When Supernatural isn't bringing the horror and heart-wrenching family dynamics, it hits it out of the park with the humor. It's probably the funniest genre show currently on television. Jared Padalecki's Sam and Jensen Ackles' Dean have amazing chemistry, and that's never clearer than when they're doing comedy.

Ben Edlund (Angel) penned episode 3x03, "Bad Day At Black Rock" (whose plot seems to bear little resemblance to the 1955 film starring Spencer Tracy). Edlund wrote the hilarious season 2 episode "Hollywood Bablyon," as well as the clever and somewhat more serious "Nightshifter."

The episode opens as a hunter named Kubrick (Michael Massee) plays a visit to Gordon Walker (Sterling K. Brown) in prison. Gordon, introduced last season, is a fascinating kind of villain to have around: he thinks he's a hero with a mission. "Sam Winchester must die," he tells Kubrick; and right there, things just got even more intense.

From there we get to Sam and Dean, and finally season three gives us the interaction we've been hoping for. Between Dean's deal and Sam keeping secrets, Sam and Dean have been distant this season. This ep opens with Sam filling Dean in about the demon chick from last week (finally name in canon, Ruby), explaining that she offered to help get Dean out of his crossroads deal. They argue about it. "She knows what your weakness is," Dean tells Sam. "It's me."

While we're all recovering from that moment, a cell phone rings, but it's not either of the brothers'. Turns out Dean kept the late John Winchester's cell charged just in case, and John has a super secret storage locker that just got broken into. Even dead, Daddy Winchester casts a long shadow. Among the storage locker's trove of weapons and curious supernatural objects, the boys find Sam's old soccer trophy and Dean's very first sawed-off-shotgun. It's an endearing moment against a backdrop of scary things better left untouched. Such as a missing box containing a cursed object.

Enter two bumbling hunters, Wayne (Christian Tessier) and Grossman (Hrothgar Mathews) hired to steal the box and its contents -- a cursed rabbit foot. The season three trend of more horror is in operation again, with a gruesome moment involving a barbeque fork. (Well, it is a horror show.)

Whoever holds the rabbit's foot gets ridiculous good luck -- until they lose it, and then they get a string of bad luck that eventually leads to their death. In a fight sequence that would make Rube Goldberg proud, Sam ends up with the foot. Jim Beaver has a brief scene as Bobby Singer, in which he dispenses caustic advice, calls Dean an "idjit," and further earns the adoration of viewers everywhere. Then a con artist named Bela (Lauren Cohan) steals the rabbit's foot from Sam. The Sam and Dean interaction is marvelous, with the ever-more-suffering Sam, and patient-big-brother Dean.

If that all sounds plotty, that's because it is. But there's plenty of great characterization too.

Eventually Dean parks the now luckless Sam in a motel room with the instructions "don't turn on the light, don't turn off the light, don't even scratch your nose," while Dean drives to Queens to confront Bela and get the rabbit's foot back so they can destroy it.

So, we've met Ruby the demon chick, one of the two controversial and anticipated female additions to the cast. Now we meet Bela. Cohan's performance is subdued and assured, and her scenes with Dean made for good television. It remains to be seen how they'll play out this season. But so far, so good.

Meanwhile, Sam sits alone, rebelliously scratches his nose, and has a tussle with an air-conditioner and some curtains. I was laughing so hard I needed to pause the DVR to catch my breath. Jared Padalecki does the best mournful faces ever, and he's also brilliant at comedy.

Kubrick and his buddy show up to kill Sam. "I'm on a mission from God," Kubrick says, and among the hilarity, this is getting ever more creepy. Dean gets there in time to rescue his brother. Now in possession of the magic rabbit's foot himself, he takes down the bad guys with ease. "I'm amazing," Dean smirks. "I'm Batman." (That sound you heard on Thursday evening was Supernatural fans shrieking in glee).

There's a final confrontation with Bela in a graveyard. Bela shooting Sam with a businesslike air isn't going to endear her to fans, except that it's good characterization. We're not only told she's ruthless, she acts ruthless as well. "Relax," she tells Dean. "It's a shoulder hit. I can aim. Besides, who here hasn't shot a few people?" The heartless thief who's only out for number one isn't anything new, but some archetypes keep turning up again and again for a reason. So far she's neither psychotic nor in possession of a heart of gold.

This is Supernatural at its snarky, funny best, with set-ups that raise the already high stakes for the dramatic story arc this season.

Episode 3x03, "Bad Day At Black Rock"
Writer: Ben Edlund
Director: Robert Singer
Guest stars: Michael Massee, Jon Van Ness, Christian Tessier, Hrothgar Mathews