This is one of my favorite episodes of the series. It might even be my favorite episode of season 3. Why? Well, for starters it is Xander-centric, but it also turns the regular Buffy formula on its head by telling a B-story as the A-story and relegating the A-story to the B-story for the week. It’s just a fun episode!
There are so many little things from this episode that I could talk about, like that fact that all television pastry boxes are pink for some reason. Or the fact that I appreciate Willow’s marshmallow joke when the other characters don’t seem to. Not to mention, who names their knife, “Katie”? Who names a knife, period? And – wait, Sunnydale has gangs? And while I could go on to talk about these insignificant things a little longer – this episode has so much meat to it. It’s different than “Helpless,” which was certainly a meaty episode, as well. This one is so much lighter, despite the episode featuring yet another apocalypse.
Okay, I honestly don’t know where to start with this episode, so I guess I’ll throw a dart and land at… Xander and Cordelia. Surprisingly, Cordelia is still talking to Xander, even after the whole cheating thing (although, Oz and Xander seem to be friends again and Oz forgave Willow and got back together with her, so this isn’t so far-fetched) – of course she’s mostly just taunting him which is classic Cordelia. However, her teasing strikes a particular chord in this episode. She compares him to Jimmy Olsen, which is down on Xander’s level, he even made a joke about the same subject with Giles, who just didn’t get it (oh, if only Oz had been there). When Cordelia says it though, it is suddenly an insult. She also says, “Can you say “expendable”?” – which I find particularly funny since she ended up being in a movie called The Expendables. This all leads to Xander obsessing over being cool. Here’s the thing though, although Cordy was being mean, when compared with Jack O’Toole’s threats moments earlier, one can see that at least Cordelia still cares. Her taunting comes from a place of wanting to hurt Xander for what he did to her, sure, but re-watching this makes me certain that these two can be friends again (and they will be before she moves on to L.A. and the spin-off series).
It’s also fun to compare this scene at the beginning of the episode, with the scene at the end when Xander does find his cool. He leaves Cordelia hanging, as he walks away with a big smile on his face. What a great ending! Xander really grows during this episode and it shows.
Okay, we have to talk about one more thing having to do with these two former love birds, and I know I’ve mentioned it before. Xander loses his virginity in this episode, which I think is proof that Cordelia is a virgin. I know, this shouldn’t matter, but it does because of certain events in Angel’s first season. Xander may have been Cordelia’s first love. She is never shown, before or after Xander, having another committed relationship on the series. The one possible exception to this is Darryl, who we find out about in “Some Assembly Required.” She loved him, he treated her badly, then he died. And then he became Frankenstein’s monster and tried to make her his bride. He died while Cordelia was a high school freshman, when she was maybe 15 years old. Now it’s completely possible that she lost her virginity to him, but if she did, it stands to reason that she would have had sex with Xander, too. Likewise, if she had had sex with any of the other random guys she dated in season 1, there’s almost no good reason for her not to have also had sex with Xander. Since they didn’t have sex, Cordelia must have lost her virginity to that guy on Angel who impregnated her with a demon baby. Which again, means that Cordelia’s first time having sex got her pregnant! Can you imagine – that must have been so traumatizing. Yet, Angel, being a more grown-up show and making Cordelia seem more like a twenty-something than a 19-year-old (if not 18-year-old) glosses over her loss of virginity, which is a really big deal. I understand that there wasn’t really room in that episode for this discussion, but at the same time – can you imagine?
Alright, I’m done, so back to the Xander portion of this conversation. Yep, Xander manages to help Faith out of a jam, she has some energy she needs to get out and they have sex. It’s actually kind of funny how one second, they’re shown in post-coital bliss with the cuddling and the next minute she’s kicking him out of her motel room without any emotion. I wonder if Cordelia ever found out about this and what her reaction was. We see Willow’s reaction in a couple of episodes, but never Cordelia’s.
