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Written by: Matt Kiene & Joe Reinkemeyer Principal Flutie... Ken Lerner. Summary: On a school trip to the zoo Xander and small group of other students are accidentally possessed by a hyena spirits and they start acting strangely. Buffy and Willow become the targets of Xander's newfound inner beast.

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Quotes: Xander: We just saw the zebras mating! Thank you, very exciting... Willow: It was like the Heimlich, with stripes! Buffy: (with mock disappointment) And I missed it. Yet somehow I'll find the courage to live on. Willow: Where were you? Buffy: Uh, I was looking at the fishes. Willow: Was it cool? Buffy: It was fishes. Xander: I'm feelin' that you're not in the field trip spirit here. Buffy: Well, it would... It's nothing, I... We do the same zoo trip at my old school every year. Same old, same old. Xander: Buffy, this isn't just about looking at a bunch of animals. This is about not being in class! Buffy: You know, you're right! Suddenly the animals look shiny and new. Xander: Gotta have perspective. Willow: He makes my head go tingly. You know what I mean? Buffy: I dimly recall. Willow: But it hasn't happened to you lately? Buffy: Not of late. Willow: Not even for a dangerous and mysterious older man whose leather jacket you're wearing right now? Buffy: Goes with the shoes! Willow: Come on, Angel pushes your buttons. You know he does. Buffy: I suppose some girls might find him good looking... ...if they have eyes, alright, he's a honey, but... it's just he's never around, and when he is, all he wants to do is talk about vampires, and... I, I just can't have a relationship... Giles: Right! That's enough training for one day. Buffy: Well, that last roundhouse was kinda sloppy. Are you sure you don't wanna do it again? Giles: No! No, no, that's fine. You just... run along to class. (to himself) While I wait for the feeling to return to my arms. Xander: Why do I need to learn this? Willow: 'Cause otherwise you'll flunk math? Xander: Explain the part where that's bad. Willow: You remember, you fail math, you flunk out of school, you end up being the guy at the pizza place that sweeps the floor and says, 'Hey, kids, where's the cool parties this weekend?' We've been through this. Mr. Flutie: See, the problem is you kids today have no school spirit. Hold on, let me get his outfit off. Today it's all gangs and drugs and those movies on Showtime with the nudity. (Buffy gives him a look) I don't have cable, I only heard. When I was your age we cared about the school's reputation and the football team's record, all that stuff! 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. Giles: Xander's taken to teasing the less fortunate? Buffy: Uh-huh. Giles: And, there's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor? Buffy: Yes. Giles: And, well, otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles. Buffy: It's bad, isn't it. Giles: It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. Course, you'll have to kill him. Buffy: Giles, I'm serious. Giles: 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. Buffy: I cannot believe that you, of all people, are trying to Scully me. There is something supernatural at work here. Get your books! Look stuff up! Buffy: Wow! Apparently Noah rejected the hyenas from the Ark because he thought they were an evil impure mixture of dogs and cats. Willow: Hyenas aren't well liked. Buffy: They do seem to be the schmoes of the animal kingdom. Willow: Why couldn't Xander be possessed by a puppy or, or some ducks? Willow: Oh, my God, Xander! What happened? Buffy: I hit him. Willow: With what? Buffy: A desk. Giles: I've been reading up on my, uh, animal possession, and I cannot find anything anywhere about memory loss afterwards. Xander: Did you tell them that? Giles: Your secret dies with me. Xander: Shoot me, stuff me, mount me.

My review for the episode: The Pack has never been one of my favorite episodes of the first season, but it's growing on me and it does have a lot to offer, in that effect it's really a lot like Inca mummy girl, an episode that I don't think is a great one, but when I watch it it's a lot better than I remembered. Even though after the theme I don't really like Xander, The Pack does give Nicholas Brendon a chance to show his more serious acting skills as the sweet clown Xander turns into an asshole. First poor Buffy gets teased by the class idiots with pretty lame jibes. But is it really smart to mouth off to someone who actually could beat them up? But then we're back to the better things as Xander gives Buffy a new perspective on field trips, that it isn't about the animals, it's about not being in class. And I just love the excitement of Willow and Xander after they saw the zebras mating, they are just so cute. While I love the scooby-interaction, the gang of idiots are quickly becoming annoying, but I love how valiantly Xander is going to the hyena house to rescue the nerd and a moment later Buffy and Willow decide that they should go rescue Xander. Okay, I'm a sucker for a good guy/girl gone bad when it's done well and briefly, mostly because of that I thought the moment when Xander got possessed (the flashing eyes and a dangerous look) looked cool even though the hyenas looked like stuffed animals, but again I must consider the fact that this was done with a small budget in 1996. And then comes one of the great scenes that remind me of the reasons why this is a great episode. Buffy and Willow are having a girl-talk moment in the Bronze and they are just so great together that you really believe they are best friends. And Willow knows Xander's blood pressure, which I find cute, and she knows Buffy as she brings up Angel and the fact that Buffy is wearing his leather jacket, and not just because it goes with her shoes. Buffy really has it bad for him which is proven when Willow says “There he is” and her first thought is that it's Angel, but to Willow's delight it turns out to be Xander. And I simply love the fact that both Buffy and Willow notice that Xander is acting strangely and not like himself. But even more I love Buffy's and Giles' training session, Buffy being willing to do better and Giles encouraging her to go to class as he waits for feeling to return to his arms, priceless. Filming from Herbert's perspective was a nice touch, making it seem like there was something scary on the loose as the students jumped out of the way until Buffy caught the mean razorback. The piglet was really unwilling to leave Buffy's arms, heh, which lead to a very nice conversation between Buffy and principal Flutie. He is really a nice guy, which of course means that he has to die soon. And Buffy seems to start to suspect that there is really something wrong with Xander as he scares Herbert just by walking past it. This episode really makes me feel sorry for Willow. She looked so hurt when Xander threw the ball at her in dodge ball and it looked like he threw it pretty hard. Xander and the other possessed idiots seem to sense/know that Buffy isn't weak that she is the predator so they turn on their own team mate, but I love that Buffy went to help the guy and then had the stare down with Xander in which he was the one backing down. And then comes another poor Willow moment as she gets such a bad treatment from Xander and it seems that hyena-Xander knows about Willow's feelings for him because of the way he builds up and says 'dropping math'. And Willow is not the only one suffering from hyena-Xander, poor Herbert, that's just cruel. Poor Willow blames herself for Xander acting like a jerk, but I love that Buffy is convinced that something weird is going on with Xander, that he isn't himself. Like I've already said many times and inevitably will say many times more in the future, I love the interaction between Buffy and Giles as she goes to him with her theory that Xander is possessed. Giles saying that Xander has turned into a 16 year old boy, of course she has to kill him and his comment on testosterone being a great equalizer, it turns all boys into morons however he will get over it is simply perfect. And again Buffy's smarts are shown as she connects Xander's weird behavior and him scaring the pig and that it all happened after he went to the hyena house, and I simply adore the look Giles gave her when she said that he scared the pig. And very humbly Giles believes into Buffy's theory and starts to “look stuff up” when Willow comes with the news that poor Herbert has been eaten. While the possessed idiots are attacking principal Flutie, a scene that I find very disturbing, even more so when Giles announces that he was eaten, hyena-Xander is attacking Buffy, but in a different manner. He says that Buffy likes men that are “dangerous and mean, right... like Angel”, but he couldn't be more wrong, Angel is neither of those things (spoiler alert) and at this point him being a vampire hadn't been even discovered, and possessed Xander was acting more like Spike than Angel (safe from spoilers). Hyena-Xander actually tried to rape Buffy, so he really deserved getting hit with a desk, but Buffy seems to take the attack pretty well, she's not at all shaken by it. (minor spoilers for later season 1 and 2 episodes) It seems the “hyena” takes from the possessed person's desires, like the idiots didn't like principal Flutie because he didn't let them tease the weaker kids and was watching them and hyena-Xander tried to rape Buffy because he's in love with her, so Xander really should have more understanding on Angel's situation, that Angel isn't the same person as he is without a soul (safe from spoilers). Poor Giles get knocked unconscious yet again and Xander scores some major points for saving Willow's life. No matter how annoying jerk he was under the possession he is now back to normal and like Buffy and Willow I will not accept any substitutes. But I do think that he took the easy way out as he pretended not to remember anything of the time he was possessed, I don't believe that Buffy or Willow would have held any of his actions against him even if he has confessed and hopefully apologized the things he did while under the possession of the hyena spirit. But it would have been good if there had been some kind of mention of what happened to the other kids that were possessed since they actually ate a person and they have memories of it, a passing comment of one of them being in a nut house or something would have been good. 8 +