School Hard

Mark here... This episode was much better than the last 2.  We get our first introduction to Spike and Drusilla, two vampires who are really much better adversaries.  Spike in particular is so charismatic as a villain!  So the episode is basically some vampire threat is approaching at the same time as parent-teacher night.  Buffy and the gang get trapped in the school as the vampires attack, lead by Spike.  We see this coming as Spike comes to town and runs into Buffy.  As Giles finds out, Spike has killed 2 slayers previously.  Drusilla is portrayed as having been wounded and slightly weaker.  Laurel wasn't so into Drusilla but I think she's a bit creepy.  She's definitely not as threatening as Spike at this point.

Spike really blows into town and shakes up the plot at this point.  By the end of the episode he has killed the Anointed One, or the Annoying One as he called him...basically the little brat who seems like a plot idea that went nowhere.  Spike's killing him changes the game and gives us a clean slate in terms of villains.

The whole idea of the vampire invasion on parent-teacher night is really fun.  Buffy's mom Joyce is there and has been read the riot act about Buffy by Principal Snyder, but then Buffy takes charge in a crisis situation. Joyce isn't on to the vampires and slayers thing yet thanks to some dark lighting, but she knows her daughter showed courage and leadership while a "gang" attacked the school.

Hey Laurel here...The only thing I have to add is that we get our first glimpse of Buffy exposing to her mom how much of a bad ass she is!  Her mom thinks that she is just some troubled teen who is having a hard time adjusting to a new school.  This episode in addition to Buffy handling all of the arrangements for parent teacher night as a penance for being a bad student, we witness Joyce seeing her daughter totally handling a the super scary vampire situation like a champ.  Hopefully Buffy will start getting a little credit for all the work she is doing behind the scenes to save the whole town, and not just be labeled as a troubled teen going forward.

Also Spike is the best thing to happen to this show so far.  I love a likable, charismatic villain.  So far the villains (the master in particular) have just been totally gross and completely hate-able, Spike adds some complexity to the mix because we know he is bad yet he has so much charisma and personality.  Mark and me both love a bad boy.

In conclusion, we give this episode 4 stakes, really a great episode!