Supernatural (TV Series) It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester (2008) User Reviews

Choices

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 28 May 2010]

Two days before Halloween, Luke Wallace swallows four razor blades after eating a Halloween candy and dies. Sam and Dean use their fake identity of FBI agents to investigate the mysterious murder case; then the teenager Jenny also dies and the Winchester brothers conclude that a witch is behind the bizarre crimes. Castiel and the aggressive Uriel visit them and disclose that the witch Tracy Davis is summoning the demon Samahain, breaking another seal to release Lucifer. The angels tell that they will withdraw Sam and Dean from the doomed town that they will destroy, but the brothers do not accept the proposal and decide to destroy the evil witch.

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester" is another great episode of Supernatural where the Winchester brothers need to face a powerful witch. Considering the discussion of the Celtic god or demon Samhain aside, this episode is engaging with the dark angels Castiel and Uriel having important roles. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Dia das Bruxas" ("Halloween")

Oíche Shamhna

[lirmihn · 9/10 · 30 August 2021]

I'm still delighted, like the last ~ 20 times I've seen this episode, with the story line.

And, like every other time I've watched it, I grit my teeth each time someone says SamHane.

It is SOWen, or SAVen if you're Scottish.

For folks who managed to spit out a gut-full of decent Latin on a regular basis, this was like glass screeching down a chalkboard to descendants of anyone with a brogue or a burr.

Never the less, here in 2020, still love the boys, love the cast, love the series!

Just had to get that off my chest.

Sláinte!

Halloween

[zombiehigh18 · 7/10 · 23 November 2011]

It's about time Supernatural does an episode on Halloween, I can't believe it took them that long to make a homage to one of the most important American holidays that has been addressed on countless Hollywood horror movies, being a horror show itself!

Sam finally gets to meet Castiel but after an awkward and disappointing meeting with the angels Sam's faith is shaken, and it's nice to see Dean asking him not to give up on his faith because of some bad judging uncaring angels.

The episode throws a new light on Castiel's character, the angel who appeared previously to be intimidating, is now more compassionate, gentle and a bit confused with human behaviour. You can see in his eyes on the final scene that his is beginning to show some respect for Dean and some level of admiration, that would be interesting to see later I think.

The episode also introduces a new character Uriel the scary and arrogant angel with a very different view on humans than Castiel.

On the upside :

1- The scene with Sam exorcising Samhain, we see how much Sam is in agony having to get back on his promise and use his power to the extent it hurts him, with headaches and nosebleeds. While disappointed and worried Dean watches as his brother struggles and he is unable to help but he is not angry this time. The silent conversation that goes between the brothers was brilliant.

2- Dean's defiant attitude towards the angels and his decision to save innocents, not caring that he is facing two far more powerful angels than he is, was terrific.

3- The two final scenes with Sam vs Uriel and Dean vs Castiel were nice. Uriel continues to be a threat and tells Sam to ask his brother about what he remembers of Hell, raising the question what secret is Dean keeping about the time he spent there and is it connected to why Dean was infected with the ghost sickness last episode? On the other hand, Castiel shares his doubts with Dean who in turn (though still worried about Sam's powers) tells him that those people in town are alive because of him and his brother and if time goes back again he would make the same decision. It was also good to see the worry in Dean's eyes as Castiel says he doesn't envy the weight on Dean's shoulders.

On the down side:

1- The Samhain story line could have been better used. I found the high leveled Daemon not that intimidating.

2- I think Castiel's declaration to Dean about testing him in battlefield conditions was way too lame, since Dean seems to be in a battle on every day basis and in no need for further testing.

The writing and directing were average but the acting makes up to it and a whole new bunch of questions are raised. Certainly a must watch.

It is pronounced "Sow Wan" not "Sam Hain"!!

[robhall_ie · 8/10 · 12 January 2010]

Please don't insult the Celtic Gods, I live in Ireland and will have the pay the price to our Pagan Lords!

Actually I am kinda surprised this is the first episode that make use of Celtic myths. We have tons of mystical characters that would make great stories. Most of them are mischievous.

Once again "Sam Hain" is wrong please do the research or just randomly phone ANY Irish person. We all speak Gaelic and can tell you how to pronounce it.

Do an episode about Sláine...he's a legendary warrior that slays demons...kinda Conan the Barbarian meets Dean Winchester!

Angels, Halloween and Sam's powers

[sofiacat-10822 · 9/10 · 1 January 2022]

I think this episode is truly great, although it has some fails, in my opinion SamHane is a powerful demon i think he was killed too fast, it would be really interesting if the show explored a bit more of SamHane and its nature.

The participation of Castiel (Misha Collins) and Uriel (Robert Wisdom) is wonderful, both actors have really great potential and the plotline of angels makes the show even more fun.

Misha is great as Castiel (and any character to be honest) but he really does a great job at playing this angel, he certainly has become one of my favorite characters and he only has been in 3 (i think so) episodes so far.