So, jumping all over the place, I want to go back to talking about Xander’s search for how to be cool. It reminds me of this episode of Beverly Hills 90201 when Valerie was going to be written up in some magazine for being cool and she kept asking about it (and therefore, being uncool). Xander’s obsession with it is very similar. The more you think about being cool and ask questions about how to be cool, the less cool you are apparently. I mean, take Oz. He has hardly anything to say on the matter and doesn’t even know that he is cool when Xander asks him about it. And so Xander, in his quest to be cool, ends up looking for a thing – which ends up being a car (and some penis jokes). And that car is what ends up getting him in trouble and eventually leads him to finding his cool – without the aid of a “thing.” But the car isn’t what makes him cool at all.
The other thing that leads Xander towards his strange night is the abandonment of his friends. I mean, I get it, they want to keep him safe, but why now? I mean it’s great that Faith is in the mix and working well with Buffy, but that doesn’t mean that Xander can’t be useful (in a non-snack capacity way). What his friends do to him in this episode is actually kind of mean. Also, Xander is actually pretty good at staying cool and collected in the face of danger. He doesn’t buckle under pressure. Sure, over the years he has his moments and sometimes runs away screaming (only in “Go Fish” though) or gets pummeled, but overall, he keeps his cool when it really counts. Sure, by not running away he is a liability as much as he is an asset, but what does Willow contribute? Can’t she do her spells from a safer room/distance? Xander could at least work to protect her during these tense moments. And honestly, his cool head in these matters is what allows him to save Faith. He sees that she is in trouble and maneuvers the car just so, without missing a beat, to hit one of the demons and allow Faith a quick get-a-way. Clearly, he is being underestimated in this episode by those who know him best. And, after this episode, without his friends ever finding out about his own adventures, he’s back in the mix without a question. Weird, no?
After all is said and done, this episode is a zombie episode. I am not a zombie fan, but here they are used for comedy and are completely different from the zombies seen in “Dead Man’s Party” – thank goodness! One of them is even played by Michael Cudlitz – one of those actors that you’ve definitely seen in at least one other thing between the 90s and now. The majority of the Xander-centric episode is played for laughs. Sometimes it is in the physical humor (see Xander accidentally decapitate a zombie with a mailbox), and sometimes it is through the typical Xander method of talking. For example, “Two guys wrasslin, but not in a gay way “– oh Xander. I don’t think this would fly anymore, but it is amusing to hear Xander try to be cool and then have to backtrack and say too much.
MIchael Cudlitz on Buffy 
Michael Cudlitz in real life
This is juxtaposed with the overly dramatic apocalypse scenes sprinkled throughout the episode. The most obvious example of this is, of course, the Buffy-Angel scene. It seems pretty typical, but then once Xander interrupts we see how the over-dramatic can be played for laughs. Especially since, as soon as Xander leaves, the romantic music swells up once again – right where it left off.
Music actually plays a really important part in this episode. As soon as Xander’s scenes get serious, there is no music. The apocalypse battle has music and is very loud, but Xander’s scenes are quiet. This signals a change, both in tone and in Xander. The lack of music shows Xander’s inner-calm (or, cool, if you will) – the music stops, the rest is silence. It is in these moments that we see just how much Xander is worth. After all, unbeknownst to his friends, he is the one saving those who save the world. If not for Xander (with an assist from werewolf Oz that he doesn’t know about), anyone in the high school would have been killed in an explosion. Xander stops a bomb from going off and rescues his friends – and the world. No wonder he’s my favorite guy on this show!
I do wonder though why Jack isn’t a better fighter. I mean, you’re telling me that he can’t take Xander? Or maybe, against regular threats, Xander can hold his own? Last season Xander almost got pummeled by Larry, but maybe he would have been okay without Buffy’s interference. Or maybe he’s learned some fighting over the past 2 years. Or maybe Jack’s not as tough as he seems.
It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Xander is cool and he gains some much-needed confidence through his own hero’s journey in this episode. Also, Oz is strangely full the next day.
The Great Buffy Re-watch 