Directed by: Bruce Seth Green
Original Air Date: November, 10 1997

Guest Stars:
Stuart McLean (Philip Henry)
Wendy Way (Dierdre)
Michael Earl Reid (Custodian - EDDIE!!!)
Trivia:

• In the game at the beginning of this episode, “Anywhere But Here”, Buffy wishes for a foot massage from Gavin Rossdale, who is the lead singer of the band “Bush”. Plus, he’s married to Gwen Stefani, which makes me hate him a little, due to extreme jealousy. Amy Yip, with whom Xander wants to visit a waterpark, is a sexy Hong Kong actress who is famous for having very large breasts. And everyone knows who John Cusack is…
• The photo of Giles holding the bass guitar that Xander finds in Giles’ office was created by the Buffy staff by photohoping his head onto a picture of Sid Vicious.

Quotes:

Xander: “That’s it! Twelve years of you and I’m snappin’! I don’t care if you’re a girl or not, I’m throwin’ down!”
Cordelia: “I’ve seen you fight. And don’t think I can’t take you!”

Xander: “Giles lived for school. He’s actually still bitter that there are only twelve grades.”
Buffy: “He probably sat in math class thinking, ‘There should be more math. This could be mathier.’”

Key Events:

• We learn Giles has a tattoo!
• We get a good look at Giles’ less-tweed-y past.

Rating:

Jason:

Kathleen:

Troy:

Directed by: Joss Whedon
Original Air Date: November 3, 1997

Guest Stars:
Julia Lee (Chanterelle)
Jason Behr (Billy ‘Ford’ Fordham)

Trivia:

• Jason Behr (who played Ford) reunited with SMG in 2004’s The Grudge
• The fake vampire who greets Buffy when she visits the Sunset Club is actually Todd McIntosh, the show’s make-up supervisor.

Quotes:

Buffy: “It was terrible. I moped over you for months. Sitting in my room listening to that Divinyls song ‘I Touch Myself’…Of course, I had no idea what it was about.”
(minutes later…)
Willow: (realizes) “Oh, that’s what that song is about?!”

Buffy: “Does it ever get easy?”
Giles: “You mean life?”
Buffy: “Yeah. Does it get easy?”
Giles: “What do you want me to say?”
Buffy: “Lie to me.”
Giles: “Yes, it’s terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.”
Buffy: “Liar.”

Key Events:

• Buffy tells Angel she loves him for the first time in this episode.

Rating:

Jason:

Kathleen:

Troy:

First up, “TurdBoy Brown-Eye”. I’ve included a screen shot of the poor kid…and I’m still not sure what he’s supposed to be. It’s so sad. What kind of whacked out parent sews eyes and a mouth on a potato sack, and completes the look with two brown oven mitts for Halloween? Only on the Hellmouth, people. I’ve tried to look up the character that Kathleen and Jason were talking about in the Watchercast episode but I can’t find anything on a brown pillow in Willow’s room anywhere on Google…anybody else know what they might be talking about?

Next, we also mentioned an article about how the FCC was OK with nudity on TV, as long as it’s Alyson Hannigan. We, at the Watchercast, heartily agree.

Finally, here is the link to Podcamp Ohio, which is also included on the sidebar to the right. PodCamp Ohio will be held at the ITT Technical Institute in Hilliard, Ohio on June 28, 2008 from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. I would love to run into any of our listeners there!

Finally, we didn’t mention it on the episode, but Joss’ new show, Dollhouse, has a trailer out online that looks just great! I can’t wait!

Update! So, Kathleen remembered that the pillow that she and Jason were talking about showed up in the episode “The Body”, so I hit компютриScreenCap-Paradise.com, and there it was!

What’s more, one of you guys knew exactly what Jason and Kathleen were talking about! Brent E. Engle had a comment waiting for me when I was preparing this update (in the comments for the Halloween episode)

The doll the Whedons love so much is called (in English) ‘Burnt Bun Boy’. In his native language, it’s ‘Kogepan’. (Thanks, Brent!)

A quick Google Image search verifies that is, indeed, exactly the same character as the pillow. Brent also speculates that turd boy isn’t supposed to represent Kogepan, and the fact that the costume has pupils seems to back that up. So, it must be, indeed, SpongeBob Turd-Boy as Jason states in the episode.

(I have no idea why this became such a big deal…I was just totally intrigued by the whole thing!)

