2.03 School Hard

[Clare]

2.03 School Hard - Episode #015
Spike and Drusilla arrive in Sunnydale

Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.

[cyclica]

First appearances for spike and drucilla, and what a great introduction it was. Straight away spike went about shaking things up, making a big impression on the town's vamps, showing he's not afraid of their threats, and at the same time showing concern for drucilla, who was ill or something. The first time I saw this episode he seemed genuinely scary, the way he trapped everyone in the school, forcing buffy to die-hard her way around the school picking off vamps. Theres so many great moments in this ep, I just have to list the best ones-

- buffy is apparantly the most destructive, troublesome girl in school, according to snyder
- joyce shouting at buffy, then retracting it all when buffy saves her life
- spike finally kills the annoying little vampboy ;D
- spike pretending to call for help in the bronze, then watching how well buffy slays
- cordy and willow trapped in the closet, great comedy scene there.

One slight thing that annoyed me, angel seemed more than willing to kill xander just to trick spike, and xander seemed ok with it. I dunno, this scene seemed kinda unrealistic, surely xander would be angry? But other than that it was a perfect episode. I gave it a 9.

[jennf10]

I LOVE this episode. I thought the introduction of Spike and Dru was very hip and very funny. Spike was evil, but he liked to have a good time being evil. He was interested in this Slayer from the moment he found out she was around.

My problem with this episode is that Spike refers to Angel as his sire. We learn later that Drusella made Spike a vampire, not Angel. Wouldn't that make Angel Spike's grandsire? Just a thought.

[partcynic]

2x03 “School Hard”

Episode Rating = 9

Season Two’s arc commences in amazing fashion with “School Hard”, one of the few eps for which I’ve had a major turnaround in opinion. While my prior viewings were tainted by the bad aftertaste of the lame S6/7 Spike, it was unfair to blame this ep for the stupidity of what happened later, and “School Hard” is actually a top-tier classic when viewed independently. It expertly combines both human (Buffy’s troubles with parent-teacher night) and supernatural aspects, and brings the two disparate plots together in a very efficient way. The main cast does a predictably great job, but the real star of the show is James Marsters, who makes Spike’s introduction memorable, funny, and gripping, and consequently turns this episode into the first of many S2 masterpieces.

What I Liked about “School Hard”:

- The opening with Snyder, Buffy and Sheila is humorous and effectively establishes the episode’s ‘emotional’ side, with Buffy coming across sympathetically as she attempts to juggle the conflicting parts of her life. Her bedroom conversation with Joyce was touching (particularly regarding how she didn’t want to be a disappointment), and I really felt for her when Joyce emerged from the meeting with Snyder and told her to head to the car.

- Spike’s introduction is just awesome. Crashing his car into the ‘Welcome to Sunnydale’ sign before stepping out and lighting a cigarette, he immediately comes across as a threat and a badass. His first talk with the Anointed provides great contrast between the two’s perspectives, and all of his lines are witty (mocking the guy about the crucifixion; his memory of Woodstock; playing coy before bragging about killing two Slayers). His sudden change to human-face after Drusilla enters instantly shows the strength of his feelings for her, and Dru herself is wonderfully gothic and unbalanced (albeit not up to her later heights, but that’s no problem).

- Despite the tense emotions, the parent-teacher night had some good humour. The various preparations were all fun (Buffy’s terrible lemonade; chopping up the cucumber with a sword; Cordy wondering why they were making so much effort when Spike was probably going to win; Willow taking Joyce around the school to keep her away from Snyder), and helped lighten the otherwise grim mood.

- After the Master’s enforced seclusion, it felt surprisingly scary to have a strong, determined villain who could hunt Buffy at will. I liked seeing Spike being intelligent and using a lure to witness his target fight, and the Bronze scene had great predator/prey connotations. The early French joke was also good, and I’ll admit the childish visual gag with Xander and the tampon made me smile.