About Sam's powers, i think sam's powers add a different and interesting point of view to this plotline, I'm happy they get to be more explored in this episode.

Deliverer of Evil

[ttapola · 9/10 · 25 May 2011]

After *three* Monster-of-the-Week episodes, of which two were comedic ones, no less, it's finally the return to the Mytharc. An a *Great* 9/10 episode it is, the best since the season opener "Lazarus Rising", for several reasons.

One of the traditional Annual American Holiday TV Episodes (Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year - guess which one?), this one is not content to just lazily shoehorn the holiday into the plot - no, this explores the *true* roots of said holiday and also seamlessly links it to the Mytharc. Plotwise, there is no padding. There might also be a genuinely brilliant twist or two...

A great Supernatural episode does not necessarily need gruesome deaths, but here we get some pretty nasty and sickly inventive ones. But the best stuff comes from characterization. Pretty much every character is excellently written, and the actors seize the opportunity to shine. Misha Collins has by now, in his fourth episode, despite his rather limited total screen-time, earned his place as a semi-regular. However, this episode belongs to Robert Wisdom, whose performance is just *scary*. And he doesn't even raise his voice. All that is missing here are Jim Beaver and Genevieve Cortese, but there would have been nothing for their characters to do.

To this, add the trademark witty humor, *relevant* theological and philosophical discussion, tense sequences and some full-on action, and the end result is a not-to-be-missed episode, one of the key ones of the whole season. But even greater stuff is still to come...

P.S. Some might argue that the character Robert Wisdom is playing is incorrectly written, comparable to if one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse were written just as a mere demon, but there is a logical explanation: the character in Supernatural is *not* the same character as in *our* world. Furthermore, as he is not as well known in our world than his "brothers", there is no need to say that the writing is factually incorrect. Especially since in our world, some of the character's brothers have been "officially excluded" from the company of the most famous ones. So, if the real world can just write off characters this major, why would Supernatural not alter them a bit?

Angels

[justinbindel · 6/10 · 2 June 2015]

When Sam makes the comment about how he thought the angels would be different because they are suppose to be righteous, Dean responds with "Well, they are righteous. That's kinda the problem." I was surprised by the insight of the writers here. Of course, Dean's logic goes a bit more mainstream by describing the angels as "a-holes who think they are on a holy mission." The Judeo-Christian presentation of angels is anything but cuddly and nice. These beings are portrayed as massively powerful, often causing the humans they visit to fall to their faces (some even pass completely out). Most of their stories include destruction and warfare. The biblical definition of holiness is not friendly and nice and good. In Judeo-Christian belief, the concept of holiness is arguable the most powerful force in the universe. Holiness obliterates all evil and sin and badness from its presence. Angels are holy. This is why Castiel's true form literally burns out people's eyes if they look upon him. While the writers have created their own lore concerning the use of angels in this series, they are sticking quite close to the Judeo-Christian worldview so far.

A great demon rises and gets defeated ofcoursee

[shwetafabm · 8/10 · 11 June 2020]

I love witches, the whole demon summoning thing, it was a good ep. I think the most compelling part of the ep is when Sam meets Castiel and he calls Sam the one with the demon blood, damn that hurts, i love how the show does a good job of showing what the characters are going through. Main villain was ok, he got wrapped up too quickly and that's a waste, the stakes seem so high and maybe that's the problem, they never live upto it, get solved immediately. Things about Dean unravel. Great development of main plot. I forgot how great this show was with its epic main storyline in S4, it has been 10 years.

The heaven plotline is ad hoc. Exhibit #1

[CubsandCulture · 7/10 · 4 March 2020]

Ultimately this ends up being a fine episode to watch outright but two issues prevent it from being more than average. First Samhain is wasted. He goes down way too easily and the whole blindness thing feels like a cheat. A bit like the Seven Deadly Sins in Season 3 more could have been made of this character than a one off monster of the week.

The more pressing issue is the angel/heaven stuff. It is quite clear that the writers had no real plan here and Chuckles ultimately feels like a plot device to get Sam to quiz Dean about hell. Cas having doubts and being a renegade in waiting mostly works but I wish he *saw* this more than were *told* this at first. But the biggest thing is the very nature of the seal being allowed to be broken robs the heat out of the entire plotline. Everything feels slightly forced and slightly plotty with angels and that started here.

A bridge episode.

[mm-39 · 7/10 · 19 November 2008]

Is Sam evil? The good guys warn of Sam's powers. Sam uses his power but for good. Dean has a mission. Will it involve Sam? What is everything leading up to. The plot devices of the evil blond, Halloween and Sam's showdown with a very evil guy is in the mix. Not a bad episode but Supernatural's forth season is getting redundant. OK episode. Seven pumpkins out of ten for this show. Love the Impelia the best plot device in the show. They should have a show just on the Impelia. I like the first season best. The second season was OK too. the 3rd season lacked for a while. Did not mind the 4th season so far. Howevery the producers seem to be running out of ideas.