Supernatural fans got a fun-filled filler episode in “Time After Time”. While the episode was light on action and Leviathan references, the humorous dialogue didn’t skip a beat.
Here are some of our favorite moments in no particular order.
Cartoon Smut
Since Bobby (Jim Beaver) died, Dean (Jensen Ackles) has been obsessed with looking at news clips of Dick Roman (James Patrick Stuart) online. But, do you know one of Dean’s other obsessions? Sam (Jared Padalecki) does. Sam said to Dean that he hoped his big brother was watching “cartoon smut” and not torturing himself with more Dick Roman stalking.
Dean closed down his laptop, hiding the Roman images, and said, “It’s called anime and it’s an art form.”
Solving Problems the old Fashioned Way
How do you figure out where to sleep? You could fight it out. You could flip a coin. Or, you could play Paper, Rock, Scissors. Sam and Dean moved into a new house and played Paper, Rock, Scissors to decide on sleeping arrangements. Brute-force Dean lost when he chose rock and Sam chose the more subtle paper.
In frustration, Dean asked, “How does paper beat a rock?” Don’t worry, Dean. You’re not alone. I’ve often pondered that same life question.
Dean the Hacker
If you haven’t noticed yet, there was a lot of comedy surrounding Dean. In “Time After Time”, he tapped into the local camera feeds thanks to a little tutoring from Frank (Kevin McNally). Sam was in awe and asked Dean to show him how he did that. Just when Dean was starting to savor his new found “skill”, Sam took the computer from him. Dean responded with some gruff whining because Sam wouldn’t give him a little more time to enjoy it.
Meeting Elliot Ness (Nicholas Lea)
When Dean ends up in 1944, he is arrested for gun possession. Then, Ellit Ness shows up and Dean realizes that Ness is a hunter and that the two were tracking the same suspect across time. When Ness decides to partner with Dean, Dean says, “Does this mean that I’m an untouchable now?”
When it comes to pop culture references, it doesn’t get much funnier than that.
Idjit
Ness calls Dean a stiff. The moment was funny enough. However, he then brought Dean to see Ezra so that he can outfit him in more suitable clothes. Ezra calls him a “farmer clown”. Nice. Dean gets slapped with back-to-back jokes. After Dean wows Ezra and Ness with news that the president in his time is “a black guy”, Ezra calls him an Idjit.
Dean simply smiles at the comment, reminiscing about Bobby. As for myself, I’ve watched way too many time travel movies. So all I could wonder was whether or not the showrunners were setting us up to meet one of Bobby’s past relatives. I’m sure I was not the only sci-fi geek out there hoping that this would be a key moment where Dean would be able to alter the future and save Bobby. Coincidentally, later on Ezra kissed Dean. It was a moment that could have been the first Terminator. John Connor sends a soldier to the past to save his mom; soldier becomes Connor’s mom. Would Dean become Bobby’s daddy?
Nope. I just watch way too many sci-fi movies. Having said that, I’m sure the showrunners set up those scenes in that fashion so that sci-fi lovers like myself would “presume” just that.
Sheriff Mills (Kim Rhodes)
After Dean disappeared into the past, Sheriff Mills showed up in the present to help Sam out. She may not be Bobby, but Mills grew on me as a character during the first half of Season 7. When Sam was falling asleep, she told Sam to get rest. When he protested, she said, “Do I have to use my mom voice?”
It was a great moment and made me wonder if in Bobby’s absence, perhaps Mills would start to fill the void as the Winchester’s surrogate mother. She could never compare to the longevity of Bobby’s relationship with the boys, but it would be interesting to see Mills work her way into the group.
Nazi
Dean and Ness discover that they are hunting Chronos, the god of time. Veronica Mars fans raise your hands if you jumped when you saw Jason Dohring.
Dean and Ness discover that Chronos has been placing bets with a bookie named Lester Young. They decide to take in Young for questioning. Ness sets up a good cop, bad cop relationship, with Dean playing the role of bad cop and war vet in the fight against the Nazis.
Dean threatens Lester by saying, “Lester? That a GERMAN NAME?”
Ness’ Origin
Apparently, Ness went after Al Capone because Capone had the best liquor. He also didn’t become a hunter because of some traumatic life experience. Instead he started to hunt simply because vampires were turning people in Cleveland.
He then asked Dean, “Are all hunters as soft as you in the future? Hunting is the only clarity you’re going to find in this life.”
Back to the Future
Okay, so Dean literally pulls a Back to the Future III move by leaving a letter for Sam to find in the future. Going back to my Ezra point, you have to agree that the showrunners were falsely leading us to believe that they would somehow connect Ezra’s character with Bobby.
Leviathan Closing
After Sam stabs Chronos, the de-powered god says, “You want to know your future. I know your future. It’s covered in thick black ooze. It’s everywhere. They’re everywhere. Enjoy oblivion.”
Once again Dohring showed off how creepy he can be during intense scenes. If you watched him in Veronica Mars (in particular the first two seasons), you know exactly what I’m talking about.
What were your favorite moments from “Time After Time”? Which scene did you like the best?
