Review for 3x11 'Mystery Spot'

[galathea]

Mystery Spot, by courtesy of Jeremy Carver, left me with mixed feelings, especially on first viewing, but after sorting out my thoughts about the episode and pinning down my problems with it, it was better the second and third time around. Anyway, the episode puts Sam through an emotional wringer and comprehensively illustrates the devastating effects Dean’s death will have on his brother, should he be unable to prevent Dean’s deal from coming due. If the episode foreshadows upcoming events in the season, we (and the Winchesters) most certainly have rough times ahead of us. But well, what else is new?



I admit, I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about Mystery Spot after I watched it, and I didn’t know exactly why my response to the episode wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as I expected. After all, I not only felt well entertained throughout the episode, but also genuinely emotionally engaged by Sam’s dilemma. So, it took me a while to put my finger on the problem: It was like watching a myriad of delightful single moments that, for some reason, didn’t quite merge into an equally delightful whole. If I had to phrase it, I would say the episode is less than the sum of its parts. Now, I had very high expectations for this episode, not only because I love the movie Groundhog Day and all the different variations on the theme – the X-Files episode Monday in particular comes to mind – but also because I am addicted to hurt/comfort moments between the brothers and the premise of the episode had all the right ingredients for a classic hurt/comfort story. So, what went wrong? For once I will first try to capture what bothered me about the episode and then move on to the 'squee' part:

I think my main problem with the episode is the attempt to mix comedy and drama where Dean’s death is concerned. I mean, Dean dying is Sam's worst nightmare and I feel that reducing his death to a joke – like, for example, in the montage of 'funny' death-scenes – is inappropriate. Now, in Groundhog Day there is a similar montage of the protagonist (unsuccessfully) trying to kill himself, and in the movie that sequence works well as a morbid comic relief, not least because the audience experiences those scenes through the eyes of said protagonist, who looks at his suicide attempts with a fair bit of dark humour himself. In Mystery Spot, however, we experience Dean’s death from the perspective of his grieving brother, and I feel that approaching it in a humorous capacity not only undermines Sam’s suffering, but also reduces the impact Dean’s death has on the viewer. That’s especially true for those death scenes that are not only not funny, but even border on the tasteless, like Sam accidentally killing Dean with an axe or Dean being mauled to death by a golden retriever. Moreover, death is simply rendered meaningless in these endless repetitions and Dean’s death can never be meaningless for Sam – or the audience for that matter. Overall, I feel that there is an inherent contradiction between the viewer’s emotional response to the event of Dean’s death and the tonal approach to the subject matter in the episode, and I think that left me with a bit of unease.

My discomfort with the comedic montage of Dean’s various deaths is probably amplified by the fact that its crudeness stands in such a stark contrast to the heart-wrenching and quiet scene of Dean dying in Sam’s arms at the beginning of the episode. The way Dean grabs Sam’s jacket and tries to keep his eyes focused on his brother’s face, and the silent despair und disbelief in Sam’s voice when he whispers Dean’s name, are heartbreaking to watch, and I think that every death that follows is less meaningful in comparison. The only other death that has a tangible impact on me is Dean’s 'final' death on Wednesday, which I guess is intended to make an impression, still, it is nowhere near as powerful as that first death scene, despite its even more devastating after-effects for the characters, and I think that’s a result of the fact that the writers played Dean’s death as a joke one too many times. Even though I understand that the writers could not resist the temptation of exploiting the whimsical premise of the story in this manner, I think it’s regrettable that the emotional impact of the storyline is lessened by it.

