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Every weekday through September 12 BuddyTV is counting down the 10 best Supernatural episodes of all time. Come back every day as we unveil the list, and see if your favorite episode made the cut!
Original Air Date: February 14, 2008
Written By: Jeremy Carver
Summary: Sam wakes up one Tuesday morning to the strains of Asia's "Heat of the Moment," and soon discovers that it's the worst day of his life. After Dean dies from a shotgun blast to the chest, Sam finds himself reliving the same day over again. He tries to save Dean, but after his brother dies yet again he realizes that he's stuck in a time loop with no end in sight.
Why It's On The List: Organizing this top 10 list has been a bit hellish for me, mainly because I think every episode on it deserves to be at number one. I originally had a different episode in mind for the number seven slot, but after rewatching it I decided it was definitely top five material. That means that "Mystery Spot," which I could easily watch for a hundred Tuesdays in a row, had to be bumped down. It pains me to push one of my all-time favorites to number seven, but
Supernatural simply has an abundance of amazing episodes. Just wait until you find out which ones I couldn't fit into the top 10 at all.
I love the time loop episodes of both
The X-Files and
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so I knew "Mystery Spot" would be a favorite of mine before I even saw it. The thing I like most about it, aside from its mixture of hilarity and darkness, is the way it allows us to see the little moments of the brothers' daily routine. Dean brushing his teeth and ordering a pig in a poke for breakfast doesn't sound like it'd make for thrilling television, but thanks to the comedic brilliance of
Jensen Ackles these average moments are a highlight of the episode. The time loop concept has been done numerous times, but
Supernatural's take on it is classic thanks to these recurring bits.
Some of the great things we see over and over again include Dean's hilarious "Heat of the Moment" lip-syncing, a dropped hot sauce bottle, a not-so-friendly dog, Dean's impressive gargling abilities, and, of course, Dean's death. Dean kicks the bucket in ways that are both horrific (hit by a speeding car) and hilarious ("Do these tacos taste funny to you?"), and his montage of deaths in the middle of the episode is one of my favorite
Supernatural bits of all time. I love the way Kripke and the gang manage to make the deaths creative, grisly and completely unexpected every time.
The episode barrels along with lots of laughs for a good 25 minutes, but what makes "Mystery Spot" special is its surprising shift in tone toward the end. After the Trickster is outed and Sam wakes up to a beautiful Wednesday morning (while "Back in Time" by Huey Lewis and the News fittingly plays on the radio), Dean dies yet again. This death, which feels real and permanent to Sam, causes him to descend into darkness to the point where he eventually murders Trickster Bobby in cold blood.
Jared Padalecki always kicks ass when he gets to play Dark Sam, and he certainly doesn't disappoint here.
In my write up of "Bad Day at Black Rock" I mentioned that
Supernatural's greatness lies in its ability to switch from humor to horror to tragedy with ease. "Mystery Spot" manages to mix all three of these things into one brilliant episode. A lot of the humor and horror comes from Dean's many demises, but the tragedy is really piled on in the final scene, as we watch Sam come to the realization that his brother may not be with him for much longer. Any fan of the Winchesters has to get a little misty-eyed when Sam gives his brother a hug and tells him that he's had far too many Tuesdays. Dean will never understand what Sam went through, but the younger Winchester will have to live with the memories forever.
Everything that I mentioned above makes "Mystery Spot" a classic, but it could have made it on the list for this exchange alone:
Dean (on getting hit by the car): Did it look cool, like in the movies?
Sam: You peed yourself.
Dean: Of course I peed myself. Man gets hit by a car, you think he has full control over his bladder? Come on!
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What do you think of "Mystery Spot"?
- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of the CW)