S01.E04: Teacher's Pet

[Lisin]

From Wikipedia

Xander is smitten by the substitute biology teacher, Ms. French, who turns out to be a giant praying mantis terrifying enough to make vampires run for cover. Angel's warning gives Buffy a vital clue and she rescues the virgin male students—including Xander—chosen to fertilize the creature's eggs.

 

Look, I hate this episode. I always skip it. I watched it to be a completest this time but I still hate it. I have no interesting thoughts. I Just think it's dumb. 

[CletusMusashi]

I actually thought it was fun. Oh, if it came out in 2014, it would be horrible, but back in the 90s even its low-points were pretty much "yeah, that's what I'd expect from a weekly monster show."

Most episodes from the early seasons were so great that they make us forget what actually passed for "pretty good" back then.

Plus, it was Season 1. They had to do some throw-away MoW eps.

I liked that Buffy was already so used to reasonably-bad-ass-vampires-with-intimidating-publicity that she was headlocking them and using them to find more important monsters. And, they had to show that the next monster could be anything.

Season 1 had to be a little bit gratuitously zany a few times, because if it's all vampires and witches then viewers can quickly start acting like know-it-alls.

Which we did anyway, so... all right. Not a one hundred per cent successful episode.

I can't help thinking that if we'd seen more of "Natalie," though, she'd have grown on us. She's more fun than a lot of longer lasting Bads they've had, and I'm not even talking about the shit seasons. I'm saying that the only thing that made, for example, Angelus, more fun to me than Natalie was Spike sitting in a wheelchair arguing with him.

Natalie came in, served as a plot device, and went on her way. Holy crap, do I miss the days when a villain and/or conflict we didn't all love was just background to the character arcs, instead of vice versa.

Sure, the nonsense about bats, flying around in the sky, being the natural enemy of praying mantises, sitting around sonar-shielded in bushes, was pretty silly. But I accepted it as the kick in the ass that I apparently needed, for expecting scientific accuracy in a show about  magical monsters. At least they got it out of their systems early. Otherwise we'd eventually have had to see a gigantic fake mongoose on steroids wrestling around with Glory's zoo snake.

Edited May 24, 2014 by CletusMusashi

[Eegah]

In the '90s, it seemed to have been a law that Musetta Vander had to show her talentless hack face on every single genre show, so at least with Buffy she got it over with quick. Mostly the impression I was left with is that the script clearly came in short, as the episode is really overloaded with characters explaining things we already know, or just pointless flashbacks to things we just saw. Definitely one for the scrap heap.

[Lazlo]

I'm slowly rewatching the show via Netflix and have reached this episode.

 

It is definitely dumb but some parts of it are pretty fun.  Dr. Gregory is the first really sympathetic character we see killed even if he wasn't around long and his Buffy 'has a first class mind' thing was sweet if clunky.

 

I wish they'd kept Blayne around as a reccurrer; he seemed like a male counterpart to early Cordelia and could have been an interesting character to run with.

[KingOfHearts]

I still find Xander so annoying. The acting is bad and so far his only two traits are that he's awkward and can't stop looking at Buffy's chest. He belongs in an anime.

Mantis monster looked decently done, but that's the only good thing I have to say about this episode.

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎23‎/‎05‎/‎2014 at 8:58 PM, Lisin said:

From Wikipedia

 

Look, I hate this episode. I always skip it. I watched it to be a completest this time but I still hate it. I have no interesting thoughts. I Just think it's dumb. 

It is pretty bad but even the weakest Buffy ep has some good points, Xander's guitar dream for instance, Buffy's pathos over losing her encouraging teacher and a great performance from Musetta Vander. 

 

On ‎25‎/‎05‎/‎2014 at 4:57 AM, Eegah said:

In the '90s, it seemed to have been a law that Musetta Vander had to show her talentless hack face on every single genre show, so at least with Buffy she got it over with quick. Mostly the impression I was left with is that the script clearly came in short, as the episode is really overloaded with characters explaining things we already know, or just pointless flashbacks to things we just saw. Definitely one for the scrap heap.

That's a bit harsh, I really liked her on Bab 5 and she's still going strong today. Always used to get her confused with Melinda Clarke. 

 

On ‎01‎/‎06‎/‎2014 at 10:55 AM, Lazlo said:

I'm slowly rewatching the show via Netflix and have reached this episode.

