Teacher's Pet (Buffy episode)
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| “Teacher's Pet” | |||||||
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| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |||||||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 4 |
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| Written by | David Greenwalt | ||||||
| Directed by | Bruce Seth Green | ||||||
| Production no. | 4V04 | ||||||
| Original airdate | March 25, 1997 | ||||||
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| List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes | |||||||
"Teacher's Pet" is episode 4 of season 1 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy (series) episodes.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
One evening at The Bronze, Xander suavely saves the Slayer from a menacing vamp, then mounts the stage to play his guitar solo and "kiss her like she has never been kissed before." He is rudely awakened from this beautiful dream to find himself stuck in the hell known as biology class, and Dr. Gregory is about to call on him.
The only teacher who believes in Buffy, Dr. Gregory, is killed by a monster. The substitute teacher, Natalie French, turns every boy's head, and seems to have a thing about insects, especially the praying mantis. Buffy and Willow just roll their eyes.
Angel shows up at the Bronze, warns Buffy that somebody wants to rip her throat out, gives her his jacket, and vanishes again. Cordelia finds the headless body of Dr. Gregory in the cafeteria locker. The Scoobies try to figure out if there is a connection to the Master, but don't rule out that there is a second monster about. Buffy goes into the park and confronts a vampire who has a large claw in place of a right hand. The fight is interrupted by the police, and the vampire flees. While in pursuit, she sees the vampire come up behind Miss French, who just stares at him. To Buffy's surprise, the vampire bolts in panic.
The next day, Buffy is sent to a counselor to help her get over seeing the dead body. This makes her late for the surprise test that Miss French gives the class — a test where she helps Xander with a question. Buffy looks through the window in the door, and Miss French turns her head 180 degrees to look at her. Later, Miss French asks Xander over to her house in the evening to work on a project.
Back in the library, Buffy figures that Miss French must be a praying mantis, and convinces the others. Buffy tries to warn Xander, but he brushes her off, saying that she is just jealous.
Miss French welcomes Xander with a drink, a fire in the fireplace, and a tight dress. The drink knocks him out just when she turns into an insect. Xander wakes up in a cage next to another student who tells him how she mates — deadly. Willow calls Xander's mother and finds out that he isn't home. Buffy gets Giles to record bat sonar, while Miss French chooses Xander to be her next victim. When the remaining Scoobies visit the house where Miss French is supposed to live, they find a nice old woman who is the real Ms. French, but retired in 1972. To quickly find Xander, Buffy tracks the one-handed vampire, who is so scared of the she-mantis that he knows just which house is the right one. Buffy breaks through the window when the mantis is about to mate with Xander. She slays the insect, using the bat sonar to weaken it.
Buffy, in Angel's jacket, later meets him at the Bronze. He tells her to keep it, and Buffy is obviously smitten. The last scene shows Buffy putting Dr. Gregory's glasses in his closet, but not noticing that there are she-mantis eggs attached to the bottom of a shelf.
[edit] Production
Superfine performs onstage at the Bronze when Xander walks in to their song “Already Met You.” When Xander smashes the mantis eggs in the fourth act, the song “Stoner Love” is played. Original score was written by Walter Murphy.
“Teacher’s Pet” captured a Nielsen rating of 2.0 on its original airing.[1]
[edit] Starring
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
[edit] Guest starring
- David Boreanaz as Angel
- Mark Metcalf as The Master
- Ken Lerner as Principal Flutie
- Musetta Vander as Natalie French
- William Monaghan as Dr. Gregory
[edit] Continuity
[edit] Arc significance
- Angel gives Buffy his leather jacket in this episode. She will be seen wearing if off-and-on throughout the rest of the series.
- This episode begins Xander's habit of entering into relationships with literally monstrous women in the series, the exception being Cordelia. However, in Angel, she becomes part-demon long after dating him.
[edit] Translations
Certain translated versions of this episode are entitled:
- German title: "Gottesanbeterin" ("Praying Mantis")
- French title: "Le Chouchou du prof" ("The Teacher's Pet")
- Italian title: "La mantide" ("The mantis").
- Japanese title: "先生のお気に入り" ("Sensei no Okini'iri" - "Teacher's Pet")
- Portuguese title: "O Queridinho da Professora" ("The Teacher's Favorite")
- Spanish title: "La animal de la Maestra" ("The Animal of the Teacher")
[edit] Timeline
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) |
Buffyverse chronology: Spring 1996 - Spring 1997 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles, spring 1992* | Film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
| Los Angeles, spring 1996 | Buffy graphic novel: The Origin |
| Los Angeles, summer 1996 | Buffy graphic novel: Viva Las Buffy |
| Los Angeles, summer 1996 | Buffy graphic novel: Slayer Interrupted |
| Los Angeles, summer 1996 | Buffy graphic novel: A Stake to the Heart |
| Various locations, 1845-1997 | WB Buffy promo: History of the Slayer |
| Sunnydale, January 1997 | B1.00 Unaired Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot |
| Sunnydale, January 1997 | B1.01 Welcome to the Hellmouth |
| Sunnydale, January 1997 | B1.02 The Harvest |
| Sunnydale, January 1997 | B1.03 Witch |
| Sunnydale, February 1997 | B1.04 Teacher's Pet |
| Sunnydale, February 1997 | B1.05 Never Kill a Boy on the First Date |
| Sunnydale, spring 1997 | B1.06 The Pack |
| Sunnydale, spring 1997 | B1.07 Angel |
| Sunnydale, spring 1997 | Buffy the Animated Series unaired four-minute pilot |
| Sunnydale, spring 1997 | B1.08 I, Robot... You, Jane |
| Sunnydale, spring 1997 | B1.09 The Puppet Show |
| Sunnydale, spring 1997 | B1.10 Nightmares |
| Sunnydale, spring 1997 | Buffy book: Night of the Living Rerun |
| Sunnydale, spring 1997 | B1.11 Out of Mind, Out of Sight |
| Sunnydale, May 1997 | B1.12 Prophecy Girl |
| Sunnydale, summer 1997 | Buffy book: Coyote Moon |
| Sunnydale, & L.A., summer 1997 | Buffy anthology book: How I Survived My Summer Vacation |
* Because the 1992 motion picture Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not considered to be canon, its date in the chronology reflects its release date. Because The Origin graphic novel adjusts the events of the movie to fit in-line with the series, its place in the chronology reflects those events having occurred approximately one year prior to Welcome to the Hellmouth.
[edit] References
- ^ "Nielsen Ratings for Buffy's First Season." <http://home.insightbb.com/~wahoskem/buffy1.html
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