Try our affiliated browser extension - redirect to BreezeWiki automatically!

The Pack

"The Pack" is the sixth episode of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the sixth episode in the series. Written by Matt Kiene with Joe Reinkemeyer and directed by Bruce Seth Green, it was originally broadcast on April 7, 1997, on The WB network.

Synopsis

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE — When Buffy and the rest of Sunnydale High endure the annual field trip to the zoo, Xander and some other kids sneak into the quarantined hyena exhibit, but leave in an altered state. It's up to Buffy, Giles and Willow to discover the cause behind Xander's bizarre behavior and reverse the transformation before it's too late. Meanwhile, Xander's new aggressive demeanor doesn't play well with his old friends.[1]

Summary

The students of Sunnydale High are on a field trip at the Sunnydale Zoo. Buffy is confronted by a group of bullies who pick on her because she was expelled from her previous school. The group then targets another student, Lance. When Principal Flutie interrupts, Lance doesn't denounce them, so they decide to include him in their exploration of the off-limits hyena exhibit. Xander and Willow meet Buffy and express their excitement about being at the zoo.

Upon seeing the bullies enter the hyena exhibit with Lance, Buffy tries to intervene. However, Xander offers to do it himself as it is a non-Slayer-related problem. Just as Xander departs, Buffy and Willow realize Xander will need help and try to follow. They are stopped by the zookeeper, Dr. Weirick. He tells them the hyenas are in quarantine since they've just arrived from Africa. He also tells them that, according to Maasai tribesmen, hyenas would call out people's names to separate and then devour them.

At the exhibit, the bullies try to throw Lance into the pit, where a vicious hyena with glowing green eyes appears. Xander arrives just in time and saves Lance. Everyone except Lance is standing atop a large symbol painted on the ground. Suddenly, the group turns to him, laughing and Lance flees the exhibit.

The next day at the Bronze, Willow is eagerly waiting for Xander. Buffy acknowledges Willow's obvious crush on Xander. In turn, Willow brings up Buffy's interest in Angel, noting that she is currently wearing his leather jacket. Buffy admits to finding him attractive but says she couldn't start a relationship with someone who's rarely around and whose main interest is fighting vampires.

Xander arrives and takes some of Buffy's food without asking, but the croissant does not satisfy his hunger. He also sniffs and notes that Buffy has bathed, to which she replies she regularly does. They see the bullies from the zoo making fun of a boy behind them, and Xander laughs at their cruel joke.

In the library, Giles trains Buffy in combat and excuses her, as he needs the feelings to return to his arms. Principal Flutie chases a small pig through the school halls until Buffy picks it up. He introduces him as Herbert, the new school mascot for the Sunnydale Razorbacks.

In the quad, Willow tries to tutor Xander in geometry, but he gives up, saying he'll never get it and doesn't care. Willow tells him they'll finish it later, but Xander storms off. As Flutie talks to Buffy about the students lacking school spirit, Buffy returns Herbert to his cage. Xander walks past, and Herbert suddenly starts squealing. Buffy watches him walk away, noticing Herbert's reaction to Xander.

In gym class, Coach Herrold announces they have to play dodgeball. Buffy and Willow are placed on the same team, while Xander is in the opposition along with the bullies. During the game, Xander and the bullies eliminate everyone, including Willow, whom Xander throws the ball at harshly. Near the end of the game, Buffy is the only one left on her team. Instead of targeting her, Xander and the bullies throw their balls at Lance, who is their teammate. Buffy rushes over and helps him up.

Willow confronts Xander about his recent behavior. Xander says it's because he's changed and so have his feelings for Willow. He tells her that he will drop geometry so he won't need her tutoring, therefore no longer having to look at her "pasty face." Xander and the bullies behind him laugh as Willow becomes upset and runs off. Buffy approaches Xander and asks if he has something to say to her. Xander only laughs louder before walking away.

