SosaLola

I thought it was spectacular. I really loved that they changed the story and added new characters, I never wanted a copy/paste of the 1992 movie because… we’ve already seen that. It makes it its own movie. The actress playing Jasmine in particular was simply perfection. In regards to the costumes, I remember back in the day when I watched 1992 Aladdin for the first time, my only complaint was the clothes. No Arab princess dresses like 1992 Jasmine. She clearly looked like a woman from India, not Arabia. Arab women, even pre-Islam, dressed very modestly. The only women who would show off their bellies were belly dancers. Aladdin was clearly a mix of three cultures: Arabia, Persia and India. I remember that Agrabah was supposed to be Baghdad (the capital city of Iraq and where Sinbad is from) but due to the gulf war in 1990-1991, the name was changed to Agrabah (which means “female spider” in Arabic.) The Sultan in the 1992 movie mentioned Allah a few times in the movie, so that means that those characters are Muslims. It doesn’t necessarily make them Arabs, though. ‘Cause lots of people in Persia and India are Muslims, too. The new Aladdin movie fixed the clothes problem because the women in the movie do dress like ancient Arabs. Kinda. But I don’t think it makes them necessarily Arabs, either, because the dance numbers are clearly Bollywood. I do like including Arab actors! Marwan Kenzari (Jafar) pronounced the name “Hakim” correctly. I also loved Jasmine’s “baba” referring to her father, though she didn’t pronounce it right. It isn’t pronounced like the French Papa, but more like when little babies call their fathers “Dada.” I liked the change from “Sunday Salaam” to “Friday Salaam” because Friday is the Muslim’s holy day.

Was little Leonard listening to the Nobel announcements, too? I love how he and Sheldon have so much in common even though they wouldn't admit it.

I just finished watching the very last episode of the Big Bang Theory and cried big fat tears at Sheldon's speech. Especially when he said "Astronaut Howard Wolowitz."

But what's wrong if the audience are adults? What should matter is that the show has audience, right?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! This is my favorite show at the moment. The children act like real children. The parents are so real and not at all phony like every other parent in every other show. And more importantly, it's FUNNY! I need a way to get this show renewed in any other network!

I'm watching the show right now. Loving it.

My favorite part was the Disney princesses rescue mission! They were all amazing.

I'm with Calvin. Mothers should not be disrespected no matter what stupid things they say.

I kept waiting for them to reference Parker from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and how awful he was for playing Buffy and mistreating her after he got what he wanted from her (sex).

Just watched two episodes of this show and I like it. I wish there was no laugh track, though.

I loved the Amy/Sayid subplot. Though it bothered me that they didn't get the praying part right. Sayid is clearly Shia Muslim because of the small stone he placed at the top of his praying carpet. But both Sunni and Shia Muslims start praying standing up. Never have I seen a Muslim start their prayer sitting down unless they have knee problems, but even then, they pray sitting on a chair.

Isn't it supposed to be 1999 this season? Last season had the Titanic episode, wasn't that in 1998? If I remember correctly, Britney's video "Baby One More Time" was a huge hit since its release. I was 14 years old when it first aired in 1998 and every girl in my school wore her hair like Britney in the video - and I'm not even from America. She was instantly known and popular everywhere around the world. This I agree with. I never heard of Harry Potter in the 90s. It was after the first movie that it became so popular.

The third time Howard said "iiiiiiinteresting" I snorted out my milk laughing!

I loved how Sheldon tried not to laugh at that.

IMO Selfless was the best thing out of S7! I also liked Anya's hair in it.

