Supernatural: Wendigo

Into the Woods by Sylvia Bond
Supernatural Season 1- Episode 2

This episode proves that there’s nothing more delicious to a monster of the week than campers in tents. Tents are thin wrappers of nylon that can be sliced through with a claw or rusty knife to get at the soft meat inside, and I don’t know why more campers don’t get eaten. But this group, with their hand-held video games junking up the wilderness, deserve it. The first crunchy character gets eaten whilst peeing, and the second munchy character gets eaten whilst seeing what the fuss is all about. And the third (Tommy), gets taken. And that’s just the teaser.

The next scene opens with Sam visiting Jessica’s graveside. (Jess, his girlfriend, died in the first episode, courtesy of the Yellow Eyed Demon.) He stands there with every flower but roses because Jess thought roses were lame. As he crouches down, teary-eyed, a hand breaks through the newly-mounded soil, and wham! We are in the Impala as Sam wakes up. He looks bleary and worn and when Dean asks him if it’s nightmare, Sam only coughs, clearing his throat, and doesn’t answer. I can tell that he’d rather not talk about it, because the painful nightmare was about Jess and because he doesn’t want Dean fussing. (It’s amazing how much this show and these actors can do with a silent pause and an exchange of glances. The intimate space of the Impala always adds to this.) Dean then offers to let Sam drive. That’s his way of comforting, and he’s not very good at it, but at least he tries. Sam reveals that Dean has never ever let Sam drive the Impala before and then hides inside of his maps. The conversation that follows demonstrates an interesting difference between the brothers. Sam states that he wants to find Dad and Jessica’s killer, and I assume from his tone that it’s for revenge. Dean, on the other hand, wants to find Dad because Dad will have the answers and will know what to do. Sam asks questions; Dean responds with acceptance of the situation.

At the ranger station in Black Water Ridge, the boys pose as environmental majors from UC – Boulder. (Actually it’s CU – Boulder, but what the hey.) The boys discuss how dangerous it is out in the wilderness, and then the ranger reveals that Haley’s brother Tommy is missing. The ranger then gives the speech that all authority figures on T.V. give, the one where he says the missing person hasn’t been missing long enough to be considered missing. And never mind that Tommy’s not checked in like he’s done every day for a week. Dean gets info that leads them to Haley, and Sam assumes he’s doing it to get laid. Sam’s quite petulant at this point, stomping and pouting, saying he doesn’t want to talk to Haley, he just wants to go up to the coordinates that Dad gave them. Dean expresses his surprise at the shoot first, ask questions later stance that Sam has taken and again we are shown Dean’s patience about these things and Sam’s lack of it. (Keep your eye on Sam in this episode, because many a fangirl agrees that Sam has quintessential Samhair. It’s all snips and curls and points and whirls. He’s adorable. Frankly, I think it’s the bangs that make him look cuter than a cut button.)

The boys visit Haley and her other brother, Ben, who are having a simple supper of empty dishes. She is conned by their fake IDs, and compliments Dean’s car, which makes her okay in his books. They stand around and discuss the matter. Dean asks, Could it be that he’s having fun and forgot to check in? Ben, who is about half Dean’s fighting weight, goes up against Dean and snaps, Tommy would never do that, earning Dean’s respect. Haley, the woefully worried sibling, has hired a guide and is going into the woods. Dean expresses his sympathy, and when I see Dean interact with a family like this, I always imagine that he’s a little envious.

[nms:CW Supernatural,3,0]

Later, at a bar, Sam reveals his geekboy research. He opens his laptop (which is already on. Boy, I wish mine would. It takes the durn thing at least a full minute to figure out what it wants to do.) He shows Dean newspaper clippings that state something attacks people in the woods every 23 years. Then he shows Dean (and us) Tommy’s vid. Slowed down, it displays a faster-than-human shadow moving across the outside of the tent. (Or should I say wrapper?) Sam and Dean then go visit the only known survivor of one of these attacks, Mr. Shaw. Mr. Shaw lives in an old, blue-lit bedsit, wrapped in a ratty sweater, and looking rather misty-eyed as he talks about the old days. Here’s something that this show does really well. Mr. Shaw is a secondary character, right? After his schpeel (where he reveals it wasn’t a grizzly that ate his family), you never see him again. However, the actor they picked to play him and the lines they give him to say demonstrate the care and time that the writers take with the small details. As I watched, I truly believed that this old guy had been young once, had gone to stay in a cabin in the woods with his parents, and woke up hearing them screaming as they were dragged off to be something’s dinner. It’s in his eyes and the quaver of his voice that he relives that nightmare every day and that he misses them still. (You can feel his survivor’s guilt, which is reflected in Sam’s expression.)

