Denim-wrapped Nightmares, a Supernatural podcast

Dog Dean Afternoon (9x5)

Berly and LA, Supernatural podcast co-hosts Season 9 Episode 5

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0:00 | 39:57

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. 🍺

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Berly

Welcome to Denim Wrapped Nightmares, a tipsy exchange podcast, where we explore the supernatural series episode by episode.

LA

Over drinks, we'll discuss the lore, the gore, and what we adore about the Winchesters and their adventures.

Berly

I'm Burley, and I'm a new fan of the series.

LA

I'm Ellie, and I'm here along for the pride. Now let's get tipsy. Hello, Ellie. Hey Burley. Hi Burley. Hi. Hi. On the last episode, Sam and Dean realize the bunker's fancy light-up table has an ancient computer attached. And if they can get it running, they can track the fallen angels to help Cass. Can they? Well, you know. Obviously, they call Charlie the forever flawless Felicia Day. But while moving the computer, they knock loose a hex bag, unleashing a magical green web wall. They bust through it and find Dorothy from Oz, who had literally sealed herself and the wicked witch inside it for years to protect a key that opens the gate between our world and Oz. Wall's broken now through, witch is loose, and there's an absolutely unhinged magical brawl threatening to take down the entire bunker.

Berly

Not the bunker. Don't touch the bunker. Don't fuck with the bunker. No, no. I need it. I need it. I need it to be real. Right, right. Well, today's episode is called Dog Dean Afternoon. It's the fifth episode of season nine and originally aired on November 5th, 2013. The open episode off to a great start here. The episode opens up at a taxidermist office.

LA

I have to say, he did great work. He did amazing work. I mean, that when they he was looking close up at whatever that animal was, it was flawless.

Berly

I was trying to figure out like one was a squirrel. One was definitely a squirrel. But I don't think the one he was actively working on was a squirrel because of its teeth.

LA

Yeah.

Berly

His little teethies. But I was like, what is it? Like it wasn't a mouse. Like, what was that?

LA

I do not know, but it it looked pristine.

Berly

I mean, Sam clearly appreciated his work when he held up the little he was doing excellent work. And he seemed so kind. And like the colonel had nothing but good things to say about him.

LA

Right.

Berly

So sad. And what about my dogs?

LA

I'd be like, this lazy. This bitch.

Berly

I'd be like, we didn't see nothing.

LA

Yeah.

Berly

We aren't helping.

LA

She used to be really good, but something happened and she's just shit now.

Berly

Hang on, get this. He's the tax Max the Taxidermist.

LA

Oh, that's cute.

Berly

Max Alexander the taxidermist.

LA

Max will tax it for you.

Berly

Max will tax it for you. And he had a big game in there too. Hang on, hang on. I saw something earlier. I gotta, I gotta find it. Oh, first of all, this title was originally going to be doggy style.

LA

No. That was that would be too far.

Berly

No.

LA

I was already a little disturbed with the poodle action.

Berly

Right. The poodle thing. I was like, here's the here's the thing, right? Like, it just went on a little too long. Yeah. If they had shortened it, if that if they had just had him look at the dog and be like, oh, and then cut to Colonel being like, oh, and then Sam being like, guys, come on. That would have been fine. But it like showed the poodle and started playing like, uh, like paint porn music. I said, this is too much. You took it a little too far. You took it. I chuckled and then I found myself being like, okay, let's can we move it on? Like, we don't need the slow pan up and down of the poodle. Okay, but the cute thing that I was looking for, the taxidermy business run by Max Alexander is called Mounted Treasures. Uh-uh.

LA

Cute.

Berly

It made me think of when I said pocket treasures in that one episode and you lost it. Not only is Max Alexander an amazing taxidermist, but he's just creative all around. He came up with that beautiful title. He's locking up for the night. He's done with his Games of Thrones stuff that he's doing. And Colonel's acting a little cagey, and he's just like, calm down, it's fine. But then he hears weird noises too. And he's just like, oh.

LA

Did we address that Colonel as the dog?

Berly

Oh, Colonel is the dog.

LA

Okay.

Berly

That was a German German Shepherd, right?

LA

A beautiful German Shepherd, yes.

