Act Three
15III) ...as she shoves a cleaning cart into the two vampires chasing them. FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: "Nicely foreshadows Jenny Calendar's attempt to get away from Angelus later in Passion (see 29TTT)."--Tim, 01/02/03 at 17:20:37
15JJJ) Willow grabs a bust... FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: The original script makes it clear that the bust Willow grabs is of the late Principal Flutie, who met his untimely end in The Pack.--"School Hard" by David Greenwalt, available through Pocketbooks, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Script Book: Season Two, Volume One
15LLL) "But not to kill." EXPIRATION DATE: In most (if not all) cases, vamps on Buffy drink from the young and favor killing the older people by snapping their necks. This is perhaps meant to stress the vamp metaphor of wanting to stay young forever. Young blood to them is probably seen as fresher and tastier.
15MMM) "You can get out that way." IF THERE'S A WAY OUT...: "Unfortunately, as we will find out in later episodes, one can also get in that way."--KdS, Wed, 01/01/03 at 08:47:48
"Yep. And one wonders how stacks upstairs from an above-ground library can have a cellar behind them. Oh well."--Vickie, Wed, 01/01/03 at 11:15:58
15NNN) "...I'm not going anywhere until I know that Buffy and Willow are alright." XANDER THE BRAVE: Another Xander-as-hero moment. See 10HHH.
15OOO) "...until *I* say so." BUFFY THE LEADER: This is the first time we ever see Buffy stand up to Principal Snyder, which she will do again at the beginning of Becoming II, as well as in Faith, Hope & Trick.
15PPP) "I am the Watcher! I am responsible for her, and I have, I have to go!" A FATHER'S LOVE: Although Giles demands that he must help Buffy because he is her Watcher, this would precisely be a reason why he should not help her. The perfect Council-trained Watcher trains his Slayer for battle, and always remains back when the battle is on. The Slayer is a one-person army, and expendable, according to the Council's teachings. The Watcher is not. The Watcher is not meant to feel or care deeply for his Slayer, and certainly not protect her from evil. We have seen Giles attempt to protect Buffy before in Prophecy Girl (see 12OO), and, as previously noted, this fatherly love he has developed for Buffy is precisely what leads to his being fired by the Council in the third season's Helpless.
15RRR) "Bloody right, I will." POTTY MOUTH: "The first time Giles swears on screen."--KdS, Wed, 01/01/03 at 08:47:48
15SSS) "This is my school. What I say goes..." SNYDER THE DELUSIONAL: "Snyder's foolish behavior during the attack on the school despite his knowledge of the reality that something supernatural exists in Sunnydale (see 15Lx4) reveals his stubbornness and foreshadows his death at the hands of the Mayor [in Graduation Day II] because he is unable to deal with or even believe a scenario where other people have power over him on the grounds of 'his' school."--Dan the Man, Tues, 12/31/02 at 22:39:39
15TTT) Joyce is looking through the hole in the door, but can't see much of anything. FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: "When Buffy battles in the hallway, Joyce tries to peer through a hole made with an axe, by one of the vampires. She can't exactly see what is going on, but knows Buffy is winning a desperate fight. When Buffy talks to her the scene looks very similar to...[Buffy's dream] in Restless where Joyce is sealed inside a wall in the school with only a ragged hole to look out of...[In that scene,] it's Buffy who doesn't quite understand what's going on with her mother," while here it's the other way around.--Cactus Watcher, Tues, 12/31/02 at 22:02:07, with some additions by Rob
"Foreshadowing for an entire season of Buffy trying to keep her Mom from discovering her world and second occupation – until it finally culminates in the confrontation between Mom, Spike and Buffy in Becoming II. Notice the symmetry – first time Mom sees vamps are attacking Spike, when Mom finally discovers what Buffy does and vamps do exist? Mom sees Spike and Buffy fighting them off. Spike even refers to the first time when Joyce asks him if they met in Becoming II."--Shadowkat, Wed, 01/01/03 at 15:26:30
15UUU) "People still fall for that Anne Rice routine." LITERATURE CORNER: "This is the first reference to Anne Rice's...[The Vampire Chronicles novels] by the show (see 15M). A later reference is made in Buffy vs. Dracula where Buffy asks Dracula if he's sure he's the count, since she's run into some pimply teen vamps claiming to be Lestat. Anne Rice wrote a series of vampire novels, starting in the 1970's with Interview with the Vampire - later turned into a movie with Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst and Tom Cruise. Kirsten Dunst is the child vamp who comes between Lestat and Louis - a threesome that Joss Whedon appears to parody a little with Spike/Dru and Angel with Angel=broody Louis, Spike=Lestat, and Dru - the child vamp who requires dolls to keep her occupied and whines about her hair. But in Joss' version Spike is the one helping Dru."--Shadowkat, Wed, 01/01/03 at 19:53:35 See 7UU, 19V, 19SS, 31WW, and 33Cx5.
