In this episode of Tabula Rasa, B!tches!, Allie and Nick discuss the…interesting…episode that is “Teacher’s Pet.” When one of Buffy’s favorite teachers turns up dead, students wonder what happened. Students quickly move past their concerns when an attractive new substitute teacher, Ms. French, arrives and starts flirting with the male students in class. Ms. French, who we later learn is a She-Mantis, invites Xander to her home (yikes), where she plans to mate with and kill him. Buffy and crew discover Ms. French’s lair, and Buffy disposes of Ms. French just before she has her way with Xander.

Credits

• Hosted by Allie Press & Nick Mercer
• Edited by Allie Press
• Music by InflatonCult
• Artwork by Charlotte Fleming Design
• Consultation by Evo Terra

Connect with us on social media!

• Email: tabularasabpod@gmail.com
• Twitter, Instagram, Facebook: @tabularasabpod

Connect with Allie on social media:

• Twitter, Instagram: @Daughterpick
• Tiktok: @futureblackcat
• buymeacoffee.com/AlliePress

[Intro Music]

Welcome to Tabula Rasa, B!tches!

[Intro Music]

Hello!

Hello.

My name is Allie.

And I'm Nick.

And welcome to episode four of Tabula Rasa, B!tches!

We're so glad you are here.

In Tabula Rasa, B!tches you'll listen as two decades-long

friends jump back into the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and relive

the show that brought them close together and taught them so many of

the values they still cherish today.

And side note for our friends, we'll be discussing this episode spoilers and all.

If you haven't watched and don't want to hear the spoilers, hit that pause button,

go do your watching, and come back.

We are so excited to have you back.

In each episode of Tabula Rasa, B!tches, we'll dive into an episode

of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and discuss the lessons that can be learned from

our favorite Sunnydale warriors and the supernatural creatures they use their

talents and friendship to overcome.

Today, we'll be discussing season one, episode four, "Teacher's Pet."

And real quick, before we sidle into our episode summary, if you missed our first

episode you might be wondering about the show title, Tabula Rasa, B!tches.

"Tabula rasa" refers to something later in the series, much later.

We'll get to that eventually.

But you may or may not know tabula rasa means "clean slate."

And Nicholas and I are watching these episodes with a clear mind,

seeing, you know, what comes up new.

So kind of a blank slate like that.

And a shout out to Lianna Haupt for her suggestion for the title.

I heard Lianna is brilliant.

She is indeed.

She is a very dear friend of mine.

She is a writer, a director, and she also works for like a Grubhub-type

company, but that's not important.

She's lovely.

And we love you, so hope you're listening.

What a doll.

We are grateful to you.

All right, Nicholas, would you like to get us rolling

with our episode summary?

I would be thrilled to jump right into the episode summary.

So when one of Buffy's favorite teachers, a science teacher, goes

missing and later turns up dead, students wonder what happened.

The male students quickly get over their concern when a

sexy substitute teacher, Ms.

French, shows up the next day and begins flirting with all the boys in her class.

Buffy suspects there is more than meets the eye with the substitute teacher.

The next day, Ms.

French invites Xander to her home - which is a big yikes - to

"work on a school project."

Xander follows the invitation and we learn that Ms.

French is actually a she-mantis who plans to mate with Xander before killing him.

Buffy and crew discover where Ms.

French is keeping the boys she seduces and Buffy kills the she-mantis just as

she is about to have her way with Xander.

Yeah, big yikes.

Big yikes on this one.

Yeah, it's an, it's an odd one for sure.

It, so it starts off with this delightful daydream - daydream?

Dream?

Whatever.

Xander's asleep in class and he's having this excellent fantasy.

And my first note is yes, that red dress.

Buffy's in a super sexy satin mini dress.

And I love it.

She's looking sextastic.

She's crushing it in her red dress.

Absolutely.

And I am all about confident dream fantasy Xander.

That's a good look on him.

I did...

the first note I took is, is that I would bang Nicolas Brendon.

