Epsiode 4: Teacher's Pet

Here's the truth: I've got several different directions I'd like to go with this, but I've got a cold and I'm grouchy and achy and I just want to watch Buffy, but until I write this one, I don't want to watch a different episode--it would cloud my memory. So pretend I'm far more nuanced, detailed and insightful than I'm really going to be.

This episode is one I had only seen once before. It's about a giant bug-lady trying to mate with Xander. I'm not into bugs. This is a stand-alone episode, one outside of the mega-plot for the season, which can be a find thing...but it just isn't an episode I love.

With that said, though, I love the opening. Xander fantasizing about rescuing a scared Buffy from a vamp in the Bronze, then jumping on stage to finish his set with the band, where he's the lead singer/guitarist. vintage boy-fantasy, I presume--and he's hot. the normal Xander geeky-gawky vibe is gone, and he's got moves. Serious moves--like Xander doesn't have in the whole series. (Side note: When BtVS began, he was 26, six years older than Sarah Michelle Gellar in real life, and 10 years older than the character he played. This scene is one of the few times his real age shows.) Interestingly, in the fantasy he bears a striking resemblance to Angel, who he hasn't seen yet, and he comments later in the show on how attractive Angel is.

If and when I write about a serious article about manhood and/or sex, this is a show I'll analyze in more detail, but today's topic is Willow. This is the first episode with serious reseach mojo happening. Throughout the episode, the gang is back at the library for more research, and this cements Willow's chops as a computer hacker. She's in the background constantly, and she's even been in danger in an eariler episode, but so far, she is not much more than a plot device. She gets to break important news, she gets to react to Buffy and Xander and Cordelia (who's not in this episode), but she hasn't really shone yet--she's the quirky nerd girl. In the last episode, we find out that she plays around with witchcraft, but treats it like a science experiment with no consideration for philosophical or ethical implications--a trait that continues until season 7. She becomes the cautionary tale of science/ability outstripping wisdom, but so far, she's just a handy, sweet, quirky friend for Buffy.

That's a formula we see throughout pop culture, the girl BFF who isn't as cute, as flirty, as desirable as the ingenue, but is a stalwart friend and invaluable resource. (We can call it the "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" formula--that play is an excellent example of the dynamic) Of course Willow is attractive, but lacking confidence and still dressing somewhat dumpy, not quirky/fun (although I think that begins very soon).

But we're still only four episodes into it; the characters are barely introduced. They all evolve from here---and I've barely mentioned Giles, who I adore! Soon, I'm sure.