Berly

Okay. And he gets his gun and he turns the corner, and there's like one of his giant was it a bear with like a giant bear mounted? And he was like, God damn it, like every fucking time. So I thought that was cute. That it like startles him. This is something that scared him before. And then this dude in a cowboy hat shows up.

LA

For a split second, I was like, Matthew McConaughey? When his hat was still down and you just see like the leather jacket. I was like, wait a minute.

Berly

I mean, I knew it wasn't, but then when he was talking later in the episode with the accent, like he really did remind me of an actor, and I have not been able to think of his name. I have not even been able to think of the things that I've seen him in for some reason, and it's literally been driving me crazy. Well, you'll have to let me know if you figure it out. I will. Because I'll probably be thinking about this for days. Like the thing that's annoying me the most is that I literally can't think of a single thing that he's in, but he's been in so many things. Hmm. I'll have to look at him again. So he like does his tongue and it's like a snake tongue, and I was like, ooh. And then he like grabs him and it just goes to show the shadow. And I did not know what happened.

LA

It just looked like the I was like, what?

Berly

Well, I mean, we are we're told later that he constricted him to death, but just like it it just looked like he humped him really hard and well like folded him, folded him over. Folded him over, yeah, the wrong way. But the wrong way. Yeah. So I was like, that's not how you do that. And not that he that would have been the way to do it anyways, because consent, Max did not consent to getting been over, but certainly didn't consent to getting been over that way. No, but just it just seemed like he th thrusted. And I was like, what the fuck just happened? But that's apparently what happened. He constricted him to death.

LA

Yeah.

Berly

So you just gave him a real good squeeze, I guess. I guess so. Well, Sam and Dean are in the middle letters bunker. Dean convinces Sam that they should go check out this case. Human pretzel. I thought it was Sam convinced Dean. Oh, you're right. No, you're right. It was Sam because Dean was doing his whole Don't you shouldn't you be resting? You should be resting. Recovering. Yeah, you're still recovering. Take care of yourself. So you're right. It was the other way around. They show up to the taxidermist's office and they see that it says there's like some graffiti on the outside where it says dicecum die and the little symbol with the paw print on it. And they are talking with his buddy, Max's buddy, comes and meets him every Wednesday and Sunday. So he's the one who showed up there and found the body in the morning. And he comes there to pick up all the animal guts that Max removes from the animals before he does his mounted treasures. And there were no guts. Like the dude left the body, there were no guts. So that's like, ew, that's strange. Mm-hmm. That's weird. Well, he went back to his kitchen and organized all of it and labeled it in little drawers. Oh, that's true. Remember?

LA

Yeah.

Berly

I'm like, that would have that probably took a lot of work going through. Yeah. Gotta put them to better use. But yeah, I mean true. And here's my whole thing. Why didn't you kill Max's friend? That seemed like a stupid decision to me, Mr. Villain. Why? Because if he had killed Max's friend, then he could have told Max, Oh my god, I'm so sorry about your friend. But you know what? I can help you with those guts every Sunday and Wednesday.

LA

I mean, I think his friend probably would have still been suspicious after a while.

Berly

I'll come pick up those guts every then he would have. No, Max would Max would have been alive. I mean the friend who came and got the guts and disposed of them. Oh, I see what you're saying. Kill the friend and then take the friend's place and become besties with Max. Well, he did not. He did not. And I'm concerned that I did.

LA

What does that say? You're just more strategic, you know?

Berly

Well, anyway, so long story short, at the taxidermist office, they find out that the dog was there. The dog was there and saw everything. That's the important thing about that. Oh, and that the guts were gone. And so as they're leaving the taxidermist's office, they're just like, oh yeah, the sigil, the sigil with the paw print and the graffiti and the guts missing. Like, gotta be witchcraft. Gotta be witchcraft. Didn't see a hex bag anywhere, but that's what we're dealing with. So back at their motel, I didn't get a good look at the motel this time, but there was no partition wall. I haven't seen partition walls nearly as much. Yeah. But of course, they aren't in hotels as much because of the bunker. So you know, maybe that's just secondary now. Sam's researching the symbol and figures out that it actually belongs to an animal animal rights group in the area. They're in Enid, Oklahoma. It's called Snart. Showing no animal rough treatment. They go to meet with the founders of the group who own a vegan bakery. And Dean is not impressed by that.

