“People imagine, and people believe: and it is that belief, that rock-solid belief, that makes things happen” – American Gods (Neil Gaiman)

The central conceit of Neil Gaman’s 2001 novel “American Gods” is that gods and other supernatural beings owe their very existence to the belief of mankind. Gaiman’s book explores how gods’ powers wax and wane along with the strength of people’s belief in them. As society has marched through time, the gods of old have diminished in power as society’s new obsessions (media, drugs, celebrities, technology) have replaced them. Supernatural series creator Eric Kripke (in a commentary for a season four episode) has acknowledged Gaiman, and particularly “American Gods” as an influence on Supernatural. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Season Five episode “Fallen Idols.” The episode is more of a bottle episode than we’ve been getting of late, and it serves as a nice diversion away from the main story arc. In many ways, it is reminiscent of the type of monster-of-the-week episodes that predominated during the show’s first and second seasons. While it is a standalone, and is a funny one at that (similar in tone to “Wishing Well”), it still manages to pack in quite a bit of action, and gore, and brotherly angst and love.

The episode opens within a five-car garage in Canton, Ohio. Cal Hopkins and his friend Jim Grossman have an excess of disposable income and a love for collectible autos. Cal reveals to his friend Jim that he has finally located “Little Bastard,” James Dean’s race car. Cal gets in the car while Jim goes for a camcorder to document the moment. Jim returns to find Cal dead; head halfway-impaled on broken windshield glass. When Sam and Dean hear of this, they decide to check it out as a dry-run of sorts: even though the Apocalypse is nigh, Dean tells Sam that they must get their groove back and that the detour to Ohio to investigate what may be a “monster of the week” is an important one. We learn from their discussion that three weeks have passed since the last episode. Three weeks of fruitless searching for the Colt.

Upon arriving in Canton, Sam and Dean interview the local lawman, Sheriff Carnegie, who insists that there is a rational explanation for Cal’s death – his friend Jim must have been on drugs and killed him[1]. Sam and Dean don’t buy this for a moment. They interview Jim. Jim mentions the car was “Little Bastard” and Dean can hardly contain himself. However, when Sam and Dean check the car out, Sam traces the chain of title and determines it to be merely a replica.

Meanwhile, later that night, Professor William Hill, an aficionado of Abraham Lincoln, is alone in his study when he suddenly finds himself confronted by what appears to be the angry ghost of Lincoln himself. Professor Hill dies, messily, shot in the head just as was Lincoln himself. Despite the fact that no gun was recovered, no bullet was found, and there was no gunpowder residue to be found, Sheriff Carnegie remains convinced that there is a rational explanation for this crime: Professor Hill was taken out by a professional killer. Consuela, the late Professor’s maid, disagrees: she ID’s Abraham Lincoln for the crime.

The plot thickens when, back at their motel, Dean reviews Jim’s video from the night of Cal’s death and he spots what appears to be the reflection of James Dean off of one of the car’s hubcaps. Sam and Dean theorize that they are dealing with famous ghosts that are ganking their own fans. The question becomes “why is this happening in Canton, Ohio?” To answer the question, the next day the brothers head to the Canton Wax Museum, where they pose as travel reporters and interview the museum’s lonely proprietor. After acknowledging that both Cal and Professor Hill were regular visitors, the proprietor explains that the museum is unique because it uses real artifacts in its displays: Lincoln’s hat, Gandhi’s bifocals, James Dean’s keychain, FDR’s iron lung, and more.

That night, while Sam is out at the Metallicar prepping guns for some ghost busting, Dean calls Bobby. Sam overhears Dean disparaging him to Bobby. Sam confronts Dean about this, realizing that their peace is perhaps uneasier than he thought. They set their differences aside and head back to the wax museum. At the museum, they separate. While apart, Sam gets jumped by Gandhi. Gandhi grapples with Sam. Sam is saved in the nick of time by Dean, who torches Gandhi’s bifocals. Gandhi vanishes, but not with the typical fanfare of a vanquished ghost. Dean teases Sam about being a fan of Gandhi.

The next morning, while packing up, Sam questions the manner of Gandhi’s departure. He also ponders why Gandhi would have tried biting him, since Gandhi was a fruitarian. Sam and Dean again spar. This time, Sam wins. Sam argues that they cannot go back to what they had before, because what they had before did not work: Sam argues that Dean must let him grow up. Just then, Sam and Dean receive a call from Sheriff Carnegie. Finally, the Sheriff appears to be at a loss for a rational explanation as he tells the brothers that two girls are now claiming to have been attacked by none other than Paris Hilton. Their friend, Danielle, was abducted by Paris, they say. Since Paris Hilton is not deceased, the boys realize they must not be dealing with a ghost.

