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nekkyo_chanHere's my rewatch for the fourth episode of Buffy, Teacher's Pet.
Teacher’s Pet
- I’m not really sure how to feel about Xander’s little fantasy sequence. On one hand, I feel kind of embarrassed watching it, on the other, Xander’s a dorky teenage boy who wants to be cool and impress the girl he likes. This is basically how I feel with most of the Xander crushing on Buffy bits: a little bit awkward/creeped out/irritated (depending on the situation) and little bit charmed and sympathetic.
- It’s interesting though that he fantasizes about saving her. Later in the series he’ll learn to be comfortable with a supporting role, but at the moment he’s still caught up in ideas of traditional masculinity. It’s kind of nice to watch this early stuff with the knowledge of how they grow up. One of the things I really liked about season 7 was the dynamic between Xander and Buffy at the beginning of the season; it’s really nice watching them be competent adults. And knowing they grow out of it makes the aggravating parts of them being teenagers less aggravating.
- And Xander gets shocked back into reality. “You’re drooling.”
- Dr Gregory’s a good teacher. But he is doomed, because Buffy can’t have supportive authority figures (see: Mr Platt in Beauty and the Beasts.)
- Also, why is a doctor teaching at a high school? Don’t people with PhDs usually go and teach in universities?
- Blaine is an asshole and Xander tries to use Buffy and Willow to demonstrate his manliness(which is more demonstration of his insecurities on that subject). Willow is happy to play along. Buffy doesn’t object, but walks away the moment she sees Angel.
- Xander’s jealousy over Angel is cute. “He’s a very attractive man. How come that never came up.”
- Angel continues to be kind of useless. Would it kill you to give her some details? And no, “he’ll rip your throat out” is not a helpful detail. Appropriately, in the next scene Buffy refers to him as Cryptic Guy. At least for the time being her reaction to him still makes sense.
- “He’s one of the only teachers that doesn’t think Buffy’s a felon.”
- I don’t actually think that Ms French is very attractive – she has a weird face. Also, what is her accent? I have no ear for accents at all, so I can’t even guess what she’s aiming for there.
- Would a substitute teacher really just start teaching the class like that as though they were taking over the class instead of just filling in? Though I suppose it is Sunnydale; They may be used to the idea that people who go missing probably aren’t coming back anytime soon and will therefore need permanent replacements.
- Subtlety: there is none to be found here, with this detailed description of praying mantis and how they mate. I would never guess what the plot is.
- “A younger man is too dumb to wonder why an older woman can’t find someone her own age, and too desperate to care about the surgical improvements.” “What surgical improvements?” “Well, he is young.” “And so terribly innocent.” Willow and Buffy mocking Xander amuses me.
- Cordelia comes in for her medically prescribed lunch (oh Cordelia) and finds Dr Gregory’s headless body.
- I’m surprised that Buffy would cry over him, but I suppose he is one of the few teachers who has been supportive of her, and that’s clearly (and understandably) made an impact. And Buffy is so much more emotionally open early on than she will be later.
- It’s a bit of a leap of logic that the vampire who cut his hand off is Fork Guy. Angel didn’t even say that he had a fork (or any other weapon) for a hand, because he has no idea how to give helpful warnings. Giles is right, of course, but I can’t see how he figured that out. Perhaps if Angel had been more helpful with his warning, this part would make sense, but he wasn’t and it doesn’t.
- “Oh, I’m not saying we should kill a teacher every day just so I can lose weight, I’m just saying, when tragedy strikes, we have to look on the Brightside, you know? Like how even used Mercedes still have leather seats.” Oh Cordelia. So ridiculous. And Buffy’s look of what the fuck during this speech is amazing.
- Why would Ms French give herself away by turning her head like that?
- “He’s got a crush on a giant insect!”
- “This computer invasion that Willow’s performing on the coroner’s office? One assumes it is entirely legal?” “Of course.” “Right. Wasn’t here, didn’t see it, couldn’t have stopped you.”
- I like Xander’s reaction to Buffy telling him Ms French is a bug. “I realize it’s no mystery guy handing out leather jackets.” His bitterness feels really real and I find I sympathize with him a lot here.
