Teachers Pet
Reviewed by Christophe | Rating: 7/10

Teachers Pet

This Buffy episode is one for Biology buffs! Sunnydale is the new breeding ground for an oversized praying mantis in this gripping and humorous episode. Virgins are on the menu this time round, in Sunnydale’s latest serving of the super natural.

The not so studious slayer finds herself stumped in Biology class when quizzed by teacher Dr Gregory. However the doctor reveals himself to be a positive and supportive figure for Buffy, asserting that she can excel in his class – “let’s make them eat that permanent record” says Dr Gregory.
The mysterious disappearance of Dr Gregory coincides with the arrival of Natalie French, an alluring and provocative substitute teacher. The male members of the class, particularly Xander, are drawn to the seemingly innocent vixen, who is not quite what she seems. Buffy and Willow humor the situation, as Xander sees his opportunity to prove his manliness to classmate, Blaine.
Miss French individually invites the adolescent males to help her create model egg sacs – of course Xander jumps at the opportunity. Funnily enough, Cordelia discovers a headless Dr Gregory in the school kitchen, which upsets the students, especially Buffy after the kindness her teacher showed towards her. That night, during one of her slaying patrols, Buffy witnesses her new teacher strike fear in a ferocious vampire (“Fork guy” – Buffy named him after the “jumbo claw” on his right hand).
The next day, more strangeness centres on Miss French. Buffy sights her rotating her head in a not human fashion. This inspires Buffy to “do her homework” to find out what Miss French is. As she suspected, Miss French is a type of insect – namely a Praying Mantis. Giles hurriedly phones one of his many paranormal expert contacts, one that has survived an ordeal involving a creature that fits the description of Miss French. Turns out, Miss French is a “she-mantis,” and preys on virgins while in mantis form. Firstly, she lays her eggs, then begins to mate with the virgin. While in the middle of mating, the she-mantis ingests her partners head – gross huh?!
Xander plays the victim this time around (a nice change from Cordelia), when he and Blaine find themselves caged in the basement of the she-mantis. But before the gigantic insect can get cuddly with Xander, Buffy jumps in on the party armed with insect spray! “Fork guy” proved useful by acting as a giant praying mantis radar for Buffy and her friends, showing his alarm as they drew closer to Miss French’s house. Our thoughtful and environmentally friendly slayer even disposed of him after usage!
After a few slaying moves and a nervous-system-freezing bat sonar recording, Buffy proceeds to slice and dice the former femme fatale. The episode then concludes with the “open to a sequel” wind-up, where a few remaining eggs begin to crack open in the science lab….ooh!

Despite bad special effects, and a plastic looking, very wobbly giant praying mantis, “Teacher’s Pet” remains a highly enjoyable episode. Most will be laughing their way through the adventure, rather than getting panicky over Xander’s situation, and this is a definite plus. Cordelia is once again underused, but her two very brief appearances are quite amusing.

The love maze is growing in Sunnydale. Willow continues to pine for Xander, Xander continues to pine for Buffy, and Buffy seems to be quite taken with Angel. A big mess, that is cleverly structured by the writers. Angel is also only seen twice in this episode. During his first appearance at the Bronze, he wears a crucifix underneath his white singlet!! This is an unfortunate mistake on the wardrobes part, as it is revealed in the season 1 episode “Angel,” that he is a vampire! Perhaps Angel was never supposed to be a vampire? Tough luck. During this scene “Already Met You” by Superfine plays which also appears on the Buffy soundtrack.

Xander will win the hearts of many in this episode, especially after the opening scene – Xander’s dream of impressing Buffy. In fact, by the time you watch this episode, you should be beginning to really love the array of characters on the show. This episode, including the last one, explores hellmouth treacheries that are not vampires. The master is yet to make a reappearance since “The Harvest.” This has allowed the writers to construct a variety of imaginative evil obstacles, which is fantastic. BTVS consistently remains sharp, witty, and funny, while sprinkling in the action and horror! Definitely a thumbs up!

7/10

Memorable Quotes:

Xander when seeing Angel for the first time:
“Well he’s buff, she never said anything about him being buff!”
Willow: “You think he’s buff?”
Xander: “He’s a very attractive man, how come that never came up?”


“It’s funny how the earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to.” – Xander upon meeting his new teacher, Natalie French.


Xander: “This is a question no one particularly wants to hear, but where did they put his head?”
Willow: “Good point…….I DIDN’T want to hear that!”


Cordelia to a councillor after seeing Dr Gregory’s decapitated body:
“….It really gets to you a thing like that….it was….let’s just say I haven’t been able to eat a thing since yesterday, I think I lost like seven and half ounces, way swifter than that so called diet that quack put me on. Oh, I’m not saying we should kill a teacher everyday just so I can lose weight, I’m just saying, when tragedy strikes we have to look on the bright side, you know? Like how even used Mercedes still have leather seats!”

Buffy: “That’s all cryptic guy said, Fork guy.”
Giles: “I think there are too many guys in your life.”
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