THE WENDIGO

THE PLOT     NOTES     THE POWER OF THREE     COMMENTS

PREVIOUS EPISODE     NEXT EPISODE

THE PLOT

Stranded by a flat tyre, Piper is attacked by a fierce creature, which runs off when Billy Waters arrives on the scene and fires a flare gun at it.

Prue and Phoebe visit Piper in hospital.  Andy is also there, as is Special Agent Fallon of the FBI.  There was a murder in the park the previous night, and Piper is the first to survive an attack.  Billy's presence was no coincidence since he has been tracking the murderer - who is neither animal nor human - who has previously killed in Chicago and New Orleans.

The following morning, Piper's arm itches where the creature scratched her.  Prue warns her not to go hunting for it since that's Andy and Agent Fallon's job. 

Piper reads up on the creature, a Wendigo, from the Book of Shadows and tells Billy her findings.  He tells her that it strikes on the three phases of the full moon and that he's been tracking it for two months.  As she tries to stand up, Piper feels slightly dizzy.

Andy rings Piper at Quake.  He tells her that she should be at home, and she tells him that Billy is on his way to see Agent Fallon.  Fallon is actually with Andy at the time, and she is curious about him regarding his relationship with Prue.  Andy believes that the killings are some kind of ritual because all the victims are AB negative (as are Piper and Andy) and they were all killed on the nights of the full moon.

Billy meets Agent Fallon and he tells her what Piper told him.  In a deserted car park, he strike his cigarette lighter and Fallon rears back.  He realises that she is the Wendigo since it is afraid of fire.  Before he can escape, she breaks his neck.

Phoebe has got a new job assisting Prue and has a premonition about a bracelet that's to be auctioned - it was flung out of crashed car, and Phoebe discovers whose car it was - a detective was looking for a missing 5-year-old girl who had been kidnapped by her father.  She tells Prue that they can't sell the bracelet because the mother never found her missing daughter.

Andy arrives on the murder scene, as does Agent Fallon.  He doesn't believe the killing was random, and she basically recounts what happened, leaving out the bit about her actually being the Wendigo.  Billy's heart hasn't been ripped out, so Andy guesses that either he's not AB- or because the Wendigo was trying to protect itself from being found out.

Phoebe rushes into the auction and tells Prue that she thinks she found the little girl.  The charm bracelet is the next lot, so Prue sabotages the auction and they move onto the next lot.

Sent home from Quake, Piper has a dream that she turns into the Wendigo and attacks Andy at the Manor.  She wakes up, but Andy and then Agent Fallon show up.  Fallon asks her what Billy knew and whether he had any idea who the Wendigo is.  She tells Piper she hopes she's not infected, but after they've gone, Piper discovers that she has been.

Phoebe and Prue reunite the girl with her mother and then arrive home to find Piper alternately normal and confrontational.

Andy and Agent Fallon are staking out the park.  She suggests that they turn off their cellphones so as not to disturb the Wendigo.

Picking up the card that Agent Fallon left with Piper, Phoebe has a premonition of Fallon becoming the Wendigo.  There's no Wendigo reversal spell in the Book of Shadows, so they have to kill the thing that infected Piper, after first handcuffing her to a pipe.

At the park, Agent Fallon's hand has changed, and she starts coming on to Andy before fully changing.  He shoots at her, then she attack him and is about to rip out his heart when Prue's shouts disturb her.  Phoebe recognises this as the place from her premonition.

Prue fires twice at the Wendigo before Phoebe spots Andy's body.  The Wendigo attacks again and Prue misses again - they only have one more flare left.  Phoebe takes the gun, only to find that there are two Wendigos, one of which must be Piper.  She hesitates before firing.  Everything freezes - she fired at Piper.  Prue moves it in front of the other Wendigo, which is killed.

NOTES

According to the Book of Shadows, a Wendigo is a normal person during the day and changes at night, when it feeds on human hearts.  The first Wendigo was betrayed by his lover, cut out her heart and ate it, immediately he did his own heart turned to ice.

Piper and Andy both have type AB negative blood.

Phoebe used to date a mechanic, is computer friendly and has a resume that's three lines long.  Piper doesn't know how to use a jack.

Jocelyn Seagrave stars with Angel's Elisabeth Rohm in the Fantasy Island episode We're Not Worthy.

THE POWER OF THREE

Prue turns down the gas on the cooker at the Manor, whips away the placard things the bidders hold up during the auction and moves the flare that Phoebe fired at Piper.

Piper freezes the flare after Phoebe shoots at her.

Phoebe has a premonition about a car crash from the bracelet she picks up at Buckland's, and one of Agent Fallon becoming the Wendigo.

COMMENTS

It's nice to see Piper taking centre stage for the first time in a while, and The Wendigo has plenty of enjoyable things about it, despite the dodgy morphing.

Billy's attempt at smoking at the hospital seems pretty inconsequential at the time, but establishes that the character smokes, which assumes greater relevance later on.

There's also some great comedy moments without overdoing it - Piper cooling down in the freezer, trying to jack the car up with a spoon, pretending she's still infected by the Wendigo and Phoebe producing the handcuffs.  Okay, so, it's a bit convenient that both Piper and Andy share the same rare blood type, but that doesn't stop this from being one of the best episodes of the season so far.

Back to the top

THE PLOT     NOTES     THE POWER OF THREE     COMMENTS

PREVIOUS EPISODE     SEASON 1 EPISODES     NEXT EPISODE