Scene: The Sunnydale Zoo. Buffy's walking along, minding her own business, when the class jerks - Kyle, Tor, Rhonda, and Heidi - decide it'll be hugely fun to pick on her. She actually does a great job of shrugging it off until they mention her expulsion from Hemery. That part kinda bugs her. But she doesn't have to dwell on it very long because Xander and Willow arrive, fresh from their exciting visit to see the zebras mate. Buffy's not having they fun they are until Xander lays it out - the joy isn't so much in the zoo itself but in the whole not-in-school-ness of the day.

A guy named Lance is taking notes on the monkeys when the jerks descend on him next. Principal Flutie interrupts, and Lance pretends there's nothing wrong. The jerks are impressed he didn't rat them out and invite him on a fun trip to the very closed hyena house. Our heroic threesome notice them walking away, and Xander decides to go make sure they're not going to give Lance too hard a time. Which, naturally, they are. Willow and Buffy go to follow, but they get busted by a zookeeper (who, according to the scriptbook, is called "zookeeper"). He says the hyenas are in quarrantine, having just arrived from Africa, and even if they weren't, they're a very dangerous breed - preying on the weak, luring folks to their deaths, very charming. But he seems to be up on his Masai lore, so they take his word for it.

Unfortunately, Lance & the jerks are already inside. They make to toss Lance into the pen before Xander shows up and grabs him away from them. The hyenas growl, the kids all turn to look, and everybody's eyes glow chartreuse. Except for Lance's. And hey, what's up with that symbol painted on the floor? Lance bolts for the door like a smart person. But he trips and falls, and the jerks laugh maniacally at this. Even Xander gives a good grin. Actually, a very wicked grin. And lord help me but it's pretty damn sexy. Eep.

That night at The Bronze, Willow and Buffy chat about guys. Willow is so completely into Xander, and Buffy finally confesses she's digging Angel, even if she doesn't think she'll ever have any real future with Mystery Guy. Then Xander saunters in, very casual and confident, and swipes Buffy's buttery croissant, which he pronounces crap. He seems off, all hungry and restless, and the girls ask him what's up. He insists there's nothing wrong, but then he smells Buffy's hair. He comments that she's bathed and for some reason isn't thrilled by that. Then his eyes are drawn to the door, just as the jerk squad make their entrance. They look intensely at him, and he returns the look. They prowl their way over to a nearby table and taunt a kid about his weight, and Xander joins in the laughter. Oh, yeah. Something's up.

The next day in school, after pummeling Giles in the name of training, Buffy manages to halt the escape of Sunnydale High's new mascot, Herbert the Razorback. Well, more like "cute little pig with fake tusks". On the quad, Willow's helping Xander with Geometry, but he's fed up. He chucks the book into the trash and walks away. Buffy's in the hallway, still holding Herbert, and the pig freaks out when Xander walks past.

That afternoon, it's raining, so they're playing dodgeball in P.E. You know, it occurs to me how easy it would have been for Buffy to hurt somebody here or in any number of similar activities. Man, she must have to be constantly careful about not using her Slayer strength at the wrong time. Anyway, Xander and the four jerks are on the same team, taking the game waaaaay too seriously, belting the hell out of kids. Then Xander beans Willow really hard with the ball and doesn't even have the grace to look apologetic about it. Finally, only Buffy remains on her side. But rather than peg her, Xander and the jerks turn towards Lance, the only other guy left on their side, and pelt him instead until Buffy intervenes. Xander just looks at her coldly, then turns and leads the other four out of the gym.

Later, Willow walks up to Xander and his four new friends and asks Xander what's wrong with him. He leads her a few steps away and tells her that his feelings for her have been changing lately, and because they've been friends for so long, he thinks she deserves to know something. He's dropping Geometry, and as such, he won't need her math help anymore. Which means that he won't have to look at her pasty face ever again. Ouch doesn't even begin to cover it. Xander and his buddies break out into peals of laughter as she walks away, and Buffy challenges him to give her a hard time too. He doesn't - he just walks away laughing.

Outside, Xander scents the air and catches the aroma of hot dogs. The five of them start to swipe some kids' lunches, but the meat's way too cooked for their taste. Xander smells something else, and the others follow his lead. Then they open a classroom door, and we see what's caught their attention. It's Herbert. Oh god.

A little later, the pack is on the slow-motion prowl. There's angst rock throbbing on the soundtrack, other students part as they approach, and so help me but Xander is just devastatingly sexy here. Even though he's being all mean, and I know he just ate Herbert. I need so very much help. Then Xander's hearing, which is incredibly sharper than it should be, picks up a conversation Willow and Buffy are having across the quad. Buffy thinks there's definitely something wrong with Xander, but Willow's not sure. She thinks it might be her. Or Buffy. After all, he's not picking on Buffy. Poor Willow.

