Supernatural season 11, episode 4, “Baby,” was a love letter not only to the Impala, but also to the fans.
In this episode that took place entirely from the point of view of the Impala, we got a look at the in-between moments the Winchesters share between hunts. During those moments, we got a number of references to the long journey the brothers have been on.
With that in mind, we look at the top five throwbacks to earlier seasons of the show.
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The opening pan of the insides of the Impala
The episode opened with the camera panning around the Impala, catching the quirks of the car mentioned by Chuck in his Impala monologue in “Swan Song”:
“The Impala, of course, has all the things other cars have… and a few things they don’t. But none of that stuff’s important. This is the stuff that’s important. The army man that Sam crammed in the ashtray — it’s still stuck there. The Legos that Dean shoved into the vents — to this day, heat comes on and they can hear ’em rattle. These are the things that make the car theirs — really theirs. Even when Dean rebuilt her from the ground up, he made sure all these little things stayed, ’cause it’s the blemishes that make her beautiful.”
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‘Bitch’/’Jerk’ exchange
The last time the brothers had one of their infamous “Bitch”/”Jerk” exchanges was season 2, but we got one last night as the Winchesters had a nighttime heart-to-heart before going to sleep in the car. Their good nights were enhanced by the fan-favorite terms of endearment.
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The classic rock
Supernatural‘s early seasons were littered with excellent classic rock music cues. And while Kansas’ “Carry On Wayward Son” remains the show’s unofficial anthem and plays with every season finale, there used to be more classic rock in the episodes.
“Baby” featured several excellent musical cues, including “The Guitar Man” by Bread while the brothers wash the Impala in the bunker and “Night Moves” by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band after Sam’s one-night stand. It was fun seeing the brothers singing along to the music — it’s something they no doubt do on their many long car rides to work various jobs, but it’s never something we actually get to see.
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‘Turns out I did shoot the deputy’
This joke was eight seasons in the making, as the setup came in season 3’s “Jus in Bello” when the Winchester brothers were trapped in a jail with FBI agent Victor Henriksen. Henriksen was possessed by a demon and shot the sheriff in charge of the station. When the brothers exorcised the demon possessing him, he said shakily, “I shot the sheriff.” Dean immediately replied, “But you didn’t shoot the deputy” in reference to the Bob Marley song.
Now, Dean was the one to shoot the deputy in season 11.
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Young John Winchester
Sam had another of his visions in the episode, this time of the younger version of his father, played by Matt Cohen. We saw this version of John in seasons 4 and 5 during the time travel episodes of the apocalypse storyline. He tells Sam that he never wanted this life for them, but Sam remained suspicious of whoever this figure actually was. Sam later tells Dean that the figure was telling him what he wanted to hear, which was definitely unlike the real John Winchester.
Curiously, this version of John was also the one to be possessed by the archangel Michael for an episode. Back then, he wanted Dean to let him use him as a vessel. We got a reference to Michael and Lucifer a few episodes ago, so it’s possible that this was actually Michael. In this exchange, though, “John” says he could never fool Sam, which implies they know each other. Could this be Lucifer sending Sam a vision through his father?
Supernatural season 11 airs Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET on The CW.