School Hard 

Buffy's mother and friends become trapped inside Sunnydale High School when a vampire named Spike launches an attack against the Slayer on Parent-Teacher night.

Director:

John T. Kretchmer

Writers:

Joss Whedon (created by), David Greenwalt (teleplay by)

Stars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon	...	Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan	...	Willow Rosenberg
Charisma Carpenter	...	Cordelia Chase
David Boreanaz	...	Angel
Anthony Head	...	Rupert Giles (as Anthony Stewart Head)
Kristine Sutherland	...	Joyce Summers
Robia Scott	...	Jenny Calendar (as Robia La Morte)
Andrew J. Ferchland	...	Collin
James Marsters	...	Spike
Alexandra Johnes	...	Sheila Martini
Gregory Scott Cummins	...	Big Ugly
Andrew Palmer	...	Lean Boy
Brian Reddy	...	Police Chief Bob
Juliet Landau	...	Drusilla

Storyline

Principal Snyder puts 'worst students' Buffy and real rebel Sheila Martini in charge of parents night preparations as a last chance to avoid expulsion. The surviving vampires at the Hellmouth agree whoever kills the Slayer may succeed the Master, then are surprised by the entrance of Spike and Drusilla and promises the Anointed one, Collin, to do the job. Giles and Calendar warn Buffy next Saturday is St. Vigeous night, vampire prime day, still she joins the gang at the Bronze, where Spike sees her slay and promises revenge on Saturday. As if parent night weren't going bad enough, Spike's band attacks early.

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Plot Keywords:

hand over mouth | gagged | cleave gag | damsel in distress | returning character killed off | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the end, Spike complains about "A Slayer with family and friends." Buffy's rejection of the typical "lone wolf" style of Slaying will come up frequently in the series, usually in the context of people questioning her competence.

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Goofs

When Spike first sees Angel he called him Angelus but pronounces it as "Angeles" as in "Los Angeles". Considering they have known each other for hundreds of years, he would not make this mistake.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Principal Snyder: A lot of educators tell students, "Think of your principal as your pal." I say, "Think of me as your judge, jury, and executioner." Tell me, who do you think is the most troublesome student in this school?
[Sheila and Buffy look at one another]
Principal Snyder: Well, it is quite a match between you two. On the one hand, Buffy hasn't stabbed a horticulture teacher with a trowel.
Sheila Martini: I didn't stab no one with a trowel. They were pruning shears.
Principal Snyder: On the other hand, Sheila has never burnt down a school building.
Buffy Summers:
Principal Snyder:
Buffy Summers:
Principal Snyder:
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Faith, Hope & Trick (1998)

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Soundtracks

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme
Performed by Nerf Herder

User Reviews

The one that affixed the greatness

From this episode and onward, it's a whole new series This is the episode that defines the greatness of this series. We had clues, like in the first season (Prophecy girl, I think) when we understand the true meaning behind this series, but it took "School hard" to show us the series is really evolving into what is to become by the end of this very second season, one of the best shows ever aired, maybe even the best ever. While the first season was a mid-season filler, and as good as it was, looked like one, the second season opens with a certain declaration of intentions. "When she was bad" takes Buffy's character to new places, showing she is less one dimensional than she was up until now (first season Buffy I mean). While the first season Buffy was mostly just the one dimensional girl-fighting-vampires-an d-wisecracking-at-the-same-time, the Buffy of the last episode of the first season and first episode of second season is a round character. but what about the plot? The introduction of Spike and Drew gives us something to look for. they obviously are much more than your usual evil vampire. More like the upcoming Angelus than the former Master. a truly fun, emotional, totally evil, character. the fact that we find that the principal knows what happens and cover for it, paves the way to the third season. in conclusion, this is the chapter that started the perfection. the season's finale finalized it as the best series ever.

Details

Official Sites:

Hulu Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1997 (USA)

Filming Locations:

1800 Stewart St., Santa Monica, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mutant Enemy, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

44 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1