I'm probably the only one who loves this episode. The Zeppo is the definition of meta. It makes fun of the usual dramatic incidences in BtVS that the audience has already embraced by intensifying them and turning them into farce ( The hellmouth opening again, Buffy’s “Faith, point to the heart!”, Buffy/Angel angst and so on) by changing the show’s perspective and narrative from Buffy to the person who hasn’t been touched by the dark – the Everyman. How does the Everyman react to abnormal things? What are his/her struggles? In what way does the Everyman contribute in saving the world? People remember and read about leaders, kings, queens, superstars, but rarely do they read about “themselves.” The Zeppo is about the forgotten ones: the bitter soldiers, who come back from war unrewarded, the unappreciated housewives, the unappreciated working class…. etc. It pulls the curtain back to shed light on the neglected and let us realize that without the soldiers, the general couldn’t have won. Without the housewife, the house would have crumbled down on the husband and the kids. And without Xander Harris, the school would have exploded and the Scoobies would have ended up killed. There’s no doubt that an apocalypse is a much bigger threat than a few zombies wanting to bomb the school, yet we get a switch in which the character-development B plot is the center and the action-packed A plot gets pushed to the background. Xander gets his moment to shine the same way Shakespeare’s Flastaff did in Henry IV Part 2. This is not the first time where the viewpoint changes from Buffy to someone else. I’d like to think that Passions was written from Angel’s perspective. This time, however, the viewpoint is so askew considering that it’s Xander’s perception of everything. Xander Harris: Fray-Adjacent: There’s no doubt that Xander’s position in the group has dropped way down from his Night Hawk days. His friends are growing more powerful, Buffy is much stronger now, Faith is also another strong Slayer, even Willow, who used to be in the same league as Xander, is now practicing magic. Everyone is moving forward and getting better physically, but Xander hasn’t changed one bit. Emotionally though, Xander is more insecure about his place in the group. He and Buffy aren’t as close after the whole Angel drama (it’s telling that Buffy asks Willow for help and tells her that she needs her right before Xander shows up with his car, but when Xander offers to help himself, she sends him away). Xander and Willow are also not as close after the Oz drama, he and Giles were never close, Cordelia hates him, and he doesn’t really know Faith that well. But then there’s Oz, the only person Xander was comfortable enough to talk to about his insecurities. The only person Xander saw as an equal – It’s worth noting that Giles does include Willow with Xander when he said, “I should never have allowed Willow and [Xander]” to tag along in this fight against the new and “improved” creatures. Giles also instructs Willow to stay back for her safety so he can finish the spell by himself later in the episode. So, it’s not just about seeing Xander as the only feeble and fragile loser. He and Willow are both still considered feeble and fragile; however, Willow has the good sense of knowing her limits and staying out harm’s way when necessary. Xander, on the other hand, “leaps at the fray” with no regards to his safety or abilities. And that what scares his friends, they don’t mind having him around to help, they’re just scared he’s gonna do something foolish and get himself killed. That’s why I don’t see their giving Xander the shaft in this episode as OOC. The football thing in the beginning of the episode is another example of Xander “leaping” at anything out of his league. The jocks obviously aren’t interested in playing with him, but when they do give him a chance he screws things up. Seems to be a pattern in Xander’s life; Cordelia trusted him and he broke her heart, Anya trusted him and he broke her heart. More Xander put downs by Jack and Cordelia come afterwards. Then when Xander comes over with the car, all confident and proud, Buffy sends him for donuts. Apparently, he’s been sent to get donuts before judging by Cordelia’s correct guess about evil happening now that Xander is at the donut shop. “Can I help? Xander offers his services to each member of the Scoobies and gets rejected. "Xander’s out of this. He nearly got himself killed last time we fought. The whole thing will be easier if we know he’s safe.” Buffy. “It’s best you stay out of harm’s way.” Angel. “Oh, no. Thank you. Uh, probably best if you, you stay out of trouble.” Giles. “I can’t stay. Buffy needs this. I love you, Xander.” Willow. While good intentioned, none of them knew that by excluding Xander, they’re hitting him where it really hurts – his place in the group. The Scoobies are the only best thing he has in his life. They’re his real family and by rejecting him, he’s got no one. And to make matters worse, Willow tells him in the end of the episode, “Xander, you’re lucky you weren’t at school last night. It was crazed.” That must have stung!!! Not including Xander is far worse than anything in the world, even death. Willow should have known better, especially since she told Buffy earlier, “I’d be offended if you haven’t already counted me in!” Sex and Romance: The Zeppo shows clearly where Xander stands on the issue. Though he talks about sex a lot and have pretended to be sexually experienced before, he clearly wants more than sex from a girl. He wants connection. Car Girl is hot, but she’s so boring! He’d rather spend time with Angel over a hot girl because there was no spark. And not only was losing his virginity to Faith unexpected, but it was also rushed! There was no cuddling, no pillow talks; he seemed too dazed and confused when she kicked him out. Yet, despite it being so obvious she was using him as a boytoy, he believed they actually had a connection. He doesn’t consider sex to be a mere physical thing, it’s greater than that. He’d like to get to know someone before jumping into sex, something that usually women are into, but Xander isn’t your typical kind of man as Lorna Jowett, senior lecturer at University College Northampton, describes Xander as a “new man” because he can’t be a real man. He’s the man whose hero is a female leader, who willingly elected a female to be his leader, and who would like to get to know a girl before sleeping with her. That’s why he and Cordelia never had sex, he was either waiting for the right moment or saving himself for someone else. The Hammer is His Mouth: “I’ve done some quality violence for those people. Do they even think about that?” No, actually. What Xander excels in isn’t violence. He’s very good with his words – he can hurt any person he wants so easily by using his words, he can lift people up with his words, heck he can save the world with his words. And that’s what he does to save the school. Xander was never more confident and cool than when he talked Jack into stopping the bomb. The way he reasoned with him, giving him the odds about trying to run away, showing him the difference between being a walking corpse and pieces of bits, he was remarkably calm and all together, hiding how much he wanted to pee his pants in the guise of cool. That right there is the “new man” Lorna was talking about, the kind of man who saved the world twice by talking the enemy down, no violence was involved, just the power of convincing. The world would be such a peaceful place if men learned to use their mouths instead of their fists. Producer Fran Rubel Kuzie once said, “You can educate your daughters to be Slayers, but you have to educate your sons to be Xanders.” Little bits about the episode: *Willow’s “callous and strange” comment is adorable. * Cordelia’s role in this episode is literally just to throw digs at Xander. Seeing as it’s Xander’s point of view, that’s probably understandable. *Xander orders one jelly at first, but changes his mind to four jellies. He knows that Giles loves them. Everything about Xander’s adoration of Giles makes my heart ache. *Speaking of Giles, the only thing I wish I had seen in the apocalypse plot was Giles’ brave moment, the bravest thing Buffy’s ever seen! I would have loved to see Giles the hero. *The ending never fails to leave a smile on my lips. Aw Xander! It’s also touching to know that Nicholas Brendon cried reading the script.