Sam reviews Cal and the Professor’s cases. He autopsies Cal and finds two odd stone-like seeds in Cal’s stomach. Sam searches the “Global Seed Bank,” looking up a listing of seeds categorized by appearance, and determines the seeds in question to be buergeranun procerae, from an extremely rare plant found only in eastern Europe. The site notes that a few such seeds were found preserved in a farmer’s seed bag found by scientists at an unusual worship site. Subsequent research was halted due to a freakish accident which killed the entire scientific research team. The plant blooms once a year, at midnight, and Slavic lore sites it as a magical plant. Sam tells Dean that these seeds were from a particular forest in the Balkans that was deforested some 30 years prior. That forest was guarded by a pagan god named Leshii[2]. Leshii, Sam tells Dean, is a trickster god. He can take on infinite forms and is appeased only by the blood of his worshippers. He drains his worshippers of blood, and then stuffs their stomach with seeds. Conveniently, the site explains that Leshii may be killed if decapitated with an iron axe.

Leshii is a woodland spirit in Slavic mythology who protects wild animals and forests. Leshii, as were many pagan gods, was demonized by the Christian Church and lent demonic features by the Church. Originally, he was an embodiment of the forest itself. In fact, his name comes from the word “les,” the slavic word for forest. In eastern European mythology, Leshii often manifests as a tall peasant wearing shoes on the wrong feet. Occasionally he is described as having green eyes, pale skin, wings, a tail, black hair, hooves and horns, or some combination of the above. His described appearance varies throughout various legends, but what remains consistent is the idea that he is a shape-shifter, able change both his shape and his size. Leshii would imitate voices, tricking forest wanderers. The best way to defeat Leshii was to turn clothing inside out and backwards, and to switch up shoes. Leshii could also be appeased by food offerings. None of this is really explored in depth in the episode.

Their heads replete with Leshii lore, Sam and Dean head back to the wax museum. It is now officially after-hours and the museum is even more deserted than it was during the day. Essentially, this just means that the proprietor is gone. The boys head back into the “closed for renovations” section. Before long, they find abductee Danielle tied up to a tree, barely alive. Out of nowhere, Paris Hilton appears. Preternaturally strong, and a good boxer, she fights both Sam and Dean and gets the better of them both. They are knocked out. When they awaken, they too are tied to trees. Leshii, in the form of Paris Hilton, begins to monologue. Leshii explains that in the old days he was adored, but then his forest was cut down to make way for a Yugo factory. Since then, he’s been wandering the earth, scrounging for scraps. When he realized it was the apocalypse, he decided to take advantage and pig out. He found the wax museum, where adoring fans stroll right through the door. Even though they don’t idolize him, particularly, Leshii says he’ll take what he can get. Leshii conveys a certain disgust at the debased state of modern day religion.

Dean argues that Leshii cannot kill him, because Leshii is in the form of Paris Hilton and Dean does not worship Paris. To turn to a different form, Leshii must touch an item belonging to that other idolized person. Leshii’s answer to this is that Dean worshipped his father, John Winchester, and that the iron axe the boys brought in was owned by John. Leshii goes for the axe but is stopped by Dean, who breaks free just in time. Sam breaks free shortly thereafter. He grabs the axe and beheads Paris/Leshii while Dean is struggling with her.

The next morning, Sam and Dean prepare to leave town. At their car, the boys reconcile once again. They agree that they will go down fighting, even if Sam is on deck for the Devil and Dean for Michael, with no changing fate, they will still fight. In an effort to show that fences have been mended, Dean offers to let Sam drive.

While I really enjoyed the episode, I do question Kripke’s choice of Paris Hilton. He is using her the way Gaiman used a fat, socially awkward young man as the embodiment of the god of technology; representative of America’s new religion. Where Gaiman focused on technology, media, and the like, Kripke appears to be saying that pop celebrity is America’s new religion. Paris actually monologues on this at the episode’s end. As Leshii (in the form of Paris) opines, people today are in a sorry state, where celebrity worship passes for idolatry. Celebrities are nothing more than people with spray tans and small dogs; old time religion has been replaced by US Weekly. It is essentially the same point that Gaiman makes in his New York Times bestseller. But is Paris Hilton really the best spokesperson to make the point? To my mind, her fame waned several years ago already. She’s already been replaced in the fickle mind of Americans by newer and greater objects of pop culture obsession. Maybe it’s just that Paris Hilton became the de facto best choice for the episode because she was game to actually appear in it as herself. Or maybe the fact that her celebrity is on the wane actually plays to Kripke’s point – even the new Gods don’t stay new for very long, these days.

This episode had a bit of everything, ably mixing horror and humor in the adept way Supernatural somehow routinely carries off with ease. I give it 4 Metallicars.

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[1] Apropos of nothing, but just a fun etymological fact you can use the next time you find yourself in the back of a sheriff’s car with nothing to talk about: The word ’sheriff’ comes from “shire reeve.” Reeves were elected annually by serfs to supervise land for a lord. They took on tax collection and other duties, and generally were responsible to make sure that the lord’s will was respected throughout the shire.

[2] See Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore,Legend, and Myth, by Carol Rose for more on Leshii.