Directed by: Bruce Seth Green
Original Air Date: October 27, 1997

Guest Stars:
Robin Sachs (Ethan Rayne)
Larry Bagby (Larry Blaisdell)

Trivia:

• Xander’s transformation into a soldier in this episode is the excuse used in numerous upcoming episodes when military knowledge is needed.
• This is the first episode where we hear Giles referred to as “Ripper”.
• Writer Carl Ellsworth was fired by Joss Whedon immediately after completing the script for this episode. (via IMDB) … (this was just a bit too interesting, so I had to look a little deeper. Found some more information here)

Quotes:

Spike: “This is just…neat!”

Willow: “She couldn’t have dressed up as Xena!?”

Drusilla: “Do you love my insides? The parts you can’t see?”
Spike: “Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet!”

Key Events:

• First appearance of Ethan Rayne

Rating:

Jason:

Kathleen:

Troy:

Pete:

Jodi:

Video Clips:

Thinks you’re a babe…

Willow the dish

I could watch this over and over -Jason

“… the ghost of what?”

The first appearance of “Ripper”

How cool is this?!

I’ll also be adding clips to some of our older episodes show notes.

UPDATE: Video clips added to each of our season two episode show notes.

Last season on Buffy The Vampire Slayer:

Directed by: David Greenwalt
Original Air Date: October 13, 1997

Guest Stars:
Greg Vaughn (Richard)
Todd Babcock (Tom)
Jordana Spiro (Callie)
Robin Atkin Downes (Machida the Snake God)

Trivia:

• Jordana Spiro, who plays Callie, the third girl captured for the sacrifice to Machida, currently stars as P.J. Franklin in the TBS sitcom “My Boys”. Kathleen spotted her instantly.

Quotes:
Willow “Well, why do you think she went to that party? Because you gave her the brush-off…And you never let her do anything except work and patrol. And I know she’s the Chosen One, but you’re killing her with the pressure. I mean, she’s sixteen going on forty…And you! I mean, you’re gonna live forever. You don’t have time for a cup of coffee?…Okay, I don’t feel better now, and we’ve gotta help Buffy.”

Cordelia “You guys! I just hate you guys! The weirdest things happen around you!”

Key Events:

• er…not a lot. This is kind of a filler episode (though Willow telling off Giles and Angel rocked!)

Rating:
Jason:
Kathleen:
Troy:

Shannan:

Extras:

As promised, Ballywood Superman!

Nimoy sings The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

Shatner sings Rocketman

Video Clips

Directed by: Ellen S. Pressman
Original Air Date: October 6, 1997

Guest Stars:
Ara Celi (Ampata Gutierrez)
Seth Green (Daniel ‘Oz’ Osbourne)
Danny Strong (Jonathan Levinson)

Trivia:

• Xandar and Ampata had to eat up to ten twinkies each for each take of the scene in which they are eating lunch. Life is truly cruel on the hellmouth. (ugh!)

Quotes:
Willow “Well, you know, I have a choice. I can spend my life waiting for Xander to go out with every other girl in the world until he notices me, or I can just get on with my life.”
Buffy “Good for you.”
Willow “Well, I didn’t choose yet.”

Giles “You can’t go to the dance, you have responsibilities that other girls do not.”
Buffy “Oh! I know this one! Slaying entails certain sacrifices, blah, blah, bitty blah, I’m so stuffy, gimme a scone.”

Key Events:

• Oz makes his first appearance!
• Jonathan makes his first (very short…no pun intended, Jonathan!) appearance!

Rating:
Jason:
Kathleen:
Troy:

In Other News: Come join us in our newly updated and snazzy forums!

Video Clips

Twinkies:

Johnathan:

The bad news? The Buffy-ised theme I hacked together didn’t transport well to the forum’s new home.

The good news? All the posts and accounts are still there! Yay for our side!

• Pownce
• MySpace
• FaceBook

If you’re on any of these, friend the show and we’ll keep everyone in the loop with the show and what we’re up to.

