Apart from a 3-episode stint on the spin-off Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Sarah Michelle Gellar has largely left the supernatural genre alone, so the announcement that she’ll be returning to the role in 2026 in a reboot/continuation of the original series, titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, has us absolutely stoked. But 20 years after Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gellar did come back to the genre that made her a star with 2023’s Wolf Pack, a supernatural series with an engaging mystery that deserved more than one season.

‘Wolf Pack’s Opening Immediately Sets the Stage for the Supernatural Story

The opening minutes of Wolf Pack‘s first episode, “From a Spark to a Flame,” are a gripping nightmare right out of A Quiet Place: Part II. Instead of aliens, a horde of wildlife is being driven out of the forest due to a raging fire that is enveloping it, running towards the road under the cover of smoke, smashing cars and killing people in their mad dash to get away. But the looks in the eyes of the beasts suggest they’re running away from something more than just the fire, like they are literally scared of something unnatural. As students from the local high school trying to escape from their trapped school bus soon discover, something unnatural is stalking them. Austin (Rio Mangini) runs out of the smoke, screaming, “There’s something else in there!” before being forcefully pulled back.

Sometime during the chaotic event, both Everett (Armani Jackson), a student who suffers from anxiety, and Blake (Bella Shepard), the school rebel, are bitten, and their bites heal quickly. Ever since the incident, they’ve been changing, with Everett gaining strength and abs, while Blake’s acne clears, and now she can run extremely fast. Furthermore, the two are drawn to one another, despite never having been even acquaintances beforehand. Soon, they run into Harlan (Tyler Lawrence Gray) and Luna (Chloe Rose Robertson), fellow students and twins who understand what Everett and Blake are experiencing. As they explain, the two were bitten by a werewolf — the creature that scared the wildlife out of the forest. They would know, having been born as werewolves themselves.

Then things get really strange, as the four are able to sense what the others are feeling, sharing their individual powers when together and sometimes even experiencing what another is doing, as if they were doing it themselves. As they struggle to understand what’s happening, an anonymous caller keeps contacting them, telling them when the murderous werewolf — who Harlan and Luna believe is their father — is coming for them. Meanwhile, arson investigator Kristin Ramsey (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is investigating who started the forest fire, aided by Garrett (Rodrigo Santoro), Harlan and Luna’s adoptive father, who intends to keep them safe. But can he?

Sarah Michelle Gellar Is Just One Part of ‘Wolf Pack’

Gellar’s appearance as an arson investigator, who wields a lot of power given her role, is largely limited to a small amount of screen time over the first six episodes, but the show makes up for it in the last two with a jaw-dropping reveal. The young leads are engaging enough to carry the series on their backs, with Shepard the standout as the rebellious Blake, who is forced to confront her troubled past and admit that she can’t go through this alone. Rodrigo Santono, too, as Harlan and Luna’s father, who takes Everett and Blake under his wing as they work through it all, is exceptional, a man who deeply loves his kids and will do anything to keep them and those around them safe.

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Then there’s the werewolf itself, a large and terrifying beast that kills and drops bodies into a deep silo-like structure at a construction site. The moments where he’s stalking are fraught with tension and danger, especially when a pool party is crashed, forcing the teenagers inside the home where they wait, completely terrified. The werewolf also isn’t the only monster, with both Blake and Everett contending with parents that have damaged them in ways that go deeper than the visible scars.

The ending wrapped up the questions raised during Wolf Pack‘s run and promised an undeniably intriguing prospect for a second season. Season 2 would have likely seen Gellar’s role become more prominent. However, that promise was dashed by Paramount, which cancelled the series in January 2024 as the creative team had already begun work on Season 2. Still, Wolf Pack stands as a great binge for those that need a dose of Sarah Michelle Gellar before the Buffy reboot drops. Who doesn’t want to see her solve a mystery?