I guess they were serious about this Hellatus lasting until April, huh? While we’re all checking the days off of the calendar, praying for April 15^th to roll around I thought I’d take a look at season three episode titles. If you’ve missed seasons one and two I’ll fill you in. I’m taking a look at the episode titles season by season and finding the pop culture references from which they are taken. Even though this season was a short one, it’s still full of interesting references. 
 
3.1 “The Magnificent Seven”
 
“The Magnificent Seven” is a 1960 American western film directed by John Sturges. It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 movie, Seven Samurai. The film follows a group of hired gunmen protecting a Mexican village from bandits. 
 
This episode of Supernatural doesn’t seem to have much in common with the movie other than its title. As you’ll remember, this is the episode where the Winchesters come across the Seven Deadly Sins “live and in the flesh”. “What’s in the box?!”



 
3.2 “The Kids Are Alright”
 
“The Kids are Alright” is the seventh track of The Who’s first album, My Generation. It also served as the title of the 1979 rockumentary about the band. 

I know if I go things would be a lot better for her
I had things planned, but her folks wouldn't let her

I don't mind other guys dancing with my girl
That's fine, I know them all pretty well
But I know sometimes I must get out in the light
Better leave her behind with the kids, they're alright
The kids are alright

Sometimes, I feel I gotta get away
Bells chime, I know I gotta get away
And I know if I don't, I'll go out of my mind
Better leave her behind with the kids, they're alright
The kids are alright




This episode is where we meet Lisa and Ben for the first time. There is a not-so-mysterious death in Cicero that Dean wants to investigate. When Sam questions his motives he reveals that he plans to track down Lisa, a girl he met eight years before. When they get to town, Dean discovers that Lisa has an eight year old son, Ben and Sam discovers that this death is a little more mysterious then they originally thought. 



(From Alice - Little known fact.  The Who used to destroy their hotel rooms with flamethrowers, just like Sam.  Or they smashed them to bits, I don't remember. Flamethrowers look better don't they?)    
 
3.3 “Bad Day at Black Rock”
 
This title is taken from the 1955 film of the same title. Directed by John Sturges, the film follows a one handed stranger, John Macreedy who comes to the tiny town of Black Rock is search for a farmer names Kamoko. What he finds instead is a town with a terrible past they want to keep secret at any cost. 


 
In this episode, Sam and Dean come into contact with a cursed rabbit’s foot that is good luck to whoever is in possession of it. (“I am batman”) But if they lose the foot, they get a run of bad luck (“I lost my shoe”) until their eventual death. When Sam gets the foot stolen from him by Bela, his bad luck starts immediately. The timing is terrible considering that he doesn’t realize Kubrick is hunting him on behalf of Gordon Walker. 
 
3.4 “Sin City”
 
This episode title comes from a series of neo-noir comics by Frank Miller. The comics follow the people of the fictional town Basin City known by locals as Sin City for its shady dealings and criminal residents. The comics were later adapted into a movie starring Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba and Bruce Willis.

“Sin City” is an appropriate title for this episode where the Winchesters investigate a town where the citizens have inexplicably turned to drinking and gambling.



(From Alice - Hey, guys come to this site too, right?)
 
3.5 “Bedtime Stories”
 
I wasn’t able to find any popular culture references associates with this episode. The episode title likely comes from the idea of bedtime stories themselves. Am I missing anything? Let me know if you think I overlooked something. 


 
This is the episode where the boys investigate a string of mysterious murders. They encounter a woman trapped in a coma after being poisoned by her stepmother as a child. The girl’s spirit reenacts the deaths in the Brothers Grimm fairytales her father reads to her. 

(From Alice - I have one theory.  The title comes from a quote from Sam in this episode.  "See The Grimm brothers stuff was kind of like the folklore of its day.  There was sex, violence, cannibalism.  Then it got sanitized over the years, turned into Disney flicks and bedtime stories."  Sorry for jumping in, but this is one of my favorite episodes!)
 
3.6 “Red Sky at Morning”
 
This episode title comes from the old sailor’s saying “Red sky at morning, sailors warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight.” This weather lore was meant to help sailor’s predict the weather based on the appearance of the sky.  


 
This title is appropriate for this episode where the Winchesters investigate sightings of a ghost ship that end in the mysterious drowning death of those who see it. As a side note, it is also hilarious to watch any scene between Sam and Gert, an elderly woman who has the hots for Sam. 


  
3.7 “Fresh Blood”
 
This episode title seems to come from the MOTW, a vampire, Dixon, who is building a new nest of vampires to call family. Dixon tricks the girls into thinking that they are trying the newest drug on the market and then slips a drop of vampire blood into their drink. Meanwhile, Gordon Walker is out of prison and out for Sam’s blood. 


 
3.8 “A Very Supernatural Christmas”
 
This episode title is  a play on the 1988 television movie, A Very Brady Christmas. The movie features the cast of the wholesome hit TV show, The Brady Bunch. 


 
This is not your typical Christmas-themed episode. (“We’re not exactly the Bradys.”)

The boys investigate the disappearance of two men whose children claim they were abducted and dragged up the chimney by Santa Claus. Meanwhile, Dean tries to convince Sam to get in the Christmas spirit to celebrate their last Christmas together. 


