Teacher's Pet

"Teacher's Pet" is the fourth episode of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the fourth episode in the series. Written by David Greenwalt and directed by Bruce Seth Green, it was originally broadcast on March 25, 1997, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

A substitute teacher's infatuation with Xander is flattering to the lovesick teen, but alarming to Buffy.^[1]

Summary[]

One evening in the Bronze, Xander saves Buffy from a menacing vampire. He then goes on stage to play his guitar solo, promising to later "kiss her like she has never been kissed before." In science class, he is awakened from this dream when Buffy points out that he is drooling. The class is taught by Dr. Gregory, who calls on an unprepared Buffy to answer a question about insects. After class, Dr. Gregory encourages Buffy, telling her that she can excel in class if she makes an effort. Once alone, he is attacked by an unseen monster.

That night at the Bronze, fellow student Blayne taunts Xander about his lack of sexual prowess. When Buffy and Willow arrive, Xander puts his arms around both girls to buff up his reputation. Buffy rushes over to Angel when she sees him standing in the corner. Angel gives her his leather jacket when he notices that she is cold. When Buffy sees several slashes on his arm, she jokes that someone must have attacked him with a big fork. He warns Buffy not to let the new threat corner her, as he'll rip her throat out. He quickly leaves after the warning.

The next day, Buffy informs Giles that Angel warned her about a "fork guy." The substitute biology teacher, Natalie French, shows up and turns every boy's head. She seems to be fascinated by insects, especially the praying mantis. French suggests making model egg sacs for the upcoming science fair and asks the class for help. At lunch, Cordelia finds the headless body of Dr. Gregory in the cafeteria locker. In the library, Giles consoles a tearful Buffy. The Scoobies try to figure out if there is a connection to the Master, but they don't rule out the possibility of a second monster.

Later that night, Buffy goes to Weatherly Park, where a homeless person was shredded the night before, and a vampire with a large claw in place of his right hand attacks her. The fight is interrupted by the police, and the "Claw" vampire flees. While in pursuit, Buffy sees the vampire come up behind Ms. French, who turns to stare at him. To Buffy's surprise, the vampire bolts in panic.

At school the next day, Buffy is sent to a counselor to help her get over seeing Dr. Gregory's dead body. This makes her late for the pop quiz that Ms. French gives the class — a test where she tells Xander the answer to a question. Buffy looks in through the door window and sees Ms. French turning her head 180 degrees to look at her. After class, Ms. French asks Xander to come to her house that evening to work on a project. After he leaves, she eats a sandwich made of live crickets.

Back in the library, Buffy convinces Giles and Willow that Ms. French must be a praying mantis. They discover that Blayne, who worked on a project with Ms. French the day before, never came home that night. Buffy tries to warn Xander, but he brushes her off, saying she is jealous. Before he walks off, he expresses his dislike for the name "Angel."

When Xander arrives at Ms. French's house, she greets him in a revealing dress and offers him a martini. The drink knocks him out as she transforms into a giant insect. Xander wakes up in a cage next to Blayne, who tells him how she mates like a praying mantis, biting off men's heads in the process.

In the library, the gang discovers that Ms. French is a She-Mantis who lures virgins for her mating ritual. Willow reveals Xander is a virgin, then calls his mother and learns that he never came home. They realize he's in great danger. Buffy gets Giles to record bat sonar — a sound that damages the insect's nervous system — while Ms. French chooses Xander as her next victim.

Buffy, Willow, and Giles arrive at the She-Mantis' registered address, where they find an old woman who is actually named Ms. French and has been retired from teaching since 1972. To quickly find Xander, Buffy tracks down Claw in the sewers, who can sense the She-Mantis. After they identify the right house, Claw attacks Buffy, but she quickly stakes him with a broken fence post. Buffy breaks through the window when the She-Mantis is about to mate with Xander. She slays the insect, using insect repellent and the bat sonar recording to weaken it. Xander then destroys the eggs in the house.

Later at the Bronze, Buffy sits at the bar wearing Angel's jacket when he approaches her. She offers to give it back, but he tells her to keep it as it looks better on her. As she watches him walk away, she is clearly smitten.

After science class, Buffy places Dr. Gregory's glasses in his jacket, which is still hanging in the classroom closet, oblivious to the eggs attached to the bottom of a shelf — or the fact that one is hatching.

Continuity[]

• Xander is revealed to be a virgin. He'll remain a virgin until he has sex with Faith in "The Zeppo."
• Dr. Gregory talks with Buffy about her permanent record ("Welcome to the Hellmouth") and mentions that she burned down a gymnasium, which happened in The Origin, Part Three.
• Dr. Gregory is the first member of the Sunnydale High staff to die in the series. After the substitute teacher in this episode, Flutie will die in "The Pack," Jennifer Calendar in "Passion," Grace Newman in "I Only Have Eyes for You," Ruth Greenliegh and Carl Marin in "Go Fish," Stephen Platt in "Beauty and the Beasts," and Snyder in "Graduation Day, Part Two."
• Buffy complains about Angel giving her "a cryptic warning" then disappearing, which he did in "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest" and will do again in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date," "When She Was Bad," and "School Hard."

