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oooops this one got a little long. wonder why...🤔🤔

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Buffy Season 2, Ep 3 - School Hard

Vidyard video

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Jenn Rose

I love how excited this episode made you as it is one of my faves of s2! Also your dilemma of not wanting them to kill Spike lol I'm sure you weren't alone in that! I also love the addition of yet another unique nickname. We got all the Corn names, Rupe, Cal, and now Spear lol, wonder what will be next! Also you might dislike Xander at times but you can't deny he makes you laugh almost every episode and your love for his fashion so that has to count for something! I've never seen someone laugh so much over the PCP thing but now I'll always laugh thinking of this reaction. Each of your reactions makes me love these episodes even more! 😝

R J Walker (FumblesMcStupid)

Oh man, I laughed so hard when you were on your PCP jag 🤣 It really is a great entrance for Spike and Drusilla. You're right, they are the villain power couple 😁 (Rupe and Cal are obviously the Sunnydale High power couple 😉) Oh and tiny factoid, in the background when Snyder is talking to the police at the end you can see Rupe and Cal walking arm in arm and eventually he wraps his jacket around her, what a gent 😍Sadly policeman's bald head makes it almost impossible to see :( And the Annoying One is gone so that's great :D I do like the fact that Spike is so different from all the vampires we've seen, a lot more thoughtful but also rash. Plus FUNNY!! And I guess Angel ended on no points gained due to any good he did only making up for his usual tell them half the story and bugger off routine, smh

Whisper_dvm

I’ve never noticed the Giles/Jenny moment. Gosh I guess I’ll have to rewatch it.

Jessica Roth

LOL, you were so busy reacting, you missed the only truly great thing about the episode! BUFFY'S MOM **FINALLY** SAYS HER NAME!! (It's "Joyce". She says it to Snyder. The name's been in the scripts since the pilot; I'm so tired of having to hide it.) And you missed it! LOL! Okay, so the first half is really funny. Giles putting his hands in the paint gets me every time, and I love how when Snyder shows up, Giles and Jenny are all just "Shall we?" "Let's" and VROOOM! Sorry, kids, you're on your own! LMAO! And Spike and Drusilla have the potential to be exciting characters, and some of the plot threads (what do Snyder and the cop know? When is Sheila coming back? Will Xander actually put a bell on Angel?) may make for interesting episodes in the future. But the hope of future good episodes doesn't make this one suck less. We end up with a lot of boring running around in the dark while Buffy fights everybody EXCEPT Spike (there's no way it should take ELEVEN MINUTES for them to face off) and a ton of empty hype. Ooooh, St. Vigeous is going to be big! No, the episode is over before it ever happens. Ooooh, that big vampire looks tough! No, Spike uses him as a decoy, he's dust before the first ad. Ooooh, Spike and Dru have chemistry! Vampire romance! No, they never kiss. Spike gets less action than Xander, ffs. And the big flop: Spike himself. We spend the episode hyping him to the sky (he's killed Slayers! Scary!), Angel practically acts as his press agent (while not bothering to mention this "sire" thing, which is apparently important) and what does he end up doing, exactly? He gets bonked on the head by JOYCE, then RUNS AWAY, and goes home to sulk with his girlfriend, Some scary villain you turned out to be, pal. Sigh. (I mean, can you imagine the Master doing that?) BTW, you're not the first reactor I've seen burst out laughing when Spike runs away. Can't imagine that's the response they were going for. Oh, and then Joyce and Buffy bond because, Joyce says, Buffy "thinks of others in a crisis". Yeah…except for her BEST FRIEND, whom Buffy leaves terrorized and hiding in a closet and COMPLETELY forgets about. JFC. Buffy's not alone, though. We have SIX characters walking off at the end (Buffy/Joyce, Giles/Jenny, Xander/Angel) and not ONE of them thinks to wonder what happened to Willow, to Cordelia, or even to the other pairs. Hey, Xander, what happened to "If they hurt Willow, I'll kill you"? What happened to "I'm not going anywhere until I know Buffy and Willow are okay"? As one reactor put it, "20 minutes later, he's like 'Willow who?'" Hey, Angel, you spent the whole episode telling us what a Slayer-killing badass Spike is. Maybe you should check on your girlfriend, the SLAYER, to see if she's okay or if Spike has more bragging rights? Hey, Giles, Buffy gave you ONE JOB: keep her mom safe. I, uh, don't see Joyce anywhere near you. Maybe you should make sure Buffy's not an angry orphan now? Hey, Jenny, you're not just Rupe's girl, you're a teacher. You've lost track of at least three students. Wanna see if you've still got a class to teach? Hey, Buffy, last you saw Xander and Angel, they were being chased by a pack of vamps. Wanna see if you still have any potential boyfriends left? And could somebody, ANYBODY, look for Willow and Cordelia? (Buffy saw which way they went; why doesn't she rescue them, instead of just fighting random vamps?) Hell, why doesn't JOYCE wonder where Willow is? She knows Willow, she sent Buffy to look after Willow when Will was traumatized in "Prophecy Girl". And Willow spent HOURS showing Joyce around. All of a sudden, you don't wonder what happened to her? Yeesh. I know, I know. Nobody checks to see if anybody else is all right because they all read the script. And because that "Willow hits Cordelia" joke is Just.So.Funny. (Never mind that it's out of character for Willow. Never mind that Willow was the one who suggested praying to begin with.) But hack writing that's this bad just gets me REALLY annoyed, as you can probably tell. Rank: 20th out of 22 episodes this season. Sigh.

