Buffy S2 “Lie to Me”

09 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment

by Jonathan Thompson in Project Buffy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Quotes of the Episode:

Buffy: “Are you drinking coffee again? ‘Cause we’ve talked about this.”

Xander: “Once more with tension.”

Buffy: “Lie to me.”

Hello all! Greetings from Ann Arbor, MI! I am here for a lesson, but I had some extra time on my hands and thought a blog post would be the best thing to do!

As the episode’s name implies, this episode is about honesty and trust. Even side stories deal with trust; Jenny asks Giles to trust her regarding the mysterious date she’s planning for them. Though it all mostly centers around Buffy’s trust. The events of the episode lead to those she trusts most hiding information from her. She sees Angel with Drusilla in the park, but he doesn’t tell her about it. Angel, Willow, and Xander all cooperate to find out information about Buffy’s LA friend Ford (Jason Behr) behind her back. Understandably, Buffy is upset.

Buffy sees Angel while she’s on patrol. She sees him speaking to a woman (Drusilla) in a park. She’s too late to see him stop Dru from preying on a child, but she’s right on time to see them speak really closely. Of course (and yet again) she’s overcome with jealousy and inadequacy. Sometimes I’m frustrated at Buffy’s jealousy. She was right there feeling insignificant in the last episode, and then at the end of the episode, she and Angel are making out and life is grand. But then we’re back to her being jealous. Enter trust issues! This just means that she doesn’t trust Angel yet, which she admits later on in the episode. Once she realizes that he does love her and that he is a vampire with a soul — meaning good — she will begin to trust him and she won’t succumb to jealousy. I don’t know how long that takes.

The next trust issue, which includes Angel, is more directed at her friends. They go behind her back to investigate Ford. They trust Angel’s feelings about him, but — understandably — Buffy’s history with this kid blinds her. When she discovers that they’ve been doing this, she feels betrayed, but I think this experience shows her that she should trust her friends (people who have saved her life various times already) more than some kid who she went to school with in LA. I think Buffy’s grown from the events in this episode, because she will start to realize that the friendship she has with Willow and Xander is deep and extremely trustworthy.

The last issue in this episode deals with the cult of vampire wannabes. Ford’s assembled a host of crazies who believe vampires exist and that they are not cruel killers; they believe that vampires are transcendent beings, almost divine creatures. This is, of course, B.S. We know from Buffy’s experiences that vampires, in Joss’ world, are human shells inhabited by evil demons. They hunger for human blood and kill blindly. On the one hand, they can’t really be blamed for this foolishness. They haven’t encountered a vampire in real life. They have a romantic ideal of a vampire, and they want to believe it. These are young people that thrive for things that even I want: immortality and youthfulness. I love immersing myself into fantasy stories with immortal beings and magical creatures, and I wish that was possible — so I can relate with these kids who are holding on to this idea that could transform their lives and achieve their deepest wish. But that’s not real life, and they almost die pursuing their dream.

Ford is different, though. He is sick, and he wants to become a vampire so that he can live. He has 6 months, and he wants more, even if that means living in a Ford-shell with Ford’s memories and a demon’s evil. And it’s a bit cruel that Ford is killed, while the other fools live. Ford actually had an actual reason to seek out vampiric immortality, yet he’s the one left lifeless.

As always, feel free to comment! I hope you enjoy this blog post all the way from Ann Arbor!

Buffy S2 “Halloween”

03 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment

by Jonathan Thompson in Project Buffy Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Quotes of the Episode:

Cordelia: “Well, his loss is your incredible gain!”

Cordelia: “Look, Buffy, you may be hot stuff when it comes to demonology or whatever, but when it comes to dating, I’m the Slayer.”

Cordelia: “Oh, he’s a vampire. Of course! But the cuddly kind, like a Care Bear with fangs?

Man, Cordelia’s got the zingers!!

Of course, in Joss’ fantastical ‘verse, Halloween would be the Demonic Labor Day. Thank goodness for that; parents have enough to worry about with their children wandering about at night to strangers’ houses without demons becoming involved.

After being absent from a couple episodes, Spike and Dru are back! From her first appearance, Dru appears to be just a bit crazy, but in this episode, she adds seer to her résumé, for she senses Ethan’s witchcraft. Also, we see Spike’s methods of conquering a Slayer. He sends one vampire to fight her and another to film the fight, and he watches the footage later and learns how she fights. Sneaky little devil.

