The WFB Admins’ Top 15 “Supernatural” Episodes List: #1

Alice’s #1

“Mystery Spot”

Why?:  “Mystery Spot” was my number one episode back when I did my ten best in season three (that one was way easier to do).  So after so many great episodes to follow it, why is “Mystery Spot” still number one?  The reasons are endless!  

For one, it still remains one of the most iconic, most talked about, most quotable “Supernatural” episodes out there.  I still see on a daily basis online from “Supernatural” fans comments like “Do these tacos taste funny to you?”  “Tuesday, Pig in a Poke,” and “Where the laws of physics have no meaning.”  Asia’s “Heat of the Moment” still makes us laugh hysterically every time we hear it, which is often times in restaurants and supermarkets and other public places where we look completely silly. 

No episode has better, more clever, snappy and wildly entertaining dialogue.  No episode makes me laugh myself to rib injury, be constantly surprised by sudden lethal visual effects (Dean being shot, Dean being hit by car, Dean dying Wile E Coyote style from a falling desk), engrossed by this whole mystery as to why Sam is stuck in his own version of Groundhog Day, become excited over the return of the Trickster (my favorite villain), crush my heart to pieces numerous times, and then absolutely stun me to the point where I’m shaken to the core.  There is soooo much goodness packed into this 42 minutes it’s hard to remember that by the end, this is a really tragic story.   

This episode is a technical marvel, and a Kim Manners’ career highlight as a director.  Given the very complex script, which somehow made endless repeating days and sequences funny as hell, he was able to juggle shooting all that out of sequence, then piece it together into a series classic.  This is a very risky concept.  Most of the time endless repeating elements get stale.  Not here, for the pacing was too brisk for that.  It also helped technically that this whirlwind episode had plenty of cartoonish visual effects that happened at a blink of an eye.    

Jared hit master class in terms of acting with this episode.  Sam’s reactions to each day, even if it was the same day to everyone else, had to be sold by numerous facial expressions and they were brilliant!  Every expression told a very different story.  He was freaked out, anxious, annoyed, worried about Dean, determined, and then slowly sunk into depression, before turning to anger.  He was overjoyed when he got Dean back, and then devastated when he lost him again tragically, this time without the Tuesday do over.  His emotional rollcoaster all the way to his broken state at the end is character study gold. 

You’ve got to remember, back in season three, this side of Sam was inconceivable.  Up until this point, we really didn’t know the real Sam Winchester.  Sure he had a little character development, but he was a very closed person that didn’t reveal much about what was inside.  In “Mystery Spot,” for the first time we got a wide open view at that heart and mind of his and what we saw was not expected.  When pushed, when forced into a life without Dean, he turns it all off.  He’s sociopathic.  He vindictive.  He’s just plain cold.  He’s soulless Sam!  

 This is eerie foreshadowing of what’s to come of Sam when Dean would be lost for real at the end of season three.  His purpose, just like in “Mystery Spot,” did turn to the single minded goal of revenge.  He did whatever it took to get payback on Lilith, even using his powers and opening up that darkness within that he resisted for so long.  This episode is a jaw dropping, shocking low for Sam and we never saw it coming, especially when it came after an amusing string of Dean Winchester bizarre deaths. 

What was my favorite Dean Winchester death?  The off camera accidental axing by Sam.  Honorable mention, Sam’s offhanded comment to Doris the waitress that she needs to get in some more time at the range.  “You’re a terrible shot.”        

Top Quotes:  There are way too many funny lines to mention, and they’re all tops in my book, so I’m going with something serious.  It’s from the Trickster and it grabs me every time I hear it because it really hits home with all the consequences that have happened over what Sam and Dean will do for each other.  I think it’s a lesson that they still struggle with to this day:

“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.”

 “”Favorite Scene:  Again, I could cop out and say the whole thing was one scene, but there is one that I do like watching over and over again.  It’s after Sam’s teary plea to The Trickster to bring Dean back.  The alarm goes off and wait a second, it’s not “Heat of The Moment.”  It’s Huey Lewis and the News.  Instead of waking up for joy this time, Sam rises slowly and sees Dean, for the first time that we know in at least six months.  Sam is clearly broken by what’s believed to be a year long ordeal.  

