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"Bad Eggs" is the twelfth episode of the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the twenty-fourth episode in the series. Written by Marti Noxon and directed by David Greenwalt, it was originally broadcast on January 12, 1998, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

THERE'S SOMETHING ROTTEN IN SUNNYDALEBuffy and the gang are introduced to parenting through a school assignment that takes a very rotten turn. Meanwhile, two wild west vampires come to town hunting for Buffy. At the same time, romance is in the air when Buffy and Angel continue to rendezvous and Xander and Cordelia keep their liaison in the closet.[1]

Summary[]

Buffy and her mother, Joyce, are at a mall discussing Buffy's desire to buy a revealing dress. They split up to each do an important errand before the mall closes. On her way to the store, Buffy sees a guy wearing a cowboy hat romancing a girl, but also notices he has no reflection in a nearby mirror. She follows him upstairs, scares the girl off, and fights with him until he runs away. She returns to her mom, but forgot about her errand, frustrating her mother, who then gives Buffy a lecture on responsibility. Joyce thinks Buffy only thinks about boys and clothes. A chagrined Buffy tells her mom that she also thinks about saving the world from vampires, which causes her mother to sigh with exasperation.

The next day, Cordelia and Xander are making out in a closet, fighting all the while. Xander says it will work better if she doesn't talk, and she says it will go better if they keep the light off. Each gets offended that the other doesn't want to see or hear them. Cordy mentions (again) that she doesn't want anyone to know about their relationship, and their tempers cause them to start to leave. They reach for the doorknob, but stop and go back to making out with each other. They fall to the floor and Cordelia reaches up to turn the light off.

Later that day in health class, the teacher asks the students to list negative consequences of having sex, and Xander and Cordy list each other's potential faults as consequences, without naming names. Finally, Willow gives the intended answer — pregnancy. Mr. Whitmore says that, to learn about parenthood, the students will pair off and each team will take care of an egg as if it is their baby.

Xander and Willow enter the library with their eggs. Buffy, who had skipped health class, is handed an egg that she will have to take care of as a single mother. Giles looks up the cowboys from the previous day — Lyle and Tector Gorch — and suggests Buffy should hunt them with Angel's help. Willow scoffs that there will be little actual hunting going on in such a scenario, but Buffy says they'd never slack off their duty to get lost in romance. That night, Buffy and Angel make out in the cemetery instead of hunting. The Gorch brothers watch from the cemetery wall, commenting that Buffy wasn't doing much slaying with Angel. While Buffy is sleeping at home, her egg breaks open. Tentacles emerge and attaches themselves to Buffy's face.

The next morning when she wakes up, the egg is back to normal, and Buffy is grumpy at breakfast. Back at the library, Giles finds Buffy, Willow, and Xander, who have been excused from health class because their teacher did not show. Willow and Buffy are tired and sit down on the stairs. Xander begins to toss his egg nonchalantly in the air, as worried looks cross Buffy and Willow's faces. He hits the egg and it goes crashing to the ground, but doesn't break. He then reveals that he hard boiled it. Giles suggests that Buffy should go back to hunting with Angel since last night was a bust. That night, Buffy and Angel are yet again kissing instead of hunting in the cemetery. They stop to talk and the subject of the future comes up. Angel tells her that he can't have children. Buffy says that it doesn't change how she feels for him, she only sees Angel when she looks to the future.

Meanwhile, at school, the nightwatchman hears some noise and goes after the source. He finds a big hole in one of the air pipes in a closet. When he goes to investigate, he is pushed in through the hole by Mr. Whitmore, carrying a pickaxe.

Late that night, Buffy sneaks back in through her window and sees her egg is moving. She gets closer and the creature inside leaps at her face, then drops and scuttles under the bed. She uses an iron as a mirror to look around and sees nothing. It crawls on the floor some more. She grabs some scissors and stands waiting for it to show itself. It climbs the wall behind her and she kills it, stabbing it repeatedly with the scissors. Buffy calls Willow and warns her, but her has already hatched. Buffy's mom then comes in, and sees she is dressed. She grounds Buffy and sentences to no after-school activities, and to only go to the library until Joyce picks her up.

