This episode of Supernatural takes a new spin on The Wizard of Oz and Dorothy. We also get to see Charlie, played by Felicia Day, again! Let’s get into this episode recap for Supernatural for Season 9 Episode 4, titled Slumber Party! Josh provides this week’s episode recap for Supernatural, while Violet and Josh both provide their opinions of the episode!
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Supernatural Episode 4 Slumber Party Recap Overview
Need a quick Supernatural episode recap of episode 4 titled Slumber Party? Here is a summary of events for the episode. Each event is linked to the more detailed Supernatural episode recap for Slumber Party if you need more information!
- The Wicked Witch in the past visits the bunker Sam and Dean are living in now. In the present, Sam wants to figure out a way to track the angels
- Charlie (Felicia Day) shows up to help with the angel tracker. Sam refuses to call the bunker home.
- Dorothy and the Wicked Witch escape their bottle, and Dorothy explains the Wicked Witch situation.
- The Wicked Witch pays a visit to Crowley, who actually helps mislead the witch. The witch does eventually wind up with the key after Dean had found it. Charlie is nearly killed in the commotion.
- Sam and Dean are brainwashed to attack Dorothy and Charlie. The Wicked Witch is working on summoning her army.
- Dorothy gives her ruby slippers to Charlie to kill the witch. Charlie moves to Oz with Dorothy
Supernatural Episode Recap: Slumber Party, the Details
The Wicked Witch and Dorothy have left Oz
This week’s episode of Supernatural opens with a scene from the past, which is shown in black and white. Two enter the bunker that the Winchesters are staying in. They do something which seems to open the building up, and we learn there is a lot of history in the building. The two men play chess and become rather bored. They receive a phone call, and they get a visitor, named Dorothy. She also has a prisoner–the Wicked Witch from Oz. She needs help figuring out a way to kill her.
Back in the present, Dean and Sam ask for more names from Crowley, but Crowley makes his own demands. Dean and Sam silently decline his requests. Later, we learn that Dean has dropped Kevin off at a hotel for a “vacation”. Dean also picked up something to watch — Game of Thrones! Sam in the meantime asks Dean why Cas would have left, and has an idea maybe to help him out. He wants to figure out how to track angels with this table/computer that lit up when Kevin saw the angels fall. Sam takes Dean to the “computer room” of the bunker and he tells Dean he has no idea how the machine is working. Dean pries open a panel, and finds a little open area, but still, they can’t make any sense of it. Dean has an idea though who can help…They leave the room, and wind up spilling a jar, which then begins to expand and contort on the walls of the room.
Felicia Day is Back to Make an Angel Tracker
Flashing back to the past, the two men and Dorothy discuss the capturing of the Wicked Witch, and the two men are impressed. Meanwhile, the witch has begun to secretly cut her bondage. The two men begin researching how to kill the witch, as Dorothy has tried many unsuccessful methods.
So back in the present, Dean’s computer fixer has shown up–Charlie–Felicia Day’s character on Supernatural known for her LARPing, and generally nerdy-ness. She seems to have lost her job, but isn’t letting that get her down–as her hobbies now including “hunting” of the supernatural kind. Charlie gets to work on the computer, and she describes the computer as a “global alarm” system. She gets to work on making the “angel tracker”, and seems to be just about done with her aptly placed Microsoft Surface needing to finish a few downloads. Meanwhile, they discuss the Supernatural books which seem to be available on Amazon, which seems to bother the Winchesters. They decide to watch Game of Thones while they wait for the download, and have some witty banter about Joffrey, spoilers of the show, and the discussion of reading the books versus not reading the books while watching the show. Then there is a discussion of Sam not “moving in” to his room, and doesn’t want to call the bunker “home”. Dean leaves to get more beer, and Charlie talks with Sam about the lack of “magic” and “quests” when hunting. Sam seems to say they’re all “dead ends”, and we end up back in the past again.
Dorothy and the Witch Come to the Present
In the past, Dorothy and the two men discuss the witch further, when suddenly the witch manages to break free from her restraints. She manages to brainwash one of the men with a magic spell, and through that man demands that she be taken to the “thing she is looking for” in the bunker. Neither Dorothy or the other man know what she wants. Dorothy makes a run for the lab, and the witch pursues. Meanwhile, Jenkins, the brainwashed man, attacks the other, and is stabbed by the knife he was wielding. The second man looks for Dorothy, and we wind up back in the present.
Sam and Dean head down to the computer room again, and find a weird cocoon-like substance on the wall. One is open already, and Dean cuts open the other–and out tumbles Dorothy unconscious. She awakens.
