Supernatural Review: Season 1 Episode 8 "Bugs"

By: Rachel Nave & Bill Coakley

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet watched this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

         *shudders* I don't like bugs. No...let me rephrase that: I HATE bugs. Not normal, everyday bugs like butterflies, spiders, and lady-beetles (although those are pretty foul too sometimes). No, I'm talking about the disgusting bugs such as wasps, termites, and even honeybees. Anything that buzzes and bites or stings is on the HELP-I'M-GROSSING-OUT! list for me...which is not the best position to be in whenever your father is a bee-keeper. But I digress.

        What I am trying to say is that this episode grossed me out by combining my two trigger spots for body horror - eyes/mouth and creepy crawlies. UGH! I don't mind bugs whenever they're just crawling on someone's leg or arm...but get them anywhere near the eyes or mouth and suddenly I'm feeling the urge to go hide in an insect-proofed laboratory for the next twenty years or so.

        But despite the fact that it triggered several minor nervous breakdowns, this episode was also a lot of fun. Yes there are some definite problems with the writing (particularly towards the ending of the third act) and the pacing can be odd at times, but overall it was an enjoyably little experience. Except for the bugs, which were gross.



Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- You know, I really miss the days when Sam and Dean would go to a bar together and just hang out, hustling pool and beating the snot out of other poker players. Things were so simple back then! On the other hand, while jokes about the credit card scams and insurance fraud may be funny (as are cracks about how their normal is screwed up), it won't be so funny once the officials figure it out. And they will...they always do.

- "Mad cow...wasn't that on Oprah?" 

- This episode the boys pretended to be a victim's nephews. Interesting.

- I have to say that bugs are only scary whenever they're moving towards the eyes or mouth. Unmoving ones that look like they should be pinned to a card in some little boy's bedroom don't exactly get my scare-o-meter spiking.

- Also, I'm going to complain about Sam saying that the beetles were unusual because of the lack of tunnels. Have any of you actually been in a ditch or a sinkhole? If the dirt is as dry as what we saw there, every movement on the ground above and the act of dropping a 6'4 lanky Sasquatch down in there would disrupt the dirt patterns. You couldn't see tunnels if you were looking for them!

- "Sounds like a stretch to me." You said it, Dean!

- I have to say that bugs are only scary whenever they're moving towards the eyes or mouth. Unmoving ones that look like they should be pinned to a card in some little boy's bedroom don't exactly get my scare-o-meter spiking.

- "Ouch! First-name basis with the old man. Sounds pretty grim." Oh you would know, Sammy. It is interesting how they use Matt (the soon-to-be-estranged son of the developer) as a red-herring to the bug problem. I honestly didn't think it was him...that was too obvious. This isn't Scooby Doo. The more relevant thing to draw from his character is the comparisons between his relationship with his father and Sam's relationship with John.


- I am never turning my back on the shower head. Ever. Thousands of tarantulas and other spiders crawling out of it? YUCK! Even with the bad CGI that was still disgusting. And they didn't even have the common decency to stay away from the eyes, nose, and mouth regions. Really? Are they trying to give me nightmares?! (Probably, yes.)



- That being said, the dead spiders that the boys find in the morning are depressingly rubbery and fake-looking. I've seen better props from the discount store's post-Halloween clearance sale!

- Dean loved that steam shower just a bit too much...is he seriously wearing a towel turban?

- Along those lines, it is so weird to see the Winchesters actually have a house to themselves that isn't half-falling down or blanketed in mold.


- So, I'm a bit confused, but did they actually rent that house or are they really just squatting in it? And if they're just squatting in it, how are they explaining their presence to the developer and head of sales who are their neighbors? It just doesn't add up!

- Interesting observation:

- Reminds me of the 'One Word Challenge' from the Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Snowmen.

- Probably my biggest beef with this story, aside from the pacing problems, is that it's never really explained how the curse works, why (if it's supposedly so powerful) it isn't targeting more people, why no one else is noticing, and why the Native Americans decided to use a swarm of homicidal bugs!!!

- The swarm of homicidal bugs headed towards Matt's house calls to mind the Egyptian Plagues. That was probably intentional.

- I'm calling foul on the Winchester's ability to fight off all of those bugs with one can of Raid and yet not get a single sting, bite, or pinch. I can't walk from my car to my house without being swarmed by mosquitoes and they were attacked by dozens of those and bees/termites/gnats/wasps all with homicide on their teeny weeny bug brains, to boot! Now granted the Winchesters are both definitely forty times forty times more tough and awesome than I am...but did I mention the swarm of homicidal bugs?!

- Maybe that conspicuous time-jump from midnight to morning saved them. Or maybe that can of Raid was like the Biblical widow's oil jar that never ran dry. Or maybe I forgot to mention the swarm of homicidal bugs?!

      First thing you should know right off the bat when you start watching this show is that, in the early days, Supernatural stories about Native American traditions tend to be a bit...um...unfulfilling? As in, all the elements of a story would be there, but something would just go wrong in the execution. With this one, I firmly hold to the idea that giving it a longer running time (making it into a two-parter or whatever) to tie up loose ends and fill in plot-holes would have been a good idea. It is bland because there is too much information and suspension of belief flung at your mind in too short of a time span. I actually really enjoyed this one (despite my issues with bugs close to the facial area) and I see a lot of potential in it that was squandered because the  writers and director tried to squeeze too large and complicated of a story into too little time. As it stands, Bugs is a 2/5.




What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?