LA

No. He said that's where he'd always knew he'd find the devil. In a vegan bakery.

Berly

And they look suspicious because he comes in and they have on not just sunglasses, but like massive sunglasses covering up a large portion of their face. So Dean's like, that sus because there's only two kinds of people who wear sunglasses indoors: blind people and douchebags. So I thought it was hilarious whenever they're interviewing them. And the woman was like, So we're walking around wearing sunglasses like a bunch of douchebags or something like that.

LA

Yeah.

Berly

And Dean like looks at Sam, like, see? Like, I knew it. Well, it turns out they did not kill Max. They were just trying to scare him a little bit because he works with hunters. Like, that's who keeps him in the business. And a lot of these hunters don't use the meat or anything. They hunt just for sport and fuck those guys for that. You know, they only measure themselves by the monsters they kill. And Dean kind of seemed like maybe he was taking some of what they had to say personally.

LA

Yeah.

Berly

Because they're sitting across from hunters.

LA

Oh, oh. Well, different kind, you know.

Berly

Well, long story short, they didn't even talk to Max because they got scared away from the property. They were like, we heard some fucking hissing, and then we turned the corner and somebody maced us. And they were like, What? And they took off their glasses and they are fucked. I was like, that looks like a horrible case of conjunctivitis. I know.

LA

I was like, the bad pink guy.

Berly

It was really bad. And it turns out it wasn't mace, y'all. It was venom. And they were like, what did Sam say it was like dying? Like the tissue around their face was dying.

LA

Yeah.

Berly

I was like, oh my God. I mean, thank God by the end of the episode, they looked like they had healed up, but shit, I bet that hurt. That sucked. Oh, and they were still working.

LA

And like around your eyes, it's so sensitive, that skin, you know? Yeah. So thin.

Berly

So they are just like, okay, so not a witch. This is weird. And then Sam was saying, I don't know what we're dealing with, dude, because usually a snake is going to constrict or have venom. It's not gonna do both. So what the fuck are we dealing with? And then Dean's just like, I don't know, make that Kevin's problem. Tell him to re do some research and figure out what we're dealing with. Well, at the animal shelter, not Matthew McConaughey, not that British actor that I cannot think of. Correct. Walks in and the dude behind the counter is like, Aren't you a little late? So that means that this has been an ongoing thing.

LA

Yeah, I don't like that.

Berly

Shame on you, right? Yeah. And he just slides him a hundred dollar bill, and the animal shelter guy is like, just go on back. So he goes in the back with his sack and he just starts throwing cats in the sack, except he eats one of the cats.

LA

Not cool.

Berly

That is not how you eat pussy. Okay. We do not applaud that uh strategy, sir. Okay.

LA

That was good.

Berly

Thank you. It took a lot of work for me to come up with that joke.

LA

If I wasn't so tired, I would have laughed.

Berly

Well, the guy at the desk hears that the animals are going fucking nuts because they're all trying to tell the dude that's not how you do it. That's not how you do it. We know that's not how you do it. Like, we don't know how much, but we know we know that. And so he's like, What the fuck? Why are the animals freaking out? And he opens the door and sees what's going on, is like, holy shit, dude, not cool. And I liked the nail effect. Did you see his fingernails? That was really cool.

LA

Beautiful guy.

Berly

Right? They looked stunning, and the effect of them like kind of growing out of his cuticle that was like black, but then at the tip it was like a little like more translucent a little bit. Yeah. I don't know what animal that was supposed to be because I wouldn't think that's snake, but that was fucking cool. Yeah.

LA

Okay, I'm glad you said that because when it happened, I was like, oh, those nails.

Berly

I rewound it. I was like, ooh, look at that. We're so easily impressed.

LA

That's your manicurist.

Berly

I like it. It was very cool. Yeah. But anyway, he totally kills Animal Shelter Dude. We get our 75th blood sploogge of the Supernatural series as he uses his claws to like slash them, and Animal Shelter Dude like splooges onto the little peekaboo window on the doors. I did not mourn him.

