Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Puppet Show

Season 1, Episode 9, Aired 5/5/97

Episode Summary

The new principal forces Giles to run Sunnydale High's annual talent show, and Buffy, Willow and Xander have to perform against their will. As if this isn't bad enough, things go further awry when one of the talent show participants is found with her heart removed. Buffy and the gang race against the clock to find the killer, and all the clues point to Morgan and his ventriloquist dummy.moreless

8.3

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Cast & Crew

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Sarah Michelle Gellar

Buffy Anne Summers
Nicholas Brendon

Alexander 'Xander' Harris
Alyson Hannigan

Willow Rosenberg

Fan Episode Reviews (40)

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One of the best of season 1

9.0

"Superb"

By joxerlives, Jan 05, 2012 Report Abuse

The Puppet Show;

The Good;
The introduction of Snyder. Cordy's performance and the hair gag with Giles. The triple Keyser Soze, Buffy's relationship with Sid. The exciting finale, Snyders reaction to it and the Scoobies scene at the end. Don't you just love the fact that Buffy the superhero runs into her mum's arms when she get's scared in the night? Something only a female hero could do, what would we think of Clark Kent if he did that on Smallville?

The Bad;
Not much, a very strong episode, easily one of the best of the first season

Best line;
Buffy; Euuuugghhhh, dummy! They freak me out, ever since I was little.
Willow; What happened?
Buffy; I saw a dummy, it freaked me out, there really wasn't a backstory there
(anyone else reminded of Gremlins?)

Observations and questions;
Our first hint that there are other individuals fighting the forces of darkness like Whistler and Doyle. The scene the Scoobies perform at the end is from Oedipus which Angelus references in season 4 of Angel and American Gothic. It was painted by Grant Wood who Riley refers to in season 4. Cordy sings 'The Greatest Love of all' which she also sings for Lorne on Angel. She hasn't the best voice. Giles in bondage, the first of a long line of Scoobies to be tied/chained up. Snyder obviously going to be a lot harder on Buffy than Flutie was although as an authority figure that probably works better for the series. At this point though he doesn't really seem to know what's going on (does he ever?). Flutie was a nice guy but has the misfortune to be the 2nd recurring character killed in the course of the series. The police put the butcher knife in a plastic bag? Don't they have some better form of container? Willow suffers from stage fright. Willow is clever enough to know that 841 has a square root of 29 but how does Xander know that to ask her? A shame Joyce doesn't come to the talent show. Will plays the piano?
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Into every generation there is one man who must direct the school's talent show...

9.5

"Superb"

By Phunner1416, Jun 13, 2011 Report Abuse

This episode was pretty good. The puppet was cool, but it looked unrealistic. The scene at the end was funny, how they were forced to be in the talent show, and they acted extremely bad. It's funny when a good actor has to act bad. Buffy also tries to get her revenge on Giles by just watching as he directs the talent show, but the new principal, Mr. Snyder, forces them into the talent show. This episode is also the first episode to show that Willow has stage fright, which will come up again in Nightmares and Restless. It also shows the first time that Buffy was right about something, and the rest of the gang don't believe her. This was a pretty good episode.moreless

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The new Principal, Snyder, forces Buffy, Xander and Willow to take part in the annual talent show, ran by Giles. As if that wasn't bad enough, Buffy must face her fear of puppets when it appears that one is alive and harvesting body parts. Pretty good...moreless

9.0

"Superb"

By Jay-Spacedust, Mar 26, 2011 Report Abuse

This review contains spoilers.

Well, you might think you've seen the whole "possessed killer dummy" in a dozen cheap 1980s horror movies, but, in true 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' style, here is it given a real twist.

This is the latest in a number of first season episodes with no Angel, no Master or overall season plot arc mention, or indeed any vampires at all. While this fact alone seems to instantly put a lot of fans off of these first season episodes, personally (as I've said in several previous reviews) I like it, as I feel it gives the show a lot more variety and real wonder of what's coming next, over the later open-ended, more "emotional" stories (though don't get me wrong, I like those too).
But either way, on the plus side, we get the return of Cordelia in this episode, after she was absent for a few stories. Her terrible singing alone makes this episode worth watching.

This episode is probably most notable for the introduction of Armin Shimerman ('Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Quark) as the replacement Principal, Snyder, after Principal Flutie was eaten (!) in "The Pack". Shimerman is perfectly snide as the aptly named Snyder, although (as mentioned on my review for "The Pack"), I did kinda wish that Principal Flutie had continued for longer, as I felt the character had more mileage in him.

Anyway, this is one of those quirky comedy-drama-horror blends that the series did so well in its early days, before it became more of an on-going horror soap opera.
The school talent(less) show, which Giles has been collared into running, is pretty amusing, as is Buffy, Willow and Xander being forced into taking part. Of course, there is the weekly monster on the loose to take their minds off of it a little!

The story plays out as a real "whodunit" (or should that be "whoisit"?), with us wondering if puppet Sid, his "owner" Morgan, or even Principal Snyder (whom we've only just met), is the real culprit.

The concept of the lecherous possessed puppet, Sid, is interesting, although does start to get old after a while. Long before Buffy and co. cotton onto it, I was kinda "Okay, the puppet is possessed, we get it already!". Although this plays out well, it did start to be stretched slightly later on, but thankfully, about 3/4 of the way through, there is the great twist that probably nobody saw coming possessed puppet Sid is actually a good guy; he was cursed into living in the wooden body until he manages to kill off "the last of the Brotherhood of Seven", a morphing demon whom he thinks is Buffy (hence sneaking into her bedroom to try and kill her in the middle of the night)! In an episode where I was starting to tire of what I thought was a predictable plot, this came as a welcome surprise twist.