Buffy got an intervention and we have seen Giles be extremely upset with her. Xander and Faith went to murder Angel behind her back. In the end of the episode, it was Buffy who tries to patch things up with Xander. None of that happened with The Lie. I don't need to see Xander get tortured, just to see Buffy and Willow be upset with him and Xander explaining himself. It could just be a one episode thing where Buffy and Willow eventually understand why he did it and forgive him. If that happened in an early S3 episode, I'm very sure The Lie wouldn't have been capitalized like that. Maybe it won't make a difference in fans' angry reaction, but I would have liked to see it acknowledged and not swept under the rug. I personally would have liked to see more of the Xander stuff acknowledged. People making a big deal about The Pack annoys me! Xander was the victim in the episode. His body was violated without his consent. If he decided to fake amnesia to deal with that traumatic experience, it was his choice and he had every right to make it.

The Lie should have came out during this episode or Revelations and gotten dealt with. Fans are still furious about it but I'm very sure that if it came up during the beginning of S3 and we saw Buffy being upset with Xander and saw him explain and apologize, no one would even mention it. The lack of consequences is the reason fans are still angry about The Lie.

- That first scene with the Scoobies watching Bollywood has to be the most endearing those three ever been in the whole show and the comics. I wish we got to see more sleepovers of them – though I suspect they’re usually at Buffy’s house, because Willow’s mom doesn’t allow boys in her daughter’s bedroom and I doubt they’d be able to hear a movie with the daily/nightly fighting match going on at Xander’s home. Joyce always seemed to be more welcoming to Buffy’s friends, perhaps because she’s desperate for her daughter to fit in especially with good children. Despite her flaws, she is generally a sweet mother who among the verse’s sea of bad parents stands out as the best. I love how Buffy found it difficult to braid Willow’s hair, then she’d glance at Xander’s fine job and try again unsuccessfully. Xander must have braided Willow’s hair plenty of times growing up, it also shows how well Xander works with his hands, he will mention later that he has a nice handwriting and his carving as he starts construction is of excellent quality. - Buffy wears those giraffe pants twice this season, right? I know people, myself included; complain about Buffy never repeating an outfit especially in the we-are-so-freaking-poor S6, but could she have repeated a more flattering outfit? - Her growing interest in kissing Angel and having sex with him doesn’t stop her from admitting that she is “brainsick.” She’s aware that she can’t have a relationship with him, which will make Angel’s condescending accusations later about her being a child dreaming of a fairy tale hit a major sour nerve. She knows this relationship could never work and last, but so far, other than Xander whose opposition to the relationship is coming from a place of jealousy, no one is advising her against it. Willow is Bangel’s biggest shipper and Giles tries his best to avoid dealing with any of the three’s personal life: which I thought was irresponsible regarding Buffy’s situation. A slayer having a relationship with a vampire should have screamed red lights, even if the vampire is a good one. Angel also didn’t raise any objections – speaking solely about WSWB and SAR – so it’s no surprise that Buffy would peruse this even when knowing deep down that it’s doomed. I love how Willow is enjoying all the girl talk and giving Buffy advice – poor thing must have longed to have a friend of the female gender. But I can see how Buffy and Willow bonding that way is outcasting Xander. Though I believe he brought it on himself with his constant bashing of Angel, I don’t blame Buffy or Willow for not including him in discussions about Buffy’s love life. About the Willow/Buffy outcasting Xander: I notice that when Cordelia makes fun of Xander, usually Buffy and sometimes Willow stifle their laughter or smile instead of showing some sympathy. It is different when Buffy or Willow are the victims of Cordelia’s tongue, because then they get showered with sympathy. Is it because Xander is a guy? Guys being humiliated is funny, but it’s insensitive to humiliate a girl – which brings me to that dreadful scene in the frat house where Xander gets humiliated for laughs. - This episode is about being more responsible – something Giles and Angel expect from Buffy so much that they forget how young she is. Buffy tries to rebel against what’s expected from her that she agrees to accompany Cordelia of all people to a college party. Too much pressure isn’t good for a person and that pressure put