As if finding out there will be a handful of new Supernatural episodes starting in April or May thanks to the end of the writers’ strike wasn’t enough good news, tonight we get the long-awaited episode “Mystery Spot.” This is the Groundhog Day-like episode, and we all know that Supernatural is great at handling dark comedy. Also, it’s written by new staff writer Jeremy Carver, whose last script was the very funny and sweet “A Very Supernatural Christmas.”
Sam (Jared Padalecki) wakes up, but sadly it’s Asia’s “Heat of the Moment” and not “I Got You Babe.” Too bad for all you ladies, Sam sleeps with his shirt on. The boys get ready, and Dean (Jensen Ackles) is being extra annoying, gargling loudly as they brush their teeth. The boys head to a diner where Dean orders the special, a Pig in a Poke with bacon, and Sam orders a short stack, which I find funny given his height. When the waitress arrives, she drops the hot sauce and it shatters.
They’re searching for a missing professor who was seeking the Broward County Mystery Spot, a crazy thing where space-time can bend. Dean thinks it sounds a little bit like The X-Files, which also had a Groundhog Day-esque episode. They walk down the town’s main street. A dog barks, a blonde woman bumps into Dean, two guys are hauling a desk up some stairs.
The boys investigate the Mystery Spot, a fun house place, after closing. The owner shows up wielding a shotgun. He tells the boys to leave, but the shotgun accidentally goes off and Dean is blown away and dies in Sam’s arms.
Day 2: Sam wakes up to Asia. Dean gargles loudly. Sam thinks he’s having a weird dream, and Dean asks, “Clowns or midgets?” Funny. They go to the diner, and the same stuff happens, but Sam catches the hot sauce. While walking on the sidewalk, they run across the same things, then Dean walks into the street and is hit by a car driven by a man from the diner.
Day 3: Asia, gargling, Pig in a Poke, hot sauce. Sam tells Dean what’s going on, that every day ends with Dean dying, and he thinks it sounds like Groundhog Day. Sam stops Dean from going into the street, but then the desk that the guys were pulling up falls onto Dean, crushing him.
Day 4: To change his fate, Dean orders sausage instead of bacon with his Pig ina Poke. He chokes to death on the sausage.
Day 5: They stay inside, but Dean slips and falls in the shower.
Day 6: All we see are the boys enjoying lunch as Dean asks “Do these tacos taste funny?” Ha!
Day 7: Dean is electrocuted.
Day 8: Sam, crazy, has tied up the owner of the Mystery Spot and is taking an ax to the whole damn building. Dean wants some fun, and off-screen, the boys fight over who gets to hold the ax when we were it going into Dean.
Next they’re in the diner, and Sam tells Dean this is the 100th day. He knows everything, and he suggests the waitress study up on her archery skills. Man, I’m sorry we missed that death. To prove to Dean what happens, Sam does the thing where he mimics everything Dean says. Dean comes up with some real winners, including: “Sam Winchester wears make-up. Sam Winchester cries his way through sex. Sam Winchester keeps a ruler by his bed and every morning when he wakes up…” HILARIOUS!
On the sidewalk, Dean finally changes things up and talks to the blonde who bumps into him, She’s the daughter of the missing professor. With things looking up, Dean goes to pet the dog. It mauls and kills him.
The next day, while eating, Sam notices something strange, A person at the counter who orders maple syrup every single day has suddenly ordered strawberry syrup. Before he can do anything, it snaps to the next morning.
The next day Sam finds the guy, threatening to kill him until he morphs into the Trickster from “Tall Tales.” This time loop isn’t about punishing Dean, but about forcing Sam to watch his brother die. Eventually the Trickster promises to stop, and suddenly, Sam wakes up, but this time it’s to “Back in Time.” It’s Wednesday! Even Dean remembers running into the Trickster. While Sam is packing, Dean gets mugged outside, then shot. Dean dies. On Wednesday. Sam is a mess.
Next thing we know, it’s three months later. Uncle Bobby is leaving messages for Sam, who is a total bad-ass. He’s buying guns, killing demons, and cutting open his shirt to stitch up his own battle wounds. Uncle Bobby calls to say he’s found the Trickster. Sam meets him to do a summoning spell, bt they need a gallon of blood. Sam is eager to drain some innocent person, but Uncle Bobby refuses, because it was a test.
Uncle Bobby offers himself as a sacrifice, and after some convincing, Sam does it, but only because he knows this is actually the Trickster. He’s trying to teach Sam a lesson that Dean is his primary weakness, and the demons know that, so he has to be stronger about this. Then the Trickster let’s Sam go back to Wednesday.
Sam wakes up to “Back in Time” again. He sees Dean and hugs him for a really, really long time. He refuses to let Dean out of his sights, but he doesn’t tell his brother what happened.
Now that was an amazing episode, one of the best episodes of TV I’ve seen in a while. Kudos to Supernatural. Next week is the pre-strike finale, but never fear, more new episodes will return in April.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