This one, this, yeah.

[Chuckling].

I would bang Nicholas Brendon in this scenario.

Yes, absolutely.

Uh, yeah Nicholas Brendon/Xander was a very early crush of mine

and still holds a very dear, dear spot in my heart to this day.

Um, I love this teacher, this science teacher.

He is exactly the kind of teacher I would have loved, just the no nonsense, like

do the work and we'll be buds, you know?

And I just like he's not coddling her, but he's, he's actually

on her team, which is lovely.

He holds her accountable to the high level that

we all know she can perform at.

Um, I have had a teacher give me tough love in the way that Buffy got tough

love and it was very impactful for me.

I appreciate it.

Looking back.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

I love his line, "Let's make them eat that permanent record."

Yeah, it's so good.

Yeah.

And that's, I think that's lovely.

And I did have, definitely have the question in my head of like, uh, why

is one of Buffy's teachers getting access to her permanent record?

Like is Flutie just showing it around to all of her teachers?

That's not okay.

That's not cool.

Well, yeah, so in the way he says it, there is no

other pretext for him to have it.

We are left to assume that it is a known fact, at least among the

staff, although probably the students too, but that, that's not okay.

Poor Buffy.

Yeah.

Like it's hard enough trying to start over, especially given her past.

And then you're just, you're just going to tell everybody?

That's rude.

Luckily she had this teacher, but also not so lucky cause he ends up dead.

As good teachers do at Sunnydale High.

True.

True, true.

Um, as we're recording this, I did make a note for those listening along and

hopefully this is still true by the time that we are actually publishing

these episodes, but at the time of this recording, Buffy is free on Amazon Prime.

That's at least where I'm watching it because I don't actually

have a DVD player anymore.

So, though I own all the seasons, uh, I'm watching it on Amazon.

I didn't know that it was on Amazon Prime.

I used to watch it on Hulu and now I have the ripped versions of it.

So, um, they're at The Bronze as they, as they do.

And, um, it was fun, I recognize the song, the band that's playing

songs, "I Already Met You."

I forget the name of the band, but I used to listen to Buffy The Album constantly.

There's a Buffy album?

Yeah.

So it's a bunch of songs - really mostly just from the first season,

maybe the second season too.

But it's a bunch of seasons that, uh, songs that play mostly in The Bronze.

I've tried a few times to track down the, this was

a thing in the 90s, early 2000s.

Like they did it on Charmed a lot.

They would have people, they would have like up and coming bands perform as part

- Allie Press: Mhm.

They did it on Smallville, too.

And I, I have always wondered if the same is true here.

Like have these bands, like, are these actual bands?

Yes, bands that play at the, at The Bronze are actual bands.

That's neat.

With, I think, the exception of Oz's band?

Or maybe Oz is a, you know, in real life, superfluous member of an actual band?

But yes, those are, those are actual bands that you can find.

Um, if you actually if you search just Buffy The Album,

that's what the CD is called.

And you should be able to find the track list.

That's very neat.

We'll put a link in the bio friends.

Um, I have a note from that Bronze scene.

So Angel gives Buffy, uh, her, his coat, which is very sweet and I

wrote, "Angel, Buffy is really cold.

I think she could use your tank top too."

So cold.

I'm just so, so cold.

Yes.

I love that move of giving somebody your jacket.

Um, I'm a very scent driven person.

So, you know, whether it be the guy's shirt or, or a jacket or whatever, just

like this, like having that smell and it's warm from them and it's just the best.

And I love her showing up to school the next day in the jacket.

That's such a move.

So another question that I have is, I know what my parents would

have done if I had started wearing a strange man's jacket, but hadn't met him.

What would your parents, your parents, your parents are cooler.

They probably would've been like

- Allie Press: Uuuuuhhhhh

Um, it's hard to really say with any certainty what their reaction

would have been as I was bitterly single all through high school.

Um, so yeah, hard to, hard to know.

