This is an episode that had it all – excellent comedic moments, a heart-wrenching twist and great brotherly interactions. Definitely one of my favorites this season and sneaking up there for overall series favorites. But I will say this; I wish the people in the CW promo department would stop giving away plot twists in the preview! Seeing the trickster in the ‘previously on Supernatural…’ had me suspecting him from the start.   

We get a glimpse of the daily Winchester routine as Sam (Jared Padalecki) is woken up with Asia playing on the radio, with Dean (Jensen Ackles) bopping and singing along to the song. The brothers are in Broward County, Florida, home of the ‘mystery spot, where the laws of physics have no meaning.’ While Sam and Dean are breaking into the ‘mystery spot’ they're discovered by the owner and Dean gets shot in the process. Sam watches his brother die, and then wakes up, Asia playing on the radio and the exact same events playing out on the same Tuesday, and Dean still dying. It happens over and over again.  

Dean’s first couple deaths were hard to watch, but c’mon, crushed by a falling piano like Wile E. Coyote? There was some horrified giggling on my part for that one, and as each death grew more ridiculous (death by bad tacos? death by golden retriever?), I was full on laughing. A+ on the morbid humor this episode! I thought that Jeremy Carver did a great job writing it. I also think that after seeing Dean die a few times, I grew desensitized to it, which might come in handy for the end of the season if it ends how I think it’ll end.

There were some awesome one-liners during this montage of deaths and of course, the unison lines which must have taken Jensen and Jared forever to get right. I also liked how even though Dean doesn’t have any recollection that he and Sam have lived Tuesday before, he always believes Sam despite Sam’s increasingly erratic behavior.

Sam ends up living more than 100 Tuesdays of Dean dying, going through the four ‘D’s of living in a time loop- determined, deranged, desperate, and depressed. But no matter what he changes about the day, he can’t prevent Dean from dying. That is, until he starts doing some research about the man who disappeared at the mystery spot, finding out that there are some similarities to another hunt the boys have done before.

It turns out that the trickster (Richard Speight Jr.) from ‘Tall Tales’ is playing with the boys, and after Sam threatens him with a stake, the trickster promises that the prank is over and that when Sam wakes up next, it’ll finally be Wednesday. The trickster’s true to his word and Sam wakes up to Wednesday. Problem is, Dean still dies, and there’s no time loop to save him anymore.

With Dean dead, Sam goes off the deep end and we find out that he’s… well, pretty freakin’ scary when he doesn’t have Dean around. From what we see, he becomes more like John, ruthless and single-minded in his determination to hunt down the trickster. Actually, I think he might even more hardcore than John, I mean – look at him stitching himself up. Yikes. We hear Bobby (Jim Beaver) leaving phone messages, telling Sam that he’s worried about him, finally getting Sam to meet with him when he says he’s found a ritual to summon the trickster.  

The ritual requires human blood, and Sam’s willing to go out and kill a human for it. But Bobby’s not and he convinces Sam that he should use Bobby’s blood instead. This was a tough scene to watch as Sam uses a stake on Bobby, sure that he’s the trickster right until the end when the body is lying in front of him, and Sam wavers in his belief that he didn't kill Bobby. But Bobby’s ‘body’ vanishes and the trickster reappears.

It turns out the trickster was trying to teach him a lesson, trying to tell him that his and Dean’s constant sacrifices for each other isn’t always the answer. That Sam has to learn to live with himself when Dean’s gone. Sam goes from ruthless warrior to scared little boy, begging the trickster to take him back to the Wednesday and let him see his brother again. The trickster relents, but he’s not sure that his message got through.

I think this was an excellent twist and plot development, further blurring the lines between the bad guys and good guys in the Supernatural ‘verse. Why does the trickster want Sam (and Dean) to succeed? What interest does he have in making sure the Winchesters survive the coming demon war? Is it because they’re ‘his people’, con artists and liars as he said ‘Tall Tales’? Is it because a demon-ruled world would be less interesting for a god like him? Or was it a favor to a certain blonde-haired demon?  

Sam wakes up to ‘Back in Time’, and it’s Wednesday again and he’s back with Dean in the hotel room. Oh, and hey… was that a hug where neither brother was dying/dead? Nice to see that it’s possible.   

I thought Jared Padalecki did a great job with this episode, showing Sam’s growing weariness and deterioration as he fought to save Dean. Overall, I thought this was one of the strongest episodes to date in season three and I’m excited to see where the writers take the show when it comes back with new episodes. But we still have one more episode to left from the pre-strike line-up and it looks like it’ll be an intense ride, with the FBI and Agent Henrickson finally catching up with the Winchesters. See you then!     

Supernatural 3x11, "Mystery Spot"
Writer: Jeremy Carver

Director: Kim Manners

Guest Stars: Richard Speight Jr., Jim Beaver