Hungry, Xander and his gang take hot dogs from the other students during lunch. Unsatisfied, they enter the faculty room, where Herbert is in his cage. They close the blinds, and Xander announces, "Let's do lunch."

Buffy consoles Willow as she cries about what Xander said to her. Buffy believes something is wrong with him, but Willow thinks something is wrong with herself. She points out that Xander is not as rude to Buffy as he is to her. Buffy insists something weird is happening and decides to consult the expert.

Buffy goes to the library to inform Giles about Xander's change in behavior, clothing, and new friend group. However, Giles brushes it off as normal teenage male behavior caused by testosterone, saying he is likely to "prey on the weak." This phrase takes Buffy back to her conversation with the zookeeper, and she believes his change is the result of their trip to the zoo. Giles decides to research, and Willow arrives with the news that Herbert has been eaten.

Principal Flutie confronts the four bullies, claiming they were seen outside of Herbert's room. He then orders them to his office with a threat of detention. In the library, Giles believes this to be the work of the Primals, a sect that worships animals, believing that they can reach a sacred state by placing the spirits of animals into themselves.

When Buffy goes to the faculty room where Herbert had been, Xander finds her there. Buffy knocks him down, but Xander rolls her over and ends up on top. He remarks about Buffy liking dangerous men like Angel, giving him more motivation to act violently. Buffy tries to tell him that he is possessed, but he ignores her. She pushes him off, but he holds her against a vending machine. Meanwhile, in Flutie's office, the other bullies corner the principal and attack him.

Buffy drags an unconscious Xander back to the library and locks him in the book cage. Giles returns from a teachers' meeting and tells them Flutie has been eaten alive, but the official theory is that wild dogs got into his office. Buffy and Giles go to the zookeeper to get information on transpossession while leaving Willow to look after Xander. Xander wakes and tries to talk his way out of the cage. As Willow comes closer, he makes a grab at her through the book slot but misses, losing any chance at getting her to trust him again.

The zookeeper tells Giles and Buffy there was something odd about the imported hyenas from day one. He discovered they were a vicious breed worshiped by the Primals. He has knowledge of transpossession, so he tells Buffy to get all the possessed students to the exhibit. They then realize that the remaining pack will seek out Xander, endangering Willow. Indeed, they arrive at the library and call out to Willow before breaking into the windows. They manage to free Xander but are fended off by Buffy. On the street, the pack attacks a family of three, but Buffy arrives and gets their attention, making them chase her back to the zoo.

At the exhibit, Giles meets the zookeeper, who is wearing the tribal garb. He realizes the zookeeper wanted the hyena spirits drawn into him all along, and the possession of the students was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He then knocks Giles out. Willow arrives, unaware of what Giles has uncovered. She agrees to let the zookeeper tie her up and hold a knife to her throat, claiming it is the "predatory act" that will trigger the ritual and save the students.

Buffy arrives with the pack on her tail. Over the symbol, the zookeeper chants, and the hyena spirits transfer from the students into him. He then tries to attack Willow, but Xander saves her while the other four students run off. The zookeeper, now possessed, becomes aggressive. Buffy knocks him into the hyena pit, where they devour him.

The next day at school, Xander is shocked when Buffy and Willow tell him he ate a live pig, saying he has no memory of the possession. He asks if he did anything else embarrassing, but Buffy shrugs it off. As Buffy and Willow leave, Giles tells Xander that none of the research he did on animal possession mentioned memory loss. Still in disbelief over his actions, Xander begs him not to tell anyone.

Continuity

Appearances

Individuals

Organizations and titles

Species

Locations

Objects

Death count

  • Herbert, eaten by Xander, Kyle, Tor, Rhonda, and Heidi.
  • Robert Flutie, eaten by Kyle, Tor, Rhonda, and Heidi.
  • Weirick, eaten by hyenas after Buffy throws him into their enclosure.