I mean, my dad was certainly never like baseball bat by the door kind of thing.

Which I was a little bit offended by?

Like he never got that defensive and neither did my brother

and I was like, yay, but also, do you just not care at all?

Protect me!

Protect me!

I mean, be nice, but like protect me.

It was...yeah.

Weird.

I'm, you know, of two minds of that, but yeah.

So, uh, I think they would have had questions.

I think they probably would have been okay with it.

I think they just would've wanted to know what's going on.

Not, not in terms of like, uh, I'm in trouble, but in a communicate with us.

What's going on?

What's going on with your life.

Also, you know, me, I can't shut up.

So they would've known everything about the situation as soon as-

-to say, I bet I bet they would have known that

you were talking to this dude.

Um, that's lovely.

It's a, it's a nice jacket.

I would wear it everywhere as well.

Absolutely.

Um, I love Willow's line, "He's one of the only teachers that

doesn't think Buffy's a felon."

I wrote that down, too.

Yes.

[Chuckling].

Which is both hilarious, but I don't know, sad too.

I feel-

It's like a fun, it's a funny cause it's true.

Um, I have a question for you.

Did you ever have a crush on a teacher?

Did I ever have a crush on the teacher...

No, I don't think I did.

Let me go back through my, let me go back through the male

teachers I had in high school.

Hm.

See, mine was from elementary school.

By the time got to high-

Elementary school...

-we had a lot of old guys.

Yeah.

I was just thinking about the old men that I had teach me, which no.

Um, elementary school, maybe.

No, I don't.

You remember Mr.

Clark?

Mr.

Clark was the one person I was...

Looked like Tom Wellington.

Yeah, he

- Allie Press: AKA Clark

Um, he hated, hated one of - I'm not going to name my best

friend in fifth grade, but the dude that I hung out with a lot in fifth grade?

Mr.

Clark hated him.

So I think that I felt, I don't know.

He would, this friend, who shall not be named, got in trouble for me all the time.

He was, he.

Yeah, I would do something that he would get blamed for it.

And I wouldn't say anything.

I'm not, no, I'm not narc-ing on myself.

But-

I remember I got into this heated argument with him because

there was a quiz that was supposed to be Thursday and he like moved it up

to Tuesday, but he made it open note.

Now, as I'm older, I'm like, who cares?

He made it open note, like whatever.

And you were a good student, you took notes.

So it's not as if you didn't have notes.

But little Allie was so enraged on principle.

Like, it's the principle of the thing, you said the test was

Thursday, that's when it should be.

And he's like, but Allie, I made it open note.

And I'm like, I don't care, this is when you said the test was.

I was just so one track mind.

I'm going to side with fifth grade Allie here.

That's not, I prepped for it.

I have arranged my study schedule as such.

But he made it open note...

Maybe I have test anxiety.

Who knows.

Maybe I need to psych myself up.

Who knows.

Yeah, but I, I mean, like the story is I did not have test anxiety.

I had plenty of notes.

I never struggled with grades.

You were just pissed.

Yeah, it was just like simply a principle of the thing that for

some reason was a sticking point for me.

That is so funny.

Mr.

Clark, if you're listening, are you still cute?

Probably.

I don't know.

Probably.

He had a great head of hair.

Um...

[Nick laughing].

The things I remember.

I hope his ears are burning right now.

That would be funny.

Uh, he also did at one, did one day in the hall.

I, cause I used to wear my hair in a bun all the time and he squished the bun.

He squished my bun.

I remember, I remember sque- you would have this net, you would

have this net thing that you would wear.

It was cute.

I liked it a lot.

It's, it's- And I would always

- Allie Press: Yeah, for those who

know what a snood is, I decided that in fifth grade it would be

cool if I wore my snood to school.

It was cool!

You were cool!

No, it really wasn't.

Uh, but it happened nonetheless.

And I appreciate that sentiment.

Anyway!

Continuing on with inappropriate things that teachers do.

