AOQ Review 1-6: "The Pack"
Arbitrar Of Quality
threads.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Season One, Episode 6: "The Pack"
(or "grrrr... arrrrgg")
Writers: Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer
Director: Bruce Seth Green
Insert your own Therian joke here.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therianthropy#Modern_subcultural_use_of_the_term]
Bruce Seth Green, the series' first repeat director, seems to draw
all the fundamentally ridiculous people-who-are-animals shows, based on
our sample size of two. "Teacher's Pet," as regular watchers
will recall, was saved only by the fact that the scenes not related to
giant mantises were pretty good, but anything related to Xander acting
weird and/or animals disguised as people was appallingly bad. This
episode is also uses a Stock Fantasy Plot, features animals in human
form, and Xander acting out of character. But the difference between
the two shows is night and day; "The Pack" succeeds everywhere
where "Teacher's Pet" failed.
The best episodes of the show so far ["Witch" in particular] have
used their supernatural stories as extensions of normal human behavior
- that way the show can work as both a fantasy/action deal and a
"serious" drama. "The Pack" sets up our wolfpack (or
hyena-pack, as the case may be) as your prototypical juvenile
delinquents; kids who actually live for the visceral thrill of hurting
other people. Xander's line early in the show sums things up nicely:
there's a set of them in almost any high school you can find. Most
confine themselves to your basic bullying, but occasionally a pack of
kids will emerge that's a little more out-of-control, a little more
contemptuous of authority, and then they become frightening. So enter
this episode, which uses its monster story to push things along a
little, but works because even though the plot is ludicrous, we know
the behavior, and it scares us.
The show nails the right balance of how seriously it takes itself
during the scene when Buffy goes to Giles for help. His disbelieving
delivery of what the audience has already figured out ("so, you think
he's possessed by a hyena?") is quite funny, and makes it clear
that the show does know how silly the premise is. Buffy being the one
trying to make is sound less goofy and insisting that he "look stuff
up" is a nice little role reversal. With that taken care of, the
show is free to move on and say that whatever the cause, violent teens
who don't give a fuck are dangerous. The parallel scenes with the
Pack attacking Flutie and Xander trying to rape Buffy is about the best
fade-to-commercial cliffhanger I can remember thus far in the series.
We know Buffy could win in a straight fight, but she's handicapped by
being concerned about not doing any permanent damage to her opponent.
And the close-up of Flutie's picture sends a signal from writers to
viewer: "yes, we're quite capable of killing him off. Stick around
to see if we do." He was great comic relief; I'll miss him.
The Pack themselves aren't so interesting as characters - too much
like TV Mean Kids as written by 50-year-olds. I also really don't
buy that half of them are female; one girl I could see, but not two out
of four. And the less said about Over-The-Top TV Nerd Lance, the
better. But despite the fears raised by the teaser, the episode
isn't about these people, so those weak scenes do too much damage.
The show is about the core characters first and foremost, particularly
Xander and Willow, and the characterization for them is top-notch.
Granted, Xander isn't himself for most of the episode, but the early
scenes re-establish him as an actual worthwhile character, and give him
a few good quotables (the line about the Pack mentioned above; "this
isn't about taking a field trip to the zoo; it's about getting out
of class" is all right too). And I like the way he goes into the
hyena house; the right mix of principle and wannabe macho behavior.
Testosterone can drive boys to good as well as evil, regardless of what
Giles thinks about it (and what the writers sometimes seem,
unfortunately, to believe). The rest of the show comes down to Brendan
proving he can do "menacing," and he actually seems more
comfortable with it than with the inconsistent character he usually
gets.
When I first saw Our Heroes leave Willow by herself, it seemed like a
stupid thing to do for a different reason than the one the show gives.
It wouldn't be beyond BTVS's sometimes-shoddy character work to
have her be taken in and let Xander out of his cage. I shouldn't
have worried. The second half of the episode gives Willow some good
moments. She knows Xander well enough to know when something's
wrong. She's a little out of her league as always, but ready to suck
it up and trade logic with him during the library scene, and then
there's her reaction to his grabbing at her: "now I know." She
quickly puts things together when the Pack is surrounding the library,
and doesn't let anyone waste time apologizing to her later. And
she's a bit caught off guard by the zookeeper but quickly figures out
what's up there too. I love Willow. She gives a good name to us
normal non-Slayer types.
