 So essentially a horror version of the parent trap, but with demons. That's a hot mug, guys. Hey guys, this is my review for Swap Me. This is the 12th episode of Supernatural Season 5. And if I were to take a guess, this is the last episode that doesn't actually matter to the story. This is the last filler episode of this season. Really, all Season 5 is going to come down to is three filler episodes? Four? Maybe? Well, I don't know if you could even count the curious case of Dean Winchester as one. Maybe Sam interrupted it as another, but really, I would say that Fallen Idols and this one are the most obvious filler episodes of this season. It's the last one that really doesn't matter. You know how long it's been since there was ever a significant amount of episodes that mattered to the story in a row? I think the last time we ever had that was Season 11 in terms of I'm just like talking about Supernatural in recent years, because 12, 13, 14, and certainly 15 did not have anywhere close to that many episodes in a row that mattered to the story. Anyways, on to this episode itself. The episode actually starts off with Sam acting very strange, very weird, and turns out he's actually being controlled by like a weird high school boy flashback a little bit earlier in the episode where they come to this town and Sam gets darted and he wakes up and he's actually had a full on kind of parent trap swap or Freaky Friday really. This kid has taken over Sam Winchester because apparently because his dad has talked to him about the plan that made him get into satanic rituals, which then had him find out that the demons were after Sam and they then got Sam. But instead of actually following through on the deal, he just likes being in control of Sam for that amount of time. I feel like the idea of the joke of this episode with Sam acting like a kid because I do like how they only rarely ever show who's actually in control more so they're just putting the character in that body. They're not really showing who's actually being controlled. It's just the character there to impose. Well, we know, but the obviously the characters in the world do not. Realistically, it's like a hot tub time machine. I can't believe I'm making that reference. We see the kid acting in Sam's body, but we still see him being represented. And then we see Sam acting in the kid's body, but we still see Sam being represented. So Sam's wearing all these teenager clothes and it's fun. I think that joke kind of gets dead a little bit quickly, but there are some positive notes in this episode. They have a fantastic use of a Bob Seeger song in this episode. They actually have a Grey's Anatomy alumni in this episode. They have Sarah Drew who kind of first is a little bit of a timid character. But then when she gets possessed by the demon, she is great. She is so good as the demon in this episode. Whole character just changes and she takes on this demon persona very, very well. And I can definitely see why her and the local man hook up. And just why their story is just so riveting and grace. It's a guilty pleasure. Okay. Admittedly, the kind of overall feel with the entire season is very weak. There is a ghost that you might as well forget that they're after even though they have a funny means of taking it out. The demon bit is interesting, but it's very, very short lived. And I kind of feel that that's the overall themes of this whole episode. The whole idea of the kid wanting to rebel against his parents because the plan like that is so short lived, there's nothing there to really establish anything. Mainly my fear is that they were worried about kind of treading over the same story aspect that they did with bugs, which I know people don't like bugs. But the relationship between the kid and the father and Sam's input on it was the best part of that episode and they didn't even want to try it in this one. So they are missing that element. In general, this actually isn't that great of an episode. The humor is kind of a little dry here and there. The places that they shoot are interesting. That's Steve Stenharber that's actually in Richmond that's been used a lot for a lot of different projects. I actually shot a few Christmas movies there shoveling snow and whatnot. But I fear that the more I talk about this episode, the less I'm liking it. I realize when I got to this episode, right when I saw the title, I'm like, I know this is not going to be a positive episode. We are actually, ladies and gentlemen, going to get our first negative and most likely the only negative number of this season because swap meat is a three out of seven for me. It's just not good. It's kind of dull. The idea is cool. But again, all these small ideas put together are so half asked that you don't feel any sort of connection to anything. And it's just a rot in the road, which is thankfully white clean after we get into the next episode. The next episode is great. But realistically, this just doesn't have much appeal to it. It doesn't have much flavor. It's just if there is one episode that you could go through this entire season and skip it's this one, even though they had a chance of making this matter. And they even make references to the idea that Oh, the demons after Sam because are after