Series 2, Episode 11: Playthings

And so begins a drunken trilogy of episodes. Not a trilogy in the sense that the episodes are in anyways connected, but a trilogy as in I watched them all in one night whilst playing a little drinking game.

Leanne came over to join me in the drinking and the watching and generally to give me a kick up the ass to get some more episodes watched before the end of the year. Before starting the episodes we decided on a few rules for the drinking game. I'm not sure I can remember them all but they were roughly along the lines of taking a drink anytime one of the following events happened:

1) Dean or Sam are tied up

2) Dean or Sam are knocked unconscious

3) Dean and Sam share a brotherly moment

4) Dean or Sam break into somewhere

5) Dean says "son of a bitch"

6) Dean or Sam use fake identification or otherwise impersonate someone

7) Dean and Sam are mistaken for a gay couple

8) The episode ends with a shot of the brothers driving away in their car

Overall it was a pretty successful game. I don't think either of us got too drunk. We decided that next time we would have to try it with shots.

So let's see what I can remember about the first episode that we watched.

This episode centred around a hotel that was due to be closed and knocked down. Unfortunately a spirit of a dead girl trapped in the hotel didn't want that to happen and so she was killing off anyone who threatened the building. I think she was possibly using some kind of voodoo stuff. I'm a little vague on that bit. But there was a creepy dolls house and whatever happened to the dolls in the house then went on to happen to the people in the hotel.

From the very beginning I got a "Shining" feel from this episode. It's set in a hotel and their are two creepy girls roaming it's corridors so it's not a stretch to make that link. I guessed straightaway that something was going to be odd about the girls and sure enough I was proved to be correct in my suspicions when one of the girls turned out to be a ghost.

Leanne pointed out at the end of the episode that the room that Dean and Sam were put in was room 237 which also happens to be the haunted room from The Shining so that was quite cool to see they were making a reference to the movie. There was also another scene with Dean having a drink at the hotel bar with the creepy looking bar man which also reminded me of the bar scene from The Shining.

One of the first drinks we had to take was caused by Dean and Sam being mistaken for a gay couple upon entering the hotel. When Dean questions Sam as to why he thinks this happens from time to time, Sam replies that Dean comes across as quite butch and people may think he's compensating for something. I nearly leapt off the sofa at this because that is literally what I have been saying from the start of the entire series!

A good episode overall and quite creepy in parts. Dolls are always creepy anyway. I mean who'd want to play with these monstrosities!?