Supernatural: Scarecrow (1x11) | Recap & Lore

Supernatural Season 1, Episode 11, Scarecrow recap 🍎 Meg makes her very first appearance, a creepy AF scarecrow terrorizes a too-perfect small town, and Sam and Dean split up for the first time on Denim-wrapped Nightmares, a Supernatural rewatch podcast. Plus, FINALLY, some quality shirtless Winchester action (sort of): Berly opens by celebrating the nip slip while LA was all about those arms and shoulders.

Picking up right after Asylum, Dad actually CALLS, and we're blessed with John's magnificent eyelashes, a perky Dean nipple, gorgeous biceps, and Sam working his jaw in anger. It's so much eye candy in one two-minute scene that we had to rewatch it multiple times. Dad reveals he's hunting a DEMON and sends the boys coordinates for a case, which kicks off a heated fight. Sam wants to find Dad in Sacramento, Dean wants to follow orders, and the brothers SPLIT UP.

Dean heads to Burkittsville, Indiana (very Pleasantville vibes; fun fact, it shares a name with the Blair Witch town), where couples keep disappearing near an apple orchard guarded by a very creepy scarecrow. Meanwhile, Sam hitchhikes and meets Meg (Nicki Aycox), a rebellious blonde with fabulous boots and a pixie cut. They bond over daddy issues at a bus station over beer and Cheeto Puffs (as one does).

Episode Highlights:

• Dean using the alias John Bonham (Led Zeppelin's drummer) and getting called out by Scotty
• The scarecrow wearing the TATTOO from the first victim's skin (nightmare fuel)
• The sheriff being WAY too aggressive for no reason
• Meg choosing creepy van guy over Sam (we would never)
• Dean awkwardly warning the couple that they might be in danger, though?
• The townsfolk dramatically clicking on their flashlights one by one like they rehearsed it
• For the greater good: Hot Fuzz vibes intensify
• Spotting the X-Files' Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) as the local professor, in a cameo so short he was gone before we finished Googling him
• MEG SLITTING A GUY'S THROAT and talking to Father through a BLOOD CAULDRON (WHAT?!)

The boys make up (adorable apologies without actually apologizing), realize the scarecrow is a manifestation of a pagan god from the Norse Vanir, and burn the sacred tree. But the REAL plot twist? Meg is working for Father, and she let Sam go on purpose.

In the lore segment, we dig into Norse mythology and the Vanir gods of fertility and wealth, including Freya, who slept with four dwarves for the necklace Brísingamen, and her brother Freyr, whose magic ship folds up to fit in his pocket (super convenient). Plus, we discover we're both part Scandinavian and get very distracted by our ancestry.

"I hope your apple pie is freaking worth it!" – Dean Winchester, to the townsfolk

Your turn, hunters: What was your first impression of Meg, and did you see that ending coming? And be honest, would you have picked Sam or creepy van guy? 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.

Resources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Scarecrow
• https://study.com/learn/lesson/vanir-gods-goddesses-list-facts-norse-mythology.html
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0713620/

Transcript

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Berly 0:00

Welcome to Denim Wrapped Nightmares, a supernatural rewatch podcast, where we explore the TV series episode by episode.

LA 0:10

Over drinks, we'll discuss the lore, the gore, and what we adore about the Winchesters and their adventures.

Berly 0:22

Hello, LA. Hey there, Burley.

LA 0:25

How are you? Good. Doing good?

Berly 0:28

Yeah. I'm happy.

LA 0:30

Why?

Berly 0:31

The nip slip.

LA 0:32

Oh, yes. Well, I you were all about the nipple. I was all about those arms and shoulders.

Berly 0:37

Finally. But first, last week we were in an asylum. Yes. So Sam and Dean uh saved a couple from an asylum and ended up getting rid of this evil Dr. Shrink guy. And most importantly, at the end, actually, I should say, their dad assigned them this case. He sent them coordinates. Oh, yeah. Basically assigned them the case to go figure it out at the beginning of the show. And then by the end of the show, dad actually called. Daddy called. So it got kind of a full circle thing. Yes. And the asylum was very cool, very scary movie. Well shot. Yes. So well shot. Honestly, like cinema quality. Again, I said this last week. Independent film, but still film quality is film quality. I thought it was a really good episode.

LA 1:34

Yeah, I agree.

Berly 1:34

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes. And this one basically picked up like right where the other one left off. Yeah. And we liked that. Yeah, they haven't done that before. Yeah. Normally we don't really know how much time has passed and what have you, but this one like picked up right from where this one let off. So LA, tell let's tell our listeners about this week's episode, which is titled Scarecrow.

LA 2:00

So it starts out, and it says one year ago, and we're in Burkettesville, Indiana. And there's a newlywed couple in this little, it looks like a little small town, and they're leaving uh a restaurant, and the locals have helped them because I guess they got lost and stopped for gas. And they send them on their way. They had dinner, sent them with an apple pie. Very pleasant, Phil. Yes, very much so. And as they're saying goodbye, the husband shakes the hand of this this older man that I guess works at the shop, and his um daughter that's there, or his niece, I'm sorry, notices his he's got like a tribal tattoo on his forearm. And she's like nice tattoo. Uh, I thought that seemed a little out of place, but then it ends up becoming it's relevant later.

Berly 2:45

Yes, yeah. Like clearly, they wanted us to see that tattoo and make mental note of it. Right.

LA 2:50

So they all say their farewells and they take off. They're driving down the highway, and all of a sudden, in this one spot, their cell phones both die, and the lights on their car start going, and it just the car kind of dies, and they they're on the side of the road. They see some lights from a house kind of past some trees to the in the distance. So they get out to go check it out. Um, and it looks like they're in an apple orchard, and there's this giant scarecrow just smacking the middle of it. And I mean, it's not one of those like scrawny scarecrows with this the hay hanging out of it. It's he's fucking creepy. Yes, and he's big, like he's very big, chest, big chested, yeah.

