Baby’s Rear View Recap: 11.20 “Don’t Call me Shurley”

This post is about Supernatural season 11 episode 20, “Don’t Call me Shurley,” written by Robbie Thompson and directed by Robert Singer.

*****Spoilers below*****

“Yeah, Toto. I got a feeling we aren't on Earth anymore, either.”

This episode opens on Metatron digging through a dumpster. I loved how it started in with the scary music and ominous banging from inside the dumpster, and then Metatron popped up. Also, way to make us sympathetic to Metatron from the get go. Poor guy. He finally finds some food, and then he gives it to the dog. Then he has a sort of mini break-down, which gave a mini pinch to my heart. Just as he’s given up, he’s magically transported to a bar where “Good Vibrations” is playing. There’s a shadow in the back which turns out to be Carver Edlund, AKA Chuck Shurley AKA Chuckles AKA GOD. That’s right, this is God’s pad and #chuckisgod. Suddenly this episode title makes a lot more sense.

A little funny moment: Metatron spends an embarrassingly long time telling Chuck that he’s a hack-writer, complete with references directly to his work, which is basically meta commentary on the show itself. Love that.

“Just don't use the G-word, okay? Just -- Just call me Chuck.”

After the title card, we return to the bar that looks just like the one from cheers to see Metatron groveling at God’s feet. But God is uncomfortable with that, and asks Metatron to just call him “Chuck.” (But don’t call him Shurley.)

“Dude, quit ironing my shirts with beer!”

Then we swing over to the Winchesters’ bunker where Dean takes a swig of beer before turning back to the ironing. (I love seeing them do the little things like this, I dunno what it is about it…) Sam comes in and shows him what he thinks may be a lead on Amara—a man in Idaho who killed a co-worker unexpectedly. (Doesn’t seem like a lot to go on to me… but I guess they’d be pretty desperate for anything at this point, so I’ll go with it.)

“I like front-row seats. You know, I figured I'd hide out in plain sight. You know, plus, you know, acting is fun.”

And then it’s back to Chuck and Metatron (Chuckatron?) in the bar. Chuck shares what he’s been up to, which is a lot of nothing (Revolution. BAHAHA.) Also, has anyone found God on snapchat? Had to ask. Metatron asks why no one found him and brings up the amulet; Chuck shows him how he can turn it off and on at will. But Metatron wants to get down to business—he thinks Chuck brought him there to destroy him for his sins.

“You know what humanity's greatest creation has been? Music. That and nacho cheese. Even I couldn't have dreamt up that deliciousness. But music is magic.”

It turns out that Chuck is writing his auto-biography and wants Metatron to act as editor. He wants to get the old band back together!

“It was like every negative thought he had ever had came spilling out.”

Back on Earth, the fake FBI is at it again, questioning the officers involved on the murder case. Sam goes to check the files with Deputy Harris while Dean talks to Sheriff McCreedy. The Sheriff tells Dean that the murderer was acting out of character. Meanwhile, Sam notices blackened veins looking at the picture of the dead murderer. He asks the deputy whether she’s seen any fog recently.

“Last time I saw that look on an editor's face, I'd just handed in “Bugs.”

Metatron gives his first impressions of Chuck’s book because Chuck’s on a deadline. He wants more details. Specifically about Amara. But Chuck doesn’t want to talk about it. This isn’t her story; it’s his.

“Listen, I know this might sound odd, but there's a heavy fog headed my way. We expecting any weather like that?”

“No, it's supposed to be clear skies all night.”

Deputy Harris arrives home to meet her husband, but when she does she notices a heavy fog rolling in. She calls it in but then starts coughing as it engulfs her. Her veins turn black and she stands, ready to do something, and it’s not going to be good.

“This is still a safe place, right?”

“Safest place ever created.”

Metatron figures that Chuck just needs to balance the story better—give real estate to more interesting things, like not Chuck. Chuck disagrees. He had a blog! With cat pics! They were super cute! He also learned to play guitar. And dated Becky. Also, some boys. Metatron thinks no one wants to hear about that, but I’m pretty sure lots of fans disagree. Because not only did Supernatural portray God on screen, but they made him bisexual. God is bi! Well, not necessarily bi per se, but definitely not anti-homosexuality. But Metatron just wants to hear about the archangels like Lucifer, God’s so-called favorite. Chuck says he’s not the favorite, but he’s not a villain either.

“There are no revelations in this book! And that's weird, given who you are. There's no new information, no soul-bearing.”
“That's because I don't have a soul.”
“Right! But you invented them. You invented souls! Souls! Try shining a light on that. How did that make you feel?”
“Nauseous.”

Metatron puts his foot down and tells Chuck that he needs to tell the truth like the badass he is. Dance like no one is watching. Richards, all the way.

“Called in for the last time yesterday. Said something about seeing some fog rolling in. I don't know why she cared about the damn weather.”

The boys show up at Deputy Harris’s house after getting a call from the sheriff. The Deputy has killed her husband, and she’s nowhere to be found. The sheriff tells them that the last time he heard from her was when she called in the fog. Dean asks him to let them know if they hear any more about the fog and they head back to the office so they can track Deputy Harris’s car.

“I mean, look what nature created on its own. What's more, nature's smart enough to know that sometimes, there's no fixing things. Sometimes you just have to wipe the slate clean.”

Metatron keeps pressing Chuck. Chuck admits that he created the world because he was lonely. He wanted to fix Amara by showing her that they could create something better; but every time he would create a new world, she would destroy it.

