Wolf Pack 1×04 & 1×05 Review: “Fear and Pain” & “Incendiary”

Wolf Pack season 1 episodes 4 and 5, titled ‘Fear and Pain’ and ‘Incendiary’, had a bunch of twists and turns. Unfortunately, all of that really doesn’t matter when the mystery in question is meh!

It’s weird to sit down and review a show like Wolf Pack. Yes, some interesting things do happen. However, such developments are sprinkled in a narrative that features boring character interactions, mediocre acting, and not-so-great dialogue.

Where episode 3 concluded at a good moment for Garrett to have a conversation with his adoptive kids about why he was hiding numerous silver bullets, ‘Fear and Pain’ decided to throw all of that tension out the window for some reason. We did get an explanation from Garrett, but the pacing was off. It would have been better if episode 4 simply opened with said conversation to keep the tension going.

As far as my opinion goes, I’m with Garrett. If I found myself in possession of werewolf cubs, I would also create a contingency plan just in case things got out of hand when the werewolf cubs grew older. Garrett did what he needed to do as a single father thrown headfirst into the supernatural. Yes, he loves Luna and Harlan. But he also had to keep himself and others safe.

I liked that the writers didn’t drag out the family drama. While disappointed, Harlan and Luna were quite understanding when it came to Garrett’s position. And besides, his stash of (I think) 50 silver bullets was needed to face the murderous werewolf roaming around.

One of the things from the previous episodes that weirded me out was Luna having visions of horses. ‘Fear and Pain’ gave me an answer. It’s revealed that as a kid, Luna killed her pet horse when it kicked her during the full moon. It wasn’t the horse’s fault. It could sense the wolf inside Luna, and it freaked out. Seeing the bloody aftermath of Luna’s anger was another reason Garrett armed himself. He also spent a lot of time trying to teach Harlan and Luna how to keep the wolf inside of them contained.

I liked how ‘Fear and Pain’ and ‘Incendiary’ featured flashbacks showing the kid versions of Luna and Harlan. Such scenes helped flesh out their characters a bit. I still don’t know why Luna’s got a bohemian-esque vibe about her, but oh well, at least she got some layers added.

The main plot of ‘Fear and Pain’ was our young co-leads being worried about eventually turning into werewolves and killing people. As far as they could understand, the more time they spent together, the faster the werewolf part inside them grew. And while they tried to keep their distance, they soon found out that they needed to stick together as, you know, a pack.

With our teens realizing that they needed to form a pack, for better or worse, ‘Incendiary’ shared some details about what the mysterious werewolf might be doing. Apparently, now that the werewolf considered Harlan, Luna, Everett, and Blake a part of its pack, it was all about killing anyone who harmed the teens or posed a threat to them. Not only that, but it had also been killing people at random every night due to instincts. According to the mysterious voice on the phone, the werewolf was killing people for the teens (for some reason), and yes, our co-leads wanted it to stop doing that.

Now, while I didn’t notice it before, I did notice a thing while watching these two episodes. When it comes to teen-centric TV shows, there’s always a smart or nerdy one in the group. The one who always has a plan or is the voice of reason. However, surprisingly, none of the leads in Wolf Pack can be considered smart. It’s kind of weird to see the leads making not the best decisions and basically bumbling around when trying to handle certain situations. I guess being part of a pack means you have to share a single brain cell?

Also, what the heck is up with the murderous werewolf? That creature is making no attempt at staying hidden. It isn’t bothered about surveillance cameras, mobile phones, etc. The scene where it decided to climb out of the swimming pool at the party the teens were attending made no sense to me. Also, how the heck did it even get into the pool in the first place without anyone noticing? Hmmm. Again, I guess being part of a pack forces you to share a single brain cell, the werewolf included.

Coming to the grownups, Kristin’s supposed to be good at her job as an arson investigator. And I liked that the writers showed that. Her theory behind why she thought a local student(s) was behind the fires was handled well. However, you can tell she’s interested in uncovering more than just the person(s) behind the current fires.

She’s connected to the fire that happened 17 years ago somehow. The same fire that led to Garrett finding Luna and Harlan. It also took the lives of a bunch of firefighters, including the father of a student named Cyrus (whom Kristin suspects to be behind the current fire).

The big reveal at the end of ‘Incendiary’ dealt with Kristin killing a security guard after they both walked into the place where the werewolf was storing the dead bodies. It’s clear that Kristin knows about the supernatural, and I’m looking forward to learning more about her past. She mentioned to Garrett how her son died in a fire. I wouldn’t be surprised if her son “died” in the sense that he became a werewolf and lost his humanity.

‘Incendiary’ did have Everett and Harlan talk about the possibility of turning a werewolf back into a normal-looking wolf and then into a human. So, maybe Kristin feels she can do that to her son? I don’t know. Just don’t think that my being interested in having certain questions answered means that the mystery is interesting. It might feel intriguing when you read this review, but trust me, the entire thing is quite ‘meh!’ in the actual show.

Some other thoughts and questions

• Everett’s mother really does hate him. And seeing his father not stepping in to handle such a relationship dynamic made me uncomfortable.
• I don’t care about Luna and Austin being a thing. He’s the type of dude I would stay away from.
• Ugh! I don’t care about Everett and Blake!
• Am I supposed to care for Cyrus, too? Like he can die in the next episode and I wouldn’t feel a thing even though Harlan seems to have actual feelings for him. Also, is Cyrus supposed to be the mysterious caller? I don’t think so.
• The fact that none of the teens can really act becomes glaringly obvious when they share scenes with the likes of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Rodrigo Santoro.
• Bringing up the Greek mythology of Lycaon was nice.
• The dialogue feels very weird because the show is trying to build tension without spoiling certain reveals. And the style being used just doesn’t work. I can’t help but roll my eyes during some of the scenes because no one actually talks like that. It can be done properly, but the Wolf Pack writers aren’t trying hard enough.

What did you think of ‘Fear and Pain’ and ‘Incendiary’?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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