Berly 3:29

They gave it hair, yeah.

LA 3:30

It had hair, yeah. And so they're looking at it and they're like, Oh, that's fucking creepy. And all of a sudden, as they start to leave, the woman sees the head move. That was scary. Yeah, they start hearing different noises and they start running because they're freaked out. And it's they're just they're both running together, and then out of fucking nowhere, the guy just disappears. He was gone.

Berly 3:52

He's just gone. There was no noise, there was nothing. He just was all of a sudden gone.

LA 3:57

And she's like, Vince? Or no, not his name wasn't Vince, that's the last guy. She starts calling for him, she's freaking out, she keeps running, and she eventually like stumbles over something, which ends up being his corpse.

Berly 4:07

And his face was gone.

LA 4:09

Yeah, it was ripped off.

Berly 4:10

Yeah, it was pretty gory.

LA 4:12

There's like a figure that's closing in on her as she screams and it cuts. So obviously that's a scarecrow coming after her. Then we cut to present day. We're in another hotel motel, and it picks up right where the last one left off, where Sam is taking the call from Daddy. That's where we see Jensen lets the the uh sheets slip a little. Burly gutter nip slip, she wanted. Yes, and I got to see them arms and shoulders.

Berly 4:39

It was all very nice.

LA 4:40

Yes.

Berly 4:40

In the background, Sam's in the foreground, so you had to like intentionally look for it. But we rewound. We rewounded a couple of times. And they also show Jeffrey Dean Or Morgan his eyelashes. I've never noticed before. You said that, and I looked and I was like, damn, like they're they're very thick.

LA 5:02

Yes, they're very they're plentiful. So I was like, if they were just a little bit longer, too, I'd be super jealous.

Berly 5:08

I really wanted to take an eye eyelash curler to them.

LA 5:11

Could you imagine him with some mascara on? Oh my god, beautiful, very jealous. But yeah, good, good eye there. Yeah. So Sam's chatting with dad, and dad assures them that they're okay, but they just need to trust him. He can't say where he is, but he is after the thing that killed their mom. He says it, he tells them it's a demon. Yep. So we know that now. And he tells them they have to stop looking for him. And of course, Sam being the stubborn one he is, is like, oh no, no, daddy. Hello, rebel. Ain't happening. And dad's like getting angry too. He's like, no, you gotta listen to me. But doesn't he say like that's an order or something? Yeah. And I think that's what that's what triggered Sam. He's like, Oh, fuck no, Dad.

Berly 5:54

I don't take orders. Well, you like when Sam works his jaw. He was working his jaw.

LA 5:59

Oh my god, there's love it. And uh, now in the meantime, the you know, our prodigal son Dean. I know it was his little hands out, just he's like, give me the phone, give me the phone. And it just stays there, like waiting.

Berly 6:12

Honestly, for this very short, like two-minute scene, there's just so much to look at. There was so much we have the eyelashes, we have the nipple, we have the shoulders, we have the biceps, we have Sam's jaw working. Oh, there's just like there was so much. We did it, was like it was a lot. We basically had to watch it more than once. Of course, right? We very much appreciated it. It was so much going on.

LA 6:35

But it was really funny because Dean's we were watching, and I even made the comment the hand's still there. Yeah, he's still reaching for that phone. And so he f Sam finally gets visibly pissed and gives the phone to Dean. And of course, Dean's like takes right away. I thought he dad hung up, which I th you did heartbreaking for Dean. I was like, no, but he didn't. And of course, I mean, being Dean, he's like, Yes, sir, takes that order from dad, writes down the oh, he's giving them names. He wants them to he wanted Sam to write down some names. And Sam was like, fuck no. But Dean, of course, writes down the names as daddy tells him, and yes, sir, we'll take it, take that order. We're doing it. So they look at the couple's names. It's three couples that he gave them, and they disappeared over a three-year period on the same day in April of each year.

Berly 7:23

Wasn't it like the spring equinox or something? Something like that, yeah. Something relevant.

LA 7:27

Yeah. Um, so they get to chatting. Sam's pissed. He thinks that, like, fuck this order dad gave us. Why are we doing this? We know where he is. Because Sam, I guess some somehow realized it was um from a payphone in California.

Berly 7:40

Somehow, yeah, somehow he figured out he said it was an area code from Sacramento. And keep in mind, at the end of the last episode, there was some tension between the Winchester boys.

LA 7:50

Yeah, because the Sam's fucking rage out outed itself and he shot his brother.

Berly 7:55

Yeah. Sam got experimented on or possessed or something by this doctor who released Sam's inner rage. And it turns out uh there was some rage toward Dean for sure. And that didn't really get squared away.

LA 8:11

No, Dean didn't want to have the fuzzy feelings talk. No.

Berly 8:14

So that's still going on.

LA 8:16

Yeah.

Berly 8:16

And now we've got dad on top of it. So there's just a lot of just turmoil and rage going on in the Impala on this little trip right now.

LA 8:25

The mixin' bowl is mixin'. Uh so they get in this heated discussion. As I said, Sam's gung ho to go to California, find dad, like cut this bullshit. We don't need to be do taking his orders, doing his job for him, blah, blah, blah. And Dean's writing him, hello. Dad's telling us to do this to save people. You know, we could be helping somebody. And it ends up that Sam's just like, no, I'm out of here. He's like, I'm done. Yeah. And gets gathers his stuff and starts taking off down the road. And I mean, Dean is nice to have he stands there, you know, he waits for him and gives him the chance. And Sam's like, no. And of course, I'm like, that's gonna be a long walk there, Sam. And so Dean takes off. But before he he does, he tells Sam how selfish he is.