Anne Rice's books paint a very different picture of vampires than Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For starters, vampires are not demons walking around in the bodies of former humans, with their memories and personality traits, as (they possibly are) in the Buffyverse. Anne Rice's vampires are the exact same people they were when they were alive, only mystically transformed into more powerful beings with fangs and super-strength. They have the same consciences they did when they were humans, only the animalistic desire and need to feed overrides their former human emotions, in most cases. She paints vampires as tortured, Gothic, romantic anti-heroes. Her character, Louis, who remains tormented by his thirst for blood, is similar to Angel. The idea of romanticizing vamps will be explored further in Lie to Me.
15VVV) "I knew you were lying." ANGEL LIAR?: Notice how at the first indication that Angel might still be evil, Xander instantly feels vindicated, that he was right all along. He so does not trust him that he does not even allow for the possibility that Angel might be acting. This inability to see Angel as anything but evil goes back to Giles' warning to him in The Harvest (see 2LL). Interestingly, this also foreshadows a time in the not-too-distant future when Xander will be right about Angel. Xander, however, doesn't differentiate between souled and unsouled Angel. It is this attitude that will color his decision to lie to Buffy in Becoming II and will amplify his disgust at Angel when he finds out he fed off Buffy in Graduation Day II.
Act Four
15WWW) Everyone rushes out of the classroom... FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Snyder doesn't need any coaching. He bumps a woman teacher out of his way, makes a beeline for the library."--"School Hard" by David Greenwalt, available through Pocketbooks, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Script Book: Season Two, Volume One
15XXX) "I saw her kill the Master." CONTINUITY CHECK: This, of course, is a reference to the events of Prophecy Girl (see 12TTT).
15YYY) "You were my sire, man! You were my...Yoda!" BUFFYVERSE MYTHOLOGY: Many fans have accused ME of a continuity error here, because in Fool for Love, Dru is revealed to have been the one who sired Spike, not Angel. Here's what Joss himself had to say on the issue, in a January 7, 1998 post to The Bronze, the official Buffy messageboard: "Angel made Dru who made Spike. SIRE means you came from their line, not just that they made you."--Information taken from Masquerade's "School Hard" Analysis from http://www.atpobtvs.com
POP CULTURE TIME: Yoda is, of course, the diminuitive and ancient Jedi Master who first debuted in the second Star Wars movie, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, to train Luke Skywalker to become a Jedi knight himself after Luke's first master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, died in the preceding chapter. Here, Spike is making this reference to imply that Angel was his mentor and taught him all he knew about being a vamp.
HOW MUCH DID SPIKE KNOW?: Either Spike truly could read Angel that well and could tell that something was wrong, or he was aware of Angel's soul the whole time and played along until the end. The most likely theory seems to be that he was aware of the soul. Unless if, out of embarassment, Darla never told Spike or Dru about Angel's soul, it seems unlikely that they could have travelled with her that long and not found out. At the very least, Dru would have probably picked that up with her visions. Also, Spike's "you're not housebroken, are you?" has a mockery about it that implies he knows more than he's saying.
15ZZZ) "Not us! Not demons!" THE GREYING OF THE RULES: How ironic is it that Spike, at this point demanding to Angel that demons can never change will one day end up being proof that demons, souled or unsouled, can indeed change?!?