 

It is definitely dumb but some parts of it are pretty fun.  Dr. Gregory is the first really sympathetic character we see killed even if he wasn't around long and his Buffy 'has a first class mind' thing was sweet if clunky.

 

I wish they'd kept Blayne around as a reccurrer; he seemed like a male counterpart to early Cordelia and could have been an interesting character to run with.

Yeah, he was the jerk of the week, I'm surprised CC didn't date him but then she's barely in this one. 

 

On ‎14‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 5:09 PM, KingOfHearts said:

I still find Xander so annoying. The acting is bad and so far his only two traits are that he's awkward and can't stop looking at Buffy's chest. He belongs in an anime.

Mantis monster looked decently done, but that's the only good thing I have to say about this episode.

Now you see my feelings about this ep are exactly the reverse of yours!

Teacher's Pet

The good; Sex raises it's ugly head in the Buffyverse and it's all the better for it. A lovely little bit between Buffy and her teacher (who is also in The Witch) and although a minor character you feel the loss for both Buffy and Giles (we know Buffy is a bright girl when she applies herself and here it's made clear that she's not just some blonde airhead). Angel's back although compared to what Buffy faces later this vamp is small change, he seems to talk it up rather unnecessarily, maybe it's just an excuse to see Buffy again. Some lovely humour around Xander and his teenage lust, especially love his Bronze fantasy.

The bad; Really the She-Mantis itself, when you compare it to some of the monsters from the later seasons it really does look awful. This ep is really a filler ep, very much 'monster of the week', it's fun but if Buffy had kept up this sort of ep it would never have become the great series it is

Best line; Xander (looking at Miss French's cleavage) "It's a beautiful chest...I mean dress"

Questions and observations; Giles shows interest in a woman for the first time, if he hadn't I must say I thought he might be gay? Flutie takes everyone to see the counsellor, is that the same one Buffy goes to see in 'Beauty and the Beast'? In 'Doomed' Willow says she's always the one to find the bodies but actually it seems more often to be Cordy. The Sunnydale Police are also hunting the claw handed vamp, the last time they do anything useful until 'The Zeppo'. Maybe that vamp was an enemy of the Mayor's? This story is an interesting reversal of fictional norms, how often do you see the heroine racing to save the boys from losing their virginity to the villain and not the other way around? What happens the eggs? Presumably Buffy and co deal?

6/10 I think but that may be a little generous

[Halting Hex]

On May 30, 2018 at 4:31 PM, Joe Hellandback said:

Giles shows interest in a woman for the first time, if he hadn't I must say I thought he might be gay?

Hey, that "oh, boy" Buffy sighs as she watches Angel smirk away into the crowd at the end of the episode is the first time she's shown interest in a man (she seemed completely unimpressed when he gave her the jacket in Act 1, and couldn't understand why Xander was so upset to see her wearing it in Act 2), so I'd say the G-Man actually beat her to the post in establishing his hetero- (or bi) interests.  Watchers and Slayers have to think about business, after all; they can't be walking hormone bombs like Willow and Xander, I guess.

[Joe Hellandback]

9 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Hey, that "oh, boy" Buffy sighs as she watches Angel smirk away into the crowd at the end of the episode is the first time she's shown interest in a man (she seemed completely unimpressed when he gave her the jacket in Act 1, and couldn't understand why Xander was so upset to see her wearing it in Act 2), so I'd say the G-Man actually beat her to the post in establishing his hetero- (or bi) interests.  Watchers and Slayers have to think about business, after all; they can't be walking hormone bombs like Willow and Xander, I guess.

Remember, we'd already seen her in the movie by that stage with Pike and Jeremy  and she'd described Angel as 'cute in an annoying sort of way'. 

[SosaLola]

- 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. 

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎25‎/‎06‎/‎2018 at 10:44 PM, SosaLola said:

- 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. 

Lead singers? Do you mean 

Spoiler

Devon? I don't ever recall that, he seemed pretty mellow. 

Yeah interesting to see how supportive Willow is for Bangel yet dislikes the prospect of Xander having a Mrs Robinson of his own. Of course CC with her yen for college boys also seems to promote this? The Buffyverse really is an ephebophile's heaven.  

[Halting Hex]

If Cordelia's doctor ships her "medically-prescribed lunch" daily, then why does CC need to remind the kitchen staff about that?  Does she think they weren't there yesterday?  Does she give this same speech every day?