Bastion33

So hyped that you finally met Spike/Spear and Drucilla. They are some of my favorites in the Buffyverse.

R J Walker (FumblesMcStupid)

:) A friend pointed it out to me recently (after 20+ years of watching). It's a lot easier to see in the dreaded widescreen version, barely visible in the 4:3

darcieswatchingbuffy

LOL right like please dont kill him but also okay we gotta kill him?! LOL I want spear to stick around a little while i like him!! so much more than master gross hands. you're right, i wont deny xander has been making me laugh a lot AND we've had a good two episodes together! as long as he keeps wearing cool shit and making good jokes, i'm in! THE PCP LINE, when i think about it even now i still laugh i just loved everything about that. and yay! i'm glad you're enjoying the reactions cause im having so much fun with this show!

darcieswatchingbuffy

i'm still giggling about the PCP line lololol. and yeah like a villain power couple wasn't in my wishlist but UMM it should have been!! I'm pumped! omg like whisper said.. im gonna have to go back and rewatch. darn :P SPIKE is so good like i could just rant on and on and on. all the little things, all the big things - his introduction was per-fect. And nope... angel came out that episode with a solid 0 points, better luck next time LOL

darcieswatchingbuffy

oh wow yup you're right you definitely have a differing opinion! When you dig into all the little things, some things don't add up, but i really enjoyed it for what it was - fun, with a new exciting villain. i would have to disagree with chemistry in romance needs kissing. I don't think it does at all. in my opinion, i felt how much spike cared for dru - looking out for her eating, openly talking about his concerns etc - and didnt need a kiss at all for me to know they're in love and that they work well together! just my opinion. i do agree some of the conversations were weird, especially like i mentioned buffy and her mom at the end talking about the conference as opposed to the CHAOS that just happened! i didn't think too hard about willow and cornpuff being left in the closet at the end but that's a fair analysis from your end. i'd also disagree that spike was a flop. i feel they are building him up as someone who sticks around and i think they did a really good job! they showed he's violent, experienced, and smart. and that's not something buffy has really come up against before which is very exciting to me. yeah he ran away at the end and it was weird and i hope that's not the route they continue going with him but at the end of the day i think they did a great job at building his character and we've only just met him. LOL i can definitely tell youre annoyed! and well thats the joy of media, we all consume it differently and have different opinions which makes it fun! i always appreciate your thoughts and write ups even when they differ from mine. :)

Patrick Lyke

I've been so excited to see your reaction to this episode and you definitely did not disappoint! I loved how at the beginning you were saying how you were hoping the Annoying One would show back up and I'm just sitting here going "yep....he's back for sure.....but just you wait" :) Needless to say we're just out of the gates for season 2. I loved how the "gang related, PCP" broke you.....totally awesome!! Another awesome reaction and I'm so ready for next week to keep carrying on!! :)

Sarah

I think the reason why they never did anything with the anointed one was because they knew he was never going to be permanent. Vampires are supposed to never age, kind of impossible to stop a child from aging. I think helpless girl refers to the girl at the bronze that Buffy saved. I know you said that Spike had to that vampire attack helpless girl to reveal Buffy, but the anointed one’s vamps know what she looked like so I’m sure they pointed her out to Spike. I think he just wanted to see Buffy fight to know what he’s up against. I think you missed Snyder’s line at the end, where he says, “you want to tell them the truth?” Spike & Dru, especially Spike, are fan favorites. I’ve been excited to see them again. 🌸

