School Hard

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Angel's old friends Spike and Drusilla come into town just in time to crash Sunnydale High's parent-teacher conference, putting Buffy's mother in the path of danger for the first time and forcing Buffy to create a ruse in order to protect her identity as the Slayer.

The review for "Some Assembly Required" can be read here.

There has long been a tension between Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her mother Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) in regards to her activities as the Slayer, with Joyce worried that she was involved in some kind of gang activity. Despite her worries about her daughter, Joyce imagines that she's simply going through something, working as best she can to sort out her feelings and return to some form of stability. Here, for the first time, Joyce gets involved in whatever mess Buffy finds herself in, seeing first hand how capable her daughter is, and learning how much strength she herself can muster.

At the top of the story Joyce asks Buffy about her parent-teacher interviews, stating that she doesn't want to be disappointed and kicking off her daughter's determination to keep her mother separate from Principal Snyder (Armin Shimerman). While Buffy's ploy works for the majority of the night, Snyder manages to catch Joyce at the close, asking to speak privately and leading Joyce to feeling the disappointment that she had feared from the start. Despite the lack of faith that Joyce has in Buffy in this moment, she sees that her daughter takes charge of the situation when Spike's (James Marsters) gang attacks, and defers to her, understanding that she may, in this scenario, be far more skilled than anyone else involved. After stopping Snyder from risking his own life, Buffy starts handing out orders that Joyce actively follows, trusting her daughter's judgement without actually understanding what's happening. Even when she's scared, and told to run, Joyce is inspired by her daughter's courage and doubles back to watch her daughter's back, hitting Spike over the head with an axe and chasing him off. Joyce admits that Snyder told her that Buffy is a troublemaker, but after the events of the night she admits that she'll sleep better knowing that Buffy's capable of taking care of herself and helping other people. This story helps the relationship between mother and daughter take a long stride in the right direction, bonding them closer as well as giving Buffy the benefit of the doubt in regards to her troubling path.

Spike had never been mentioned before the events of this episode, but by the end of the story he has already become a very well drawn character, proving to be something of an interesting villain for Buffy to fight throughout the season. Within moments of his introduction he reveals his motive for coming to Sunnydale, which involves his belief that the Hellmouth will help restore girlfriend Drusilla's (Juliet Landau) strength, and a desire to wrest control of the town from the Anointed One (Andrew J. Ferchland). The threat he poses is revealed through the fact that, within the last century, he has fought and killed two Slayers, and his familiarity with Angel (David Boreanaz), from a time when he, too, was a notorious murderer, and his capability to recognize Angel's deception when Xander (Nicholas Brendon) is taken hostage indicates how much difficulty Buffy and Angel will have in defeating him.

Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) berates Buffy for letting her life interfere with her slaying, an argument that they have had a number of times now, and while it continues to make sense to encourage her to take charge against a potential vampire battle rather than continue to focus on her personal struggles, it's notable that, one episode previously, this situation had been reversed. Here Buffy complains that she's close to being expelled, an event that likely would lead to her and Joyce having to move once more and separating her from being the protector of the Hellmouth, where last episode, when people's lives were in danger, Giles stepped out of the picture in favor of going on a date with Jenny (Robia LaMorte). It's in Giles' best interest to allow Buffy to work for Snyder here and ingratiate herself to him, but instead he complains that she's letting her schooling get in the way of her duty, and it's an argument that's not only played out at this point, but she has already proved him wrong on many occasions.

Angel shows up in the school library to warn Buffy about Spike, and not only does he say next to nothing, but he provides no useful advice on the situation and he makes no offers to help Buffy beyond that. The only thing that this scene accomplishes is to reveal a connection between the two vampires, but Angel leaves the scene less than a minute later and his attempt to help becomes more of a contrived annoyance.

Alexandra Johnes (Sheila) gives, at best, a passable performance here, but her chemistry with the rest of the cast is somewhat lacking and her line readings are all fairly weak. Ferchland, too, is uninspired in this script, providing a severe lack of emotion during his character's final moments and leaving the series having been largely unnoticeable.

There are a lot of things to like about John T. Kretchmer's direction of this episode, starting from Spike smashing through the Welcome to Sunnydale sign as he arrives in town and bookended by his smashing through the school's bay windows as his gang attacks parent-teacher night. At first Drusilla appears incredible naïve and innocent, only to be one of the most threatening of them all, and her vampiric face is much more smooth and attractive than most of those presented so far, lending her an air of elegance that the other monsters in this series lack. At one point Spike stalks Buffy through the Bronze, studying her technique in a very predatory manner, and his calculated attempts to observe her are a refreshing change from the villains that normally just dive into battle against her assuming that they will win. For Spike this is a game that he wants to play right, he wants to enjoy killing her, and it's the time he takes in doing so that will be entertaining.

Written by David Greenwalt and Joss Whedon, there are many moments within this script that indicate a growing awareness that the people of Sunnydale have toward the supernatural events of their town. As the vampires attack the school, Joyce questions if "there's something wrong with their faces," with Snyder stating that it's a gang on PCP, and later, as Snyder convenes with the police, they reveal their knowledge of vampires and choose, instead, to report it as the usual story of a gang on PCP. The trust between Buffy and Giles is also evident as Giles asks that she let him help her fight Spike's gang, with Buffy instead telling him that he's her last line of defense in protecting her mother should she fall in battle. Snyder putting Buffy and Sheila in charge of parent-teacher night as a means of punishment for their prior infractions is interesting only because he sets them up for failure, actively wanting to rid the school of the both of them and hoping that this will be his opportunity.

Part of what makes Spike seem so dangerous is the fact that he's a man willing to do anything for love, and should Drusilla be in danger he's likely to fly off the handle. His relation to Angel is also likely to complicate matters, as he may prove capable of manipulating either Buffy or Angel through knowing how to push his buttons.

The review for "Inca Mummy Girl" will be posted on December 26th.