There is one other issue I have with Mystery Spot though, and that’s the uneven balance between the first part of the episode, which revolves around the brothers’ efforts to break the time-loop, and the second part of the episode, in which Sam tries to hunt the Trickster down after Dean died permanently. I think the plot of the episode would have presented an excellent opportunity to give us an in depth look into Sam’s head and, more importantly, explore the long-term impact Dean’s death will have on Sam in case he will not be able to save his brother from his deal. So even if Dean should survive at the end of S3, the writers would effectively have played out the worst case scenario in Mystery Spot. However, instead of exploring Sam's obviously broken psyche in the aftermath of Dean’s death and his grief-fuelled revenge trip against the Trickster in depth, the writers fob us off with a short clip montage that does barely more than outline Sam’s grim state of mind. Ultimately, the writers forego the opportunity to tap the full potential of this storyline, and since I think that Sam’s worrisome response to Dean’s final death is the most important insight the episode has to offer in terms of foreshadowing and potential forward momentum for Sam's character, it feels like it is cut short for the sake of the comedy part – and that does not sit well with me.

Now, that’s not to say that said clip montage is not effective in conveying Sam’s desolate situation, but I really want to know a lot more details than it offers. I want to know how Sam handled the immediate aftermath of Dean’s death, how he dealt with the mourning period. I would have liked to see how he gradually turned into this numb and cold version of himself or how he took to hunting alone or, heck, even small things like when and how he decided to rearrange the Impala’s weapon trunk. The whole second part of the episode just feels rushed and that doesn’t do its importance justice. I think a different pacing and structuring of the episode would probably have worked wonders here. Alternatively, if the episode had been conceived as a two-parter, for example, the writers would have been able to add more depth to Sam's characterisation as well. It's just that, given how much time we spend in Dean’s head – which, no complaint here – I again feel that the exploration of Sam’s frame of mind falls short in comparison. On a side note: I am also not particularly thrilled that the production team rehashed older Sam scenes for the montage. I don’t really mind the reuse of the Impala shots we had over the course of the season, but the reuse of these Sam shots irritates me, probably because I just know these scenes so well that I instantly connect them to a different context, and that pulls me out of the moment.

In any case, I think I also expected the episode to drive Sam’s character arc forward right away, maybe similar to how Dean's character arc gained forward momentum in Dream A Little Dream Of Me - an episode which tangibly changed Dean’s outlook on life and motivated him to join his brother in the search for a way out of the deal. Now, one of the reasons why I think that Groundhog Day makes a great template for Mystery Spot is that the movie revolves around the message that the protagonist needs to change into a better man, that by 'saving' himself, he not only gets the girl, but also breaks the time-loop. I would have loved to see that twist of the original story properly applied to the Supernatural version of it, i.e. Sam coming to the realisation that he will only be able to save Dean, if he saves himself from turning into a dark and ruthless version of himself. As it is though, I am not sure what kind of message Sam took from his experience. His distressed expression at the end of the episode at least suggests that this experience will inform Sam's future decisions, and I am not quite sure if for the better or worse. It’s possible though that hindsight will render this point moot, and since the episode order of 3x11 and 3x12 has been switched because of the unsure outcome of the writer's strike, any possible repercussions of the events in Mystery Spot will be postponed anyway.

Sorry, that's quite a ramble, but I really wanted to pin down where my initial reservations about the episode came from. Anyway, let's move on to the good stuff, because as I said before, there are many little moment to love in this episode and the brotherly interaction, while always enjoyable, is outright delightful in Mystery Spot.

Dean: "Okay, so you think you're caught in some kind of what, again?"
Sam: "Time loop."
Dean: "Like Groundhog Day."
Sam: "Doesn't matter. There's no way to stop it."
Dean: "Jeez, aren't you grumpy."
Sam: "Yeah, I am. You wanna know why? Because this is the hundredth Tuesday in a row I've been through, and it never stops. Ever. So yeah, I'm a little grumpy."

Mystery Spot gives us the brothers at their banterly best, well, at least up until Sam becomes too distraught to respond to Dean’s jokes. I think in terms of characterisation the episode carries on well from Dream A Little Dream Of Me, where Dean finally admitted that he wants (and deserves) to live and consequentially accepted Sam’s simple reassurance that they will find a way to save him, no matter how hopeless the situation may seem at the moment. Dean’s relaxed and good-humoured demeanour throughout the episode is clearly the result of his renewed sense of hope and optimism, and I think the difference to Dean’s fake-enthusiasm and forced carefree attitude at the beginning of the season could not be more striking. Dean seems at peace, and it is apparent that he has steadfast trust in their ability to beat the odds, nothing conveys that more than his statement that if he and Sam decide that he is not going to die, then he is not going to die. Period! ♥ Dean’s optimism is an absolute joy to watch after seeing him resigned and in denial for most of the season so far.