In the next day at school, Willow tries to convince Buffy that her egg must have been a trap set by the cowboys. As they walk, the little creature from the egg is hooked to Willow's spine. Xander, hungry, decides to eat his egg. He cracks it open, but, when he is about to eat it, he screams as he sees the creature inside. In the science lab, the gang debates dissecting the creatures. Willow volunteers, and moments later, Cordelia's egg wakes up from inside her backpack. She suddenly picks up a rod and hits Buffy across the face with it. Willow grabs a microscope and hits Xander. They are thrown into a closet. Willow, Cordelia, and others grab hoes and pickaxes.

Mrs. Summers comes to the library to pick up Buffy, and finds herself having a conversation with Giles about Buffy and children in general. He suddenly picks up a creature and puts on her back, turning her into a host as well. The two head down to the basement where they begin their work for the mother Bezoar. Buffy and Xander wake up and find two eggs by their side. Buffy smashes them and they head to the library in search of Giles. They find that he has been controlled by one of these creatures. Just as they begin to find information, Jonathan cries out in pain in the hall. They rush out only to find now quiet, having been turned into a host. They follow and find everyone digging at and pulling eggs from the mother Bezoar. Xander pretends to be a host, while Buffy fends off the Gorch vampires. She hits them several times, but they throw her into the working pit.

Xander follows Cordelia and another guy. As they walk down a tunnel, he smashes the guy's head into the wall. Cordelia stops to swing at him and he ducks. She then hits him right on his bump. He screams in pain and then hits her across the face. Lyle follows Buffy into the basement area where the two attract attention to themselves, and Willow gives orders to have them all killed. Everyone attacks them, but Buffy and Lyle manage to fight them off. Tector stumbles through the hole now that he's collected himself, and is drawn to the mother creature, who grabs him and sucks him in. Lyle blames Buffy for what happened to his brother and throws her to the ground. Joyce takes a swing at her with a pickaxe, and Buffy quickly dodges, but she is pulled towards the Bezoar, managing to grab the pickaxe on the way. She defeats the mother creature, all the workers falling to the ground. Buffy comes up and out of the creature covered in black goo, and Lyle runs off, saying: "It's over."

As all the students leave the school, Giles explains that it was a gas leak as a cover story. Xander tells him to stick with it, promising to fill Giles in on what really happened on the next day. Buffy finds her mother, who is upset that Buffy had been in the library as she was instructed. As a result, Buffy is confined to her room as punishment. Later, Buffy is again kissing Angel. Leaning through her bedroom window, she claims that she's not breaking any rules.

Continuity[]

  • This episode introduces the Gorch brothers, Lyle and Tector, as minor villains. Tector is eaten, but Lyle returns in the episode "Homecoming."
  • The physical relationship between Buffy and Angel is intensifying. They'll eventually have sex in the next episode "Surprise".
  • This episode states for the first time that vampires are sterile and cannot have children. Ironically, this is said by Angel, who will be the one and only vampire to become a father ("Lullaby").
  • Angel says to Buffy, "You really don't care what happens a year from now? Five years from now?" In a year's time, Angel will leave Buffy ("Graduation Day, Part Two"), and in five years, the Hellmouth and Sunnydale will be destroyed ("Chosen").
  • Buffy mispronounces the Bezoar's name, a tendency she also displayed in "Nightmares" that will continue in "Becoming, Part One," "Faith, Hope & Trick," "Potential," "Showtime," After These Messages... We'll Be Right Back!, and Freefall, Part One.
  • This episode contains the first direct reference that Willow is Jewish, although there is a hint with her last name, Rosenberg, though not obligatory. She'll eventually identify as Jewish Wiccan (New Rules, Part Five).