When it is finally revealed that the true demon is someone totally different involved with the talent show, I did kinda wish that a few more subtle clues had been given bearing in mind this was supposed to be a whodunit, it kinda came out of nowhere; but it does lead to a very exciting climax, where the gang must save Giles from having his head loped off in a guillotine "trick".

There are some really nice touches in this episode it is ironic that, considering the wide array of monsters she battles, Buffy is afraid of puppets (even before meeting a possessed one); I love Giles getting rid of Cordelia by staring at her hair; and I actually felt kinda sad when, breaking the curse, Sid finally "died" at the end. It is maybe strange that Sid was never used again in the series (I believe he was used in some of the graphic novels and console games, but I've never seen them).

Then, to cap it all, there is the hilarious close. The closing credits sequence, with Buffy, Xander and Willow giving very wooden (no pun intended) performances in the talent show, gets all the recognition, but even prior to that, I love how the curtains open in the aftermath of the battle with the demon, with Snyder bemusedly wondering "What is it avant-garde?".

In all, this isn't one of my all-time favourite 'Buffy' episodes, but on its own merits, it is a very good one. There are others in the season that I like better, and the whole "Is the puppet the killer?" thing is maybe stretched out a bit before the welcome twist, but there is enough going for this one for me to give it a decent 9/10.moreless

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Evil puppet?

5.0

"Mediocre"

By Thestorysofar, Mar 26, 2011 Report Abuse

oh snap.
Giles has to do a talent show that includes a tone deaf Cordelia, a doll that talks, a dancer, a guy who does magic.

So the dancer gets her heart cut out. nice. the other guy with the doll starts talking to it and it turns out to be real. Hilarious. and then just when you think the doll is evil and it turns out to be a demon hunter just like Buffy only smaller and made of wood. And the magician guy turns out to the demon. Who very easily lures Giles into a guilittine device.

So Buffy and G.I. Doll show up and kick some demon booty and then the doll stabs it in the heart and it's like totally dead.

Crazy weird talking dolls. Keep an eye on your barbies girls.moreless

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1 3
Quark moves to Sunnydale!

8.9

"Great"

By tvloverduh, Mar 26, 2011 Report Abuse

"The Puppet Show" manages to have a campy yet still intense feel to it. I loved the plot! The whole dummy thing was great, a bit creepy, and a tad funny in parts. I enjoyed the action sequences in this one as well. The greatest addition of the episode though was Armin Shimmerman (Quark from DS9) as the new principal. He is a talented actor who is hilarious and he shines in this role as well! Bravo Armin. Last but not least Buffy and Xander also shine in this episode. O and before I forget.... funniest ending EVER... it was so funny and awkward. Well done Buffy!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
ADD TRIVIA
- In the scene in the library after Emily has been murdered, where Xander is trying to convince Giles that the murder means they are too distraught to appear in the talent show, the reflection of a sound boom can clearly be seen in the office door window in a number of shots. Edit
- While Buffy is searching around in the backstage area, there is a mirror in the background of the shot. For a brief second, you can see the reflection of a crew member. Edit
- The knife that Sid drives into the demon's heart is there at one moment, but when the camera turns back it's gone. Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- Featured Music: The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston (sung by Charisma Carpenter) - Cordelia rehearses this for the talent show Edit
- This was the least popular episode of Buffy on American TV, with a low Nielsen rating of 1.9 or 1,843,000 households. Edit
- Principal Snyder makes a reference to Principal Flutie being eaten (The Pack), the apparent suicide (I Robot, You Jane), missing persons (Jesse from The Harvest and many, many other vampire and demon victims) and spontaneous cheerleader combustion (Witch). Edit
Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- Snyder: (After catching Buffy in the prop room looking for Morgan) You know, with everything that's been going on recently I'm not sure how safe it is for a girl like yourself to be here. Alone. Buffy: Well I was just leaving. And I know how to take care of myself. Edit
- Buffy: The school talent show. How ever did you finagle such a primo assignment? Giles: Our new Führer, Mr. Snyder. Willow: I think they call 'em "principals" now. Edit
- Willow: I think dummies are cute. You don't? Buffy: They give me the wig. Ever since I was little. Willow: What happened? Buffy: I saw a dummy. It gave me the wig. There really wasn't a story there. Edit
Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS
- Xander: Does anybody else feel like they've been Keyser Soze'd? The movie The Usual Suspects contains complicated trickery involving the mysterious character Keyser Soze where a supposed good guy turns out to be the bad guy. Edit
- Xander: (as Sid) Redrum! Redruuum! A reference to the classic Stephen King horror novel and movie The Shining. The clairvoyant son of the now crazed Jack Torrance writes and chants the word "Redrum! Redrum". When the mother sees the word in the mirror she realizes it is murder spelled backwards. (note: this line wasn't actually in the script, Nick Brendon was playing with the dummy and made it say 'Redrum' to get a laugh out of the cast and crew. Fortunately the cameras were still rolling at the time). Edit
- Buffy: I'd like to see Morgan without his better half for a few minutes. Ordinarily the phrase better half refers to a man's wife (or girlfriend). Possibly because of the amount of time Morgan spends with Sid or possibly because Sid has a better personality, Buffy refers to the dummy as his better half. Edit