15Ax4) "You Uncle Tom!" LITERATURE CORNER: "Uncle Tom was a main character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. His name has come to imply a member of an oppressed group [in that case, black slaves] who goes along with (or collaborates with) the oppressive majority."--Vickie, Wed, 01/01/03 at 16:08:03
15Bx4) "Fe, fi, fo fum. I smell the blood of a nice ripe...girl." THAT TIME OF THE MONTH?: "Being as the main character BTVS is female, the subject of the monthly menstruation cycle is brought up more in School Hard than any other episode. When Buffy fights the Vamp in the alley, Xander runs to find a stake goes though Buffy's purse. He pulls out a Tampon and quickly drops it like a hot potato (see 15MM). Then...[this comment to Buffy;] He says this kind of crudely and I always thought he was referring to it as being that time of the month for Buffy. I would guess for a vamp this would be kind of a turn on...Later...praying in the closet," Cordelia says she'll never be mean to anyone ever again, unless it's "that time of the month, in which case I don't think you or anyone else can hold me responsible."--VLS, Thurs, 01/02/03 at 02:02:45
"...…the items Xander pulls out of Buffy's purse [earlier in the episode] represent her life at this particular stage in development. There's the yo-yo suggesting her youth and lingering childhood, the tampon symbolizing her maturing womanhood, and the stake, her duty. Season 2 is when Buffy explores her sexuality, we already got a hint of that in When She Was Bad, with her sexy Xander dance (see 13HH), so it makes sense that the vampires have changed from the bogeyman-like Master to the far more sexualized Spike. So perhaps the menstruation references symbolize this encroaching maturity - the whole idea of becoming a woman. Buffy also gets red paint on her cheek, both marking her, and linking her to Spike who has a similar mark of blood on his cheek."--Ponygirl, Thurs, 01/02/03 at 11:53:42
FAIRY TALE THEATRE: "This refers to [the classic English fairy tale] Jack and the Beanstalk, where the giant called out:
'Fee, fi, fo, fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman:
Be he alive, or be he dead,
I'll grind his bones to make my bread!'
Several characters have mentioned 'grinding his bones', notably Xander in When She was Bad (see 13EEE).--Vickie, Wed, 01/01/03, at 16:08:03
15Cx4) "Do we really need weapons for this?" SYMBOLIC WEAPONS: "Interesting that their weapons (soon discarded) are fairly gender-appropriate. Spike has a long pole (part of the window frame) that makes him feel "all manly." His lascivious pose here is hysterical. Meanwhile, Buffy holds an axe. This is the fire axe Spike got out of the glass case earlier (he probably regrets that if he ever thinks about it). It's a straight, wood-chopping type axe. But other, curvier axes were traditional ritual weapons for priestesses of the Goddess on Crete. Called the Labrys, its shape recalled the crescent moon."--Vickie, Wed, 01/01/03 at 16:08:03
15Dx4) "They make me feel all manly." SPIKE AS LUST PERSONIFIED II: "[E]verything about...[this fight scene] is reminiscent of sexual foreplay. His lines are crude and suggestive. In fact, if you think about it, all of Spike's appearances as the Big Bad, prior to his emasculation by the chip, are sexual. Their fight scenes are like foreplay. He even describes them as such much later in Fool For Love.
Buffy: You think we're dancing?
Spike: That's all we've ever done. (leers).
But let's go back to School Hard. In their fight scene, Spike is lecherous, crude and suggestive. The scene is not your typical vamp/slayer battle. As the scene starts - Spike is straddling a long pole and leering lecherously at Buffy. Stroking his chest...Eventually he tries to ream her with a large wooden stud -- her mother Joyce saves her, hitting him in the head with the ax. Very sexual scene with all sorts of phallic symbols...Spike...is the lustful, leering, big bad wolf in the little red riding hood fable. And what's interesting is that instead of making him disgusting or ulgy, the writers have controversially made him sexually appealing. Sheila, the bad girl...certainly does. He doesn't force her to follow him, instead he tempts her.