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

• Angel
• Cheryl (Only mentioned)
• Claw
• Cordelia Chase
• Ferris Carlyle (Only mentioned)
• Robert Flutie
• Natalie French
• Rupert Giles
• Stephen Gregory
• Alexander Harris
• Jessica Harris (Only mentioned)
• Mr. Mall (Only mentioned)
• Mrs. Mall (Only mentioned)
• Blayne Mall
• Master (Only mentioned)
• Willow Rosenberg
• Buffy Summers
• Blayne's friend
• Homeless man (Teacher's Pet)
• She-Mantis
• Unidentified teacher (Teacher's Pet)
• Unidentified crisis counselor

Organizations and titles[]

• Kleptes-Virgo
• Order of Aurelius
• Scooby Gang
• Slayer
• Sunnydale High cheerleading squad (Only mentioned)
• Sunnydale Police Department
• Sunnydale Razorbacks
• Superfine
• Watcher

Species[]

• Human
• Vampire
• Sea-maiden (Only mentioned)
• Siren (Only mentioned)

Locations[]

• Dreamspace
• England (Only mentioned)
  • Cotswolds (Only mentioned)
• United States
  • Los Angeles (Only mentioned)
    • Hemery High School (Only mentioned)
  • Sunnydale
    • Bronze
    • Harris residence (Only mentioned)
    • Hellmouth (Only mentioned)
    • She-Mantis' residence
    • Sunnydale High School
      • Sunnydale High School library
    • Weatherly Drive
      • 837 Weatherly Drive
      • Weatherly Park

Objects[]

• Stake
• 2GPU947

Death count[]

• One vampire, staked by Xander with a chair leg in the Bronze (only in a dream).
• Dr. Stephen Gregory, decapitated by the She-Mantis.
• Unidentified man, lacerated by Claw in Weatherley Park (only mentioned).
• Multiple crickets, eaten alive by the She-Mantis.
• Claw, staked by Buffy with a picket fence post.
• The She-Mantis, hacked with a machete by Buffy at her nesting lair.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

• The puppet of the She-Mantis's real form is a re-use of the N'Grath prop from the Babylon 5 (1994) television series, created by Optic Nerve Studios.
• Musetta Vander, who portrayed the She-Mantis, described the use of insects in the episode: "When I eat that bug sandwich they actually had real bugs — little crickets, or something they use for fishing, I believe. They were kept in little boxes which they sprinkled onto the bread. I remember having a really hard time with trying to do that because I did not want to feel the little wings. They said, 'Well, they're gonna be bait for fish anyway.' But I did not want to hurt an animal. They didn't die — they were fine — they were just sprinkled onto the bread and then when I go to eat it they're not there."^[2]

Broadcast[]

• "Teacher's Pet" had an audience of 2.0 million households upon its original airing.^[3]

Deleted scenes[]

• There was an alternate exchange between Buffy and Giles about the weather in case it was raining, foggy, or dark:^[4]

  Giles: "Reminds me of home."

  Buffy: "Dark, dank, dreary. You must be so happy."

• This scene was cut because of length:^[4]

  Buffy: "Dr. Gregory didn't chew me out or anything. He was really cool. But Flutie showed him my permanent record. Apparently, I fall somewhere between Charles Manson and a really bad person."

  Willow: "And you can't tell Dr. Gregory what really happened at your old school?"

  Buffy: "I was fighting vampires? I'm thinking he might not believe me."

  Willow: "Yeah, he probably gets that excuse all the time."

  Cordelia: (just arriving) "Here lies a problem. What used to be my table occupied by pitiful losers. Of course, we'll have to burn it."

  Buffy: "Sad, you have so many memories here. You and Lawrence, you and Mark, you and John. You spent the better part of your 'J' through 'M' here."

Pop culture references[]

• When describing Ms. French's head-turning abilities, Buffy references The Exorcist.
• In the library, Willow's comment "inquiring minds want to know" is a reference to the slogan used by the tabloid newspaper National Enquirer.
• Xander complains about the numerous dark beings on the Hellmouth, calling it "Monster Island."

Goofs[]

• The credits declares that "Twentieth Century Fox Films Corporation is the aurthor of this motion picture," misspelling "author."

Music[]

• Superfine — "Already Met You"
• Superfine — "Stoner Love"
• Walter Murphy — original score

International titles[]

• Armenian: "Ուսուցչի սիրելին" (Teacher's Favorite)
• Czech: "Učitelčin mazlíček" (Teacher's Pet)
• Finnish: "Opettajan Lemmikki" (Teacher's Pet)
• French: "Le Chouchou du Prof" (The Teacher's Pet)
• German: "Die Gottesanbeterin" (The Praying Mantis)
• Hungarian: "A helyettesítő tanár" (The Substitute Teacher)
• Italian: "La mantide" (The Mantis)
• Japanese: "先生のお気に入り" (Teacher's Pet)
• Polish: "Biologia z modliszką" (Biology with Mantis)
• Portuguese (Brazil): "O Queridinho da Professora" (The Teacher's Dearest)
• Romanian: "Preferatul profesoarei" (Teacher's Favorite)
• Russian: "Любимчик учителя" (Teacher's Pet)
• Spanish (Latin America): "El Favorito de la Profesora" (The Teacher's Favorite)
• Spanish (Spain): "El Favorito de la Profesora" (The Teacher's Favorite)
• Swedish: "Lärarens Favorit" (The Teacher's Favorite)

Adaptations[]

• The book The Xander Years, Volume 1 includes a novelization of this episode.
• The episode script was included on The Script Book: Season One, Volume 1.

Gallery[]

Promotional stills[]

Behind the scenes[]

Advertisement[]

"Teacher's Pet" promo

Quotes[]

References[]