Dean really because hey, he's supposed to be the vessel and blah, blah, blah. That doesn't even matter really. There's so little importance to this episode fallen idols. The goddamn Paris Hilton episode matters more to this season than this one does. For all of you who've already seen the season, you know that you're waiting for the next one because I'm waiting for the next one. It's actually one that I kind of remember, but kind of don't the same time, which speaking of which, though, before we get to that, I asked you guys to give me your guys comments about this episode. So let's read those off now. I do like this episode always makes me laugh when Sam is in the body of a kid with a family. The demon showing up was very cool. The kid's reaction when she says, do you want me to come and meet my boss? I just need you to say one word was very well done. Decent filler episode, comedy-ish episode. Like I said, there are some decent elements in here, but so many of them are not realized. Honestly, the reason why this episode isn't as bad is because of her performance. She really sells this episode. Right on, Jeremy. Bob Sieger plays right at the end, and this is the last lighter episode of the season with about the dark tone of almost every other season five episode. Lots of great humor, but I especially love Sam's frustrated lines while exploring Gary's life. Ugh, virgin, frustrated virgin. Then to Gary's mom calling him for breakfast in the most infeminate voice, I'll be right there. Just enough horror to raise the stakes. The plot to kill Sam, demon ripping out the kid's guts is sick even when you know it's coming in that tense scene where she wails on Dean. Smart way to beat her, having Dean and Grace recite the exorcism line side by side. Very well directed scene. Actually, I'll give you that. That was a pretty decent one, even if this kid just kind of like, you know, we get he's smart, but immediately that part was a bit like, oh okay, he just for some reason recited this whole stuff. It's strange to see Sam say at one point that the idea of going to school having a family isn't him anymore, but you can see at the end that he appreciates the beauty of that average life more than ever. Something that we all often take for granted, the blessing of normalcy, a peaceful daily routine not having to fight for survival or run and hide. I understand the body switch was impossible to anticipate, but what did Dean think was going on? He shrugged off a lot of weird behavior from Sam, or is it just me? I would give it a 5 out of 7. It's a good time. You're admittedly a lot more generous with this episode than I am, but yeah, like that bit where Sam is acting very, very, very weird and Dean just kind of shrugs it off. But yeah, in terms of Sam going back to normalcy not wanting to, it's kind of odd that he does say that. I think it's more so he's, at the beginning of this episode he's almost completely gone away from it. There is that aspect of his rage, but at the end he does kind of reminisce on what he used to think he was going to have. Such a dumb episode concept, but for some reason it's a guilty pleasure for me. I love making fun of it for all the continuity errors that were very obvious. I'm actually kind of curious if you want to continue this comment, please add what was some continuity errors. I found this episode pretty lame. There's some funny moments like Sam slash Gary telling the woman at the bar that he would love to have sex with her, and Sam being referred to as Sasquatch to name a few. I feel like the CGI effect of the burning ghost when Sam slash Gary kills it, but those things still weren't enough to carry this episode for me. It's a filler episode. The only connection this episode shares with the main storyline of the season 5 is that the demons now have a bounty on Dean because he's the vessel of Michael. Here is my question, why? Even if someone is successful at killing Dean, which we later see in Dark Side of the Moon episode, so what? Michael and the other angels will just bring him back to life again. Are the demons not aware of this? The body swap isn't a bad concept, but it doesn't work when you have a character like Gary who swapped bodies with Sam. He sucks. Why is Dean such a moron in this episode? He gets so many hints that obviously something is wrong with Sam, but it takes him forever to notice that. This is without a doubt the worst episode of season 5 for me, and the only one bad one in my opinion. Admittedly, I think the idea of having a bounty on Sam they had to throw that in to kind of make some sort of stakes to this episode because, yeah, what four episodes from now, what you just said is about to become kind of true in terms of that these guys can't die. Swat Meat was really a fun episode, but also rather agitating. I thought the jokes when they were done right landed rather well, but the episode tends to lean on the humor more than it should have. The overall story was paced well with the exception of a few places where it dragged just a little bit too long again for comedy. The teenage angst in the episode was a little bit too cliche, minus the demon summoning scene which I just felt awkward and overall cringy. I actually attribute this episode as one of the first and a long issue