

Gary Johnston: OK, a limousine that can fly. Now I have seen everything.
Spottswoode: Really? Have you seen a man eat his own head?
Gary Johnston: No.

Spottswoode: So then, you haven't seen everything.
The van carrying industrial cleaners has the company name 'Acme'. This is the fictional corporation featured mainly on Looney Tunes cartoons (namely Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote animated shorts). It is also used as a generic title in cartoons, shows, and movies made by Warner Bros.
Dick: You're like a planet of just the cutest little engines that could.
A reference to The Little Engine That Could the American folktale, children's books, and films used to teach children the values of optimism and hard work.
Supernatural itself has been referred to multiple times as 'The Little Show That Could'.
Dick: Sam, that is not how we communicate from a place of yes.
A reference to the self-help book A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life by American T.V. personality Bethenny Frankel.

Minutiae

Bob Singer did the voice-over on the Nature Sounds: The Sounds of Nature recording.source
The author of second article on Jersey Devils that Sam shows to Bobby has the name 'Dr. Kara Schwandt Phd'. Kara Schwandt was the set decoration office coordinator from 2005–2014. The author of the article entitled, Camping High Season Harshed by Human Burrito has the name 'Karolina Safar'. Karolina Safar worked in the props department from 2009–2020.
The beer Dean drinks is called MargieKugel Beer. Made by the art department, it is named after Jerry Wanek's mother combined with local Wisconsin beer Linenkugel.source
Goof: According to Sam, Mitchell Rayburn's wife is missing, but she's quoted in the Camping High Season Harshed by Human Burrito newspaper article as saying: "I'll never get over it. We were so excited to camp in the outdoors together, enjoying nature. And then nature ate my husband."
In the script for this episode, the term that was used for the Turducken Slammer victims was "mottled wretch."source
To introduce Sam and Dean to Dick Roman, Bobby shows the boys a news feature titled The Rise of Dick Watch it here.
Olivia Cheng who played the Leviathan Susan used the Supernatural Wiki to research the role:
"Thanks for starting page for me on @SuperWiki, that's what I browsed to research #Supernatural before shooting"
"I caught up on #Supernatural through your contributions, I didn't know what a Leviathan was when cast."source
The first two folders that Bobby takes out of Dick Roman's briefcase are labeled "NRA Speech" and "TED Conference."
The red points on the map on Roman's desk appear to be marking somewhere in Wisconsin and Ohio. See Bobby's Numbers for more information.
The hat Bobby was wearing when he was shot had not appeared in any previous episode. See Bobby's Hats.
Live tweets from Jim Michaels during airing.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

Promotion

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