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| | Guest Starring: | |
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| | Ken Lerner: | |
| | (Principal Flutie) | |
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| | Eoin Bailey: | |
| | (Kyle) | |
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| | Michael McRaine: | |
| | (Rhonda) | |
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| | Brian Gross: | |
| | (Tor) | |
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| | Jennifer Sky: | |
| | (Heidi) | |
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| | Jeff Maynard: | |
| | (Lance) | |
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| | James Stephens: | |
| | (The Zookeeper) | |
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| | Gregory White: | |
| | (Coach Herrold) | |
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6. The Pack. |
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The spirit of a Hyena possesses Xander and four other kids. |
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Great quotes: |
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 | | The Pack. |
- Willow describes the Zebras mating as being "...like the Heimlich with stripes!"
- Willow warns Xander that he's going to be "... the guy that says 'hey kids where's all the cool parties at this week?'."
- Giles explains Xander's weird behaviour, "He's turned into a 16 year old boy. Of course you'll have to kill him."
- Willow: "Why couldn't Xander be possessed by a puppy or some ducks?"
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Fantastic moments: |
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 | | Say goodbye to Principal Flutie. |
- The scene at the Bronze immediately after the credits is very funny. Xander is possessed by a Hyena but hasn't yet been mean to Willow or lecherous to Buffy and so his behaviour is quirky without being scary.
- The PE teacher has a deliciously evil love of dodgeball that reminds me of all the PE teachers I ever had at school. "This game is brutal; I love it!"
- I don't really want to put a character's death down as a classic moment, but Principal Flutie's murder is a classic moment in the sense that it told us viewers that the writers weren't averse to killing off recurring characters.
- The music that accompanies Xander and his canine chums as they prowl the school is a piece called 'Job's eyes'. It's a great grungy rock track that really encapsulates the nihilistic teen angst that the episode is a metaphor for. Contrast that with the awful 'off the shelf' Earthy wildlife documentary music that accompanies the zoo scenes, blargh!
- How about that final scene in which Xander feigns amnesia to Buffy and Willow about his actions while Giles vows to keep his secret until his death (see 'Phases')? Funny, yes?
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Duff Bits: |
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- Since when would a school's principal go on a field trip?
- Since when does rain mean you can't play sports outdoors? Bloody Californians.
- There is no appearance of Cordelia in the episode.
- The ending doesn't really make a lot of sense; such as how did Giles know that the zookeeper had painted the symbol on the floor of the enclosure when Xander was here before?
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Dean's comments: |
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| | 'The Pack' is one of the best episodes of the first season. Apart from the overt comedy and horror of Xander's conversion into a hyena, the story is a metaphor for the changes that teens undergo at school (i.e. school is a literal hell) as well as containing metaphors for bullying at school (see how Lance is treated by Kyle and the pack in the gym class). Nick Brendon is a pretty dastardly bully and rather scary around Buffy (although whether I was afraid for Xander's or Buffy's safety I'm not sure...). The spooking and subsequent death of a pig is almost laughably lame, but this is nicely balanced later on as Principal Flutie is eaten. Note that this is the first time that we see Buffy training in the library with Giles. | |
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| | 8/10 | |
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