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Death count[]

  • A Bezoar egg, cooked in boiling water by Xander (only mentioned).
  • A Bezoar baby, stabbed by Buffy with a pair of scissors.
  • Two Bezoar eggs, squished by Buffy with a toolbox.
  • Tector Gorch, eaten by the mother Bezoar.
  • Mother Bezoar, killed by Buffy with a pickaxe.
  • All Bezoar babies, automatically died when Buffy killed their mother.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

  • Lyle and Tector Gorch are also the names of two brother characters from the 1969 Western film The Wild Bunch.

Broadcast[]

  • "Bad Eggs" had an audience of 4.1 million households.[2]

Goofs[]

  • Jonathan is credited as "Johnathan."

Pop culture references[]

  • A promotional poster for the comedy-drama series Ally McBeal is shown in the mall. Numerous Buffy alumni would appear on the show, most notably Armin Shimerman, Mark Metcalf, and Sarah Hagan.
  • Xander suggests Willow should teach her egg the "dreidel song," in reference to the children's Hanukkah song "I Have a Little Dreidel."
  • Buffy mentions having killed her Giga Pet, a digital virtual pet toy that needs to be "cared for" to keep it from dying.
  • Giles tells Xander: "I suppose there is a sort of Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression." The philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) argued that to remain in power and be truly effective, a ruler must reject traditional morality and use his power ruthlessly. As a result, the term "Machiavellian" has come to describe the practice of achieving one's goals by whatever means necessary, whether those means are moral or not.

Music[]

International titles[]

  • Armenian: "Վատ ձվեր" (Bad Eggs)
  • Czech: "Vejce zla" (Bad Eggs)
  • Finnish: "Pahan otteessa" (In the Grip of Evil)
  • French: "Œufs surprises" (Surprise Eggs)
  • German: "Faule Eier" (Bad Eggs)
  • Hungarian: "Tojások" (Eggs)
  • Italian: "Uova cattive" (Bad Eggs)
  • Japanese: "不気味な卵" (Creepy Eggs)
  • Polish: "Ale jaja!" (But the Eggs!)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): "Ovos Malvados" (Evil Eggs)
  • Romanian: "O lecție" (A Lesson)
  • Russian: "Плохие яйца" (Bad Eggs)
  • Spanish (Latin America): "El experimento" (The Experiment)
  • Spanish (Spain): "Huevo sorpresa" (Surprise Egg)
  • Swedish: "Rötägg" (Rotten Eggs)

Adaptations[]

Gallery[]

Promotional stills[]

Behind the scenes[]

[]

Quotes[]

Buffy: "Come on, Mom. Please?"
Joyce: "I'm sorry, honey."
Buffy: "Don't you understand how important this is?"
Joyce: "It's an outfit. An outfit that you may never buy."
Buffy: "But I looked good in it."
Joyce: "You looked like a streetwalker."
Buffy: "But a thin streetwalker. That's probably not gonna be the winning argument, is it?"
Joyce: "You're just too young to wear that."
Buffy: "Yeah, and I'm gonna be too young to wear it until I'm too old to wear it."
Joyce: "That's the idea."
Willow: "Buffy, how come you weren't in class?"
Buffy: "Vampire issues. Did Mr. Whitmore notice I was tardy?"
Xander: "The word you're searching for is 'absent'."
Giles: "Technically that would be cheating, yes?"
Xander: "No. It's like a short cut. You know, when you run a race?"
Buffy: "That would also be cheating."
Buffy: "Hey, where's Giles? I know he won't wanna miss this."
Willow: "He said to get started. He'll be by as soon as possible."
Xander: "So, okay! Get started, Buffy! Dissect it or something."
Buffy: "Me? Why do I have to dissect it?"
Xander: "Uh, because you're the Slayer?"
Buffy: "And I slayed. My work here is done."
Giles: "Yes, yes, uh, it was a, a gas leak, everyone. Uh, well, just, uh, get some air, and a... good night's rest, you know, uh, you'll be fine. These gas things... will happen." (to Xander) "What was it, really?"
Xander: "Stick with the gas thing. I'll fill you in tomorrow."
Giles: "Right."

References[]

  1. "The Mortuary." Buffy.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2001.
  2. "Nielsen Ratings for Buffy's Second Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on April 13, 2008.
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