| Episode No. | Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1, Episode 3 |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Bruce Seth Green |
| Written by | David Greenwalt |
1:22 : Xander thrashes a guitar in his dream, but never shows any evidence of knowing how to play in reality. However, in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, there is a guitar in his bedroom.
1:47 : William Monaghan makes his final appearance as Doctor Stephen Gregory, more fleshed out in this episode as a decent teacher who likes to encourage. Until he’s killed, of course. Monaghan has starred in many a project, including television shows like Party of Five, The Practice and Felicity.
2:33 : This is the first mention of Willow’s surname being Rosenberg.
2:53 : Another reference here to Buffy burning down the gymnasium in Los Angeles, (which Gregory has seen in her permanent, taped-together file). For more, see The Origin.
5:50 : The band in the Bronze in this episode is Superfine. They play two songs “Stoner Love” and “I Already Met You”, which also appeared on the series’ first musical album, simply titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album.
6:35 : Blayne Mall, played by Jackson Price. As an actor, he’s not done much since, but had appeared in an episode of Baywatch Nights.
7:30 : By Buffy’s reaction, we can assume that this is the first time she’s seen Angel since The Harvest. She’s clearly dropped her guard around him, as has he around her. Xander and Willow meet Angel for the first time.
8:05 : Angel wraps his leather jacket around Buffy. She keeps the jacket and is still wearing it (or at least one like it) as late as Season Seven.
9:55 : The camera slinks its way up Natalie French, played by Musetta Vander. Vander had previous roles in science-fiction and genre shows, appearing in Xena: Warrior Princess, Star Trek: Voyager and as Shan’uac in Stargate SG-1.
14:00 : Charisma Carpenter‘s scream, by her own admission, was real.
15:38 : This is the first mention of Weatherly Park, a local area we’ll regularly hear about and patrol over the course of the series.
18:36 : As the Forked Vampire approaches Ms. French walking with her groceries, the subtitles specify that he’s breathing heavily, and it continues until he runs away in terror. We assume this is an approximation of breathing, since he’s a vampire.
23:31 : Xander mentions that his middle name is ‘Lavelle’.
23:55 : I’m looking at this from a purely British perspective, but Natalie arranges for Xander to go to her place after school. Is this normal teacher-student behaviour – and why isn’t it called out?
24:20 : As she’s making her bug sandwich, Natalie’s sleeves go from being rolled up, to down, to back up again.
27:00 : The fact that the Praying Mantis uses pheromones to attract the teenagers also seems to be affecting men in the general vicinity (judging by Giles’s description of the teacher.
27:30 : Say what you like, that is a dress. And alcohol. And Xander’s alarm bells are not ringing?
29:10 : As if it didn’t need pointing out, Xander is confirmed to be a virgin. However, if the Mantis only targets virgins, why kill Gregory? And if it was just for food, who inseminated the eggs under his desk at the end of the episode? The Mantis didn’t redress the body – and Gregory seems unlikely to be a virgin in the first place.
29:47 : Xander says that he loves Buffy. It’s the first time he says it, and it takes him quite a while to let go of his crush. The love will always remain in some form.
31:47 : As do Willow’s feelings for Xander, which are starting to be spelled out definitively here.
36:19 : The real Natalie French is played by the late Jean Speegle Howard, mother of legendary film director Ron Howard and grandmother of actress Bryce Dallas Howard.
37:01 : While CGI where needed, the Praying Mantis was a reused prop from sci-fi series Babylon 5 (1994-1998) , which was worked on by special effects department Optic Nerve.
39:21 : Buffy stakes the Forked Vampire. We don’t hear him dust.
42:22 : Xander hacks the eggs apart, ensuring they don’t hatch…
43:20 : The major flirting begins. Look at the smiles on their faces. There’s no going back now, which Buffy’s ‘Oh Boy’ signifies.
44:20 : Now this is a production issue: the eggs left at the end of the episode are never seen again or explained. This is presumably due to the nature of Season One being a mid-season replacement and not automatically primed for renewal by the Network.
44:20 : But of course, it leaves us with a continuity issue. The eggs are seen hatching. Who inseminated them? What happens to them? No Praying Mantis creatures appear ever again.
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