Watching Supernatural

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.

To read other recaps/reviews of this episode, check out BuddyTV, Rabiddoll, SignOnSanDiego, and TVSquad

This week’s episode was certainly something to savor. Not only was it the first time this season that we’ve been treated to two excellent episodes in row, but it was an amazing look at the future of the season and its two main characters.

First of all, major kudos to the writer of this episode, Jeremy Carver, and the director Philip Sgriccia. You might recall their names from episode 3×04 “Sin City” and episode 3×08 “A Very Supernatural Christmas.” I think it’s safe to say that any episode Carver writes might be a little short on the suspense but will be chockfull of hints for upcoming episodes.

True to form, this episode was nearly brimming with hints for the future. While “Sin City” was the breaking point in Dean’s cool facade (I’ll discuss this further in my review for episode 3×10 - forgive me!), “Mystery Spot” was Sam’s breaking point.

We’ve seen over and over again throughout the season so far that Sam still believes Dean will be saved. It took a drastic change, namely the consistently inevitable deaths of Dean, to really drive this lesson home: Sam will not always be able to save everyone. Sam’s dealt with this before, as we’ve seen in Season 1 and even Season 2, but he always had the strength of knowing that he couldn’t save other people - Dean has always survived it all. Now that he’s realized Dean might not be able to avoid his deal, we’re seeing to the core of Sam.

Frankly, what I saw of him was absolutely frightening. It’s amusing that Dean and Sam are so complementary that they’re perfect foils for each other. Dean’s sloppiness and bonhomie offset Sam’s analytical and now-fearless actions. Seeing them brush their teeth side by side, and observing the differences in toothpaste tubes, was a true revelation into each of their characters.

I don’t know about you, but while I watched Sam living his life after Dean had ‘died,’ I expected to see the black eyes of a demon in every shot. The way he utterly distanced himself from the world and Bobby and yet managed to kill so efficiently was mind-boggling. This is not the boy we met in Season 1’s “Pilot.” He hasn’t somehow found a way to survive without Dean and branch off into different relationships - instead, he’s merely existing.

This, of course, begs quite a few questions. In “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” we saw an inkling of what a demon-Dean would look like. He would be fierce, almost animalistic, and completely vengeful. Yet, we also saw Dean’s inner self, and he simply seemed weary of his life and his own guilt. There were distinct differences between the two; we certainly didn’t need the black eyes to betray which one was a demon and which wasn’t.

Yet, there is no such distinction with Sam. In fact, Sam’s more humanistic when he’s around Dean than when he is alone. I personally don’t believe that Sam came back from the dead ‘changed,’ but I do have to wonder if this portrayal of Sam was the writers’ attempt to show us there is a ‘demon’ living in Sam under the surface, and more broadly, in all of us.

Another factor in the differences between Sam and Dean that really struck me was that only Dean was willing to change his behavior and talk to the professor’s daughter. We all know that Dean’s a ’skirt-chaser,’ but Sam never wanted to change the smaller details like that one. He could have helped the movers who were trying to fit the desk through the doorway, or he could have ordered his breakfast at the diner from the counter instead of at a booth. Instead, he was content to sit back and let the day go on as before, while aiming for the larger goal in sight: saving Dean’s life.

I have a strong feeling that was a hint at something that could save Dean. Sam can’t seem to notice the little details, the little changes could add up to make a larger one. Maybe Sam needs to make his research more indirect in nature. Or, maybe he needs to let Dean die and go to hell in order to find a way to bring him back. In fact, this line of reasoning would support my predictions of Sam eventually leading a demon army of his own. I really can’t wait to see if I’m correct or not.

The use of the Trickster (who was played by Richard Speight, a name that should be familiar to all of you Jericho fans) was a great touch. Season 3 has been such a large departure from Seasons 1 and 2 that it was heartening to see that the old storylines haven’t been forgotten. I rather wondered at the Trickster’s desire to ‘teach’ Sam a lesson. Why would he care? As he said himself, the Winchesters attempted to kill him the last time they met. Other than toying with them, what other reason could he have to ‘help’ Sam? Unless there is something about the deal that involves the Trickster? I don’t know enough of the mythology that Kripke has created to answer that, but it’s a possibility isn’t it?

The use of Bobby in this episode was also particularly brilliant. Bobby is the last tie to Dean that Sam has, and yet he’s willing to kill Bobby even though he knows it’s a mirage created by the Trickster. Remember how Dean said that Bobby was ‘almost like a father’ to him in “Dream A Little Dream of Me”? Well, Dean would have never done that, even if he was pretty sure that the Bobby he was seeing was a mirage.

You could always point out that Sam did because he’d become ruthless, and there is some truth in that, but I think it lies even deeper than that. As the comics have told us so far, Sam always had his father’s attention while Dean never got the same kind of love. When Dean said that Bobby was like a father to him, he really meant it (you’ll see this explained further in my upcoming review for episode 3×10). Sam, on the other hand, never saw Bobby as more than his father’s friend and a fellow hunter. In some ways, I think Bobby fostered that kind of relationship because he has always treated Sam with intellectual respect, while he’s always had to push Dean into a certain direction.

So, in my opinion, it didn’t matter to Sam that Bobby was his last link, other than Ellen, to his father and Dean - what mattered to Sam was that he was a way to get Dean back (remember, the whole purpose in killing Bobby was for that sham of a ritual that would have brought Dean back from the dead). In other words, Sam places more meaning in blood relations than Dean does. Whether or not that distinction is solely the blame of John Winchester is debatable, but there you have it.

In all, I was expecting far more humor from this episode. Eric Kripke mentioned that Dean’s deaths would become more and more ridiculous; they certainly did, because I did laugh quite a bit at some of them, but they all had an underlying sense of dread. Somehow, the audience was able to see just how much Dean’s deaths were hurting Sam inside. I have to credit Jared Padalecki on his incredible performances here. Not only was he brilliant with the angsty parts, but his portrayal of Sam without Dean was like a punch in the gut. I seriously think he needs more work as villians instead of heroes - he’s just too good in either role.

TAGS: supernatural, episode 3×11, mystery spot