- The entirety of the school siege was tense and dramatic, and the appropriation of the “Die Hard” plot fitting. I loved watching Buffy take out the vamps guerrilla-style, and Joyce got some of her coolest material. It was great to see her stick up for Buffy and scold Snyder in the science lab, and smacking Spike with the axe (“Get the hell away from my daughter”) was the character’s crowning moment. The resolution of the ‘school woes’ plot proved equally strong, being very heart-warming (Joyce certainly went up in my estimation afterwards – I prefer her compassionate to clueless).

- It’s interesting to see little pieces of Cordy/Willow contact, and their conversation in the janitor’s closet has some amusing moments – especially Cordy’s prayer and Willow sarcastic comment about aspirin.

- Angel’s limited appearance is fine, both at the library (given Willow’s line about dating 400 girls and quickly changing the topic) and with Spike. I could understand the relish he took in grabbing Xander, and his plan was fairly practical. And although the specifics of his background with Spike were revealed to be incorrect, it was still fascinating to learn about the connection between the two.

- I’m a sucker for the Giles/Jenny moments, and the brevity of their relationship makes each one all the more valuable. I’d go so far as to say they’re one of my favourite “Buffy” couples, and the bits of interaction we got (like Jenny saying Giles should read something written after 1066; the abrupt conversation transition when Snyder appeared; and their cute final moment when they left the school arm-in-arm) were all enjoyable.

- The brief scene with Snyder and the police chief was excellent, giving the audience something interesting to think about (the revelation that they seem to know the truth about Sunnydale), and making the series feel more plausible.

- The finale was brilliant, with Spike’s mock-apology to the Anointed (followed by frying him with the sunlight and heading off to watch TV with Dru) both symbolising the series’ change in major villain, and serving as a cool metaphor, with old ways and practises being discarded for new ones (and from this point, the vamps begin to take a more individualistic approach in living and hunting, instead of acting as a collective like they did under the Master). It was effortlessly great, and I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t be eagerly awaiting Spike’s next appearance after seeing it.

What I Disliked about “School Hard”:

- I think that the scene with Sheila, Spike and the two guys could have arranged a little better. It was hard to believe that Spike would be able to bite and kill both men (they have marks on their necks when we’re shown the bodies) without making a single sound, nor that no member of the trio would be aware of someone moving closely behind them.

- Just how good is Buffy’s knowledge of the school’s architecture? She’d probably have a decent sense of where she was going, but she manages to crash through the roofing with remarkable precision. And I know we already saw this in “Out of Mind, Out of Sight”, but are the ceilings made of papier-mâché? If they’re really so flimsy, I surprised that they didn’t all collapse when the earthquake hit in “Prophecy Girl”.

- Were most of the vampires Spike took with him deaf? It’s the only explanation I have for a supposedly supernatural being not being able to hear someone plummet from the ceiling, hold a conversation, and squeakily approach from less than twenty feet away.

- Angel was right – Spike’s perimeter guards really did need work. It’s weird that they were right on hand to kill the parent who tried to escape through the science classroom window, yet no-one bothered to guard the obvious exit from the library stacks.

- It would have been nice for the writers to plan out the Spike/Dru/Angel history in advance, so that we’d have avoided errors like Spike calling Angel his sire. However, this is a minor point considering it introduced a really interesting web of relationships.

- Why did Spike flee after Joyce struck him with the axe? I get his unwillingness to fight an unexpectedly skilled adversary, but it’s not like the addition of Joyce would have changed the scenario – after all, he could knock her out with one punch and continue fighting Buffy (who might be thrown off her game by her mother’s injury).

- It’s necessary for the series to work, but the populace’s ignorance regarding vamps often becomes silly. It would therefore be nice for the show to avoid straining this further by having large groups of humans come head to head with vampires. Joyce in particular got a clear view of Spike’s face – even if she couldn’t bring herself to believe it, she should have figured out what he was.

Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?