This episode brings to light many insecurities of our characters. Buffy and Angel are supposed to have a date at the beginning of the episode, but a couple of things get in the way. Buffy has branches in her hair from her vampire fight, and Cordelia’s talking with Angel when her date flakes on her. Buffy walks into the Bronze seeing the two of them laughing at a table, and she immediately turns around to walk out. Part of me gets very frustrated with Buffy in this aspect. She’s a confident woman when it comes to everything vampire slayage, but when she sees the guy she likes talking with another girl, she freaks. Granted, Cordelia is beautiful, but at this point of the Buffy/Angel plot, she doesn’t compare with Buffy in character. I get frustrated when I see her so intimidated by Cordelia, but I suppose I can understand how Buffy feels — the mystical is Buffy’s terrain, but Cordelia’s confident that dating is her terrain. She also complains about how she’s not a normal girl and can’t do normal things like dating. But she never stops to realize that Angel is not a normal guy either. It’s not like he can stroll in the daylight as a normal boyfriend. Why doesn’t Buffy realize that maybe he, who understands her calling, her power, and her secrets, is the one she can really open up to? Plus, after looking at Angel’s diary, Buffy feels so inadequate in her appearance. Here is where I sometimes roll my eyes. Buffy is a powerful Slayer; she’s beautiful and elegant. But this is also the universe where nerdy Willow has a six-pack and dorky Xander has a smokin’ body. I think we’re supposed to see them in a diminished capacity, but it’s hard to get over that (especially when I feel like *my* body is actually inadequate). At the end of the episode, Buffy and Angel talk (communication is key!) and work out everything…for now.

Willow and Xander also have insecurities highlighted in this episode. Willow is used to being off in the background, unnoticed. She’s a nerd who lacks social skills. She’s been growing as a person during the 1st season, but she still has a ways to go. When prompted to dress up for Halloween, she chooses to be a ghost. Buffy tells Willow that she’s hiding by choosing that costume. Oz, who was clearly moved by Willow, doesn’t recognize her when he bumps into her in her ghost costume. By the end of the episode Willow realizes that she needs to step out of her shell.

Xander still has insecurities about his masculinity. Attempting to defend Buffy’s honor, he faced a beating from a pretty buff guy, and he even remarks about doing something extremely manly, but Buffy steps in and rescues Xander. Escaping physical pain has a price: humiliation. He now has to live with the shame of having a girl protect him instead of he himself. He’s struggled with maintaining an acceptable amount of masculinity throughout the show, whether it was being a virgin or not or fighting off bullies. He picks to be a soldier for Halloween. When he’s transformed into an actual soldier, he reeks masculinity. He beats up demons and saves damsels in distress. At one point he comments about how he strangely has a sense of closure after beating up someone. After this experience, though, Xander will still have to deal with the pressures of society regarding man’s masculinity.

I apologize for taking so long to write another post. I’m going to work hard to be more regular!!

Buffy S2 “School Hard”

17 Aug 2010 2 Comments

by Jonathan Thompson in Project Buffy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Quotes of the Episode:
Spike: “I fed off a flower person, and I spent the next six hours watching my hand move.”

Joyce: “You get the hell away from my daughter!”

ENTER Spike and Drusilla! What an exciting episode this is! (Boy, did Joss get a lot of mileage from Spike.)

With the advent of Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau), the vampire quadrumvirate is complete! While we don’t know it yet, the entourage consists of Darla, Angel, Drusilla, and Spike. Some of my favorite Buffy and Angel episodes deal with back stories about the four of them.

Spike rolls in as a badass rocker vampire, with bleach-blonde hair, a sexy accent, and intense aggression. But his hostile demeanor suddenly fades when the white-clad and dainty (seemingly so) Drusilla enters the picture. Spike fades from vamp-face and he speaks so attentively and lovingly to her. But these two characters are such villains. Spike is crass and rash, playing by his rules, and Dru is creepy and chilling (Juliet Landau is perfect as Drusilla!) Spike’s name comes from his use of railroad spikes in his killings, and he’s killed the past two Slayers. We don’t know much about Drusilla yet, but we already know she can be merciless, as she devours Sheila (Alexandra Johnes) in full view of her dolls. Even at the end of the episode, after Spike decides to stop playing nice with the Anointed One, he cages the child and lets the sunlight kill him. Spike’s now in charge, with Drusilla at his side.

