I gave this episode a 8 out of 10, a little higher than the first because there is less leachery (although it is not altogether missing) and there are quite a few good brother moments. The suspense and horror are also on point. I took off for a few things that might be considered continuity errors. I'll get into that in my review.
This episode starts out at a campsite at night. Three men are camping and something is obviously stalking their campsite. We hear rustling and growling as we're given the monster's vantage point before zeroing in on the campers. Two are playing a game, the other is sending a video message to his sister telling her not to worry, that he's safe, and that he'll call the next day. The two playing a game are arguing and one tosses his handheld device down in frustration before exiting the tent. The other protests that he's being a sore loser, but the first just says that nature is calling. He goes to relieve himself a few feet from camp and it focuses once more on the winner as you hear the scream. Once more it is a good use of the violence off camera affect. We don't see what happened to the first camper, so our terror is heightened. So each of the campers is attacked until we zero in the last one. He puts out his light, hoping to protect himself and he hears the creature circling outside his tent before his tent is slashed open by sharp claws.
The next scene shows Sam visiting Jessica's grave to bring her an assortment of flowers because she "always said roses were lame" and apologizing for not protecting her. He goes to lay the flowers on her grave and a hand reaches out of the ground and grabs his wrist. This is when he wakes up. It was a nightmare. Dean asks if he's okay, and Sam lies and says that he is. Dean shows obvious concern here. They are discussing the coordinates their dad left them while driving in the car towards said coordinates. They are wondering why it is a spot in the middle of nowhere, in the forest. Next we see them at a ranger station talking about the spot when a Ranger asks them if they are planning to go there. They tell him no, that they're students doing a paper, but he doesn't believe them. He thinks they are friends of a girl named Hailey who has been inquiring after her brother. He tells them the brother is not missing since the time he requisitioned has not expired yet. Dean asks for a copy of his permit, so they can convince Hailey, and then they leave. On the way to the car, Sam berates Dean thinking he is only looking to hook up with this Hailey girl. Then Dean asks since when Sam was the kind to shoot first and ask questions later and Sam says "Since now." This is a good exchange because it spells their characters out so well. Sam is acting out of character and Dean is pointing it out, but Dean is acting just the way Sam expects him to act.
The next scene shows the brothers on Hailey's doorstep introducing themselves as rangers. Hailey asks to see ID and Dean shows her a laminated card which seems to appease her. She invites the boys in. She tells them she is worried about her brother because he was checking in every day and they haven't heard from him in three days. She shows them her video and Sam asks her to send it to him to which she agrees. She tells them that she has hired a guide and she'll be going to get her brother the next day.
Now it shows the brother, hung from the ceiling of a creepily dark room as a creature prowls just out of sight. His hands are tied and he is hung like a slab of meat from the ceiling in an upright position with his arms above him. He is still alive. He watches in horror as the monster bites into another person (presumably one of his fellow campers) and we hear the man scream. I want you to remember this for later, because this is the possible continuity or plot issue that I was talking about.
The brothers are researching the disappearance and they find out that, every 23 years, like clockwork, eight campers have gone missing. There is one survivor from one of the attacks, but he was a child at the time. The go to see the man. At first the man insists it was a bear (which is the official story) but upon prodding the man admits that the monster, whatever it was, unlocked the door to their cabin, and was too fast to be seen. He shows them a scar the monster left him with and they leave. They still don't know exactly what they're dealing with, but it is corporeal since it needed to unlock the door, so they decide it can be killed. Dean says they've got to protect Hailey but Sam objects. He wants to find his father not "babysit".