on Buffy is why she chose to act reckless. At the party, she’ll discover that she can’t just be irresponsible after having the weight of the world on her shoulders. She’s been burdened with responsibility for so long; she can’t just be that popular ditzy girl anymore. - The Buffy/Giles pouting scene is just adorable! This episode is filled with Scooby goodness. I can understand why Giles is being too hard on Buffy after having failed her in S1 because, according to him, he hadn’t prepared her well enough to go up against the Master. - You can clearly see Buffy’s taste in men when she met the fraternity boys. Richard, who is crude and forward, is rejected right away, while Tom, who mocks Richard’s approach and plays the down-to-earth card appeals to her. She tends to be attracted to mature guys – usually older than her – and it has something to do with her calling and how much it has given her a maturity beyond her years: - Xander can clearly see behind Tom’s act but I struggle to decide whether it is an insight on his part (because honestly Tom’s pick-up lines are corny and obvious) or just jealousy. I think it’s a bit of both because Xander can be perceptive when he wants to be, and being a guy, he must have heard a lot of those pick-up lines before. - I don’t like the Buffy/Angel scene in the graveyard. Everybody likes to blame it on DB’s acting, but IMO the writing really sucked in that scene. I don’t buy that Angel would bring up the word “date” that abruptly nor the word “coffee.” The scene was too on the nose with Angel warning Buffy about having a relationship with him and as I said before it doesn’t make sense with how they left things in Some Assembly Required where Angel confesses to being attracted to Buffy and being jealous of Xander, showing no sign of being against them going for a relationship. - Good for Buffy to put Xander and Giles in their places in the library, especially Xander. You can sense Willow’s annoyance in her reply when he asks “Who’s Tom?” Buffy and Willow tend to ignore Xander instead of telling him off. I think if Buffy took a firm approach, Xander would eventually back off, ignoring him isn’t the right solution IMO. - I looooooove Xander and Willow’s expressions when Buffy lies to Giles. Xander’s all disappointed and Willow looking shocked. - Does anybody know the weird thing Buffy does with her hair that Cordelia is talking about? - There is something sweet about Xander and Willow sharing snacks. - Frat parties are totally not my thing. I don’t get the appeal: they’re almost always about raping girls and humiliating boys. That scene when Xander is forced to wear a wig, bra and a skirt, I’m not gonna lie, I skipped it. I can’t watch scenes like that. It’s too difficult for me. - The humiliation Xander gets is obviously a punishment for going to the frat party for fun instead of being there for Buffy. When he’s there, he doesn’t search for Buffy at all, he gets allured by the hot babes and food only to timidly ask about Buffy when he’s tossed out. - Buffy and Cordelia are also being punished for lying to their parents and going to college parties. - I love how the first seasons focus on the vampire lore and make sure to get it right. There will be a lot of sloppy mistakes in the later seasons. Willow is so adorable staring at the mirror that doesn’t show Angel’s reflection. She’s right, how does Angel shave? - I think underneath the meek, insecure girl there has always been a strong woman inside of Willow that shows up every once in a while during the high school years: when she rejected Xander in PG and right now as she’s telling Giles and Angel off for mistreating Buffy. - As Xander walks away from the frat house licking his wounds and showing off his hot, hot, hot, hot body, he notices Cordelia’s car and realizes that Buffy and Cordelia are still inside and probably in danger. And then he does something about it. - I love the fighting scene with the gang: Xander punching the guy then holding his fist with pain is exactly why I adore him, Angel giving one last punch before going down the basement, Giles searching for Buffy and then brushing off the frat guy who attacks him is hilarious and ripper-y, Willow hopping over one of those jerks to get to the basement, and of course Xander’s rant, I love how the camera just moves from one of them to the other. - Xander is sixteen and a half by this time: 13th of October. He was probably born in December 1980 or the beginning of January 1981 - because he admitted to being 17 on Buffy’s birthday. Tara’s birthday episode was aired in the 7th of November, which makes her older than Xander. I’m obsessed with characters’ birthdays. There should have been more birthday episodes for characters other than Buffy. - Buffy and Giles coming to an understanding in the end is simply precious. - Jonathan cameo! - And Angel asks Buffy on a date!