Yeah, this, so I remember this episode being weird, but just

the second that substitute teacher walks in and every guy's head turns.

It's, this is weird.

Fair.

Hot teachers are a thing and you're allowed to appreciate them on sight.

And I mean, they're teenage boys.

Or, you know, and whatever closeted lesbians were in

the high school class too.

Like, I'm sure they were enjoying it.

Eye candy is always an appreciated thing.

Um, her, her face, when they say that praying mantises are ugly.

[Chuckling].

She's like, I will cut a bitch.

I have a quote from, from there.

Um, she's like, why don't, why do they live in solitude?

Or something.

And Buffy says, "The words 'bug ugly' come to mind."

Right, right, exactly.

Buffy.

Ooh, her face.

Yeah.

I also, uh, have a note, a funny quote right before then.

Uh, Blayne has generously volunteered to show Ms.

French the way to class.

And he says something like, "Oh, it's right next to the varsity field

where I took all city" or something.

And just the, the uh, outsized weight that I put on meaningless accomplishments in

high school, thinking that they would mean anything to a potential sexual partner.

Who's an adult.

Well, yeah, yeah.

I mean, she's clearly not going to, probably not going to care.

But yeah, it's weird.

It's weird the things that we find important then.

Good for him.

It is an accomplishment if you're like an Allstate champ and stuff.

That, I mean, he worked hard to get that.

And you know what, good for him.

Good for Blayne.

But it is, but it is funny the way he's not

so subtly slipping in there.

Yeah, I'm varsity football, blah, blah, blah.

I have a note that I intentionally suspended my disbelief

about how much the substitute teacher knows about the subject she was teaching

and other things happening at the school.

Because the subs that I had didn't have a clue about trigonometry.

Yeah, it's certainly convenient timing as they happened to be

in their insect/ bugs unit in biology.

Definitely interesting.

Um, I have a note here, um, when she's out patrolling for the fork-handed

stabby guy and a bum walks by, and he's like, "You shouldn't be out here.

It's not safe."

I just had the thought of yo, I would love to see someone try to mess with Buffy.

Like some creepy dude, a human dude, being creepy at night.

I would love to see him try something.

Just fuckin try.

I think he had a uh, an alcoholic beverage in his brown bag too.

So the thought, the thought of an inebriated, creepy man, try something

with the Slayer is also hilarious to me.

Yes.

She would break your back.

Um, a vamp running away from something would scare the hell out of me.

Yeah.

That's sketchy.

And I think I'm, and they do appropriately

appreciate the meaning of that.

Like, uuuhhhh what is this that a vampire is running away scared?

I think this isn't, this is a vampire who's packin extra stuff, too.

He's got the hand.

Freddy Kreuger Hand.

And he's scared.

So that's a pretty, pretty big deal.

Um, I have, "Yes, I lied.

I'm a bad person.

Let's move on."

Giles is like, "After I expressly told you not to go patrolling?"

She's like, "Yeah, I lied.

I'm a bad person.

Let's move on."

[Chuckling].

Love that.

Same.

Same.

Um, I don't know if this has happened yet.

I have an iconic Cordelia phrase noted when she's in the cafeteria and finds the

- she goes on to open the fridge to find the dead body, but she says, she bumps

into Buffy and she goes, "Excuse you."

And then she walks into the back area of the cafeteria and says, "I'll only be

here as long as I can hold my breath."

Cordelia, you are such a funny bitch.

I'm obsessed with you.

Absolutely.

Um, I just have an "Awww Principal Flutie."

He means so well.

He, in this instance, he's a treasure here.

Oh, I mean the whole time, the whole, I think he is nothing

but well-meaning in a county that clearly isn't valuing education.

I'm going to assume that whatever county they're in is not super

well-funded or any of that.

He is so clearly in it for the right reasons.

He's not power tripping.

I mean, the things that he gets on Buffy's case about like

skipping school, that's valid.

She is skipping school.

He has no idea that she has a higher calling.