So what’s the first thing he does?  He jumps out of bed and immediately gives is big brother a hug.  A totally desperate and very despondent bear hug.  He practically swallows Dean whole!  Again, remembering the time, hugs were few and far between, and this is the first one to come from Sam.  Dean is worried, wondering how many Tuesdays he had.  “Enough,” Sam replies somberly. 

I’ll move into the next sequence too, because it ties in so perfectly.  The pain on Sam’s face, the total devastation in his eyes as they pack up to leave.  Dean tries to cheer him up with the “clown and midgets” joke, but it doesn’t work.  An emotionally drained Sam leaves and looks at the unmade bed.  He may have Dean back, but the inevitability of losing him still remains.  He’s headed for another fall for real, alone, and it’s not going to be pretty.  

I’m completely crushed.  And emotionally exhausted.  And wondering who the hell is this Jeremy Carver and why in his first two solo scripts are two of the best damn episodes I’d ever seen on television.  

Personal story:  What?  You’re giving us something we didn’t ask for?  Well, as editor of this site, please indulge me.  You see, “Mystery Spot” changed my life.  If you’re not in the mood for a story though, please feel free to jump forward to the next page for Ardeospina’s number one. 

I discovered “Supernatural” at a time when things in my life weren’t right.  I hadn’t suffered any major tragedy, but I was heading for middle age and going through extremely depressing career burnout.  I had two young children, a full time career that was stripping my will to live, and nothing in my busy life that gave me any fun or fulfillment.  Then I was channel flipping, and I found this show.  

It took me months to catch up with the back catalog, because I was so enthralled with the show I needed to watch these episodes multiple times.  By the time I was ready to find online forums to connect with other fans of this show, a devastating writer’s strike had just started.  I just found this show, I had a new addiction and something I couldn’t live without, and they were going on strike?  Still, in January “Supernatural” came back with four episodes before going on writer’s strike hiatus.  The third episode was “Mystery Spot.”  

To be honest, I’d never seen anything like it on TV.  I was so blown away and personally affected by this episode, I felt it was time to write about “Supernatural.”  I had been active previously in “The West Wing” forums, writing volumes about episodes and character analysis on the boards, but nothing ever formal.  I wrote my first ever “Supernatural” review on “Mystery Spot” and put it up on my livejournal page.  My extreme buzz was crushed pretty quickly when some troublemaker who never really cared for me on another site decided to blast numerous times “Supernatural” as an “X-Files” ripoff, even though she never saw an episode in her life.  After that, I never wrote another page on livejournal.  

So, it all ended there, right?  Obviously, there’s more to this.  I found a board for “Supernatural” I loved, and spent weeks engrossed in a discussion as to why “Supernatural” got no promotion and was basically cast off by its network.  These fans were tirelessly trying to promote the show and frustrated that they had no help from mainstream media or the network.  Ratings for “Supernatural” had hit an all time low, so they were worried.  I decided to tackle my own pet project, find an answer to these questions.  I researched, read up on The CW, learned about the economics of TV and started posting answers.  Everyone was fascinated, and I kept getting more and more questions.  After writing volumes about the topic, I decided to put it all into an article.  But where would I publish it?  Livejournal was clearly off limits.  

The answer strangely came two days later.  Someone I knew on another board who wrote for “House” announced her new gig on Blogcritics.  I submitted my “Supernatural” article to them and the editor there was thrilled with it.  The article was called, “Supernatural:  How A Show Manages to Succeed Despite It’s Network.”  This is the first time I published anything outside of personal forums.  I was a nervous wreck when I was told the article went live!  

I thought it would end there, and I would go back to the forums happy.  Other plans were in the cosmos.  Worldwide fan reaction was HUGE.  This article became an instant hit, and was picked up for syndication within a day.  It was Blogcritics”˜ most read article for weeks (this is a high volume site).  The article was so big, I was given the opportunity to start a feature on Blogcritics writing “Supernatural” news and reviews.  Considering I started writing around the time of the writer’s strike and there was no mainstream coverage of the show, the demand for material on the show was high.  I had to name that feature column.  I chose, The Winchester Family Business.  

I eventually did publish that “Mystery Spot” review on Blogcritics, along with reviews of all of season three.  Then four, then five, and the rest is history.  All because a TV episode inspired me.  This is the greatest episode I’ve ever seen on television.  

Coming up on page 3…the grand finale!!!  Ardeospina gives her number one.