Title Hollywood Babylon
Episode # Season 2, Episode 18
First aired April 19, 2007
Directed by Philip Sgriccia
Written by Ben Edlund
Outline Sam and Dean investigate the haunting of the set of a horror movie.
Monster Ghost
Location(s) Los Angeles, California
Timeline Set immediately after Heart
Sam and Dean discover that a group of ghosts are murdering the crew of a horror movie.
Music
Herb
Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Green Peppers
Trivia
* McG
is the producer of Supernatural, PussyCat Dolls: The search for
the next doll, The OC and Charlies Angels and Charlies Angels:
Full Throttle. The real McG can be seen standing behind Sam and
Dean in the scene where the crew is listening to faux McG.
* The set of Hell Hazers II: The reckoning may look familiar. The water tower is from 2.08 Crossroad Blues and the cabin is from 2.16 Roadkill. The deer's head on the wall has appeared in the boys' motel room in 1.14 Nightmare, John's room in 1.21 Salvation, and Steve Wandell's home in 2.14 Born Under a Bad Sign.
* Before they start the shot with the actors in the cabin, the sound clapperboard says Roll 6, Scene 6, Take 6. The number 666 is a reference to the devil and considered to be a "bad" number. Has been used in countless horror (TV)movies.
* Kripke, who always says that the show and he himself are able to laugh about themselves, throws in a little side blow at a past project of him. When Dean goes to talk to Tara, he says he loved her in Boogeyman and she says it had a terrible script. Boogeyman was written by Eric Kripke himself and he admitted at the Paley Festival, that the movie wasn't very good, because it missed substance and soul, unlike Supernatural, who has it all, thanks to Bob Singer.
* Brad is complaining about why the movie is so dark and that it should be lighter and not "so depressing". Kripke said that the fans and some "suits" are complaining that the dailies and the episodes of Supernatural are too dark sometimes.
There is no Then and Now like in previous episodes.
Quotes
Sam:
Does this feel like swimming weather to you? It's practically
Canadian.
Brad: See, but if the ghosts are in hell, how do they hear the chanting?
Brad: Uh, excuse
me, green-shirt guy? Yeah, yeah, you, come here. Could you get
me a smoothie from craft?
Dean: You want a what from who?
Dean: What's
a PA?
Sam: Uh, these people are kinda like slaves, really.
Tara: Salt.
Doesn't that sound silly? I mean why would a ghost be afraid of
salt?
McG: Marty, what do you think?
Marty: I'm not married to salt. Are we still sticking with condiments?
McG: Mmm, it just sounds different, not better. What else would
a ghost be scared of?
Marty: Maybe shotguns.
McG: That makes even less sense than salt.
Sam: How’s
it going in here?
Dean: {exicted} It’s going really good, man. Tara has really
stepped up her performance. I think it’s probably from all
the sense memory stuff she’s drawing on.
Sam: Sense memory?
Dean: Yeah.
Sam: Dean, you know when I ask how it’s going here I’m
talking about the case, right? We don’t really work here.
Dean: Hey, we
gotta go check out Johnny Ramone's grave when we're done here.
Sam: You want to dig him up too?
Dean: Bite your tongue heathen!
Walter: You know, the history, the lore in my draft was completely accurate. We could've got it right for the first time in this whorehouse of a town. But you tore it to shreds. You replaced it with cleavage and fart jokes. It was real.
Sam: You find
out there is an afterlife and this is what you do with it?
Martin: I needed a little jazz on the page.
References
Sam: Does
this feel like swimming weather to you? It's practically Canadian.
That's because the show IS shot out here in Canada. The show is
mostly shot in Vancouver area's and lowermainland citys. Vancouver
is famously known for its bitter cold at times. Especially in
the winter.
* In the beginning
the boys are on a tour of Hollywood. The tour guide says that
they are passing the place where Gilmore Girls is filmed, and
if they're lucky they might get to see one of the stars. Jared
Padalecki had a recurring role on Gilmore Girls, as Dean Forester.
At this point, Sam looks uncomfortable and quickly leaves the
tour bus. Apparently a side blow to the time Jared has spend on
that show.
* In the faux trailer for Hell Hazers II: The reckoning, writer
Martin Flagg is also credited as the writer of Cornfield Massacre
and Monster Truck, which are illustrated with images from Supernatural
episodes 1.11 Scarecrow and 1.13 Route 666. There's also a shot
of the hook from 1.07 Hookman, of Claire's desiccated hands from
2.07 The Usual Suspects, Gordon and his bloody knife from 2.03
Bloodlust and the inside of Angela's coffin from 2.04 Children
Shouldn't Play With Dead Things.
