James Marsters - Review of "School Hard"

**Berengaria** · 04-02-2008, 09:49 PM

Found this interesting review of School Hard at 411mania. See what you think:

The Watcher Diaries 03.19.08: School Hard - Buffy Episode 2.3
Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 03.19.2008

This week in Sunnydale, the Anointed One gets fried, Buffy does a mean Bruce Willis and the Sid and Nancy of the vampire world come to town! 411's Scooby Gang has the full review of 'School Hard'!

Yep, you're back in Sunnydale. But if you don't see the sign, it's because the new Big Bad is in town, and he has a habit of destroying it!

This week, all semblances of the first year are swept away as two 'young', contemporary vamps hit the town and do away with their stuffy, traditional rivals. The Master was a veritable Bible thumper compared to the new duo that will menace Buffy and friends this year.

Spike and Dru!

Here's J.D. Dunn with an episode rundown.

Episode 2.03 — "School Hard"
W: David Greenwalt
D: John T. Kretchmer
Original Airdate: Sept. 29, 1997

Synopsis: Principal Snyder assigns Buffy to set up for Parent-Teacher night. Unfortunately for her, a pair of whacked-out vampires named Spike and Drusilla show up on the scene with designs on taking over the town during St. Vigeous -- a vampiric holiday. A little research reveals that Spike has killed two slayers in the last century, so he's no pushover. When Spike attacks during Parent/Teacher night, Buffy has to defeat him while concealing her secret identity from Snyder and her mom. Angel shows up for a little reunion, trying to unsuccessfully convince Spike that he's still soulless. When push comes to shove, though, it's Joyce making the save for her daughter. Also, Spike kills the Anointed One, finishing off the final tie to Season One's baddies.

Historic Moment: Other than the introductions of Spike and Drusilla, we find that the city officials have known about the demons all along, but have covered it up. A welcome explanation that keeps everyone from looking like idiots.

Introduces: Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau).

Thanks J.D.!

Now here's Ron Martin with the full review!

Let’s hit the high points, shall we? We get to see just how ridiculously evil Snyder is as Principal. He seems to have it out for Buffy and pretty much straight out says so. That sets up Parent/Teacher night as only can happen at Sunnydale High. Buffy finds herself in a couple of interesting situations. For the first time she has to deal with her mom while slaying. Her mom has been in trouble before (Darla, Season One) but never in a position to watch Buffy slay. It’s interesting to watch Joyce (who is an extremely underrated character through the run of the series) as the light bulb above her head turns on. She goes from solidly on Snyder’s side to realizing what her daughter already knows – authority figures don’t always know best.

Then there’s this parallel situation between Buffy and Sheila. Sheila is what Buffy could be. When Buffy stops fighting the good fight and gives in to the stereotypes everyone thinks of her as, she becomes Sheila, a girl doing just enough to get by but waiting for someone just to come along and snatch her soul away from her. Thank goodness Sheila was offed in this episode. She’s a rare one dimensional character from the Buffy writers. Not only did she stand out as a poor character, but the actress playing her seemed to not care much if anyone ever remembered the character ever again.

Oh yeah, Spike and Drusilla come along and kill the Anointed One while taking over the vampires in Sunnydale. In the meantime, Ms. Calendar and Giles figure out that over the weekend….oh, alright, we’ll talk about Spike and Drusilla. I will try not to let the fact that Spike absolutely ruined the last two seasons of the show get in the way of how brilliant a character it was in Season Two. It should be known, however, if you’re looking for unabashed Spike man-love, you’ve come to the wrong writer. Jason- The right writer would be ME. That’s for later seasons. For now, let’s enjoy Season Two.

