SUPERNATURAL’s “Changing Channels” is Tonight’s Only Must See TV

The following contains minor spoilers for tonight’s episode of SUPERNATURAL. Read at your own risk.

According to SUPERNATURAL, the big guy in the sky is a little MIA at the moment. Maybe he’s not iChatting with Castiel these days, but he’s been around. In fact I’m certain he had something to do with getting me to finally commit to watching SUPERNATURAL this summer. I listened and obeyed and my reward for doing is tonight’s episode “Changing Channels”. Thank you Father…Kripke.

I tend to tread lightly when it comes to sharing my opinion on SUPERNATURAL. The show has a passionate fan base who has been living and breathing the series for years. Me? I just started popping in the DVDs a few months ago. I haven’t spent time delving into the mythology. I haven’t debated with others the true intention of Sam’s soul. I mean, off the top of my head I can only think of three ways to kill a demon. But regardless of the amount of time I’ve spent with the show, I am a fan. And with all that said, I have no qualms about telling you that tonight’s episode is right at the top with my favorite SUPERNATURAL episodes of all time.

If you’re a fan of the show then you probably know a little about tonight’s episode. The Trickster is back and this time he traps the boys in my personal heaven – the land of television. In order to survive, Sam and Dean must play along with their given characters no matter where the remote lands them. While I know SPN fans are glued to The CW Thursday nights at 9pm, I’m sure they will recognize spoofs of some of the other shows that air against the trials and tribulations of our Winchester brothers. I’m not going to spoil you on which shows are spoofed, but  I will say that I was sadly disappointed Sam and Dean didn’t stop by Dunder Mifflin.

Within the first few seconds of the show, you’ll be laughing. Out loud. (Finally a real chance to use LOL on Twitter and really mean it.) Actually I found myself laughing for most of the hour long episode. There are so many hilarious moments, big and small, that this episode is going to require a few re-watches to truly take in all that writer Jeremy Carver serves in his teleplay. But what makes this episode brilliant and one of the best of the series is not the comedy alone, it’s the juxtaposition of the humor alongside the omnipresent darkness of the impending apocalypse. You’ll laugh for sure, but don’t for a second think this is a one-off, throw away episode. No way. In fact, “Changing Channels” in some ways is one of the most important episodes of the season, and perhaps of the series.

Forgive me for crossing over into a another fan base for a moment, but so much of this episode reminded me of BUFFY’s “Once More With Feeling”. On the surface “OMWF” was just the Buffy musical episode. It was Joss Whedon living out his Broadway dreams within the construct of his show. I’ve heard tales of fans skipping the episode when it first aired, dismissing it all together as a stand alone episode. But what we all know now is that baked into the song and dance numbers were important story elements that would shape not only certain story arcs to come but in some instances the mythology of the show. Tsk tsk tsk if you missed it.

That’s how I feel about tonight’s episode. Yes, it’s a hilarious episode set in TV land, but don’t dismiss it as just that or you’ll be missing out. Big time.

Our resident SUPERNATURAL guru, Nicole, will be sharing her review of the episode Friday morning, so please be sure to come back to discuss.

Was that enough to get you sufficiently excited?!