In the eleventh episode of the third season of Supernatural, never has something so funny and amusing so rapidly descended into tragedy. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
It’s fascinating to me that both John Shiban and Kim Manners had credits for this episode, given that Manners directed “Monday,” an episode of The X-Files that shares a lot with “Mystery Spot.” In fact, up until Sam figures out what’s controlling his time loop, this is barely a different episode in execution or tone in a lot of ways. It features a lead character dying in every iteration of the day; the day repeats to comedic effect as one character relives the same events over and over. (Though the person who is aware of the Groundhog Day effect is different, I admit.) And it seemed like Sam had to find a way to change events to keep Dean alive, and then everything would be fine!
I really shouldn’t think everything’s going to be fine on this show. That’s never going to happen.
The events in “Mystery Spot” are bold when you put them in context of this season’s narrative, and I think that this is how this show took something that Manners and Shiban had done before, and it made its own. Throughout season three, the shadow of Dean’s death has hung over everything. It’s inescapable. It’s in EVERY EPISODE. And it should be! I think it’s vital to explore how Dean’s deal is going to affect these two brothers, and the show has done a fine job showing us the emotional vulnerability of the Winchesters as they prepare to lose one another. So it’s an utter shocker for the show to deliver us Dean’s death prior to the season finale. And they do it on camera TEN TIMES. TEN TIMES. And it’s funny in a way because poisoned tacos. Plus, the camera cuts upon Dean’s death are hilarious because THERE ARE SO MANY. Sam doesn’t live through this Tuesday once or twice; it happens hundreds of times. That story choice is ultimately what starts to differentiate “Mystery Spot” from the other time loop episodes I’ve seen, like “Window of Opportunity,” by developing an internal logic for Sam. He starts to memorize all the details of the day in order to exploit any possible choice that might end with Dean still being alive at the end. And that’s so rad to me because this started to feel more like Sam was exploring choice. What happened if allowed everything to progress normally, but changed a detail two hours? What happens if he tries to resist the pull of that Tuesday from the very second he wakes up? Of course, the most frustrating part of all of this is that no matter what Sam does, Dean always dies. Every time. Sometimes in his arms, sometimes in the next room, and Sam can never save him. Oh god, is this what Sam’s nightmare would have been had they gone into his mind in “Dream a Little Dream of Me”? I wouldn’t be surprised if that would have been the case.
But that idea – that this was Sam’s worst nightmare – doesn’t hold a candle to what Supernatural does next. After revealing that the Trickster god that the Winchesters failed to kill in “Tall Tales” is behind the time loop, the writers take this episode down a dark, dark path. I knew something was wrong after we got the “answer” to this week’s case with 15 minutes left in the episode. So, the Trickster had sent the missing man into a wormhole and was tormenting Sam specifically with the loop for… well, initially, I thought it was revenge for what happened in “Tall Tales.” But why torment Sam specifically? Why not allow Dean to remember his own death over and over again? Why was it so important for the Trickster to teach Sam that he couldn’t save his brother???
Unbelievably, Sam wakes up on a Wednesday, only to hold Dean dying in his arms just minutes later. The pattern is broken, nothing makes sense, AND I WAS SO DISTRAUGHT. BECAUSE THIS ISN’T THE PATTERN. THIS ISN’T WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. But oh my god, that “Six Months Later” title card was the worst. SIX MONTHS LATER??? HOW? HOW CAN THAT EVEN BE? In a haunting and utterly disturbing montage, we’re shown what Sam Winchester’s life is without Dean in it. It’s so awful to watch for a number of reasons, mainly due to the fact that this isn’t how it’s supposed to happen. In these images, we see a version of Sam that fulfills the promise he made to Dean. He’s become the heartless, obsessive hunter he believed he needed to be to survive without Dean. He has shunned Bobby’s friendship. He’s taken after John Winchester more than anything. (I saw how that car trunk looked; you can’t tell me that’s not a visual reference to John!) And he’s nothing but a hunter anymore. That’s all Sam does: he hunts for the Trickster. Sure, he takes care of evil along the way, but what does that matter? It’s clearly not about saving people anymore; it’s about avenging Dean’s death.
I admit that as powerful as this all is, I’m still confused about the Trickster’s motivations. Why? Why is he doing this to Sam? Why is he so concerned about Sam’s need to put himself in harm’s way to save Dean? I just don’t understand why there’s any interest at all. At the same time, it’s entirely possible that I don’t have all the pieces here, but this is the only part of this ended that confused me.
Regardless, this is an unreal episode of Supernatural. As depressing as this ending is (SAM’S GLIMPSE AT DEAN’S EMPTY BED IS NOT OKAY IN ANY UNIVERSE EVER), I think that by taking this episode into such a dark place, the writers crafted something so much interesting than we could have got. I’ll certainly remember this episode for a long time, though mostly I’ll be furious that because I finally understand the Tuesday reference, I now know how devastating this episode is. Damn y’all.
The video for “Mystery Spot” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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