Whisper_dvm

I rewatched it for that scene- you’re right the bald guys head was totally in the way. I also noticed a continuity goof since I was watching for Giles/Jenny in the background. In the first scene of Snyder and the cop, you can see Giles/Jenny walking arm and arm in the background down the walkway of the school, the scene then immediately cuts to Giles/Jenny focus scene of them walking out of the school doors and Jenny taking his arm. Totally never noticed they were even in the background of the Snyder/Cop scene before

Melissa

Spike ran away but he did kill that parent/teacher with one twist of his neck. Even more cruel and heartless than turning him into a vamp IMO. That episode analysis exhausted me lol.

R J Walker (FumblesMcStupid)

Yes, I don't think the editor realised they were there either ;) I do like the fact that the show bothers to have characters in the background of shots. I mean, there's no NEED for them to be there but they did it any way.

Shaun Houghton

I'd say how much I'm loving how much you're loving the show, but I think the PCP is affecting me, and I don't speak a word of english.

David Meadows

Wow. Ok, yes, I see where you're coming from. All your points are well made. But I can forgive the sloppy plotting there because actually showing us all the loose ends being tied up would have ruined the pace and drama of the ending. We can assume everybody is checking on everybody else before/after/during the ending scenes we are shown.

David Meadows

Spike running away is completely in character from what we've seen -- he's outnumbered 2:1 and for all he knows Joyce is a ninja warrior, so he's just being tactical, as we've already seen he is. But I don't know why everybody thinks that killing two Slayers is a big deal. Think about it: a Slayer has to die for another to appear, and I'll bet that very few die peacefully of old age, so dozens if not hundreds of Slayers must have been killed by vampires over the years. (Unless they were all killed by Rhino Demons.)

Teresa Schultz

Great reaction! I think you are my favorite! And, yes, this is the first of many great episodes!

darcieswatchingbuffy

HAHA i was like "i need him to DO something interesting" and well... dying works i guess hahaha. This principal is just giving me my favourite lines, can't wait to see what else he comes up with hahaha. I'm excited too this episode felt like a gas pedal so I can't wait for what's to come!

darcieswatchingbuffy

Ah yes, but I still think especially in season 1 they could have used him better then killed him off. Like even if he would have been used to trick buffy i would have been more satisfied i just never really knew why he was there. makes sense why they couldn't keep him long term though! And yeah that's fair that he could have just wanted to see her fight. I heard the line at the end with the cop - is he saying the cop and snyder know there are vampries? I could easily see why this little power couple would be a fan fave! I'm excited to see more of them :)

Jessica Roth

Except that if people did check up on each other, they would have noticed that Willow and Cordelia are missing. They just wanted to focus on the pairs (Aww, Buffy and her mom are bonding! Haha, Angel is zinging Xander! Giles and Calendar are so cute!) and forgot that the characters should have other concerns. And yes, you can ascribe Spike's retreat to pragmatism. (And, I must say, he does a lovely job of getting his coat to billow as he leaps out the window. Points for style.) But Joyce actually ISN'T a super warrior, so he's wrong, which doesn't build respect for the character. Basically they're fluffing Joyce at Spike's expense, and IMO that's a poor choice, since Joyce is unlikely to be a regular in battle. (She still doesn't know what's going on.) I'd rather have a credible villain than a moment of "you go with that axe, Mom!", since that's probably not a longterm character arc for her. Normally, what you do to give the heroes a "yay!" moment is have them defeat a once-off villain you can sacrifice. As in the season premiere, where Buffy worked out her iss-yews with an "I'm gonna kill them all". I'll always have fond memories of Absalom, Bob, Ned, Walt, Jane and Tara, but they won't be needed for future plots the way Spike seems likely to be. Honestly, if Joyce had gotten her Hero Moment by hitting FrankenDaryl, I wouldn't mind it a bit. But we need Spike to be scary. "Bonked by Joyce, ran away and sulked" isn't helping his resume, IMO. One other way they try to make us love Joyce is to put her in scenes with Snyder, because Snyder is openly hostile to Buffy and then Joyce gets to defend her. But IMO that's a false equivalency; Snyder isn't Buffy's parent, after all. I need more from Joyce than "nicer than Snyder". (Also, Snyder is funny; I enjoy his scenes more than hers.) Instead, Joyce remains a Negative Nancy, an obstacle towards Buffy's happiness. Darcie is right about how harsh that "I just don't want to be disappointed in you again" line in Act I is. Ironically, in David Greenwalt's last script ("Nightmares"), we saw Hank reduce Buffy to tears by telling her that she's "not nearly as bright as I thought you were going to be". But that was just a nightmare. Apparently what's a nightmare version of Hank is pretty much S.O.P. for Joyce. Ouch. It's going to take more than yelling at Snyder (or some idiot who panics) or suddenly being all "yeah, you did great fighting that gang, honey" for me to be on #TeamJoyce. But again, JMO