A long time ago, I decided to push my original rating up three points and gave “School Hard” an eight, but I then raised it again a bit later, to a nine. Since then, my opinion has held fast, and this episode sits within my top five of S2, and top twenty of the series. This is the kind of story it would really have benefited the S6/7 writers to go back and watch, as it works brilliantly both as a standalone and the first part of a larger arc. Within 42 minutes, it crams in lots of action, humour and character development, and possesses a number of the series’ coolest moments. Coming so soon after the equally fantastic “Prophecy Girl”, it was a watershed moment that indicated “Buffy”’s willingness to develop and evolve, and set us on what would become a very rewarding ride.

[cyclica]

I stand by all the points I made in my last review, upon rewatching I love it just as much as I always have. It's one of the all time classic episodes, possibly my favourite in season 2, and my rating stays at a 9.

There's so many great moments in this ep, I just have to list even more!

- The conversation near the start where xander jynxes everything by saying nothing bad is going to happen... of cource he turns out to be right. He shouldn't have said anything.
- Spikes entrance running over the sunnydale sign was just classic.
- Willow's pointing out that angel, being 200 years old, must have gone on 400 dates a year with 400 different girls. Funny, and at this point we didn't know that it wasn't true.
- Buffy making lemonade unaware that it needs sugar. Willow's reaction was hilarious, as was her offering lemonade to cordy after she critisizes buffy's make-up at the worst possible time.
- I know I've said it before, but I loved spike's plan to check out buffy's slaying skills outside the bronze by getting his lackey to fight her. Straight away he feels like more of a threat than the master ever was.

There were a few nitpicks too, but aside from xander's acceptance of his role as the bait (as I mentioned above) the flaws didn't really bother me.

- Snyder blames buffy for burning down the gym, and uses it as a reason to threaten expulsion... wasn't that in her last school? Surely if she had burnt down the sunnydale gym too, we should have heard about it.
- When the vamps were discussing who would take charge now buffy has killed the master, one said 'let the soul who kills her wear his mantle'. Soul?
- I thought the annointed was in charge anyway? Why are they picking a new leader?
- When the gang were in the bronze, the table is covered in books, but when they go out back, and xander goes back in to get a stake from buffy's bag, the bag is all that's there on the table.
- Ok now were really getting into the minor nitpicks but... when spike killed a teacher by snapping his neck, his vamp lackey looked shocked, like he couldn't beleive spike would do it. Why?
- Buffy now needs a chair to jump up to the ceiling? In s1 she could jump over gates taller than that.
- Spike pronounces it angelus. And he's not spike's sire, but that's more of an issue for a later episode.

Finally, some random things I noticed upon rewatching.

- It was kinda strange seeing james marsters' name mixed into the other names in the opening credits after the main title sequence. Like his character is no more important than all the vamps we'll never see again. But the opening credits ended with 'and juliette landau as drucilla'.
- Willow is again wearing a scooby doo t-shirt. Have they been calling themselves the scooby gang yet? I can't remember.
- When buffy said she has a job, and opens her drawer to reveal her slayer stuff, we can see that she owns a spiked knuckle duster. It doesn't seem like the kind of weapon she would use, though I'm pretty sure it was just a prop and were not meant to assume she uses it.
- Snyder knows something about vampires. Nice little forshadowing for later, they're already setting the groundwork for season 3 in the third episode of season 2. Now that's thinking ahead!

[cyclica]

Oct 10, 2009 10:04:11 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- I think that the scene with Sheila, Spike and the two guys could have arranged a little better. It was hard to believe that Spike would be able to bite and kill both men (they have marks on their necks when we’re shown the bodies) without making a single sound, nor that no member of the trio would be aware of someone moving closely behind them.

I agree it's a little unbeleivable and the scene could have been improved. But still I like it when vampires have 'powers' like being silent or super fast (like when someone talks to angel, turns around and when they turn back he's gone), it makes them seem more supernatural.

Oct 10, 2009 10:04:11 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- Why did Spike flee after Joyce struck him with the axe? I get his unwillingness to fight an unexpectedly skilled adversary, but it’s not like the addition of Joyce would have changed the scenario – after all, he could knock her out with one punch and continue fighting Buffy (who might be thrown off her game by her mother’s injury).

I'd imagine being hit in the head with an axe hurt more than it looked, and spike needed to go and recuperate