Charlie does some research on this Dorothy, and we learn she was the first case investigated by this building. Dorothy seems rather unimpressed by these “Men of Letters”, for the lack of action, and reading of books, not yet knowing Sam and Dean are hunters. She is also surprised that Charlie isn’t a secretary. Dorothy then explains what happened in the past, and we go back into a flashback:
Dorothy makes a potion, and both Dorothy and the witch are “bound” in a jar until she was awakened. We then see the witch has paid a visit to Crowley. Crowley then asks what she is looking for. Meanwhile, we learn that Dorothy is protected from death from the witch, but Dorothy presses that they need to find the witch. Sam and Dean search while Charlie and Dorothy try to find what the witch is looking for. Charlie talks with Dorothy about her father, who wrote the books of Oz. Dorothy seems insist that the books are quite different than what really happened however. Charlie insists that the books would help them find some sort of weapon, and comes up with “Poppy-bullets” that she plans to make.
The Key to Oz
Sam and Dean visit Crowley, who reveals he sent her on a wild goose chase in the kitchen to find a key of some sort – the object she is looking for. Of course, Sam and Dean had to make a trade for this information, allowing Crowley to “stretch his legs”. Sam and Dean investigate, and she has made a mess of the kitchen. Charlie meets up with them, and she gives Sam and Dean a couple of her new bullets. Dorothy elaborates on the key–it is a key to Oz, which turns any key into a gateway to Oz.
Meanwhile, Dean has seen the key, and knows where it is–in his room. Dean tells Charlie to head to the dungeon to be safe, but Charlie refuses. Sam and Dorothy search for the witch, and Sam talks to Dorothy about his lack of “homes”, but they are interrupted by the witch, who attacks, but flees after being shot by a poppy bullet.
Sam and Dean locate the key, but the witch has found them too, and takes they key. She also zaps Charlie with a green lightning bolt, which seems to have killed her. Sam runs in the room, and Dean calls for “Zeke”, and Ezekiel immediately takes over Sam’s body. Dean asks him to save Charlie, but Ezekiel says that he can either help with the witch or save Charlie–not both, due to his weakened state. Dean says to save Charlie, and she reawakens. Sam is knocked to the ground, Ezekiel goes back into hiding, and Sam asks what happened. Dean says that the witch came in and knocked them out. Sam asks who “Zeke” is, but Dean tries to play it off as Sam hearing things.
Dorothy comes in, and says the witch is wounded, and they can still possibly stop her. Sam and Dean head to find her, and Dorothy stays back with Charlie, who is still a bit out of it. Charlie tells Dorothy about her “dream”, and Dorothy says it was heaven, not a dream, as the zap of the witch would kill anyone. We also learn Dorothy has been killed before too. She talks about meeting up with the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and a Lion, which were actually Freedom Fighters before they were these things. Dorothy talks about the books as silly, and Charlie disagrees, saying the books would have clues to help defeat the witch. This causes Dorothy to have an epiphany.
The Wicked Witch Possess Sam and Dean to Kill Dorothy and Charlie
Sam and Dean search, and have a heart to heart about Sam’s lack of wanting to make a home. The witch suddenly appears next to Sam, and Dean tries to save Sam. Unfortunately, they are both brainwashed, and sent to hunt the girls down.
Dorothy and Charlie, meanwhile, find the garage, which has the Tin Man’s decapitated head. She also finds her Ruby Red Slippers, which are going to be the weapon to defeat the witch. Sam and Dean have shown up, and they attack Charlie and Dorothy. The witch, in the meantime, makes her way to a door, and opens it with the key to Oz. She is actually planning on leading the armies to Earth, he reveals, to take over here. She begins casting a spell at the door.
The Witch is Subdued, and Charlie Heads to Oz
Charlie gives Dean a swift kick to the groin, and Dorothy tells her to run for the witch while she keeps the possessed Dean and Sam busy. The witch’s spell seems nearly done, and Dorothy is captured by Sam and Dean. In the nick of time, Charlie shanks the witch with the Ruby Slippers, and shuts the doors as demon monkeys attempt to enter the door. Sam and Dean return to normal, and the door to Oz closes. The witch has disappeared, and Charlie picks up the key.
Sam and Dean find Charlie is gloating over her victory. Crowley gets locked back up, after his leg stretch, and Sam and Dean demand more names, leaving him alone with his thoughts again. Sam, in the meantime, finds a copy of The Wizard of Oz and gives it as a parting gift. Charlie thanks Dean for raising her from the dead, and he asks her to keep it quiet. Sam and Dean wish Dorothy well, and she is heading back to Oz, and takes Charlie along.
Josh’s Thoughts: Supernatural, Season 9 Episode 4: Slumber Party
Unfortunately, I was not a big fan of this episode. I can see that the writers were trying to take The Wizard of Oz, and make it fit into the Supernatural world, but I found the episode kind of boring, and out of place. I also didn’t really enjoy Felicia Day’s character this episode. I felt like it was just another way to bring her into the show.
I did kind of enjoy watching the past timeline, and seeing how things played out however. It was fairly predictable where the story was going in the past, but it was fun to watch nonetheless. I guess the one big thing that made me think this episode was wondering why Crowley insisted on not helping the Wicked Witch. I guess he didn’t really know what to help with, but why wouldn’t he try to convince the witch to figure a way to get him escape, and make some promise to the Witch to help her out? Either Crowley has some sort of game he is trying to play with the Winchesters or he may be more afraid of the Wicked Witch than the Winchesters.
