Jack Rowand/The CWOn Friday's all-new episode of Supernatural, Sam and Dean Winchester are blipping into a universe where they are...Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Seriously. How can the show get away with such shenanigans, and is the episode worth a look? Here's what we can tell you:
The episode, called "The French Mistake," is a smart, self-aware farce reminiscent of the episodes where Sam and Dean became production assistants on the set of a genuinely haunted horror movie and the installment where the boys blipped into TV show universes, including a Grey's Anatomy parody and a Japanese game show (wherein Sam was literally punched in the nuts). In this outing, dueling angels dump Sam and Dean onto the set of a TV show called Supernatural, which stars two lightweight actors named Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, is shot in Vancouver (Dean, in a tone of the greatest aggravation: "Dude, we're not even in America") and is led by a grandfatherly figure named Bobby Singer.
Suffice it to say, the episode is hilarious. In this universe, Jensen and Jared don't speak and the assembled cast and crew are delighted to see them spending time together. Misha Collins is a Twitter-obsessed eco-hipster, while the real-life Mrs. Padalecki, Genevieve Cortese appears as Jared's wife Gen. This, of course, tortures Dean to no end. Speaking on behalf of more than a few disgruntled-but-coming-around fans, he says, "Wait—you and Ruby? You married fake Ruby!?"
The producers and crew are all heavily featured as well—when "J2" behave bizarrely for days on end, the transpo guys start whispering that maybe the stars of the show are smuggling drugs in from overseas, and Bobby Singer tells the boys that they have got to stop taking "poppers." (In other news from the '70s, we also hear that Quaaludes are bad juju.) New show runner Sera Gamble is dismissed as the new girl who wouldn't be taken seriously by misbehaving actors anyway. And an Eric Kripke doppelgänger even takes a break from writing his new pilot (Syfy no doubt already has this title in production for its monster movie of the week) to exert his influence over apparently freaking-out Jensen and Jared. Does that plan work out for the Kripkeeper? Not exactly.
Meanwhile, as the angels continue to do battle around them, Sam and Dean provide their own delicious take on the lifestyles of well-paid actors Jared and Jensen, their homes, their trailers, their low-rated show, their past appearances on soap operas and, uh, their facial expressions in certain photos.
You will laugh throughout—a scene where Jared and Jensen play Sam and Dean playing Jared and Jensen shooting a scene as Sam and Dean is particularly gut-busting—and yet as things turns serious, you'll want to reach out and hug everybody onscreen. It's awesome. Chalk this up as another victory for Team Supernatural. Yes, believe it or not, in season six, this show remains one of the smartest, funniest and most unappreciated series anywhere on television.
Don't miss "The French Mistake," airing this Friday at 9 p.m. on the CW.