No wonder

Spoiler

the lunch lady is ready to kill them all by S3…

[Halting Hex]

Xander's little digression about shwarma ("It's a big meat hive") while he's at Natalie's is perhaps an indication that Joss did a bit of rewriting here (despite Greenwald getting the sole credit), since Whedon used shwarma for a joke in the "bumper" scene at the end of Avengers.

(This has apparently become a recurring detail at Marvel; there was just an episode of Black Panther's Quest where Tony Stark makes a shwarma reference.)

[Halting Hex]

On 6/25/2018 at 5:44 PM, SosaLola said:

Same-gender friendships: You can easily see how at ease Willow is now that Buffy is around.

And Buffy's got Willow wearing makeup now!  Water that wallflower, Buffy, and watch her grow ❤️.

I really wish we got to see the cut scene at the top of Act I, with Buffy running Cordelia off when she tries to take back "her" table at the Bronze from B/W.  Oh, hell, let me pull it up.  Here you go:

Quote

ANGLE: FROM THE BALCONY

As we look down on Xander wandering, we TILT UP to find Buffy and Willow in mid-conversation at one of the tables up here.

BUFFY: Dr. Gregory didn't chew me out or anything. He was really cool. But Flutie showed him my permanent record. Apparently I fall somewhere between Charles Manson and a really bad person.

WILLOW: And you can't tell Dr. Gregory what really happened at your old school?

BUFFY: I was fighting vampires? I'm thinking he might not believe me.

WILLOW: Yeah, he probably gets that excuse all the time.

Cordelia approaches.

CORDELIA:  Here lies a problem. What used to be my table occupied by pitiful losers. Of course we'll have to burn it.

BUFFY: Sad, you have so many memories here. You and Lawrence, you and Mark, you and John. You spent the better part of your "J" through "M" here.

Cordelia gives a look and moves on.

Awww.  I can just see Aly cringing as Cordelia unleashes, and then the smile spreading across her face as Buffy stands up to her.  Dammit, Joss!  "Director's cut" DVDs! Please!

(I know, I know…"If we cut it, we cut it for a reason", Joss has always been very clear about this.  But a Hex can dream, right? Sigh.)

[Halting Hex]

On 6/27/2018 at 3:32 AM, Joe Hellandback said:

Lead singers? Do you mean 

Spoiler

Devon? I don't ever recall that, he seemed pretty mellow. 

No, Sosa Lola was referring to the guy in Superfine, who turns up his nose at Xander when he bops up to the edge of the stage at the Bronze, reliving his "guitarist" fantasy from the teaser.

Perhaps the Superfine guy thought Xander was offering his services as a groupie?  I guess it's not only Natalie who can smell the "virgin" coming off of him…

[Halting Hex]

Five posts in a row?  Gee, I must be more obsessed with this episode than Mantis!Natalie is with virgins.

But anyway…it's amusing that even in Xander's fantasy, he can't get a stake in the right place; that broken chair leg he tosses to "slay" the vampire seems to land in the vamp's pancreas or so.  But then, he did dust Jesse with a stake to the collarbone, pretty much.  I guess he's not a fanatic about the whole "heart" thing, exactly.

It's interesting that Buffy apparently told Willow and Xander about Angel, but only described him as "weird".  Even Giles got told that Angel was "gorgeous in an annoying sort of way"; I guess that Buffy came down on the "I really didn't like him" side of the Angel fence, albeit very temporarily.

It's amusing to contemplate what other kitchen implements "Fork Guy" might have put in place of his sacrificed hand.  An egg whisk?  A corn-cob holder?  Personally, I always vote for spatula:  "Those cupcakes aren't going to frost themselves, Karl*", as I once wrote on TWoP

(*-the name "Karl" for Fork Guy comes from a classic fanfic, "The Stranger" by Peri Gillis.  Written between S1 and S2, it tells the story of the first seven episodes from Angel's P.O.V.  There was a whole challenge of p.o.v. fics, back then.)

How does Giles not know what time it is in England?  (When he calls Carlyle's sanitorium.)  I mean, I know what time it is there, ffs.  I guess Xander isn't the only one in the group who "kind of [has] a problem with the math", huh?  Clearly Giles isn't a clock-Watcher, I suppose.  Learn to add, dude.