So from his eyes, it is perfectly reasonable to call

her out on those things.

Uh, he is adorable and I like him.

Also, love pushing therapy on everybody.

Everybody should be in therapy.

There's another iconic Cordelia phrase here that Buffy over hears.

She says, "I'm not saying we should kill a teacher every day so I can lose weight.

I'm just saying when tragedy strikes, we have to look at the bright side."

Good for you, Cordelia.

You're right.

What a champ.

You do have to look on the bright side.

Yeah.

I mean, is she a vapid popular girl or is she just spinning everything

to the best of her ability?

[Chuckling].

Who knows.

You got, you, life gave her lemons.

She's not saying like she needs lemon, but they're already there.

Weigh in, listeners.

What do we think?

So yes, this is a weird episode with the whole like

teacher preying on students, but like that's the thing, get it?

She is a literal predator.

She is literally a praying mantis and she is praying on students.

Uh, tr - ee, true.

Yeah...

[Sound of disgust].

Like no one's, like, yes, it is still gross.

It's still creepy.

But that is also the whole thing.

She is the bad guy.

So it's not like, because it exists in the episode we're saying that it's okay.

Buffy and Willow the whole time were like that's skeezy.

That's creepy.

Her head just turned around 360 degrees.

That's pretty sus.

Yeah, but they don't say, they say that's weird.

She might be evil.

They don't say that's illegal and you're being groomed and exploited.

I think they would've gotten there either way.

Obviously the part where she's gonna kill them was more important.

I think that was just taking precedence, you know?

Side note about her, Ms.

French, um, I hate her eye shadow and

Oh!

Find...

Oh yeah, that weird beigey yellow?

That is just so matchy-matchy with the sweater she's wearing?

Don't love it.

Don't love it.

So not only are you a predator, but you're also [Allie snickering]

make poor makeup choices.

That's worse than being ugly.

Like you, you have actively done something to make yourself look worse.

She, uh, would not have turned my head.

I have a great note.

Check out how smart Buffy is bossing Giles around.

Cause she actually did her bio homework.

So when she tells him, go get bat sonar from this area of the section, like,

I know it's not books, but we have this collection and blah, blah, blah.

And she's delegating who's getting what and blah, blah, blah.

I was just like, oh, she's so in charge.

I love it.

There's that Slayer leadership.

I love

- Allie Press: And that Slayer

Um, I have two notes related to this.

The first note I wrote in all caps, "No, do not go to a teacher's house."

I think that's just a good practice in general.

Um, and then I love this quote from Giles when he says, "This computer

invasion Willow is performing on the coroner's office is legal, right?"

[Chuckling].

So British.

Right.

"Wasn't here.

Didn't see you.

Couldn't have stopped you."

[More snickering].

Loved that, yeah.

I had that one written down.

Um, gotta love those practical effects with the gigantic praying mantis.

Love it.

Yeah, not the best, not the best puppet, or whatever, we've seen.

No...yeah...

We're early on there.

They're getting their budget.

They're getting there.

But you know, I do, there is something I think that's great about - cause I

think if they had done like special effects, like computer generated

stuff, I think it would have looked weird and maybe out of place.

And it still wouldn't have been up to today's standards.

So sometimes I like just having those good ol' animatronics or someone in a suit.

Sometimes it's just better.

There is a charm to it.

That's for sure.

I don't love this exchange Xander has with Buffy outside.

And I think by this point, he's a little chemical crazy.

So I'm willing to give him a little bit of grace, but I think it speaks to some

other things that he's actually feeling?

Buffy's like, "I don't think she's human."

And he says, "I've met someone and you're jealous.

Look, there's nothing I can do about it.

There's just something chemical between Ms.

French and me."

Well, yes, there, yeah, there - she's seducing you, but like-

Again, it's, it's, their characters do stupid stuff that,

like, obviously it's stupid, but it definitely feels character motivated.

He's a 16-year-old boy.