One poster – believe it was leslie mentioned that the statement: 'They make me feel all manly' complete with the sexual gesture of stroking his groin which Marsters cleverly added – shows Spike's constant desire to emphasis his masculinity or prowess. He cares a great deal about reputation...Marsters criticizes his performance as too hammy or theatrical – so it is possible Whedon used this to develop the character – show it as bravado. Also his behavior in School Hard is echoed in The Harsh Light of Day - where he fights her in a similar manner and also makes sexual suggestions. Then echoed once again in Beneath You in the Bronze when she interrupts his fight with Anya when he's attempting to hide the soul. So apparently this behavior is a time worn coping skill that he pulls out whenever he gets insecure (a retcon? who knows, but a clever way of building character from past episodes). Spike is outwardly clownish, theatrical, devilish…but underneath the surface? Something else entirely. The whole show emphasizes from the get-go how things aren't what they appear."--Shadowkat, "Spike/Anya: Dark Love," from http://www.geocities.com/shadowkatbtvs and a post on Wed, 01/01/03 at 15:26:30 See 15GG.
15Ex4) "The last Slayer I killed...she begged for her life." CONTINUITY CHECK: This is a "self-aggrandizing lie, as we’ll see later" in Fool for Love.--KdS, Wed, 01/01/03 at 08:47:48
15Fx4) "He pulls his arm out of the wall, ripping a stud out with it, and swings it into Buffy's face." NOT PLAYING FAIR: "When...[Buffy] encounters him in the reception area, she suggests they throw down their weapons, which Spike does willingly enough...after all, as we find out in Fool for Love, he's already got his...[He] prefers 'fangs and fists' to weapons anyhow. Meeting a slayer like Buffy, who's willing to throw down the weapons, has to be somewhat appealing to Spike. And consider the fact that he's unable to beat her without a weapon...he has to take a board from the wall and use it against her. In hindsight, knowing Spike's penchant for getting beat down, it's no surprise that he's attracted to Buffy, and the attraction most likely starts right here, where she's able to beat him on his own terms, forcing him to use a weapon to beat her."--Rook, Tues, 12/31/02 at 22:50:43
15Gx4) "You get the hell away from my daughter!" FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Spike flies back - hits the ground hard. Totally blindsided. Joyce is deep in a mother's rage."--"School Hard" by David Greenwalt, available through Pocketbooks, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Script Book: Season Two, Volume One
JOYCE--SUPERMOM: This is a wonderful moment in Buffyverse history, because Joyce rarely gets to truly be a protective mother figure to her daughter--most of the time, Buffy doesn't confide in her, and, let's face it, is much more physically strong than her mother. Although Joyce doesn't realize it, Buffy's usually the one protecting her, except for rare moments such as when Buffy screams out in the middle of the night in The Puppet Show (see 9*1). But this scene finally allows Joyce the chance to save Buffy, and that's really beautiful.
POP CULTURE TIME: This line is reminiscent of the classic line of Sigourney Weaver's character Ellen Ripley in Aliens, who sees the alien queen reaching over to attack her new adopted daughter and screams, "Get away from her, you bitch!"
LINKAGE: "This event is turned into the punch line of one of the best jokes in the history of the show when Spike and Joyce sit together during Becoming II (see 34MM)."--Dan The Man, Tues, 12/31/02 at 22:39:39
15Hx4) Buffy gets to her feet. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Buffy is now on her feet. Ready for blood. Standing next to her mother whose hands grip the ax: Thelma and Louise on crack. Spike knows it's time to run and fight another day."--"School Hard" by David Greenwalt, available through Pocketbooks, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Script Book: Season Two, Volume One
15Ix4) "Women!" LOVE'S BITCH: "Spike leaves saying 'Women!' which is appropriate as three women have basically dominated his life, Cecilia (who may or may not be Hafrek), Dru, and, of course, the one that he just met, Buffy Summers." In the third season's Lover's Walk, he astutely identifies himself as "love's bitch." The metaphor of "Spike as dog," interestingly will also continue throughout the series, particuarly once he has the behavior modification chip implanted into his brain in The Initiative.--Dan The Man, Tues, 12/31/02 at 22:39:39, with some additions by Rob
15Jx4) "Nobody lays a hand on my little girl." LINKAGE: "This line is explicitly echoed by Tara after killing Razor with an axe in Bargaining II," (a) when she says, "Nobody messes with my girl" (b)--(a) KdS, Wed, 01/01/03 at 08:47:48; (b) Vickie, Wed, 01/01/03 at 11:15:58
15Kx4) "We would've known he bought it." XANDER & ANGEL: An amusing one-liner that continues to keep Xander worried about Angel. Angel knows Xander doesn't trust him, and we know, doesn't like him much himself. So he's having a little fun with him.