Directed by: John T. Kretchmer
Original Air Date: September 29, 1997

Guest Stars:
James Marsters (Spike)
Juliet Landau (Drusilla)

Trivia:

• It is hinted that Principal Snyder knows more about Sunnydale and its foolishness than he is letting on…
• Though Spike refers to Angel as his sire, this is not technically correct. It was eventually shown (in Season Five’s “Fool For Love”) that it was actually Drusilla who sired Spike. For many of us, this was no surprise — Joss has been saying for ages that Dru was actually Spike’s sire. For example, on January 2, 1998 (about 3 months after “School Hard” aired), he said, “Angel was Dru’s sire — he made her — and she made Spike. But SIRE doesn’t just mean [the] guy who made you, it means you come from their line. Angel is like a grandfather to Spike.” Whether the line was originally intended with that interpretation, or whether it was a boo-boo that slipped through and Joss justifies that way, Joss has always maintained that in his mind (which is the only place the characters really live), Dru was Spike’s sire. - from BuffyGuide.com

Quotes:
Xander: “Does anybody else remember when Saturday night meant date night?”
Cordillia: “You don’t.”

Spike: “Women!”

Key Events:

• First Spike!
• First Drusilla!
• The death of the Annoying one!

Rating:

Jason:

Shannan:

Kathleen:

Troy:

Video Clips:

Spike’s Background:

Spike/Angel Reunion part 1:

Spike/Angel Reunion part 2:

Directed by: Bruce Seth Green
Original Air Date: 22 September 1997
Guest Stars:
Angelo Spizzirri (Chris Epps)
Michael Bacall (Eric Gittleson)
Ingo Neuhaus (Daryl Epps)

Trivia:

• Fondren High is revealed to be a rival school
• Cordy is almost a member of the Scoobies by this episode

Quotes:

Giles: “Grave robbing? That’s new. Interesting.”

Buffy: “I know you meant to say ‘gross and disturbing’.”

Giles: “Yes, yes, yes of course. Uh, terrible thing. Must, must put a stop to it. Damn it.”

Willow: “Love makes you do the wacky.”

Key Events:

• Xander saves Cordy from a burning building
• Giles asks out Ms. Calendar

Rating:

Jason:

Kathleen:

Troy:

Video Clips
Cordi and Angel:

In Other News:
Trying something new on this episode, see if you can tell what it is.

Hot.

Link to it on YouTube

Speaking of comments, please continue to comment on each of the episodes via their post here on the blog. We love to hear what you think.

Meanwhile The Annointed One has hatched a plan to resurrect The Master…unfortunately for our Scoobies, that requires the sacrifice of everyone that had been in the vicinity of The Master when he died…in this case, Willow, Miss Calendar, Giles and Cordelia. Buffy realizes the importance of her friends when she is forced to save them and her less bitchy, more quippy self returns.

Directed by: Joss Whedon
Original Air Date: September 15, 1997
Guest Stars: Dean Butler (Hank Summers)
Trivia:

• David Boreanaz became a regular cast member as of this episode.
• Apparently, Giles, Willow and Xander (it is assumed) figured taking the Master’s bones from the library and burying him three feet deep in the Sunnydale Cemetary covered in soil watered with holy water was a good enough defense to keep him from coming back. Silly Scoobies.

Quotes:Cordelia: Whatever is causing the Joan Collins ‘tude, deal with it. Embrace the pain, spank your inner moppet, whatever, but get over it.

Willow: That’s what it was! I mean, why else would she be acting like such a b-i-t-c-h?

Giles: Willow, I think we’re all a little too old to be spelling things out.

Xander: A bitca?

Key Events:

• Season 2 starts.
• Joss directs his second episode
• Buffy totally confuses poor Xander by dancing seductively with him at the Bronze.

Rating:

Jason:

Kathleen:

Troy:

Video Clips:

Buffy nightmare:

Buffy Sexy Dance:

In Other News:
Buffy Live
Ciba Motto

Directed by: Joss Whedon
Original Air Date: June 02, 1997

Guest Stars:
Mark Metcalf (The Master)

Trivia:

• The demon coming out of the Hellmouth at the end of “Prophecy Girl” was supposed to be frightening, however, seeing as how most mid-season replacements don’t have that big a budget, Joss had to make do with several people each wearing a “tentacle” costume and wiggling around.
• This is the first Buffy episode directed by Joss Whedon.

Quotes:

The Master: You were destined to die, it was written.
Buffy: What can I say? I flunked the written.

Buffy: You have fruit punch mouth.

Key Events:

• Buffy dies for the first time.
• Buffy comes back to life for the first time.
• The Master dies.

Images:

[Coming Soon]

Directed by: Reza Badiyi
Original Air Date: May 19th 1997

Guest Stars:
Clea Duvall (Marcie Ross)
Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall)

Trivia:

• Clea stared in Can’t Hardly Wait with Seth Green and Amber Benson
• Clea is also stars as FBI agent Audrey Hanson on Heroes
• Buffy’s line “Crush! Kill! Destroy!” comes from the classic Lost In Space TV show. Robot says it.