Buffy goes to talk to Giles, who dismisses the changes in Xander as normal adolescent behaviour. Buffy tries to submit the frightened pig as further evidence, and he shoots her one of his withering glares that always crack me up. Then he goes on to suggest that sometimes boys are just cruel, teasing and preying on the weak. This comment jogs her memory, though, and she puts it together. He's been acting different ever since he and the others were with the hyenas. Giles does his best not to giggle at the idea that Xander's turning into a hyena, but Buffy thinks maybe possession? Then Willow enters with the bad news Herbert's been eaten. Giles hits research mode.

Outside, Principal Flutie confronts the four jerks about what he's sure they did to Herbert, and they don't exactly deny it. In fact, they seem pretty pleased with themselves. Infuriated, he insists they come with him to his office. The researching trio, meanwhile, have come up with some interesting info about hyenas, and Giles recalls Masai lore about possession by animal spirits. It's not good news. There's gruesome death and dismemberment ahead if the possessed kids aren't stopped.

Buffy goes to see Herbert's cage. The metal bars have been ripped apart - the kids are getting seriously strong. She kneels to look at a bone on the floor, when Xander suddenly steps up behind her. She turns, surprised, and he just grins at her, blocking her way. She tells him they need to talk, then she tackles him. Oh, he likes that.

Meanwhile down the hall, the four are smirking at Principal Flutie, surrounding him.

Xander flips Buffy over. He's on top now. And when she tells him to get off her, he taunts her. After all, he's seen how she looks at Angel. Obviously, she's looking for a dangerous guy. And Xander just got dangerous.

Principal Flutie, backed behind his desk now, moves to call the kids' parents, but they bat the phone away.

Xander tells Buffy he's been waiting for her to stop pretending she's not attracted to him, and she pushes him off her. But he advances on her, saying he wishes Willow would realise he's not going to be satisfied with anybody but Buffy. He slams her against the wall, pinning her. He dares her to hurt him, telling her how good she smells when she's scared. Then he descends on her neck, kissing her violently.

The other four still have Principal Flutie cornered. He tries to get away, but they shove him down into his chair, and Rhonda scratches his face. Laughing and growling, they tackle him to the floor, and the camera pulls away.

Then we're back in the Library. Willow's watching a video of a pack of hyenas devouring an animal. Then Buffy enters, dragging an unconscious Xander. She knocked him out. Hit him with a desk. Damn straight. They lock him in the book cage, then Giles returns from a teachers' meeting with news. The pack ate Principal Flutie. He's dead. The only bright spot is that while the other four were murdering the Principal, Xander was busy assaulting Buffy. Not a lot of bright spot, but it'll have to do. They gotta get seriously busy with the research.

Giles sees that they might be able to transfer the spirits to another person, but they're not likely to find many volunteers for that gig. Then Buffy suggets they should talk to the zookeeper, who may have known more about the hyenas than he let on. Meanwhile, Willow will watch Xander.

Somewhere outside after dark, a woman is walking with her baby. She stumbles upon the sleeping four, who growl menacingly, crawling towards her until the backs away. Good idea. Walking around this town after dark with your baby? Bad idea. The pack just curl back up together and go back to sleep. Apparently, they're not hungry.

Xander wakes up and tries to convince Willow that he's okay again. He snipes about Buffy's violent approach to problem solving, then tries to appeal to Willow's feelings about him. His temper gets the best of him, though, and he tries to grab for the keys to the book cage. Willow backs away, and he screams to be let out.

Meanwhile, Buffy and Giles have found the zookeeper. They're relieved to see that he does seem to have knowledge of spirit possession - he did some research on his own, he says, because there was something off about these hyenas. The fact that the possession was initiated with a predatory act (i.e. the kids trying to shove Lance into the hyena pit) is news to him. Between the two men, he thinks they might be able to reverse the possession, so if they'll bring the kids to the zoo, he'll get ready for the ritual. Buffy says they don't know where the other four are. The zookeeper says not to worry, though. After they've fed (check) and rested (check), they'll search out the missing member of their pack. That'd be Xander. Who's locked in the Library with Willow. Crap.

Willow (for some reason) is still watching the disturbing hyena feeding footage. Then one of the pack peers in the window and calls, "Willow..." She tells Xander to shut up, then looks up just as the window smashes. She bolts from the Library. The pack climb through the window and head straight to the book cage, ripping it open with their bare hands. Xander steps out, and they gather around him, sniffing him, glad to have their apparent leader back. He takes off after Willow, and they spread out to look for her. She's hidden in under the teacher's desk in a classroom, but Xander catches her scent. He and the blonde girl (Heidi) open the door, but he doesn't seem to think she's in there anymore. He turns to go. Heidi exits first, and they close the door.

