School Hard

"School Hard" is the third episode of the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the fifteenth episode altogether. It was directed by John T. Kretchmer and written by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt. It was originally broadcast on September 29, 1997.

Buffy's mother, friends and teachers becomes trapped inside Sunnydale High School when a vampire named Spike launches an attack against the Slayer.

Synopsis


"School Hard" starts with Buffy and Sheila Martini in Principal Snyder's office. He has decided that the two girls will prepare the school lounge for parent-teacher night on Thursday. Whoever does the better job will not be expelled. Sheila's continued unconcern puts even more pressure on Buffy, who already has a tough time balancing slaying with a social life.

That night, a new pair of vampires arrive in town, Spike and Drusilla, who interrupt a gathering of the Anointed One and the minions of the Order of Aurelius to discuss the Master's death. Spike promises to kill Buffy as he has killed two Slayers already.

While the Scoobies are busy preparing for Parents' Night, Giles and Jenny Calendar show up to inform Buffy that Saturday will be the Night of Saint Vigeous, named after the leader of a vampire crusade, and that during that night the natural abilities of vampires will be enhanced. Buffy is unimpressed.

Buffy tries to combine school and social life by studying French at the Bronze. Spike is there, too, and sends one of the Anointed One's minions to attack someone, then prompts Buffy to fight and slay the vampire while Spike watches. Spike then steps out of the shadows and tells her that he will kill her on Saturday. He later brings Sheila, who is enthralled by his bad boy charms, to the weak Drusilla as food.

Giles does not recognize Spike from Buffy's description. Angel walks in on the meeting and tells them that Spike is a large problem, and then leaves. Later, Giles finds a reference to Spike as "William the Bloody", and discovers that he has indeed killed two slayers already and that the "Spike" moniker came from his custom of torturing his victims with railroad spikes.



On Thursday night, the Scoobies are making weapons in the library while Buffy is preparing the buffet. Despite Buffy's best efforts to keep her mother from meeting any teachers or Principal Snyder, Joyce eventually meets the Principal, and then she sternly orders Buffy home just as Spike and the other vampires crash through the window, too impatient to wait for Saturday. In the ensuing fight, Buffy leads the adults to safety in the science room while Xander, Giles, and Ms. Calendar barricade themselves in the library. Willow and Cordelia hide in a utility closet. Xander is sent out to get Angel. Buffy takes command of the incredulous adults, telling them to stay put as she climbs through the air ducts to reach the library and her weapons.

Xander returns to the school with Angel, who pretends to be his former evil self. Though Spike first welcomes Angel as a long-lost friend, he sees through the ruse and Xander and Angel are forced to flee. Xander hears Spike call Angel his "sire" and "Yoda."

Buffy and Spike finally meet in the hall, and Buffy is almost bested when her mother shows up and hits Spike over the head with the flat of a fire axe. With the curse "Women!" he retreats. Joyce tells Buffy that she trusts Buffy to take care of herself, whatever Snyder may say.

Snyder tells the police chief to say that the trouble was caused by a gang on PCP. When the chief wonders if people will believe it, Snyder asks if he'd rather tell the truth.

Spike returns to the vampire lair, where the Anointed One demands penance for attacking too early. After starting to go through the motions, Spike simply throws the boy in a cage and pulls it into the sun, killing him. From now on, he says, there will be less ritual and more fun in Sunnydale.

Continuity

 * This episode is the first appearance of Spike, who will figure heavily both in this series and the final season of Angel. The episode also marks the first appearance of Drusilla, who was also a constant threat and influence in both series.


 * Spike pronounces Angel's vampire name "AN-ge-lus" (rhyming with the American English pronunciation with the city of Los Angeles); throughout the remainder of the series, the proper pronunciation "an-GE-lus" is more often used.


 * Spike calls Angel his sire, an intentional misdirection to make fans believe that Angel was the vampire who sired him. When Spike uses sire he also mentions "Yoda", indicating that he thought of Angel has his mentor - the father-figure who taught him after he became a vampire. In interviews Joss Whedon has stated that a 'sire' can mean any vampire ancestor. So Spike can consider Drusilla, Angel, Darla, and the Master to all be his sires, even though he was sired by Dru.


 * In this episode Spike seems quite happy to see Angel, although they have had a very rocky relationship even when Angel had no soul. This animosity will remain through both the Buffy and Angel series.


 * This episode establishes that Principal Snyder and the police are aware that there are supernatural happenings in Sunnydale. This foreshadows the development of Mayor Richard Wilkins as the "big bad" of season 3.


 * At the end of the episode, Spike complains about "A Slayer with family and friends." Buffy's rejection of the typical "lone wolf" style of Slaying will come up frequently in the series, usually in the context of people questioning her competence.


 * This is the first episode to reveal that Buffy's mother's name is Joyce.


