The Zeppo

Season 3, Episode 13, Aired

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8.8
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EPISODE RATING: Great
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When Xander realizes that he isn't needed by the gang as much as he'd like to believe, his quest to prove he's cool leads him to an unforgettable night that finds him consorting with fast women, raising the dead and rolling with a dangerous crowd that could put Sunnydale in a world of hurt. Meanwhile, Buffy, Giles and the rest of the crew engage in a furious battle with the Sisterhood of Jhe, an all-female demon apocalypse cult that intends to reopen the Hellmouth and bring about the end of the world.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (31)

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  • A great ep from a series at it's peak

    10
    "Perfect"
    By joxerlives, Jan 19, 2012
    The Zeppo

    The Good;
    All of it, pure genius and a chance for Nic Brendon to shine like a beacon.

    The Bad;
    Not much, the zombie makeup could be a bit better but that's about all. Buffy's hair looks like it's been through the machine that makes crinkly chips. Surely Jack's bomb is not sophisticated enough to be boobytrapped, why doesn't Xander just yank the wires out? Like Spike in Lover's Walk and the swimteam in Go Fish isn't it a bit irresponsible to just let O'Toole go at the end?

    Best line;
    Willow; Occasionally I'm callous and strange (as we'll find out in Seeing Red)
    or
    O'Toole (threatening Xander with his knife) Are you sacred?
    Xander (desperate) Would that make you happy?
    But the winner is;
    Xander (wondering why Oz is cool) Is it the way you express yourself in short, non-commital sentences?
    Oz; Do I?
    also good is Xander's 'I like the quiet', he's prepared to die to save his friends.

    Character death;
    The Magic Box has a new owner but not for long.

    Shot;
    Various members of the undead gang when they were alive plus Oz twice by Willow

    Tied up;
    nope unless Faith and Xander indulged in some during the heat of passion

    Knocked out;
    Angel according to the dialogue plus werewolf Oz

    Women good/men bad;
    Actually a sisterhood of female demons this time around.

    Jeez!;
    Decapitation by letterbox, death by soda machine

    Kinky dinky;
    Faith shamelessly uses Xander for her own pleasure then chucks him out the door afterwards. Not that he's complaining! (and I'm sure millions of guys and not a few girls would agree). Xander seems to imply that he's never had sex before. We don't exaclty know how old he or Faith are so it could be statuatory rape, like Buffy/Angel (the legal age is 18 in California). Faith does this after the pain of Xander resetting her shoulder, linking pain, violence and pleasure (in Get It Done we discover why Slayers have this dark sexual side). Buffy seems to imply that Xander's car is a penis metaphor, love how her mind works. Xander's girl is lovely although Cordy's opinion of her is probably correct. Willow dreams of being naked, attacked by demons and late for a test.

    Calling Captain Subtext;
    Xander is quick to point out to the cop that although he and Jack are wrestling it's 'Not in a gay way'. Check out page 17 of the Sunnydale High Yearbook for a very interesting picture of Willow from this episode posed with a couple of SDH cheerleaders. Some of the dialogue about making Xander 'part of the gang' has a distinct Carry-On feel about it.

    Guantanamo Bay;
    Xander interrogates the zombie-gang by dragging one behind a car and threatening another with a bomb. Buffy goes to beat up Willy but finds someone has beaten her to it.

    Scoobies to the ER;
    Giles this time with a banged up arm and head wound.

    Where's Dawn?
    Presumably Buffy got Dawn and Joyce out of town as she did in Graduation Day pt2

