Garth Returns, Werewolf Cults & the Myth of Fenrir

Garth is back. He killed a cow. And he got hit by a car. We have questions.

Sharp Teeth reunites the boys with everybody's favorite lanky hunter, who has been MIA for six months and has some explaining to do. Turns out Garth got bit on a hunt, fell in love with a born werewolf named Bess, and joined a peaceful werewolf congregation run by a very sincere reverend with a very suspicious wife. Berly and LA are charmed by Garth and Bess, deeply skeptical of the stepmother from the jump, and mildly concerned about Sam Winchester's brain after yet another knock to the head.

Meanwhile, Dean and Sam are technically working together but driving separate cars and absolutely not talking about their feelings. Progress.

The lore this week covers Fenrir, the Norse wolf so catastrophically large and dangerous that the gods had to trick him into being chained up using a magical ribbon and one god's hand as a bargaining chip. He is currently down there waiting. 

Drop a comment with your theories, and if you're enjoying the show, a review helps other fans find their way to the bunker. See you next week. 

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Sharp_Teeth 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenrir 
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fenrir 
• https://www.norsegarde.com/blogs/lore-and-mythology/unleashing-the-legend-exploring-fenrir-wolf-from-norse-mythology

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Cain, the First Blade & the Mark of Cain Explained

It's 1863, Confederate demons are terrified, and a man with a jawbone and a leather jacket just kicked in a door. That's our cold open, and we are already locked in.

Dean and Crowley hit the road together as the world's least likely hunting duo, tracking down the First Blade, the only weapon that can kill Abaddon. The trail leads them to a crotchety hunter named Tara (who shares way too much information about John Winchester) and eventually to a very charming beekeeper (who turns out to be the father of murder himself). Cain is retired, unbothered, and shucking corn while demons get their asses handed to them in the next room. Berly and LA are smitten, and they are not hiding it.

Back at the bunker, Sam and Castiel are working on extracting the last traces of Gadreel's grace, and somehow a peanut butter and jelly sandwich becomes the emotional thesis statement of the episode.

The lore this week covers the real biblical Cain: the first murder, the mark, the curse, and how the world's original problem child accidentally kickstarted urban civilization and the music industry. It tracks.

Drop a comment with your thoughts, and if you're enjoying the show, a review helps other fans find their way to the bunker. See you next week.

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/First_Born
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cain
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cain-biblical-figure
• https://www.gotquestions.org/Cain-in-the-Bible.html

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Crowley, Gadreel, & the Mark Begins

A hunter's funeral, a rock star in pleather pants, and Crowley finally getting out of the dungeon. That's just the first fifteen minutes.

Road Trip picks up right where the midseason finale left our broken little hearts. Dean is not okay. Sam still doesn't know what's been living inside him. And the only person with a plan to fix any of it is Crowley, which tells you everything about how bad things have gotten.

This week Berly and LA break down the road trip to Somerset, Metatron lurking in a bar for reasons that may or may not be strategic, a very handsome angel named Abner who makes some deeply unfortunate life choices, and the moment Sam finally gets the full picture of what Dean did. Also: Castiel's new trench coat gets a formal review, Crowley earns some genuine tenderness from two people who should know better, and Abaddon finds out the hard way that hell is not a dictatorship.

This week's lore digs into the real Aleister Crowley, the self-proclaimed Beast who founded his own religion, dabbled in occult secret societies, and inspired everyone from Neil Gaiman to Ozzy Osbourne. The reputation, as it turns out, is bigger than the man. Sound familiar?

Drop a comment with your theories, and if you're enjoying the show, a review helps other fans find their way to the bunker. See you next week!

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Road_Trip
• https://www.buzzsprout.com/2076426/episodes/13865259

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Mid-season bonus! We sat down with Jerry Wanek, production designer, later producer and director on Supernatural, and the guy behind basically every set you've ever paused the screen to stare at. 

We get into how a $35-a-day PA fetching Ronald McDonald's coffee ended up building the Men of Letters bunker, the real story behind that telescope, the Eric Kripke love-fest, a finally-answered fan debate about the dungeon devil's trap floor, the legend of "mud flap girls," the disco motel reveal that had the boys dancing on the beds, hidden sigils we never noticed, and one extremely chaotic Friday night involving Jared and a vintage Buick.