Hearing this, Willow cautiously climbs out from under the desk. Of course, when she turns around, Xander's standing there, the same predatory grin still on his face. She screams as he lunges across the desk at her, then throws a chair at him to slow him down long enough for her to reach the door. But Heidi's there to block her exit.

Then suddenly, Buffy wangs blondie in the head with a fire extinguisher! Willow dashes past Buffy to Giles as Xander gets a fire extinguisher to the jaw. Then the other two come running. Buffy, Giles, and Willow close themselves in another classroom, the pack pounding on the door. Yikes, Xander and Blondie are already up again! But they give up quickly, heading off to look for weaker prey.

Willow and Giles will go to the zoo to get ready for the ritual de-hyena-ing, and Buffy's going to lead the pack to them. She finds them surrounding a family in an SUV, about to chow down on the son. Buffy flings one of them across the lawn, then gets Xander's attention. She stands on the roof of the car, challenging him to come get what he really wants, then takes off down the street with the pack in hot pursuit.

At the zoo, Giles goes into the hyena house to help the zookeeper prepare while Willow stands lookout for Buffy and the pack's approach. Inside, the zookeeper is in ceremonial Masai garb and facepaint, holding a staff. Giles asks if everything's ready, noticing a sacred circle that's painted on the floor. Which, he realizes, would have to have already been there for the possession to have worked in the first place. He turns again to the zookeeper, realizing the man's intent, and comments that it must have been terribly frustrating when the children accomplished what the zookeeper hadn't been able to. All that was missing was the predatory act. Giles tries to get away, but the zookeeper hits him in the stomach with his staff, then clubs him over the head. Giles is knocked out. Again. For the third time in six episodes. And the zookeeper drags him away.

Outside, Buffy and the pack are getting close. Willow goes in to warn Giles, but the zookeeper tells her he's "lying in wait". Sounds good enough to Willow. She says the others will be there soon, and he tells her he'll need her help. He binds her wrists, then holds a knife to her throat, and she realizes it's not just for show. Buffy runs in, and Willow hollers that it's a trap, but Xander's right behind her and tackles Buffy to the floor. The zookeeper utters some vehement ceremonial words, and the pack's eyes all flash again, as do the zookeeper's. Xander shakes off the shock just in time to see the zookeeper about to kill Willow. He charges the man but gets knocked down. Then it's Buffy's turn to fight. He runs at her, but she flings him over her head, into the hyena pit below. And the hyenas are hungry. No more zookeeper. The four kids run out, and Giles bursts in, asking if he missed anything. Yes. Yes, he did.

The next day at school, Buffy and Willow fill Xander in on all the mayhem he and the pack caused. He's relieved to know he didn't have anything to do with Principal Flutie's death, but he's still pretty upset about having eaten a live pig. Then he asks if he did anything else unseemly while he was possessed, and after a look, the girls lie and say he didn't, which he's very glad to hear.

After the girls walk away, Giles mentions to Xander that nowhere in his research did he find anything about memory loss. Busted. But Giles promises to take Xander's secret to the grave.

Thoughts

I know it's so very wrong of me, but Xander was just way too sexy in this episode. Well, most of it, anyway. Some of the stuff, not so much. But it's not my fault! They did it on purpose!

Giles had a good point about normal adolescent behaviour. Hyenas aren't they only creatures that prey on the weaker members of their group. And I thought it was really interesting how in PE, the pack chose to bombard the weaker player on their own team, rather than challenge Buffy.

So now we know that Xander's not oblivious to Willow's feelings. Which makes me kinda sad, really, to know that he knows how she feels about him and still talks about Buffy to her like he does. Not the most sensitive.

Also, throughout the episode, it became more and more clear that the pack saw Xander as their leader. Which I thought was kinda weird at first, but it makes sense. And not just because Xander's the series regular. When the "predatory act" triggered the possession, Xander was the one defying the rest of the group. He took something away from them. So when the hyena spirits got possess-ey, Xander was the one with the upper hand.

Quirks

Not a lot was really quirkworthy to me about this episode, but there was one thing that bugged me. Not a flaw or anything, just something that always seems dumb to me. Okay, so the pack stole the keys so the family would be stuck in the SUV, unable to drive away, right? Which means the keys were just sitting in the car for anyone to come swipe. I hate when people on TV do that. I mean, hey, here's my expensive SUV, which I'm going to leave the keys in, and by the way, if easily driving off with my car's not enough for you, please feel free to use the house key to open the home at the address on all the paperwork in the glovebox, won't you? Feh, like I said, it's a little thing, but it bugs. ;p

Body Count

Herbert - eaten by Xander and the pack
Principal Bob Flutie - killed and eaten by the pack, minus Xander
The zookeeper - killed, presumably eaten, by hyenas

Haiku

Something's really wrong
Predatory sexiness
Shouldn't look this good

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