‘Supernatural’s’ geeky red head Charlie returns to help the boys in this week’s helping as past, present, and Oz collide as the trio is caught up in the reality that is the Wicked Witch of the West.

1935: Haggerty and Jenkins meet for the first time at the start of their watch over the Men of Letters (MoL) bunker. The younger Jenkins is excited, looks forward to the adventure his time will bring though, after 6 months, has been underwhelmed by boredom. They receive a call from Dorothy (“Frank’s daughter”) and she arrives, asking the gentlemen about who’s going to help her kill the wicked witch.

Fast forward to the present with Sam giving the silent treatment to Crowley until the latter gives up more of his brethren and Dean’s return from dropping off Kevin in Branson, a much needed break from the prophet. Kevin’s not the only one that needs a respite; Dean suggests the brothers do the same, complete with a ‘Game of Thrones’ Season One marathon. Sam has a bit of good news as it relates to Cas. Based on Kevin’s experience, the MoL sirens went haywire when the angels fell,  so wouldn’t it make sense, after a bit of tweaking here and there, for the computers to actively track angels? Dean’s all for the idea as the guilt at keeping things from Sam and sending his best friend away have to be kicking his insides around. They visit the control room and dig around the guts of the primary computer (where Dean unknowingly knocks down a hidden jar filled with a viscous fluid). Understanding they are out of their league, the Winchesters call in their geek-du-jour…Charlie.

They trio find something they weren’t expecting

Our bad ass LARPer has been doing her thing in the LARP community and a bit of solo hunting as well. Charlie works her magic, downloading all the MoL files to the Windows Surface (product placement at its finest). They have to wait for the full conversion so it’s time to take a breather bonding over ‘Game of Thrones’. Sam asks Charlie about her earlier words on hunting not being “magical”. She replies that she’s all about saving lives but wants more. “I grew up on Tolkien, man,” she says to Sam, “…where’s my quest?” Oh, she’ll be getting one soon enough as, through flashbacks, we see the Wicked Witch escape custody, taking over Jenkins (forcing Haggerty to kill him) before racing after Dorothy. On the flipside, Charlie and the boys check on the computer download and find a cocoon-like shell plastered to the wall. When they cut it open, they find a disoriented but feisty Dorothy. She tells them about the binding spell she performed to trap the witch, one that linked their souls together. Of course, now that she’s awake, the witch must be as well. Speaking of, the tongue-less avatar of evil stumbles upon Crowley who’s quite a fan of her work.

Back in the lab, Dorothy tells the gang that the witch can’t be killed. Sam and Dean go to search the bunker while Dorothy stays with Charlie to search for something to slow the wicked bitch down. Charlie’s fire and brains overwhelms the all-action Dorothy a bit, especially when she tells Dorothy that Haggerty never gave up on finding her and, through his research found that poppies (from the fields of Oz) can hurt the witch. Sam and Dean pay Crowley a visit who, after getting some stretch time, tells them he directed the witch to the kitchen in search of the Key she asked him about. The quartet meet up in the kitchen where Charlie distributes the four poppy bullets she made in the armory. When Dorothy finds out that the witch is searching for the key, she explains how it will turn any door into a portal to Oz and allow the witch to return and destroy all the goodness there. When he sees a picture of it, Dean remembers it’s somewhere in his room. He and Charlie make their way there while Sam and Dorothy look to distract the witch. The two are almost kindred, never finding a true home before running into the wicked one. Dorothy misses her one shot and the witch transforms into green mist, traveling through the vents to Dean’s room where she steals the key and prepares to go Palpatine on Dean with some electric green lightning. Charlie jumps in front of the blast, taking one for the Dean. It gives him time to recover and he puts a slug in the witch’s chest.

It’s not looking good for our red head and when Sam comes barreling in, Dean calls forth Ezekial. The angel tells him that Charlie’s dead but Dean wants the angel to work his mojo. Zeke tells Dean that each use of his power further weakens him, forcing him to stay inside of Sam longer than either of them desires. He tells Dean he can help with the witch or save Charlie. It’s not much of a choice and Zeke brings Charlie back. The angel falls back, exhausted and a confused Sam is returned back into the driver’s seat. Leaving Dorothy with the recovering Charlie, he and Dean go off to find the witch with the two remaining poppy bullets. Sam asks Dean “who’s Zeke” but his brother brushes off the inquiry and changes the subject back to Sam’s inability to call the bunker home. It’s another pivotal moment between the two as they finally have a place to hang their hats. Speaking of a place to stay, Dorothy talks a bit about her father’s (L Frank Baum) motivations behind writing the books on Oz. She’s a bit less than flattered about the “revisionist history” given, though Charlie sets her straight telling her about the clues Baum littered throughout the book. One specific thing Charlie mentions sparks an idea in Dorothy’s mind and they head to the garage and find the ruby red slippers. Infused with magic from Oz, they believe it would be useful in stopping the witch.

Sam and Dean meet them in the garage but unbeknownst to the ladies, the brothers have been possessed by the witch. Through her conduits, she relishes in the thought of killing Dorothy and again spills her plan to bring her armies to ruin our world.

Possessed Winchesters ready to wreck havoc

Charlie escapes and Dorothy buys her a little time. As the witch triumphantly awaits her armies entry through the portal, Charlie makes use of those ruby slippers, granting the witch “death by heel”.

Sam pays a quick visit to Crowley, again wordlessly demanding he give up his intel on his demon-y agents. Charlie calls Dean out on bringing her back from the dead though lets it go. She demands answers at a future date. Dorothy asks if Charlie wants to accompany her to Oz to continue leading the rebellion. It’s the adventure Charlie’s been looking for and she accepts, traveling the Yellow Brick Road to the tune of AC/DC’s “For Those About to Rock”. Sad at watching his friend go, Dean asks Sam if she thinks Charlie will be back. As if accepting the bunker for what it is to them, Sam replies “Of course…there’s no place like home.”

Home Is Where Your Rump Rests…

  • A major theme of “Slumber Party” is finding the place you can call home. Dorothy is an adventurer who yearns for the open road while Sam has been living life as such for the last decade, but not by choice. Though Dean is at peace in calling the bunker home, Sam’s still afraid to go that far, expecting things to be forced back on the road again. It’s paralleled by Charlie searching for her own home in the form of a quest, that missing piece to make her life complete.
  • Game of Throne, Commodore 64 (a-dore), Tolkien, YA (young adult) novels, fanfic, Batman voice…this  eppie was chock full of pop culture references and a Stark reminder (see what I did there, GoT’ers?) that ‘Supernatural’ is one of the most cleverly written shows out there.