LA

No, you know. I didn't appreciate him allowing those things to happen. Me neither.

Berly

But we have another murder. So who's gonna show up on the scene? But Sam and Dean.

LA

The boys.

Berly

Mine rhymed. I know. Okay. You didn't acknowledge it. I'm sorry. How dare you? While they're there checking it out, Dean kind of figures out, oh my god, Colonel is here. Which means he's been in two different scenes. Maybe that's our our uh our Vic, not our Vic, Perp. Maybe that's our perp. Maybe he's he's our suspect. So he gets like a solid silver coin and reaches in and pets Colonel, and Colonel has no reaction. He doesn't give a fuck about the silver coin. So they're just like, okay, so no, not a shapeshifter or a skinwalker, and you know, no, so it's not Colonel. Well, then one of the officers walks in and his little sheriff's hat looks suspiciously like a cowboy hat, especially to a dog, and Colonel does not like it. He starts barking and barking away, but then the cow takes the hat off as he's addressing Sam and Dean, and Colonel chills out, and then when he puts the hat back on, Colonel starts freaking out again, and Dean notices that. So he's like, Can I borrow your hat really quickly? So he's like playing with the hat, and Colonel doesn't like it when it's on his head, but he's fine whenever the hat's not in the his periphery. So Dean figures out, okay, well, he might not be our suspect, but maybe he's a witness. So they adopt Colonel or just take him out, uh bother him for the or no, I guess they adopted him. They had to have adopted him, right? They wouldn't have been like at the shelter, oh yeah, he's a witness. Take him.

LA

I guess they could have said they were gonna foster him until they got he got adopted.

Berly

That seems that seems right. Yeah. Sam calls Kevin to be like, How do we talk to a dog? Like that's that's our only lead right now is that we need to be able to talk to this dog. And Kevin looks up a shaman spell. We don't know what the ingredients are, but apparently it was real nasty. I mean, there was dog hair in there. So whenever Dean shot it and drank it back, I was like, uh, like imagining swallowing a bunch of dog hair. Yeah. Mm-mm. Nope, nope. But Dean was like, I'll do it, I'll do it, because you you're going through so much. And Sam's like, what are you talking about? And it like took Dean a second to be like, uh, you're you're healing. And and you have a sensitive stomach, dude. Like, you don't want to throw all this up, right? Like, let's not waste the ingredients. Just give it to me. So he takes it, and at first nothing happens. We don't know how long it takes, but it takes long enough that they're about to call Kevin and be like, okay, that didn't work. What what can we do next? What can we try next? But right as that happens, the dog starts bitching about the song that's on the radio. And so Dean is like, What? And then they start arguing about sticks, and Sam is like, hey, like, can we get can we get to the point? And oh my god, the fetch thing, I died.

LA

Oh my god, me too.

Berly

I died.

LA

At first I was like, What is he doing? And then I was like, oh my god.

Berly

I died. I like had to pause the TV because I was laughing so fucking hard at that. And the best was when he was like, What are you doing? He was like, I don't know. I don't know. I'm trying to talk to the dog, okay? And then the mailman shows up, and the whole you, you, hey, you, hey.

LA

It was good.

Berly

That scene was hilarious. I loved it. Who voiced the dog? Do we know? I don't know who voiced Colonel, but I know who voiced one later. I heard that. Yeah, that one I which made me sad too. I know Al Rodrigo provided the voice for Colonel. I don't know who that is. Me either. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the the dog actor was Slater. Oh, okay. Anyway, that scene was fucking hilarious. It was. It was good. I got a kick out of it. But yeah, the fetch thing was my favorite. Especially because Sam's like throwing it and he like gets it and hands it back to him. Sam's like, I don't, I don't want this. What are you? It's trash, man. So Colonel does tell Dean that, yeah, it was a dude and a cowboy hat, and he don't know how to eat pussy right, and he killed my best friend, and I am livid. They also find out that the spell, because it's like a mind meld, that it doesn't mean that they're just gonna be able to speak each other's language and communicate with each other. It means that they're actually going to start taking on some of each other's traits too. So Sam was like, I think you're a dog, D. And Kev, they're like, Well, how long is it gonna last? And Kevin's like, I don't know. We don't get to hear Kevin say this, but that's what I imagined was just like true. I don't know.