The delightful classic siblings banter at the beginning of the episode is so very reminiscent of Sam and Dean's domestic squabbles in Tall Tales, that I really should have made the connection to the Trickster earlier. Dean rousing his brother by turning the volume of the radio up and silently singing along to Asia’s Heat Of The Moment – complete with head banging and all – is just hilarious, as are Sam’s varying bitchfaces and eye-rolls in the face of his brother’s typical annoying behaviour and lame jokes. From Sam’s disgust to Dean’s questionable bathroom manners to his incredulous reaction to Dean’s attempts to get a rise out of him, it’s all marvellous to watch. This is exactly the kind of humour I love, as it works well within the characters’ established personalities. Now, while I would love these scenes for their humorous content alone, it is even more poignant that they clearly serve to emphasise the stark contrast to Sam’s lifestyle after Dean is dead – but more on that later.

Anyway, Sam and Dean’s interaction in the episode not only works beautifully on a humorous level, but also on an emotional one. As it is often the case when the brothers find themselves in a distressing situation, they automatically fall back into their comfortingly familiar big brother/little brother routines and Mystery Spot is no exception. While it is obvious that Dean believes that the disappearance of Dexter Hassleback does not warrant their attention, he still supports Sam unhesitatingly when he insists on checking the case out, even though he thinks they have better things to do. Dean also readily switches into reassuring big brother mode as soon as he senses Sam’s earnest distress. He might feel disbelief at Sam’s bizarre story about being stuck in a time-loop, but he cannot deny his little brother the support and comfort he needs, even if he himself has no memory of the events Sam claims have happened. ♥ Dean remains calm and collected through every new round of Tuesday, thus building an effective counterpart to Sam’s increasingly erratic and impatient behaviour. Of course, it works in Dean’s favour that he is not emotionally affected by the events like Sam is, so it’s easy for him to look at the situation more objectively.

Sam, on the other hand, is truly on the verge of a nervous breakdown throughout the episode, unsurprisingly so, and consequentially he loses sight of the bigger picture pretty quickly. He is so intensely focussed on circumventing Dean's death that it prevents him from thinking the case through more rationally and maybe explore different, more successful angles to break the time-loop. And that’s where Dean comes in; he gives Sam the input he needs to slowly put the clues together and solve the mystery. It’s Dean who pushes Sam to talk to the Hasselback’s daughter, and it is Dean who points out to Sam that Hasselback’s disappearance has the Trickster’s fingerprints all over it. That’s how they work as a team, brainstorming, pitching ideas to each other until the puzzle pieces fall together, and I will never grow tired of watching that. ♥ Again, the dynamic between Sam and Dean as they work the case together builds a great contrast to Sam working alone later. As long as Dean is around, Sam can allow himself to not be completely in control, but take Dean out of the equation and Sam truly loses balance. It’s like a switch is flipped in Sam. The sheer irony of the fact that Dean’s death easily achieves the results Azazel had been unable to produce through years of manipulation is haunting; if he had simply killed Dean, he would probably have had his favourite 'general' long ago.

Bobby: "Just tell me you're not sitting alone somewhere obsessing over this damn Trickster. Call me, Sam. We can find it together. No one man should take something like this on alone. You hear me? By the way, that vampire nest in Austin? Hell of a job!"