You know, it's always nice to see fights in the dark where it's
actually possible to tell what's going on. Other directorial
highlights of "The Pack": the animal's-eye-perspective that seems
scary but is actually the introduction of Herbert (nice sig, Ken) is a
little silly, but fun. The musical dialogue-free montages work nicely
(the dodgeball game itself is dull, just sending the message of
"balls are being thrown," but once the music changes, the actors'
facial expressions carry the scene. The "Pack prowling" sequence
also works well, and wouldn't you walk in a confident prowl if you
had a slow metal song ringing in your head constantly?).
There were bits of plotting I didn't mention (Buffy's plan, the
zookeeper's secret, etc., etc.), but just assume that they were good
unless I say otherwise. That ending scene sends us off on an
interesting note. Xander's little hug for Willow works with or
without the revelation a minute later, and the fact that he'd keep
things to himself... well, you decide if it's sweet or wussy, but
either way, it's a Xander thing to do. This does unfortunately set
the stage for a reset-button ending, and I really hope the
ramifications aren't dropped entirely. At the very least, he should
have a whole new kind of discomfort to work through when around Buffy.
So....
One-sentence summary: Appropriately creepy with great character work;
tasty.
AOQ rating: Excellent
[Season One ratings so far:
1) "Welcome To The Hellmouth" - Good
2) "The Harvest" - Decent
3) "Witch" - Excellent
4) "Teacher's Pet" - Decent
5) "Never Kill A Boy On The First Date" - Decent
6) "The Pack" - Excellent]
kenm47
Other things to mention include Willow being even smarter (in a common
sense way) and cooler in a crisis than one might have assumed; Alyson
Hannigan totally inhabiting the character (welcome to the "I Love
Willow" club); the no longer any doubt that Willow has a major thing
for Xander and that Xander (even tho' lines are spoken while
hyena-Xander) definitely knows that Willow has a thing for him beyond
buds; that Giles manages to get knocked out again; that Buffy kills a
human (yes, in self defense but a major talking point then and later in
the newsgroups and message boards); the again amazing mix of humor and
horror particularly the attack on the family in the car and the tension
of the female jogger with the baby in the backpack scene; the
willingness to kill off what looked to be a regular - again an adult
who was nice to Buffy like Dr. Gregory had been; the clever way of
keeping Xander out of the cannibal moment; and pehaps a defining moment
being Giles resistance to Buffy's concerns and quick turnaround and
agreement to look things up in recognition of her Slayer instincts
being what's important.
As I rewatched it myself, I thought this was the episode where
everything changed because of the writing and acting, because of the
evil defeated, just because. It was like up to this point the viewing
was "this show is pretty good," and with The Pack it became "Wow, give
me more now!" The kick turned into total addiction.
All in all, while some things may seem a tad dated and trite (it was 8
years ago and still had to deal with TV conventions), a pretty amazing
44 minutes of show.
Ken (Brooklyn)
Arbitrar Of Quality
And by "Ken" I mean "William."
-AOQ
drifter
> I love Willow.
NOW you've got it!
--
Kel
"I reject your reality, and substitute my own."
MBan...@gmail.com
a lot of people would enjoy reading them.
William George Ferguson
wrote:
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
>threads.
>
>
>BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>Season One, Episode 6: "The Pack"
>(or "grrrr... arrrrgg")
>Writers: Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer
>Director: Bruce Seth Green
>
>
>Insert your own Therian joke here.
>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therianthropy#Modern_subcultural_use_of_the_term]
>The best episodes of the show so far ["Witch" in particular] have
>used their supernatural stories as extensions of normal human behavior
>- that way the show can work as both a fantasy/action deal and a
>"serious" drama.
As you probably know, the basic conceit is 'high school as hell', and
'supernatural monsters as metaphors for real life bad stuff', adults
preying on impressionable kids becomes preying mantis demon, mother living
vicariously through her daughter becomes mother literally taking over her
daughter, budding sociopathic teens acting like a pack of wild animals
becomes literally a pack of hyena people. While not every single episode
will work this metaphor thing, the strongest (and, unfortunately, some of
the weakest) will.
>With that taken care of, the
>show is free to move on and say that whatever the cause, violent teens
>who don't give a fuck are dangerous. The parallel scenes with the
>Pack attacking Flutie and Xander trying to rape Buffy is about the best
>fade-to-commercial cliffhanger I can remember thus far in the series.