15Lx4) "What'd you have in mind? The truth?" SUNNYDALE CONSPIRACY THEORIES: This is where we first "learn that Snyder and the Police are aware of the supernatural events in Sunnydale and they cover it up on a routine basis (see 6II). We later discover that the big bad of season three, Mayor Wilkins is behind the cover ups."--Dan The Man, Tues, 12/31/02 at 22:39:39 See 1Z, 9T, 31QQ, 31PP, 34LLL, 42XX and 42YY.
15Mx4) "I have a daughter who can take care of herself." MOTHER'S PRIDE: This is the first time we see Joyce truly proud of Buffy, and is a huge milestone in their relationship. From previous episodes, we know Joyce loves Buffy and respects her right to be her own person, but there has still always been a shadow over their relationship, namely her seeming misbehavior at her last high school. All the time that Buffy doesn't confide in Joyce, Joyce has secretly been worrying about what Buffy has been up to. It is gratifying for Joyce in this episode to finally see first hand what a strong, remarkable daughter she has and to know that she is okay, particularly gratifying after (almost) having her worst fears confirmed by the venomous Snyder.
15Nx4) The camera pans over to the utility closet. FORGOTTEN?: It seems slightly unrealistic that Buffy would completely forget about Willow and Cordy being missing. Not that Cordy's near or dear to her, but Willow is her best friend and (since she "disappeared" during a vamp attack) very likely dead. It is understandable that in all of the excitement of the fight and then the long talk with Joyce, who finally became truly proud of her daughter, Buffy would have forgotten to look for Willow. But still...what about Xander, who, earlier, refused to leave until he knew Willow and Buffy were safe (see 15NNN)? This faux pas will be rectified in Doppelgangland, when Buffy, Xander, and Giles mourn Willow, who they believe has been vamped.
15Ox4) "Or if it's that time of the month..." THAT TIME OF THE MONTH: See 15Bx4.
15Px4) "A Slayer with family and friends. That sure as hell wasn't in the brochure." BUFFY UNIQUE: "Spike tells us that the Buffy is not like previous slayers; she lives in the world and has family and friends to help her out. This idea is a constant theme during the entire run of BtVS. In Fool For Love, he tells Buffy that her ties to world are what keep her alive."--Dan The Man, Tues, 12/31/02 at 22:39:39
The theme that the typical loner Slayer does not live long, and that it is Buffy's ties to the world that have kept her alive this long, is repeated numerous times throughout this episode: "Buffy gets saved by other people in her life three times in the episode - first by Xander outside the Bronze (even though it's just by handing her a weapon), then by Giles's warning of Sheila's imminent attack, and finally by Joyce, who doesn't even know about vampires at this point, at the end. It's because of her life outside slaying that she's at the High School ready for the vamp attack - if she hadn't been around to start with Spike and his crew would have slaughtered all the teachers and parents...Even Willow gets to save Cordelia."--KdS, Fri, 01/03/03 at 06:24:54
15Qx4) "From now on, we're gonna have a little less ritual...and a little more fun around here." THE NEXT GENERATION: And the face of Buffyverse villainy was never the same! Interestingly, Spike is the vamp to finally show the others that the Anointed One has no real power, except in his title. By denying the Anointed One any reverence or respect, Spike strips him of any power he ever had over the other vamps and, to make a point, quickly dispatches him.
15Rx4) "Let's see what's on TV." POP CULTURE TIME: We later learn that Spike can be quite the couch potato. He becomes obsessed with the popular supernatural NBC soap opera, Passions, in the fourth season, which we first learn of in Something Blue.--Dan The Man, Tues, 12/31/02 at 22:39:39, paraphrased by Rob