Supernatural: What the 2nd Half of Season 6 Holds; Stills from Episode 12 – Like a Virgin

Debi Moore |

Jan 19, 2011

Looking for more details about that “breaking the fourth wall” episode of “Supernatural” we recently told you about? We’ve got ’em along with a few other tidbits on upcoming episodes so if you’re the type that likes to be kept in the dark, you might want to skip this story. Unless you can’t resist a few stills from Episode 12, “Like a Virgin”.

First things first. AOL’s TV Squad recently had a chat with “Supernatural” showrunner Sera Gamble, and the highlights follow:

“The craziest meta episode of all time”, as Gamble calls it, now has a title – “The French Mistake” – and will air on February 18th.

“We have an episode in which Sam and Dean find themselves in essentially … to shorthand it, we’ll call it a parallel world,” Gamble explained. In the world in which they find themselves, “there is no magic, there is a television show called ‘Supernatural’, and everyone seems convinced that they are actors named Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. It appears that there are actors having a psychotic break on a set and the producers don’t know what to do, basically,” she noted. “The dailies are fall-on-the-floor hilarious. The guys are so funny in this episode. And, you know, meta is not to everyone’s taste, but I enjoy a nice slice of meta.”

How meta is this? Jared Padalecki’s real-life wife, Genevieve Cortese, will guest star as herself in the episode. The show’s producers won’t appear as themselves, but Brian Doyle-Murray will play Robert Singer, the executive producer of the show in which the brothers find themselves. “As is completely appropriate, I am a disembodied voice on the phone,” Gamble said. Will she provide her own voice for those scenes? “I don’t know. Who knows if I’m a good enough actor? I might not get the job,” Gamble joked.

Will some version of “Supernatural” creator Eric Kripke be in the episode? “Part of the episode deals with the fact that Eric is difficult to track down,” Gamble said. “Part of it deals with the fact that Eric is off in a cabin somewhere writing a movie of the week for the Syfy channel.”

Hilarious. Still want more?

The Winchesters will be visiting the Old West this season.

“You may see the guys in Stetsons. You may see Jared [Padalecki] on horseback. It could happen,” Gamble said. “I’ve already talked to Jensen [Ackles] about it; he’s excited about it, and I think the guys are going to have a lot of fun with it. We’ve always wanted to do one,” she added. “‘Supernatural’ is a Western. We’ve always wanted to find a way to get Sam and Dean into the Old West, at least for part of an episode, and the main obstacle was always how to do it produceably.”

Fans who’ve hoped to see the Winchesters out West “should write a love letter to [executive producer] Robert Singer and to Jim Michaels, our line producer, and to Diane [Widas], who handles our costumes. Just to be able to do something like that on the kind of moderate television budget that we have, it’s a testament to their craftiness,” Gamble noted. The episode, which will probably be the eighteenth of the season, is being penned by “Supernatural” writers Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin.

And wait … there’s more:

* We’ll see more of Castiel and the civil war in Heaven in the second half of the season. We’ll also meet one of Cas’ lieutenants.

* Expect to see more of the angel Balthazar, who’s played by Sebastian Roche. “Balthazar causes some serious, hilarious problems because he just does stuff for the [hell] of it, basically,” Gamble said.

* Rufus will return in Season 6.

* We’ll see Ben and Lisa again before the season ends.

Whew! That’s a lot to digest. Now here’s a look at the first episode of 2011:

Supernatural Episode 12 “Like a Virgin” Synopsis: (1/28/11 Air Date)
DEATH RETURNS FOR A MEETING WITH DEAN — Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Bobby (Jim Beaver) anxiously wait for Sam (Jared Padalecki) to wake up to see if Death (guest star Julian Richings) was able to restore his soul without causing Sam to lose his mind.

Meanwhile, Dean and Bobby investigate a disappearance of virgins and discover dragons are behind the kidnappings. Bobby sends Dean to a doctor who owns the only weapon in the world that can slay a dragon, but Dean must prove himself worthy enough to take it.

Phil Sgriccia directed the episode written by Adam Glass.