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Awesome Big Brother: Dean in Wendigo
It’s easy to see the ways in which Sam is suffering in Wendigo. What’s less obvious is that Dean, too, is struggling to hold it together as the episode begins. Just think about where Dean is, emotionally, at this point. It’s a week after Dean witnessed the return of the unknown supernatural force that killed his mother. His father has gone missing, with only a simple set of co-ordinates left behind for Dean. In the intervening week, Dean must have tried repeatedly to contact John, without success. He has Sam back in his life, but this is a broken Sam, a Sam who needs Dean to stay strong and take care of him. Dean has no one to lean on, and this is the time when he most needs someone.
That Dean is struggling shows in the first conversation he has with Sam. He offers to let Sam drive. Though with hindsight we know how much that gesture means to Dean, in context Sam’s reaction makes it seem as if Dean is still thinking of Sam as a teenager: that is the kind of offer that would lift the spirits of the average teenage boy. It makes sense that Dean would think of Sam that way: the brothers have, don’t forget, been estranged for four years. It underlines that Dean is feeling a bit out of his depth. He wants to take care of Sam, he wants to help him through his grief over Jessica, but he doesn’t know how. Part of him must be wondering if he even knows Sam any more: a man can change a lot in four years, especially the four years that mark the transition from teenager to adult.
Dean takes refuge in the one thing that has been his touchstone all of his life: his father. When they find Dad, everything will be okay.
SAM: Maybe we shouldn’t have left Stanford so soon.
DEAN: Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica…
SAM: We’ve got to find Dad first.
DEAN: Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it’s no coincidence. Dad will have answers; he’ll know what to do.
“Dad…will know what to do.” It’s a tacit admission that Dean doesn’t know what to do. Not about what Sam’s going through.
On the other hand, John hasn’t left them entirely. The co-ordinates he left in his journal for Dean lead them to Lost Creek, Colorado. Both boys are expecting to find John somewhere in Lost Creek, or at least a trace of him. Dean, at least, must be expecting to find some kind of supernatural goings-on – why else would John be there? But neither of them knows about any deaths or disappearances prior to their arrival at the Rangers’ station. All they know is that John left them the co-ordinates to a location that appears to be the middle of nowhere.
Moments like this showcase just how damn good Dean is at this “job” of his. One moment he’s glancing around, a little bored, checking out the local memorabilia. The moment Ranger Wilkinson mentions “that Haley girl”, it’s as if a switch flips inside Dean. A brief hesitation, and he’s there, going along with the Ranger’s assumption, getting him to reveal information which should have been confidential.
Here’s another illustration of how good Dean is at this job:
The fake Ranger ID Dean shows to Haley isn’t just a generic ID: it specifically identifies “Samuel Cole” as a Ranger for the Lost Creek National Forest. How long did Dean have to create that ID? Even if he just stole a real ID and added his own photograph, that’s fast work. Perhaps the fact that Dean’s ID bears the name Sam shows how rushed he was? It’s still impressive. Everything Dean does on this hunt, except the bear-trap incident, kinda falls into that category. Dean might tease Sam for using big words like corporeal, but he knows what it means. Sam references the journal to identify the wendigo but Dean doesn’t look up how to kill one: he simply knows.
And the trail of M&Ms? Roy might not have been the sharpest tool in the box, but he was an experienced hunter (of the non-supernatural) and he was armed; yet the wendigo killed him easily. Dean, captured by the same thing, being dragged through the forest – and don’t forget how fast the wendigo could move – is thinking clearly enough to trust that Sam will come after him and has the presence of mind to leave a trail Sam can’t miss. Damn, he’s good.
It’s in this episode that Dean lays out what is essentially his mission statement for the season:
SAM: Let’s hit the road, go find Dad. I mean why are we still in here?
DEAN: This is why. (Holds up John’s journal) This book. This is Dad’s single most valuable possession. Everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he’s passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know saving people, hunting things. The family business.
Saving lives, hunting evil and family. Not always in that order, but that’s a succinct summary of everything that matters to Dean. Yet even at this early stage his devotion to John is a little disturbing. I mean, Sam asks him a perfectly reasonable question: since our purpose is to search for Dad, why don’t we get on with it? Dean could have replied that they shouldn’t turn their back on people in danger, and in a sense that’s what he’s saying. But look at how he says it: he holds out the journal a lot like a priest holding out a Bible. “This is why. This book.” Dean’s faith (or lack of it) will become an important theme later in the series; here is where we first see it: his faith is all in John Winchester.
And John told him to take care of Sam. John sent him to Lost Creek; the tacit order is to hunt this thing down. What else is Dean gonna do?
SAM: I gotta find dad. I gotta find Jessica’s killer. It’s the only thing I can think about.
DEAN: Alright, Sam, we’ll find them, I promise. Listen to me, you’ve gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while and all that anger, you can’t keep it burning over the long haul. It’s gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man.
Words of wisdom; I suspect Dean’s telling himself as much as Sam. I’m not sure he really expected to find John in Lost Creek; but their failure to find even a trace of him must be hitting Dean as hard as Sam. He’s beginning to realise for himself that this search will take a while. It won’t be easy. Dean doesn’t have any idea why John has disappeared; he must be trying really hard not to think the worst.
Yet for all his own emotional turmoil, Dean remains focussed on taking care of Sam, preparing him for the road ahead. He knows there’s almost no chance they’ll find Jessica’s killer at all, let alone quickly: after all, John has been searching for it for more than twenty years.
SAM: How do you do it? How does dad do it?
DEAN: Well for one…them. (Looks over at Haley and her younger brother) I mean, I figure our family’s so screwed to hell; maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable. I’ll tell you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can.
Perhaps that’s why Dean is so willing to throw himself at the wendigo in the mine. Everything else is out of his control: Sam’s grief, his father’s disappearance. Dean himself has been injured: if someone’s going to draw off the monster, he’s actually not the logical choice. But the wendigo is a thing he can do something about. He can take action. Moreover, he can work out some of his own feelings in a way that won’t signal to Sam just how bad he feels, because it’s a hunt. If killing those evil sons of bitches is Dean’s coping mechanism, then killing the wendigo was probably just what he needed right then.
Whatever works.
[All screen caps from SPN Media or raloria.]
Crossposted from my blog at Devil's Trap. You can comment here or on the blog.
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Beautiful.
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