Supernatural is filmed in front a live studio audience.. and here is my review

If Supernatural is filmed in front of a live studio full of fan girls and boys, I think the world would be a better place. Seriously.

I lost count how many times I mentioned 'I'm watching Monster at the End of the Book' on Twitter. Changing Channels is now my 'Monster at the End of the Book' of season 5. I'd rather die than to single out an episode and call it my favorite because season 5 have been beyond great and amazing. But if I have to pick one (or two) episode, The End and now Changing Channels are so far my favorite episodes of this season.

How often do you see a television show make fun of themselves, their fans and other shows? SG1: 'Wormhole Extreme' is probably the closest to this.

Changing Channels has a hilarious beginning, the opening song/ credit alone is Oscar worthy. This episode looks like a filler episode from the surface, but boy was I wrong? Who would have thought the Trickster (Richard Speight Jr) is part of the mythology of the story. Who would have thought the Trickster is the Archangel Gabriel?!

This episode was jam-packed full of goodies - where do I begin? By the end of the episode, I was like.. WTF?! Eric Kripke & co are the evil geniuses. What a group of weirdo writers.. and this is a great thing! The angel/ demon stuff in other movies or TV shows are always very cliche. But in Supernatural, there is no such thing as cliche. This.. this is magnificent! If you are not watching Supernatural, what's wrong with you?

The majority of the episode was a mash-up of prime time television shows, some of them also shared the same timeslot with Supernatural on Thursday night in the USA. I admire the attention to details that were written into the mash-up, kudos to writer Jeremy Carver. And by 'details', I mean Carver actually wrote a television commercial as part of the episode. If you have genital herpes, listen to Sam.. go get yourself a pack of Herpexia.

And now.. back to the review...

WAIT let's play Nut Cracker instead!

Pop quiz 1: what is Dean's favorite TV show? Dr Sexy MD. Seriously!

Eat it Grey's Anatomy! Meet closet fan, Dean Winchester who knew everything about his favorite TV show Dr Sexy MD, from every character to Dr Sexy's shoes. Seriously Doctor! They even poked fun at Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character who returned to Grey's as a ghost. I was half expecting a guest star appearance by JDM. But that would be the day I win the lotto.

A bonus trivia for SG1 fans: The guy who played Dr Sexy was Camulus (Steve Bacic) from SG1. O'Neill called him Cammy.

Pop quiz 2: what genre does Dean hate the most? Procedural cop shows!

There are 300 of them and they all look the same. That is exactly what I always say! No disrespect to CSI, I like the original series, but seriously, I don't need any more CSI or NSIC or hospital shows.

Pop quiz 3: Can Dean speak Japanese? Dean no nihongo wa umai desu. Dean wa totemo kawaii desu \(^o^)/

You don't know why.. you know know how, but Dean does speak Japanese. This line alone is enough to drive all Japanese fans crazy and make Supernatural the number one TV show in Japan. They would love it so much there could be a Supernatural Convention in Japan in 2010.

The game show idea was so random! Sam oh poor Sam.. ouch I feel your pain and I am not even a guy! That scene actually looked like a Japanese game show, it looked so authentic! Hiro Kanagawa, the Game Show Host, was simply brilliant! I was expecting them to make this scene cheesy and cheap (from a production perspective) with an actor who isn't even a native Japanese. But the casting was simply brilliant! Kanagawa's mannerism was simply brilliant.

Pop quiz 4: Who doesn't Mr Trickster like? Pretty boy angel.
トリックスター先生はかわいい天使坊やなんかお好みじゃないよ!
(Thanks to my friend HazelGreenLuv for the Japanese lesson)

This episode looked like a filler episode from the surface. But boy was I wrong?! When I found out Misha Collins was going to be in this episode, I was like.. ok.. why? Because Castiel is tied to the mytho of the show. I couldn't tell why he was there.

Castiel said the Trickster was more powerful than it should be. At that moment, I actually thought perhaps the Trickster was God!

Pop quiz 5: Who is more awesome? KITT or The Impala?

Dean's Impala of course! BuddyTV has already named this Sampala! Another genius idea from Jeremy Carver! I think it's great to see Carver involved the Impala in the episode, because the Impala is a character on the show!

OK.. so back to the review... again..

Meet the Archangel Gabriel

Holy mother of all cows, seriously! The Trickster is the Archangel Gabriel. I did not see that coming AT ALL. I don't know about you, but the twist at the end of the episode was jaw-dropping awesome! Like Dean-is-Michael's-vessel jaw dropping; or Mary-Winchester-is-a-hunter jaw dropping; or Sam-is-drinking-demon-blood jaw-dropping or Lillith-is-the-final-seal jaw dropping or there-is-a-ghost-on-Grey's-Anatomy jaw dropping. You know what I'm saying?!

I want to know if it was the plan from the get go? Or did this brilliant idea just come to Jeremy Carver while he was eating pies or something? This twist is simply brilliant!

I expect the Archangel Michael to make an appearance soon. If Nick was a Plan B vessel for Lucifer, I think Michael must have a Plan B vessel too. If this is the case, who should play Michael? I still think Michael Shanks should fit in here somehow somewhere.

Richard Speight Jr. nailed the role. We have seen him play the Trickster and he is brilliant as the Trickster, a character much loved by fans. When the Trickster's secret was busted by Dean, Richard Speight Jr just switched from funny to serious. Awesome job!

It really is a show about families, isn't it? Gabriel feels sad to see his brothers fight against each other, that's why he left. Like Raphael, Gabriel just wants this war to be over. But I don't think this is the last time we see Gabriel. I think he will help the boys.

I notice that Dean sometimes would say something that changed the mind of another character. It's like it has to be Dean to say to Gabriel 'This is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family.' Just like Dean told Castiel in Lucifer Raising 'If there's anything worth dying for, this is it.'. So yeah, I hope Gabriel will be help.

Lastly, I wonder if there are any similarities between Dean's and Michael's personality. They are both big brothers and loyal to an absent father. What if other angels are putting pressure on Michael to take Dean as his vessel? But like Dean, Michael might not want to do this. Anyway, I am expecting Michael to make an appearance, I think he will use a Plan B vessel to appear in his dream or something.

Overall, this episode was simply brilliant. I think 5 out of 5 was just not enough! Your thoughts?

I know I haven't completed my review on The Curious Case of Dean Winchester. I've got to get my priority right!

Don't forget, I am calling for your Happy Supernatural Memories of 2009. Details here.