 
3.9 “Malleus Maleficarum”
 
Malleus Maelficarum is Latin for “Hammer of the Wicked” and is a famous treatise on witches written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer on behalf of the Catholic Church. The point of the treatise was to disprove arguments claiming that witchcraft does not exist. 


 
This title is very appropriate for this episode that has the Winchesters investigating a seemingly harmless group of women who secretly practice witchcraft for wealth and prosperity. What they don’t realize is that one of their coven is actually a demon who has tricked them into selling their soul to her. 
 
3.10 “Dream a Little Dream of Me”
 
This episode title comes from the song by the same title. “Dream a Little Dream of Me” was first recorded by Ozzie Nelson in 1931 and has since been re-recorded by artists like Doris Day, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and Mama Cass Elliot  (featured in this episode).   
 
Stars shining bright above you.
Night breezes seem to whisper, 'I love you,'
Birds singing in the sycamore tree.
Dream a little dream of me.

Say nighty-night and kiss me.
Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me.
While I'm alone and blue as can be,
Dream a little dream of me.
 
In this episode, Sam and Dean get a call that Bobby has been found in an unexplained coma. As it turns out, he was working a job investigating the death of a doctor who was performing a secret sleep study. The study used African dream root, which allows the user to dream walk so when Sam and Dean get a hold of some dream root from Bela, they do a little dream walking of their own.    


 
3.11 “Mystery Spot”
 
Mystery Spot is the name of a tourist attraction in Santa Cruz, CA. It was discovered in 1939 and opened in 1940. The owners of the site claim that it is a place where the laws of physics and gravity do not apply. (Sound familiar?) The website claims that extraterrestrials buried unearthly metals or spacecraft beneath the Spot. Another speculation is that the phenomenon is caused by carbon dioxide seeping out of the earth beneath the Spot. 


 
This title is especially appropriate for this episode in which Dean is killed while he and Sam are looking into the disappearance of a man last seen at a tourist attraction known as the Mystery Spot. Sam wakes up the next morning and is shocked to see that Dean is alive and they are reliving the day before. 
 
3.12 “Jus in Bello”
 
Jus in Bello is part of the law of war which is a body of law that sets up guidelines for acceptable justifications to engage in war (jus ad bellum) and the limits to acceptable wartime conduct (jus in bello). 


 
“Jus in Bello” is an appropriate title for this episode where Sam and Dean are captured by FBI Agent Henricksen and taken to a small-town jail in Colorado. While there, a horde of demons surrounds the jail and they are forced to fight for their lives. 
 
3.13 “Ghostfacers”
 
This episode title seems to be a play on the 1984 sci-fi comedy Ghostbusters. The film, starring Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Bill Murray follows three New York City parapsychologists-turned-ghost capturers. 


 
This is the episode where Dean and Sam run into the equally eccentric Ghostfacers while investigating the haunted Morton House and become unwilling participants in their new reality show.
 
3.14 “Long Distance Call”
 
Although there are a few references to “Long Distance Call” it seems clear that this episode title is taken from an episode of The Twilight Zone by the same name. The episode follows a young boy who communicates with his grandmother who has recently died using a toy phone she gave him for his birthday. The boy then, runs out in front of a car that barely misses him. He tells the driver that someone told him to try to kill himself. The boy attempts to take his own life again before his father picks up the toy phone and begs his mother to stop. 


 
Ok, so not exactly the same but pretty close. Although in this episode of Supernatural, the brothers realize they are hunting a crocotta, a creature that whispers “come to me” convincing its victims to kill themselves and then devours their souls.  
 
3.15 “Time Is on My Side”
 
Time Is on My Side is a song written by Jerry Ragovoy and was first recorded in 1963 by Kai Winding and later covered with additional lyrics by artists like Irma Thomas, Michael Bolton, Indexi and The Rolling Stones. 
 
Time is on my side, yes it is
Time is on my side, yes it is
 
Now you always say
That you want to be free
But you'll come running back (said you would baby)
You'll come running back (I said so many times before)
You'll come running back to me 
 
Oh, time is on my side, yes it is
Time is on my side, yes it is 



(From Alice - I chastised Sera Gamble in my first interview with her for ruining melon ballers for us in this episode.  She was rather proud of doing that.  So what does that have to do with the episode title?  Sam probably wishes he went running back to Dean after this!)
 
The Winchesters hunt a zombie, which turns out to be Dr. Benton, a doctor who abandoned his practice in 1816 to search for the eternal life. He has been drugging people and harvesting their organs ever since. With Dean’s deal coming due, Sam tries to convince him to steal the doctor’s research and become immortal. 
 
3.16 “No Rest for the Wicked”
 
“No rest for the wicked” is a verse taken from the Bible from the book of Isaiah 48:22 sometimes translated as “No peace for the wicked” it also appears in Isaiah 57:21. The phrase is also the title of albums from Ozzy Osbourne, New Model Army and Helix. It is also the title of a song by Godsmack. 
 
With only hours left in Deans contract he and Sam steal the knife from Ruby and head for New Harmony, IN where Lilith is torturing a family. Dean begins “piercing the veil” which allows him to see a demon’s true form. Unfortunately, that does not provide enough help and as the clock strikes midnight, Lilith leads the hellhounds to Dean and he is killed and sent to hell. 


 
Man, talk about ending with a bang; a really terrible, bloody, heartbreaking bang. Well, there it is, season three. As usual, please let me know if I missed anything! Did any of these references surprise you? I was surprised by a few myself.