School Hard

[Updated April 29, 2013]

Spike and Dru. They’re favorites of most Buffy fans, including me, and their entrance into Sunnydale and Buffy’s life makes School Hard a very popular episode. It’s certainly one of my personal favorites for re-watching. Every minute with Spike on the screen is mesmerizing, but there are lots of great moments. “How much sugar did you add?” might be my favorite.

I think we can read the episode on multiple levels, but the problem is I can’t explain the details without spoiling possibly the biggest plot twist of the entire series. Let’s see if I can talk around the problem. That will involve talking about Spike, while I leave it to you to consider what or who Drusilla might represent.

Some Assembly Required

[Updated April 29, 2013]
 

Some Assembly Required is, I get the impression, viewed by most fans as a light, funny, but not very good or important episode. I half agree with this – it’s light and funny, but, per usual, I think it’s also telling us something important.

When She Was Bad

[Updated April 29, 2013]

While Joss got to tell his story in outline form in S1, beginning with S2 he will pick up on themes which first appeared in S1 and expand on them. This adds both depth to the story and sophistication to Buffy’s journey to adulthood. When She Was Bad transitions us from the clear but relatively simple outline we saw in S1 to the profound and deeply moving experience of S2. If Buffy was the show which made television great, to paraphrase Robert Morgan from the Introduction, Season 2 was the season which made Buffy great.

Prophecy Girl

[Updated April 29, 2013]

BtVS began as a mid-season replacement show. All 12 episodes of S1 were shot before it aired, giving Joss the chance to go back and change or add scenes. However, he didn’t know until they were done shooting that the show would be renewed for a second season. He therefore made the decision, which he repeated every year until S6 (when he had a 2 year contract), to end the season in such a way that it could serve as a series finale if necessary. He wrote Prophecy Girl, as he wrote all season finales except S6, with that aim in mind.

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

[Updated April 29, 2013]

Out of Mind, Out of Sight rarely gets trashed like Teacher’s Pet or IRYJ, but I don’t get the impression it’s anyone’s favorite either. It’s just a standard, average S1 episode, a satirical look at the way high school cliques and cruelty can devastate outsiders.

It won’t be a surprise that I think there’s another reading, but it took me a long time to find it. I couldn’t figure out what the larger point was, or if there even was one, nor could I understand why it’s located just before the season finale. I now think I can explain it.

Nightmares

[Updated April 29, 2013]

Nightmares is the second episode with an affirmative message for Buffy, this time in the form of Billy. The solution to Billy’s nightmares was, of course, to face his fears. Xander, Buffy’s metaphorical heart, showed the way on this when he turned around and punched out the clown.

The Puppet Show

[Updated April 29, 2013]

After a series of episodes telling Buffy what she should not do, because false steps will impede her progress towards her destiny, we now get the first of three episodes which tell her the affirmative steps she needs to take.

The metaphor in The Puppet Show is pretty straightforward once Buffy discovers the plot twist: Sid, the dummy, is a demon hunter, ergo he stands for Buffy. The metaphor is the message.

Putting aside his “horny” shtick, Sid is very dedicated to his profession. He’s willing to sacrifice his own life to eliminate the final demon. He may have seemed a puppet, trapped by powers and circumstances beyond his control, but in the end he wasn’t a puppet at all because he chose his fate.

There are other metaphors here which I can’t discuss because of spoilers. I’ll have to cut this short and talk about this episode in more detail when we get to Prophecy Girl. I’ll only say that I don’t think the reference to Oedipus for the hilarious closing scene was accidental.

There are a couple of little things I love about this episode: Principal Snyder and the irony of Cordelia’s song choice.

Trivia notes: (1) The episode takes its inspiration from the movie Child’s Play. (2) Xander had the dummy “say” the word “redrum”. “Redrum” is the word “murder” spelled backwards, and comes from the movie The Shining. Nick Brendan adlibbed the line. (3) Xander asked if anyone else felt like “they’d been Keyser Soze’d”. Keyser Soze is (duh) from the movie The Usual Suspects. (4) Alyson Hannigan adlibbed Willow running off-stage. (5) Although I really like this episode, it was the lowest rated episode in the show’s history.