LA

Well, and then he can also, he ends up even worse, like other animals. He hears them, not just the dog.

Berly

They have a universal language. I was like, damn, that would be handy. We don't even have that with just our species. And y'all have an interspecies of universal language, lucky. But yeah, speaking of that universal language, so Dean's able to hear a bird that really does not like him. Was it a pigeon? There was a pigeon, right? Yeah, that pigeon like intentionally shits on Dean's car, and they end up causing quite a bit of a scene in the parking lot. I liked Sam in this scene too. Like Dean, of course, was hilarious with his like anger and overreacting and pulling out his gun, but I liked Sam trying to be like, no, everything's fine. He's crazy. People in the parking lot leave us alone. And the way he looked walking around the car, I it it I found it funny. Back at the animal shelter, they go through and interrogate all the other animals just in case somebody got a better look at the guy in the cowboy hat because Colonel wasn't really able to tell him anything other than cowboy hat. And while they're there, a little Yorkie starts shouting out to them like I saw everything. And that voice, I just I immediately squealed. Oh Leslie Jordan, and he nailed his little roll. Oh yeah, it was so funny. And he's he was like, I'm gonna get something out of it. I want belly rubs. You give me belly rubs. And he was like, from the big one. Yeah, that one. The big one. So Sam gives him belly rubs, and he tells Dean that the guy had a bag. You know, not only do they have a universal language where they can just understand all other animals who aren't humans, but they also can read, apparently.

LA

Yeah.

Berly

And this dog can read French. Sophisticated. Mm-hmm. But the bag that he was putting all the cats in said Avanta Garde cuisine. Because I'm I'm good at French, right? I know what I'm saying. Avante Garde cuisine. I didn't do it better the second time, like I thought I would. I think it's fine. We're just gonna move on. So they start to leave, but then Dean pauses and he lets all the dogs out. Who let the dogs out? Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean. Who let the dogs out? Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean. And good thing he did. Because they came in handy later. They go to the restaurant, and Sam and Dean. Dean, sneak in. Colonel is not with them. He's just outside waiting. He's just hanging out. They go in, and then Sam is like, Oh my god, Dean, come this way. There's hideous wallpaper. And they're like, Oh my god, yeah, let's go this way where this hideous wallpaper is. That looks like it could be gift wrap, not wallpaper. Yeah. But it is wallpaper. They go into this kitchen and they're looking around, and Sam finds a shaman book. And it's just like, oh my god, this is probably what Kevin used to have our spell earlier. And it's like, nope, nope. This book is telling you which animal body parts to eat in order to gain certain traits. And then he finds all these note cards where like he's combining certain things to make certain things happen and all of this stuff. So like Sam's like, ew, fuck. This this sucks. And then Dean hears these little, hey, help, help. Hey, come and help us. Come and help us. Did you hear whenever they heard the guy come in and they were like, everybody quiet? And that one went, I'm as quiet as a mouse. Hee hee.

LA

No my god.

Berly

I chuckled. I thought it was so funny. Well, anyways, the mice are just like, yeah, like he's a total sick fuck. He's gonna eat us if you don't help us. But you know, turn around, look at the fridge, look at the fridge. And Dean does, and that's when we see like the pristinely organized animal organs, each in their own little jar or Tupperware thing with labels as to what animal it is, what organ it is, all that kind of stuff. And they're just like, oh shit. So then they go around the corner and there's some dude there cooking who's like, oh my god, who are y'all? And they're like, uh, health inspectors. We're here to inspect your shit. And he was like, Oh my god, we didn't have that scheduled. And they're like, Yeah, surprise. It's a surprise inspection. And then some other guy comes out of the restaurant area with a tray. Was that a shark fin?

LA

Oh, I don't know. I didn't mean it.