>We know Buffy could win in a straight fight, but she's handicapped by
>being concerned about not doing any permanent damage to her opponent.
It helps that by this point, for a first time watcher without a lot of
spoilering (it's a word now, cause I say it is), it's not as obvious how
completely outclassed even hyena-Xander is.
>The show is about the core characters first and foremost, particularly
>Xander and Willow, and the characterization for them is top-notch.
>Granted, Xander isn't himself for most of the episode, but the early
>scenes re-establish him as an actual worthwhile character, and give him
>a few good quotables (the line about the Pack mentioned above; "this
>isn't about taking a field trip to the zoo; it's about getting out
>of class" is all right too). And I like the way he goes into the
>hyena house; the right mix of principle and wannabe macho behavior.
>Testosterone can drive boys to good as well as evil, regardless of what
>Giles thinks about it (and what the writers sometimes seem,
>unfortunately, to believe). The rest of the show comes down to Brendan
>proving he can do "menacing," and he actually seems more
>comfortable with it than with the inconsistent character he usually
>gets.
This is the episode that establishes 'yes, Nick Brendon can act'.
>When I first saw Our Heroes leave Willow by herself, it seemed like a
>stupid thing to do for a different reason than the one the show gives.
>It wouldn't be beyond BTVS's sometimes-shoddy character work to
>have her be taken in and let Xander out of his cage. I shouldn't
>have worried. The second half of the episode gives Willow some good
>moments. She knows Xander well enough to know when something's
>wrong. She's a little out of her league as always, but ready to suck
>it up and trade logic with him during the library scene, and then
>there's her reaction to his grabbing at her: "now I know." She
>quickly puts things together when the Pack is surrounding the library,
>and doesn't let anyone waste time apologizing to her later. And
>she's a bit caught off guard by the zookeeper but quickly figures out
>what's up there too. I love Willow. She gives a good name to us
>normal non-Slayer types.
Welcome to the Willowistas, you'll be receiving your badge and
instructions for the secret handshakes in the mail.
Willow is supposed to be the smartest, and quickest on the uptake, of the
core group, even including Giles. The show occasionally forgets that, but
usually doesn't.
>You know, it's always nice to see fights in the dark where it's
>actually possible to tell what's going on. Other directorial
>highlights of "The Pack": the animal's-eye-perspective that seems
>scary but is actually the introduction of Herbert (nice sig, Ken) is a
>little silly, but fun.
by which, as you mention in a follow-up, you mean me :) I actually
debated pulling that sig when responding to your first review, but decided
that you can't realize it's a spoiler until you actually see what it
spoils. Besides most my other Buffy sigs are a lot more spoilery.
>The musical dialogue-free montages work nicely
>(the dodgeball game itself is dull, just sending the message of
>"balls are being thrown," but once the music changes, the actors'
>facial expressions carry the scene.
Also, it's sort of a re-do of a scene in the movie (with a basketball game
instead of a dodgeball game). As you know Bob, Whedon wrote the script
for the movie, and hated how it was shot.
>There were bits of plotting I didn't mention (Buffy's plan, the
>zookeeper's secret, etc., etc.), but just assume that they were good
>unless I say otherwise. That ending scene sends us off on an
>interesting note. Xander's little hug for Willow works with or
>without the revelation a minute later, and the fact that he'd keep
>things to himself... well, you decide if it's sweet or wussy, but
>either way, it's a Xander thing to do. This does unfortunately set
>the stage for a reset-button ending, and I really hope the
>ramifications aren't dropped entirely. At the very least, he should
>have a whole new kind of discomfort to work through when around Buffy.
But not necessarily around Willow. The ep establishes that he really does
know how Willow feels (which they ensure we know, by him admitting to
remembering everything), but deliberately plays dumb about it not to
disturb the 'best friend since kindergarten' dynamic. Since he's been
doing it right along, there shouldn't be any obvious difference as he
continues doing the same thing.
>So....
>
>One-sentence summary: Appropriately creepy with great character work;
>tasty.
>
>AOQ rating: Excellent
>
>[Season One ratings so far:
>1) "Welcome To The Hellmouth" - Good
>2) "The Harvest" - Decent
>3) "Witch" - Excellent
>4) "Teacher's Pet" - Decent
>5) "Never Kill A Boy On The First Date" - Decent
>6) "The Pack" - Excellent]
You are now officially half-way through season 1, and popular opinion says
the strongest eps are yet to come. We'll see, won't we.
