| Episode No. | Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1, Episode 9 |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ellen Pressman |
| Written by | Dean Batali & Robert Des Hotel |
0:15 : The voice artist voicing the demon in the opening teaser is uncredited.
0:40 : Richard Werner plays Morgan Shay, the ill-fated puppeteer. He seems to have retired from acting after Buffy.
0:43 : Cordelia’s act in the contest is a (bad) performance of Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All.” It must be a favourite as, even without her memory, it’s the song she sings for Lorne to read her in Slouching Towards Bethlehem.
0:56 : Giles’s face when he’s watching Cordelia’s attempt to sing. Priceless.
1:17 : Lisa Campiti, the tuba player, is played by Natasha Pearce. She also appeared in Melissa Joan Hart’s Drive Me Crazy in 1999.
2:25 : Introducing the man and the legend that is Armin Shimerman as Principal Snyder. He guest stars throughout the next two seasons and made a terrific impact on the series, appearing in 19 episodes overall. No stranger to the genre, Shimerman has made appearances in multiple Star Trek series, Stargate SG-1 and an excellent recurring role as a Judge on Boston Legal.
2:40 : Snyder claims that Buffy, Willow and Xander left the school campus the day before. He must be talking about an unseen adventure, since I Robot, You Jane took place after school.
2:57 : Snyder forces the three of them to participate in the Talent Show. He’ll later manage to manipulate them into trick or treating (Halloween), selling candy bars (Band Candy) and tutoring students (in Willow’s case, in Doppelgangland).
3:14 : Snyder is at least aware that Principal Flutie was eaten, although he’s more than likely unaware of the real facts.
5:24 : Krissy Carlson played Emily. She also appeared in soap opera Passions, which Spike would prove to be a fan of.
7:13 : Enter Marc. He has no surname, even though the other students in the episode get names in the Yearbook. Actor Burke Roberts has been behind the camera producing and directing since.
7:31 : Willow seems to have settled on a dramatic reading, although they’re very reluctant…
8:02 : Willow can play the piano a little, although we never see her do so. She also suffers from stage fright, which is first mentioned here and more prominently in the next episode. So therefore, she doesn’t play at all.
8:20 : Tom Wyner is the voice artist behind Sid the Dummy. He voiced many space aliens on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and died in 2024, aged 77.
9:13 : Snyder mentions events that have happened at the high school: suicide (Dave in I Robot, You Jane for example), missing persons (every other episode) and cheerleaders who spontaneously combust (in Witch).
9:13 : Amusingly, on Shimerman’s other show, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a note in his character’s office in the episode ‘Far Beyond The Stars,’ contained a note telling him that no one would believe his story that a cheerleader could kill vampires.
11:48 : Elliot Treharne is played by Chasen Hampton, who also appeared in 7th Heaven and The X-Files.
14:11 : A point of note here: up until this point, we’ve only seen the library doors open one way, but as suspected, the door swings both ways, as Xander reveals here. Then how the heck do they barricade it when needed, in episodes like Prophecy Girl and School Hard? There’s no handle on the doors.
16:47 : It seems from his dialogue here that Snyder is not yet aware of Buffy’s role as the Slayer. He certainly is by the end of season two, or at least has been told to watch her by the Mayor…
18:31 : Is there anything bothering Buffy – besides her fabulous debut? How about the axe murder at school where a heart was removed! All of Sunnydale clearly lives in denial.
20:00 : Buffy still leaves the window open as late as Passion, where she realises just how dangerous it is.
23:30 : We’re back in Buffy’s favourite class: history. This time, we have a new teacher, Mrs. Jackson, played briefly by Lenora May, who amongst other things appeared on Young Sheldon and The Young and the Restless.
25:18 : Later in the episode, we discover that his school file has a note about Morgan’s brain tumour. So, why is Mrs. Jackson asking if everything is okay at home? Does she not know the students in her class?
27:14 : Xander makes a reference to The Shining, with ‘Red Rum,’ which of course is ‘murder’ spelt backwards.
30:05 : Wouldn’t Xander have heard Sid leaving the library, in the same way Buffy could hear him in her bedroom? And as she’ll do again in the next scene…
31:54 : …whilst pinned under the chandelier. Also, just how did Sid get from the library and to the auditorium without being seen by anyone else?
32:50 : Personal favourite moment: the look on the Scooby Gang’s faces as Sid explains his curse to them. In particular, Giles’ face.
34:09 : Sid, like the Scoobies, seems to believe that the demon has the brain that he needs from Morgan. Does Sid not know of his owner’s deadly illness? How did he come into Morgan’s ownership in the first place? Did he just appear one day? How long has he been a dummy?
34:51 : Cordelia will evidently get over her stage fright – in two years time, she determines to be an actress in Los Angeles.
35:00 : Giles will perform a similar function in Willow’s dream in Restless, as director of a warped performance of Death of A Salesman.
37:24 : Snyder is deliberately obscured in shadows here, both to indicate his shady nature, but also as a red herring.
43:30 : Buffy holds Sid as he dies and tells the others it’s all over. Sid may have died, but an alternate version of the dummy, still voiced by Tom Wyner, would appear in the Buffy video game Chaos Bleeds.
43:57 : Willow, Xander and Buffy are attempting to deliver a monologue from Oedipus Rex, a play written by Greek scholar Sophocles circa 429 BC!
44:17 : The end credits are split with the Scoobies’ attempt to dazzle the audience. As a result, the music doesn’t play and the font used is Comic Sans MS rather than the usual Slayer.
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