This episode also shines some light on the relationship between Buffy and her mother. Buffy’s worried that her mother won’t be happy with what she hears at Parent/Teacher Night, and Joyce tells her that she doesn’t want to be disappointed with her again. It was very frank of her to say, and I think it’s clear that Buffy never wanted to hurt or disappoint her mother back in L.A. Once the dreaded night arrives, Willow helps Buffy by leading Joyce around the school, away from Principal Synder, but their paths finally cross, and he leads her to his office to have what promises to be a stern talk. Joyce seems very upset with Buffy, but then vampires attack. Buffy, as the Slayer, takes charge, and herds people to shelter and barks orders to the civilians to stay put, something which Principal Synder doesn’t enjoy hearing. But seeing Buffy act with such strength and confidence, Joyce reassesses how she thought of Buffy. She trusts Buffy with her life, which is the most profound kind of trust. Though, against Buffy’s wishes, Joyce sticks around a little bit and actually saves Buffy from Spike. I had completely forgotten this happened, and I was very excited to see how brave and strong Joyce is. As the two walk home after the ordeal, Joyce talks about how much peace of mind it gives her to know that Buffy can take care of herself and handle a crisis with such selflessness. While Buffy can’t tell her mom she’s the Slayer, she’s glad to know that her mother can see a little bit into her real self.

The last thing to address is Principal Snyder. After the ordeal, he’s speaking with a police officer about what to tell the papers had happened. The officer asks if he wants to go with “the usual story” of gang-related trouble, and Snyder replies, “What do you have in mind, the truth?” Then the officer decides to go with “gang-related PCP”. This brief scene shows us that not only does at least one police officer (possibly others) know that there are vampires, but so does Principal Snyder. This deserves one, maybe two, raised eyebrows. We’ll have to keep our eyes on that one.

Buffy S2 “Some Assembly Required”

16 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment

by Jonathan Thompson in Project Buffy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Quotes of the Episode:
Buffy: “Sorry, but I’m an old-fashioned gal. I was raised to believe that men dig up the corpses and the women have the babies.“
Angel: “Yeah, but he’s in your life. He gets to be there when I can’t. Take your classes, eat your meals, hear your jokes and complaints. He gets to see you in the sunlight.”

This episode is extremely creepy at times. Joss is really good at creating creepy images and delivering creepy moments; sometimes I wonder how he sleeps at night. This episode revolves around the classic Frankenstein idea of creating a new person from dead flesh. The way Joss handles this episode is very interesting, because at first, we think that the boys who are doing these terrible deeds are sick freaks. After we get to know more about these boys, Chris (Angelo Spizzirri) in particular, we realize that Chris is fighting some conflicting emotions. He’s actually brought his brother, Daryl (Ingo Neuhaus), back from the dead after an unfortunate early death. Chris impulsively brought his brother back, only to realize that his brother could never go out in public; his brother would be alive again, but he would also be extremely lonely. So he’s pressured, by the brother he loves, to create him a beautiful woman to share his life with.

It was a lot easier when the kids just seemed like sick freaks — because what they were doing was clearly and undeniably wrong. Now that this complicated factor is in the mix, it blurs the lines a little bit. I mean, clearly it would still be wrong if the kids had taken a life in order to complete the woman — but was it that wrong to harness those dead parts after those cheerleaders had died? A brother just wants to do what he can to make up for a cheated life. The point is that I can clearly understand Chris’ motivations; they are noble and respectable, but life and death is an unavoidable cycle — and he learns this when Daryl, in an effort to save his woman’s body from the fire, dies again.

The other thing that I would like to indulge in is the absolute cuteness that is Giles and Jenny Calendar. What started as conflicting tensions between ideologies has turned into a very natural and logical attraction between the two. Giles is kicking himself trying to practice asking her out. He gets advice from Buffy — and later doesn’t even have to test out her ideas when Jenny asks him out! They are very much an example of opposites attract. He’s the more old-fashioned man with his roots in books and the past, and she’s the more forward-thinking woman, exploring the Internet. They are absolutely delightful, and I do look forward to revisiting this relationship. I really appreciate that Joss developed Giles’ character this way. In other shows similar to this, the high school kids would be seen as the main characters: Buffy, Willow, and Xander. They are the ones that the viewers relate to the most. A similar show could have an older guide or teacher who is there purely as a guide, with no other purpose at all — but Joss makes Giles more than just a Watcher. Giles is just as naive as they are, regarding dating, and he’s experiencing life just as the youngans are.

I’m sorry it took me so long to write about this. I am trying to become more diligent!

