Title Wendigo
Episode # Season 1, Episode 2
First aired September 20, 2005
Directed by David Nutter
Written by Eric Kripke (teleplay)
Ron Milbauer (story)
Terri Hughes Burton (story)
Outline Dean and Sam follow John's coordinates to a hunt for missing campers in Colorado.
Monster Wendigo
Location(s) Lost Creek Trail, Grand Junction, Colorado
Black Water Ridge, Colorado
Timeline 10 November, 2005
11-12 November, 2005
John's coordinates have led Sam and Dean to Black Water Ridge, where two siblings are looking for their brother who vanished into thin air while on a camping trip with friends. The Winchester boys pose as Park Rangers to accompany them into the woods and encounter a Wendigo, an ex-human, super-fast cannibal who has been hunting humans for a couple of decades. Unhappy with the fact that they haven't found their father, but only another case for them to solve, Sam is reluctant to investigate at first, because he finds that their priority should be to find their missing father and Jessica's killer.
Music
* Dave Matthew's
Band - Out of My Hands
* Foreigner - Hot Blooded
* Lynyrd Skynyrd - Down South Jukin'
* Rush - Fly By Night
Trivia
Tommy is seen
reading a copy of Joe Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand
Faces" before he's taken by the Wendigo in the episode teaser.
Eric Kripke has confirmed more than once that his writing is influenced
by the Hero's Journey.
Windigo is actually a mental illness that some First Nation's
suffer from. It is a culturally bound illness (meaning that it
doesn't occur outside of First Nations groups) where the person
suffering from the illness believes that they could be possessed
by an evil spirit that would turn them into homicidal cannibals.
Windigo is actually a derivative of the Ojibwe (Native American)
folk legend of the "Wiindigo" (pronounced WEEN-di-goh),
a creature much like that shown in Supernatural. However, in Ojibwe
folklore the Wiindigo is described as more werewolf-like than
human-like and does not possess the ability to mimic human voices.
Many traditional Ojibwe people still believe this creature to
exist in the woods of Northern Minnesota as referenced by Dean
in this episode.
Sam's girlfriend's name is Jessica Lee Moore and was 21 when she
died according to her headstone. (January 24, 1984 - November
2, 2005) That is the same date that Sam's mother died by the same
spirit 20+ years ago.
In Wendigo lore, the Wendigo did not have the ability to imitate
human voices. This is something new the writers added.
Quotes
Roy: You're
rangers?
Dean: That's right.
Haley: And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?
Dean: Oh sweetheart. I don't do shorts.
Dean: [to Wendigo] Hey, you want some white meat, bitch? I'm right here!
Sam: How do
you do it? How does Dad do it?
Dean: Well for one, them. [gestures toward Haley and her brother]
I mean, our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some
others. Makes things a little bit more bearable. And I'll tell
you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons-of-bitches as I
possibly can.
Sam: So, we got half a chance in the daylight. And I, for one,
wanna kill this evil son of a bitch.
Dean: Well hell, you know I'm in.
Dean: Since when are you all shoot first, ask questions later,
anyway?
Sam: Since now.
Haley: You didn't pack any provisions. You guys are carrying a
duffle bag. You're not rangers, so who the hell are you?
Dean: Sam and I are brothers, and we're looking for our father.
He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me,
we're in the same boat.
Haley: Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?
Dean: I'm telling you now. Besides, that's probably the most honest
I've ever been with a woman. Ever. So we okay?
Haley: Yeah, okay.
Dean: And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions? (pulls out
peanut butter M&Ms and walks away)
(playing a video game)
Brad: Dude, you're cheating.
Gary: Nope, you just suck.
Sam: We never should have let you come out here in the first place,
alright? I’m trying to protect you.
Roy: You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy
was still kissing you goodnight.
Sam: Yeah? It’s a damn near perfect hunter. It’s smarter
than you, and it’s gonna hunt you down and eat you alive
unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here.
Roy: (laughs) You know you’re crazy, right?
Sam: We can not let that Hailey girl go out there.
Dean: Oh, yeah? What are we gonna tell her? She can't go into
the woods because of a big, scary monster?
Sam: Yeah.
Dean: Chow time, you freaky bastard. Yeah, that's right, bring
it on baby. I taste good.
Dean: You okay?
Sam: Yeah, I'm fine.
Dean: Another nightmare?
(Sam clears throat)
Dean: You wanna drive for a while?
Sam: Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that.
Sam: How do you do it? How does Dad do it?
Dean: Well for one, them. (looks at Haley and her brother) I mean,
our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others.
Makes things a little bit more bearable. (long pause) And I tell
you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons-of-bitches as I
possibly can.
Haley: You're rangers?
Dean: That's right
Haley: And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?
Dean: Oh, sweetheart, I don't do shorts.
Dean: Hey, you want some white meat, bitch?!? I’m right here!
Haley: I don't know how to thank you. (Dean gives her "the
look") Must you cheapen the moment?
Dean: Yeah.
Dean: (to Sam) I think he wants us to pick up where he left off.
You know, saving people, hunting things... The family business.
References
Dean: [to
Roy] Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?
Bambi the Deer and Yogi the Bear are both famous forest-dwelling
cartoon characters.
Sam: [finding
Dean's trail of peanut M&Ms] It's better than bread crumbs.
A reference to the Grimm's fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, in which
the children leave a trail of bread crumbs through the forest
so they'll find their way home.
Others...
* In Sam's nightmare, the visual of the hand coming up out of
Jessica's grave and snatching his wrist calls to mind the end
of the movie Carrie, based on the novel by Stephen King.
Visual: a
trail of M&M's
This is reminiscent of the 1982 movie E.T. where Elliot leaves
a trail of Reese's Pieces for the alien E.T. to follow.
Anasazi Signs
The Anasazi are ancestors of the modern Pueblo peoples. The term
"Anasazi" is not preferred by their descendants, though
there is still some controversy amongst them on a native alternative.
The word Anasazi is Navajo for "Ancient Ones" or "Ancient
Enemy."
Ben: Like the Donner Party.
The Donner Party mentioned in this episode is a group of settlers
from 19th century America who got caught in a blizzard and had
to eat each other in order to survive.