Pack Mentality started off with a weird tone, as the introduction felt more like a pilot episode, but it quickly settled into it’s usual feel. I actually thought this episode was the strongest so far. It was fun to see the whole team working together, and although they have a lot of work to do in terms of learning how to work together, I think they’ll actually make a really good team. We also got a few answers in this episode so the story finally feels like it’s moving forward.
This episode almost exclusively took place in Mississippi with the team investigating the wolf prison break and Evan Lee’s escape. No one, except Evan, survived the wolf attack so we know they are brutal. We still aren’t really that much closer to finding out Evan’s relationship to the wolves, but I think I can safely rule out all three of my theories from last week’s review (although technically my werewolf theory hasn't officially been ruled out yet!). The one discovery the team made was that these wolves thought of Evan as their alpha. He was acting as the leader of their pack which is very strange. Despite how unrealistic this is, everyone continues to question every single theory that Jackson has because it’s “too unbelievable.” Really? I think we’re way past that.
I really enjoyed getting to see everyone come together for the first time because it gave us a bit of insight into who these characters are. I have to say, I was disappointed in a few but overall I enjoyed getting to know them a bit better. We already know a lot about Jackson, and Chloe is still a bit of a mystery, so let’s start with Jamie. I want to like Jamie but she’s getting on my nerves. She’s so blinded by her hatred of Reiden, that she can sometimes miss the bigger picture. Not everything can be about them and I think she’s closing herself off to a lot of other possibilities and it’s only going to drag down the team. She already is probably the weakest link. She’s really only a part of the team because of Mitch. Speaking of Mitch, he can be a bit too stubborn for his own good, and he needs to learn how to take commands from a woman because Chloe’s in charge and I don’t think she’s going anywhere. Overall though, Mitch is really growing on me and I like his relationship with Abe a lot. But really, who wouldn't love anything that involves Abe, he’s such a cutie and a total teddy bear with all his cute sayings and positivity! He just brings a really good energy to the team and gets along with everyone. He’s, by far, my favorite character. We also met a new character this episode, Agent Shaffer. He’s a lot smarter than he seems and I have a feeling that we’ll see him join the team, or at least participate, a lot more in coming episodes, especially with Chloe. I’m not sure if I’m feeling their chemistry yet but I’ll give it time. In the end, the team got a solid lead on what’s happening to the animals. After they caught a wolf, they found bacteria in it’s body and after testing it, in a very makeshift brain simulator, they found that the bacteria did cause a brain reaction. Enough to cause the animal’s murderous behavior, we don’t know yet, but hopefully we’ll find out more in the next episode. I’m also curious to see what the connection between Evan and Jackson’s dad is, because that probably holds the key to why Evan is seemingly allied with the wolves.
On another note, I’m not quite sure how I feel about these little side stories that we get each week. Part of me thinks it’s interesting and fun to see these different incidents of animal rebellion, but the other part feels like it’s just dragging the show down with constant diversions from the main plot. The main problem I have is that each mini-story is trying to be it’s own episode and they feel very much like a pilot in terms of tone and exposition. We have to go over a brand new “animals do something strange, humans are confused and scared” narrative every week, when really, things should be progressing. I want to see the bigger picture - the connection. For example, on ABC’s The Whispers, they’ve done a great job of taking these seemingly unrelated incidents and making them form a cohesive narrative, and I’d love it if Zoo did the same. It would make these scenes feel way more relevant. With all that being said, and despite the crazy amount of exposition the Antarctica storyline brought, I thought it was actually pretty interesting. I liked the theory that the animals are acting out like this because they want to protect their own, as shown with the captive birds. I thought it was really intriguing that that is not the case at all. Even after the birds were released, the bats still didn't leave the solar panels until the two women inside were frozen to death. This tells us a lot about the animals attitude towards humans, they don’t care about “sorry’s” or making things right, they just want to get even in the harshest way possible - murder.
What did you think of Pack Mentality? Are you satisfied with the answers we’ve started to get? Did you love seeing the team all work together? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!
About the Author - Kate Sidwell
Kate is a 24 year old, USA based, Psychology/Public Health Researcher - but that’s just her day job! In her spare time she is an avid TV watcher (some may even say addict!!). Some of her favorite shows are Jane the Virgin, Bates Motel, The Flash, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Rookie Blue, Silicon Valley, Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Hollow, The 100, The Mindy Project, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time, The Royals, Orphan Black…so pretty much too many to count and a huge variety! She’ll give pretty much any show a chance! She also devotes a lot of time to her tumblr (
eat-sleep-breathe-tv.tumblr.com) where you can find her reviewing and commenting on most of these shows and just generally fangirling! She’s excited to be writing for SpoilerTV on Complications, Baby Daddy, Proof, Switched at Birth, Secrets and Lies, and Minority Report!
