SPN Ep: Mystery Spot

[the_other_sandy]

This may just be my favorite episode of anything, ever. I'm this close to making a reaction post that's nothing but exclamation marks, but I'll try to wrestle the flailing and squeeing into something resembling coherent thought.

I have never been so happy that I decided to go spoiler free this season. I spoiled myself silly last season, but I found that I enjoyed the episodes less when I knew what was going to happen. I knew Dean was going to die repeatedly in this ep from last week's trailer (I'm not that much of a spoilerphobe), but I had no idea where the show was going to go with it, and I never saw this coming. I've been wanting an episode that explored Sam's psyche for a long time, and this exceeded my wildest expectations. As Loki the Trickster said, everyone thinks Dean is the dysfunctional one. Surprise.

This episode tied in nicely to the last one, even though it wasn't originally intended to air here. Last week, Sam was getting drunk at two o'clock in the afternoon because it was finally sinking in that he didn't have a way to save Dean, and his feelings of helplessness and failure overwhelmed him. This week, Dean's repeated deaths clearly wore on Sam, moreso with each death, but Sam never gave up trying to save him. Even three months after Dean's final death, Sam was still gunning for Loki the Trickster to make him bring Dean back. If nothing else, this experience may have shored up Sam's flagging resolve and renewed his determination to save his brother.

There were some fantastic brother moments in this ep. I loved Sam's reaction to each of Dean's deaths. I loved Sam telling Dean in the diner that he wouldn't be able to go through watching Dean die a third time and begging Dean to believe him about what was happening, and I loved the fact that Dean listened and trusted Sam without making any wisecracks about it because he could see how upset Sam was. I loved Sam screwing his eyes shut and opening them again to try to undo Dean's death on Wednesday. And I loved the first ever Sam-initiated hug when he woke up on the second Wednesday and Dean was alive again after three months.

For an episode that involved Dean dying over and over (and what greater nightmare is there for either of the boys than the death of the other?), the first half included a lot of humor. I was worried about that because this episode was written by the same guy who wrote "A Very Supernatural Christmas," which I hated, but this time, the humor really fit into the overall episode. The segment that included the whole montage of Dean dying in increasingly ridiculous ways, Sam catching the hot sauce bottle every morning without even looking (that never got old), and Sam saying everything Dean did in perfect unison with him at breakfast will be the first section of the DVD set I wear out when it's released. I also have an unreasoning love for the surly, jaded Sam who had been through one hundred Tuesdays and was just done with the whole thing.

I wonder if Loki the Trickster has some sort of stake in the outcome of the demon war. Loki the Trickster said his "lesson" was all about making Sam feel the helplessness of not being able to save his brother, but then he also said that nothing would come out of Sam and Dean making sacrifices for each other but blood and pain, and that the demons all knew that Dean was Sam's weakness and that that weakness would be the death of Sam. It almost sounded like Loki the Trickster was pounding the lesson in to increase Sam's chance of surviving the upcoming battle. It's not like Loki the Trickster cares about Sam personally, so there must've been another reason he wanted Sam ready for battle. And there was really no reason to just let Sam go and give him Dean back at the end unless Loki the Trickster had already accomplished what he'd set out to do. It's not like Sam had him at any kind of disadvantage.

By killing Dean (or, really, by making Dean's death real on the first Wednesday), I think Loki the Trickster did more to get Sam ready for the upcoming battle than Ruby could ever hope to. Ruby said Sam needed to change, and boy howdy, did he. In the three months after Dean died, Sam became as ruthless and obsessed a hunter as he always thought John was (in fact, I think Sam turned into what John would've been if John hadn't had two little boys to come home to at the end of every hunt). Sam's research notes were arranged on the wall with anal precision (all the clippings were exactly parallel), his bed was made to almost military standards, and he even ate and brushed his teeth with a total focus and economy of movement that clearly said that everything he had was being channeled into the hunt for Loki the Trickster and he had nothing to spare for anything else. Sam digging a bullet out of his own chest and stitching up the entrance wound without even blinking afterward spoke volumes about how far he'd diverged from the Sammy we know. His soul was so deadened by the end that he was even prepared to kill an innocent if it meant getting what he needed to bring Dean back. It'll be interesting to see where the show goes with this, because although Dean doesn't remember anything except eating breakfast and running into Loki the Trickster on Tuesday, Sam remembers everything, and the way the experience changed him won't disappear just because it's Wednesday again.

This show is on a run of really fantastic episodes. I'm totally going to die of waiting before next Thursday.