Buffy S1 “Out of Mind, Out of Sight”

24 Jul 2010 3 Comments

by Jonathan Thompson in Project Buffy Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Quotes of the Episode:
Cordelia: “People who think their problems are so huge craze me, like this time I sort of ran over this girl on her bike. It was the most traumatizing event of my life, and she’s trying to make it about her leg. Like my pain meant nothing!”
Cordelia: “You think I’m never lonely because I’m so cute and popular? I can be surrounded by people and be completely alone. It’s not like any of them really know me. I don’t even know if they like me half the time. People just want to be in a popular zone. Sometimes when I talk, everyone’s so busy agreeing with me, they don’t hear a word I say.”

Evidenced by the quotes of the episode, this is a huge Cordelia episode.

But before we get to Cordelia, I’d like to talk about Marcie Ross (Clea DuVall). This episode overly-dramatizes the unpopular side of the spectrum. We all went to high school and know first-hand how cut-throat and seemingly important (at the time) the popularity games can be. I wasn’t ever too affected by the popular people in high school; I had many friends and got through comfortably. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be so alone during that time in my life, to have no friends and no interaction with anybody. And it’s not like Marcie didn’t try; she tried participating in class but never got picked on, and she tried participating in conversations with the popular kids. She felt like she wasn’t being seen at all, and Joss took that idea and went with it; he made her invisible. That’s exactly how she feels and how probably lots of high school students feel. The disturbing thing is that after so much loneliness, Marcie becomes violent and demented. She lashes out, thinking that that will be some kind of justice for her. It ties in perfectly with the allusions from The Merchant of Venice towards the beginning of the episode. The creepy thing about all of this is that Marcie, along with countless other ignored-turned-invisible students, is never truly “rehabilitated”, like the “FBI” agent says she will be; she’s trained to be an assassin — her emptiness is never filled and her violent feelings are never deterred.

Now on to Cordelia! Up to this point, she’s only been comic-relief, acting as the stereotypical popular and ditsy high school girl, but we all know that Joss doesn’t like the stereotypical. Well, before I delve into what this episode has to offer, I’d like to highlight what past episodes have shown about her. She actually is a hard worker in class. In the pilot episode, she’s taking notes diligently in class and then shares her textbook with Buffy. In “The Harvest”, while she’s taking trash about Buffy, she is working on her class assignment and completes it, before Willow tricks her into deleting it. In this episode, she gives her opinions — peculiar as they may be — about the Shakespeare play the class is reading; she knows what’s going on. She talks to Ms. Miller (Denise Dowse) after class about help with her paper; she obviously is proactive about her classwork.

That being said, outside of class, she’s been completely superficial — talking about fashion and ridiculing the losers of the school. But after she goes to Buffy and the gang for help, she tells her that being popular doesn’t mean being any less lonely. She expresses this ironic sense of loneliness so articulately and sensitively that you know there is more to Cordelia than meets the eye. There is a living, breathing person inside her, with feelings, and I am excited to see the character opening up — opening up into a character who will become someone so different than what she seemed.

Buffy S1 “The Puppet Show”

22 Jul 2010 1 Comment

by Jonathan Thompson in Project Buffy Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Quotes of the Episode:
Principal Snyder: “That’s the kind of woolly-headed liberal thinking that leads to being eaten.”
Cordelia: “But the mood! It’ll be all wrong! My song is about dignity and human feelings and personal…hygiene or something . Anyway, it’s sappy, and no one is gonna be feeling sappy after all that rock and roll.”

Boy, does Joss have a way with expressing creepiness.

The first creepy item to discuss is the new principal. Principal Synder (Armin Shimerman) just oozes nastiness. The episode begins with Giles listening to students performing their Talent Show acts, and the trio comes up and teases him for a little bit. As they leave, Principal Snyder just turns everything they said around on them, and he punishes them to a spot in the Talent Show. Then, when he’s alone with Giles, he shares his principal’s philosophy, which is entirely antagonistic towards the children; he doesn’t like them! Uh-oh. He suspects that Buffy is a trouble-maker, and his being around all the time gives the audience suspicions that he may be more than just a principal. There’s also the scene, right before Buffy finds Morgan (Rich Werner), where Principal Snyder tells her that a girl like her shouldn’t be wandering the halls alone when there’s a killer out there. Buffy replies that she’s just leaving and that she can take care of herself, but when she says that last part, it’s as if she’s saying she can protect herself from him, too. It was a very eerie scene between the two, and it leaves a lot of ambiguity for who exactly Principal Snyder is.

