Teacher's Pet
- Episode aired Mar 24, 1997
- TV-PG
- 43m
Buffy's biology teacher is killed by a giant praying mantis that assumes the form of a beautiful substitute teacher.Buffy's biology teacher is killed by a giant praying mantis that assumes the form of a beautiful substitute teacher.Buffy's biology teacher is killed by a giant praying mantis that assumes the form of a beautiful substitute teacher.
- Rupert Giles
- (as Anthony Stewart Head)
- Blayne Moll
- (as Jackson Price)
- Band Member
- (uncredited)
- Band Member
- (uncredited)
- Band Member
- (uncredited)
- Vampire #1
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe praying mantis puppet is actually a re-use of the Na'Grath prop from the first season of Babylon 5 (1993), which used the same make-up company. Musetta Vander, who plays the She-Mantis, also guest-starred in Babylon 5.
- GoofsBuffy finds the science teachers glasses on the floor, and she puts them on the table. In one shot she places them with the legs folded out right side up, and then in the close-up, the legs are folded in. In the next shot, the glasses are upside down on the table.
- Quotes
Rupert Giles: Dr. Ferris Carlyle spent years transcribing a lost, Pre-Germanic language. What he discovered he kept to himself until several teenage boys were murdered in the Cotswolds. Then he went hunting for it.
Buffy Summers: It being...
Rupert Giles: Uh, he calls her a She-Mantis. This type of creature, the kleptes-virgo, or-or-or virgin-thief, appears in-in many cultures... the Greek sirens, the Celtic sea-maidens, who-who tore the living flesh from the bones of, um...
Buffy Summers: Giles, while we're young.
- Crazy creditsMisspelling: "Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is the aurthor of this motion picture for purposes of copyright and other laws."
- ConnectionsFeatured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Gift (2001)
- SoundtracksAlready Met You
Performed by Superfine
As a fan of cheesy science fiction films, particularly those featuring giant man-eating bugs, I think I enjoyed this one a little more than your average Buffy fan. The episode starts off in fine form with Xander fantasising about Buffy, impressing the girl with both his vampire killing and fret-widdling skills, but he soon forgets about the slayer once Miss French starts to release her pheromones. Xander is lured to the home of his new teacher, who is waiting for him in a cleavage enhancing dress, clutching a pair of Martinis; his dream of scoring with an older lady turns into a nightmare, however, when he wakes up in a cage in the basement, with Miss French now in mantis form, preparing to lay her eggs.
Xander's awkwardness with women provides some genuinely funny moments, and Musetta Vander is a nice distraction, but for me this episode is a winner thanks to the terrific mantis monster at the end, a cool animatronic creation that reminds me just how much I prefer practical creature effects over CGI.
7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.
- BA_Harrison
- Jun 14, 2015