So, back in the Mystery Spot review, I had proposed the theory of what might have happened if the Trickster hadn't reset the timeline at the end of the episode, forcing Sam to live in a world without Dean and with seemingly no way to bring him back. Then, I'd said that it was a question for another day.
A little over a month later, we have now finally reached that day... for the first part of the tale, anyway.
So buckle in... and ponder the question... what if?
By the way, major spoilers for later in the show follow on from this. So, if you haven't watched further in the show than my reviews have gone, turn back now.
Got it? Okay... what if? Let's do this.
Mystery Spot in this universe does not end with the Trickster resetting the timeline. Instead, he disappears once again, leaving Sam standing alone in that place. Broken, defeated, and with nothing else, he begins drinking as we will see him do in Season 4. It is at the bar, deep into his sixth or seventh bourbon, that Asia's "Heat of the Moment" comes over the jukebox. In a drunken rage, he attacks the jukebox and cracks the glass. As the bartender gets the bouncer to come and throw him out, Ruby arrives and uses a spell to knock Sam out, whisking him away to a motel to sleep it off.
When Sam comes to, he is hung over and pretty heavily pissed at her. As it turns out, Ruby has indeed been persona non grata from the Winchester boy in the last six months. Ruby brings up a very valid point as to why she stayed away: Sam's been on a full-on violent destructive mode for the last few months.
RUBY: You've been going full-on Maniac Cop on every supernatural SOB in sight. Did you really expect me to come calling?
SAM: You told me you could help Dean.
RUBY: Out of his deal. I didn't say anything about any Tricksters. That's light years out of my ballpark.
SAM: It doesn't matter. None of it matters.
RUBY: What are you talking about?
SAM: The Trickster broke the loop. It's not Tuesday again, it's never gonna be Tuesday again. Dean's gone... he isn't coming back this time.
RUBY: Tuesday? Wha-? [hesitates] I may have something better. I know the demon who held Dean's contract.
She explains much of the same information that she does in Jus in Bello in the original timeline, namely that Lilith was the demon gunning for Sam and that she held Dean's contract. While killing her won't bring Dean back, it is revenge... which is good enough for Sam. He plans to take Ruby's knife and go after her, but Ruby dissuades him from that path, telling him of his dormant powers as she does in No Rest for the Wicked in the main timeline. Reluctant at first, Sam ultimately agrees and Ruby begins to tutor him how to use his abilities.
Here, I want to talk a little bit about his What If will be different from others I've done before now. Rather than referencing episodes and saying how they did or didn't go differently, we can assume a few of them were in Sam's jobs across America in the six months since Dean's death in that motel parking lot or that they just never came to Sam's attention.
...which gives me a bit of vindictive revenge against Ghostfacers as I imagine Daggett putting the entire team out of my misery. So we have other things in play like Agent Henriksen still being alive, Bela still being on the loose with the Colt (as I imagine Sam would have had little interest in hunting her down while pursuing the Trickster), and so on and so forth.
Getting back to our plot, however, we return to the Trickster apparently observing the training of Sam by Ruby. He doesn't trust Ruby at all and thinks that Sam will be much better when he resets the timeline. The prank was getting boring even back before Sam came to beg him to set things back, anyway. The Trickster raises his fingers and snaps them to set things back on the right path... and nothing happens. Confused, he looks down at his hand and snaps his fingers again. Still, nothing happens. The archangel Gabriel is, needless to say, more than a little freaked out.
GABRIEL: That's... not good...
Oh, dear... oh, dearie dear...
Have Gabriel's powers left him? Will Sam succumb to the same dark fate he suffered in the OT? And what of Dean and his status? These are questions we'll be answering... another day. Part Ones for these What Ifs tend to be either really long or really short, and this fell firmly into the latter category. However, the set up is done and when Part Two rolls around, we'll be able to start getting into the good stuff.
Before that, however, we're now in the early parts of the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who, and I think it's time we wrap up the story of a certain Time Lord Victorious...
Be there!
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