Episode ten – Asylum (Rockford, Illinois)

Supernatural idioms, Season One, Episode Ten.

Two officers are inspecting an old asylum. They find a couple of teenagers hidden there for fun, but also something way, way worse…

You shoved me kind of hard in there

shove = push roughly. Sam “pretended” to punch Dean to get to talk to one of the two officers involved. He probably took the occasion to retaliate after Dean’s bossy behavior of a few hours earlier. I had to sell it, didn’t I? He replies, which means “I had to make it seem true”.

Even-keeled / on an even keel

progressing smoothly and steadily, without sudden changes; characterized by stability or consistency; stable, balanced. Sam is talking of Kelly, the police officer who went crazy after the inspection at the Roosevelt Asylum.

It was mostly smooth sailing

easy, or without problems

Had some deep-seated crazy waiting to bust out

A hidden madness ready to explode

Three kids broke into the south wing

break into = enter forcibly, force one way into a place

One of his friends went nuts

Go nuts = become insane, act in a way that is wild or out of control; get crazy

But if kids are spelunking the asylum, why aren’t there a ton more deaths?

Spelunking = the exploration of caves (used in a derogatory way, to indicate stupid or unprepared cave trips).

Let me know if you see any dead people, Haley Joel

Haley Joel Osment was the protagonist of Sixth Sense, the kid who saw dead people, in fact. Dean is pulling Sam’s leg because of his brother’s nightmares and supposed psychic abilities. He also uses the ESP acronym, meaning “extra-sensory perception”. This prompts Sam’s response (dude, enough, meaning stop it, “piantala”), but Dean sometimes just doesn’t know when to stop. In addition to a dangerous spirit, in this episode Sam has to deal with his rage towards Dean and his bossy attitude (and often stinging jokes).

Twisted  = strange, mad, mentally disturbed or unsound

“What do you think? Ghosts are possessing people?” “Maybe is more like Amityville or the Smurl haunting”

They are both references to cases of paranormal activities reported by families who claimed their homes were haunted

A history buff

someone who has an interest in the history of a particular period of time, person or place.

We’re on your dollar, Sam

You’re paying for my time, you should use it (to talk about you and not about some local incident). Dr. Ellicott’s won’t be fooled, he’s quickly realized Sam is not there for a psychological session, but to get information. He forces Sam to talk about his “road trip” with his brother, and Jared Padalecki’s face in this circumstance is great acting.

Let’s cut the bull, shall we?

Stop telling lies or avoiding a subject

Gory  =  involving a lot of violence and bloodshed

Scour  = submit to a thorough search; comb; ransack

Good times = sono bei momenti (both literally and ironically)

Getting readings?

Does any EMF show on the instrument?

Yeah, big time

very much, to a large extent, on a large scale

This place is orbing like crazy

Orbs are balls of light that are sometimes seen in photographs and believed by some to be ghostly entities. Sam’s saying that there’s plenty of those balls of light.

It’s probably multiple spirits out and about

Active, going out and doing things.

“This was weird”. “You’re telling me”!

You’re telling me means I’m aware of that, I completely agree (“Non me lo dire/ non dirmelo” or “a chi lo dici”). Sam has just seen a spirit, and that’s actually weird, but Sam was referring to the fact that the spirit didn’t attack him or try to hurt him. Dean replies “It looked pretty agro (angry, hostile) from where I was standing”. We have already begun to see that not all spirits are evil or hostile. Over time, the two brothers will have to learn (especially Dean), that shades of gray do exist, even when it comes to spirits and “monsters”.

“Why would anyone want a job like that?”. “I had a crappy counselor”.

This is one of many lines that say a lot in very few words. As usual, Sam’s jokes are not jokes, but truths in disguise. He’s probably still angry at his father for having brought them up as “hunters”, but of course he wouldn’t say so in so many words. At the same time, he doesn’t want to sound “heroic” and say he’s doing it to save lives. So he’s confirming he doesn’t like the “job” so much and did not exactly “choose” it, but also, in a way, that he feels he had no choice at the time (and, perhaps, has no choice now either).

This is why I get paid the big bucks

I get paid a lot of money because I’m really good at what I do (of course, Sam and Dean’s “job” is not paid, it’s one of Dean’s typical jokes)

Soak it up

Enjoy! (Dean is talking ironically to the skeleton of Dr. Ellicott (senior) , which he is going to salt and burn, and it’s a double meaning, as he is actually soaking it with petrol).

I’m not really in the sharing-and-caring kind of mood

I don’t feel like sharing an emotional moment just now.

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

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