Berly 9:15

And Sam did remind Dean, like, uh, he said, How old were you when mom died? You were four. And my girlfriend died six months ago. So he's just kind of trying to point out, like, it's a little fresh for me. Right.

LA 9:29

And so that makes sense, like, why he wants to go find dad, because dad's hunting whatever this thing is. Yeah, he wants vengeance too. Yeah.

Berly 9:35

He's, you know, killed my girlfriend. I would like to get some vengeance too. But don't discredit Dean's pain and trauma. Yeah. And Dean and Dean call them selfish and then they split their split their ways.

LA 9:48

Right. So we see Dean pulling into to Burkett'sville. The Pleasantville place. Yes. And he pulls out his phone, like goes down his contacts and finds Sam, and it looks like he's like, he wants to call him, but he doesn't. And he meets uh with one of the local guys, Scotty, which I can't remember if Scotty was there the night with the first couple or not. I feel like he was there, but maybe not.

Berly 10:13

I I think it it might have just been the aunt, uncle, and niece. Was it? But maybe you're right. Maybe that fourth person was there. Yeah.

LA 10:21

Anyway, either way, he pulls up to this place called Scotty's and he's like, let me get Scotty, because there's a man sitting up front. And Scotty is not friendly.

Berly 10:30

No. But and he did call Dean on his alias. Oh, that's right. Which I caught the alias a while back when it was um, I think it was Hamill and Ford. And so now I'm wondering if all of their aliases have been something and we just haven't caught it. We're gonna have to pay attention. We're gonna have to do better about paying attention to the aliases.

LA 10:50

This one was John Bonham.

unknown 10:51

Yes.

LA 10:52

Right away, Scotty's like, isn't that the drummer from um Zeppelin? Yeah. Yeah. I think Dean's kind of taken back. He's like, oh, heavy metal fan. Ooh. My kind of guy. But not really. They said classic rock. Yeah.

unknown 11:03

Same thing.

LA 11:04

Not really. So he shows a picture, like a missing person picture of the couple from the year before that went missing. Asks Scotty if he's seen him. Scotty says no, but it's very obvious Scotty's like got something.

Berly 11:19

What's that song that's like Scotty Don't Know? Isn't that a song?

LA 11:23

Yeah, I think there's something. Anywho, then we go to Sam, who somehow the way they do this sometimes. I mean, he's been hitchhiking, walking. I can't believe that he's been walking backwards for quite some time that he didn't see this girl just in his way. But somehow he stumbles upon her and is like, oh, there's a beautiful young girl there. And she's on her headphones, doesn't see him. He taps her shoulder, scares the shit out of her. They get to talking. Oh my god. And then this was what bothered me is a white van pulls up as they're chatting. It's literally got the cage behind the front seats. So it's like caged in the back. No windows. Yeah. And he comes by and the girl's like, okay, picking up her stuff, she's getting in. And the guy in the van's like, I'm not taking you to Sam. Yeah. And so Sam's like, You're gonna pick creepy van guy over me. And she's like, Oh yeah. Dumb bitch.

Berly 12:18

Well, but we find out by the end of this.

LA 12:21

True, sure, sure.

Berly 12:22

But she could take care of herself. Okay, but still. Even if I could take care of myself, I would have let Sam take care of me. I would have been with Sam in many ways. I would have definitely picked Sam over creepy, creepy Van Guy for sure. Yeah.

LA 12:36

And then we're back to Dean. He is talking with the is it George Sons? George Sons? It's with a J, which is Scandinavian. I know though that spelling is Scandinavian, but anyway. The Georgesons are the ones that the couple from the year before were chatting with, had eaten, and gave the apple pie and said their goodbyes. That's who the Georgesons are.

Berly 13:00

The aunt and uncle.

LA 13:01

Yeah. And they've got like a little store. Their niece recognizes. I mean, Dee goes in there and shows the pictures again, and the niece recognizes the husband, because I guess she probably had the hots for him with that tattoo. Right.

Berly 13:12

And the aunt and uncle were like, no, we've never seen them before. Never, never, never. And then they the niece was like, wait a minute. Yes, we have. Don't you remember? That was red flag number one.

LA 13:22

Right. And she remembers, she specifically mentions his tattoo, because that's what she remembered. And they tell them that they headed off towards the highway, and Dean asks for those directions. So, you know. So then we're back with Sam. He's at a five, I finally made it to a bus station. And of course, I think the lady he wanted to be leaving pretty soon. She's like, no, it's not ready until there's not gonna be one where you're going until five tomorrow. He's like, There's gotta be a better, better way. And she says, Yeah, there is. Buy a car. Right. And I was like, man, she just called you a loser. She was not having it. She was sassy. And lo and behold, he turns around and who's there? Pretty pretty blonde hitchhiker Meg is sitting there. Fabulous boots. For sure, yeah. I liked her boots. And she, I mean, that she's wearing that shortcut haircut. Yeah. That pixie cut. Yeah. Very cute. So they decide they get to chatting and go to a cafe and sit down and oh wait.

Berly 14:23

They weren't at they stayed in the bus station, weren't they? Yeah.

LA 14:25

I mean they had food and snacks. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry, sorry.

Berly 14:28

I feel like they had beer.

LA 14:29

They did, they did. What bus station serves beer? So, yeah, they're at the gas station at a table. They're having they each have like two beers in front of them and like some Cheeto puffs and stuff, and they're chatting. Bonding over their rebellious. Yeah. So she basically tells Sam that she had what she had issues with her family, and she just, you know, they she decided she wanted to be independent and live her own life. And they thought that, you know, she needed to be careful, smart, but not too smart to scare off a husband and all that kind of thing. And so that's why she took off on her own. And Sam's like, I totally know what you mean. And they're kindred spirits and they cheers to them. And oh, they're bonding, whatever. Dean is back. He goes into the cafe, Scotty's cafe, and sees a couple in there. Or actually, no, before he saw the niece and saw that there was a car being fixed, asked about it. Oh, yeah. And she was like, Oh, yeah, it's a couple that were fixed. Um, my uncle's fixing the brake lines. And he's like, Well, that's fucking weird.