As for trying to make Dorothy a tough girl, and reimagining the Oz lore, I thought it was okay, but not very entertaining. Since Charlie is a lesbian in this, are we to assume since they both go off to Oz together there might be some sort of relationship developing? We do not really learn much about Dorothy’s love life in the brief episode of seeing her, but I can certainly see that as a possibility.
Sadly, I think this was one of those budget episodes that take place in one location, so that the producers don’t break the bank on shooting in multiple locations. I also feel a problem of the 22+ episode season is that there is a lack of ideas to progress the story, so some episodes come off a little more “meh” than others. But the next episode has Dean becoming a dog, which sounds hilarious!
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 9 Episode 4 of Supernatural: Slumber Party
In true Supernatural fashion, we get a sort of “one-off” episode to give us a break from the current overarching storyline, which right now is the angels searching for Castiel. We do get a little bit of a reference to it though, as Sam and Dean discuss Cas leaving the bunker, since Sam doesn’t understand why Cas would want to leave, considering that the bunker is the safest place for him. But Dean just sort of brushes over it, saying that Cas didn’t want to bring trouble down on them. And that’s the end of that discussion. We don’t even see Cas this episode. I’m still wondering how Dean’s conversation went with Castiel when he kicked him out.
Anyway, so what we do get are several flashbacks to 1935, back when the Men of Letters still occupied the bunker. These were kind of cheesy, as you could tell they were going for a sort of film noir feel. Then we find out that L. Frank Baum was a Man of Letters, and that when he wrote the Wizard of Oz novels, they were based on his and his daughter Dorothy’s experiences in the Land of Oz. Because of course Oz is real! (Except the books were much happier and less gory than the actual events.) If we’ve learned anything from Once Upon a Time, it’s that any fairy tale or fantasy story we’ve heard of is actually based on reality in an alternate universe, except with the details changed for children’s eyes and ears. I guess Supernatural decided to jump on that bandwagon, figuring, hey, we deal with ghosts, angels, demons, monsters, time travel, etc. regularly, and we have dealt with alternate universes before, why not add Oz to that list? It felt like a bit of a stretch to me, but I guess Supernatural figures it’s been on awhile, so might as well expand its reach. I wonder if this will lead to the boys discovering that other supposedly fictional worlds happen to exist as well? Obviously, they wouldn’t do fairy tales, since that premise is already taken, but I suppose other stories could be up for grabs.
I’m usually a big fan of the one-off episodes, as they tend to be my favorites. However, I was not a big fan of this one. I mean, I like Felicia Day and her portrayal of Charlie, so I enjoyed that aspect of it. I guess I just found the story a bit hard to swallow. Okay, so there’s a big scary looking cocoon growing on the wall, and you just cut it open without really worrying about what could be inside? And then you believe everything that the thing inside tells you? When Dorothy was explaining that her soul and the witch’s soul were bound, at first I thought she meant that the witch was inside of her. I think this episode would have been more interesting if either that were true, or if somehow Dorothy’s and the witch’s souls switched bodies. Sam and Dean should know by now that just because there’s a pretty girl, it doesn’t automatically mean that she’s good and nice.
But yeah, I thought the method of killing the witch, with the stiletto heel of one of the ruby slippers, was kind of dumb and a bit easy. Oh, and did you notice that Sam was double possessed this episode? Not only was he possessed by Ezekiel, as per the current norm, but he was also possessed by the witch at the same time! You’d think Ezekiel may have been able to overcome that, since he can override Sam at any time. But I guess the argument is that he was too weak to do anything since he had just resurrected Charlie. Speaking of Charlie, did anyone else expect her to start hitting on Dorothy? Instead, it just seemed like she was in awe of her the whole time. Ah well, maybe after Charlie comes back from Oz in a future episode, we’ll hear something about her and Dorothy having started a relationship, but it not working out. Or that they’re blissfully happy together. But I suppose that Supernatural didn’t want to mess with Dorothy’s sexuality, for fear of backlash from Wizard of Oz fans.
Overall, just a “meh” episode. I appreciate what they were trying to do, putting a new spin on The Wizard of Oz, and that they wanted to bring in a witch for a Halloween episode, but I think they could have done a better job. Next week’s episode looks like it will be pretty funny, though.
Scenes from Supernatural, Episode 5, Dog Dean Afternoon
Here are scenes from next week’s Supernatural episode, titled Dog Dean Afternoon:
Scenes from Supernatural, Season 9 Episode 5: Dog Dean Afternoon
Let us know what you think of Supernatural, Season 9 Episode 4: Slumber Party below!
As always, an episode with Charlie is guaranteed to be a good one. That said, I agree that it was one of the worse Charlie episodes so far.