Quotes:

Snyder: ” There are no dead students here. This week.”

Giles: “I’ve never actually heard of anyone attacked by a lone baseball bat before.”
Xander: “Maybe it’s a vampire bat? I’m low on that one, huh?”

Key Events:

• Cordelia is proven to actually be human!
• The first time we see a government agency get invloved with the happenings on the Hellmouth.
• We see alot of the school.

Rating:
Jason

Kathleen

Troy

Images:

A young boy is put in a coma and his nightmare world begins to take over Sunnydale. Everyone’s nightmares start to literally come true. Buffy rushes to help the boy before the world goes completely crazy - whilst having to deal with her own nightmare: she’s (temporarily!) become a vampire.

Directed by: Bruce Seth Green
Original Air Date: 12 May1997
Written by: David Greenwalt

Guest Stars:
Dean Butler (Hank Summers)
Jeremy Foley (Billy Palmer)
Johnny Green (Way Cool Guy)

Trivia:

• Giles speaks and reads five languages, on a good day
• First visits to the hospital
• Nerf Herder (the bad who did the theme) logo appears in Willow’s locker

Quotes:

The Master: “A dream is a wish your heart makes.”

Key Events:

• Deepest darkest fears of the Scoobies are revealed
• This is the first time The Master meets Buffy

Images:

Directed by: Ellen S. Pressman
Original Air Date: 5 May 1997

Guest Stars:
Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers)
Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder)
Tom Wyner (Sid’s Voice)

Trivia:

• Julie Benz will be in the upcoming Rambo film (Image Link)
• “REDRUM!” was an ad lib by Nicholas Brendon
• Willow running off the stage in the credits sequence was also not in the script
• According to Joss the reading of Oedipus Rex took a long time to shoot because the actors couldn’t keep from cracking up

Quotes:

Xander: “I have my pride. Okay, so I don’t have a lot of my pride, but I have enough so that I can’t do this.”

Key Events:

• Principal Snyder first appears
• Direct mention of previous slayers
• Cordelia sings

Rating:
Jason:


Kathleen:


Troy:


Images:

Other links:
Jetwolf’s top 100 moments in Buffy

Stay tuned loyal listeners.

Directed by: Stephen Posey
Original Air Date: 28 April 1997

Guest Stars:
Robia LaMorte (Jenny Calendar)
Mark Deakins (Moloch the Corrupter)
Chad Lindberg (Dave)

Trivia:

• The title is a mashup from Tarzan and Isaac Asimov
• Buffy’s birthday is 10/24/80, no wait, it’s 5/6/79???
• The director also directed the film Slumber Party Massacre. Now you know why this episode seems like a cheesy horror movie

Quotes:

Ms. Calendar: “You’re here again? You kids really dig the library, don’t you?”
Buffy: “We’re literary.”
Xander: “To read makes our speaking English good.”

Buffy: “Access launch codes for our nuclear missiles.”
Giles: “Destroy the world’s economy.”
Buffy: “I think I pretty much capped it with that nuclear missile thing.”
Giles: “Right, yours was best.”

Key Events:

• We meet Jenny Calendar
• Geeks are psychotics. Don’t F with

  root

• Buffy has spider-sense
• Willow’s luck with men… not so good

Rating:
Jason:

Kathleen:

Troy:

Images:

Buffy and Angel are chased by vampires and hide out at Buffy’s place. There, they kiss and Angel reveals himself to be a vampire. When Buffy later hunts him, she discovers that he actually has a soul. Angel proves his loyalty to Buffy and to the greater good by killing his old comrade and sire, Darla.

Directed by: Bruce Seth Green
Original Air Date: 14 April 1997

Guest Stars:

Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers)
Julie Benz (Darla)
Andrew J. Ferchland (Anointed One)

Trivia:

• Buffy’s address is 1630 Revello Drive
• Bullets don’t kill vampires, it just hurts like hell
• The Anointed One has a first name, Colin

Quotes:

The Master: “He was the most vicious creature I’ve ever known……..I miss him.”

Darla: “Do you know what the saddest thing in the world is?”
Buffy: “That hair on top of that outfit?”

Key Events:

• Angel is revealed as a vampire
• Buffy gets to use the crossbow
• One of the very few scenes of gun-play in the entire series

Images: