The Pack (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode)
From Iwe
| "The Pack" | |||
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 6 | ||
| Directed by | Bruce Seth Green | ||
| Written by | Matt Kiene Joe Reinkemeyer | ||
| Production code | 4V06 | ||
| Original air date | April 7, 1997 | ||
| Guest actors | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
| ← Previous "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" | Next → "Angel" | ||
| List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes | |||
"The Pack" is the sixth episode of season 1 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode was written by story editors Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer, and directed by Bruce Seth Green. In the episode, Buffy's friend Xander and four classmates are possessed by animal spirits, causing them to act increasingly like predators.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Buffy and her Sunnydale High classmates are on a field trip to the zoo. A gang of four kids taunt and terrorize other students, and when one boy does not have the courage to tell Principal Flutie what they have done to him, they "reward" him by taking him with them to the Hyena House even though it is under quarantine. Xander follows to help him, whereas Willow and Buffy are stopped by a warden.
In the Hyena House, the hyenas take a flashy-eyed look at the gang of four and Xander. Their eyes flash in return.
Xander is now part of the gang, and his behavior has changed; he becomes insulting and cruel, especially to Willow. Even more ominous, the school's new mascot piglet Herbert tries to flee when it smells Xander. Giles shows no inclination to believe anything is wrong with Xander except that he is a 16-year-old boy. His attitude changes when Herbert is found, eaten. After checking his books, Giles warns that they could be dealing with a case of possession. Buffy runs to find Xander, and finds the piglet's cage demolished. Xander jumps Buffy, pins her to the floor and tries to sexually assault her, Buffy knocks him unconscious with a desk and locks him in the book cage in the library. When Principal Flutie finds the mascot dead, he knows that the original gang of four are involved and calls them into his office. There, they start taunting him, threatening him and finally attack, kill and eat Flutie.
Returning from a teacher's meeting to the library, Giles tells Willow and Buffy about what happened to Principal Flutie. Giles and Buffy go see the zoo warden who tells them that he is not surprised by the possession and knows about the magic involved, but is not sure how the students were affected: he hasn't been able to figure out the ritual. Giles supplies the missing information: a predatory act is required, like when the original four students tormented the boy.
Buffy offers herself as bait to lure them back to the Hyena House where the warden, now in full Maasai people ritual attire, is supposed to perform a reverse of the possession spell with Giles' help. Giles realizes that the warden had tried to call the power for himself, but couldn't figure out how until he learned about the predatory act from Giles. The warden then knocks Giles unconscious.
Willow reaches the Hyena House before Buffy, and the warden ties her up and puts a knife to her throat, telling her it is the "predatory act" that will trigger the ritual and save the students. Buffy arrives with the others close behind. The pursuing pack knocks her down, and the warden uses this predatory act to shout a spell that pulls the animal spirits from the five students into himself. In the fight, Buffy knocks the warden into the hyenas' pen, where he is eaten. The gang of four flee.
