SPN 6:15: The French Mistake

[oselle]

Nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, and in fact I laughed at a lot of it.

I think it worked because they kept the meta confined to mocking themselves -- the show itself is depicted as a somewhat out-of-control, low-rated mess, Sera Gamble has to endure being told that she's "new" and Jared and Jensen probably "don't know who she is," Jared and Jensen are a couple of extravagant rich brats who can't stand each other, Misha is constantly Tweeting his fans, Eric is a shallow Hollywood jerk (who very delightfully gets slaughtered by the real angel).

Genevieve must have been thrilled because she not only got herself back on television but had yet another chance to pimp her real-life wedding photos (and on primetime TV nonetheless!), thereby reminding everyone THAT SHE IS MARRIED TO JARED in case we missed her being credited as "Genevieve Padalecki" instead of "Genevieve Cortese." Part of me suspects her portrayal of "herself" as an insufferable "Real Housewife"-style bitch was not necessarily the over-the-top parody that she probably thought it was. I somehow have little trouble picturing her decorating her house with giant Andy Warhol-style portraits of herself.

Best of all, though, was that real clip of Jensen as baby-faced Eric Brady from his soap opera days. That was absolutely frigging priceless.

The only little thing that I think might have been a dig at the J2 slash obsession was the title, "The French Mistake," which refers to a flamboyantly gay musical number in the movie Blazing Saddles. Urban Dictionary describes a "French Mistake" as "When an otherwise straight male is persuaded to, or on a whim in the heat of the moment, engages in a homosexual act (anal sex) of which he later regrets and is ashamed."...which of course could very adequately describe the plot of numerous J2 RPS fics. However, the entire "French Mistake" scene in Blazing Saddles takes place at the end of the movie, when the whole story surrealistically erupts into an outlandish meta parody of moviemaking, which is what this episode was about, so you can take the title either way. If it was a dig at J2 RPS, it was at least a clever one.

Plus it was tied (albeit thinly) to an actual season-relevant plot about the war in heaven. So all in all, not the fan-kicking disaster I thought it was going to be. You win this one, Show.

Comments

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

ayup, far better than last week, no question. this is the first time in several weeks i didn't want to throw something at the tv, or yell at it, or turn it off...

its a shame all edlunds characters are caricatures at heart but even his caricatures of characters have more character than anything we've seen recently that was supposed to BE character development...

so its a win...

i guess...

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Edlund knows how to write a good script and has a deft hand at comedy. In anyone else's hands, an episode like this would really have been a trainwreck.

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the show this week. Everybody was good in their roles, and I loved watching Sam and Dean try to act as Jared and Jensen. Misha was cute, and it was fun to see him as a parody of himself, as well as dour Castiel.

And the slaughter at the end was an over the top wonderful surprise.

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

it was definitely funny...

sort of like brazil...

and it actually advanced the plot...

its just...hard...to stay attached to a show that makes itself into a self mockery all the time now...

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I know. Eric Kripke going down in a hail of bullets. I think that was fan service, don't you? :)

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I think they wind up mocking themselves a whole lot more when they do it unintentionally. This at least was supposed to be parody.

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

the ruby thing was actually pretty funny, but does she really call herself padalecki now? i thought actors all kept their original names as part of their 'brand'...or was that just for THIS show...

[oselle.livejournal.com]

In the opening credits she was listed as "Genevieve Padalecki."

[mulder200.livejournal.com]

Wow! It's such a relief to hear the eps. didn't suck.

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

yup, i definitely noticed that, but that's my question...it was...surprising...but is it her new 'official' stage name now? or just for THIS show, just to make a point with the tinhats...

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....

sigh...

[oselle.livejournal.com]

If it was just for this show, I doubt it was directed at the tinhats, probably more at casual viewers who otherwise might not have gotten the joke that "Jared's wife" was being played by his real wife. But I suspect it IS her official working name now since I've heard she's been trying to turn being Jared's wife into a money-making venture.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

It really did not suck. Color me surprised.

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

say what????????? 'a money making venture?' you mean besides getting the ad for hair care products placed on spn every other week?

[morganslady.livejournal.com]

I thought they did a great job. It could have gone either way, it went toward the plus side..

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I've never seen her in a haircare ad.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Yep. Thank goodness. Maybe they realized that overtly mocking their fans isn't the best business strategy.

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

i am JUST about positive she was on tonight and two weeks ago in an ad for some shampoo, i recall seeing a magazine spread she was in that was similar a few months ago...if it wasn't her, it was her sister/cousin/doppleganger

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

only mocking the 'very few' of us who watch...3 mil, is that such a small number? really? REALLY? world wide? 3 mill is more people than i've ever met...but ya know its not LOST or CSI...so its mock worthy...

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

yes twop confirms she is the one in the shampoo ad, also the post is filled with other spoilers for future eps so i can't read it closely but the extract referred to it

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

o.m.g.!!!

is the title the clue to why j and j aren't TALKING ANYMORE in this universe??????????????


you are so smart to look that up and i am so smart to figure that out :>

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Well, if that is her in the shampoo commercial, I highly doubt her marriage to Jared has much to do with the placement. The network doesn't get to pick which spots run on the show, it's the advertisers who select where they want to place commercials, and their decisions are based on demographics, not on whether the actress in a commercial happens to married to an actor on the show. Neither Jared nor Genevieve is a big enough star to influence how an advertiser is going to spend their money.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I think that was more a joke at their own perpetually struggling ratings.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

is the title the clue to why j and j aren't TALKING ANYMORE in this universe??????????????

I suspect the Jared and Jensen not-talking bit was a little jibe at all the recent rumors that there has been "trouble on the set," and not a reference to an actual "French mistake" between the two of them.

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

edlund has always enjoyed playing the mocking gay love card, and the context is...pointed, barbed even...like most of his humor...

i'm just saying its pretty anvilicious, with the title and the constant references to j2 and them not talking, jensen never having been to their house since jared got married, the constant cracks gen refers to about her being 'ruby'...

um...