Behind the scenes

Production

  • Despite being credited as a series regular, Charisma Carpenter is absent from this episode. This is the first time a series regular has been absent.
  • All sequences shot at the zoo were filmed at the Santa Ana Zoo.[2]
  • During the dodgeball game, the pack defeats the opposing team easily, leaving Buffy as the last one standing. But instead of attacking her, they turn on Lance, their own teammate, showing how hyenas generally avoid confronting powerful animals and prey on the weak instead.

Broadcast

  • "The Pack" had an audience of 2.4 million households upon its original airing.[3]

Deleted scenes

  • The boy at the Bronze, Bobby, was a more prominent character, being the target of bullying from the four students at the zoo, the school, and the Bronze until they ultimately kill him (instead of Principal Flutie).[4]
  • Xander would tell Buffy when attacking her:[4]
    Xander: "Welcome to the jungle."

Pop culture references

  • Kyle's line "and therein my friend lies the fun" paraphrases the line "and therein lies the rub" from Hamlet.
  • Buffy refers to the winged monkeys from the film The Wizard of Oz.
  • Rhonda compares a boy with the Goodyear Blimp.
  • Fluties lists movies with nudity on the TV network Showtime as one of the youth's problems.
  • Willow refers to the title of the sitcom Three's Company.
  • When Buffy implies Giles to be a skeptic, she references the character Dana Scully from The X-Files.
  • Buffy reads about the religious figure Noah and his ark.
  • In the library, Giles consults the Malleus Maleficarum, a historical text on witchcraft.
  • Buffy mentions the new-age keyboardist and composer Yanni.
  • Giles uses an illustration by Gustave Doré from The Divine Comedy.

Goofs

  • The establishing shot of Sunnydale High is from the episode "Teacher's Pet," with Willow visible on one of the benches wearing the same clothing as in that episode. This shot will also be used in "Nightmares."
  • Xander becomes the unofficial leader of the pack, although hyena packs are matriarchal.
  • The majority of the hyena documentary footage shown in the episode is actually about African wild dogs, not hyenas.

Music

International titles

  • Armenian: "Ոհմակը" (Pack)
  • Czech: "Smečka" (Pack)
  • Finnish: "Hyeenalauma" (Pack of Hyenas)
  • French: "Les Hyènes" (The Hyenas)
  • German: "Das Lied der Hyänen" (The Song of the Hyenas)
  • Hungarian: "A falka" (The Pack)
  • Italian: "Il branco" (The Pack)
  • Japanese: "群れ" (Pack)
  • Polish: "Zwierzęcy instynkt" (Animal Instinct)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): "A Matilha" (The Pack)
  • Romanian: "Haita" (Pack)
  • Russian: "Стая" (Pack)
  • Spanish (Latin America): "La jauría" (The Pack)
  • Spanish (Spain): "La jauría" (The Pack)
  • Swedish: "Flocken" (The Pack)

Adaptations

Gallery

Quotes

Kyle: "Oh, look. It's Buffy and all her friends."
Buffy: "That's a witty."
Tor: "Do you ever wonder why nobody cool wants to hang out with you?"
Buffy: "Just thankful."
Buffy: "What is it with those guys?"
Willow: "They're obnoxious. Professionally."
Xander: "Well, every school has them. So, you start a new school, you get your desks, some blackboards, and some mean kids."
Coach Herrold: "God, this game is brutal. I love it."
Buffy: "It's bad, isn't it?"
Giles: "It's terrible. Xander has finally become a sixteen-year-old boy. Of course you'll have to slay him."
Buffy: "I was being serious, Giles!"
Giles: "How terribly frustrating for you that a bunch of school children could accomplish what you could not."
Weirick: "It bothered me. But the power will be mine."

References

  1. ↑ "The Mortuary." Buffy.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2001.
  2. ↑ Christopher Golden, Nancy Holder. The Watcher's Guide, Volume 1. Pocket Books, October 1998.
  3. ↑ "Nielsen Ratings for Buffy's First Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Matt Kiene, Joe Reinkemeyer, et al. The Script Book: Season One, Volume 1. Simon & Schuster, November 2000.