Berly 15:30

Yeah.

LA 15:31

Um, and the fact that it's a couple, I think, is what alerted him. So he finds them in the cafe, starts chatting them up. They end up telling him that they just stopped for gas, and the local mechanic would kind of check their car out and notice that their brake line was um leaking and offers to fix it for them, but says that, you know, it won't be fixed till sundown. Convenient. Mm-hmm. So Dean, Dean's effort here. Bless him.

Berly 15:56

Bless him.

LA 15:57

Like, he's just trying to be like, hey, so you know, I I know how to work on cars. I can fix that brake line for you just in like an hour. And the lady's like, no, and I mean, thanks, but we'll we'd rather have the mechanic fix it. And he's like, Okay, okay. You might be in danger, though. Then he's like, is that what he says? At some point he does. Yeah, he's I mean, he's really trying, but he's not good with people like Sam.

Berly 16:21

Like, Sam made the comment about if I just could, you know, flash some puppy dog eyes at you, you would have listened. Like something like Sam, yeah.

LA 16:29

But he's just being like a creep, which is crazy because he's so fucking cute. So hot. Oh my god, he's so funny. He's still just being a creep. Like, okay, guys, yeah.

Berly 16:38

Let me let me help you. So awkward. But that sheriff was a little excessive, okay? Yeah. Scotty, Scotty's like, leave my customers alone. And then the sheriff comes in. Yeah.

LA 16:51

Sheriff comes in, like, leans over the table, is like, come on, you gotta go. Which Sam or Dean has done nothing. So that was my problem with it. I was like, he's literally done nothing. What are they gonna like do?

Berly 17:02

He was awkward.

LA 17:03

Come on.

Berly 17:03

Well, I mean, that's you can't run somebody out of town for being awkward, right? Like kick him out of the restaurant. Okay, but then then we see him.

LA 17:10

Yeah, we see the cop running literally following him behind, and it shows sign of him having to leave the area. Entire town. Yeah. Uh then, I mean, oh, that's when it pans to Sam and Meg doing their little bonding. Then it comes back to Dean after um nightfall, and sure enough, he's just driving right back into town. And his car starts to flash lights or whatever at that same spot where the couples did before, and his EMF reader, EMF, EMF reader, is going crazy in the backseat. And he finally finds it. And I've like the whole time that he's used it on the show, I haven't seen seen it going that crazy.

Berly 17:47

And EMF stands for electromagnetic field detector.

LA 17:51

Yes.

Berly 17:51

I learned that from the ghost hunters. Oh, yeah.

LA 17:55

So he sees so since the EMF reader's going off like crazy, he pulls over, and of course, he's right there at the apple orchard, and we see that uh the couple from the cafe are in the apple orchard, already kind of having already running and already freaked out, already scared. Scarecrow's after him. Dean jumps right in front of the couple the first time we see the scarecrow. So Dean's just like right there in front of him. He's got that short shotgun that I like, and starts shooting. Like he tells the couple run, start shooting at scarecrow, and it's doing fucking nothing to him. Like normally when he does it, though, even if it's like this ghost or spirits, they disappear or whatever. Nothing's happened to this scarecrow. He's still coming. And they end up going to the exit of the orchard, and the scarecrow disappears. So I guess he's just he can't leave that orchard.

Berly 18:43

And earlier in the episode, Dean went to the orchard to investigate himself and saw the scarecrow. Oh my god, I totally forgot about that part. Well, there's only one thing that happens in it that's important. He goes up on the ladder and looks at the scarecrow, and it has the fucking tattoo. The skin. The skin and the tattoo from the first couple that we saw at the very beginning of the episode. So confirmed, shady fucking scary scarecrow is shady fucking and scary. For sure.

LA 19:14

And Dean's like, nah, this shit's not something.

Berly 19:17

He called it fugly.

LA 19:18

He's like, man, you're fugly. You're fugly. I totally forgot. That was like that was why the tattoo was relevant. Okay, so Sam or Dean saved the day with a couple, tells them to high kick it out of town. Why do I keep saying high kick it? I keep meaning to say, Yeah, get it. What is it? Out of dodge. Hightail it out of dodge or something. I say get the fuck out of dodge. Hightail it. High kick it. Get the fuck out of dodge. Anyway, that's what he tells the couple to do. So then it cuts to we see Sam on the phone, and who's he talking to?

Berly 19:52

Big brother. Big bro. Big bro, Dean. We don't know who called who, though. Right, yeah. That bothered me.

LA 19:59

The recap says Dean checks in with Sam, but I'm like, oh, how do you know that? Because we don't know. We didn't see that. We didn't see who called who. But basically, Dean is catching Sam up, like kind of kind of running things by him just to see what he thinks. And they conclude that this scarecrow is a manifestation of a pagan god that takes the couples like as a sacrifice, and like the locals fatten them up with their food and the apple pie. And it's off they're offering them up as like a fertility sacrifice. Yeah.

Berly 20:30

And this scene was adorable because they like were apologizing to each other. They were apologizing, but not apologizing. Right. And Sam, you could tell Sam just smiling, which Jared Pedalecki has dimples. I've never noticed before. Oh my god, I love him even more now. But they just were so cute with each other in this little phone conversation.

