Description

Supernatural Season 2, Episode 11, Playthings recap 🛎️ Creepy dolls, a haunted inn, a little girl with an imaginary friend, and the best gift this show has ever given us: DRUNK SAM on Denim-wrapped Nightmares, a Supernatural rewatch podcast.

Guests are dying in strange accidents at the gorgeous (if crumbling) Pierpont Inn in Cornwall, Connecticut, and the boys find a hoodoo symbol on an urn by the front door. The inn is run by Susan (Annie Wersching), her young daughter Tyler (Matreya Fedor), and Grandma Rose (Brenda McDonald), whose room is FULL of creepy dolls, including an enormous dollhouse that's an exact replica of the inn. Tyler swears all the trouble is her new friend Maggie's (Conchita Campbell) fault. Meanwhile, Sam is still reeling from Dad's secret and drinks his feelings, which leads to an emotional (and adorable) heart-to-heart with Dean.

Episode Highlights:

• The inn itself (we want to spend a weekend there, minus the murders)
• The front desk asking if the boys want one king bed (we're BROTHERS)
• Two little girls we were sure were twins (Shining vibes)
• Sherwin (John R. Taylor), the old bellboy with a story for every word you say to him
• The dollhouse-to-room cuts, a really cool directing choice
• DRUNK SAM. Hogging the toilet. Making Dean promise. We love him.
• Sam tackling someone out of the way of a runaway Mercedes
• Sam's slow-mo pool rescue, a mirror of Dean's in Dead in the Water
• An ending that's sweeter and sadder than you'd expect

In the lore segment, we dig into hoodoo vs. voodoo: how hoodoo (also called rootwork) is a spiritual practice rooted in the African diaspora, not a religion, and why it's considered a closed practice. Plus, recommended reading from Zora Neale Hurston's Hoodoo in America to Stephanie Rose Bird's Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones to Katrina Hazzard-Donald's Mojo Workin'. And our one criticism: nothing in the story stopped the inn's family from being Black, which would have made the hoodoo far more fitting.

Dean: "The most troubling question is, why did these people assume we're gay?"
Sam: "Well, you are kind of butch. They probably think you're overcompensating."

Your turn, hunters: Creepy dolls, yay or nay? And is drunk Sam the best Sam? Tell us in the Spotify comments, leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts (it's how new hunters find us), or send us fan mail. Bonus points for fandom fun facts we missed.

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Playthings
• https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a34115081/hoodoo-vs-voodoo-facts-history/

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Denim-wrapped Nightmares is a Supernatural rewatch podcast hosted by Berly and LA, breaking down every episode of the Winchester saga with lore deep-dives plus cast and crew interviews. Special thanks to David Fesliyan and Fesliyan Studios.

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