Jerry was generous, funny, and an absolute joy. Let us know which detail blew your mind most, and we'll be back soon with the second half of Season 9. Cheers! 🥂

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A biker gang and a glee club go into a bar... That's not a joke setup. It's just the cold open.

This week the angel turf war between Bartholomew and Malachi escalates fast, Castiel shows up with his FBI badge still very much in hand, and Metatron is lurking in alleyways because heaven is boring.

Meanwhile, the Gadreel situation is unraveling, and this midseason finale does not pull its punches. Berly and LA break down the big reveals, debate Metatron's jarring villain pivot, mourn a beloved character, and address the show's angel-power inconsistencies.

We close out with a mid-season check-in: too many factions, Abaddon still out there with a list of every hunter's name, Crowley in the basement probably judging everyone's choices, and Gabriel still nowhere to be found despite promises he's coming. Berly is keeping score.

The midseason finale came for our throats, and we were NOT prepared.

Drop a comment with your theories, and if you're enjoying the show, a review helps other fans find their way to the bunker. Jerk. Bitch.

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Holy_Terror
• https://www.biblword.net/why-did-the-cherubim-guard-the-garden-of-eden/
• https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Genesis%203%3A24
• https://redemptivebiblestudies.com/the-mysterious-cherubim-their-symbolism/

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Berly and LA dig into one of Season 9's most unexpectedly hilarious episodes, and yes, the title is exactly as suggestive as it sounds.

A string of disappearances leads the Winchesters to a church abstinence group, where Sam and Dean sign up as born-again virgins (for investigative purposes, obviously). Dean's group therapy monologue alone is worth the price of admission, and the ladies of the APU would agree. The monster of the week turns out to be a goddess with a thousand years of grudges, excellent taste in cardigans, and a very specific appetite.

Jody Mills is back and absolutely not here for anyone's nonsense. Sam's mysterious health situation gets harder to ignore. And Dean keeps almost telling the truth.

There's lore, there's gore, there's a fallout shelter, and there are some truly unfortunate fingernails. You'll know when you get there.

What did you think of this episode? Leave a comment, drop us a review wherever you listen, and come find us on Patreon. We'll see you next episode, jerk. (Bitch.)

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Rock_and_a_Hard_Place
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesta_(mythology)
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vesta-Roman-goddess
• https://mythopedia.com/topics/vesta/
• https://allthingsvesta.com/vesta-today

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Dean Winchester had a whole secret life, and Sam had absolutely no idea.

A call from the past drags the boys to Hurleyville, New York, where a ghost is terrorizing a home for troubled kids. Routine enough, except Dean spent two months at this exact farm as a teenager. He joined the wrestling team, got his first kiss, was going to go to the school dance... and then vanished without a trace. The story John told Sam? A complete lie.

The case itself delivers: a lawnmower, a housekeeper named Ruth with all the tea about the farm's murderous history (meat cleaver, corn liquor, jealous husband), and the ghost makeup in this episode is genuinely some of the best of the series.

But the heart of this one is Dean. The flashbacks hit hard, the feelings are very much not talked about, and by the end, Sam just says "thank you" while Dean pretends not to know what he means. Classic.

Also in this episode: can a person be literally haunted? The lore this week says yes, and it reframes everything you just watched.

🎙️ Leave us a review if you're enjoying the show! It genuinely helps more fans find us. And drop a comment: did Dean make the right call leaving Sonny's? We need to debate this immediately.

Find us on Instagram and BlueSky and come hang out in the fandom with us.

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Bad_Boys 
• https://hauntedoc.com/types-of-hauntings/
• https://blogs.bcm.edu/2018/10/26/why-do-people-see-ghosts/
• https://crimereads.com/how-haunting-is-a-perfect-metaphor-for-ptsd/
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9216229/

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Berly and LA are sipping a tweaked Nerdy Tavern's Dean's Pink Satin Panties cocktail (more cranberry juice, highly recommended) while covering an episode that is, fittingly, very pink. Someone is getting misted out there in Idaho, and it's not rain.