Berly

It was a fin, but it was very small because it fit on a tray that he was carrying on his hand. It was it looked like a shark fin. And I was like, that's illegal. Isn't that illegal? I think so, yeah. Ooh to all of you in that restaurant. Anyway, they tell the workers, like, y'all get out of here. Hit it, even though you clearly are participating in this illegal activity going on at this restaurant, and they go looking for the chef. Well, then they walk past the hideous wallpaper again, and then the hideous wallpaper has eyes because the chef was somehow able to make himself flat like the wall, on top of changing his skin color and clothing. Why wouldn't he naked up against that wallpaper? Just saying. After he like presented himself, he was like chameleon. And I'm like, but how'd you make yourself flat? Maybe it was just the illusion of it. He walked right past him, though. You would think that you would have noticed, like, why is the wallpaper sticking out really oddly there? I mean, yeah, but who knows? He attacks Sam with his beautiful nails right at the throat. Should have killed him. Yeah, the jugular. Right at the jugular. Plenty of blood came out there for a second, but it got healed very quickly. And so, of course, the chef is like, oh my god, yes, that is exactly what I've been looking for. That Ezekiel healed it. Well, we know Ezekiel healed it, but the chef doesn't know. Okay, well, we didn't say that. I don't know. The chef doesn't know that Ezekiel is up in there. And he's like, as he starts asking Sam, like, what are you? What are you? Which I have to like, Sam was very troubled by this at the end of the episode. And it made me feel so bad for him because that trauma from early seasons where he really did feel like a freak. He really did feel like something was wrong with him. And then he found out about the demon blood and the visions and the telekinesis, and oh, I'm meant to lead an army, and oh no, I'm meant to be Lucifer's vessel. Like, he he probably got triggered with a lot of stuff that he thought he'd moved on from. From somebody staring at him, being like, What are you? Like, poor baby. Yeah. That made me sad for him. Like, you could tell, like the facial expressions Dierod Padelecki was doing, you could tell that like this really bothered Sam. And then I also liked Dean's Epiphany, but I'll I'll wait until we actually get to the end of the episode for that. So he drags Sam off to some little side area in his kitchen and is like getting his utensils, whatever, ready to go and carve up Sam. He's like, I've never had human before. This is gonna be exciting. Damn. But Dean comes in and the chef stops and is like, You smell like dog. What's going on there? And then Dean gets a nice little whiff and is like, You smell like cancer. You're dying. And the chef is like, yeah, yeah, I am. You know, like by the time they diagnose me, no medical treatment was gonna heal me. So I started doing this shit. Obviously, it's not getting rid of the cancer, but you know, it is what it is. And uh Dean's like, So you're killing people? And he was like, Well, I mean, I wasn't doing that on purpose at first, but he looked really menacing whenever he said at first. So he's like killing people now because he's enjoying it. And the fact that he was like excited to try out human, like, no, I don't think so. Yeah. So he eats a wolf heart because he decides that's appropriate since Dean is apparently a dog. Dean turns around and runs, and he chases him outside, and he's like, wolf beats dog. And Dean was like, Yeah, but not a pack of dogs, and he whistles, and all of the dogs that he had let out from the animal shelter come running around the corner, and they're all led by Colonel, and they trap the chef, and I guess they killed him. Yeah. I guess Colonel got his revenge because we don't we don't see the chef get arrested or anything, like he's just gone, you know? As it should be. Yeah. The chef, I mean, it was pretty gruesome. We didn't see a blood splooge or anything like that, but you can safely assume chef got got. Yeah. Dean goes to the kitchen and wakes up Sam. He's very worried about him at first because of course he's just seeing blood and stuff, and it's just like, oh my god, please be okay. But Sam wakes up. Dean then takes the Colonel to the vegan bakers, and they adopt the dog and they're very excited about it. Colonel, not so much. Understandable, but I think he's going to be fine. And I loved at the end, whenever he was like, Hey, you know, by the way, we actually aren't man's best friend. Like, we were sent to this planet to, and then the spell starts working. I loved it. I loved it. He starts barking, and Dean is like, I was like, that was perfect. It was perfect. It was a perfect ending. It was a perfect ending for the episode. It cracked me up. But yeah, then they're out at the car and Sam's worried about that. And Dean's kind of starts, he's just talking out of his ass, right? To try and get Sam to not think about that. But as he's doing that, he starts saying, Yeah, that guy, he was just all juiced up with all the animal stuff that he had been taken in. You know, he's all juiced up. You know, all that animal stuff was bound to just completely take over. And that's what happened to him. Like, don't worry about it. And like as he's saying it, he's starting to realize, oh fuck, I might lose my brother because I've let this angel just possess him and is doing God knows what. Ugh, like you could see that he kind of connected, uh-oh, uh-oh. Yeah. And so then they just kind of drive off. Sam's like, okay, and Dean is not okay. Like Dean Dean is it started with Sam freaked out, and then Dean calmed Sam down, and now Dean is freaked out. So I thought that was interesting how that that kind of came around to, oh, yeah, this is not good. It's like finally starting to dawn on him that the danger he's put his brother in. Yeah. By letting a stranger like that's the only thing that would save him though. Right, right.