 * Spike tells Buffy that the last Slayer he killed begged for her life. The last Slayer Spike killed was Nikki Wood. In the episode "Fool for Love" we see Spike murder her, but we do not witness the exchange as the story unfolds, only through the Spike of the 1970s addressing Buffy in the present, and as such could be missing Nikki's pleas. Later in the Angel episode "Damage" we hear from deranged Slayer Dana that Nikki's plea was "Please, I have to get home to my son Robin".


 * Despite, or because of, Joyce's attack on him in this episode, Spike later has a deep respect for Joyce Summers, developing somewhat of a friendship with her.


 * Spike's rather dramatic arrival in Sunnydale (running over the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign) is later recreated in "Lovers Walk", the only difference him being drunk.


 * This episode marks the first time a vampire, The Anointed One, is killed by immolationin sunlight, though it occurs off screen. It will occur on screen for the first time in "Becoming, Part One".


 * The yo-yo Xander pulls out of Buffy's purse (while looking for a stake) is the same one she was playing with in the beginning of "Some Assembly Required".
 * In this episode we have Cordelia joining the other characters making stakes in the library without any specific backstory as to why she is there, marking her as a full Scooby for the first time.
 * A possible clue as to Willow's future character development is found in the final scene where she and Cordelia are 'in the closet' together.


 * This episode established that Spike killed two Slayers, an exception among vampires. Later, Drusilla will arrive equally by killing Kendra and Marianne.
 * When Sheila asks Buffy if she really burnt down a building one time, Buffy replies "Not exactly one time", referencing the previous episode where Buffy was involved in the burning down of an abandoned science building.

Body Count

 * "Big Ugly," dusted by Buffy Summers outside the Bronze
 * Dwayne and Dell, killed by Spike outside The Fish Tank
 * Sheila Martini, sired by Drusilla
 * Brian Kirsh, neck snapped by Spike
 * An unidentified parent, killed by raiding vampires at the school lawn close to the science room
 * An unidentified vampire, staked by Buffy in the hallway outside the science room
 * An unidentified vampire, staked while fighting Buffy
 * The Anointed One, caged and exposed to the sunlight outside the Factory by Spike

Production

 * Show creators have stated in interviews included on the DVDs that Spike kills The Anointed One in this episode because Andrew J. Ferchland, who plays The Anointed One, had grown significantly over the summer hiatus, which contradicted the established doctrine that vampires do not age. Because of Ferchland's growth spurt, he remains seated for most of his scenes in season two.


 * When Buffy first encounters the Big Ugly outside the Bronze, she tells Xander to go get a stake. The script reads "Xander races to the table. Opens Buffy's purse, claws through lipstick, make-up, hair brush, a tampon! XANDER - Ahhh! He drops it like a hot tampon, finally finds a stake, runs." In the actual episode, some people feel Xander barely even reacts to finding the tampon.

Broadcast

 * "School Hard" had an audience of 3.4 million households.

Deleted Scenes

 * Spike's line was cut from the original script for length:
 * Spike: "Would it kill ya, a little mouthwash every couple hundred years?"


 * Xander's line was cut from the original script for length:
 * Xander: "The important thing in punch is the ratio of vodka to schnapps.... That was obviously far too sophisticated a joke for this crowd."


 * An exchange between Buffy and Giles was cut from the original script for length:
 * Buffy: "I don't suppose this is something about happy squirrels?"
 * Giles: "Vampires."
 * Buffy: "That was my next guess."

Pop Culture References

 * Willow is wearing a Scooby-Doo shirt at the PTA night.


 * The title and some plot elements of this episode are reminiscent of the action film Die Hard.


 * Spike calls Angel an "Uncle Tom," a term that refers to a black person who is overly submissive towards a white person.


 * The death of the Anointed bears a resemblance to the death of Claudia, who was also a child vampire, in Interview with the Vampire.
 * Spike mentioned Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, referenced in the dialogue: "You were my sire, man! You were my... Yoda!"
 * Woodstock, which Spike attended, was a musical festival held in a farmer's field in Woodstock, NY, the weekend of August 15-17, 1969. Featuring such acts as Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, and the Grateful Dead, the event immediately came to symbolize the bohemian atmosphere and hippie culture of the free-love late 1960s.

Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors

 * When Cordelia is talking to Buffy the position in which her arms are change significantly throughout the scene.

International Titles

 * Finnish: Kovaa Koulua (Tough School)
 * German: Elternabend mit Hindernissen (Parent-Teacher Conference with obstacles)

Music

 * Nickel - "1000 Nights" (Plays as Willow tutors Buffy French at The Bronze.)
 * Nickel - "Stupid Thing" (Plays as Xander coaxes Willow and Buffy out to the dance floor.)
 * Shawn Clement and Sean Murray - original score

Other

 * This episode is included in The Slayer Collection: Spike DVD.