Sam and Dean walk out of the squalid rooms, discussing whether the thing is a skinwalker or a black dog. Sam announces that he feels it’s not a spirit, that it’s corporeal. Dean says excuse me, professor, and Sam tells him to shut up. I like it that Sam is not afraid to be smart in front of Dean, no matter how much Dean mocks him. Once in the parking lot, Dean opens up the trunk of goodies in the Impala. Sometimes I’m tempted to hit the pause button and really study what’s in there. But that would be like cheating, so I always let the scene go by in a flash, doing my best to discover something new each time. So then, Dean wants to go with Haley to look for her brother. He doesn’t think they should tell her the truth about the big scary monster, but she does need their help. Sam doesn’t quite go ballistic but he’s pretty pissed off. He was okay doing the research when Dad was the goal, but he doesn’t fancy himself a babysitter. (Mr. Padalecki does a fine job making his eyes glitter with anger in this scene.) “What?” snaps Sam. “Nothing,” says Dean. Two words that pretty much sum up the whole issue. Sam wants answers; Dean is following orders.

The next morning (after what must have been a pretty silent night at the motel), Dean and Sam meet up with Haley and her guide, Roy. Roy is a gritty hunter type, not thrilled with taking Ben along. Nor is he impressed with Dean. Haley points out that Dean and Sam are inappropriately dressed, to which Dean answers in a rather Humphrey Bogart voice, “Well, sweetheart, I don’t do shorts.” Then the episode shows some pretty cool alpha-male pissing contests. For example, as they walk, Dean wants to know what Roy has hunted. Roy answers with the usual, and Dean counters with, “Well, did Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?” (He’s showing off at this point, but I think he might feel he needs to hold his own in front of Haley.) You’d think that would shut Roy up, but he grabs Dean, and Dean, almost under his breath, just itching for a fight, asks “What are you doing, Roy?” To answer, Roy does the classic branch-in-the-ground motion to show Dean that he was just about to step in a bear trap. (Cuz there are grizzlies in them thar woods.)

We take a quick look at Tommy, who’s strung up in some dark hole somewhere. The lucky lad gets to listen to his friend get chomped on alive.

There’s some more fighting between Dean and Roy, and finally Haley (the sensible one) has to break it up. She tells them she knows they’re not rangers, and wants the truth. (Don’t they always?) She asks, Who are you? Sam and Dean exchange one of those looks where Dean asks for permission to tell the truth (or as much of it as necessary), and Sam give his permission, equally silent. Again, we are shown how much the actors can convey without even saying a word. (Which makes me want to ask, how much is the script, how much is the director, and how much is Mr. Ackles and Mr. Padalecki?) Dean’s answer is interesting. Instead of telling Haley what they do, which anyone else would, he tells her who they are, that he and Sam are brothers, which is the most important thing to Dean. Then he gives her some partial truths, like that they are looking for their Dad. She wants to know why Dean didn’t tell her this in the first place. Dean says, without being defensive, that he’s telling her now, and besides, it’s the most honest he’s been with a woman. Ever. Which says a lot about Dean, or at least a lot about what Dean wants Haley to know about him. He might be interested in her, but he’s warning her off just the same. It’s Dean’s way of saying, I know you think I’m hot, and I am, but I’m not the settling down kind, so just get used to that right now.

The group reaches the location of the coordinates. Sam notices the lack of any noise, even crickets. (His Samhair gets really cute here.) Roy goes one way, the rest of them go another, and finally everyone meets up at the campsite, which is a mess of tent remains and broken things. Roy is sure it’s grizzlies, and everyone is shocked at the amount destruction left behind. Dean and Sam realize that the bodies were dragged off and then the tracks end. It’s not a skinwalker or black dog, says Dean, walking off. Then everyone hears a scream and run to find the source. Ever try running in the woods? I wouldn’t recommend it. Every time I’ve tried it, I end face down in pile of mud, so my hat’s off to the actors for pulling this off several times in the ep. You can see it’s not always stunt doubles either, it’s the actors running and scurrying, hopping over stuff and pelting downhill. Phew!