- For a loser who gets beaten and bullied, Xander doesn’t shy away from throwing comebacks. Maybe because Cameron isn’t that threatening. But Xander didn’t fear Larry as well and we know that Larry used to beat up Xander a lot. - I’ve noticed Cordelia being used to sketch the demons in this episode and an earlier one. I wish the show acknowledged that she has a talent in drawing and it could have been her thing. - I love that small moment between Buffy and Giles when she says “from whence it came” - “You ran like a woman.” “Practice running like a man.” When you have men and women preaching boys to be aggressive manly men associating strength and bravery to men and belittling women, of course, you’ll get insecure boys like Xander and Johnathan. - Willow interrogating Johnathan was comedy gold! I just love her strong “didn’t you?” followed later by an unsure “didn’t you?” And those eyes when she comes close to Johnathan are fear-provoking and a sign that inside the shell of sweetness and insecurity there’s a stronger Willow waiting to be out – did I just make a pun? If so, it wasn’t intended. - Snyder is a creepy, creepy man, isn’t he? I don’t know if we know his whole story. He seems to be on the Mayor’s side, knows about what lurks in the night, and is simply evil. I just wish there was an episode dedicated to him just so that I’ll know what his deal is. - The most important scene in the episode, or at least the most remembered scene in the episode, is Xander in Speedo’s. It baffles me how someone as buff and fit as Xander is nothing but a loser – but Joss explains it in the commentary of Welcome to the Hellmouth, the network wants hot people. So, overweight Willow is out as well as an unattractive actor to play Xander. - The whole scene is very enjoyable and not just because of Hot Xander in Speedo’s: we get Gage being Buffy’s groupie, the girls working over the mystery of the week together as equals and friends, Cordelia putting down Xander only to be smitten by his athlete body as he walks in, Willow being as smitten as Cordelia, Buffy’s “not under much” and adorable giggles, and Xander swimming in Jonathan’s urine. - I knew that Gage was the guy from Prison Break, but I completely forgot they also got the lead from A Walk to Remember! The episode is packed with well-known faces. - I love how NB’s shocked eyes are of a greenish color when Xander learns that the steroids are in the steam. - I always hated the fate of the nurse. It’s gruesome. - Giles’ face when Xander freaks out about turning into a fish is priceless! I love how offended NB’s tone of voice gets when he says to Cordelia, “And thank you SO much for your support.” - That coach is basically inhuman. He turns his team into monsters, kills a nurse and throws a girl into the sewers to be raped. All for a freaking cup! I don’t really feel upset about his death. - This might be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think I ever bought Cordelia’s speech to fake Fish Xander. It’s cute and sweet, but… it’s not Cordelia. It’s too sweet for Cordelia to say. At least at this stage of her development. This girl spent the entire episode making fun of Xander and putting him down and now suddenly she doesn’t mind dating his fish version? I can see Anya giving this speech, but not Cordelia. - I don’t really get the show’s love for open-ended endings.