Comments

[pharis.livejournal.com]

I got no brilliant insights to contribute, but I think you expressed this very well:
and he even ate and brushed his teeth with a total focus and economy of movement that clearly said that everything he had was being channeled into the hunt.

And your thoughts on Loki's role are interesting. (Curious: Do you have a reason for thinking it's Loki in particular, or did you just pick a name to hang on him? Not that Show has any hesitancy about changing real mythology, but it would give us some interesting clues as to his motivations if we know who he "really" is. I'm thinking Loki is more often adversarial to humans than, say, Anansi, yes?)

I think Loki did more to get Sam ready for the upcoming battle than Ruby could ever hope to

Word. And like you, I wonder why he would do it. It could be as simple as preferring an earth run by humans to one run by demons (he just plain likes food, sex, all those human indulgences) ... but then why leave us to wonder about it? Maybe we'll see an alliance at some point.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Do you have a reason for thinking it's Loki in particular, or did you just pick a name to hang on him?

Accidental jumping to conclusions? I thought it was canon from "Tall Tales," but I haven't seen that episode since it originally ran and I've read a lot of fan fic since then, so I may have gotten my canon and fanon confused.

[B]ut then why leave us to wonder about it?

Maybe the show is just planting a seed now with the intention of building towards something later. Time will tell.

[pharis.livejournal.com]

I thought it was canon from "Tall Tales,"

I'm pretty sure it's not; I think Bobby just mentions some examples of the Trickster archetype. I thought maybe you had some particular clues (like how some fans called Azazel correctly, well before the show named him).

Whoever he is, I love him and am glad he's back!

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I thought maybe you had some particular clues (like how some fans called Azazel correctly, well before the show named him).

Nope. That's meta on an order of magnitude beyond what I can do.

[fluffykitty2001.livejournal.com]

This episode left me speechless! I'm so impressed you came up with such an insightful and well worded review from that. I'm still stammering this morning over it, and I watched it four times last night.

I remember commenting on your post last week how not seeing Sam's dream was deliberate, and I'm soooo glad I was right. We got a whole episode to examine Sam, and this was the best poke into a character's psyche ever! Not only was it long overdue, man, we learned things about Sam even I didn't expect, and I obsess over his character. He's one seriously messed up dude.

I would have never guessed that he would go all military like that, becoming the perfect souless soldier. He turned into a focused warrior that was completely dead inside. It was frightening to see Sammy like that.

I also loved the contrast between the first half of the episode and the last. Both were perfect in their own ways. We got the light hearted and fun moments between the brothers, but once reality set in, oh boy, was it harsh. It was great, but harsh. Doesn't that seem to mirror the theme of the show?

There's one thing nagging at me though, which you so cleverly brought up, and that's the Trickster's motive. I think he wasn't preparing Sam for battle at all. I think he was showing Sam the inevitable result of taking the path he was already on. After all, this season has been all about Sam's slow descent into darkness. I think it was a warning to him that unless he changes, this was how it was going to be. That look on Sam's face at the end of the episode when leaving the motel, that told me that Sam got the message loud and clear, and everything is not okay right now. It's going to be very interesting to see what he does with that memory.

This was Sam's 'What is and What Should Never Be' and 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' all rolled into one terrifying glimpse that confirmed he's way more dysfunctional than we all believed. It was brilliant, and since I also loved the Christmas episode (my other favorite of the season), I'm officially Jeremy Carver's bitch now. This certainly makes my top 3 of best episodes for any show ever.

Thanks again for the terrific review. I think you nailed it!

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

This review went through multiple drafts over 2 1/2 hours because every time I tried to write something coherent, my thoughts consisted of "Squee! Flail! Flappityflappity!" My brain felt like one of those plastic exercise balls full of hamsters.

This episode exceeded my wildest expectations. I was hoping the writers would finally take the opportunity to explore Sam's psyche, but I was really afraid there'd just be a lot of moping over Dean's repeated deaths. I never guessed that Sam would turn into Christian Bale's character from American Psycho.

I think he wasn't preparing Sam for battle at all. I think he was showing Sam the inevitable result of taking the path he was already on. After all, this season has been all about Sam's slow descent into darkness. I think it was a warning to him that unless he changes, this was how it was going to be.

Could be, but why would the Trickster do that? That's the kind of thing a worried friend might do, and I don't see the Trickster caring about Sam that much as a person as opposed to a pawn in the demon war. Someone on Yahoo!Groups reminded me that the Trickster's M.O. as given in "Tall Tales" was to hoist a victim on his own petard to take him down a peg or two. Maybe it would take godlike (or demonlike) powers to save Dean, and Sam's insistence that he himself could save Dean made Sam seem to big for his britches to the Trickster? I don't know.