James Marsters and Juliet Landau steal every scene they are in for much of, if not all of Season Two. The dichotomy between the two characters is excellent. The performances are Grade A. Often overlooked in the Spike worship is the amazing performances turned in by Landau every time she steps into Drusilla. At no point will I ever complain about Marsters abilities; they are great. However, it’s a lot easier to be a badass when you have great dialogue written for you (“Who do you kill for fun around here?”) than it is to play a crazy and have to interpret how to deliver each line. It’s a strange chemistry these two have. They are perfect together on the air, but if you watch the special features with the two, they couldn’t be more different. Marsters is kind of a spaz while Landau sits next to him looking like she can’t get away from him quick enough. It’s chuckable.

As Buffy’s friends try to intervene and rid the school of vampires, we get an interesting pairing as Angel and Xander are fighting together, trying to fool Spike. Angel pretending to be evil as he manhandles a helpless Xander not only is great foreshadowing of what was to come later in the season, but the way it was presented (without warning that Angel was trying to fool Spike) planted a seed of distrust in the viewers mind, even if mostly subconscious, about Angel.

The strange friendship between Spike and Joyce starts in this episode. Kind of. Joyce hits Spike in the back of the head with an axe. The blunt part.

Also notable, Spike kills the Anointed One. I’d like to think that Joss realized child vampires just don’t work and had to have the character killed off to deal with the issue. This gives Spike an immediate badass feel about him and let’s the viewer know he’s not your average vampire. Secondly, the Anointed One was extremely annoying and though I would have some continuity issues with vampires in sun in later seasons, I was glad to see him go. This is the big setup for Season Two proper as the first two episodes of the seasons were wrapping up Season One and a throwaway Monster-of-the-week episode.

“School Hard’s” place in the Buffyverse.

Obviously the episodes main contribution to the Buffyverse is the introduction of two of its most important characters in Spike and Drusilla. Unfortunately to me, Spike would stick around like an ass rash. Drusilla would pop in and out of both Buffy and Angel during both shows runs. I believe both characters are still alive and well in the Buffyverse.

This episode is the first mention of The Mayor. We learn that Snyder is in cahoots with The Mayor and that there may be a conspiracy in Sunnydale that encompasses the entire town government. It’s more foreshadowing than anything else, but this is the first time it is alluded to.

We learn more about Angel and the gang he used to run with, though a lot of it is actually rewritten as the series moves on.

Themes explored in “School Hard.”

A slayer with friends and family? Even Spike is surprised that a Slayer can have friends and family. Though it would become more prominent and noticed later in the series, the seeds for such a theme are sewn in episodes like this one. If not for Joyce and a timely shot with an axe, Buffy would have been a series with only 15 episodes.

Buffy has this thing called ingenuity. This is another episode where we’re bonked in the head with the fact that Buffy is not an intelligent young woman. In the same episodes, Buffy usually saves the day with her quick-thinking and resourcefulness when it comes to combat and strategy. This episode highlights her John McLane-esque smarts in a hostage situation.

Cordelia likes closets. This is the first time, but not the last that Cordelia will be stuck in a closet with a member of the Scooby Gang. While she spends most of this episode in a closet with Willow, it’s her time in the same closet with Xander in later episodes that kicks Season Two storylines into gear. Not complacent with that, she gets some quality closet time with Oz near the beginning of Season Three.

Angel and Xander – two peas in a pod. As mentioned above, Angel and Xander seem to always be wacky fighting buddies despite their mutual dislike for one another. Xander will reprise this role in later seasons with Spike playing the role of Angel.

Buffy vs. Authority. Obviously, Buffy and Snyder do not get along. Snyder doesn’t like Buffy. He makes it abundantly clear that he thinks she is a thug with nothing to offer. On a second level, Buffy is at odds with her mom for much of this episode for much of the same reason. Joyce does not want to see Buffy fall into bad patterns and becomes somewhat overbearing in the process.

Interesting…

Willow helps Buffy study French homework at the Bronze. In the middle of the season when Buffy starts having prophetic dreams about the true identity of Ms. Calendar, Willow speaks to Buffy in French while at the Bronze.

Joyce speaks to Buffy through a hole made in the door at the high school. In the season four ending dream sequence Restless, Joyce speaks with Buffy through a hole in the wall at the high school during Buffy’s dream.

