School Hard (Buffy episode)
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| "School Hard" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) | |
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| Season 2, Episode 3 | |
| Air Date (US): | September 29 1997 |
| Production No.: | 5V03 |
| Written by: | David Greenwalt (story & teleplay) Joss Whedon (story) |
| Directed by: | John T. Kretchmer |
| Guest Star(s): | Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers) Robia LaMorte (Ms. Calendar) Andrew J. Ferchland (The Anointed One) James Marsters (Spike) Juliet Landau (Drusilla) Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder) |
| Previous: When She Was Bad | Next: Inca Mummy Girl |
"School Hard" is an episode of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer that introduces two new important characters.
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Plot Outline
Episode 3 of season 2, "School Hard" starts with Buffy and Sheila — the two worst students of the school — in Principal Snyder's office, getting a chore: They have to get the school lounge ready for parent-teacher night on Thursday. Their incentive: Whoever does the best job will not be expelled. While Sheila shows no inclination to do the work, this puts even more pressure on Buffy than she already has with slaying and her attempts to have something close to a normal social life.
That night, a pair of vampires with British accents arrive in Sunnydale: Spike and Drusilla. They burst into a discussion of the remaining vampires and the Anointed One about who will lead them now that The Master is truly gone. Spike promises that he will kill Buffy and brags he has killed two slayers already.
While Buffy and the other Scoobies are busy preparing for the parents, Giles and Jenny Calendar show up to inform Buffy that Saturday will be the Night of Saint Vigeous, named after the leader of a vampire crusade. To Giles' annoyance, Buffy can't work up any interest because she has so much to do with parent-teacher night.
Buffy tries to combine school and social life by studying French at the Bronze. Spike is there, too, and he sends one of his minions out with a female victim so he can observe the Slayer in action. When Buffy kills the vampire, Spike steps out of the shadows and predicts that he will kill her on Saturday. He later picks up Sheila, who is enthralled by his evil boy charms, and brings her to the weakened Drusilla as food.
Giles doesn't recognize Spike from Buffy's description. But Angel walks in on the meeting of the Scoobies and tells them that Spike is very bad news indeed without giving any more detail. Later, Giles finds a reference to Spike as "William the Bloody" as especially vicious vampire who has killed two slayers.
On Thursday night, the Scoobies are making weapons in the library while Buffy is preparing the buffet. After keeping Snyder from meeting her mother Joyce Summers for a while, the two finally talk. Afterwards, an enraged Joyce orders Buffy home just when Spike and the other vampires crash through the window, too impatient to wait for Saturday. In the ensuing fight, Buffy leads the adults to safety in the science room, while Xander, Giles, and Ms. Calendar barricade themselves in the library and Willow and Cordelia hide in a utility closet. Xander is sent out to get Angel to help. Buffy takes command of the incredulous adults, tells them to stay put, and climbs through the air ducts to reach the library and her weapons.
Xander returns to the school with Angel who pretends to be his former soulless evil Angelus self. Though Spike first welcomes Angel as a long lost friend, he sees through the ruse, and Xander and Angel are forced to flee. Xander witnesses Spike calling Angel his "sire" and his "Yoda".
Buffy and Angel finally meet in the hall, and Buffy is almost bested when her mother shows up and hits Spike over the head with the flat of an axe. With the curse "Women!" he retreats. Joyce tells Buffy that she feels good about her daughter despite Snyder's complaints because Buffy can think on her feet and take care of herself.
Snyder arranges to have the police release a cover story about a gang on PCP, letting us know that he knows more about what is happening in Sunnydale that he has shown so far.
Spike returns to the vampire lair, where the Anointed One demands penance for attacking too early. After starting to go through the motions, Spike simply throws the boy in a cage and pulls it into the sun, killing him. From now on, he says, there will be less ritual and more fun in Sunnydale.
Importance
"School Hard" introduces Spike and his love Drusilla, who at this point appear to be the villains this season. By the end of the series, a much changed Spike will have gone from Buffy's mortal enemy to her lover and from one of worst monsters the Scoobies have faced to their champion.
We see more of way the triple pressures of Buffy's life are weighing down on her. While Spike's relocation to Sunnydale increases the pressure on Buffy in one area, her mother's sudden disinterest in what Snyder thinks of her reduces it in an other.
Joyce Summers gets her first inkling of what her daughter is really capable of, a step towards Buffy revealing her true nature.
Writing and Acting
Spike and Drusilla provide a far more interesting pair of villains than the Anointed One was. Their characters — with Spike's violent, irreverent, smart-ass British punk attitude and Drusilla's psychotic, Gothic, prescient nature — break the traditional vampire mold in the series for good.
Spike's character still has some rough edges during his first appearance. He spends long periods of time with his vampire face, limiting his range of facial expressions. Certain mannerisms like his repeated use of the phrase "Who am I kidding?" will be dropped in future episodes.
It is not quite clear why Sheila is in the story. Arguably, it would have put even more pressure on Buffy if she was the only one to prepare parent-teacher night.
Angel is not in fact Spike's sire, Drusilla is. However, Angelus sired her. This could either be a continuity error, or a token of respect by Spike.
Quotes and Trivia
The title is a reference to the Bruce Willis film Die Hard, where the protagonist has to save a bunch of hostages from terrorists. In it, Willis spends time through air ducts, too.
"Rupert, you have to read something that was published after 1066" — Jenny Calendar about Giles' reading habits.
"People still fall for that Anne Rice routine?" — Spike to Angel about good vampires
"We can't run, that would be wrong. Can we hide?" — Willow musing about the better part of valor
"Wow. Two centuries of dating. If you only had two a year, that's still like 400 dates with 400 different ..." — Willow about Angel in front of Buffy, proving too much math is not a good thing
Cast
- David Boreanaz as Angel
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
- Robia La Morte as Jenny Calendar
- Juliet Landau as Drusilla
- James Marsters as Spike
- Armin Shimerman as Principal Snyder
- Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
Other Languages
German title: "Elternabend mit Hindernissen" ("Parent-Teacher Night with Obstacles")
Spike's Anne Rice reference was removed by German translators and replaced with the line:
- "Fallen die Menschen immer noch auf diesen romantischen Quatsch 'rein?"
which roughly translates as:
- "Do humans still fall for that romantic crap?"
External Links
- BBC episode guide to School Hard (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/indetail/schoolhard/)