Cas has reinvented himself with a gas station job, a name tag, and what he thinks is a date. Dean has a case and absolutely no interest in 24 volumes of ancient languages research. Back at the bunker, Crowley has one phone call and a secret hobby that Sam really wasn't supposed to see. And roaming the streets of Rexford is an angel with a cross earring, good intentions, and a catastrophically loose definition of "mercy."

Berly also drops a surprisingly deep lore dive on the biblical Ephraim, son of Joseph (yes, the coat, the brothers, the Egypt), and traces exactly how a figure built around healing and humility ends up here, pink-misting a teenager outside a school bus.

It's a quieter episode with a lot of moving pieces, and the girls have thoughts on all of it, including Nora's bowling outfit choices and whether Misha Collins has an unusually flexible wrist.

💬 We want to hear from you! Drop your theories, your Cas feelings, or your best George Michael puns in the comments. And if you're enjoying this tipsy journey through the Supernatural universe, please leave us a review. It helps more people find the show, and we promise it's painless. Unlike certain angel encounters.

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Heaven_Can%27t_Wait
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephraim
• https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5793-ephraim
• https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/6984558/jewish/Who-Were-Ephraim-and-Menasseh.htm
• https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/143035/jewish/The-Story-of-Joseph-in-the-Bible.htm

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A taxidermist turns up dead in Enid, Oklahoma, folded the wrong way, and his specimens' organs are missing. The only witness? A German Shepherd named Colonel. The solution? A shaman spell, some truly unpleasant mystery liquid, and Dean Winchester becoming the world's most reluctant dog person.

This episode is cheesy chaos, and we are not complaining. Berly loses it completely at least twice, LA dives into the surprisingly insightful world of shamanism, and they both spiral into some genuinely relatable self-reflection about emotional digestion.

There's also a villain with incredible nails, a vegan bakery Dean treats like the mouth of hell, and a Leslie Jordan cameo that made us squeal.

Oh, and the boys are still carrying some heavy feelings about the whole Ezekiel situation... and it's starting to show.

💬 Did you ever think a Supernatural episode about talking to dogs would hit emotionally? Tell us we're not alone. Drop a comment or leave a review! Find us on Twitter and Instagram, and check out our Patreon for bonus content on Crapulence. 🍺

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Dog_Dean_Afternoon
• https://thepowerpath.com/articles-by-jose-stevens/new-article-jose-stevens-predator-prey-shamanic-understanding-eating-digesting-experiences/
• https://shamanamulets.com/unveiling-the-mystique-of-animal-parts-in-spiritual-and-magical-practice/
• https://www.voiehopis.com/en/post/shamanic-shapeshifting-animal-totem

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We're clicking our heels together three times and heading to Oz, baby, and it's not what you expected.

This week, Berly and LA dig into one of Season 9's most unexpected episodes: a full-on Wizard of Oz crossover that opens in black-and-white 1935 and goes completely off the rails from there. Dorothy Gale is real, she's a hunter, she's been trapped in a jar in the bunker for eighty years, and she has opinions about men. The Wicked Witch is also real, she's furious, and she is not going to let a little thing like being tongueless slow her down.

Charlie gets called in to help with a computer situation, ends up in the middle of all of it, and has what can only be described as a very big day. Dean's bedroom yields a crucial plot device. The bunker reveals a few surprises, including a garage (Baby is safe, everyone breathe), and Crowley, still chained up downstairs with his crayon, somehow manages to make himself useful.

LA also gets into the surprisingly rich real history of L. Frank Baum, and it genuinely makes the Supernatural version of him feel less far-fetched than it should. This one was a good time. LA called it as a favorite before the episode even finished.

Think fairy tale crossovers belong in Supernatural? Did you love this episode as much as LA did? Do you have theories about Ezekiel, strong opinions about those underwhelming ruby slippers, or a burning need to defend the slow-mo yellow brick road walk? Drop a comment and let us know... and if you're enjoying the show, please leave us a review! It genuinely helps us out and warms our little Winchester-loving hearts. 

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Slumber_Party
• https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/09/dissecting-the-real-wizard-of-oz.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_of_Oz_(character)
• https://wr.english.fsu.edu/College-Composition/Our-Own-Words-The-James-M.-McCrimmon-Award/Our-Own-Words-2005-2006-Edition/The-Wizard-of-Oz-More-Than-Just-a-Children-s-Story-by-Lauren-Houlberg

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