Teacher's Pet (Buffy episode)
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"Teacher's Pet" is episode 4 of season 1 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Xander is smitten by the new substitute teacher, who may be more than she appears. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Plot synopsis
Summary
Buffy receives a warning from Angel about a dangerous new vampire in Sunnydale whose hand has been replaced by razor sharp blades. When her biology teacher turns up decapitated in the lunch room fridge, Buffy and the gang are quick to blame this new vamp. However, things aren't all they seem with the new substitute, Miss French, who is a little too good at raising the boys' temperatures and, it turns out, scaring evil vampires with razor sharp blades. When Xander and other male students who were helping Miss French begin disappearing, Giles remembers a story of a creature, not unlike a praying mantis, that preys on male virgins. Buffy, Giles and Willow rescue the guys from Miss French's basement, dusting the evil vamp and slicing and dicing Miss French in the process.
Expanded overview
The episode opens with Xander saving Buffy in the Bronze. He then gets on the stage to play his solo and "kiss her like she has never been kissed before." He is daydreaming in science class.
The only teacher who believes in Buffy, Dr. Gregory, is killed by a monster. The substitute teacher, Natalie French, turns every boy's head, and seems to have a thing about insects, especially the praying mantis. Buffy and Willow just roll their eyes.
Angel shows up at the Bronze, warns Buffy that somebody wants to rip her throat out, gives her his jacket, and vanishes again.
Cordelia finds the headless body of Dr. Gregory in the cafeteria locker. The Scoobies try to figure out if there is a connection to the Master, but don't rule out that there is a second monster about. Buffy goes into the park and confronts a vampire who has blades instead of fingers. The fight is interrupted by the police, and the vampire flees. While in pursuit, she sees the vampire come up behind Miss French, who just stares at him. To Buffy's surprise the vampire bolts in panic.
The next day, Buffy is sent to a counselor to help her get over seeing the dead body. This makes her late for the surprise test that Miss French gives the class — a test where she helps Xander with a question. Buffy looks through the window in the door, and Miss French turns her head 180 degrees to look at her. Later, Miss French asks Xander over to her house in the evening to work on a project.
Back in the library, Buffy figures that Miss French must be a praying mantis, and convinces the others. Buffy tries to warn Xander, but he brushes her off, saying that she is just jealous.
Miss French welcomes Xander with a drink, a fire in the fireplace, and a tight dress. The drink knocks him out just when she turns into an insect. Xander wakes up in a cage next to another student who tells him how she mates — deadly. Willow calls Xander's mother and finds out that he isn't home. Buffy gets Giles to record bat noises, while Miss French chooses Xander to be her next victim. When the remaining Scoobies visit the house where Miss French is supposed to live, they find a nice old woman who is has that name, but retired in 1972. To quickly find Xander, Buffy grabs the one-handed vampire, who is so scared of the she-mantis that he knows just which house is the right one. Buffy breaks through the window when the mantis is about to mate with Xander. She slays the insect, using the bat noises to weaken it.
Buffy, in Angel's jacket, later meets him at the Bronze. He tells her to keep it, and Buffy is obviously smitten. The last scene shows Buffy putting Dr. Gregory's glasses in his closet, but not noticing that there are she-mantis eggs attached to the bottom of a shelf.
Writing and acting
- Issues metaphorically treated in this episode include adults who prey on children and spiked drinks.
- Willow seems to espouse the value of teenage virginity after saving Xander. Some allege that episodes like this and "Beer Bad" support conservative social values, Buffy writers have indicated in interviews to be concerned more with showing that actions have consequence. Moreover, the boys in this episode believe falsely that everyone else is having sex and thus feel pressured to do the same. The episode can thus be viewed as simply a commentary on peer pressure.
Cast
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
- Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
Production details
Music
- Superfine - "Already met you". This appeared as one of the songs on .
- Superfine - "Stoner love"
Translations
German title: "Gottesanbeterin" ("Praying Mantis")
Quotes and trivia
"God, every day here is the same." -- Giles misses England
"You have a first rate mind and you can think on your feet." -- Dr. Gregory will be proven right by Buffy's SAT scores
"You were right all along, about everything. Well, no, you weren't right about your mother coming back as a Pekingese." -- Giles must concede that Carlyle may be crazy
"Be still my heart." -- Buffy finds out that hot dogs are the school food of the day. This will prove a popular saying in Sunnydale (e.g., Xander in "The Prom" and Riley in "Family").
"Let's roll." -- Buffy leads her associates to rescue Xander
Willow states that Ms. French was born in 1907, making her 90 years old. This sets this episode in 1997. The last episode was set in 1996.
Xander's middle name is Lavelle
We learn Xander is a virgin at this point.
The band at the Bronze is Superfine.
Continuity
Arc significance
- Xander proves to be an outcast at Sunnydale High as other students make fun of him. Willow and Xander get their first look at Angel, and Xander is jealous. Their relationship will remain strained throughout the whole series. Buffy and Willow's friendship deepen.
- Buffy realizes that she is falling in love with the mysterious stranger. She will keep wearing Angel's jacket for quite a while.
- Buffy, not Giles, solves a number of problems in this episode, such as the problem with Miss French and how to fight her. It shows that not only can she fight, she also thinks. Other Scoobies will take on more responsibilities as the series progresses; Willow will characterize Buffy half-humorously as "a nice girl, but not too bright" in the final season. By that point, however, Buffy can claim to have taken the moral flagpole from Giles.
Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
External links
- [BBC episode guide to "Teacher's Pet"]
- [Buffy Body Count guide to this episode]
- [Buffyology Episode Page]
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