[lembergwatcher]

4 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

How does Giles not know what time it is in England?  (When he calls Carlyle's sanitorium.)  I mean, I know what time it is there, ffs.  I guess Xander isn't the only one in the group who "kind of [has] a problem with the math", huh?  Clearly Giles isn't a clock-Watcher, I suppose.  Learn to add, dude.

Many in the fandom (just like the younger Scoobs themselves) have a tendency to idolize Giles and view him as the most competent Watcher and the best choice for Buffy ever, while apparently it's exactly the opposite.

Spoiler

What if Buffy's future downfall must be attributed to her character traits or taste in men, but the Tweed Boy's "watching" as well?

Quote

Five posts in a row?  Gee, I must be more obsessed with this episode than Mantis!Natalie is with virgins. 

Well, Teacher's Pet is quite far from being one of my favorites in the season (despite the fact that S.01 was the only Buffy season I re-watched without skipping several eps). I don't like Xander being constantly put in some humiliating and degrading situations 

Spoiler

(i.e. there's no Willow eating raw meat or insects, after all)

. And Musetta Vander is not the hottest chick out there IMO alright-alright, she's very hot, but not in that episode from my POV). If She-Mantis was played by, say, Stephanie Romanov, different story.

Edited March 14, 2019 by lembergwatcher

[illdoc]

12 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

How does Giles not know what time it is in England?  (When he calls Carlyle's sanitorium.) 

Here's my thinking...Giles is so busy doing his research, he loses track of time (in Sunnydale) and is so anxious to call Carlyle, he doesn't even think about the time difference. In fact, in Angel (Lineage, I believe), 

Spoiler

Wesley does something similar, calling his father in England without thinking about the time difference. 

[Halting Hex]

16 hours ago, lembergwatcher said:

I don't like Xander being constantly put in some humiliating and degrading situations 

  Hide contents

(i.e. there's no Willow eating raw meat or insects, after all)

I don't think Xander actually ate the bugs; "Natalie" kept the goodies all to herself, as far as I could tell.

That said, I can't help you with that whole

Spoiler

"pork tartare" issue, I admit.  But that's two episodes down the road.  And at least he confined himself to Herbert, rather than adding Bob Flutie to his menu, as well.

And hey, at least Xander, despite being underage, got a well-mixed Martini out of the deal, right?  Beats a non-alcoholic drink at the Bronze any time, I say.

[lembergwatcher]

9 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

I don't think Xander actually ate the bugs

May bad.

Spoiler

But he seem to do just that in Buffy vs Dracula.

[Halting Hex]

So I quoted Willow's "[Dr. Gregory is] one of the only teachers who doesn't think Buffy's a felon!" line in Favorite Quotes, and I got to thinking.  Normally when I see that scene, I'm into how Buffy and Willow seem to be a matched set of cuteness (Willow's digression here aside), or I'm mourning Dr. Gregory, or I'm feeling sad for Buffy because Destructo-Girl just lost an advocate.

But…consider the converse.  Dr. Gregory's open mind (not his open skull, since Natalie apparently ate his head intact [/OT]) aside, what Willow is saying is that the rest of Buffy's teachers do think she's a felon.  Yeesh, that's a lot of baggage.  We know that Flutie showed Dr. Gregory Buffy's permanent record ("apparently I fall somewhere between Charles Manson and a really bad person," to quote the cut scene above), so I guess Flutie did that with everyone?

Which I guess is fair (why should Dr. Gregory get special treatment?), but still.  That's a lot of negative energy Flutie's putting into Buffy's academic surroundings.  You'd think Flutie might want to wait until a teacher actually enquires about Buffy, instead.

No wonder the kids don't call you "Bob", Bob.  Between this and personally calling Joyce to tell her about Buffy's attempt to leave campus in The Harvest, I'm giving you a bit of side-eye, I admit.  

Spoiler

(Not that I still won't feel sad when you become Hyena Kibble, but even so.)

I wonder if he told Giles.  (Not technically a "teacher", but still on staff.)  And I wonder if there was anything in that "permanent record" that Giles didn't already know, or if this was new information about the Slayer he so often seems confounded by?  Hmm.

Edited April 2, 2019 by Halting Hex
Because effing Auto-Correct apparently decided that "Destructo-Girl" was a typo and "fixed" it for me. Eff you, Auto-Correct. Grrr.

[lembergwatcher]

Is it acceptable for teachers to think their students are felons? Shouldn't Buffy consider a lawsuit or something since one can't be treated as criminal until proven guilty...