L R

When Spike said "Fe FI Fo Fum I smell the blood of a ripe young girl" was your brain telling you , surely they wouldn't go there ? They would .

Sika6061

Which explains the tampon Xander found in Buffy's purse. LOL

Whisper_dvm

I have honestly always strongly disagreed with this take. 1. It is extremely common to have tampons in your purse at all times (sometimes periods come early/unexpectedly) 2. She’s wearing a white skirt- who in their right mind would wear white while menstruating? Just asking for an embarrassing accident

Sika6061

Yeah but sometimes that accident has to happen first before we learn and grow. Not that I know this from experience or anything....😏🤦‍♀️

Vicky N

I am super late with this reaction. It’s so funny that you find the gang on PCP line so funny. I agree that Armin Shimerman delivery was perfect. But I think you missed the point at the end that for the first time in the show, we see people outside of the core group who apparently know what’s going on and are deliberately misleading. This episode is when this show really starts for me. As Spike said a little less rituals and a little more fun.

Jessica Roth

I never got around to mentioning this before but part of what annoys me is technical; the staging of the action at the end is terrible (it looks as if Buffy is just standing around watching Angel try to con Spike). In fact, it was so bad that Joss fired director John T. Kretchmer (that was actually the FIRST day of shooting) and directed the rest of the episode himself. (You can tell it's Joss directing because he snuck in one of his favored "all-in-one-shot" scenes, when Giles and Xander are researching Spike's history. Joss likes to talk about those long shots having a "unifying energy", but of course it's just him thinking like a producer; set up once, shoot it and move on. Time is money, people!) So I'm checking out the shooting script and I notice something: after he gets bonked by Joyce, Spike is supposed to LOOK OUT THE WINDOW, see Angel and Xander kicking ass outside and the other vampires running away, and THAT'S why he runs away. NOT because of Joyce the Super-Badass, but because he can see the General Retreat has been sounded. To quote the Klingon proverb, "Only a fool fights in a burning house." Now this would have made Spike look MUCH better, IMO. Not only is he not running away at the first sign of trouble, not only is he not mistakenly thinking JOYCE is to be feared, but it also plays into his subsequent decision to kill the Anointed, if it's COLLIN's hench-vamps who undercut him by running away and leaving him all alone. Spike told Angel he was "surrounded by idiots"; if the idiots are cowards, too, and Spike's angry about it, this makes his decision to turn the whole structure upside-down seem logical. (Remember, Spike isn't planning on living in Sunnydale forever; he just wants to cure Drusilla and get back on the road. Why should he want to take over, exactly? But if he can't trust the minions unless he's the top dog, then it makes sense.) So I rescind some of my criticism of Spike and the episode. (Although nobody looking for Willow still annoys tf out of me.) But apparently Kretchmer found it too complicated to set up the shot so we can see Spike looking out the window and watching Angel fight, and besides, Joyce hit him, so why is he looking around, right? And so he just went with the simple "Women!"-and-running-off shot. Yeah, well that's how you get yourself fired, Kretchmer. Goodbye and good riddance. Grrr.

darcieswatchingbuffy

im so glad i caught this notification as i dont check old posts too often! i agree, that would have actually made it look much better. i have to wonder why they decide to cut certain things like that... its not like it would have taken much more time right? i also just have to note that i can appreciate how you can still find out and learn new things so many years later and after so many rewatches! it really is like an endless journey isnt it?

Jessica Roth

It is indeed. You don't want to know how long it took for me to learn that the title "School Hard" wasn't meant to be about Buffy's complaints (a la Barbie saying "Math is Hard!"), but a movie reference: "It's like 'Die Hard' in a school!" Completely missed that, for over a decade! Yippee-Ki-Yay, Joss.

Tim Pierce

That's something I never thought about. Giles gets paid for being her Watcher, Buffy should get some sort of compensation for being the Slayer. Even after she becomes an adult she doesn't get paid.