Buffy for Beginners 3.18: Earshot

By Sabrina Boyer

When season three first aired, this episode was pulled from the line-up because just a week (or so, not sure on the exact timeline) before this was to air, Columbine happened. The network execs didn’t think it was appropriate to air an episode about a secret plot to kill off members of Sunnydale High School. It was aired later that summer, out of order, and perhaps, with a little less pizazz and impact then it has when watched in sequence. And for those of you (like me) who have been bitten by True Blood and/or the Sookie Stackhouse novels, being able to hear thoughts might not be as useful as we believe, as evidenced in the near photo shoot Buffy almost does for Insanity Fair.

Coming off the heels of the realization that Faith is the right hand of the Big Bad Mayor, the episode begins with Buffy doing the slay thing solo, fighting a creature that looks eerily similar to season two’s fishy swimmers in “Go Fish.” She slays one and the other gets away; but there’s an uh oh as she gets some of the demon’s glow in the dark blood on her hand and it’s absorbed away. Scabby demons also have no mouths, and for Willow, that’s “disquieting.”

Meanwhile the Scoobs research the Mayor’s ascension and come up with zilch, zip, nada. Very anti-climatic. As Buffy itches her hand where the demon blood disappeared, Wesley takes up the rest of the minute by telling the Scoobies what we already know: nothing about the Mayor’s ascension. Buff’s still freaked by Angels’s Angelus act, and Will is in with the b-ball crowd since she’s tutoring Percy. Everybody’s going except everyone who isn’t currently Buffy. Giles clues Buffy in about her itchy spot, finding out that she might be infected by “an aspect of the demon.” She’s gonna grow a piece of the demon, hopefully not the outside part. The razorbacks are all pep rally pride while they engage in high school pastimes of oohing and awing over the cheerleaders and basketball. Buffy mulls over her what part she might grow as Willow asks her, “Was it a boy demon?” Xander and Oz bond over young cheerleaders who can spell, while Xander laments Wes’ Pierce Brosney eyes on Cordy.

Buffy runs into Angel while patrolling for the other demon and Angel reminds her of his love. The next morning the gang tries to quell Buffy’s outsiderness since she didn’t attend the game, and Buffy begins to hear thoughts. Xander’s bummed by Cordy and Wes, and she hears what all the students are thinking; “Is this the aspect thing, cause this is way better than a tail…” Buffy tells Giles. She also hears that he thinks she would wear a cat strapped to her feet if a fashion magazine told her to, and the demons are telepathic that’s why they don’t need mouths. Snyder has “Walk Like an Egyptian” stuck in his head; but even way better than hearing her opponent’s next moves, she can do way better in school, understanding Othello and everything. We all have our own internal Iago’s; we can never really see what’s in someone’s heart, or can we if we’re telepathic?

Buffy gets the bright idea to try and read Angel’s thoughts about Faith but she can’t cause he’s dead and he doesn’t broadcast. The gang finds out that Buff is all tuned in, and the gang is a little freaked out by her new gift. We learn that Xander is a sex freak, Oz is quite philosophical, Will is worried that she won’t need her, Wes is all lusty for Cordy and Cordy is well, brutally honest. And that’s quite refreshing. This was the first time I began to really like Cordy. “Guess I won’t be writing that book Winning Friends through Telepathy,” Buffy muses. She hears her fellow students worry about their bodies, their grades, their self-esteem, whether they will ever be loved, etc. Meanwhile, Giles discovers that this gift makes the bearer go mad. As Buffy tries to eat in peace at the cafeteria, she is bombarded with a whirlwind of thoughts and can barely move; and then, she hears a crystal clear thought: “this time tomorrow, I’ll kill you all.” She collapses and the gang tries to help. She tells them about the killer thought. “See, I’ve been saying for years the lunch lady’s gonna do us all in with Mulligan stew!” Xander jokes. Giles takes her home as she slowly feels like strangers are walking around in her head. She hears Giles think, “If it doesn’t go away, she’ll go insane.”

Xan, Cordy, Will and Oz began an investigation of all possible suspects; Joyce tucks Buffy in and is obviously creeped out by Buffy’s ability to read her mind. But, too late, Buffy finds out that Joyce had sex with Giles, on the hood of a police car, twice (referencing Band Candy). The gang splits up to interrogate the student body and Will gets all CSI, handing out worksheets with specific questions. Of course, Cordy just asks it straight up, asking Mr. Beech if he plans on killing any of the students; Xander inquires about perfect dates and what the female population looks for in a date; however, Freddy, the cynical newspaper editor hides from the gang.

Angel gets the heart of the second demon to cure Buffy of her new gift; and we see that the idle threat Buffy heard was no idle threat; that it’s Jonathan, our favorite little guy who has a semi-automatic up in the Sunnydale bell tower. And we learn a valuable lesson that the outsider anti-pep rally dude isn’t necessarily a killer. Buffy finds him last minute and talks him down, out of the gun, out of killing himself. Xander gets side-tracked by jello in the cafeteria; “stop doing that, stop saying my name like we’re friends. We’re not friends. You all think I’m an idiot,” Jonathan says. “I don’t. I don’t think about you much at all. Nobody really does,” Buffy responds. Buffy tells him she understands about his pain; “oh yeah, cause the burden of being beautiful and athletic, that’s a crippler.”

“My life, on more than one occasion, happens to suck beyond the telling of it,” Buffy divulges. She tells him that everyone is too busy dealing with their own pain to focus on anyone else’s. “You think it’s quiet down there; it’s not. It’s deafening.” She takes the gun and finds out that he wasn’t going to kill anyone else. He was just going to kill himself. Then who was going to mass murder the school?

Xander had it right all along. It was the lunch lady, putting rat poison in the food, as he finds out when he sneaks back to steal some jello. And then Buffy beats up an obese lunch lady, which is just, weird. And hilarious. The next morning Giles checks in with Buffy about her checking up on Jonathan. “He’s starting to get that look, like he’s going to ask me to prom,” she says. “Oh well, it might be good for his self-esteem if you said yes,” Giles responds. “Oh come on, what am I, Saint Buffy? He’s like three feet tall!” Buffy exclaims. Then they agree to train after school, you know, as long as Giles isn’t having sex with Buffy’s mother.

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About Sabrina Boyer: As a kid my dad would sneak scary movies past my mom and let me indulge in his horror movie fetish. I grew up watching V, Alien Nation, The Thing, The Fog (all originals) and then, in 1992 when Buffy the movie came out, I became obsessed with vampires, girl power, and all things gothic. I once stayed home from school, faked sick, and watched BTVS: the movie 6 times in a row. I know the beginning cheerleading dance by heart (still). Currently, I’m obsessing over Laurell K. Hamilton novels, and dream about Anita Blake being my best friend.

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