All hail the Queen of Moondoor!

Supernatural (8:11) LARP and the Real Girl may be one of my favorite episodes of Supernatural all season–maybe even all time. In the show’s consistency of airing funny episodes in the middle of tragic situations, in this episode Sam and Dean had a great time poking fun at a fandom that is no stranger to ridicule–live action role players. Numerous pop culture references were tossed out in this episode (including one that was a tad risque for the airwaves), and geekdom can rejoice at the re-emergence of Felicia Day as Charlie Bradbury.

As luck would have it, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) found themselves on a case that at first seemed sinister; the mysterious death of a role-player having his limbs torn out of their sockets medieval style followed by another who experienced extreme blood loss. Thankfully, things drastically grew lighter as the audience was introduced to the world of Moondoor, a land where misfits in the real world could chill and become elves, knights, and shadow orcs. It was charming to see how into the scene Dean was becoming primarily due to the fact he seems to be the type that wouldn’t be interested in any sort of “geeky activities.” The Braveheart‘esq speech he gave was easily the best part of the episode.

It was great to see Charlie again, continuing the current streak of re-introducing characters from previous seasons. She adds a certain quirk to the series just as Garth (DJ Qualls) does and I hope he will re-appear sometime in the future. Admittedly, the story arc for this episode was a little predictable in the case of the power hungry nerd. Aside from this cliche, LARP and the Real Girl hit almost all the high notes and became an instant favorite.

Quick review of this episode and a moment to reflect on what’s to come.

Image source and synopsis courtesy of the CW