--
HERBERT
1996 - 1997
Beloved Mascot
Delightful Meal
He fed the Pack
A little
Carlos Moreno
>>The show nails the right balance of how seriously it takes itself
>>during the scene when Buffy goes to Giles for help. His disbelieving
>>delivery of what the audience has already figured out ("so, you think
>>he's possessed by a hyena?") is quite funny, and makes it clear
>>that the show does know how silly the premise is. Buffy being the one
>>trying to make is sound less goofy and insisting that he "look stuff
>>up" is a nice little role reversal.
Hmmm.... I wonder if you missed what in my opinion is by far the best
"quote" of the series so far, and what in some people's opinion is among
the top-10 or possibly top-5 best/most-clever things said throughout the
show... (no spoiler intended :-))
Are you familiar with X-Files and X-Files' main characters, Scully and
Mulder? If so, you must have found absolutely hilarious and clever
what Buffy says to Giles on the subject of this "role reversal" that
you refer:
"I can't believe that you of all people are trying to Scully me!"
(in case you're not familiar with X-Files -- Scully is the skeptic
one, the scientist that refuses to accept Mulder's paranormal and
supernatural explanations to everything -- in X-Files, Mulder would
be the equivalent of Giles under this point of view)
Carlos
--
John Briggs
>
> This is the episode that establishes 'yes, Nick Brendon can act'.
Which is more (much more) than can be said for The Pack, of course.
--
John Briggs
kenm47
(in case you're not familiar with X-Files -- Scully is the skeptic
one, the scientist that refuses to accept Mulder's paranormal and
supernatural explanations to everything -- in X-Files, Mulder would
be the equivalent of Giles under this point of view) "
At that point in X Files Scully was stillan unbeliever. That later
changed.
Another Pop Culture reference that some day will have to be footnoted.
Ken (Brooklyn)
Arbitrar Of Quality
MBan...@gmail.com wrote:
> If it's okay, I'm going to pimp your reviews on my LiveJournal. I think
> a lot of people would enjoy reading them.
No problem.
-AOQ
reld...@usa.net
--I agree about Nick Brendon. This was a real tour-de-force
performance from him. He can indeed do menacing. And I hope in his
future acting career he has a chance to (why is he always cast in
comedies anyway?).
I don't think I saw "The Pack" when it first aired in 1997, because
that was when my temporary dissatisfaction caused by "The Witch" was
keeping me from tuning in regularly to BtVS. But in retrospect, after
getting the season 1 DVDs and rewatching all of season 1, I decided
"The Pack" was my favorite season 1 episode. It really was very well
done. HyenaXander's scenes with Buffy, and the volleyball game scene,
are what really stand out to me.
Clairel
shuggie
far my comments have been from memory).
'The Pack' just so happens to be my second favourite S1 episode (my
favourite is still to come) so let's see what we have:
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
<snip>
> The best episodes of the show so far ["Witch" in particular] have
> used their supernatural stories as extensions of normal human behavior
> - that way the show can work as both a fantasy/action deal and a
> "serious" drama.
Agreed. And I think most people would agree. Where it can get
interesting is where they abandon that approach altogether and just
tell a story in the Buffyverse. There's some eps like that that some
people dislike because "there's no metaphor" but which I still love.
>"The Pack" sets up our wolfpack (or
> hyena-pack, as the case may be) as your prototypical juvenile
> delinquents; kids who actually live for the visceral thrill of hurting
> other people. Xander's line early in the show sums things up nicely:
> there's a set of them in almost any high school you can find. Most
> confine themselves to your basic bullying, but occasionally a pack of
> kids will emerge that's a little more out-of-control, a little more
> contemptuous of authority, and then they become frightening. So enter
> this episode, which uses its monster story to push things along a
> little, but works because even though the plot is ludicrous, we know
> the behavior, and it scares us.
>
Indeed. I was struck when watching it again that the fact that "The
Pack" manages to maintain the tension and even menace whilst having
people pretend to act like animals (something inherently ridiculous
imo) is sure a tribute to how good it is.