    Questions and observations;
    The title comes from one of the lesser known Marx brothers. I suppose they could also have called it 'The Ringo'? (they do refer to Yoko later). Raising the dead appears to depend on the alignment of the stars as we later see in Bargaining although the magic is obviously different as Buffy is alive whilst Bob and co are zombies. Xander and Cordy still have a rapport despite them having fallen out. Cordy mocks Xander for his lack of superpowers but one day she will have her own in spades. The seeds of the season 7 ep Potential are sown here. The scene between Oz and Xander is wonderful, they have obviously made up although what would Oz have thought of Will telling Xander she loved him outside the Magic Box? Giles and Buffy both like jelly doughnuts. Amazingly the SDPD make themselves useful, rescuing Xander at the Bronze. Sunnydale obviously has it's share of criminal gangs in addition to all the evil. Uncle Rory is mentioned again. The series is confident enough to make fun of it's own cliches but the more serious point is that the Buffy/Angel relationship has not much room left to go. This is the last comedy ep before we start the evil-Faith storyline where things get a lot more serious. Xander uses the SDH soda machine to kill one of the gang, is this why it always gives the wrong drink from then on? He's pretty handy with the axe but then he wanted to be a fireman. Thankfully Oz still can't remember stuff he does as a werewolf but that'll change by season 4. Interestingly in this ep Angel is referred to as a the 'key' to opening the Hellmouth just as his blood awakened Acathla.

    10/10, one of the best eps for a series at it's peak.
    moreless

  • xander feels left out...

    3.7
    "Bad"
    By kooladey, Aug 27, 2011
    Xander feels left out of the ground in this episode as he keeps asking if the gang need his help, each refusing everytime he asks.... This mediocre episode brought the brilliance of season three of Buffy The vampire Slayer as the plot was stupid and pointless. Buffy and the gang (excluding xander and Cordelia) have to face the beast that resurfaces from the hellmouth which was "all-of-a-sudden" and random, having an apocalyptic episode during the course of the season.
    Cordelia lightened up the show's performance, just being herself (snipp and b!tchy) as we love her....
    Dan Vebber was not strong at writing like the other writers thorughout the season, hence bringing this shameful episode that ruined 60 minutes of my life...moreless

  • Trivializing the Apocolypse

    9.6
    "Superb"
    By jfhlbuffy, Oct 23, 2010
    A Xandercentric episode! In the series, there truly aren't enough of these. In a way, it's good, because it makes the very few of them that much more special. Without a doubt, The Zeppo is the most heavily Xander favoured episode there is. This is the second time Xander has directly saved Buffy's life, and the first he directly saved Willow, Faith, Giles, Oz, and Angel's lives. And, somehow, all the things of a normal episode that usually make this show so good were trivialized so Xander's story was more important. The roles truly reversed. Angel and Buffy had one of their famous moments, when Xander walks in and totally ruins it. But the moment wasn't even that important, even though in any other episode it would have brought tears to the viewers eyes. This time, it was more of a "who cares?"
    And, of course, the end of the world. Another who cares? The gang is desperately trying to save the world as the hellmouth is opened again, and it just doesn't matter. Xander's story is the main focus this time around, and even though the rest of the gang is facing their toughest foe to date, it just doesn't matter.moreless

  • The Zeppo

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By TrueTvWatcher, Oct 15, 2010
    The Zeppo was a Buffy The Vampire Slayer original. This episode was complex, challenging viewers to get engaged and connect with the characters while paying attention to the seperate story lines. The main focus in this episode was on Zander and his exploits. Shortly after a battle with deadly demons where Zander almost got seriously hurt, he started feeling outcast by the gang because they don't need his help. He feels like they all have super powers to contribute but he has nothing. In his adventures we see Zander finding himself through experiences and how he relates to them. In the mean while there is an Apocolypse coming and the Hellmouth will open. I love how they cut from Zander in a funny or semi serious moment to Buffy and Angel in a Deep Drama Moment. The story lines were both really good and a pleasure to watch. I thought I didn't like this episode from what I remembered until I just watched it, and it was definitely a great one!!!moreless

  • One of the funniest Buffy episodes yet

    9.8
    "Superb"
    By BarefootBarista, Oct 05, 2010
    As far as otherworldly action, this episode had some holes. Yes, there was a sub-story about the Hellmouth opening and Buffy and the gang having to fight it, but this all took a backseat to Xander, who spends the episode dealing with his own strange problems.

