Sanctuary for All, Part I

"" is the first episode of the first season of Sanctuary, and the first episode overall in the series.

Synopsis
The enigmatic Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) recruits an insightful forensic psychiatrist named Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) to join her in the quest to track, study and protect the strange, and often terrifying creatures that secretly populate our world.

Plot
Two police officers arrive at an apartment to investigate a disturbance. After a Russian woman refuses to allow them in, they kick down the door and begin searching the apartment. Behind a locked door, they find a dead body. Under a bed is a frightened little boy. As the police try to help out, a snake like creature stabs one of the officers in the head.

The scene cuts to several hours later. Dr. Will Zimmerman is investigating the murders, but his theories of what took place fall on deaf ears.

As he leaves the scene, he sees someone climbing down a fire escape and gives chase. A motorcycle zooms past him, causing him to be distracted and get hit by a car. The backseat passenger gets out and apologizes, saying that she never intended for them to meet this way.

Will wakes up in a hospital with a minor injury. He goes upstairs to where a male suspect found near the apartment homicide is being interviewed. The eye witness Jagna Lutrova (one of the women living in the apartment) is brought in to identify her father's killer. She says to Det. Joe Kavanaugh that the suspect in custody is the killer, but Will knows she is lying.

Outside, Will is met by the same woman whose car had hit him earlier. She introduces herself as Dr. Helen Magnus, who runs the Sanctuary. She takes him there and shows him some of the abnormals, who have either turned themselves in or have been captured. A bald man appears outside and attempts to gain entry, but is repelled by an unknown force.

Magnus's daughter, Ashley, has been chasing the boy through the subway and is forced to beat up some security guards.

Up stairs in Magnus's study, Magnus explains more about the role of the Sanctuary and her hope for Will to join, during which Will has his first face-to-face encounter with Bigfoot who was delivering tea to the pair. Ashley sends a text to her mother, about finding the boy, to which Magnus and Will travel to her location.

Magnus, Ashley and Will all meet together in the subway and join forces to capture the boy. The snake creature attacks both Will and Ashley, and Magnus knocks the boy out with a tranquilizer, also knocking out the snake-like appendage.

After Will and Ashley are treated, Magnus takes him to see the boy. The snake is actually an Abnormal symbiotic appendage. Magnus located Will because she needs his help in earning the creature's trust.

Extras

 * This episode has a DVD commentary track. Commentators: Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, and Martin Wood.