We already know that Sam and Dean deal differently with death – their different reactions to John’s death illustrated that perfectly – but still, I really would have preferred for the episode to linger on the immediate aftermath of Dean's death, instead of leaping forward to a point in time where Sam has already adjusted to his situation. That way the episode would have drawn a direct comparison between Sam’s approach to grief here and Dean's approach to grief after Sam’s death in All Hell Breaks Loose II. As it is, the six months’ time jump skews the comparison somewhat. Even so, I think we can gain some insight into the brothers by looking into their different coping mechanisms. Dean was frozen in place after Sam’s death, caught up in feelings of guilt and failure. His brother's killer had no place in his mind and revenge had no place in his heart, not least because Dean blamed himself for Sam’s death. While we didn’t get to witness the long-term impact of Sam’s death on Dean’s character, I tend to think that he would have retreated within himself – if he had not taken his own life, that is. Sam, on the other hand, seems restless after Dean’s death, entirely caught up in feelings of anger and revenge. Where Dean’s grief had been introspective, Sam’s is extrospective, resulting in a tireless focus on the hunt and in an obsession with the Trickster. No matter how differently their grief manifests itself though, ultimately, Sam and Dean are both completely unable to move past their brother’s death, and that just serves to emphasize how utterly co-dependent they have become. ♥

In that context, it’s also interesting to note the striking parallels between John and Sam in the aftermath of devastating loss. Throughout the show, it has often been emphasised how similar father and son are, but those similarities have never been more apparent than in their handling of grief. Sam’s obsession with the Trickster, his transformation into a ruthless, reckless hunter, his self-chosen isolation from friends and family, it all mirrors John’s radical reaction to Mary’s death. Moreover, John’s military training and obsessive-compulsive need for order and control become predominant in Sam’s behaviour as well. As pointed out earlier, the drastic change in Sam’s lifestyle after Dean is dead builds a stark contrast to the brothers’ usual, somewhat chaotic lifestyle as presented at the beginning of the episode. We know that Dean has a messy streak, while Sam is a bit of a control freak, but naturally their individual quirks are tempered when they are together. Of course, they are annoyed with each other’s habits from time to time, but overall they usually strike a balance that suits them both. And Dean may be messy, but he is also full of life, spontaneity, fun and warmth, and the complete absence of those qualities in Sam’s life after Dean is gone couldn’t have been illustrated more vividly. Sam making his bed with military precision in the montage sequence and Sam leaving a rumpled bed behind at the end of the episode are two contrasting snapshots that drive this point home beautifully.

Trickster!Bobby: "I thought you’d back down from killing a man."
Sam: "Well, you thought wrong."

Sam’s final confrontation with the Trickster/Bobby is a roller-coaster of emotions. Sam’s willingness to sacrifice an innocent human being in order to summon the Trickster and force him to return his brother to him is deeply disturbing and effectively illustrates that Sam has completely lost himself. And I don’t really doubt that he would have gone through with it. Remember, back in In My Time Of Dying Sam suggested to find a faith healer, again, to get Dean out of the coma, knowing full well that, last time, it had cost another human life to heal Dean. He clearly knows no bounds where Dean’s life is concerned. That’s also emphasised by the fact that Sam is not only willing to sacrifice a random person for a chance to get Dean back, but also to risk Bobby’s life. Now, (fake) Bobby’s offer to sacrifice his own life is definitely out of character, so it’s not entirely unreasonable for Sam to think that he is being played by the Trickster, but still. He simply couldn’t have known with absolute certainty that Bobby is just another one of the Trickster’s projections, and yet he takes that chance and kills him anyway. The heartbreaking moment where Sam calls out Bobby’s name, afraid that he might have killed the real Bobby after all, really shows that his earlier confidence wasn’t quite as steadfast as it seemed.

When the Trickster finally reveals himself, Sam stands before him absolutely defeated. He went to great lengths to get to this point, but once he is there, Sam has no actual plan, no way of coercing the Trickster into doing his bidding. Usually, Sam is the one who thinks strategy before he goes into an unknown situation, but the episode really highlights his single-mindedness and lack of foresight once he becomes obsessed with a certain goal. I mean, just like in the first half of the episode, where he rapidly lost sight of the bigger picture because he couldn’t think past saving Dean’s life, he flounders to argue his case in front of the Trickster because he didn’t plan further than finding and trying to kill him. Sam has no real leverage, and he knows it. All he can do is trying to appeal to the Trickster’s compassion. He is basically reduced to begging for mercy, and man, the way he reverts from ruthless killer to terrified little boy who just wants his big brother back really tugs at my heartstrings. ♥

Dean: "Dude, how many Tuesdays did you have?"
Sam: "Enough!"

