Buffy the Vampire Slayer Rewatch - The Pack

[nekkyo_chan]

The Pack

- “Be careful, she might beat you up.” Does this mean that the rest of the school is starting to notice Buffy’s strength, etc? Later this season, Cordelia will go to Buffy for help saying that she “was hoping [Buffy] was in a gang.” I wonder if Owen shared his funeral home experience with people.

- “We just saw the zebras mating, thank you, very exciting.” “It was like the Heimlich – with stripes!”

- I’ve seen some complaints that the Pack don’t really seem very ‘cool’, and I’ve been trying to figure out how cool they’re meant to seem, in terms of their school’s social structure. I mean, they don’t really seem intended to be ‘popular’, they’re not people you could see hanging out with Cordelia – or wanting to. They’re the bullies – though Cordelia’s often bullying as well, but they’re a different kind (if that makes sense). They’re cool in the sense that they probably see themselves as cool, and people aren’t picking on them. It’s the kind of bullies who when you’re dealing with them give you the impression that they are cool, that no one will help you against them, so your best bet is avoiding them when you can and putting up with them when you can’t, and you never really realize that no one else likes them or is on their side.

-Anyway, are they ever referred to as the 'cool kids'? Xander just refers to them as the school's requisite bunch of mean kids.

- That is one wildly unconvincing hyena.

- Willow and Buffy talking about their respective crushes on Xander and Angel is super cute. But how did Willow come to the conclusion that Angel is dangerous? Mysterious, sure, but at the moment he’s more vague and useless than dangerous-seeming.

- Willow’s immediate “Did I do something wrong?” when Xander’s acting strange makes me want to hug her. All he did was steal Buffy’s food and then insult it, honey. What would that have to do with you?

- “You took a bath.” “Yeah. Yeah, I often do, I’m actually known for it.”

- I really like the way Xander’s face changes when the pack comes into the Bronze, he’s just focusing completely on them, and the intense staring between him and them.

- “You just run along to class. While I wait for the feeling to return to my arms.” Buffy and Giles, training in the library! It’s a good thing no one in this school ever needs a book.

- Oh man, Herbert in his tiny football helmet and cardboard (?) tusks and back-ridges. So cute. “He’s not cute, he’s a fierce Razorback!” And the pathetic scattering of applause from the students.

- “Of course, when I was your age, I was surrounded by old guys telling me how much better things were when they were my age.” I like Principal Flutie.

- Even though I’d seen a whole bunch of later episode before I went back and watched this the first time, I’d never really noticed how attractive Xander was until I saw this episode. I think normally his smile and goofiness and general Xander-ness distracts from me looking at his physical features, but here his face moves completely differently, even his smile is completely different, and so I notice he’s hot (and I mean, once I’d noticed I kept noticing when I saw him in other episodes where he’s being with the goofy, but). Nicholas Brendon does a great job here, being menacing and intense, really making it clear how different Hyena!Xander is from Normal!Xander.

- It’s weird how Xander seems to be the leader of the pack. Sign of latent leadership abilities/confidence/whatever? Or just a result of being the main character?

- The slomo shot of the pack walking through the courtyard is perhaps unnecessary, but it is entertaining. Does Xander smell Lance?

- “Xander’s taken to teasing the less fortunate?” “Uh-huh.” “And there’s a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor?” “Yes.” “And otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles?” “It’s bad, isn’t it?” “It’s devastating. He’s turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. Of course, you’ll have to kill him.” “Giles, I’m serious.” “So am I. Except for the part about killing him. Testosterone is a great equalizer; it turns all men into morons. He will, however, get over it.” Given what we know of Giles’ backstory, one has to wonder how much he’s thinking about his Ripper days when he says this.

- “I cannot believe that you of all people are trying to Scully me.”

- The little smirk Giles gives Buffy when she says Xander scared the pig is wonderful.

- Once again, how did Xander come to the conclusion that Angel is “dangerous and mean”? (though it’s good foreshadowing, I guess)

- I do love the dual creepy of the Xander-Buffy scene and the pack with Principal Flutie, cutting back and forth between them.

- “Until Willow stops kidding herself that I could settle for anyone but you.” I think this is the first confirmation we’ve had that Xander knows that Willow’s crushing on him.

- I’ve seen some discussion about how accountable Xander can be held for the attempted rape here, based off of how much he retains of normal Xander’s opinions (how much of what he says to Willow and Buffy is stuff he actually feels). And I think the thing about this scene is that the actions are the hyena spirit. The motivations are Xander – he’s into Buffy normally, he’s into her as Hyena!Xander – but he wouldn’t go about it this way, any more that the rest of the pack would eat Principal Flutie under normal circumstances, no matter how much they don’t like him. And I don’t think we can really hold them accountable for the way their normal thoughts and motivations come out in hyena reasoning/methods of action. I’m a little less certain about the things Xander says to Willow – how much of it is just trying to hurt her and saying things he knows will, and how much is him saying things he sometimes thinks but wouldn’t normally say out loud.

- Also, ohmigod the scene with the pack in Principal Flutie’s office is so creepy. He’s so scared and disbelieving. And then they eat him. I knew that happened before I saw the episode (I don’t think there are many things on this show I was unspoiled for before I saw them) and I was still pretty freaked by that – I wonder if I’d had no idea how I would have reacted. (The close up on the photo of himself on his desk! He doesn’t even have anyone else to put a photo of there. I am so sad for you, Principal Flutie. You actually seemed to like your students. And then you got eaten, and will only be remembered as jokes throughout the series about said eating.)

- “Oh my god, Xander! What happened?” “I hit him.” “With what?” “A desk.”

- “How are you feeling?” “Like somebody hit me with a desk.”

- Willow’s little grin as she says “Now I know.” I love it.

-Willow determinedly watching the video of the hyenas – gathering as much knowledge as she can, though it’s not specifically helpful to the situation.

- How is the book cage constructed that one person (with super hyena strength) can’t break it from the outside, but someone with the same hyena strength can bend it apart from the outside?

- I am glad that, despite his cluelessness earlier when the zookeeper seemed awfully well informed about hyena possession, the moment Giles sees the (obviously not newly painted) symbol on the floor he clues in to what the zookeeper is really up to.

- I do wonder though. Are we supposed to assume that the zookeeper is a Primal and deliberately got those hyenas to do this with, or do we believe what he said to Giles and Willow about the hyenas being strange, so he looked them up and found out about transpossession, and, I suppose, just didn’t realize that he’d be losing all higher functions after a while as well as getting the hyena strength,etc.? It doesn’t really matter either way, really, but I’m curious.

- Willow is way too trusting, letting the zookeeper tie her hands before asking why.

- Hyena!Zookeeper attempts to eat Willow starting with the top of her head. It is a funny image.

- "This is definitely the superior Xander. Accept no substitutes.”

- I don’t really mind that Xander lies and says he doesn’t remember at the end. It would just make for awkwardness, and I don’t think he really be held responsible for what he did while possessed, and he does ask if he did anything else, giving Buffy the opportunity to bring it up if she wants to talk about it. I do wonder – as it would seem everyone who has ever reviewed this episode wondered – what became of the other four, who had to remember eating the principal.

- I really like this episode. It’s not perfect, but as season one episodes go, it’s pretty damn good.