- Bad Eggs is heavy on sexual desires and lust. Two main pairings: Buffy/Angel and Xander/Cordelia. They parallel each other, not only because those love birds can’t keep their lips off each other, but also because both ships are bad for the people involved, and later in Innocence, both ships will come to a turning point: Angel losing a soul and Willow outing Xandelia. - If I’m not mistaken, this is the one and only time we see a mall in Sunnydale. I would have loved to see a Buffy/Willow scene in the mall at any point in the show. Maybe a scene before Homecoming of Buffy picking the black dress Willow will wear that will get Xander all hot and bothered. - I love that Buffy recognized the cowboy boyfriend as vampire due to his lack of reflection. The writers will get a bit lazy about vampire lore in the later seasons, especially S7. - I hate the retcon about Joyce even more watching the scene Buffy tells her about “saving the world from vampires.” See, without the retcon, Joyce’s headshake and “I swear, sometimes I don’t know what goes on in your head” is to be expected and normal, but with the retcon about the asylum in mind, Joyce comes off really bad. - Xander and Cordelia’s secret relationship gives me all sorts of joy and excitement. I love Xander and Cordelia’s insults that end up secretly hurting them yet they won’t admit it; makes their sweet moments so precious. - I find Cordelia to be the most mature and reasonable during this whole juvenile kissing-fest. Xander tends to copy what he sees at home and just act it out – his parents who hate each other fight all the time and they’re the only role-models he has (Giles/Jenny is another example of an adult relationship, one that Xander and Cordelia probably look up to judging by the smile they shared when they caught them kissing in the library in Ted which contrasted Buffy’s disgust.) Bad Eggs shows that both of them are starting to have feelings for each other: from Cordelia’s embarrassment when Xander raises his hand at a rhetorical question to her personally seeking Xander for some closet groping. Xander also starts becoming jealous over Cordelia’s previous sexual activities with other guys and was going to ask Cordelia to be his partner as egg parents. At this stage, the relationship between the two is equal, but as the episodes go on, Cordelia’s feelings develop from lust to love, but while Xander will grow to care about Cordelia and have feelings for her it will never be on the same level as hers. - The health class foreshadows Innocence as the teacher talks about the consequences of having sex. This episode as a whole was obviously written for no purpose but to prepare us for the next two episodes. - Buffy was not present in the class to hear the lecture about sex and consequences. Not that I think it would have changed what’s gonna happen in the next episode, but I guess it is significant. - Willow gets her first hints about the weirdness of Xander and Cordelia by witnessing them “fighting way too much” in class. She remains the only level-headed person of the three during the discussion. Some cute little Willow moments: her pride when the teacher praises her, her giddiness when the teacher reveals the eggs, and then the heartbreaking moment when she’s about to ask Xander to be her partner but he ignores her for Cordelia. - Buffy freaking out about leading her mother’s life is funny and sad at the same time because she will be a single mother to Dawn in the future. - Speaking of single mothers, I love how Joyce is taking shots at Buffy about the whole parenting thing. Being a parent is exhausting. - While Buffy and Willow’s sluggish state is no fault of their own, Xander’s excitement to help Giles is endearing. - “No go.” I adore Giles’ confusion over young people’s slang. - Compare and contrast between Buffy and Willow’s parenting and Xander’s. I don’t know if it’s a gender thing or a personality thing. Xander doesn’t care about his egg, sees it as it is, and wants an easy A. Buffy and Willow on the other hand are taking the assignment more seriously and I don’t think it’s all about the grades. Perhaps the eggs that are starting to control them made them feel that way. Adding interesting thoughts by Dipstick from Buffy Forums: “Xander boiling his egg is just another example that belies the “Xander is dumb” mythology. It was a clever way to cheat. However, the darker read is that Xander intuitively believes that child-rearing should be harsh and painful to make a tougher kid- even though I think Xander has too much compassion and too much of a heart to ever do that a child of his own. However, see how he internalizes Tony Harris and basically discusses himself through the egg.” - Poor Xander taking Giles’ compliment as an insult. The writers missed their chance to tell an interesting story about the Xander/Giles relationship. - Willow’s suspicious stare at Xander/Cordelia. I never noticed before that Willow was suspecting that something was going on with them. - Sometimes I wonder why Angel would date Buffy. Even though she’s more mature than kids her age, she is still a kid. School assignments, not thinking about the future, her adolescent “When I think about the future, all I see is you.” How can 240 year old Angel stand hearing that? I was waiting for a condescending remark from Angel, which I’m glad it didn’t come, but I think it’s moments like this when Angel can reflect and realize he’s dating a 16 year old girl. - When the egg attacked Buffy, her first instinct was to call Willow and make sure she’s okay. It obviously shows that Willow is the best friend. - Joyce at full parenting mode. I wonder if what happened with Ted was her wake up call to pay more attention to her daughter. - I found it funny that Willow and Cordelia carried an unconscious Xander while two boys carried Buffy, wouldn’t it have been more convenient for the girls to carry a girl and the guys to carry a guy? - A Buffy/Xander team up! So awesome! They’re so amusing together as the non-research types who solve the mystery. They’re so adorable together. My favorite moment was Xander telling Buffy to be careful followed by him tripping through the hole and into the tunnel. - Buffy’s non-stop jabs about Giles getting a life and being a loser never bothered me on first watch, but they’re kinda getting on my nerves. Maybe because I’m getting older, I’m starting to relate to the adult characters more. - Small comedic moment when Giles hands Xander a chunk of concrete to carry away and then Xander just simply drops it to the side. - I love how Willow seems to be the leader of the bunch ordering them to kill Buffy and the Gorches. - “Cordelia, I don’t wanna hurt you *catches himself* some of the time.” Aw, he cares about her! That look of guilt when he ended up punching her. - I haven’t really talked about Tector and Lyle. I find them amusing, but I don’t have an opinion about them, which is the same way I feel about all the villains. So, if anyone wanna share their thoughts about them, the floor is all yours.

Since I haven't seen the movie, I'm not sure about the details here. What I do know is Buffy being accused of burning down a gym, and that Buffy confessed to it. Joyce does not know all the facts because Buffy wouldn't give them to her, so I understand Joyce's anxiety.