“Okay, call them back, tell them to get inside, shut their windows or doors and seal it up, and stay the hell away from that fog. Then get the word out to everybody in town they need to do the same damn thing.”

Sam is just getting started on tracking the Deputy when a call comes in about the fog. The sheriff wants to call the CDC but Dean tells him there’s no time. When Sam figures out where Harris is, the Winchesters head out to deal with her. They find her sitting in her car, waiting for them. Sam clears the crowd and tells them to get inside. Deputy Harris says that she tried to kill herself, but Amara won’t let her. Not until she gives Dean a message. She tells him that Amara’s holding up a mirror; the light was just a lie—God’s not going to save them; it’s all going away, but not Dean. When Harris raises her gun, the sheriff shoots her. Then the fog comes.

“So you're just gonna let Amara win?”

“Eh it's her time to shine.”

Metatron and Chuck argue about whether Chuck should take responsibility for the Amara situation. Chuck admits that he intends to let her win, and that his memoir is for himself. He’s hiding. Things heat up when Metatron calls Chuck a coward.

“No, I'm not leaving my brother.”

The Winchesters try to save as many as they can; Dean literally has to pull Sam away from a couple as the fog engulfs them. The Winchesters get inside and start duct-taping anywhere air might get in. They hear people outside screaming, and then the people outside start to break in. The duct tape on the vent has failed and Sam goes to fix it. But he’s too late, and he is engulfed by the fog as he doubles over, coughing. As his veins turn black, Dean makes towards him. Sam cries out for Dean to stay away, but he won’t. He gets the others to safety in another room and then turns back for Sam.

“You are light and beauty. Creation. Wrath. Damnation and salvation. And I don't care if I was just the angel nearest the door. You picked me. Your light shined on me—me! Oh, and the warmth. But then you left me. You left all of us. It wasn't just the saps on Earth who were praying to you. The angels prayed, too. And so did I—every day.”
“I know.”
“You want to write the best-selling autobiography of all time, you explain to me -- tell me why you abandoned me. Us.”

Metatron explains that Chuck is wrong about humanity. They may make mistakes, but they never give up. Unlike Chuck.

“We're not gonna make it.”
“No, no, no. There's no quitting here.”
“We're never gonna make it.”

Sam continues to try to block out the fog, but he can’t fight it anymore. He collapses as the fog billows all around. Dean parks himself by his dying brother’s side and accepts his fate—but the fog doesn’t affect him.

“We should probably talk.”

Chuck finishes up what he’s writing and then begins to play guitar and sing. As he does, something in Sam’s pocket begins to glow. It’s the samulet. All of a sudden the fog dissipates and the people recover. Dean and Sam walk through the town and as they do, they see everything bad undone. Deputy Harris reunites with her husband and all is fixed. The samulet leads the Winchesters to Chuck, and the boys are stunned.

Questions:

The most important question: did Sam have the samulet the entire time? I’m confused whether Chuck has some sort of metaphysical copy and Sam has the real one, or if Chuck had it the whole time and magicked it into Sam’s pocket, or Sam had it the whole time and then Chuck magicked it out of his pocket and then back in… but Chuck does say, “you'll never guess where this thing has been this entire time,” which to me implies that it hasn’t been with him. Which leads me to believe (read: hope) that Sam has been holding on to it ever since Dean threw it away.

Also. Chuck really doesn’t care about what’s happening on earth? Should Metatron really have to convince him to care? That doesn’t feel very Chuck to me. And what made him change his mind? Because he seemed so unfeeling after Metatron’s big speech… Did he just want to mess with Metatron and make him believe that he wouldn’t do it? Why, God, why?

And I kind of wonder what those last pages said.

Conclusions:

Talk about Fan Service! No really, talk about it… Do we like this? Is it a bad thing? I honestly loved it in this instance, but I didn’t expect to and I know others didn’t. I’ve gone on-record (not really) saying that I didn’t think that the #chuckisgod theory was supported enough by canon. I can see where it came from for sure, I just don’t think (if it was intended by the writing) the writers followed it through enough when Chuck was actually a character on the show to justify bringing him back and canonizing it. The thing that justifies it then would be Rob Benedict’s popularity at cons and the fact that it’s well known fanon. Hence fan-service. I always regarded it as true fanon, but as canon it’s a bit messy, and it’s kind of a retcon. It really changes the way some of the things in the past come across now. And also, it’s just a big step to take. I didn’t ever think that they would address it. But if they had to put God on screen, I’m sure happy it was Chuck. One might even say, *Shurley* happy.

It’s seems that Robbie Thompson (or TPTB) has been intending to canonize #chuckisgod for some time though, at least since “Fan Fiction” in early season 10. Robbie seems to be kind of known for fan service, which is why so many fans (me!) are so upset that he’s leaving.

I don’t think fan service is necessarily bad. And I am totally behind that Samulet fan service. Give it to me. YEAH. I really hope that the brothers talk about it next episode, and that it comes out that Sam has had it in his pocket the entire time. So much love.

And really, I loved the entire episode. So. Much. Feels. Curtis Armstrong is such a great dramatic actor. I teared up a little watching him fight to be valued by God. And I just love Rob Benedict. And all of the actors did a great job; I loved watching the brothers try so hard to save people and each other, and it was really moving to see Dean care for his brother over everything else.

There were also a lot of great lines in this episode, and I really felt the emotion throughout the story. The music was also great. Seriously, people will be listening to Chuck’s song on repeat for weeks. I know I will.

In conclusion, #chuckisgod.

Okay, I’m done.