Bad Egg

I think I figured it out. These two episodes, Ted and Bad Eggs, seem like weird, weak interruptions. The front bookend is Big--Spike, Dru, Kendra, angst, fire--and it's bookended by Big Bad--Angel turning evil. These two episodes are ok, probably, but...why bother?

The lesson in Ted could be summed up as breaking rules has consequences.

The lesson of Bad Egg follows that: Someone has to be responsible.

Bad Egg begins and ends with Joyce harassing Buffy about being responsible. In between, Buffy has saved Joyce's life--the lives of most of Sunnydale High, in fact--but Joyce doesn't realize that. So she's harping on Buffy about being responsible, grounding her to her bedroom in hopes of making the point.

Buffy has proven that she's responsible, but not in a way Joyce recognizes. And soon, Buffy will again be responsible, but in a different sense of the word.

Other things: Cordy and Xander can't keep their hands off each other, but want no talking, no lights because they can't stand each other. What could possibly go wrong here?

Buffy and Angel discuss the future; Buffy admits she doesn't see one, but what she does see is Angel. That's as far as she can see--and he says that's true of him, too. This is the schmaltziest they've been, I think--again, set against the backdrop of the egg experiment and the teacher intoning "Sex leads to responsibility." Gee, what's going to happen next?

The outlaw subplot? It's cute, and it may just be another use of "bad eggs." They were bad before being vamped, so maybe it's a pun. And it does inadvertently give Buffy backup when she's fighting the Mama Bezoar. (Again, note that Xander is the only one unaffected, the only one there for Buffy; Giles, Willow and Cordy are all possessed by hatchlings. Xander, who took the shortcut of hard boiling his egg--breaking the rules, note--is safe.)

Again, we get an image of Buffy climbing up out of ground. The first was during the dream episode, wasn't it? Won't be the last, and this time it's not very symbolic, just plot-driven.

Ok....that's all for this one. My theory is that these two episodes are needed for pacing, to slow down the metaplot, but also to set the stage, priming the viewer to be considering the issues that explode in Surprise/Innocence. Maybe.