I've seen so many fans claim that Xander did not receive criticism for his actions in this episode. And the general thought that this episode is beyond gross because Xander ends up getting the girl and was not punished for his actions. Here’s the shocker, Xander DOES get punished for his actions. Not only that, but he’ll learn his lesson, too. 1. The narrative punishes Xander from the beginning by backfiring the spell, getting his hopes up about Buffy only to crush them to pieces, getting all the girls Xander didn’t want to fall obsessively in love with him with nowhere to hide, heck so many women came on to him and could have raped him (No one can stop Buffy if she decided to jump his bones after he asked her not to) Jenny and Joyce, older women who kept touching him without consent. Heck Drusilla made him shake with horror as she tried to turn him to a vampire. Xander in this episode was subjected to a lot crap that womenusually get subjected too. Being touched and harassed without his consent. And most importantly, the narrative punishes Xander by turning every female in Sunnydale against him and striding to murder him. If Giles and Amy’s spell was a minute’s late, Xander would have been killed because of his actions. 2. Giles made it absolutely clear that Xander was an asshole for what he did and kicked him out of the library. He couldn’t even stand the sight of him. 3. Willow stopped talking to Xander after the spell was over. 4. Oz punched him in the face. 5. Angel tossed him from the top of the roof to the ground - which should have resulted to Xander breaking something in his body - and almost killed him to leave his dead body as a present to Buffy. How creepy is that. Basically, none of that would have happened had Xander not asked Amy to do the spell. Which means that this list of punishments was done to Xander because of his actions! The fans would completely brush all that aside because of two scenes in the episode: a. Buffy thanking Xander for not raping her. Personally, I think this reflects badly on Xander rather than showing him as a good person. It’s insulting to Xander. Did Buffy seriously expect her best friend to rape her??? What does that say about their friendship? b. Cordelia thinking the spell was romantic. Interestingly enough, Cordelia thinking that “Xander putting a spell on her to make her fall in love with him” as romantic whereas is she knew the truth that he only did it to “break up with her and make her suffer the same way he did” - the male version of Anya’s vengeance demon ways (Xander would make a scary vengeance demon due to the way he holds a grudge like nobody’s business and how he judges others.) Anyway, back to Cordelia. I seriously believe that Cordelia’s reaction is true to her character at that time in the story. Sort of a Midsummer Night’s Dream romantic. I also think that the show at this time was still maturing - for example, Buffy’s outfits in the first and second seasons were clearly for the male gaze. Notice how later in the series, she starts dressing differently and in more practical yet stylish clothes for slaying. Now if Cordelia knew about Xander’s real intentions: “The point is I want her to want me. Desperately. So I can break up with *her*and subject her to the same hell she’s been puttin’ *me* through.” - which admittedly are far less disgusting than taking away Cordelia’s agency so she could love him forever and clearly an impulsive reaction to being dumped and mocked by others for it - she wouldn’t have thought it was romantic. Hell, she probably wouldn’t have gone out with him eventually. IMPORTANT: I do wish that Cordelia didn’t think it was romantic and delayed wanting to be with him after a few episodes. And I do think that Xander did a bad thing here and deservedly got punished and we should have seen him and Willow reconciling in the next episode. I was just explaining the events from the character’s POV. Xander learns his lesson: Lover’s Walk. Being venomously disapproving of Willow’s de-lusting spell “Are you nuts, or have you forgotten that I tend to have bad luck with these sorts of spells? ….. So, do you really need to resort to the black arts to keep our hormones in check? …. I’m gonna get the lights, (walks) clean this place up before they get here (clicks them on) and start asking questions.”

- Teacher’s Pet is one of the most disliked episodes of the verse, yet it was the first episode in the show to turn gender roles upside down by reversing the traditional roles in a typical damsel in distress tale: the young female blonde virgin gets kidnapped by a rapist who threatens to steal her virginity and then murder her until the tall male dark-haired warrior saves her and her virginity – this exactly happens in this episode in reverse, even the kidnapper is switched into a female. Xander dreams of being the hero who saves the damsel because that’s the idea that his parents and society have been feeding him and the other boys like him all their lives, by the end of the episode it’s Buffy who saves Xander and she will be saving him throughout the series. - While girls are valued for being pure and untouched, boys are pressured to sleep around. Virgin boys are humiliated and bullied for not getting laid on regular bases, which leads weak hearted and minded boys to seek immoral ways to escape humiliation like lying or tricking girls into bed or raping them. As a typical teen boy in a typical American high school, Xander knows that in order to be respected and valued in school, he must: be macho, save women, be physically buff and strong, be an athlete, have sex, and Xander is none of the above and that’s why he thrives to be all of the above, because that’s what is expected from him. ( Notice how Buffy assumes that Xander must have had sex, because guys are supposed to have sex! ) - Xander is dismissed by bullies, lead singers, and Buffy because he doesn’t have what it takes to be a real man – apparently clothes are one of them, Angel’s leather jacket wins against Xander’s bracelet – and in this episode sex is what makes one a man. He’s probably not ready to journey from boyhood to manhood, but it doesn’t matter, he must “score” to keep up with the other cool guys, not knowing that they as well are as much boys as he is. If Xander had realized from the beginning that in order to fit in and be cool he should not care about how others see him, he’d probably be one of the coolest kids in school. - Let’s talk about Angel. Witness the personality transformation! That is NOT the same guy from the first two eps. The writers obviously figured out Angel’s role by this episode. - Same-gender friendships: You can easily see how at ease Willow is now that Buffy is around. Here we see them rolling their eyes at Xander believing he’s got a shot with an older attractive woman. If Buffy were a guy, he’d probably be buddying with Xander over this while Willow rolled her eyes alone. - Speaking of buddies: how adorable that Willow knows that Xander is a virgin. And how sad that when he loses his virginity, he won’t tell her – which is also interesting because Xander tells no one about it. Interesting and sad. - I felt really sorry for Buffy about the teacher who died. Poor girl just needs someone who believes in her.