You know, whether he truly in his heart of hearts believes that she's

into him and they're going to have a thing, like, he wants to believe it

so he's letting himself believe it.

So he's saying something stupid.

And I do imagine that it could come off that way, like, well, I

asked you out and you said no, and now someone is showing interest.

So...

back off.

I don't think he actually asked her...

I don't know.

So, no, he didn't.

He expressed interest last episode, which we talked about last episode.

he did not literally say, "Hey, Buffy, let's go on a date."

But in his teenage boy mind, he expressed interest in him was turned down.

It's not as if Buffy doesn't know that he's into her.

I think they are capturing the communications

limitations of teenage boys well.

I think so.

I agree with that for sure.

Um, this is definitely a very ewww question, but how the fuck does

a human man fertilize her eggs?

Yeah.

I had a lot of logistical questions about...

um, at one point, too, Xander, he, um, he has like wrist straps put on him.

How did that happen?

She doesn't, those little claws of hers don't look super opposable.

Those do not look like they have the dexterity to perform that.

Maybe she...

Maybe she can turn her hands back and forth.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, clearly she can turn her whole body back and forth, so maybe she

does it to get them into the restraints?

I don't know.

That is a good question.

I hadn't thought about that.

Because, yeah, she would also need more opposable hands to

lock them in the cage and stuff.

That's true.

I mean the scare factor's certainly there.

You're not gonna, I mean, she's sort of, she is certainly

intimidating enough, but...

You have a giant insect in front of you.

Yeah, you're probably not going to fight back too hard.

Um, yeah, the question of how that mating actually trails off [Chuckling]

. Do you think they, do you think when they made this episode, they knew

- Allie Press: know?

that they knew that people were going to analyze and

wonder how it actually works?

Are they like, "No, people aren't going to

-" Allie Press: "They're not

We will!

Always does.

Allie and I will.

I don't, you know, I don't think that they should have

gone into how, how that all works.

I think it's perfectly fine, uh, the vagaries that they left it at.

Buuuut I'm still gonna wonder.

Um, I have a question for you.

I want you to decide - Okay, let's say you are going to get killed by a monster.

Choose between getting killed by a vampire, or getting killed

by a giant bug like this one.

Vampire.

Hardcore.

Okay, good.

Yeah, it wasn't even a hard guess for me.

Cause after the initial bite, I feel like it

probably feels kind of good.

Oh, interesting.

I don't know about that.

It's certainly, I think, quicker.

I don't want my head taken off.

That doesn't

- Allie Press: It's probably a

And I don't know, I mean like...

Is it a hot vampire?

Uh, well, it's certainly not a hot bug, but there

is a chance if it's a vampire...

Saying there's a possibility that the experience with a vampire

could overall not be unenjoyable.

[Chuckling]

Good.

Okay.

We're in agreement.

We would like to get killed, if we have to get killed by a vampire,

ideally it's a sexy vampire.

Oh, pfft, hardcore.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Totally preferable.

Great, great, good talk.

[Laughing]

Um, I see we have, we both have noted the same quote - "Just

for the record, you were right.

I'm an idiot.

God bless you."

[Chuckling] Good, good one, Xander.

Hey, hey, it takes a strong man to admit that he was wrong.

Good on you, Xander.

That is showing some non-toxic masculinity.

I do love some non-toxic masculinity.

I, um, feel that I think this vampire that the, that they introduced and offed in

the same episode, I would've liked to hear - That's a, that's a Wolverine vampire cool.

Don't know.

We could've, we could've, uh, had him come back or do something or...

pretty cool.

I mean, they did briefly talk about his backstory.

It was apparently some vampire who was so devoted, he was, he was - made some

mistake and got cast out by The Master.

But, in an attempt to show his devotion, hacked off his hand.

And that's how he ended up with the blady hand.

Yeah, that's cool.

There could have been, we could have had an epic fight.

Yeah.

But I guess there are other

- Allie Press: Kind of cool about like

her about, and then she like meets him and offs him and it's fine.