LA 20:49

That's where um Dean's telling him like how he's proud of him. He's proud of him that he stood up to dad. And then he's always known what he wanted to do, and he's done it, and just like, oh, if I was if I was Sam, I'd be like, thank you.

Berly 21:03

And also, he's like, you know, I don't have my nerdy sidekick to help me with the research. So I'm going to this community college. I think that's when Jared Padleck, or I should use the character name. Sam. That's when Sam smiles. And I think that's when I yelled at you. Does he have dimples?

LA 21:23

Oh, so cute. Um, but yeah, it was a sweet moment. I liked it.

Berly 21:27

Yes.

LA 21:28

And yeah, so then Dean does go meet with a local professor who barely discovered is the cigarette man from X-Files.

Berly 21:36

I tell you what though, he looks, I feel like he almost looked older in this than the X-Files. Well, X Files was in the 90s, so it makes sense that he looks older. That's true. Yeah.

LA 21:45

Keep thinking this show started way later than it did.

Berly 21:48

Or I mean way earlier than it did. A lot of it gives me 90s vibes, but then they pull out cell phones, and that's what reminds me it's not nineties.

LA 21:56

I don't know why. Because when you were saying that, I was like, well, those about the same time these were. Filmed. But it's not.

Berly 22:02

I did think he was gonna play a much larger character as we reached the conclusion of the show.

LA 22:09

Total cameo.

Berly 22:10

Yeah. It was literally one or two scenes, and that was it. Maybe a minute long on screen. Yeah. I was surprised that once I figured out, yeah, that is the cigarette man, that by the time I figured it out and confirmed it with Google, he was no longer a part of the episode.

LA 22:26

Yeah. Um, and so he's a local professor at the community college, which like scene-wise, we were watching it. I think you pointed out what community college is this? It's a really nice college. This banister on this fabulous staircase, all wood. It was real nice. Yeah. Not like our community college. No.

Berly 22:45

Maybe because it's a small town. I don't know. Maybe. Yeah. Maybe it's the only college within like a hundred mile radius or something. So they have to make it nice. Not really, but another red flag. It was weird.

LA 22:57

Anyway, this guy provides Dean with books on Scandinavian descent. Particularly, he points out this Norse god named Veneer. Basically, is he the one that tells them about the tree? I think so. I thought it was the niece. Maybe. Okay. Anyway.

Berly 23:14

I didn't take as detail the notes because I knew I wasn't doing the recap.

LA 23:18

The book is really cool. It's like a huge book that he's showing him, and it's got all these pictures. Yeah, pictures, illustrations in it, and one of them definitely looks like a scarecrow. Dean even mentions it, and the professor's like, maybe. Even though it clearly fucking looks like a scarecrow scarecrow. Uh so Dean get has all the information he needs. And so he knows that there must be, I think they mentioned that there must be some sort of tree in the grove that's connected to veneer, the scarecrow. And so Dean starts to take off, and lo and behold, who's right out the side of the door? The excessive, aggressive sheriff. Yeah. But what with the bat the butt of his shotgun knocks him out. Yeah. Yet again, unnecessary force. Yeah. I don't like this. I don't like this sheriff. I don't like this sheriff. Then we see the townsfolk, the couple that own the little shop, Scotty and the sheriff, all under their umbrellas in the ring discussing what the fuck they're gonna do to save this town because they don't have their sacrifice. Like they're in on it. They're the ones doing this stuff.

Berly 24:24

And they're talking about who they're gonna do, and the uncle's going, why does it have to be her? And so LA and I figured out, oh, they're gonna do the niece. Because she's an orphan. Yes, and she's living there with her aunt and uncle. She's only been there for a few years and all of this.

LA 24:41

Well, and they don't have the couple, so they've got Dean. They've got their gum up. They want him the hell out of there. And so what's what other choice do they have unless somebody comes through town, which doesn't happen very often. So they're gonna sacrifice their niece.

Berly 24:52

And obviously, none of them are gonna step up to the plate to do it because they haven't been for at least three years. So we know that. And anybody who has seen Hot Fuzz, it was very much like the town in hot fuzz. I think they even basically said something along the lines of for the greater good. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. For the greater good.

LA 25:13

Because, oh, and that's the most important part is that they they know Veneer is angry. Veneer, veneer is angry because it's the seventh day. This is their last day to make this sacrifice. So Veneer hasn't gotten what he wanted. So yeah, that's their last ditch efforts. And that's when they, like you said, decided to do those two. Not do those two. Sacrifice those two. Yes, let's be clear. So then we see we're back with Sam and the bus is arriving. He's been trying to get a hold of Dean, like he's on the phone, calling him one after another, not getting a hold of him. He knows something's up. Meg comes over and is like, what are you doing? She's like, I he's like, I gotta go. You know, I have I've been trying to call Dean for three hours. Let's not like him. She's like, Oh, maybe son died. And he's like, No, no, something's not right. And she's just like really not having it, but Sam's like, peace out, bitch, and takes off to go find his brother. The town townsfolk, townsfolk, have put Emily, the niece, and Dean in this um shed basement thing.

Berly 26:18

It was like a tornado shelter. Yeah. But I think that's because we're like Texas, Oklahoma area. We we see something like that, and that's what we think is a emergency shelter. But maybe it was just storage or something. Because I think, didn't you say it's Indiana? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So I don't know if it would be, but it was like a storage thing. But yes, it was it was underground. It definitely the doors opened up like a tornado shelter. And they locked them in.

