Teacher's Pet (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

"Teacher's Pet (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)"

"Teacher's Pet" is the fourth episode of season 1 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode originally aired on March 24, 1997, attracting 2.0 million viewers. The episode was written by co-executive producer David Greenwalt and directed by Bruce Seth Green. The narrative follows the Scooby Gang following a cryptic warning from Angel (David Boreanaz) and the death of the biology teacher Doctor Gregory (William Monaghan).

Plot

One evening at The Bronze, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) suavely saves the Slayer from a menacing vamp, then mounts the stage to play his guitar solo and "kiss her like she has never been kissed before." He is rudely awakened from this beautiful dream to find himself stuck in the hell known as biology class, and Dr. Gregory (William Monaghan) is about to call on him.

Dr. Gregory, the biology tutor and the only teacher who believes in giving Buffy a chance, speaks to Buffy after class, and encourages her to apply herself, knowing she can achieve great things if she puts in the effort. Warmed by his kindness, Buffy leaves. Dr. Gregory is then killed by an unseen monster. Angel shows up at the Bronze, warns Buffy that somebody wants to rip her throat out, gives her his jacket, and vanishes again. Buffy's attraction to Angel becomes apparent when she wears his jacket at school. Xander also feels inadequate next to Buffy's handsome, jock biology partner, Blayne Moll (Price Jackson), who never stops talking about his alleged sexual activities with girls.

The next day, news of Dr. Gregory vanishing spreads, alarming Buffy. The beautiful substitute teacher, Natalie French (Musetta Vander), turns every boy's head, and seems to have a fixation with insects, especially the praying mantis, which she describes as "fascinating" and "noble", becoming hostile when Buffy calls it ugly. Miss French suggests making model egg sacs for the upcoming science fair and asks for the boys' help, which they eagerly offer. Buffy and Willow (Alyson Hannigan) just roll their eyes. Miss French picks Blayne to be her lab partner that day, and Xander the next again day, much to the boys' glee.

Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) finds the headless body of Dr. Gregory in the cafeteria locker and Buffy is especially shocked. The Scoobies try to figure out if there is a connection to the Master, but don't rule out that there is a second monster about. Buffy goes into the park and confronts a vampire who has a large claw in place of a right hand. The fight is interrupted by the police, and the vampire flees. While in pursuit, she sees the vampire come up behind Miss French, who just stares at him. To Buffy's surprise, the vampire bolts in horror.

The next day, Buffy is sent to a counselor to help her get over seeing the dead body. This makes her late for the surprise test that Miss French gives the class; a test where she helps Xander with a question. Buffy looks through the window in the door, and Miss French turns her head 180 degrees to look at her. Later, Miss French asks Xander over to her house in the evening to work on a project. She then consumes a meal of crickets on bread.

Back in the library, Buffy realises that Blayne never returned home from helping Miss French. She figures that Miss French must be a praying mantis, and convinces the others. Giles states that his friend in England investigated a series of grisly murders, all of the victims teenage boys. His friend, Carlyle, reported that the murders were being carried out by a creature known as the "She-Mantis", or the "Virgin Thief", which preys on virgin males to fertilise her young. Buffy (pathetically) tries to warn Xander, but he brushes her off, saying that she is just jealous.

That night, Miss French welcomes Xander with a drink, a fire in the fireplace, and a tight dress. The drink knocks him out just when she turns into an insect. Xander wakes up in a cage next to Blayne, who tells him how she mates: by consuming the head of the victim. Willow calls Xander's mother and finds out that he isn't home. Buffy gets Giles to record bat sonar, which shocks the nervous system of the praying mantis and drives it into a fit. Miss French chooses Xander to be her next victim. When the remaining Scoobies visit the house where Miss French is supposed to live, they find a nice old woman who is the real Ms. French, but retired in 1972. To quickly find Xander, Buffy tracks the one-handed vampire, who is so scared of the she-mantis that he knows just which house is the right one. Buffy breaks through the window when the mantis is about to mate with Xander. She burns it with insect repellent, and Willow frees Xander and Blayne (revealing that Blayne is in fact a virgin). Giles and Buffy slay the giant insect, using the bat sonar to weaken it and then Buffy hacks it to death with a machete.

Buffy, in Angel's jacket, later meets him at the Bronze. He tells her to keep it, and Buffy is obviously attracted to him. The last scene shows Buffy putting Dr. Gregory's glasses in his closet, but not noticing that there are she-mantis eggs attached to the bottom of a shelf.

Writing

The episode explores the issue of adolescent male insecurities about sex, making a teenage boy's first sexual encounter an object of both desire and anxiety. Both Xander and Blaine seek to present themselves as sexually sophisticated and experienced when both are in fact virgins, a quality that makes them ideal for Miss French's needs.

Trivia

• This is the first and only episode where Xander states his middle name, Lavelle.
• When Buffy meets Angel at The Bronze at the beginning of the episode, he gives her his jacket. She then wears this jacket throughout the rest of the episode, a sign of her growing affection for him.
• In the classroom scene where Miss French rotates her head 180 degrees, she is wearing an excessive amount of green clothing, foreshadowing that she is, in fact, a gigantic mantis and not a human woman.

Music

• Superfine - Already Met You
• Superfine - Stoner Love

Translations

• French title: "Le Chouchou du Prof" ("The Teacher's Pet")
• German title: "Die Gottesanbeterin" ("The Praying Mantis")
• Italian title: "La Mantide" ("The Mantis")
• Brazilian title: "O Queridinho da Professora" ("Teacher's Darling")
• Spanish title: "La mascota de la profesora" (literal translation)