#here is just under 2000 words about Supernatural 1x02

[evas-spn-thoughts]

s01e02 - Wendigo

So now it's time for me to sit down and watch/review Supernatural s01e02. 

I just want you to know I have a glass of wine and I’ve just made and eaten some lovely pasta.

I don’t have anything to say beyond that, I just wanted to set the scene.

We have the first of our non brother related openings to episodes, it's weird to have it after the title screen. We get the creepy campsite, a guy gets grabbed, and we get the growling that a Wendigo episode deserves. 

This won't be the last mystery death opening, Supernatural gets very good at them, but also some of them are rubbish, this one in this episode is very good.

We get a well acted scene from one Jared Padalecki, he's brought flowers to Jess's grave. Jess will be the first of many people that Sam feels responsible for. We very quickly discover it is a dream, which is a shame, I'd like to think Sam would have gone to Jess's grave - they spent a week at the College after her death so maybe he did. 

We then cut to a very lovely moment where Dean is clearly worried about his brother, he asks if Sam is okay - Sam does the true Winchester response of 'yeah, I'm fine'. He asks if Sam had a nightmare - Sam coughs in response.

It’s not like those dreams will be super important to the plot or anything… not at all.

Dean is clearly worried about his brother, and Sam is not being forthcoming about how he's feeling, so Dean asks if he wants to drive. This clearly is not something Dean offers often, as Sam remarks on the fact that Dean 'has never once asked him that'.

We discover John is sending them 'to the middle of nowhere'.

They head to the coordinates John sent them, and immediately are looking for clues as to where John is. 

Sam very quickly lies and says that they are students, but is caught out, and Dean goes along with what the man assumes them to be. This is a funny exchange, as in the last episode, Sam did not want to be lying about credit card scams and being marshalls, but when he lies now, he uses part of the truth - he is/was a student. Whereas Dean, when he was called out, just made the man feel like he was correct and went along with it. Sam will get better at lying to people who don't matter, and Dean will continue to let people assume things, even if they are wrong.  

We get a stupid comment from Dean about Hailey being a 'pistol' and that could be to try and make it seem like he knows her, but it's also a stupid 2005 comment to try and make Dean seem like a womaniser or misogynist (as a side note, Dean isn't really a womaniser, sure he's a flirt, but he's not slimy about it and often I think he flirts because he's lonely, or it's what he thinks he's meant to do. Dean also flirts when he is uncomfortable so there's that). 

However, this comment also gets him more information about the situation, though once they leave, funnily enough Sam is immediately wanting to move on and head off to the specific coordinates, but Dean seems to have his hunters instincts turned to 11, because he clearly sees that something could be going on in the town, and wants to know 'what they are walking into'. This is a moment meant to show that Sam is maybe not in his right mind or thinking rationally about their next moves. 

They meet Hailey, Dean says they are Rangers. He gets impressed when she compliments his car, she's not flirting, he's not flirting, but she complements Dean's most prized possession, so he likes her. He doesn't try flirting with her when they are learning about his brother, he is completely professional. 

This is just an instance to highlight where it could be acted/taken as sleazy flirting, but it's not. I mentioned that Dean gets painted as a womaniser a lot, by writers, the fans, even by Sam, but so far I am not seeing it - again, it's not to say that he doesn't flirt, it's just not constant or overbearing. 

They look into the 'bear attacks' that have happened in the area, and go and see a man named Shaw about them. Shaw is hesitant to explain what he actually saw claiming 'they wouldn't believe him'. 

Sam and Dean are very good at convincing people they will believe what their story is, this is a trend that will continue throughout the show, they are very good at comforting and believing people, because they do, they believe them.

The boys decide to tag along with Hailey and her hired guy Roy. Dean 'doesn't do shorts' apparently - we will see this isn't true in s11.

From now on until the end of the episode we see a very interesting side to Dean, that is his relationship/interactions with older, military, commanding men and how he interacts with them. These interactions are usually Dean and a man who looks down on Dean, who maybe see's his pretty face and disregards him as a credible threat or player in what the scenario is.

Dean immediately starts questioning Roy about what he hunts and 'if anything hunts him back'. He's pushing at Roy, winding him up, but Roy, through saving him from a bear trap, show's Dean that he knows what he is doing.

Hailey calls out that the boys are not Rangers - well done to her, call them on their B.S.

Dean and Sam have some great non-verbal brother communication and both agree to tell her the truth, so Dean explains what they are doing there.

After he explains, she asks why they didn't tell her from the start, and Dean says 'I'm telling you now'. Then he mentions how this is probably the most honest he's ever been with a woman, which... just isn't true, in 11 episodes from now we will know that definitely isn't true. It clearly took a few episodes for the writers to give Dean some depth, and it probably helped that Jensen just doesn't play Dean as a one note character, even 2 episodes in, with no real backstory to him, I don't believe this is the most honest he's been with a woman, that feels like a lie. 