LA

But I mean, still, like, he doesn't know Ezekiel. Yeah, I'd be like, hey, Zeke, come out. Like, can you tell me what you've been doing? Like, what's the progress report? It would be nice.

Berly

You know, like you'd help my brother's jugular. That's cool. That's great. You brought Charlie back, you brought Cass back. You keep saying that I keep using your powers, you're gonna have to be in there longer and everything. Like, I get it, but yeah. Sam keeps saying he's okay. Is he can you leave yet? Should I tell him you're in there so he can eject you? Like, I don't that's what I think's coming next. I think he's gonna end up telling him. What do you think? Probably, yeah. Yeah, that's what I think. Like this whole him him making like kind of face and all that. I think he's gonna tell him, if not next episode, like definitely before the midseason finale. I think he's gonna tell him. It was written by Eric Charmello and Nicole Snyder, and it was directed by Tim Andrew. So gore. We did get that blood splooge. Yeah. I feel like that was the goriest thing. Most other things that were like gory were just kind of implied. Like when we saw Max get bit in half, it was a shadow. When the dog when the dogs attacked the chef, like we didn't really get to see it, see it.

LA

I guess Sam's neck a little bit, but that was mostly just like bloody. It was so fast.

Berly

Yeah, that was so fast. I mean, it looked really good, don't get me wrong, but it was it was so quick. Special effects, the nails won the special effects for me. Yes. I thought that was really cool. Did you adore anything about this episode? Well, of course, the dogs. I thought you would like that. Leslie Jordan's cameo. Oh, I know. Too cute. The fetch scene. Like this whole episode was worth it for the fetch scene. That cracked me up. I loved that. It was really cute. It was really cute. Little, little cheesy, but that's okay. I don't mind having cheesy episodes. Uh it was kind of two fantasy type episodes in a row, though. Like we had Wizard of Oz last week and then the dogs this week. They don't normally do them back to back, I don't feel like. I know. I'm curious to see what the next one's like. I that may that's what I'm worried about. I'm worried that like we're about to have a really dark episode coming up, that they're like preparing us for something dark that's gonna happen. Hopefully not. Too bad. Well, what about that lore?

LA

All right, well, for the lore, we're gonna talk about what is a shaman. Alright, so picture this. Thousands of years ago, before Google, before therapists, before anyone could just search why does my dog keep staring at the wall? There were shamans. These were the original spiritual multi-hyphenates, healer, spirit whisperer, cosmic translator, and honestly, just the most interesting person at any gathering. Their whole deal was operating as a bridge between the everyday world and the spirit world, navigating realms most of us can't even access on our best meditation app day. Here's where shamanism gets deliciously unhinged. Oh. According to Jose Stevens of the Power Path, shamans have always held that everything in the universe eats and is eaten, and not just in the circle of life, lying King Wei. We're talking about black holes eating galaxies, big corporations eating startups, new languages eating old ones, and yes, your own inner drama eating you alive. The shamanic shamanic view is basically this universe is a jungle where everything is consuming everything else. Predator and prey all the way down. The trick isn't to opt out, because you can't. It's to figure out which one you're being at any given moment. Here's the relatable part. There's a false personality, what shamans call the inner parasite, that feeds on your low vibe emotions. Anxiety, resentment, jealousy, spirally worst-case scenario, thinking, I know all about that.

Berly

Oh my god. But you're not like that. Like I've been around people like that, and I found myself taking on those traits where I was being really paranoid and negative-minded and gossipy, all that stuff. And I mean, luckily I recognized it and removed myself from that kind of stuff, but like it's real. Oh, yeah. Energies. I don't as I'm reading going through this, I'm like, oh, okay. Like I'm I am intrigued.