* The opening scene is remarkable. I love the twist in which we were meant to believe that the girl is helpless and innocent and then all of a sudden it turns out she’s neither. From the very first scene you get a clear picture of the show’s messages and themes: no more blonde damsels in distress. These blondes are vicious and strong. It’s interesting that both the heroine and main evil vampire – excluding the Master – are blonde females. * One of my biggest problems with S1 is the lighting. The scenes are too dark you can barely see what’s happening. * I love how 90s S1 is! The hairdos, the clothes, Xander’s skateboard – which we will never see again – picking actors older than their characters to play them; It’s so obvious how not-16ish Nicholas Brendon and Charisma Carpenter were, they’re older than their own characters by 10 years! It’s not just them. Even the extras walking down the school halls are even older than NB and CC. On the other hand, SMG and AH can pass for 16 year olds. * I understand that Joyce’s parenting skills are questionable, but I felt for her when she said, “Don’t get kicked out.” She’s going through a lot with the divorce and her daughter being labeled a troublemaker and moving to another town and starting everything over… Buffy’s problems and pain will always be greater and makes us forget about those around her who face a difficult time as well. * I love Xander’s entrance! His life story is depicted by that entrance. He goes through life carelessly, disregarding others’ annoyance and discomfort, get blinded by his feelings for Buffy. His thoughtlessness of others and careless acts always end with a bang! And no one notices but Willow. * Xander dislikes math, doesn’t do well in math, a recurring theme and we will discover by S3 that he’s a slow learner when it comes to this subject. I love how constant the show is about this. Just like Buffy’s dislike of history. * Jesse! The show’s biggest missed potential story! The sight of him makes me sad. The first guy friend Xander is going to lose. * Cordelia being helpful and nice to Buffy, I don’t know if it’s her inner goodness that shows on rare occasions in those early seasons or if it’s because she sees potential in Buffy to be a Cordette. After all, Buffy is from LA. * I love how it’s established from the very beginning that Sunnydale is a very small town and yet it seems to have one of everything. * From the red circle on the missing boys in the newspaper, Giles is already researching and preparing for Buffy’s arrival. * Giles’ excited grin when presenting the Vampyre book to Buffy! Hee! * Giles met Buffy at 10: 25 a.m.! * Aphrodisia is the weirdest name I ever heard of. And then there’s a girl named Blue. What’s up with Joss and weird names?! I have to ask, was Alexander Harris the first to be called Xander or was there someone by that name before? It became very popular after Buffy. * I love the whole Xander tossing his bag at Jesse. They seem to be so at ease with each other. I wish Jesse stayed alive for one more episode just to explore his friendship with Xander – heck that could have easily happened with flashbacks after his death. * Buffy seemed weirded out by Xander in their first meeting, perhaps because Xander was very awkward around her. She seemed okayish with Cordelia, probably felt right at home with her. But she was so taken back by Cordelia’s harsh comments toward Willow and I think that’s why she was excited to meeting Willow officially – after knowing she was the smarted girl in school. * “Prepares me for what? For getting kicked out of school? ( end of S2 ) For losing all of my friends? ( Empty Places ) For having to spend all of my time fighting for my life and never getting to tell anyone because I might endanger them? (Her mother, Owen, and almost everyone who isn’t a Scooby) Go ahead! Prepare me.” Poor Buffy. * Xander knew that vampires existed at 12:30. * I like snarky Angel and I’m not ashamed to admit it. It clearly shows that they’re not sure what they’re going to do with Angel yet. “I don’t bite” IMO clearly indicates that he was supposed to be a human. * Okay, that’s been bugging me for a while. “Where would Willow go?” And Xander thinks, “Cemetery!” Really? * Xander closing his eyes, feeling a bit nauseated, when Buffy stabbed the vampire with the stake! I LOVE that they will keep Xander’s inability to stomach violent killing/corpses throughout the show. * I just can’t take how they’ve written Darla in this episode! I keep cringing every time she talks.