<snip>
>
> The Pack themselves aren't so interesting as characters - too much
> like TV Mean Kids as written by 50-year-olds. I also really don't
> buy that half of them are female; one girl I could see, but not two out
> of four.
Because?
> And the less said about Over-The-Top TV Nerd Lance, the
> better.
Really? Cos I think Lance is a TV nerd in the Xander/Willow sense i.e.
he's required to play that but he's way too good-looking, self-assured
to pass for that in real life.
<snip>
>
> When I first saw Our Heroes leave Willow by herself, it seemed like a
> stupid thing to do for a different reason than the one the show gives.
> It wouldn't be beyond BTVS's sometimes-shoddy character work to
> have her be taken in and let Xander out of his cage. I shouldn't
> have worried. The second half of the episode gives Willow some good
> moments. She knows Xander well enough to know when something's
> wrong. She's a little out of her league as always, but ready to suck
> it up and trade logic with him during the library scene, and then
> there's her reaction to his grabbing at her: "now I know." She
> quickly puts things together when the Pack is surrounding the library,
> and doesn't let anyone waste time apologizing to her later. And
> she's a bit caught off guard by the zookeeper but quickly figures out
> what's up there too. I love Willow. She gives a good name to us
> normal non-Slayer types.
The nice thing about it too is that it shows that there's a toughness
about Willow that's belied by her superficial vulnerability.
>
> You know, it's always nice to see fights in the dark where it's
> actually possible to tell what's going on. Other directorial
> highlights of "The Pack": the animal's-eye-perspective that seems
> scary but is actually the introduction of Herbert (nice sig, Ken) is a
> little silly, but fun. The musical dialogue-free montages work nicely
> (the dodgeball game itself is dull, just sending the message of
> "balls are being thrown," but once the music changes, the actors'
> facial expressions carry the scene.
Indeed. Plus I love the line: 'This game is brutal" (pause) "I love it"
from the teacher. A bit obvious perhaps but delivered to perfection.
> The "Pack prowling" sequence
> also works well, and wouldn't you walk in a confident prowl if you
> had a slow metal song ringing in your head constantly?).
>
I've come to the conclusion that if you want to make someone look cool
one sure-fire way is to have them walk in slow motion towards the
camera with some rock music in the background. So long as you don't
over-use it.
<snip>
> One-sentence summary: Appropriately creepy with great character work;
> tasty.
>
> AOQ rating: Excellent
>
Cool. See I'd predicted you'd either love or hate it and erred towards
the later on the basis of earlier comments about 'soap opera' - which
have often been code words for 'storylines involving romantic
relationships and potential relationships'. Some folks just seem to
think such stuff should never be a part of a Fantasy (or Sci Fi)
series, but I can't see how you can (semi-) realistically do High
School without it.
Glad you enjoyed it.
MBB
aware of Willow's feelings, he does not realise it.
And just because the hyena had him state it, does not guarantee he still
believes it afterwards, as Hyena-Xander said lots of other things that were
not true or Xander did not remember afterwards.
His statement that she was not really his friend but kept Willow only
around for the Math-homework is 100% not true, and seemed to be bothering
Xander the most.
And he did not believe Buffy really wanted the Hyena to rape her as it
stated, otherwise he wouldn't have had to pretent he couldn't remember.
So it would be easy for him to reason away any Willow-feelings the hynea
mentioned.
William George Ferguson <wmgf...@newsguy.com> wrote in
news:937ls1hv2ahhoh52r...@4ax.com:
>>...
>>either way, it's a Xander thing to do. This does unfortunately set
>>the stage for a reset-button ending, and I really hope the
>>ramifications aren't dropped entirely. At the very least, he should
>>have a whole new kind of discomfort to work through when around Buffy.
>
> But not necessarily around Willow. The ep establishes that he really
> does know how Willow feels (which they ensure we know, by him
> admitting to remembering everything), but deliberately plays dumb
> about it not to disturb the 'best friend since kindergarten' dynamic.
> Since he's been doing it right along, there shouldn't be any obvious
> difference as he continues doing the same thing.
> ...
--
+0==)]::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>
<MBB>-
robin...@gmail.com
through the eyes of a newbie!
I agree that this episode is excellent.
I remember being absolutely shocked by Flutie's death; I still think
it's one of the most unexpected twists this show ever did. Plus eaten
to death? Ew.
I always assumed the other kids in the pack eventually went insane -
how could they live with themselves?