- I’ve seen some people asking how Blaine knows that she mates with you and then bites your head off, but it seems obvious to me that she just had other guys down in the cage (I mean, she must do the substitute teacher thing at other schools, right?) That seem like a reasonable assumption?
- “In the vid library. There’s no books, but it’s dark and musty, you’ll feel right at home.”
- Oh man. That bug is so dumb looking. I realize it was 1997 and I can’t expect much of their special effects, but...I feel one should be able to look at a monster without feeling the urge to laugh. It takes away from the tension in massive way.
- Considering how terrified he was a moment ago, Blaine’s eggs joke is really jarring. It’s like the writers were trying to sap out all the remaining tension.
- The twist with Ms French being an old lady whose identity the She-Mantis stole is an entertaining one, but unfortunately it leads to the dumbest part of this whole plot: Buffy, why would knocking on doors take too long, but you think you have time to go looking through the sewer system for an allegedly very dangerous vampire (who apparently is kind of pathetic in reality, thank you for the helpful information, Angel), so you can use him as some sort of a radar? Why would he be able to tell you where she is? He didn’t even realize what she was until he was right behind her. Xander’s life is in immediate danger, Buffy. This is a poor use of your time and a dumb plan.
- I’m interested by the decision to focus on Xander’s look of horror as Buffy slices up the She-Mantis. I’m not quite sure what’s going through his head there or what they're trying to get across to us with that shot, but it feels like it means something.
- “Just for the record, you were right, I’m an idiot, and God bless you.”
- “It’s so unfair how she only went after virgins. I mean, here you guys are, doing the right thing, the smart thing, when a lot of other boys your age...” When I first heard that, I thought Willow was being disingenuous, but now I think she’s actually sincere. Which is actually even funnier.
- Yeah, the bit with the eggs at the end, the horror movie-esque ‘or is it’ moment...really dumb.
- I have to say though, I like the part where this episode features a tiny blonde rescuing a male virgin from being raped and killed. It’s just that the episode itself, save a few moments, is kind of dumb. There will be worse episodes, though, sadly.
Teacher’s Pet
- I’m not really sure how to feel about Xander’s little fantasy sequence. On one hand, I feel kind of embarrassed watching it, on the other, Xander’s a dorky teenage boy who wants to be cool and impress the girl he likes. This is basically how I feel with most of the Xander crushing on Buffy bits: a little bit awkward/creeped out/irritated (depending on the situation) and little bit charmed and sympathetic.
- It’s interesting though that he fantasizes about saving her. Later in the series he’ll learn to be comfortable with a supporting role, but at the moment he’s still caught up in ideas of traditional masculinity. It’s kind of nice to watch this early stuff with the knowledge of how they grow up. One of the things I really liked about season 7 was the dynamic between Xander and Buffy at the beginning of the season; it’s really nice watching them be competent adults. And knowing they grow out of it makes the aggravating parts of them being teenagers less aggravating.
- And Xander gets shocked back into reality. “You’re drooling.”
- Dr Gregory’s a good teacher. But he is doomed, because Buffy can’t have supportive authority figures (see: Mr Platt in Beauty and the Beasts.)
- Also, why is a doctor teaching at a high school? Don’t people with PhDs usually go and teach in universities?
- Blaine is an asshole and Xander tries to use Buffy and Willow to demonstrate his manliness(which is more demonstration of his insecurities on that subject). Willow is happy to play along. Buffy doesn’t object, but walks away the moment she sees Angel.
- Xander’s jealousy over Angel is cute. “He’s a very attractive man. How come that never came up.”
- Angel continues to be kind of useless. Would it kill you to give her some details? And no, “he’ll rip your throat out” is not a helpful detail. Appropriately, in the next scene Buffy refers to him as Cryptic Guy. At least for the time being her reaction to him still makes sense.
- “He’s one of the only teachers that doesn’t think Buffy’s a felon.”
- I don’t actually think that Ms French is very attractive – she has a weird face. Also, what is her accent? I have no ear for accents at all, so I can’t even guess what she’s aiming for there.