Quotable “School Hard”

Spike: “You've got Slayer problems. That's a bad piece of luck. Do you know what I find works real good with Slayers? Killing them.”

Overall

This is the best episode this far into Season Two and is only a sign of the goodness that is to come. The Spike/Drusilla duo is a nice change of pace from the more gothic/traditional Master. Angel is more involved in the major storyline at this point as well. We can also thank this episode for giving us a hint as to why all this supernatural stuff happens in Sunnydale seemingly without the knowledge of the townsfolk. There are better episodes in Season Two, but this isn’t one you want to miss.

Ronny Sarnecky

One word that makes this a great episode: SPIKE!!!!! “School Hard” introduced one of the greatest characters in the history of the series. It also used foreshadowing of two things that would become paramount in later Buffy episodes. First, Buffy’s mom was able to see, firsthand, her daughter in “slaying” action. Secondly, we got to see the evil side of Angel when he pretended to be on Spike’s side. The only negative regarding this episode was the non-chalant way in which they killed off the “Anointed One.” Even so, this episode showed that Spike was the new king in town, and he doesn’t care if you are the slayer, a fellow vamp, or even the “Anointed One.” No one is safe from Spike’s wrath. Awesome!

Mike Gorman

This is an episode that I can watch over and over, and never grow tired. Yes, it is because Spike is introduced and I happen to find him one of the most complex characters ever introduced on a genre show. There is so much to come with him that it's nice to go back and see where it all began. I also like that they start to address the question of "Why don't the citizens of Sunnydale see what's going on?" this week. Ok, maybe this time around it is due to Joyce's fervent desire for Buffy to do good and add in that it was dark in the school so it is plausible the vamps were a drugged out gang. (Yeah right!) The next time they really hit this topic to great satisfaction in my opinion is season three's "The Prom."
So back to Spike, I think that his "bad-ass" stripes were totally earned at the end of this episode where he succinctly takes out Anointed One, a character that had been built up for a whole season. I was shocked and laughed at the same time, which in my opinion is a great Buffy moment!

Jerome Cusson

Clearly, this is one of those moments that will live in Buffy lore simply because this is the debut of Spike. He would go on to become one of the most popular characters in the history of the show. The sexualized relationship with Druisilla and Spike was some very creepy stuff for a sci-fi/horror show, but I think it worked out very well. Spike's complete destruction of all things season one was also appreciated since that storyline was getting old anyway. Principal Snyder is also one of those great side characters this show was famous for. Very good episode.

J.D. Dunn

Fine mythology episode that introduces this season's "Big Bad" as well as finally tying up a number of loose ends from Season One. Spike was only supposed to last a few episodes but was so popular he lasted through the end of the series. Plus, Joyce's attitude takes a welcome, if unbelievable, change toward Buffy.

Jason Chamberlain

First off, let me remove my glove and slap Ron Martin across the face. *slap*. Sir, I have challenged you to a duel.

Okay, now that we've taken care of that, let me say that this episode is the introduction of my personal favourite Buffyverse character. Yep, Spike. I'm exactly the "Buffy writer with man love for Spike" that Ron warned you about. I respectfully disagree with his opinion on Spike's role in the final two seasons, but as he said, that's a topic for another time. For now, we have a completely evil Spike and his undead (and bat**** crazy) love Drusilla finding 'home sweet home' on the Hellmouth. For my money, I don't know that there is a cooler character introduction in the seven seasons of Buffy than Spike crashing through the 'Welcome' sign, lighting up a cig and smiling a big toothy grin at his new home. We've also got the very first indications of the town cover up of all the monster activity and some evil Snyder goodness.

Also, Buffy plus Die Hard? Everybody wins!

GRR!!! ARGH!!!