LA 26:42

Yeah. And so they're in there, and Dean's just I think he was suspicious that she was in on it until this happened. And so clearly he knows she's not in on it. And he starts asking her if there's if she knows of any kind of like special tree in the orchard or around town that's like different from the others. And she mentions that there is a tree that they call the first tree, that the um the people that came over from Scandinavia brought this tree with them and planted it, and it's called they call it the first tree. And so Dean makes a correlation that this is the tree that's you know connected to the scarecrow. He needs this is the one he needs to destroy. And Emily tells him she knows it's in the orchard, but she doesn't know exactly which one or where it is. And then we see these lovely town folk dragging an innocent person, yeah, dragging Emily, the niece and Dean into the orchard, tying them to the trees. Yes, and leaving them for dead, basically. And Emily is just like begging her aunt and uncle. Horrible. Her uncle very visibly is like not comfortable with this. And I think that's when the aunt says it's like, you know, the the greater for the many than the one or something like that, like you were saying.

Berly 27:58

First, Sam came and saved them. Yeah, tied them.

LA 28:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But but I mean the townspeople there tied them up. They had this little chit-chat with the niece and just basically telling her, you know, shut up and shut up and do it.

Berly 28:12

Your sacrifice is for the greater good. Yeah, you're the only one. Sorry. Yeah. It's like, is she? Because I see a woman right there. Yeah, a couple tying her up.

LA 28:22

Literally. The aunt and the uncle. You're literally a couple. So then, okay, so they so they take off, and Sam and Emily are tied up. They're just like, you know, Emily's upset, trying to get away. They hear something coming. We, of course, think it's the scarecrow, but who is it? Bye, the brothel. It's Sammy. It's a little Sammy. He unties them, they start taking off, and I think they were gonna come back in the morning, maybe.

Berly 28:48

Yeah, they were trying to get the hell out of there. But then the aunt and the uncle and the sheriff and Scotty are all of a sudden are there with guns and flashlights. Yes. Yeah. And they dramatically turned on each flashlight one at a time. One turned it on, and then another one, and then another one. It was like they rehearsed that for sure. Yeah, they they they've done this before. Yes. They were like, we want to be ultra dramatic. We gotta go one at a time.

LA 29:11

So that's what I was gonna say about the uncle because he seemed, like I said, he was visibly upset. He was like even seemed angry with the wife when they were tying Emily up, like what she was saying.

Berly 29:19

Right.

LA 29:19

And then now that they're late, they have them surrounded, he's like, Emily, just take it. Like, just do it. He's like, just like, what are you doing? I was like, that's a big turn, their uncle. Um, but he gets what's coming to him because the guy's uh the scarecrow sickle goes right through the chest. And probably we see it pop out through his heart. Yes. And then I thought this was so I don't know why my I'm I'm weird about ankles and stuff, but um, because like you know, when you're you're little and you think the monster's under the bed. Yeah. And I'm there was some still thinking every once in a while. As an adult, like I've seen some of those movies where they like slice the Achilles tendon so you can't even fucking walk.

Berly 30:05

Oh I still check under. I think I told I think I've said this recently actually. I still will look under my car sometimes whenever I'm walking to my car.

LA 30:12

Oh, yeah.

Berly 30:12

Make sure nobody's under there.

LA 30:14

You can't be too careful, but yeah, so he stabbed the the uncle through the heart or whatever, and then he just grabs the ant by the throat, and then he puts the sickle in the uncle's ankle and starts dragging him along.

Berly 30:30

Yeah, because the uncle fell. After he did the sickle in the chest and pulled it out, the uncle fell down. So the uncle's on the ground now, and he's got the ant. And yeah, he just straight up went like just hooked him. Yeah. And started carrying him.

LA 30:43

So he got the couple that we thought should have gone. Snaps. Yes.

Berly 30:48

Got what you deserved.

LA 30:50

And then the lovely other townsfolk, because they're all cowards and terrible people, just take off. They don't, they're not gonna fucking hook them. They're like, okay, good, he got what he wanted. Let's go. So then it's the next morning, and we found they find the tree. It's got runes on it. And that's, I mean, it it looks completely different from all the other trees in the orchard. And they're uh Sam and Dean are putting uh fuel on it and everything, and uh Dean's about to put the twig that's on fire in it, and Emily's like, No, no, no, no, let me do it. She's like, let those fuckers burn. Uh so she lights the tree on fire, kills this pagan god. Job done. Job well done. Yep, that's that. And then they see Emily off on a bus. Uh, it looks like she's heading to Boston. Don't know what she's gonna do about Bush. Yeah, I never explained that. Yeah, good for her. Yeah. And as they're walking back to the car, Dean's like, you know, where where should I drop you off? Like, where should I take you? And Sam's like, oh no, I think you're stuck with me. And they they have another little moment where Sam's like, you know, it's you know, I know Jessica and mom died, you know, it's been a while or whatever. And you know, I do want to find dad, but we're gonna do it together. We're codependent. Together. Uh so I thought that was the end of the episode. It was not.

Berly 32:19

No.

LA 32:21

Oh my god, yes. We see another creepy van. This one's black. Yeah, different. And it had windows. True. Meg's got a thing for men and vans. Yes, she does. She's the one in the van with him. And the guy is, you know, where do you want to go, little lady? And she tells him to go ahead and pull over, and he's like, Okay. Yes. Okay. Let's do it. And she's like, I gotta make a call. So she pulls out this cauldron. Like silver. It doesn't look right. And I'm like, It's got skulls on it? A call? And he's like, I think he offers her his cell phone and she's like, she's and she reaches and goes, it's not that kind of call. Yeah, she reaches in the bowl and picks out something that's like a knife in between her like middle finger and whatever. She's like, it's not that kind of call. Slits his throat. Yeah, like gathers the blood in her cauldron. I did not see this coming. No. And so then she starts, she puts her finger in it and circling around doing some sort of incantation or whatever. And she's like, Why? Why did you like why did I why did I have to let Sam go? I could have taken them both on. And then she's like, it's like she's like listening, and she's like, okay. She's like, okay, yes, yes, father.

Berly 33:35

And the blood was like boiling or something.