Um, I think we see Angel be very impressed with Buffy about

the fact that she killed this vampire that gave him trouble so easily.

But that's because Buffy's a badass.

Absolutely.

And it's kind of, a little bit speaks to maybe him making excuses

to, to see her, which is sweet.

I have a note at the end where she closes the closet

door or whatever, and then the camera pans down and we see...

The other eggs.?!

Yes.

I hate bugs.

I hate bugs.

So gross.

Yeah, I don't love bugs.

But also, we never see the pay off of that, which is interesting.

That's true.

Who knows?

Yeah, that never, those, those never come back.

Well, I guess they, they must not come back because I think it would

be pretty clear if some human-sized mantises hatched in the high school.

But somehow not the strangest thing that school has seen.

No, no, no, it's not.

Um, I have the note, um, Buffy and Angel's last encounter of the episode

and Buffy just goes, "Oh boy."

Ja feel, girlfriend, ja feel.

I know we're making fun of a lot of Angel's moves and his very

like cryptic, very moody guy - I would have been all over that.

I was!

I, I, if you look at the guys that I had crushes on in high school, it

was definitely the kind of slightly wounded puppy, kind of moody.

Uh, I would have been all - I was, I was all over Angel as, I mean, I've been in

love with that character my entire life.

Mystery is alluring, isn't it?

It is, um, I'm not saying it's the most healthy

attractive quality out there, but it is nonetheless very attractive.

Why would I want somebody who likes me from the get-go?

Right?

That's ridiculous!

Come ooooonnn.

Give me a little bit of a chase here.

Come on, let me fix you.

I can fix you.

I'll fix you.

It'll be fine!

Cause then if he changes for me, that means he, like, really likes me.

Mmmm, mhm, mhm.

Yeah.

Yeah, that has worked out famously for me in the past.

sure.

Hundo percent.

Yeah.

There's um, oh, there's two quotes that I forgot to mention.

There's one from the beginning where Buffy first sees Angel in The Bronze

and she says, "I'd say, it's nice to see you, but we know that's a big fib."

And there are so many people in my day-to-day life I

would love to say that to.

Oh, yes, but not in a sexy bantery way.

Oh, yeah.

Like, we know this is a lie.

I am not happy to see you.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah, being in your presence drains me of my energy and it is not nice

or pleasant to see you at all.

I feel like we all have that mental list of those people.

And then, I like this quote, uh, Buffy and Willow are

making fun of Xander in the cafeteria.

And they say, "The younger man is too dumb to wonder why an older woman can't find

someone her own age and too desperate to care about the surgical improvements."

Yeeeeeeess.

[Indistinct noise from Nick].

Burn.

Buffy has some good dunks.

She sure does.

And see, that is them, that is them hinting towards, you know,

this not being an okay situation.

Again, not bringing up the predator stuff, but like, I'm not, I'm also

not sure that a teenager, like a fellow teenager can appreciate

the ick factor of that situation?

I think us looking back, like, I don't, uh, it's hard to say.

I remember when we were seniors in high school, I knew of one girl

who was dating a 19-year-old or something?

And I felt very strong ick factor.

I was like 18, like that's kind of a, when there's a legal line there, I don't know.

I'm concerned.

I don't love that.

But then I guess I didn't like call the cops or anything.

And so...

maybe, I don't know.

I don't know.

Yeah.

But, underage listeners, if your teacher shows

interest in you, that's not normal.

Nope.

Bad.

Yes, absolutely bad.

Tell your parents, tell somebody, run.

Not okay.

And a teacher should never try to put you in a situation

where they're alone with you.

Ever.

Nastiness.

So, um, a theme that I have from this episode is, um, I think, I think this

pressure that I don't know if girls felt it, dudes definitely feel it.

This pressure to have sex right away, or be the first person to have sex, have

your debut or whatever, that is so real.

And the idea of being a virgin being something

to be embarrassed about.