Edited April 2, 2019 by lembergwatcher

[Loandbehold]

1 hour ago, lembergwatcher said:

Is it acceptable for teachers to think their students are felons? Shouldn't Buffy consider a lawsuit or something since one can't be treated as criminal until proven guilty...

It's tough to punish thoughts. And, since Flutie was showing them the material that was in Buffy's records, which, if accurate, would prevent the Buffster from winning a libel suit, she's basically SOL on being able to successfully sue either him or her prior school.

[lembergwatcher]

1 hour ago, Loandbehold said:

It's tough to punish thoughts.

Yes, but some of them had to express those thoughts seeing as Willow noticed it. And even if the material in Buffy's records wasn't that good, it still didn't make Buffy some kind of juvenile delinquent.

Edited April 2, 2019 by lembergwatcher

[Halting Hex]

To be fair, Willow might be exaggerating.  The European History teacher we see in Welcome to the Hellmouth might not actually be on record as thinking Buffy's a felon (which would be slanderous if she said it, as Buffy has never been convicted of any offenses [to our knowledge]), but after being briefed by Flutie, she might have told Buffy "your records show that you have a violent streak and cause trouble. Don't try any of that here, don't ruin things for Cordelia and the rest of the students who are here to learn, because I'll report you and then you and your mother can start looking for a new home, again.  I'll be watching you."  

Which would be awful enough, but not actually accusing Buffy of anything she hadn't actually done. Thanks, Bob! 😞

[Halting Hex]

So…where's Amy?  Wasn't she (okay, technically her mother, but it's not as if the school knows about that) taking this very same biology class, with the very same Dr. Gregory, only last episode?  Where did she go?
 

I fanwank that her father was so eager to reconnect with her that he took her out of school, on a trip to Golden Valley, Minnesota, the headquarters of General Mills, to check out the Betty Crocker kitchens and get some brownies, fresh off the line.  But honestly, Dad…girl's missed enough school, already. (Parents!)

[lembergwatcher]

6 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

So…where's Amy?

What if Amy was sick and thus couldn't attend the very last lesson in Dr. Gregory's life? Or maybe she was smoking in the basement

Spoiler

Spoiler

just like pour Laura several eps later

? Or what if she had one of those groping sessions with some

Spoiler

Larry-type

jock inside the janitor's closet

Spoiler

just like X/C half a year later

?

Edited April 10, 2019 by lembergwatcher

[Halting Hex]

Quote

ANGEL: (smiles) I heard a rumor there was, uh, one less vampire walking around making a nuisance of himself.

First off, Angel, learn some English.  Vampires are a finite number of beings; they're countable.  Therefore Buffy's slaying of Karl (fanfic name for Fork Guy) means there is one fewer vampire out there, not "less".  Countable="fewer".  

Buffy has less work to do because there's one fewer vampire.  FFS.

More importantly, though, how does Angel know this?  He says there's a rumor, but where would Angel hear such a rumor?  Are the vampires hanging out at the Bronze, bitching about Buffy?  Does Karl work at the Only Starbucks in this One-Starbucks Town and people are wondering why he's been missing shifts?  (Karl works nights, of necessity, of course.)  Did Angel run by the Master's lair (remember, he knows where it is…he gave Buffy directions in The Harvest), do a quick headcount and notice that Karl was missing?  It doesn't seem likely that he'd be able to get away with that (the Master may be trapped but the minions should be able to chase Angel down) unless he was bringing the Master information of his own, and somehow I don't see Angel making regular visits to let the Master know what's happening on the soaps…

No, I think the most logical explanation is Angel saw it all go down.  We didn't see him, but we didn't see him at the Bronze for the Harvest until the end of that episode.  Just because Buffy spotted him that one time in the pilot doesn't mean he couldn't follow her unobserved.  I mean, he did tell Buffy all about Karl earlier in the episode, and it makes sense for him to hang back, since not only is Karl a vampire, after all, but he has that cool claw upgrade, and Angel's first encounter with him didn't go so well, with Angel getting wounded and all.

Slaying vampires is Buffy's job (it's the title of the show).  Angel seems more inclined to just gather intel (and then do his Cryptic Wise-Ass act while passing it along), which is apparently for the best.  Division of labor is usually a good idea, after all.