of leaning on humor in non-story episodes, but that's just my take. All in all, it was a solid episode four to seven. Admittedly, a lot of filler episodes, especially after this season, even before too, were very humor-reliant. Technically, when Hell House came out in season one, they found that you could make the humor elements into the show and definitely humor became more of a thing. Upon reviewing the episode a second time, I noticed there were a lot more issues with the story and the dialogue choices that felt bad or forced, the way that different interactions felt awkwardly timed left a lot of dead air between some lines. The biggest missed opportunity on this show for me is that we never got an episode where Sam and Dean switch bodies, so for this episode to be a witch teenager switching the body with Sam is in retrospect makes me think that this is how teens like me who are watching this show get a peek of what it's like to be Sam and Dean in everyday life. I really love how Sam is wearing the adult size kid clothes and how Gary is wearing Sam's clothes. It's also refreshing to see how Dean really pays attention on how he realizes Sam is not Sam. Overall, it is interesting how Lucifer and demons are trying to coerce children to kidnap or to capture Sam while the angels are utilizing church leaders of various Christian faiths to find Dean. I got a good laugh for Sam admitting to Dean that he lied to Gary about talking about how much he envies his life. This is my number one least favorite episode of the season. Again, it's not a bad episode. It's just not, it just doesn't fit in with the epicness of the Judah Christian apocalypse for me. Yep, pretty much. It's like, again, in comparison to what we got, especially in the last five seasons, this one's not bad. It's just definitely very low in caliber in comparison to the rest of the season. Good way to describe this episode is that it is funny, but it also has a lot wrong with it. This episode starts off normal, then it quickly changes to a body swap episode. Once Sam and Gary switch bodies, the biggest issue I have with this episode comes, and that is the writing of Dean and Gary. I don't think the writers handled Gary and Sam's body well. I didn't like that Gary was dropping hint after hint after hint that he wasn't Sam and Dean just keeps going along with it. Also, the writers failed to give Dean much to do except reacting to fake Sam's abnormal behavior and somewhat insulting to the eldest Winchester to have him spend as much time as he did with fake Sam and not notice right off the bat something was wrong. The minute Sam was eating cheeseburgers and talking about Master Chief, when do the brothers have time to play video games anyways, Dean should have been cutting him with a silver to check for shapeshifters or something. It frustrated me that it took him so long to know that there was something wrong with his brother. In any other scenario, Dean would have tested Sam with holy water the first time something was off. This episode is not bad. I do like what they did with Sam and Gary's body. I do like that the episode played in various themes regarding Sam's character, and also like that it continued the Sam saying yes to Lucifer plotline, but it also brought another big issue I have with this episode. I don't like the idea that anyone inhabiting Sam's body can say yes to Lucifer. It should be Sam only. Otherwise, demons can get someone else to inhabit his body and just get him to say yes that way. 2 out of 7 episodes in my opinion is the worst episode of season 5. Funny enough that you actually mentioned someone being able to control Sam to have him say yes to Lucifer. Technically, they do have the anti-possession tattoo on them, but you do make a good point with that. It's kind of odd that they didn't further exploit that idea. Yeah, this is the third and final bad episode of the season for me. Honestly, nothing works about it, even the humor. Thankfully, like I said, there are no more bad episodes after that. You and me both, sir. I am very much looking forward to talking about the next several episodes with you guys. There is one more disappointing episode. It's not a bad episode, but there is a disappointing episode to be had, but it's not for a few more after this. Okay, that's it. Alright, thank you guys for your comments, and now we have episode 13. The song remains the same. I definitely want you guys' comments about this episode, because this is essentially a Terminator episode. Anyways, give me guys' thoughts about that, and I'll read those in the next review. Otherwise, guys, thank you for watching. Hope you enjoyed this review. If you did, leave a like, and if you're interested in more subscribe. And until then, I'll see you guys next week. Thanks for watching the video. My name is Knitz, and you might remember me from the animated cult classic TV show Undergrads. It's been a while, but I'm happy to say the click is finally getting back together in an all-new movie thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign. But we are still asking for your support. To see any and all updates about the upcoming Undergrads movie, be sure to check out and like the Bring Back Undergrads Facebook page. And with any luck, we'll see you guys soon.