- Would a substitute teacher really just start teaching the class like that as though they were taking over the class instead of just filling in? Though I suppose it is Sunnydale; They may be used to the idea that people who go missing probably aren’t coming back anytime soon and will therefore need permanent replacements.
- Subtlety: there is none to be found here, with this detailed description of praying mantis and how they mate. I would never guess what the plot is.
- “A younger man is too dumb to wonder why an older woman can’t find someone her own age, and too desperate to care about the surgical improvements.” “What surgical improvements?” “Well, he is young.” “And so terribly innocent.” Willow and Buffy mocking Xander amuses me.
- Cordelia comes in for her medically prescribed lunch (oh Cordelia) and finds Dr Gregory’s headless body.
- I’m surprised that Buffy would cry over him, but I suppose he is one of the few teachers who has been supportive of her, and that’s clearly (and understandably) made an impact. And Buffy is so much more emotionally open early on than she will be later.
- It’s a bit of a leap of logic that the vampire who cut his hand off is Fork Guy. Angel didn’t even say that he had a fork (or any other weapon) for a hand, because he has no idea how to give helpful warnings. Giles is right, of course, but I can’t see how he figured that out. Perhaps if Angel had been more helpful with his warning, this part would make sense, but he wasn’t and it doesn’t.
- “Oh, I’m not saying we should kill a teacher every day just so I can lose weight, I’m just saying, when tragedy strikes, we have to look on the Brightside, you know? Like how even used Mercedes still have leather seats.” Oh Cordelia. So ridiculous. And Buffy’s look of what the fuck during this speech is amazing.
- Why would Ms French give herself away by turning her head like that?
- “He’s got a crush on a giant insect!”
- “This computer invasion that Willow’s performing on the coroner’s office? One assumes it is entirely legal?” “Of course.” “Right. Wasn’t here, didn’t see it, couldn’t have stopped you.”
- I like Xander’s reaction to Buffy telling him Ms French is a bug. “I realize it’s no mystery guy handing out leather jackets.” His bitterness feels really real and I find I sympathize with him a lot here.
- I’ve seen some people asking how Blaine knows that she mates with you and then bites your head off, but it seems obvious to me that she just had other guys down in the cage (I mean, she must do the substitute teacher thing at other schools, right?) That seem like a reasonable assumption?
- “In the vid library. There’s no books, but it’s dark and musty, you’ll feel right at home.”
- Oh man. That bug is so dumb looking. I realize it was 1997 and I can’t expect much of their special effects, but...I feel one should be able to look at a monster without feeling the urge to laugh. It takes away from the tension in massive way.
- Considering how terrified he was a moment ago, Blaine’s eggs joke is really jarring. It’s like the writers were trying to sap out all the remaining tension.
- The twist with Ms French being an old lady whose identity the She-Mantis stole is an entertaining one, but unfortunately it leads to the dumbest part of this whole plot: Buffy, why would knocking on doors take too long, but you think you have time to go looking through the sewer system for an allegedly very dangerous vampire (who apparently is kind of pathetic in reality, thank you for the helpful information, Angel), so you can use him as some sort of a radar? Why would he be able to tell you where she is? He didn’t even realize what she was until he was right behind her. Xander’s life is in immediate danger, Buffy. This is a poor use of your time and a dumb plan.
- I’m interested by the decision to focus on Xander’s look of horror as Buffy slices up the She-Mantis. I’m not quite sure what’s going through his head there or what they're trying to get across to us with that shot, but it feels like it means something.
- “Just for the record, you were right, I’m an idiot, and God bless you.”
- “It’s so unfair how she only went after virgins. I mean, here you guys are, doing the right thing, the smart thing, when a lot of other boys your age...” When I first heard that, I thought Willow was being disingenuous, but now I think she’s actually sincere. Which is actually even funnier.
- Yeah, the bit with the eggs at the end, the horror movie-esque ‘or is it’ moment...really dumb.
- I have to say though, I like the part where this episode features a tiny blonde rescuing a male virgin from being raped and killed. It’s just that the episode itself, save a few moments, is kind of dumb. There will be worse episodes, though, sadly.
