| Episode No. | Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1, Episode 11 |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Reza Badiyi |
| Written by | Joss Whedon [teleplay], Ashley Gable & Thomas A. Swyden [story] |
0:19 : Apart from Adam, who cameoed in The Harvest and The Pack, Mercedes McNab‘s Harmony becomes the only other student we’ve seen more than once.
0:56 : Buffy claims that her weapons are for a talk in history class – a class she’s not only not attended all season, but has trouble in.
1:13 : As she’s walking away, Cordelia begins to tell Mitch about Buffy nearly staking her in the Bronze, which we saw in Welcome to the Hellmouth.
2:40 : Denise Dowse makes a memorable guest appearance here as one of the more pleasant teachers we meet: Ms. Miller, with English Literature being her speciality. Dowse went onto roles in three different medical dramas: Grey’s Anatomy, New Amsterdam and The Resident.
3:10 : Mitch’s surname, Fargo, comes from the Sunnydale High Yearbook. He’s played by actor Ryan Bittle, who would go on to play JR Chandler in over 40 episodes of All My Children.
3:10 : The male locker room seen in this episode was presumably shot at Torrance High. In Phases, the room is completely different.
6:24 : The group are clearly more at ease at this point, and have even embraced the humour in their dire situations: Willow is wearing a Scooby Doo t-shirt.
7:14 : It’s Armin Shimerman‘s delivery that absolutely nails it: “Dead? Of course not. Dead? What are you, ghouls? There are no dead students here! [Beat] This week.”
11:00 : On the walkway, we flash back to the events of, presumably, 1996. We actually don’t see Marcie in this scene as the flashbacks are seen from her perspective. A really neat use of perspective: the audience doesn’t see her yet either.
11:00 : Both flashbacks in this episode are filmed with a sepia tone, which never happens again in the series.
14:05 : Willow says they can fight a witch, which is a reference to Catherine Madison in Witch.
14:40 : Willow asks Xander if his family even have a stove. We don’t know the answer, but they have a hot plate in season four.
16:04 : Giles is aware enough of his surroundings that he can tell he’s not alone in the stacks, even if he seems to be.
16:06 : This is the first meeting and conversation between Giles and Angel, although Giles saw him in the Bronze in Angel.
17:34 : Angel says he can get Giles a copy of the Pergamum Codex, the volume specific to prophecies on the Slayer. He says it went missing; it’s implied to have been ‘misplaced’ into Angel’s hands at some point. If not, where does he get it from? Surely, if he had had it a while, he would be aware of the prophecy?
18:34 : Another flashback to a year ago, this time in the Girl’s Bathroom. This is the first time we see Marcie Ross in person.
18:34 : Clea Duvall is finally seen, instead of just being heard, as Marcie Ross. She had a role in The Faculty (1998) and was a regular on Carnivale (2003-2005) and Veep (2016-2019).
21:30 : Buffy finds herself searching in the ceiling above the tiles. She’ll do this again in School Hard.
26:38 : Buffy says that Marcie is invisible because ‘this is something that we did to her.’ Except Buffy wasn’t around the year before.
26: 48 : Cordelia enters the library for the first time (as Giles notes) and asks Buffy for help. From this point on, she will find herself frequently more involved in the group’s activities.
26:48 : Speaking of entering, we don’t hear the library door open – it seems Charisma Carpenter is literally stepping into shot, waiting off-camera.
30:40 : And we’ve waited all season for this moment and it is worth every single beat. The chat between Cordelia and Buffy here is beautiful: We finally, after hating and despising Cordelia all season, now fall completely in love with her because now we understand her more. This is her most important moment so far, the moment the audience is willing to follow her, through this show, into Angel and into the actresses’ career. Charisma Carpenter here proves how well she can wield her craft: she has it, and she has it in spades. She is sensational here and a fan favourite from this point on…
32:54 : Marcie may have been redeemable up to this point, but now she’s actively trying to murder her fellow students and a staff member – not to mention the risk of a spark blowing the whole school up.
33:13 : Buffy mentions that she was a popular girl in Hemery in Los Angeles.
33:40 : How strong is Marcie to be able to reach down and pull Cordelia up into the ceiling like that?
34:38 : Again, we don’t mean to be picky, but we have to question Marcie’s powers. Buffy, the Slayer, blessed with preternatural strength and speed, falls through the ceiling tiles and is almost knocked unconscious. Yet Marcie jumps down and lands on her feet with no issue or sound?
35:10 : The shot of the Bronze from outside is recycled from Angel; you can tell by the Fumigation sign on the board outside. Unfortunately, the shot is a night time shot, while both scenes around it clearly take place during the day time.
35:10 : And before we continue, one question: how did Marcie get both Cordelia and Buffy to the Bronze, whilst they’re unconscious, and without being seen by anyone else in town? The Bronze isn’t just next door! It’s on the other side of town!
40:45 : The camera shot, as it circles around Buffy in slow motion, her hair in the wind, as she’s listening? Exquisite.
41:16 : Agents Doyle and Manetti are played by Mark C. Phelan and Skip Stellrecht.
43:05 : Willow is about to ask Cordelia to join them at lunch. Along with the earlier story about a sixth grade moment, it’s at least implied that they were friends when younger. Cordelia doesn’t accept, putting up her front once again, but, by the end of season two, she’ll be doing it of her own volition.
43:32 : The FBI Agents bring Marcie to a room that seems to be full of invisible teenagers. And they’re being taught a lesson about Assassination and Infiltration. Initiative much?
44:06 : The heading of the page is seen: “Assassination and Infiltration: Case Example 1 – Radical Cult Leader as Target“. The rest of the text are the lyrics, slightly altered, of The Beatles song “Happiness is a Warm Gun.”
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