We see the camp... destroyed, and the brother's competency at hunting, they track that the campers have been dragged off and might still be alive, Dean notes that it isn't a black dog or skinwalker.

They start to put together that it isn't a person, and go off to look in John's journal, as the title suggests, they work out that it is a Wendigo, even though they shouldn't be 'this far west'. 

We get a situation where Sam wants to take charge and get everyone out of there. Roy gets aggressive and belittles Sam and his ability, Sam gets aggressive back and he gets in Roy's face - note that Sam is definitely not afraid to get into anyone's face and be aggressive. 

Sam is not emotionally stable in this episode, he is very reactionary about everything, doesn't want to sit around and get the information, and this interaction further proves that because he has no time for anyone's nonsense - which isn't like him, he is no nonsense, but he thinks about others. 

Dean gets involved, calms Sam down, and immediately sets up the next moves for the group - he uses that as motivation to calm everyone down.

We get another moment of Dean parenting/big brothering Sam. He mentions how Sam is clearly not fine, how Sam being so aggressive and doing first, asking questions later is just not like him. Sam talks about how John clearly isn't there, he would have left a clue/message. Dean doesn't think John's ever been there. 

In a very un-Sam-like move, he wants to get everyone safe and abandon the hunt to go and find John.

Dean makes the now famous comment about John wanting them to carry on the family business.

'I think he wants us to pick up where he left off... Saving People, Hunting Things. The Family Business'. 

Sam makes some valid points about John having a massive communication issue with his boys, which yeah, he's a Winchester, they don't make things easy for anyone - also John is just a dick. 

John and Sam's similarities come out during this scene though, and show how different Dean is to both of them. Sam wants to very quickly find Jess's killer and I would assume take revenge. However Sam desperation to avenge Jess feels like the exact same way John is desperate - even 22 years after her death - to avenge Mary. Whereas Dean is trying to highlight how patience is needed - clearly not having that same desperation. 

We get a beautiful moment from Dean, where you understand that Dean hunts because he saves people, he mentions that their family is messed up, but 'we can save some others, it makes things a little more bearable'. Dean implies that he thinks that in some ways their family is past saving, that they are 'screwed to hell', which may be the first inclination of Dean's truly awful self worth issues - and also this is the first idea that the Winchesters have some kind of 'curse' on their family, because as seasons go on, we see more and more that the Winchesters have had problems in their family since before the boys started to hunt. 

We hear the Wendigo, and while the boys try to keep everyone together, Roy runs off. Despite Dean not really liking Roy, he follows him, because Dean will try and save everyone - no matter who they are or if they have disrespected him.

We get the big game plan, and even bigger lore exposition. Wendigo's just sound kinda awful and scary, but they die via fire, so there's that. 

I do love both boys explaining lore, because they are both very intelligent, and I like when the show shows that about both of them, one isn't the brains and one isn't the brawn, they are both exceptional at all of it - with Dean probably being the best hunter out of any of them by the end of the show.

Dean and Hailey get taken by the Wendigo, so Sam and Ben go after it into its lair to get them back. Dean is strung up with Hailey, and Sam gets them down. We do get good news... Tommy is alive!!!! And they have flare guns. 

Dean uses himself as bait to try and lure in the Wendigo - 'do you want some white meat bitch? I'm right here'

God bless the cgi from 2005, they try their best. 

The darkness helps it not look as awful, but oh dear - I love the colouring of the first 5 seasons, but the increase in technical abilities from the later seasons is missed when I watch s1.

Oh Dean Winchester, you can't let anything be sincere for too long can you. 

Dean 'cheapens the moment' because this is normal for him, I think he feels like he's letting himself down when he isn't saving people so this is just normal for him, he saved someone... so what, he doesn't see himself as having done anything heroic by saving people, he is just doing his duty and anyway, its his responsibility. He gets awkward in moments of sincerity when he doesn't feel like he deserves to be thanked.

I like Hailey, there really are no vibes between her and Dean other than respect - which we see a lot of in later seasons between Dean and female characters. Dean is personable and he makes friends easily but he very quickly feels a responsibility to protect them. Dean and Hailey are no different. If anything, the later seasons show that Dean interacts with women in an easier and more natural way than Sam, he seems to have a closer relationship with every woman on the show - maybe apart from Rowena.

As a side note, I hate seeing Sam drive, I'm sorry, but it feels wrong, it isn't the Supernatural I know, and I don't like it - I'm glad they very quickly realise that Sam and Dean have different relationships to the Impala and what Baby actually means to them, and I'm glad Jackles was possessed by Dean enough to feel as protective of her as Dean does, and also it sounds like Jared wasn't a very good driver of Baby.

Overall, Wendigo is a fine episode, I enjoyed this rewatch, but it doesn't leave a lasting impact on me like some of the very best Supernatural episodes can. It is just run of the mill monster of the week.