#spn 1.02

[daddario]

Sam and Dean lacking personal space in every episode - 2/327

[deancrowleycas]

Favorite Shots Per Episode ✩ 1.02 Wendigo (2/2)

[aliveboydean]

i do find it funny that dean is SO sure john will know what to do about jessica’s death as if his mother’s death hasn’t been unsolved for 22 years

[rainbow-motors]

Supernatural 1.02 Deleted Scene

[zmediaoutlet]

spn20rewatch, 1.02: "Makes things a little bit more bearable."

Wendigo is where Supernatural really begins as it means to go on -- monster of the week episodes that tie loosely in to a whole season arc. I'm a plot person so MOTWs aren't always my favorite, but what they can do very well is deliver a wallop of characterization and even outright character thesis in the middle of the, you know, screaming blonde women and blood spatters.

Much is made of the big moment where Sam and Dean realize they've inherited John's journal, and that he wants them to pick up where he left off -- you know, saving people, hunting things. The family business. The subject of many a Previously On, and for good reason. More interesting to me, though, is the context in which it's said. Sam's on a knife-edge all episode, desperate to go tearing off in pursuit of whatever killed his girlfriend, has to find his dad first in order to do it -- and it's making him behave contra to how Dean expects their usual roles to go. ("I'm the belligerent one, remember?", he says -- another characterization moment that hits me between the eyes, because he's been clearly not belligerent in all of his on-screen moments so far. What else is told to us, and not shown?)

The point of the hunt in Wendigo is to tell the audience, but also to tell Sam, that this is going to be a marathon and not a sprint. It also helps to construct the moral universe the show operates under: that hunters, by dint of the knowledge and skills they have, must help save civilians from the supernatural when they can. It's Spiderman rules but for the entire country, and it's made clear that if you ignore someone in danger that you could've helped, you are no longer considered morally just by this narrative.

Sam visibly wilts -- he wants revenge now and it's killing him -- but Dean coaxes him back and stiffens his spine. But it's not just the 'saving people, hunting things' that does the job.

SAM: How do you do it? How does Dad do it? DEAN: Well for one, them. [Sam looks at HALEY AND BEN.] I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable.

There's also some fun to be had in killing as many of the evil sons of bitches as they possibly can, of course, but it's this that's the crux of the scene, for me. The hunting life is unbearable, awful, scary and dangerous and they get one step ahead and get shoved back three. John hunted for the thing that killed his wife for twenty-two years and didn't even manage to get it; Sam's looking down a long road of the same thing.

It's the work that can be done in the meantime that Dean excels at, and he's telling Sam now that it's worth doing, and in fact that it's required. The Winchesters have to have these minor victories in order to get up in the morning and work toward the greater purpose -- it's what makes the life (and the show) possible at all. When they bring the saved civilians down off the mountain (with the monster burning in their wake), Sam's buoyed. He still has the main guiding purpose of revenge, but he understands Dean's POV now, too -- they're on the same page, heading onto the road together with the same understanding of their purpose. But Sam's driving.

[jennsens]

Rewatched 1x02 Wendigo

It's an easy-to-follow adventure, and as the second episode, has a feeling of confirming story style and motifs. They repeat the use of fake IDs. There's a cheeky wink to the audience about how implausible they are when they're imposters along with reassurance that as the heroes they have plot armor. The ep revisits blood dripping mysteriously from above, leading to a jumpscare horror. And revisits Dean ending up a total, muddy mess. There's detective-like interviewing and exposition, reminiscent of The X-Files, as well as the tell-tale woodsy wetness of filming in Vancouver, and a ritual explanation as to why they're taking a break from hunting for Dad.

A week has passed, and they found no clues in Jessica's death. Sam is understandably having nightmares and is withdrawn and somber and on edge. I do love that on rewatch the audience knows that Sam is hiding a secret and a guilty conscience. Dean sends many concerned glances Sam's way. The dynamic I see is Dean trying to direct their energies towards something more positive, which is solving Haley's case; the job John sent them to. I think it's a consistent strategy for Dean throughout the series to seek a hunting "win" as an emotional reset. And by the end of the hunt, we see it does revitalize Sam.

Dean says the iconic "saving people, hunting things, the family business" line. It's framed as "saving people, hunting things" = "the family business," and that works for the Kripke years. Now, having been through the whole series, I hear it as three separate things. The business (or workings) of family really is its own theme as the show goes on, and sometimes it doesn't have to do with the other two.

DEAN: Do you want to tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?  SAM: Dean... DEAN: No, you're not fine. you're like a powder keg, man. It's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?

I do find it strange to hear Dean say, "I'm supposed to be the belligerent one," except maybe it's said jokingly to get a reaction from Sam. So far Dean's been quite stoic when challenged, and likely to respond to hostility with smirky humor. Sam's more direct and quicker to be confrontational. Nice bit of foreshadowing with reference to Sam as "freaky" and about to blow up with anger, since the appearance of YED will expand on that later.

A few things that I especially enjoyed in this ep -- Dean's charm and chutzpah. The way he improvises on the fly. He's flirty but in a surprisingly sweet way. Sam's earnestness, knowledge, and fearlessness. His exhilaration when they finish the hunt. I'm also amused that starting here, bears come up as a civilian explanation for monster stuff.

It's hard not to take it for granted now, their chemistry as brothers. They especially feel like they're in their own world separate from the normal one, and we're privileged to peek into their experience. We're also privileged to enjoy their beautiful faces in cinematic closeups.

There's smarmy low-brow humor that seems characteristic of Kripke. I feel like he enjoys making the audience squirm a bit over it, just as he does with the horror gore. This isn't a show for nice bougie people, he seems to want to say, we like 'em rough around the edges. It's a bit of a caricature, but it's different, and feels harmless.

Harmless, like Dean's flirting. We can see through the artifice; we're in on the joke. Part of that joke is a show that's sometimes rough around the edges. Like the ep's final scenes making a big deal of Sam taking the keys to drive the Impala, followed by a long shot of them in Baby, with Sam on the passenger side. Oops! 😂

[jalapeno-hummus]

ᴀ ᴡᴇɴᴅɪɢᴏ'ꜱ ᴅᴇᴘɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ɪɴ ᴊᴏʜɴ ᴡɪɴᴄʜᴇꜱᴛᴇʀ'ꜱ ᴊᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟ. ⚠︎

"ᴡᴇɴᴅɪɢᴏ ᴀʀᴇ ᴇᴍʙᴏᴅɪᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ ᴏꜰ ɢʟᴜᴛᴛᴏɴʏ, ɢʀᴇᴇᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴇxᴄᴇꜱꜱ; ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ꜱᴀᴛɪꜱꜰɪᴇᴅ ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴜᴍɪɴɢ ᴏɴᴇ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴ, ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴛᴀɴᴛʟʏ ꜱᴇᴀʀᴄʜɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ ɴᴇᴡ ᴠɪᴄᴛɪᴍꜱ. ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ᴀʟꜱᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴏɴ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇɴᴅɪɢᴏ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴄᴀᴘᴛᴜʀᴇ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴꜱ ᴛᴏ ʜᴏᴀʀᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ꜰᴏᴏᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴇᴀᴛ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʜᴜɴɢʀʏ."

ꜱᴏᴜʀᴄᴇ

[plainwater-pdf]

i'm OBSESSED with the way that sam has no idea who dean is or why that question might piss him off