The second creepy item is the dummy. The dummy has a malicious smirk on him, and his sleazy voice and inappropriate conversation make him the prime suspect for demonic activity. It’s not a surprise that Joss twists the plot so that what the audience feels will happen actually turns out differently. The dummy is not a demon; he’s a demon-hunter!

This episode shows the other side of a modern day’s superhero. While Buffy has to balance going to school, being a daughter, having friends, and being The Slayer, many demons have to their own limitations, too. A demon masquerades as a high school student, and he has to come up with a Talent Show act while also killing people for their organs. It’s just not as easy these days to be a demon. And while vampires weren’t a part of this episode, they, too, have to work in the boundaries of the modern era. For example, the first scene of the entire series shows Darla acting as a scared high school student going for some fun with an older guy. This means that at some point before this trip, she had to meet the guy and come up with back stories, etc. This is a whole new world for villain and hero.

I love how the episode ends, with the trio reciting some Shakespeare. The three have completely different expressions. Xander is struggling to remember his lines; Willow is utterly and completely terrified, and Buffy just wants to get it all over with. It’s hysterical to watch, especially when Willow just runs off stage in fear, leaving a bewildered Xander and Buffy on stage. O Joss, how you slay me. *wink wink*

Buffy S1 “The Pack”

19 Jul 2010 5 Comments

by Jonathan Thompson in Project Buffy Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Quote of the Episode:
Xander: “Well, every school has ‘em. So, you start a new school, you get your desks, some blackboards and some mean kids.”

This is probably one of those episodes you’re most likely to remember. I mean, how many other shows have an episode focused on hyenas?

So the episode starts at the zoo, on a class field trip. Buffy runs into some typical school bullies. They end up messing with another student, Lance (Jeff Maynard) who sticks up for them in front of Principal Flutie. The bully gang ends up taking him to the sectioned-off Hyena cave, and Xander volunteers to follow them to help out Lance. It’s so sad to see how happy Lance seems to look when he’s “included” by the gang — until they try to bait the hyena with him. As Xander tries to help out Lance, a hyena looks out at the gang and Xander, and possesses them in some way. And so begins the hyena calamity.

While earlier episodes have only alluded to people’s crushes, this is the episode where the girls first start talking about them. Willow talks about how he likes Xander, and Buffy talks about how much of “a honey” Angel is. Willow expressing her feelings about Xander are critical for this episode, because we see her heartbroken reactions when Hyena-Xander is so cruel to her. The episode plays with an idea Joss has voiced in his commentaries: hurting Willow makes everybody upset. Willow, at this stage, is the most innocent and vulnerable person that could be, and there’s no way to not hurt when she’s hurting — and to have Xander be the one who’s hurting her makes it even worse! But once the hyena effects are gone, he’s the guy who saves her. We then recognize that it wasn’t Xander in control; it was the hyena.

Again, this episode detours from the vampirical plot. There are no warnings from Angel, no Master plans, no scary Anointed Child from the previous episode. It’s another way to show the audience the wide-range that this show is capable of; it’s not just vampires — it’s witches and bugs and hyenas, too.

But before I end this post, I have to take a minute for Principal Flutie. We hardly knew him — really, this is the 6th episode, we really didn’t know him. In a commentary, Joss commented on his death as a way to let the audience know that he’s serious about his characters, that he’ll kill one off so that they know that nobody’s safe. Well, just you wait everybody, haha.

Buffy S1 “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date”

15 Jul 2010 2 Comments

by Jonathan Thompson in Project Buffy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Quote of the Episode:
Giles: “All right, I-I’ll just jump in my time machine, go back to the twelfth century and ask the vampires to postpone their ancient prophecy for a few days while you take in dinner and a show.”

First off, I’d like to apologize for my latency here on the blog. This week has been a touch busy, but I’m glad to have made some time to watch and write about another episode!

So, after a couple of episodes with mystical beings not related to vampires, this episode brings us back to the vampire trajectory. The episode starts with Buffy taking out a vampire — and write after she finishes him off, Giles unexpectedly pops out from behind a tombstone and critiques her performance. This episode focuses on their relationship of Watcher and Slayer. At first, the two kind of bicker at each other, but the ending illuminates an understanding towards each other. We’ll get to that in a bit.

