• Air Date – March 17th, 1997
  • Writer – Dana Reston
  • Director – Stephen Cragg
  • Producers – Joss Whedon

Once again we see that Buffy is struggling in school, not because she isn’t intelligent (despite some compelling evidence to the contrary) but because her slayer duties require so much of her focus the rest of her life must suffer.  Fortunately for her Dr. Gregory, one of the only teachers at Sunnydale High that has proven to not be an ass or a fool up to this point, sees her potential and encourages her to study and excel in science.  This gives Buffy a boost to her scholastic ego and motivates her.  It is no surprise then that Dr. Gregory is killed the moment he is left alone in his classroom by an unseen attacker and dragged into a closet.

The next day, with Dr. Gregory’s absence, the class has the substitute science teacher Miss Natalie French.  It is clear that the boys in the class prefer the new teacher, and their reaction is so extreme it becomes clear something may be wrong here other than raging hormones.  Later that night Buffy is warned by Angel that a new vampire is in town and he’s serious business.

Ms. French, still driving the boys crazy, asks for volunteers to stay with her after school to help finish a project for the science fair, model praying mantis egg sacks.  She chooses Blayne the football hero to help first, with the second day belonging to Xander.  Later that day Cordelia Chase finds the headless body of Dr. Gregory in a cafeteria refrigerator.  Buffy believes this murder may be connected to the cryptic vampire warning she received from Angel the night before and resolves to patrol that evening looking Dr. Gregory’s killer.

On patrol Buffy finds the super-vamp Angel warned her about, with a giant hook for a hand and a seriously ugly face.  Before Buffy can jump the vamp Ms. French walks by with her groceries, and instead of running in terror she scares the crap outa the vampire.  The vampire takes a big sniff of Ms. French and runs for his life.

The next day Buffy reports to Giles that Ms. French might be something awful.  Running late to class Buffy looks in to see Ms. French teaching class.  She turns her head all the way around (referred to as The Exorcist Twist by Buffy) to smile at Buffy and be generally creepy.  Buffy warns Xander that the teacher he has a crush on is a monster, and of course Xander ignores her completely and goes to see Ms. French after class to work on the science project.

Xander arrives at Ms. French’s house and is offered a martini, which of course is drugged and he passes out within moments.  Xander awakens locked in a cage in a cellar full of headless bodies.  Blayne is in a cell next to Xander freaking out and weeping while pointing at Ms. French who is now a giant praying mantis.

After doing some research and speaking with a past colleague in an insane asylum Giles discovers Ms. French is a monster called a She-Mantis.  She abducts virgin males that she requires to fertilize her eggs, and then she bites their heads off.  Not surprisingly it was an encounter with a She-Mantis that put Giles friend in the asylum in the first place.

In preparation for fighting the She-Mantis Buffy show a rare display of scholarship and suggest that Giles record for her samples of bat sonar as that sound disrupts the nervous system of stand praying mantises. Dr. Gregory served her well.

After failing to find the She-Mantis, Buffy decides to force super-vamp claw hand to help her track down Ms. French.  After some convincing he decides to help and does track down the right house.  Claw vamp then attacks Buffy and is killed instantly.

In the basement the She-Mantis is dragging Xander out of his cage as Buffy and friends bust in.  The bat sonar does indeed work, and Buffy makes quick work of Ms. French.  Xander then takes a moment to destroy the eggs remaining in the basement.  A quick conversation on how the She-Mantis required virgins causes Xander to get very defensive and Blayne to threaten a lawsuit.

The episode ends in the science room closet back at Sunnydale High where a small egg sack is shown slightly moving in a darkened closet.