LA 33:38

It was circling like something was going on in there. But yeah, and so that's how it ends. Yeah. So what the fuck is up?

Berly 33:44

What is that? Who is Meg? Who is she talking to? That was the most exciting part of this whole episode. I was like, what? Yes. I loved it. I loved the ending.

LA 33:56

So now you've got to tell us the lore. This lore is about this one.

Berly 34:01

Well, for the gore. I mean, the the face being ripped off at the beginning. And then Meg at the end. Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. Those were the gory things. This wasn't a too, too gory episode. This one was kind of like the last one where it's just like more the creep factor and the scarecrow and all of that. So for the lore, the veneer is not an actual god. It's actually a type of god.

unknown 34:30

Oh.

Berly 34:30

Okay. Not much is known about Norse mythology or the mythology of religious beliefs of the peoples that predate Christianity in Northern Germanic Europe and Scandinavia. There are very few sources in Old Norse and hang on, I I Googled this. Futhark. Futhark, uh, which is the written language of the Northern peoples from 800 to 1400 CE, which is now known as the Viking Age.

LA 35:00

Oh, interesting. Because I I always thought part of like why we don't have much about the Vikings is because they didn't have they didn't write it down. It was, it's like all by Well, I think they wrote it down at a certain point, but before that it was all word of mouth and stories told about them.

Berly 35:16

A lot of it was, but there are sources. It's just so much of the North's mythology is weathered, fragmented, and destroyed. So there's stuff out there, it's just so fucked up that it's fucking old. Yeah, it's really old, so we don't know exactly what it says. Okay. Is the problem. Uh, but there is some poetry and memorials that have been carved into stones from the early Viking Age. And most n old Norse sources come from an early 13th century Icelandic historian, poet, and chieftain who's named Snorri Sturleson. Oh, that's a good name. That's a good name.

LA 36:00

I'm gonna name my first child Snorri.

Berly 36:02

Snorri, S-N-O-R-R-I. I like it. So much of the academics and historians following the Viking Age thought they knew about Norse mythology, uh, that it often came from sources which were written centuries later by Christian writers, actually. So these writers had the tendency to exaggerate and fill in gaps of knowledge. Oh, but what? Yeah, I know, right? Oh my. The entirely invented stories simply intended to fascinate readers with the magical and wild mythos of Vikings and their North mythology, gods and goddesses. Regardless, Norse mythology seems to be a consistent kind of string of stories, folklore, and descriptions of the gods and explanations for the nature of the cosmos and the world in which the Norse peoples lived.

LA 36:55

I always find it fascinating when you like look at each religion. I took like a I took one religion class in college.

Berly 37:00

Oh my god, you must be an expert.

LA 37:03

But like when you look at different religions, like when you really think about it, I mean, they're pretty similar. So much of it's the same. It's like it's guys, we're all talking the same thing, just different storylines and things like that. And then like some of like the multi-god whatever, but like Catholicism could be the same thing with the saints and whatnot. But um, but yeah, I I always like it when they tie it into like the cosmos and things like that. And I don't know, it's just it's interesting. Yes.

Berly 37:32

But yeah, I mean, to your point, in most instances, most, being a good person is pretty like global, right? There's pretty global standards for whether or not you're a good person or a shitty person.

LA 37:45

And there's like a something higher than all of us that we're we're preaching, well not preaching to, praying to and you know, asking for things or forgiving, asking for forgiveness and whatnot.

Berly 37:56

Anyway, what makes up Norse mythology and its gods occupied the minds of the peoples who's explored, battled, and settled from Scandinavia to the edge of the Black Sea, and in the other direction to Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, and even North America. I want to go to all those places. I know. I want to go to North America. I've done 23andMe. I've done I, or not 23andMe, I did uh what's the other one? Ancestry. Oh, yeah. I'm a European mutt, which was which is what I've always told people. Yeah. But I didn't know exactly what that consisted of. And now I know I am 28% Scottish, 24% English and Northwestern Europe, 19% Sweden and Denmark. Hey, 12% Irish, 10% Wales.

LA 38:48

Oh, oh, your boy in Wales. Michael Sheen. Yeah. 10%. Woo! I need to do that. Because like my mom's side is Irish. She was born in Ireland. Um, and then on the other side, my dad, we always thought it was we're Norwegian. The family actually came from Norway. I think I'm sixth generation from Norway. But his ancestry said we were more Dutch than Norwegian. So I don't know. Let's find out for sure. I know.

Berly 39:20

Okay, but anyway, back to North. Sorry. Sorry, we gotta talk about ourselves sometimes. It's really important. Our listeners are dying to know. So the gods of the north exist among two pantheons, the Icer and the Veneer.

LA 39:38

Oh, okay.

Berly 39:40

Yeah, so veneer is not a god, it's one of the two pantheons of god.

LA 39:46

Okay.

Berly 39:46

But a later pantheon who warred with the Icier before the pantheons merged into one. Oh, okay. But both pantheons of gods mainly come from two of at least nine realms, which we know that from Thor. Yes. We know about the nine realms, the nine different realms from Thor and all that. And the rainbow brick. Yes. So specifically, the veneer are the gods responsible for fertility, wealth, wisdom, foresight, and commerce. Oh. Or so for somebody who's in the veneer to be associated with this town doing well, it definitely makes sense.

LA 40:28

Oh, that was one thing I forgot to mention when he was talking with uh Emily, didn't he? He was she was like, It's weird. The town, everyone around us, they're falling apart, everybody's having to leave, but we're it's like we're blessed.

