|
|
Post by Clare on Sept 21, 2008 15:46:41 GMT -5
1.06 The Pack - Episode #006
The Principal is eaten... by a pack of Hyena people
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Sept 26, 2008 7:08:48 GMT -5
I'm giving this one a 7 out of 10.
I don't really buy the idea of hyenas possessing people (aside from anything else, they're scavengers not predators), but that aside it was a great episode. I like how it was the already nasty kids who became even nastier. If xander hadn't become possessed too, no one would have noticed. At least until they started eating cute piglets and human beings. That final flutie scene was genuinely scary. You knew xander would be back to normal by the end of the episode, but it was a total surprise for the principal to be killed and eaten.
Cordy didn't appear in this episode, for some reason.
|
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Sept 12, 2009 8:15:25 GMT -5
1x06 “The Pack”
Episode Rating = 8
My second-favourite episode of the season, “The Pack” is a compelling story with one of the year’s most successful metaphors and some surprisingly dark moments. While the plot is very much S1, the execution actually nods more to what “Buffy” would become in the future, with the emotional tension of the story being amplified when one of the core four is directly involved. As such, I find this ep to be more gripping than many of its fraternal siblings, and it’s also worth noting that it provides the first proper glimpse of in-group Scooby conflict the show has presented us with.
What I Liked about “The Pack”:
- After the minor problems in parts of “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date”, the dialogue is back on track. There aren’t quite as many humorous lines (understandable, considering that this is a more dramatic story), but those that are present are excellent. My personal favourite is Giles’ statement that Xander’s “turned into a sixteen-year-old boy – of course, you’ll have to kill him”, as well as how he has to stop himself laughing when Buffy initially brings the idea of hyena possession up.
- Overall, the pacing and plotting are top-notch, with the story progressing at a good level with few gratuitous moments. I love it when every part of a narrative is important to its story/character development/emotion/humour, and it’s a facet that “Buffy” used to deliver in amazingly.
- It’s funny to think of how Xander would be completely ignored in later years, yet halfway through S1, he’s already had two of six episodes devoted to him. I’d forgotten just how good a character he once was, and I thought that his gradual descent from affable dork to spiteful predator was convincingly written and acted, with his shift in behaviour (particularly with Willow) being rather unsettling.
- Willow gets a lot of good material in this episode, and the writing makes her highly sympathetic without rendering her a ‘wet’ character. Her reaction to Xander’s change is excellent, and it’s hard not to feel her pain/heartbreak as he mocks her in the hallway, and when she’s crying with Buffy later on. Importantly, she’s not just a Woobie here – she also gets some stronger, more assertive moments towards the end, such as the great instance when she psychs Xander out at the book-cage.
- There are some notable character dynamics present here, with the romantic subplots beginning to build a little (Buffy’s attraction to Angel in preparation for the next episode; and Willow’s feelings for Xander providing some of the emotional punch to this one). It’s also interesting to see a drop of ingroup conflict, as Xander’s transformation drives a wedge between he and the girls, and Willow initially believes that she’s become a third wheel and has been rejected by Xander in favour of Buffy.
- For one-shot appearances, the bullies were decent characters, and it was important to see that the school’s malice quotient wasn’t just confined to the Cordettes. The foursome were suitably unpleasant right from moment one, and there’s a cool parallel of sorts between their two-guy, two-girl structure and that of the Scoobs, with the obvious difference being the ways in which the two groups treat outsiders.
- The theme – of bullying behaviour, its psychology and consequences – is simple but very well shown, and the ‘prey on the weak’ hyena possession story works perfectly with it. A handful of questionable moments aside, the narrative is unique within the series, and I enjoy the season’s constant imagination and creativity in coming up with novel plots (or putting new twists on old ones).
- This episode is also unique (for season one) in not shying away from the more disturbing ramifications of its subject matter – a lot of scenes have a disquieting, nasty undercurrent to them (most of the Scooby interaction; the dodgeball scene where the gang turns on Lance and takes it in turns to strike him), and in a first for “Buffy”, several are dark enough to be hard to watch (like Herbert’s and Principal Flutie’s demises). However, since this was the specific intent of the episode, this is a big plus – the viewer is supposed to be shocked and/or horrified, meaning that the intended emotion was successfully conveyed.
What I Disliked about “The Pack”:
- I can’t say that I’m a fan of the annoying music that was played during the early, pack-prowl scene. Grunge died with Kurt Cobain, and it should preferably stay dead.
