Don't Warn the Tadpoles

Episode 2.9: What's My Line?: Part 1. Original Airdate 11.17.97

"Spike brings in three professional bounty hunters to eliminate Buffy while she ponders on what her profession might be if her fate wasn't already sealed."

Daniel's Thoughts:

• I don’t think my school had a career fair…
• Despite hanging with the Scoobies, Cordelia has still retained her Cordettes. [Minus a Harmony. - Z]
• Aww, Buffy is worried about her future! Like all teens!

Aww!

• Dru: "He can’t help you…not without the key."  Dawn: "Me?"  SPOILERS!
• Spike and Dru are the cutest dead couple since the Addamses.
• Marti Noxon’s first foray into writing a Buffy ep – not bad, Marti, not bad.
• Angel holding Mr. Gordo is adorable. ==>
• Buffy: “You don’t have to whisper, mom’s in LA…” Angel: “Then, why did you sneak through the window?”  Hee.
• It’s nice that Joss brought SMG’s ice-skating past into the program.
• I can see it now: Buffy Summers: Police Woman  
• It's Willy!
• Willow & Oz finally meet!
• Xander is annoying everyone with his dumb jokes this episode.  Including me. [Not me! *blithe smile* - Z]
• Spike must be really desperate to hire a bounty rather than killing Buffy himself.
• The paranoid Buffy scene is kinda dumb – especially the guy that takes out his comb.  

The Comb of Doom.

• It’s Kendra! Da vampire slayer!

Zelda's Thoughts:

• Yaaaaaaaay this episode has so much cool in it.
• "Yes, but I'll always be stupid ... okay, let's not all rush to disagree."
• "That's between you and your god." I use that one a lot too. No one gets it. [Except Buffy fans. Cause we're cool - D]
• Man, the Council really should pay Buffy to be the Slayer.
• Hehehe Spike is all mean and rude to everyone, but one tiny whimper from Dru and he's an apologetic puppy. Boy is whipped. But it's easy to see why these two were so popular, devoted to each other and insane as they are.

Not enough books. Must be bookier.

• "Career Week?" // "How did you know?" // "I lurk." I died.
• Awww, Buffy looks at her reflection and there is no Angel reflection next to her on the bed.
• See, scenes like this, I get the OTP of Buffy and Angel: "It's closed on Tuesdays." // "Tomorrow's Tuesday." // "I know." schmoopy eyes
• Seriously, though, Xander would make a terrible prison guard. He would get his butt kicked. But police officer makes more sense for Buffy. It's already what she does, isn't it? Why is this upsetting news? I genuinely don't get it.
• Giles has to carry All the Books.
• And now, because she's being taunted with life paths she can't have, Buffy is chafing under the shackles of her destiny, bratting at Giles and making jokes about her demise.
• Oooooh Spike called Buffy a bitch. Them's fighting words!
• Spike calls in the Order of Taraka. He shoulda learned from the Master that calling in 3 thugs to kill the Slayer never works. I thought what works with Slayers is killing them, Spike? Do it yourself!
• "I think it's just-enough-kill." People love this line. I think it's pretty hokey actually. Eye-rollingly so.
• Snyder! Yay!
• Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Oz's face when he sees Willow. "It's her!" he seems to think before he goes with the more blase "Canape?" I can't handle. So cute.
• We shoulda kept a tally of how many scenes take place in the parking lot of the studio. But we didn't. Instead we just laugh about it every episode.
• Oh show. You're so crafty - we see the arrival of two of the Order of Taraka dudes, so when we see Kendra check in to Sunnydale, we assume she is one of them too. Especially when she knocks random baggage handler out. Which, speaking of - why the hell is she harming civilians? Her watcher is shit.
• Ah yes, we must cure Dru's macguffin illness with a macguffin cross and a macguffin spell requiring a macguffin Angel.
• Xander belittling Buffy's research skills? Pot, kettle, have you met each other yet?
• "I didn't even notice." Awwwwwwwwww
• "Bowling is a vicious game." // "That's ENOUGH, Xander." Ooooh. Daddy's mad.
• Hey listen, Giles and Angel and the Overprotective Society, why is hiding Buffy from the scaries a good idea? No one else is strong enough to defeat them. I don't like plotlines that make Buffy feel small and vulnerable. Bad! Bad!

My boyfriend lives in a museum.

• Ewwwww bugman ewwwwww.
• "That's a tense person." I love you Oz.
• GILES FINALLY CLEANED HIS GLASSES THANK GOD I'M SURE THEY'RE FILTHY.
• Angel, your decor is bizarrrrrrrrrre. ==>
• Also, random thought: We know Angel is a good artist from later episodes. I think there should be more stalker drawings of Buffy lying around. #justsaying
• So how come Kendra doesn't just kill Angel, the vampire she sees beating up a human? No, seriously, WHY NOT. Do I blame her shitty watcher or her? Worst. Slayer. Ever.
• Come to that, when she saw Angel and Buffy making out in the rink, why didn't she attack them? Why was she even following them in the first place? I understand her as a foil, but as a character I think she makes very little sense. Did she just decide to randomly wander Sunnydale and happened upon the closed skating rink? All right, guys, I have to call it - Shenanigans!
• Also, I think Angel should be able to break out of that little cage.
• "I have frog fear." She's so cute.
• "By George, I think he's got it." Spike is a fan of My Fair Lady!
• Buffy's house is remarkably easy to break into. I hope Joyce has good insurance.
• "You must be Number Two." It's funny because she means Taraka, but it's also about being a Slayer. And also, poo.
• The Slayer-on-Slayer fight is pretty cool.
• "I am Kendra, the Vampire Slayer." // Buffy's face: "whuh?" Excellent ending.

Crossfire!

Z: Please explain to me how a guy who turns into worms is supposed to be a deadly threat against a Vampire Slayer. I mean, yes, gross, zomg wormses, and all that, but ... how does that actually kill a Slayer?

D: Because ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.  It would make her run away so she couldn't stop the ritual.

Z: No. No no no. These are assassins sent to kill the Buffy. That is what they do. That is why Giles and Angel got obnoxiously overprotective of Buffy. How oh how could wormyman kill her? Are these worms invested with superstrength?
D: Well it killed another woman.  It either scared her to death (that can happen!) or it stuffed her throat (EW EW EW) until she couldn't breathe.
Z: I guess ... but I still have trouble seeing him as much of a threat to a Slayer.

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: "I came down on the side of shrubs." ~Willow 

Zelda: "I want to walk in your shoes. Not your actual shoes, of course, because you're a tiny person." - Xander

Arc/Continuity Stuff:

• Dalton, the bespectacled minion, is translating the book that Female Blonde Minion stole in Lie to Me.
• Buffy used to ice skate.
• Oz and Willow finally meet! And are adorable!!!!
• First appearance of Kendra, the Vampire Slayer.
• Buffy's first sleepover at Angel's. Though he's not there for it.
• Willy the Snitch's first episode.
• Willow reveals her frog fear. Perhaps she developed it after playing with that stuffed frog.

Stats:

Voiceover - none

Dead Humans - 1

Dead Undeads - 2

Giles Unconscious - 0

Giles Cleans His Glasses - 1

Buffy Breaks a Door - 1 (well, she broke the lock)

Evil Reveal - 0

Unevil Reveal - 1 (Kendra)

Shenanigans Called - 1

Apocalypse Called - 0