Teacher's Pet

Buffy Episode Review

In which Xander gets his first clue that he should probably wait until he leaves Sunnydale to start dating.

What Happened

The new substitute teacher is really a giant preying mantis who mates with, then devours virgin teenage boys.

What Did I Think?

This is the first of Xander's killer girlfriends: Miss French, Umpata ("Incan Mummy Girl"), Cordelia and Anya. He does have the worst luck when it comes to women. Xander really should have been more cautious; he could be forgiven for not believing the whole "giant insect" thing if he lived anywhere but Sunnydale.

Xander's got it bad. His crush on Buffy crossed with his surging hormones have left him very insecure about things. It doesn't help, of course, that Buffy seems as oblivious to him as he is to Willow. Xander's real feelings are kind of twisted, however. He's at a place in life where the different expectations of everyone around him have left him pretty confused.

In his dreams, it's almost less about him having Buffy, than him being Buffy: strong, confident, capable. Certainly, his image of the sort of Buffy he wants hanging off his arm isn't very complimentary: she's a weak, dependent little groupie. It could be that this how Xander sees himself, and he wishes more than anything to be able to reverse that. Poor kid thinks he's trading up the food chain with Miss French and discovers the opposite.