- The bully quartet is summoned to Flutie’s office because they were seen outside Herbert’s room, yet no one saw Xander with them? I completely understand that having Xander be involved in Flutie’s murder would taint him permanently in the eyes of most viewers, but further explanation would have been appreciated.
- The scene where Buffy and Giles visit the zookeeper could have done with being re-edited. Look closely at the reaction shots of Buffy, and you’ll see that the zookeeper’s hand gestures and lip movements don’t match his dialogue at all.
- Given the zookeeper’s acceptance and understanding of the hyena situation (when ninety-nine percent of people would have thought Buffy and Giles were crazy), shouldn’t they have been more suspicious of him?
- Why didn’t the hyena-people enter the library and rescue Xander by just walking through the main doors?
- Buffy and Giles’ arrival at the school to save Willow is conveniently timed, although it’s not a huge problem as it was established that they were hurrying back there. However, Buffy’s appearance when the couple and their child were being assailed is inexplicable – how did she know where to go?
- I would have liked Giles to put up more of a fight when he was attacked. Showing us a hint of Ripper by having him withstand a couple of blows (and getting in some of his own) would have been a nice touch. His coincidental awakening right after the battle was finished was also a bit much (though this was a plot glitch the show would grow to adore).
- How did the closing ‘act of aggression’ thing work? The zookeeper has a knife to Willow’s throat, yet doesn’t actually hurt her. Did the pack’s arrival and pursuit of Buffy act as a substitute for it, preventing him from having to kill her? Why wouldn’t he have just done it anyway?
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
Perhaps a teeny, tiny fraction less, but certainly not enough for me to change my already-high opinion of the episode. As I’ve said, “The Pack” is one of my top season one shows, and one I think is sorely underrated by the fan community in general. It has a unique plot, excellent character interaction/exploration, and actually manages to be scary in its metaphor and observations of human nature. Therefore, I’m keeping it with a much-deserved score of eight out of ten.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Sept 13, 2009 8:00:12 GMT -5
I'm bumping this one down to a high 5. It was an ok episode, but it doesn't deserve the 7 I gave it last time.
The fact that hyenas are constantly treated like predators instead of the scavengers they are still bothers me, and I don't like that the zookeeper is suddenly made a bad guy at the end. Ok sure it did tie in with having the symbol on the floor at the start, having him want to be posessed by having the symbol put there (and thereby starting the ritual) was the only way to explain how the kids got possessed. But still, I don't like having a 'last minute villain', and why would he want to become possessed anyway, knowing how it makes you mindless as well as strong?
These aren't big flaws but then there weren't any particularly great scenes either. Like I said before the kids attacking flutie was scary, and I liked giles pointing out that xander seemed to be just turning into a 16 year old boy and not turning into a monster. And I liked how buffy was the last person left on her side playing dodgeball, and no one wanted to attack her, perhaps knowing how strong she is. But these scenes were only ok, and overall this is a pretty 'meh' episode.
I want to keep up my tradition with finding little things to nitpick with every episode, but in this case I could only find one, namely how could posessed xander overpower buffy? (He was possessed by a hyena, not a demon). But since buffy did win the fight in the end, it hardly seems to matter.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Sept 13, 2009 8:15:27 GMT -5
- Why didn’t the hyena-people enter the library and rescue Xander by just walking through the main doors? Good catch. I guess they were thinking more like animals by this point, sneaking up on their prey rather than walking right up to it. - Buffy and Giles’ arrival at the school to save Willow is conveniently timed, although it’s not a huge problem as it was established that they were hurrying back there. However, Buffy’s appearance when the couple and their child were being assailed is inexplicable – how did she know where to go? I guess she just went out into the street, and happened to spot them in the distance. - I would have liked Giles to put up more of a fight when he was attacked. Showing us a hint of Ripper by having him withstand a couple of blows (and getting in some of his own) would have been a nice touch. Ah, but he wasn't made ripper until season 2. In season 1 he was nothing more than a tweed-wearing academic. Though yes in hindsight he should have put up more of a fight against a man his own age with no powers. |
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Sept 13, 2009 13:18:29 GMT -5
They had too much of a head start for that. Considering they could have gone anywhere in Sunnydale, it was an overly fortunate coincidence. I love how our views on some of these eps are so reversed!  |
|
