Episode eight – Bugs (Oasis Plains, Oklahoma)

Supernatural Idioms – Season One, Episode eight.

Dustin Burwash, a gas-company employee, dies after falling in a sinkhole during development works in a building area. Sam and Dean talk to Larry Pike, the area developer, trying to learn more. They also meet his son Matthew, who likes insects and has a very strained relationship with his father. Matt tries to scare Lynda Bloome, the realtor, with a tarantula: when Lynda dies too, and Sam and Dean find a few spiders in her house, they begin to suspect Matt to control the bugs somehow.

Man, these are some phat houses, huh?

phat = excellent, wonderful, terrific (part of a conversation between Dustin and his colleague Travis).

Hustling pool            

To misrepresent one’s skill in (a game or activity) in order to deceive someone, especially in gambling (Dean often uses this method to raise some money).

How we were raised was jacked

jacked = (here) broken or ruined: Sam’s still angry at the way he and his brother were brought up).

Flip a coin

throw a coin into the air, with the outcome of something dependent on which side of the coin lands face-up.

Call it in the air… chicken     

In order for a coin toss to be valid, you must call it in the air, meaning you declare, before the coin hits the ground, which side will be on top when it lands. The winner (i.e. the person who makes the correct call) gets to choose whether or not to do something, usually dangerous or unpleasant, like in this case go down the hole in which Dustin had fallen. Chicken means cowardly.

Sounds like a stretch to me

Sounds exaggerated, hard to believe, far-fetched. Sam has just found a few beetles in the hole, and rightly suspects they have something to do with Dustin’s death, but Dean isn’t convinced.

Growing up in a place like this would freak me out…I’d blow my brains out

I’d kill myself (by shooting myself in the head). We already know Dean isn’t the type to live the “middle-class (or even top-class) American dream”. Neither is Sam, for that matter, but he doesn’t know that, yet.

I’d take my family over normal any day

any day = at any time or under any circumstances (used to express a strong opinion or preference). This is perhaps the closest to honest Dean has been about his feelings so far.

Our father is getting on in years

is aging, is becoming old. Sam’s answer to Larry Pike’s less-than-tactful remark on the “sexual orientation” of the two brothers, which is also probably the first (but certainly not the last) reference to the possible homosexuality of the two brothers. It actually seems to be a (rather awkward) part of Larry and his staff’s selling routine. Linda, the Head of Sales, repeats it just a few minutes later, word for word. Sam and Dean’s reaction to Larry’s “gaffe” is rather different: Sam smiles, genuinely surprised, maybe amused, but not offended at all. Dean, on the contrary, takes it as an insult to his macho pride, which is his hallmark and the side I like the least. The second time, his joke seems to imply he doesn’t mind, but he clearly does.

He’s into insects

(Larry Pike speaking of his son Matt). Be into something = be interested in, like sth

The first-name basis with the old man sounds pretty grim            

Grim = unpleasant, ugly. Matthew’s answer, I’m not exactly brochure material, just like Larry’s expression when he was talking to Dean about his son’s “weird” passion, confirms the father-son tension and is something Sam can easily relate to, particularly the fact of being considered the family “freak”.

It’s no bother

no problem, don’t worry, it’s all right

He was all over my case

He was always taking action on something I did, scolding me or accusing me of something. Sam is talking about his father.

Maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes you were out of line           

Out of line   = behaving in a way that breaks the rules or is considered inappropriate.

You might be on to something

If you are on to something it means you have discovered something important

You mean, like Willard?

Willard is the protagonist of a horror film of the same title, who controlled rats, leading them to take revenge for him of people who hurt him.

Elemental      

A supernatural entity or force thought to be physically manifested by occult means.

I hear you

I understand, I can relate, I see what you mean, fair enough. The following dialogue is all about Sam’s feelings, which allow him to understand Matt very well, but also prevent him from fully moving on and choosing his life for the “right” reasons, as he cannot let go of his anger towards his father yet.

Don’t sweat it

Don’t worry, take it easy. Sam tells Matt things will get better in two years, because he will be able to leave his father (to go to college).

Kid should stick with his family

stick with = support, be loyal to. Sam’s advice to Matt has annoyed Dean who, much to the opposite of Sam, has an exaggerated sense of family obligations and family loyalty, which makes him almost blind to the sufferings it can also cause.

You two are like peas in a pod

Very similar to each other. Dean’s scathing remark targets, once again, Sam’s love for study and research (and in this case, his self-pity too)

Which in our whacked-out family made me the freak

Whacked-out = crazy, emotionally inadequate

Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in The Munsters

The Munsters was an American sitcom about a family of benign monsters, whose teenage niece, as an all-American beauty, was the family outcast. The sitcom was aired between 1964 and 1966, concurrently with the Addams Family.

I seem to recall a few choice phrases coming out of your mouth

when you use a few choice words, you say exactly what you mean in an angry way.

He used to swing by Stanford whenever he could

swing by = make a short visit to a person or place

Well, it’s a two-way street, dude

A two-way street is a situation or relationship involving mutual action or obligation. This is a typical situation in which there is not a “right” and a “wrong”. However, Sam’s dad threw him out of the house. It’s obvious that even if he was proud as Dean says, he never said so or made it clear to Sam. This is a very common situation we can all relate to somehow, probably. Sam and Dean’s dialogue is amazing, especially for their great acting, once again.

I’d say they’re 170 years old, give or take

approximately, possibly a little more or a little less. Professor Jim Byrnes is talking about the bones Sam and Dean have found in the area. They find out the bones belonged to a Native and that about a century earlier, the cavalry massacred a tribe in that area, which is now cursed.

And you’ll apologize and then within five minutes, you’ll be at each other throats

You’ll be arguing or fighting. Sam is now willing to admit his part of responsibility (he never skips introspection), but Dean, who is also capable of insight, although less frequently, knows that all issues between Sam and their father are not resolved.

Let’s hit the road

Let’s go, let’s leave and begin our journey,

This post is part of the English Language category and of the Nerdy Passions category.

This is all for Supernatural Idioms – Season One, Episode Eight. The ninth one, tomorrow!