The Wendigo


 * You may be looking for the demonic creature called a Wendigo...

The Wendigo is the 12th episode of the first season and the 12th overall episode of Charmed.

Summary
When Piper's car breaks down, she is attacked by a vicious werewolf-like beast that they later find out is called a Wendigo. Piper is saved by a man, Billy, but she starts to turn into a Wendigo since she was scratched by the one that attacked her. Meanwhile, Prue hires Phoebe to work at the auction house, but Phoebe's vision of a terrible car crash immediately sends her off on a mission to find a long-lost child.

Main Cast

 * Shannen Doherty as Prue Halliwell
 * Holly Marie Combs as Piper Halliwell
 * Alyssa Milano as Phoebe Halliwell
 * T.W. King as Andy Trudeau

Guest Stars

 * Jocelyn Seagrave as Ashley Fallon
 * Billy Jayne as Billy Waters
 * J. Karen Thomas as Harriet Lane
 * Charles Chun as Laurence Beck
 * Cristine Rose as Claire Pryce

Co-Starring

 * Richard S. Wolf as Auctioneer
 * Christina Milian as Teri Lane
 * William Dixon as E.R. Doctor

Uncredited

 * Rana Morrison as Nurse

The Wendigo
'The Wendigo is a non-dead creature that roams the earth destroying the good-hearted and those in love. His fate is to wander the Earth feasting on human hearts. The first Wendigo was a mortal who was betrayed by his sweetheart. In revenge for the treachery, he slew his love and ate her heart. Rather than savor the warmth of revenge, his heart was in turn, turned to ice. During daylight hours and the phases of the moon, the Wendigo looks as you or I. Beware the Wendigo on the three days of the full moon when his strength and appetite are greatest. Beware being attacked and injured. He duplicates himself by slashing, but not killing his prey'.

c.f. Desiderata

Unbecoming the Wendigo tells witches how someone can unbecome a Wendigo. Prue found the entry through the Desiderata entry.

Unbecoming the Wendigo

 * Destroy the Wendigo by melting
 * his heart of ice, fire is the key
 * Show no mercy, he will show
 * none to you. If a person has
 * been injured but not slain by the
 * Wendigo, said person will only
 * be made whole by the complete
 * destruction of the Wendigo.

Powers

 * Telekinesis: Used by Prue to boil a pot, drop people's bids at the auction and to divert the flare from Piper to Agent Fallon.
 * Molecular Immobilization: Used by Piper as a Wendigo to freeze the flare shot at her and Agent Fallon.
 * Premonition: Used by Pheobe to see Andy being attacked.
 * Super Strength: Used by Agent Fallon to snap Billy's neck after he discovered her true nature as a Wendigo and later by Piper to break from the pipe and handcuffs.
 * Power Granting: By transforming into a Wendigo, Piper gained the powers of one.

Magical Beings

 * Ashley Fallon-

Mortals

 * Billy Waters
 * Harriet Lane
 * Laurence Beck
 * Teri Lane

Notes and Trivia

 * Darryl does not appear in this episode.
 * Piper and Andy both have the AB-negative blood type.
 * This is the first time that one of the sisters is transformed into another being; in this episode Piper is turned into a Wendigo.
 * In this episode, the girls need a pair of handcuffs and Phoebe has them. In "The Day The Magic Died" a similar scene appears, only with Paige being the one who has a pair.
 * This is the first time Piper shows a power advancement, as she was able to freeze the Wendigo and the flare. In this episode she remarked she wasn't able to do things like that.
 * This episode scored 5.7 million viewers.
 * Phoebe says that she used to date a mechanic and knows about cars, yet in "Death Becomes Them" she appears to know nothing about cars. It's possible she was pretending not to know anything to flirt with her classmate.
 * During the auction a bidder's number was 130, but when Prue used her telekinesis the number had changed into 145, and the number 130 had a man behind him, and while later another bidder had the number 145.
 * This is the third time someone has been in the hospital. In Something Wicca Comes This Way Phoebe was in the hospital, and in Dream Sorceror Prue was, and now this time it's Piper.
 * A Wendigo is a malevolent spirit being from Native American mythology, but in this episode it resembles more of a werewolf due to its full moon ties.
 * The park that Andy and Agent Fallon walk though before their stakeout is the same park where the opening scenes of "Enter the Demon" were filmed, Kenneth Hahn Park, 4100 South La Cienega Boulevard in Baldwin Hills (Los Angeles).

References to other movies, books, mythology etc.

 * Piper: "Big, scary, strong. Kind of like a cross between a werewolf and Charles Manson".

Charles Manson became the leader of a group known as "The Family" and masterminded several brutal murders. Manson's name and image have been integrated into American pop culture generally as a symbol of ultimate evil.
 * Title: The Wendigo

A wendigo is a malevolent being from Native American mythology, and is the monster Piper was attacked by and turned into in this episode.

Quotes

 * Andy: Yeah, I’ve sent for the Coroner’s reports.
 * Agent Fallon : Why? I think it’s pretty obvious this case is out of your league, Inspector. On the bright side, you don’t want it.
 * Andy: Why is that?
 * Agent Fallon: This witness collaborates with every other statement. According to their descriptions, this—not animal or human. You didn’t blink, I was expecting a response.
 * Andy: Just tell me what I’m looking for.
 * Agent Fallon: You believe them? That it’s not human?
 * Andy: Let’s just say that recent experiences have taught me to keep an open mind.


 * Prue: Oh, um, can you get up?
 * Piper: Back off! What, you think I can’t walk now?
 * Phoebe: Honey, we’re just trying to help you.
 * Piper: Help me? You can’t even hold a job.
 * Prue: Okay, now wait a minute, Piper.
 * Piper: Oh, save it. Do you always have to be in charge? I’m sorry. What’s happening to me?


 * Prue: Do we have any chains?
 * Phoebe: I actually do think I have something.
 * Prue: Okay. Are you back?
 * Piper: I don't want this to happen to me, Prue. Kill Ashley. This is me talking.
 * (Phoebe enters. She holds up a pair of handcuffs.)
 * Phoebe: Here.
 * Prue: Where did you get those? (Nods head from side to side.) Never mind.


 * Piper: And Andy, by the way, what did you tell him about why we were all there.
 * Prue: I told him the truth.
 * Phoebe: Get out.
 * Prue: I did. I said what he saw happened was true, that Agent Fallon really was the Wendigo and that had we not vanquished her, that both he and Piper would've been killed. I couldn't think of anything else to say.
 * Piper: Well, what did he say?
 * Prue: Not much. He was either too stunned to speak or he actually believed me on some level. This was as close that we've ever come to having an honest conversation.
 * Phoebe: So maybe Andy's more open to you being a witch than you think.

International Titles

 * French: Métamorphoses (Transformations)
 * Polish: Potwór Wendigo (Wendigo Monster)
 * Czech: Wendigo (The Wendigo)
 * Russian: Wendigo (The Wendigo)
 * Serbian: Vendigo (The Wendigo)
 * Spanish (Spain): El hombre lobo (The Wolfman)
 * Spanish (Latin America): El Wendigo (The Wendigo)
 * Portuguese (Brazil): O Wendigo (The Wendigo)
 * Italian: Wendigo (Wendigo)
 * Slovak: Wendigo (Wendigo)
 * German: Wendigo (Wendigo)
 * Hungary: A wendigo (The Wendigo)