Wolf Pack Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Trophic Cascade

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Kristin Ramsey eclipses the pack by giving an expected reveal a memorable flair on Wolf Pack Season 1 Episode 8, “Trophic Cascade.” 

The entire season finale orbits around the verbal confirmation that Kristin is Baron, Harlan, and Luna’s biological mother. However, “Trophic Cascade” loses sight of why that matters by the time Wolf Pack reveals it.

Blake, Everett, Harlan, and Luna come second to Baron’s perspective and the plot that fills in the gaps of Kristin’s motives, making it apparent that this episode would serve the Paramount+ series better as a penultimate episode rather than a finale.

Furthermore, the disjointed approach to “Trophic Cascade” underscores how necessary a larger episode order is for a story of this magnitude. 

The characters often fall by the wayside during this episode as the plot unfolds rapidly to meet the constraints of the 8-episode season. 

For example, a conversation between Everett and Blake that Wolf Pack could use to deepen their fast-paced relationship becomes a discussion about mythology.

While that debate circles back to their fundamental difference in how they view lycanthropy, the interpersonal conflict’s stakes fizzle out because of the underutilized relationship and underdeveloped characters.

Everett’s dialogue about his anxiety not being a survival tool is frank and necessary, but it also emphasizes how little Wolf Pack reveals about the characters’ personalities beyond what it deems to be signature traits.

The surface-level consistency in characterization cuts into the legitimacy of Everett’s emotional shift towards Harlan at the beginning of “Trophic Cascade.” The bite contributes to Everett’s newfound confidence and anxiety-free life, but it’s strange that it presumably rids him of the empathy that benefits Everett’s appeal.

Wolf Pack Season 1 Episode 5, “Incendiary,” takes small steps to develop Everett and Harlan’s dynamic — only for “Trophic Cascade” to backtrack without reason. Instead, it could build on that work with Everett to help Harlan through his anxiety attack, as he does with Blake on Wolf Pack Season 1 Episode 1,” From a Spark to a Flame.”

Considering how Harlan sticks by Everett later in the season finale, this bizarre rift lands as out-of-character and out-of-place.

As for Blake, Wolf Pack Season 1 Episode 2, “Two Bitten, Two Born,” teases that a portion of her arc will be about a struggle with self-esteem from her acne scars, but the show forgets about that thread when the scars disappear.

So, Kristin’s ploy to sway Blake on remaining a wolf (to stay a pack and save Baron) by appealing to Blake’s complexion post-bite fails. The show never spends enough time with Blake to know how she feels about the evolution of her appearance. 

Kristin’s dicey approach by way of Danny has more credibility because of the amount of time the Paramount+ show dedicates to Blake’s relationship with her little brother. It’s a logical continuation from Wolf Pack Season 1 Episode 6, “After Party,” which establishes Blake’s fear of being separated from Danny — again.

It’s odd that Wolf Pack makes those motivations comparable in Kristin’s appeal, considering it expresses a self-awareness when Blake calls their mythological theory about Kristin marking people so Baron doesn’t kill them “a big jump.”

Different from the pack experimenting more with silver, this idea never comes back into play because it never goes beyond the conversation between Blake and Everett.

Most of the season finale’s mythology exploration comes during a lengthy exploration of Baron’s perspective after the nearly-fatal wound.

Though that sequence gives Wolf Pack space to play with visual tricks and for the cast to believably portray other roles within the ensemble, its greatest advantage comes in the reveal that Harlan knew about Luna’s horse and kept it from her.

Tyler Lawrence Gray and Chloe Rose Robertson have great chemistry, and it shines in the scene when Harlan tells Luna the truth about Prisha — and the horse.

It’s unfortunate that Wolf Pack only uses Prisha as a minimal supporting character because Luna finding out that Prisha discovered her family’s secret because Luna accidentally killed her horse would carry much more weight.

Nevertheless, “Trophic Cascade” strikes an emotional chord because of Luna’s and Harlan’s strong bond with Garrett. 

Luna and Harlan listening to Garrett’s recorded message to them is a standout scene from the season finale, even if it’s a bit of Deus ex Machina that Kristin somehow put the recorder in Harlan’s pocket, resolving the divide within the family.

Gray and Robertson make it work as a rewarding full-circle moment because of the genuine feelings present in their performances. It’s also successful because it’s one of the only times “Trophic Cascade” slows down and sits with the characters.

It’s a necessary beat for (at least) Luna and Harlan to catch their breath and realize who and what is important to them, which would have been so valuable for the final scene when Kristin proposes turning Garrett into a werewolf — even if they only overhear the conversation and don’t interfere before the screen cuts to black.

The pack is nowhere in sight in the episode’s final minutes, and external forces separate them. Though that confirms the show’s hopes for a second season, it’s strange that the climax comes down to a shoot-out between Garrett, Kristin, and Malcolm, whom Wolf Pack first introduced two episodes prior.

Nonetheless, it’s absolutely thrilling to see Sarah Michelle Gellar in an action sequence again, and Wolf Pack revels in Kristin Ramsey’s hand-to-hand, supernatural combat as much as Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans will when they watch it.

Since “Trophic Cascade” has some genuinely howl-worthy scenes, it’s a shame that the entire season finale doesn’t land as well as Gellar’s punch as Ramsey. So here’s to a Season 2 where Wolf Pack comes clawing out of the flames — changed for the better.

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Wolf Pack Season 1 is streaming now on Paramount+. Try Paramount+ for free, right here.

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