They cannot find the source of the scream and so head back to the bedraggled campsite. All of their backpacks and such are gone. Sam is suddenly serious, in spite of the sweet bangs that make him look about sixteen, and wants everyone out of there. Protomondo. (This bit is an interesting contrast to his earlier argument where he professed total lack of interest in being a babysitter. What has changed his mind? I think it’s not because he’s deep in the forest with the MOW and needs to get the hell out of there himself, but more because he has empathy for people coming up against anything that could scare them. The thing Sam likes least in this world is being scared, ergo, he’s going to be willing to rescue anyone else to save them from that.) At the same time, you can see the look on Dean’s face, and how foolish he feels to have been so easily tricked. (You can almost hear him saying to himself, like Millie in Bull Durham, “I did not get lured and I will take responsibility for my actions.”) Haley, that brave trooper, won’t leave the woods until she finds her brother, so they are forced to stay and Dean tells them to settle in.

Dean draws circles in the dirt to protect them. Roy is derisive and makes nasty comments about it. (He’ll get his, though, right?) Then Dean and Sam have a fireside chat. Really, it is a fireside chat because they are in the woods and the fire is the only source light that sets off the boys’ profiles in glowly relief. Any other show would have faked an additional light source so we could see the actors’ faces better, and while I bemoan the lack of clear features for me to gawp over, I do have to nod my head with respect.

The scene looks real. It is dark in the woods, and the single group of flames make it so you can’t quite see the expression on your brother’s face as you are talking to him, while at the same time, you can tell by his posture and the hard edge to his eyes that he is feeling crappy about everything, and you, being Dean (you’re Dean in this scene), try and cheer him up. But being Dean, you’re not very good at it. Sam wants Dad. Dad is not there, so the most you can offer Sam is a lifetime of duty and service saving people, hunting things. You show him Dad’s journal, but little brother is not impressed. Instead, Sam wants to know how you do it. You tell him he’s got to have patience, that he must let go of his anger or it will kill him. You tell him, whispering in the same tones he is using, that you want to save other families from going what the Winchesters have gone through. And if that’s not enough, you get to kill every evil son of a bitch you come across. This is fine for you, but you, but not for Sam….and the whole thing makes me sigh because it is so beautifully and realistically done and shows us how steady Dean is, the buried granite beneath his cocksure, belligerent exterior. Sam, in comparison, is more like the fairy lights you hear tell of that lure unsuspecting travelers into the dark woods. Sam is in transition in this episode, moving from the flickering and uncertain younger brother (who doesn’t want to hunt) into something stronger and more solid.

This beautifully wrought conversation is beset upon by Roy stepping outside the magic circle when he’s lured into the woods, and off he goes, shooting and shouting because he’s a hunter, damnit, and he’s going to kill anything that moves. His neck gets snapped by some unseen monster, and now we are four.

After what must have been a sleepless night, morning finds Sam in full-on angst mode. He’s leaning against the remains of a huge tree, running the string of rosary beads that are tucked inside Dad’s journal through his fingers. He looks much like a forlorn lover, or a lost prince, with his pout and his scowl and that Samhair flipping over his ears. (At this point, I usually wonder how many days he’s been without real sleep, real food, and a change of clothes, but as grouchy and ratty as he might be, he’s still pretty durn edible.)

Meanwhile, Haley learns from Dean the truth about what has taken her brother, his friends, and Roy. She’s amazed at what the brothers Winchester do, and you can see through her eyes what it must be like to meet up with the boys when they are hunting. They are different than you and me, more self-sufficient, more focused, and, I would imagine, a bit more intimidating than your average leather-jacket wearing Joe. Are they boys you would bring home to mother? (Even Sam, with some college, would be a little hard to explain. And as for Dean? Oh, he is the bad boy our mothers warned us about so don’t even try.)

Then Sam storms up, chin high, Samhair flying. He’s ready. He wants to kill the son of a bitch, and Dean (sounding like Mr. Ackles has a cold) says that he’s in. The brothers talk in depth about what a Wendigo is (a man turned cannibal turned monster who eats people), and how to kill it, in an interesting reveal. As Dean lectures on the killing methods, he walks around, getting his pyro gear together. And as he moves, the camera follows him, looping left and right in an almost dizzying way, conveying the massive amounts of energy Dean is prepared to spend on this hunt. Contrast that with the stationary camera that alights on the others when they speak. Again, this show rates top marks at the attention to the slightest aspect. Then Dean finishes up, announcing that they’ll have to torch the sucker. He holds up some handmade Molotov cocktails, a very happy boy.