LA

Yeah. We need a shaman.

Berly

Yeah, right. Back to the buffet.

LA

Yes, that says that's its buffet. The more you feed it, drama, the stronger it gets. The Toltec Shamans even had a name where all those undigested feelings go when you die. The eagle literally eats your leftover emotional baggage and holds it for your next life.

Berly

Oh no.

LA

So you come back and start feeding the eagle all over again.

Berly

Rude. No! Okay, I'm happy that like we're we're doing better about like feeling when we're in those negative spaces and doing what we need to do to pivot out of them. We're neglecting the eagle. Is it is it coincidental that it's the eagle and ego? Oh I'm gonna Google more about this inner inner parasite.

LA

Okay, well, we do have good news though. Oh, yeah that the parasite cannot digest high frequency emotions like gratitude, love, joy, genuine excitement. Completely indigestible to it. It's like putting premium gasoline in a diesel engine. The thing just sputters and dies.

Berly

Well, that's why we have to do our three good things on Crapulence. By the way, Crapulence is only available for our Patreon supporters.

LA

Now, this is the part that hits different. Shamans draw a hard line between eating and ex and an experience and actually digesting it. Most of us are just eating, constantly consuming experiences, reactions, feelings, and then immediately pivoting to a news storyline before we actually process any of it. Ain't that the truth?

Berly

Yeah.

LA

You find out bad you find out bad news, instead of sitting with the fear, you immediately spiral into 47 catastrophic future scenarios. That's eating without digesting. The shamanic sham shaman shamanic the shamanic move is to stop, drop into your body, and actually feel what's happening. The tight jaw, the shallow breath, the knot in your stomach without making it a whole production. You just let the feeling move through. That's digestion. And once you've genuinely digested something, it stops haunting you. Man, do I need to work on that?

Berly

Me too. I am the worst about like I'll go over and over and over. Like, why am I feeling this way? What happened to trigger me? What happened to maybe, but to just stop there and just let myself feel it? I am the worst.

LA

The worst. Same. Uh well, undigested emotions, on the other hand, get stored. God damn it. They get stored in the subconscious in the body. Sometimes, per the shamans, even an excess weight or illness, it's basically your body's emotional spam folder and it fills up fast. Fuck. Yeah. And shaman shamanic, I don't know why I'm having a hard time with this. In shamanic tradition, animal spirits function as archetypes that can enhance and enrich a practitioner's belief and magical experience. Think of it like a spiritual wardrobe. Each animal brings a different energy you can borrow. So a bear is fierce mama energy, primal protection, do not come from me today type. Wolf is freedom, independence, a natural born leader, but like a cool one. And then the elephant is a deep family loyalty, unshakeable power, never forgets a vibe. Now, certain human weaknesses can actually be healed by animal artifacts, since they compensate for what people lack: strength, leadership, parental instinct, and more. So basically, animal spirits are the original self-improvement program. No subscription required. Shamanic shape-shifting isn't about literally morphing your body, it's about forging a deep connection with the essence of your animal totem, allowing you to explore the depths of your being and your relationship with the surrounding world. The concept has roots in the oldest forms of totism and shamanism, as well as in ancient literature like the Epic of Gilgamesh in the Iliad. So this is old, old. When you invoke the form of an animal, you can access qualities that go beyond your normal human limits. Strength when you feel physically outmatched, speed when you need to escape, and whatever the energy and whatever energy the moment calls for.

Berly

Yeah, just not how that guy was doing it in the episode.

LA

Yeah, no.

Berly

He needed to digest how he was feeling about his diagnosis. Yes. Yes. And instead, he decided to murder. Yeah, that's never the never the answer. Never the answer. No, no. Well, quote to close it out, it's from Dean. He said, I always knew I'd find the source of all evil at a vegan bakery. Cheers. Cheers.

LA

Thank you for listening to Denim Wrapped Nightmares. Follow us on Twitter or Instagram, leave a review, and let us know how we can get involved in the fandom. This was fun. Jerk. It always is, bitch.

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