Berly 40:39

Yes. And it wasn't just the orchard, right? Right. All their businesses were miraculously doing well, even though no one ever comes to your town. Well, she even said she was like, I mean, it's weird because we're kind of the boonies, but somehow they're booming. Right. It's not just so fertility, wealth, wisdom, foresight, and commerce. The Pantheon, Pantheon consists of 11 gods, but I'm just gonna talk about two of the more well-known ones who happen to sound like they would be applicable to this little little boondocks town. Okay, not boondocks town, this little boonies town. So, first we have Freya. She's the goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, gold, war, and death.

LA 41:26

Oh, oh, okay. There's a lot of positives and negatives in there.

Berly 41:30

Okay. She got a mixed bag. So a story includes her coming upon four dwarves and the most beautiful jewelry necklace called Brasingaman. Freya begs the dwarves to allow her to purchase the flaming necklace and for the dwarves to name their price. They instead ask that she spend a night with each of them in exchange for the necklace.

LA 41:58

Oh my.

Berly 41:59

She says, hell yeah. Oh shit. She's game. Okay. Then there's another story that involves the necklace being stolen by Loki. Freya appears.

LA 42:12

Freya was Loki's mom in the book of comics, right?

Berly 42:16

I don't know if it's the same one.

LA 42:17

I don't either, but I know I'm pretty sure her name was Freya. Anyway. Freya.

Berly 42:22

Yeah.

LA 42:22

Freya. It's a comic.

Berly 42:25

Well, it's comic, and also Loki like turns into a horse and gets pregnant somehow. So I mean Yeah, yeah. Liberties. They took liberties. They they do stuff. So Freya normally appears wearing a cloak of falcon feathers. And within stories, she rides a chariot pulled by two cats. Interesting. Okay. Little kitties. Yeah, and she's normally accompanied by a boar whose name is Tildus Vinny. Okay. Freya accompanies her father to I Sair after the war. And she lives in a home called Folk Vanger. There she plays an important role for the afterlife and fates in the cosmos with North mythology. So that's Freya. Now we have Freyr. Make sure I'm saying that right. Freyr, Icelandic. Freyr? Freyer? Freyr. We're not gonna try saying that again. Y'all are just gonna have to deal with Freyr. He.

LA 43:33

Just say Freyr. He.

Berly 43:36

Freyr. He is Freya's brother. Because he's also the son of Njord and Scotty, which are apparently like the two like Zeus and whatever, like they're the two main ones. You know what I mean? Like, you know how in Greek mythology almost everybody is a son or daughter of Zeus? Yeah. Like that's what these kind of people are. And he is the god of phallic fratern phallic fertility. Which I mean I guess that means nuts, like semen. Yeah. Virility, benevolence, and prosperity.

LA 44:09

He doesn't have as much going on as his sister.

Berly 44:11

No, not quite as much. And he was awarded the Realm of the Elves, Alphimir, as a teething present.

LA 44:21

Oh, like when he was a baby?

Berly 44:22

I guess so. Interesting. Okay.

LA 44:25

I don't think that helped him with his teething.

Berly 44:27

No, probably not. And in a collection of anonymously written Old Norse poems, Frere rides a shining boar made by the dwarves and also has a magic ship, which always has a favorable breeze.

unknown 44:44

Oh.

Berly 44:45

And it can be folded up and put into his pocket. Stop it. Yeah. Super convenient. Super convenient.

LA 44:52

I mean, can I put my car in my pocket? No.

Berly 44:55

No.

unknown 44:55

Damn it.

Berly 44:56

And is there is there always a favorable breeze for travel and all that? No. Man, he had a good. Super convenient. There's a story of him possessing a magic sword, which he must give up in order to fight a giant and win his wife. He wins without the sword and defeats the giant with an antler instead. What? Resourceful. He's very resourceful. Wow, okay. And in Norse mythology, that tells the end of the world of gods and men. They call the end times Ragnarok, as we as we know. And he, Fairer, is fated to die during Ragnarok because he doesn't have his magic sword. I guess he never picked it back up. What about the antlers? They ain't magic. Maybe not as resourceful as we thought, after all. So that was a cute little snort. So that's that's what I pulled for the veneer. Again, there's a total of 11 of them, so I wouldn't be able to go through all of them. But those were the two that based off of like them being, you know, commerce and prosperity and all that, that I thought maybe they had something to do with that tree.

LA 46:09

I have to say this these last two episodes, the lore, it's like I'd like to dive a little more into them. It could be fun. Yeah.

Berly 46:16

But yeah, the scarecrow thing that doesn't really come into Norse mythology.

LA 46:21

Well, they're pay basically considered pagan gods.

Berly 46:24

Yeah. So well, they're pagan gods, but I mean, you know how in the book there was a book where there's a picture of a scarecrow. Yeah. That wasn't that's not real. Right. That was just for supernatural lore.

LA 46:36

Yeah. It's crazy because like I've always like my whole life I'm identified as like half Scandinavian, half Ir Irish for my family, like we were saying. And then I'm like, I don't know anything about the Dutch. Which I think that is part of Scandinavia. Dane the Danes are, but I don't know much about Danish culture.

Berly 46:57

Me neither. Am I?

LA 46:58

Compared to Sweden and Norway. Yeah.

Berly 47:00

So I don't know much about any of it, to be honest. Oh, you gotta look up your hands, that's right.

LA 47:06

Well, you're mostly Scottish, right? Yeah. Hey James McAvoy. I need a history lesson. Or Ramsey.

Berly 47:16

Well, to close out the episode, a quote that we both got a nice little chuckle out of. Yes. I hope your apple pie is freaking worth it. Cheers. Thank you for listening to this episode of Denim Wrapped Nightmares, a supernatural podcast. End-to-end production is by Burley Land. Music is by David Fesleyan. This episode is co-hosted by Burley and LA. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review or rating. It helps other supernatural fans find the show. And if you choose to drink, please drink responsibly. This was fun.

LA 47:52

Jerk. It always is.