Of course this does beg the question…if Angel was there to see Buffy slay Karl, why didn't he go help rescue Xander from Mantis!Natalie, too?  Buffy certainly could have used more help than just Willow and Giles, after all.  But of course, Angel doesn't know anything about this.  His visit with Buffy at the Bronze was before Dr. Gregory's body was found, he doesn't go to the school, and it's not as if he knows the group well enough to know that Xander's absence is significant.  For all Angel knows, Xander could just be at home watching the Lakers game or something.

Spoiler

Of course, given what we learn about Angel in a few episodes' time, he should be able to hear Xander's screams from across the street or wherever he was lurking.  But the new viewers won't know that part yet.

The actual key question is…was Angel as afraid of the She-Mantis as Fork Guy was?  I mean, logically if she terrifies one vampire, she might scare others.  Did Angel sniff Natalie and go, "nope, not going there, no way!  Hope Buffy can rescue you, kid…I'm out of here!"  Hmmm.

[lembergwatcher]

9 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

how does Angel know this?

What if he has some informants around town?

[Halting Hex]

Quote

XANDER (bitter): And, while we're on the subject, what kind of a girly name is "Angel", anyway?

BUFFY (confused):  What does that have to do with—

XANDER:  Nothing.  It just kind of bugs me.

Given that the entire reason that Xander is being snappish with Buffy is because she just (correctly) accused Natalie of being an insect, was this intended as his making a snarky pun in reply?

If so, I think Nicholas Brendon was right to forego placing any such emphasis on "bugs" and just focus on Xander's emotions.  I don't really think this would be the moment for him to be showcasing his rapier wit.  (Even if he has shown that he can pun under stress, as when he saw Buffy decapitate a vampire with the toss of cymbal during the melee in The Harvest and quipped "Heads up!")  He's hurt by Buffy's not taking him seriously, he's annoyed by Angel (seriously, who wears a leather jacket over a wife-beater?  Is there a Marlon Brando movie filming in town?) and any pun is IMO unintentional.

Just a bug in the system, you might say.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

Riley Lynn does not like insects of any sort, so she spent the better part of episode freaking out, although she liked it as a whole.  Points to her for hanging in there, for referencing The Exorcist (wrt Natalie's head-turn) before Buffy did, and for her delighted "she likes Xander!" when Willow was rhapsodizing about Xander's endangered head.  (I would have thought Willow-liking-Xander was evident before this, but I guess she's excited to get confirmation.)

Spoiler

Of course, Riley is currently in mid-S2 (just did Surprise, and I'm on tenterhooks waiting for Innocence) and nowadays she's more excited for the possibility of Willow/Oz, since she just wants everyone to be happy.  But I still have hopes that the upcoming BB&B and Becoming, Part 2 can win her back to #TeamXillow.  We'll see.

Meanwhile, I'm afraid I don't have anything to contribute…except smut:

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Xander pulls loose one of the metal bars separating his cage from Blayne's.

BLAYNE:  Great!  Now I can get out of my cage…and into yours.  What'd you do that for?

XANDER (hurt):  You don't wanna cuddle?

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Halting Hex

[lembergwatcher]

15 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Willow was rhapsodizing about Xander's endangered head.

Truly one of the loveliest moments in the entire series. One of the reasons I prefer high school Buffy to post-high school Buffy. One of the reasons I believe each and every one of them was a better person during the high school years than in the supposed adulthood

Spoiler

(well, maybe, except for Cordelia, but that's debatable).

One example. Here Willow truly cares about her friend and is about to bang the door of every random house in a desperate attempt to save Xander's head.

Spoiler

A huge contrast with her behavior seven years later in, say, First Date where it looks like Willow doesn't give a shit whether Xander is alive, dead, raped to death, sacrificed or has his innards taken out by some curvy demon chick... 

 

[Halting Hex]

To be "fair", 

Spoiler

people sitting around not caring about their endangered friends is a Jane Espenson "trademark".  There's an active shooter at the school at the end of Earshot, but Angel, Giles and Wesley just stay at Buffy's house, because apparently Joyce has organized a high-stakes game of bridge, or something. (As I've written, if nothing else, doesn't Buffy need a ride back to school?)

And then there's Superstar, where everyone sits around theorizing about the implications of the Jonathan-verse being an alternate reality, rather than, say, rescuing Buffy.  Who's walking into a trap at the moment, as Riley/Giles/Willow/Xander know, but Buffy herself doesn't.  It's nice that Jonathan decides not to kill Buffy after all, but the gang's a bit blase about it, I always feel.