The next scene is Hailey arguing with the guide to allow her other brother Ben to come with her in search of the missing one Tommy. Sam and Dean pull up and Hailey introduces them as rangers. They say they came to assist in the search and they all head out into the forest. The guide is prickly and takes and instant dislike to Sam and Dean. Then they come upon the campsite. It has been ransacked and there is blood. One of the two follows a trail until it mysteriously vanishes. The campers were dragged away. Then they hear someone calling out in distress and they follow the call just to find... nothing. It was a trick. Their supplies have been taken. They are cut off from the outside world. Sam and Dean realize they are dealing with a wendigo (a man who turned to cannibalism in order to survive and consume too much human flesh and gained supernatural powers like heightened speed, agility and immortality), and that their weapons are useless. They try to get the others to leave, but the guide mocks them and Hailey refuses to leave without finding Tommy. Sam and Dean set up a campsite perimeter that the wendigo can't cross as the guide continues to mock them for it, calling them crazy. When the wendigo shows up, the guide shoots at it and then chases it leaving the protection of the circle. He is grabbed from something in a tree just after calling out that he has found the monster. Before the monster shows up, however, Sam and Dean have a moment where Dean again asks if Sam is okay, and tells him it is not healthy to bottle it up like this. Sam wonders why they're here instead of out looking for their dad. He has obviously not been here. Dean tells Sam he thinks their dad wants them to continue to hunt monsters for him. Sam says he needs to find his dad and "the monster that killed Jessica" before breaking down.
The next scene is the following morning. Dean tells Hailey that her brother might still be alive because wendigos keep their victims alive and eat them slowly to get by in times of famine. This is where I feel there is a possible plot hole, because Tommy is the only one still alive when they get to the wendigo's lair and it has only been five days. If the wendigo keeps its victims alive as long as possible, how are the other two campers already dead and gone at five days max? Also, Tommy doesn't express any concern for his fellow campers or their fates. It seems the wendigo keeping its victims alive was a plot device used to keep Tommy alive long enough for the brothers to show up. Dean goes on to say that guns and knives will not kill the wendigo, but fire will.
Another blood dripping from above trope is used before they discover the guide's body. Then Dean and Hailey are taken. Ben asks Sam if the wendigo keeps its victims alive then why did it kill the guide, and Sam postulates that it was because the guide shot at it which made it mad. Ben finds the candy Dean brought with him to snack on. Dean has left them a trail of breadcrumbs. They follow it to an old abandoned mine. They are in the mine when they hear something and hide. They see the wendigo leave. Then, while exploring, they fall through the floor and end up in the room where the wendigo is keeping Dean and Hailey. Ben runs to Hailey and Sam runs to Dean. They cut the two of them down. After they get their bearings, Hailey notices Tommy, he looks lifeless and she cries out and rushes to him. But he starts awake. He is alive. They cut him down and they all go to leave but the wendigo has returned. Dean and Sam find flare guns, which will work against the wendigo because of fire. Dean tries to lure the wendigo to chase him so the others can escape, but the wendigo goes after them instead and Sam wastes his flare. As the wendigo closes in on him, (slowly, because if it went as fast as possible there's no way they'd stand a chance) Sam protects the others by sheltering them behind his back. Then, in the nick of time, Dean shoots the monster with the flare gun, and it bursts into flames and dies.
The episode closes with the survivors concocting a tale of a bear mauling and saying goodbye. Dean gives Hailey a suggestive look when she asks if there's anything she can do to thank him and she chastises him before giving him a chaste peck on the cheek goodbye. Dean then tells Sam that they will find their father, and Sam says "I know, but in the meantime, I'm driving." Dean looks at Sam as if he's about to argue before tossing him the keys and they drive off.
A few notes -- I liked the brother dynamic in this episode. It really showed how much Sam and Dean look out for one another, something that will become a common theme throughout the show. Obviously, I didn't like the moments when Dean was hitting on Hailey, but those were surprisingly few in this episode. I liked the secluded forest setting. Very good territory for a monster that hunts it's victims. I'm not sure about the lore. I guess they're going off the ancient practice of some tribes indigenous to the Americas of eating the flesh of their enemies to gain their strength. I haven't really studied up on Native America lore as much, so that is less familiar to me than Judeo-Christian lore and mythical creatures associated with it, like vampires.
Of the side characters, I liked Hailey the most and the guide the least. The guide is meant to be an abrasive character so his death is less impactful, I think. I was sad that they didn't include some amount of grieving for Tommy's fellow campers. It was as if they hadn't been there at all when the show concluded. I did find it a little unbelievable that they were able to just find their way back without a guide. I mean, that forest was dense. Perhaps there is some kind of wilderness survival training that was included in their upbringing, or maybe the guide's GPS was recovered and they were able to find their way back with that. It is never really explained.
No comments:
Post a Comment