Sam and Dean’s reunion after the Trickster restored the original timeline is undoubtedly my favourite brotherly moment in the episode. ♥ Sam’s overwhelming relief and joy at having his brother back are so palpable, it brought tears to my eyes just watching the emotions play on his face. Sam’s unhesitating stride towards Dean, the way he engulfs his brother in a fierce, desperate hug – it all mirrors Dean’s reaction when he sees Sam post-resurrection in All Hell Breaks Loose II. It’s just beautiful to behold. I don’t think we have seen such an open physical expression of his affection for Dean from Sam before in the show, and I love that Dean 'no chick flick moments' Winchester simply goes with it and allows his brother to take the comfort he so obviously needs. I also love that he doesn’t really put up a fight when Sam basically orders him to forget about breakfast and pack his things; Sam’s apparent distress is enough for him to just comply with his brother’s wishes. ♥

You know, given Sam’s unwillingness to let Dean out of his sight, even if it is only to go to the parking lot, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam were even more clingy and controlling for a while, at least until the immediate after-effects of his trauma have worn off. While I am a tad disappointed that Sam decides not to share the details of his traumatic experience with Dean, I can understand that he feels just as disinclined to reveal to Dean what he has become in his absence, as Dean was to tell Sam about the distressing confrontation with his dream!self in Dream A Little Dream Of Me. Some things are just too personal to share them. All told, if Sam’s tale in Mystery Spot serves as a foreshadowing of what is to come should he fail to save Dean – then Dean simply cannot die. Period! To witness Sam’s transformation from the gentle and caring man of the earlier seasons into such a cold and violent killer was truly disconcerting, and I sincerely hope this is not where the story is heading.

Trickster: "Sam, there's a lesson here that I've been trying to drill into that freakish Cro-Magnon skull of yours."
Sam: "Lesson? What lesson?"
Trickster: "This obsession to save Dean? The way you two keep sacrificing yourselves for each other? Nothing good comes out of it. Just blood and pain. Dean's your weakness. And the bad guys know it, too. It's gonna be the death of you, Sam. Sometimes you just gotta let people go."

Mystery Spot sees the return of the Trickster from Tall Tales, and I am glad that the writers seized the opportunity to bring the character back. Granted, Tall Tales isn’t exactly one of my favourite episodes, but even though I am not fond of the crude humour that inevitably comes with Trickster episodes, I do love Richard Speight’s performance and his interesting take on the character. The Trickster is one of those villains that fall into somewhat of a grey area, morally. I mean, he may exploit peoples' weaknesses and turn their vanity and hubris against them – often with deadly consequences – but his intentions are not necessarily evil and, as far as we know, he never targets good, modest people. The Trickster’s victims usually fall for his pranks out of stupidity, greed or vanity and could easily avoid death or humiliation, if they acted like decent human beings. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Trickster is harmless or benevolent. On the contrary, he clearly has no moral qualms to cruelly torment his victims and often his 'punishments' bear no proportion to their transgressions. He doesn’t choose his victims with the intent to turn them into better people; he simply toys with them for his own amusement, indifferent to the damage he causes. It may be easy to root for the Trickster, because we all enjoy it when bullies and self-important jerks get their comeuppance, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is cruel and merciless himself.

Anyway, despite the fact that Sam and Dean are hunters, the Trickster took a liking to them back in Tall Tales and was content to create discord between the brothers in order to throw them off his tail. He admitted that he had no intentions to harm Sam and Dean – hunters or not, they simply didn’t fit his usual target group – and only when the brothers turned his truce offer down and tried to kill him, he retaliated. Still, it would have been easy for the Trickster to just kill Sam and Dean, but instead he let them go. In fact, he didn’t seem particularly angry with them at the end of Tall Tales, and that begs the question why he targets the brothers so viciously when they cross his path again in Mystery Spot. Now, I have no doubt that revenge motivates him to a great degree, but I wonder if that is really all it is. I mean, sure, it’s easy to see how the Trickster would take satisfaction and amusement from watching Sam’s fruitless attempts to save Dean, but what does he gain by killing Dean off and playing a game of cat and mouse with Sam? He tells Sam later that he wanted him to learn a lesson about the merits of acceptance and the dangers of self-sacrifice, but why would he even care to teach Sam a lesson? And why would he grant Sam his wish to have Dean returned to him? As I said before, usually the Trickster has no intention to lecture his victims on the errors of their ways and he’s never shown mercy either. So, all in all, his actions suggest to me that he has ulterior motives where his 'lesson' for Sam is concerned.

