Winchester-Journals.net :: Episode 1x02

Episode 1x02 - Wendigo

Vital Statistics

Original Air Date: 20th September 2005
Production Code: 2T6901
Writer: Eric Kripke
Director: David Nutter

Official Episode Description

Sam and Dean follow the coordinates left in their father's journal and land in the middle of the woods where they investigate the disappearance of several campers. The two brothers soon learn they are dealing with a Wendigo, a creature made famous in Native America legends. A Wendigo is a former human whose cannibalism has transformed him into a creature with superhuman strength and speed that feasts on human flesh.

Summary

Following the co-ordinates left in their Dad's journal, Dean and Sam head to Lost Creek, Colorado. On the journey, Sam suffers from a nightmare about Jessica's death. He regrets having left Stanford so soon, but Dean reassures him that they did all they could there. They find out that a young girl, Hailey Collins, believes that her brother Tommy has gone missing while out camping near Blackwater Ridge.

They discover that there have been people going missing from the same area every 23 years like clockwork. The abductions are blamed on a grizzly bear, but Dean and Sam suspect something else. They accompany Hailey and her younger brother Ben, along with a guide, to the area where Tommy and his friends were last heard from. The brothers soon realise that they're hunting a Wendigo. Not believing them, the guide goes to attack it and ends up with a broken neck.

They hide out in the forest until morning when they hope they will stand a better chance against the creature. They get split up, with Sam and Ben going one way and Dean and Hailey another. Hailey and Dean get caught by the Wendigo,who hangs them up alongside Tommy, ready to eat later on. Sam and Ben come across them and manage to cut them down.

Sam and Dean hatch a plot to get them out of there and defeat the Wendigo, involving Dean running off as bait. It succeeds and the Wendigo is no more. Hailey and Ben go with Tommy to the hospital, leaving Dean and Sam to decide where to go next.

Deleted Scene

The deleted scene from this episode shows Dean, Sam, Hailey and Ben hiking through the woods. They stop for a break and Hailey offers Dean a drink. Ben wanders off, followed by Sam, and finds a sign drawn on a tree. Sam explains that it is Anasazi and wonders where he has seen the symbol before.

Notes

We see Jess's headstone in a nightmare of Sam's. Apparently she is buried in Palo Alto, California, and died on the same date as Sam and Dean's mother, 2nd November, 22 years later. The headstone also shows that she was born on 24th January 1984.
Dean leaves a trail of peanut M&M's for Sam to follow.

Cultural References

Tell me, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?
Bambi and Yogi are both cartoon characters. Bambi was a young deer in the Disney animated film of the same name. Yogi is a bear who lives in Jellystone National Park and is owned by Hanna-Barbera Productions.
Like the Donner Party.
The Donner Party was a group of California-bound American settlers who became snow-bound in the Sierra Nevada in 1846. They resorted to cannibalism to survive.
It’s better than breadcrumbs.
Sam is referring to the trail of M&M's that Dean left behind. Breadcrumbs were used in the fairy tale about Hansel and Gretel who leave a trail of breadcrumbs in the forest to help them find their way home again.

Behind The Scenes

Most of the footage filmed of theWendigo ended up on the cutting room floor as Eric and co. weren't happy with how it looked.
The look of the Wendigo came from an Aphex Twin music video, 'Come to Daddy'.