* In Martin’s office there is also a poster for Carnivore Carnival which has an image from 2.02 Everybody Loves a Clown.
* Swimming pools and movie stars is a line from the theme song of the TV show Beverely Hillbillies
* Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs... a line by John McClane (Bruce Willis) in Die Hard
Movies and TV shows referred to in this episode:
1. Ghost Rider:
Sketches shown to Tara are from Ghost Rider.
2. Creepshow
3. Gilmore Girls: the movie tour passes through the Star Hollows
set. Jared Padalecki starred as Dean Forester in 65 episodes.
4. Lois and Clark: forerunner to Smallville, Also a previous credit
of SPN producer & director Robert Singer.
5. Poltergeist
6. Feardotcom
7. Ghost Ship
8. Boogeyman: written by a Eric Kripke
9. Metal Storm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn
10. Critters 3
11. Three Men and a baby
12. Lord of the Dead - a real movie! Its tag line: Who knew the
Lord of the Dead had a son who wanted no part of the family business?
13. The Evil Dead trilogy
Dean: What,
you mean like Poltergeist?
This line is a direct reference to the movie Poltergeist, in which
a ghost frequently haunts a house with a little girl.
Dean: You know this is where they filmed Creepshow?
Referencing the 1982 movie Creepshow, directed by George Romero
and starring Stephen King, Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, and E.G.
Marshall.
Dean: It's like 3 Men and a Baby all over again.
3 Men and a Baby is a 1987 movie starring Tom Selleck, Ted Danson
and Steve Guttenberg. A rumor has persisted for many years that
the figure of a ghostly spirit of a dead boy and the gun that
he killed himself with appears in the movie.
Dean: Hey, we gotta go check out Johnny Ramone's grave when
we're done here.
Johnny Ramone (real name John Cummings) was a founding member
and the guitarist of the punk band The Ramones. He died of cancer
at the age 55 on September 15th, 2004 at his home in Los Angeles.
Tour Guide: To the right here is Stars Hollow, it is the setting
for the television series Gilmore Girls.
Referencing the WB (now CW) series that started in 2000 and stars
Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. Jared Padalecki (Sam) starred
on the series as Rory Gilmore's boyfriend, Dean.
Dean: Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few
laughs...
This is an allusion to the 1988 movie, Die Hard starring Bruce
Willis, in which a New York cop meddles with terrorists as they
hold hostages in an LA office building.
Title
The name of this episode is from the book of the same title written
by Kenneth Anger detailing the scandals of celebrities from the
1900s to the 1950s.
In-Joke: The tour guide mentions
a place where they shot Lois & Clark. Robert Singer, executive
producer of Supernatural, was also the executive producer of Lois
& Clark.
In-Joke: The set they are using to the movie, is like a
replica of the movie The Evil Dead, and the script is very similar
to the movie.
In-Joke: For the movie, McG and Marty are tossing around
ideas of what a ghost might be afraid of. They say that salt is
silly, but shotguns make even less sense than salt. Sam and Dean
frequently use shotguns loaded with salt to dispel ghosts.
In-Joke: Just before they start the shot with the actors
in the cabin the sound clapperboard says Roll 6, Scene 6, Take
6. It is a reference to the number of the "Beast," 666
has been used in countless horror movies and TV.
In-Joke: When Dean goes to talk to Tara he says he loved
her in Boogeyman and she says it had a terrible script. Boogeyman
was written by show creator Eric Kripke.
In-Joke: At one point, a rack of Sam and Dean's costumes
is rolled by, and Sam gives it a long glance.
In-Joke: Near the beginning when Brad is complaining about
why the movie is so dark and that it should be lighter is referencing
how dark fans say many of the episodes of Supernatural are, especially
the pilot. In many places it is so dark it is difficult to see
what is going on.
In-Joke: in the beginning of the show when Tara has problems
with screaming at the tennis ball, the director,"McG",
tells her that it is for the CG registration and that when Ivan
and the effects guys get done with it, it will be terrifying.
Ivan Hayden is the Visual Effects Supervisor for 13 episodes of
Supernatural, including the Season 2 finale. And interviews with
Jensen and Jared have included stories of how they have had to
deal with acting to a tennis ball or painted X on the floor and
then later seeing what the CG crew has managed to cook up for
the scene.
In-Joke: Before Dean on Supernatural, Jensen Ackles played
Jason Teague on Smallville, which is a series on Superman's teen
years. Adult Superman was later seen in the series, Lois &
Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
In-Joke: Regan Burns who played the films director is called
"McG." Referencing executive producer Joseph "McG"
McGinty Nichol.