The 411: This episode is a little over-hyped because of all the unconditional love that Buffy fans want to throw at Spike. When you strip the episode down, however, it’s really nothing more than a vehicle to introduce the world to Spike and Drusilla. The secondary storyline with Joyce and Buffy is a nice touch. The secondary storyline with Giles and Ms. Calendar with the “Vampire Night” thing was a rare miss for that duo. While nostalgia tends to remember the episode being better than it actually is, it is still a pretty damn good episode on its own. That, and Drusilla is in my Holy Trinity of Buffy characters, so any time she is on my screen is a good time.

Final Score: 7.0 [ Good ] legend

NikaDawson · 04-02-2008, 10:10 PM

I love that episode. I can watch the episode all the time and never get tired of it. Spike and Drusilla's introduction and their first scene together was brilliant.

**Berengaria** · 04-02-2008, 10:21 PM

I would love to have a photo op where James and I were doing that Spike and Dru head thing...do you think I'll ever have the nerve to ask for that??

NikaDawson · 04-02-2008, 10:49 PM

I wish I had the nerve to ask for that. Well, if I ever meet him. Though who ever comes with me might have to pick me up off the floor first.

**Berengaria** · 04-02-2008, 11:37 PM

I'm meeting him in 9 days.....don't hate me. I'll try to weasel some new info out of him.

NikaDawson · 04-02-2008, 11:50 PM

I don't hate you. Envy, not hate. And please do!

**Berengaria** · 04-03-2008, 12:08 AM

And pics. I'm not a great photographer but I'll try.

NikaDawson · 04-03-2008, 12:17 AM

Lol, yay! You're lucky. I've actually heard he's always very nice to his fans.

**Berengaria** · 04-03-2008, 12:37 AM

So many other actors, you pay for their autograph or a photo op and its such "business" for them. They just do it fast and barely acknowledge that you are there. James always takes the time to shake your hand, look you right in the eye and then he either listens to whatever you want to babble on about (trust me, you never remember later what you said) or,if you are shy, he starts in and shares some little remark with you. He just is really nice to everyone and just as nice to the last person he sees as the first. he's a treat.

NikaDawson · 04-03-2008, 12:43 AM

I'd be really shy. I don't think any word would come out of my mouth but incoherent babble.

**baileycat** · 04-03-2008, 08:46 AM

That was a fun read. Thanks Kate.

amy2345 · 04-03-2008, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Berengaria (View Post)

So many other actors, you pay for their autograph or a photo op and its such "business" for them. They just do it fast and barely acknowledge that you are there. James always takes the time to shake your hand, look you right in the eye and then he either listens to whatever you want to babble on about (trust me, you never remember later what you said) or,if you are shy, he starts in and shares some little remark with you. He just is really nice to everyone and just as nice to the last person he sees as the first. he's a treat.

Which is another reason why Kate, I wish he come to one of the Starfest here in Denver. It would be totally cool

if he could autograph one of my artworks of Spike I did.

**Berengaria** · 04-03-2008, 12:18 PM

I think with the appearances in Smallville and especially Dragonball, you will see James at more, not less, Cons. So, keep your fingers crossed. He may someday soon be coming to a Con near you!

amy2345 · 04-04-2008, 09:12 AM

Totally keeping the fingers crossed.

DefLeppardFan · 04-04-2008, 02:14 PM

Love "School Hard", Spike and Buffy scenes here are so great to watch cause when I first seen it I was like thinking Spike was really going to get Buffy. Love all Spike's quotes in this one,

- "Here Kitty Kitty"

- "Someone's in the ceiling... "

Spike: Fe, fi, fo, fum. I smell the blood of a nice... ripe... girl.
Buffy: Do we really need weapons for this?
Spike: I just like them. They make me feel all manly.

Buffy: You shouldn't have come here.
Spike: No, I messed up your doilies and stuff.

Spike: I'll tell you what. As a personal favor from me to you, I'll make it quick. It won't hurt a bit.
Buffy: No, Spike, it's going to hurt a lot.

Joyce: You get the hell away from my daughter.
Spike: Women!
Joyce: Nobody lays a hand on my little girl.