This episode also highlights the difficulties of being a modern superhero. Buffy tries to balance a social life with her Slayer life, and she ends up having trouble doing so. She’d love to put dating as the priority, but after she finds out that Giles is in danger, she realizes that her Slaying has to be the priority. She’s also dispirited by what happens with Owen (Christopher Wiehl). She really likes this guy, and she’s astonished that he likes her back. They’re supposed to go out on a date, and a vampire prophecy and Cordelia ruin it. Then he asks her out for the following night. She’s enjoying her time with him at the Bronze, but when Angel, Willow, and Xander show up with warnings, she has to run off to save Giles — but Owen follows! So she tries to protect everybody while also eliminating the Anointed One, from the prophecy. She kills the vampire and saves everyone, but Owen is a little freaked and goes home. The next day, he talks to her and tells her that he loved the exhilaration of danger and that he’d love to pursue more of it with her. Buffy realizes that 1) he’s only into the danger, not so much her and 2) she can’t let everybody into her Slaying posse because it could risk many people’s lives.

It’s at this point of the episode where Buffy and Giles come to understand each other better. Giles tells her that his father and his grandmother were Watchers; he found out when he was 10 years old that he was to be a Watcher, too. He tells her that his father talked to him about responsibility and sacrifice. While Xander and Willow will be important members of the Slaying gang, Giles and Buffy are really the two that are in it because they have to be. She’s this generation’s Slayer who has to dedicate her life to defeating vampires, and he’s this generation’s Slayer’s Watcher, who has to dedicate his life to training and guiding her. They’ve made — and will make — many sacrifices for the betterment of the world. It’s a tough responsibility to bear, but at least they know that they’re bearing that responsibility together.

Now, everything seems fine and dandy at the end; we think Buffy’s slain the Anointed One — and Giles infers that the Master is probably having a pretty bad day. But Joss is a trickster, and he gives us a twist at the end of the episode. The Anointed One is actually a child vampire, accompanied by creepy dollhouse music. We’d never expect the Anointed One to be a child, and that’ll make his role ever the more profound and disturbing — there’s nothing creepier than an intelligent and evil child character. And that’s where the episode leaves us, with great momentum moving forward.

Buffy S1 “Teacher’s Pet”

09 Jul 2010 1 Comment

by Jonathan Thompson in Project Buffy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Quote of the Episode:
Bronze Band: “The first date’s the worst date, it’s hard to know just what to do. I take you to dinner, you don’t eat, you just play with your food. Then there’s something familiar, about the words you say. It’s hard to believe. This happened again. I already met you!!”

O man, those song lyrics killed me, haha!

I’m surprised at how much I’ve forgotten from these early episodes. I was really confused when the opening scene started, because I didn’t remember Xander being so brave and confrontational with vampires so early, and then I realized that it was a dream. Nice job Joss! Isn’t it funny how suave Xander is in his dreams? He should try learning from Dream-Xander.

There’s a really tender scene between Buffy and her biology teacher, Dr. Gregory (William Monaghan). The scene’s set up so that you think that Dr. Gregory is going to chastise her for not doing her homework. He starts talking about her record, but this time he talks about how she thinks quick and could really do great things. He tells her that they should make the rest of the faculty “eat that permanent record”. It shows how intuitive Dr. Gregory is with his students, and it’s definitely the pick-me-up that Buffy needed in school. O Joss, how quick you are to ruin nice things!

The next day Natalie French (Musetta Vander) substitutes for Dr. Gregory, and boy is she a substitute. I got a kick from the tribal music that played as she walked towards the school.  She speaks so eloquently about insect life, primarily the praying mantis. She turns out to be a praying mantis, attracting all the virgin high school boys to fertilize her eggs. Eep!

That was an interesting little theme in this episode: virginity. Early in the episode some high school boys are trying to size themselves up by insinuating that they’ve had sex, and Xander tries to play along so that he comes across masculine. Though, at the end of the episode, Willow says that she thinks it’s sweet that Xander hasn’t given it up yet (Willow also earlier, in her panic that Miss Bug would devour Xander’s head, worried about how his head has his eyes and his hair and his smile). There is a triangle starting up. Xander likes Buffy. Willow likes Xander. And Buffy might be starting to like Angel.

Angel appears in this episode, and he acts as the only anchor to the basic storyline with vampires. This episode is like “Witch”, which showcases some other mystical danger, not associated with vampires. But Angel also gives Buffy his jacket, showing concern, and riling up jealousy from Xander. But really Xander, do you blame Buffy? Have you seen Angel?

It’s really too bad that Dr. Gregory had to go; he was Buffy’s only ally (besides Giles). But I have a feeling she’ll make more soon.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.