The exact nature of those ulterior motives is not entirely clear at this point, but the Trickster’s warning about the dire consequences of Sam and Dean’s willingness to sacrifice themselves for each other and his statement that their enemies will easily be able to exploit that weakness to their advantage gives the impression that he knows a lot more than he lets on – especially in conjunction with his ominous last words to Sam, namely that the meaning of it all is for him to know and for Sam to find out. While I don’t really think he knows (or can predict) the future, it’s possible that he has a lot more insight into the plans of the demons and their new leader than Sam and Dean. Now, I don’t believe that he has any direct involvement with the demons, but obviously it would be in the Trickster’s own best interest to keep an eye on them, because if the demons were to wage war on humanity and take over the world, he would be robbed of his own 'playground'. Naturally, self-preservation would motivate him to meddle in the demons’ affairs, and since it is evident that Sam plays an important part in their plans, it makes sense that he would try to exert his influence on him first. So, I think the Trickster’s effort to teach Sam a lesson probably serves selfish purposes. The fact that he confronts Sam with his inability to keep a clear head when Dean is in danger and shows him his potential for ruthlessness suggests that Sam will play right into the demons’ hands if he goes down that road in his attempt to save Dean. Only time will tell, I guess.

What else is noteworthy:

(1) I really have to take this opportunity to point out just how much Jared’s acting has matured in these past three years, and nothing showcases his development better than a Sam centric episode like Mystery Spot. Now, I never thought that Jared is a bad actor – even though I felt at times that he had less range than Jensen, in S1 in particular – but there is such a subtle quality and expressiveness in his acting nowadays, it is a joy to watch him. Jared just nails the range of Sam’s emotions in Mystery Spot – from Sam’s initial irritation and confusion at finding himself in this unusual predicament to his absolute despair at losing Dean over and over again to his unrestrained anger when faced with the Trickster. The switch from Sam’s emotional self in the first part of the episode to his cold and almost robotic counterpart in the second part is convincingly played as well. So, kudos to Jared for his excellent performance in the episode.

(2) One of my favourite moments of the episode is the synchronised shouting match between Sam and Dean. The brothers’ facial expressions throughout that sequence are hilarious! ♥ I can only imagine how many takes Jensen and Jared had to go through before they managed to finalise the scene. Can there please be outtakes from that scene on the S3 gag reel? Pretty please! ;)

* * *
Did you know? Apparently the brotherly hug at the end of the episode was not in the original script for the episode. Instead Jensen and Jared themselves came up with the idea for Sam’s spontaneous reaction to having his brother back. They discussed it with Kim Manners, who approved of it. :)


[Addendum - May 2008]
Mystery Spot is one of those rare episodes that, despite initial reservations, grew on me rapidly on repeated viewings. In fact, Mystery Spot is not only the S3 episode that I re-watch most, but it also turned into one of my favourite Supernatural episodes ever. Now, I will never find the montage of Dean’s death-scenes even remotely funny, but I came to accept it as an expression of the Trickster's knack for cruel and tasteless jokes – not unlike those he played in Tall Tales, which I didn't find funny either – and as such I don't have to find it funny. Instead I can be as appalled and angry about it as Sam is, when he confronts the Trickster. However, my annoyance with this particular aspect of the episode steadily decreased over time and, in the end, my love for the marvellous brotherly interaction in the episode won out. I still think the narrative is not quite as balanced as it could be, but by now I take so much enjoyment from the episode that I am in a more forgiving mood about that! ♥