March 1st, 2010
The Pack
Wow…Dark much? Xander and a quartet of bullies (that includes Cleopatra 2525) are possessed by hyenas. First they’re just nasty and they sniff things. Then Xander is mean to Willow. Then he and his new buds eat a live piglet. Then he tries to rape Buffy while the rest of the pack eats the school principal. As if that didn’t tip us off that things were taking a turn, one of the hyena-bullies drools when he sees a baby, like my dog drools over a Milkbone.
My favorite bit of the episode is when Buffy tries to explain to Giles that Xander is acting strangely. She says that he’s acting “wiggy.” When he posits the opinion that Xander is just acting like a teenaged boy, Buffy says, “I cannot believe that you, of all people, are trying to Scully me.” Awesome.
The ending, alas, is kind of lame. Giles gets knocked out, a possessed zookeeper tries to bite Willow, Xander shows some brass, and Buffy arrives just in time.
This show gets a B. I really liked hyena-Xander sniffing everything. And you can’t beat a little cannibalism. I would have upped it to a B+, but that ending…bleh.