So First Date is hardly the first time Jane's pulled that stuff.  Also, S7 is six years after S1, not seven.  I grant you that suffering through S6 felt like an eternity…but it was just another year, no more, no less, chronologically.

 

Edited February 22, 2021 by Halting Hex

[Halting Hex]

So I'm thinking that it's a bit convenient that Mantis!Natalie just happens to live within walking distance of the real Natalie French's house…

…but then I remember that Sunnydale High isn't exactly ultramodern with their computer systems (see Flutie having to tape Buffy's file back together, as I discussed in the thread for the pilot episode).  So perhaps they don't have Direct Deposit available as yet, and the She-Mantis decided it would be best to stay close by Real!Natalie's place, so that she can snag her paychecks out of the mailbox before the original Natalie notices.  (Remember, the "born in 1907" Natalie's address is already on the substitute rolls.)

A mantis needs to eat, after all.  And you need bread to buy bread for those yummy cricket-on-mayo* sandwiches.  Since she can't bring Xander's head to school if she gets peckish during a class.  At least, I wouldn't think so.

(*-I knew there was a reason I never liked mayonnaise!)

[Halting Hex]

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FLUTIE:  I'm here if you ever need a hug…but not a real hug, because there's no touching at Sunnydale High.  We're sensitive to wrong touching.

Two scenes later:

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"NATALIE": I'll see you here after school.  (She squeezes Xander's shoulder.)

I grant that "don't date your students" should be self-evident from the get-go, and the part where "Natalie" isn't following SHS procedure is pretty firmly implied when does the "full-on Exorcist twist" with her head three seconds later, but it's nice of David Greenwalt to dot that 'i", anyway.

*********************************

My newest reactor (an Aussie girl named Jules) thinks Xander is "sweet and funny and adorable", so she's pulling hard for Buffy and Xander to get together.  Which isn't such a surprise…but Jules is the first person I've seen who was upset when Jesse died in The Harvest, because she thought Jesse and Willow might make a nice couple.  That's a bit left-field, but point for thinking outside of the box.

Jules was therefore taken a bit aback when this episode had the big Buffy/Angel "Hooo, boy" moment at the end, as well as Willow's talking about how she likes Xander's face and "his adorable smile".  She's willing to adapt, but a part of her still hopes Xander gets the girl.

**********************************

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BUFFY:  Remember Dr. Gregory?  You scarfed his head? Well, he taught me that if you do your homework, you learn stuff.

Y'know, Buffy…I'm sad for Dr. Gregory as well.  And I'm willing to give him his props…but I don't know if I really buy that, until you met Dr. Gregory, you didn't know that homework is educational.  I'm thinking you might have already known that, somehow.

(Either that, or the faculty at Hemery High in L.A. was really crap, I suppose.  But still.)

**********************************

Jules thought it was a cool plot twist that Blaine turned out to be a virgin as well, and thought this might help Xander deal with his own virginity issues.

Well, I doubt that Xander is looking up to Blaine as a hero, but I do think that knowing Blaine's full of it might make Xander feel less threatened by his tales of "conquest".

Of course, if the boys want to solve that particular problem, there are two of them…but I can understand if Xander would, on the whole, prefer the mantis.

(Some bamp-chicka-bamp-bamp ain't worth the bamps.)

[Halting Hex]

Speaking of Bamp-Chicka-Bamp-Bamp, it's not unheard for reactors express surprise that Dr. Gregory was, apparently, a virgin, but I don't think that stands up (pun?) to scrutiny.

Since "Natalie" clearly didn't Bamp-Chicka-Bamp with him before she consumed the head, and therefore there were no eggs for him to fertilize.  (The ones seen in the closet at the end were presumably transported there earlier; I guess Natalie didn't want her stash all in one place, for safety's sake.  I guess those were some of the eggs fertilized by whomever Blaine saw her kill.)

Just because Natalie kills after sex, that doesn't mean she can't kill for other reasons.  In this case, likely to open up a spot on the faculty and gain access to all the Xanders and Blaines out there.  

So on the one hand, it's a bit sad that Dr. G. didn't get a last ride…but OTOH, it's good to know he might well have had some time in the saddle before that.  Giddyap, Doc!