They go into the woods, and Dean and Haley get grabbed, just as Sam realizes that the trail they were following was far too easy. I love the bit where Sam shouts for his brother. (Mr. Padalecki has such a booming voice when he shouts, it comes right from the bottom of his lungs.) Sam and Ben search and then Ben finds Dean’s peanut candies. They follow the trail to the opening of the mineshaft and go in, ignoring the do not enter type signs as all hunters must. Then, flashlights bobbing, they fall through a rotting wooden floor to discover, ta da, Dean tied up! (You gotta love that, right? I know I do. The scene is really too dark to see much, but I do believe I can see his tummy from here.) Haley is tied up too, but Sam only has eyes for Dean (as is right and proper), and rushes over to his brother, and cuts him down. Dean collapses in Sam’s arms (be still, my heart), grunting in pain in that matter of fact way he’s got. Then, still grimacing, he asks, “Yeah, where is it?” He’s ready to go, and hang the fact that he can barely move his arms.

Then they cut Haley down and discover that Tommy is nearby. He’s barely conscious, but he’s alive. Dean, meanwhile, finds some flare guns and spins them around like the sharp-shooting cowboy he’s always dreamed of being. Then, in typical Dean fashion, he tells Sam to get the kiddies out of the mine, and goes off to sacrifice himself to the Wendigo as bait. When Haley protests this, he, James Dean style, winks at her through the layers of dirt and blood on his face. (I find him very yummy when he’s grubby. It makes me want to bathe him.) Then he goes racing off, calling out to the Wendigo, telling it to come and get him because “I taste good!” (You will get no argument from me on that, even if it’s only in my imagination that I know how true that would be.)

Sam hobbles the little group out, but at the last minute, sends them on their way alone. He’s going back in to rescue Dean, you see, and is it because his brother means more to him than the family they are rescuing? Or is it because he feels they would make it out okay at this point? Well, he runs into the Wendigo anyhow, so it’s a moot point. He loses his flare gun, and has to race back to the group to render aid and protection. The guy doesn’t hold anything back. Hustling Tommy and Haley and Ben into a corner, he instructs them to get behind him. Keep in mind, he’s got no flare gun, no weapon to speak of, only the spread of his arms to keep the Wendigo from eating everyone. He spreads them wide, barring the way to their bodies with his own. His eyes are sparking with terror, and yet, there he stands, defiant and brave. They say that heroes are not made, they are cornered, and it is this scene that tells me the truth of that.

Then Dean comes up, flare gun blazing, and shoots the Wendigo right in the gut. What follows is a happy scene as the flames from the creature’s body lights up everyone’s faces. All of them are almost laughing, probably from relief, except for Dean. He looks the worse for wear, and I’ll wager he could use a good long hot shower and a hot meal and a comfortable bed for the weekend. I’m willing to offer up mine and would, except for the fact that he’s a fictional character, you see.

The closing scene sees Ben lying to the rangers, with Sam, with those beautiful, earnest eyes of his, adding his trustworthiness to Ben’s story. Hailey, meanwhile, asks Dean how she can thank him. Dean, in true Dean style, gives her a leer, and she demands to know if he must cheapen the moment. He says of course, and then she kisses him on the cheek. Which he likes, I can tell. He’s an old softie on the inside, and for him, the kiss is enough thanks. At least this time around. As he watches Haley and her brothers go, you can see the envy he has for the normal lives they are going back to.

Dean and Sam sit on the hood of the Impala. They both look tired and gritty, and you know those jeans of theirs could stand up by themselves. They close with a wonderful, brotherly exchange about how they hate camping, and how they will find Dad, eventually. Then Sam says “Yeah, but in the meantime? I’m driving.” Expressionless, and practically motionless, Dean tosses him the keys and off they go. Kripke sweetens this by giving us one more scene, exterior, day, of the Impala, all shiny and black and powerful, heading once again down the highways and byways of America, out of the woods and into the morning.

Sylvia Bond is a ten-year technical writing veteran with too many degrees under her belt to count. She lives in Colorado, but does not ski, preferring instead to spend her money and time at the annual Great American Beer Festival, taking road trips across the United States, and reading historical fiction from the comfort of her fluffy green arm chair. She has been involved in fandom since 1993 and been writing fanfic since approximately 1993. What she finds most amazing about fandom (besides the open heartedness of fans and the sheer amount of creativity) is how visible fandom has become. “In my day,” she says, “we had to hide behind P.O. boxes to get fanfic. But nowadays, people wear t-shirts that shout their affiliation and share their shiny toys on the internet.” It’s a wonderful world.

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