And thank you for the compliment!

[fluffykitty2001.livejournal.com]

I agree, the Trickster's motives are murky at best. Still, I love what he did, and I hope it's revealed that he has a vested interest in Sam's future for a good reason. I don't think the normal Trickster motives are happening here.

I'll agree, this episode exceeded my wildest expectations as well, and mine were high. Interesting comparison with American Psycho. Someone else on some board used the comparison of the assassin in "No Country for Old Men." I think that any comparison with a character that cold and soulless will work. I can't believe how well Jared pulled that off. Stunning!

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

For somebody who's pretty much made a career of playing boy-next-door types, Jared does a great sociopath.

And now I'm going to go anally edit my previous comment to fix a typo I just spotted. Ignore the repeat comment.

[monkeyfun1.livejournal.com]

This episode tied in nicely to the last one, even though it wasn't originally intended to air here. Last week, Sam was getting drunk at two o'clock in the afternoon because it was finally sinking in that he didn't have a way to save Dean, and his feelings of helplessness and failure overwhelmed him.

In the episode, The Trickster refers to Sam "You're like Travis Bickle in a skirt (or does he say shirt?)"

Travis Bickle is the character that Robert De Niro plays in Taxi Driver. That character goes through a huge change during the course of the movie, both physical and emotional. It is caused by being turned down by Betsy. But basically, he becomes lonely and isolated. He takes up a cause, and that is to save a 12 year old prostitute.

What does the Trickster mean by calling Sam Travis Bickle? What does he mean by calling him Travis Bickle in a skirt. (I really think that's what he says.)
Is he feminizing Sam?
I know it was just one line, but I don't think it was a throw away line.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

You had it right with 'skirt.'

Unfortunately, I haven't seen Taxi Driver, so I have nothing to offer by way of comparison between Travis Bickle and Sam.

[odd-for-sods.livejournal.com]

Loki said his "lesson" was all about making Sam feel the helplessness of not being able to save his brother, but then he also said that nothing would come out of Sam and Dean making sacrifices for each other but blood and pain, and that the demons all knew that Dean was Sam's weakness and that that weakness would be the death of Sam.

But I'm beginning to suspect that this is wrong. That their relationship is not all about blood and pain. That's just what the 'bad guys' want the brothers to think.

Last week we saw Dean turn away from his selfdestructive rush toward hell. Perhaps Sam will also realise that to win this war he doesn't have to become Dean? That, in fact, if he becomes Dean and gives up on saving his brother, they've lost.

I'm much surer now that saving Dean is what Sam has to do in order to beat the bad guys.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

No, Sam and Dean's whole relationship isn't about blood and pain, but they can't keep making these huge sacrifices for each other (Dean trading his soul for Sam's life; Sam trading his humanity for Dean's life). It won't end well.

I'm much surer now that saving Dean is what Sam has to do in order to beat the bad guys.

I hope so, not just because I want Dean to get out of his deal, but because I want Sam to be the one to save him.

[odd-for-sods.livejournal.com]

I hope so, not just because I want Dean to get out of his deal, but because I want Sam to be the one to save him.

I'm in two minds. I'd love Sam to save Dean 'cos maybe then Dean would get the message that his life has value and he's loved by his brother and Sam is no fool and wouldn't love some one who's completely worthless. Plus actionman!Sam is pretty damn amazing.

OTOH *lol* Maybe if Dean works for his own rescue and saves himself he'll realise the value of his own life. Or something to that effect.

Either way we win because the show carries on and I really would be bereft if there wasn't another season.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I'm of two minds about that.

On the one hand, saving himself would be a good culmination of Dean's self-esteem arc, where he finally accepts that he isn't worthless and deserves to live as much as the next person.

On the other hand, I get tired of hearing about how "selfish" Sam is and how Dean saves him all the time but Sam never gives anything back, so I would love to see Sam use his smarty brains and stubbornness to save Dean. That, plus Action!Sam is pretty damn amazing.

[odd-for-sods.livejournal.com]

*lol*

I don't get the 'Sam is selfish' refrain. When? He can be a little pissy from time to time but who wouldn't be with Dean for a brother? *boggles*

Hey, we agreed on being in two minds!!! Plus actionman!Sam *woah*

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Some fans just look at things through a certain lens, and they give the best possible interpretation for Dean and the worst possible interpretation for Sam (and I'm sure there are fans who do the reverse).

Of course, I used to try to negate the selfish argument by saying that Sam was just the better adjusted, more emotionally healthy one, but I have a feeling that argument isn't going to hold much water after "Mystery Spot." ;-)