Definitely a huge factor in lots of, lots of people's lives.

I didn't feel, feel a huge pressure.

Certainly not in our friend group.

And also just not in general because I just don't - Peer

pressure isn't a thing on me.

When people would be like, "Do it.

You won't.

No balls."

I'd be like, yeah, you're right.

I won't.

Like, I don't, I don't care.

The whole, like "I dare you" doesn't have an effect on me.

Cause I'm like, you know what I could also do?

Not that.

I think when somebody tells me, when somebody tries to egg me on to

doing something, I'm less likely to do it.

If I feel like you are, you are pressuring me to, I'm like mmm.

Now I super don't want to do it.

Now just for the sake of being obstinate, I'm, I'm going

to, I'm not, I'm not doing that.

I'm certainly not doing it now.

But it is absolutely a thing that people still make a thing

of, which is hopefully becoming less and less as the generations go on.

But I, I did find that a lovely little moment where we find out that Blayne,

who's supposedly THE MAN is also a virgin.

You're all talk.

And you don't gotta be embarrassed about it, Blayne, it's ok.

Yeah.

Also, Blayne reminds me, have you ever, have you ever seen Pretty in Pink?

I've not seen Pretty in Pink.

The guy, the love interest-

I'm Googling it now.

The love interest is called Blane and when the main

character is talking to, to Ducky, her best friend, about it, he's

like, "What kind of name is Blane?

That's an appliance."

[Chuckling] [Sigh] I'll have to check it out.

Pretty in Pink.

Lovely.

I do find that it stands up, in my opinion.

What other, what other themes or reactions do

you have to this episode, Allie?

I, you know, I think the...

kind of just sexuality, sexual tension...

Sort of a puberty kind of theme...

Finding interest in other people.

And maybe just kind of like...

stupid teens?

Mmmmmm.

Yeah.

Um...

yeah, I think that's pretty much, pretty much what I had.

You know, not every episode is going to have some big, meaningful thing.

But also, I guess I kind of mentioned earlier, just, like, predators.

Mm.

Both literal and figurative.

It's our first, um, creature villain.

You know, we've had witches and vampires so that's a, I think a noteworthy thing

about this episode, which is neat.

For sure.

And I definitely noticed in this episode, the growing relationship between Buffy and

Willow, like the budding besties thing.

See, especially when, you know, you kind of get to have a girl talk

when they're talking about Xander and like judging him together.

That was just very sweet to see.

And, like you noted earlier, I think we, the continued

development we're seeing in Buffy as a leader we definitely see.

That's also kind of neat to watch again.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, that's the end of my notes.

Any last thoughts?

That's the end of mine too.

I think I, I think we might be about to...

wrap

- Nick Mercer: Wrap this up, Allie, yeah.

Well then, I think that about does it for this episode.

Thank you so much for joining us and we hope you'll join us again

for our next episode where we'll discuss season one, episode five,

"Never Kill a Boy on the First Date."

This is one of my favorites from this season so I'm

really excited to talk about this one.

And if you are just too excited to wait until our next episode to chat, send

us an email at tabularasabpod - that's T-A-B U-L-A R A S A-B-P-O-D at gmail.com.

And you can also say hello to us on Twitter, Instagram, or

Facebook at @tabularasabpod.

Allie, how can people get in contact with you?

You can find me in the places.

You can find me at Daughterpick on Instagram and Twitter.

D-A-U G-H-T E-R -P-I-C-K.

And if you want to toss a couple of bucks my way, you can go to

BuyMeACoffee.com/AlliePress.

And our amazing listeners, all social media handles

are going to be in the description.

Be sure to check us out.

And I hope everybody makes the proudest of choices.

Have a lovely time until next time.

Mwah.

Bye.

[Outro Music slowly fades in.]

Tabula Rasa, B!tches!

is hosted by Allie Press and Nick Mercer with music by InflatonCult,

artwork by Charlotte Fleming Design, and consultation by Evo Terra.