    This episode, in some ways, was a long time coming. Xander is really a big part of the group's comic relief, and though he occassionally comes through by killing a vampire or knowing a fact, he is usually just the extra who makes sarcastic remarks (and, may I say, he does this well). So, naturally, there had to come a point where he question his importance. And this episode did that beautifully.

    The story of the Hellmouth with Buffy and Co. was underdeveloped...the only reason why I didn't give this episode a 10. The story, however, wasn't supposed to be about Buffy, so this actually wasn't that big of a deal.

    Xander was fabulous in this episode, dealing with this weird night in true Xander fashion...with quips and confusion. One of the best scenes is when he goes to Buffy to find out what to do, finds her and Angel having an intense conversation, and then still stands there stammering before he comments, "This probably isn't the best time...can I help?" The actors in this scene all play this moment beautifully, esp. Buffy and Angel who just stare at him.

    The episode was extremely funny, a nice relief that didn't detract from the gravity of the show. It was fun without being silly...of the episodes so far, this was one of the best.moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (12)

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    • In one scene during the fight in the basement between Xander and Jack, you can see the bomb timer tick to 10 seconds, but when the scene changes from out of the close-up, the time is back up to 12 seconds.

    • Obviously Xander wants to get away from Jack and the others, yet he blows a perfectly good opportunity when the group breaks into the hardware store leaving Xander alone in his car.

    • When Faith makes her first appearance in the series, she tells the Scooby Gang that slaying can really turn a slayer on. In this episode, Faith proves this when she first tells Xander that she's "all wound up" from fighting, and then proceeds to have her way with him in bed.

    • Throughout the scene where the bomb is counting down its last minute, we see several shots of the timer. When the shots change, you can still hear the timer beeping once per second. If you count the number of beeps compared to the visuals of the timer, they don't match up at all throughout the scene.

    • In the last few minutes of this episode, when Xander and Jack are in the basement, at the very beginning of the fight, after Xander says, "I'm not leaving until this thing's disarmed," in both the long shots and the subsequent closeups, you can clearly see that it's not the actors themselves fighting.

    • When Jack raises Bob from the grave Jack claims Bob's been gone for eight months when it is clear that the grass (being a brighter green than the surrounding) was newly lain turf, nowhere near eight months old.

    • When the dead guys are chasing Xander in the school and they split up...it looks like they are in the cafeteria, but the guy in the letterman's jacket goes down a flight of stairs to get the axe and then proceeded into the cafeteria. Not possible.

    • The shot of outside the high school right after the opening credits is the same one from when Owen is walking away from Buffy in "Never Kill A Boy On The First Date"...you can see Owen (in the purple shirt) walking away.

    • Immediately before arriving at the hardware store, both Xander and the driver behind him run--as in, they don't do a California roll through, but they totally blow--a clearly marked stop sign. For Xander, this behavor makes some sense, given the company he's keeping, but the other car?

    • When Jack is threatening Xander with his knife after the car accident, in side shots the point of the knife is under Xander's left ear but when the shot switches to the front, the knife's point is under Xander's chin.

    • The establishing shot of the cafeteria lunch line at the start of Xander's coolness chat with Oz is footage from season 2's 'I Only Have Eyes For You'. Watch closely and you can see Buffy, Willow and Xander sitting at a table in the background.

    • Boom Mic is visible briefly when Giles is talking in the library, just before he says that he's going to try to contact the spirit guides.

  • QUOTES (22)

    ADD QUOTES

    • Xander: (imitation whine) But, gee, Mr. White, if Clark and Lois get all the good stories, I'll never be a good reporter!
      Giles: Hmm?
      Xander: Jimmy Olsen jokes are pretty much going to be lost on you, huh?
      Giles: Sorry, afraid so.

    • Bob: How long I been down? Jack: Eight months. I had to wait till the stars aligned. Bob: Oh, eight months. I got some catching up to do. Whoa! Walker, Texas Ranger. You been taping 'em? Jack: Every ep.

    • Xander: You're in a band! That's like a business class ticket to cool with complementary mojo after takeoff! I gotta learn an instrument. Is it hard to play guitar? Oz: Not the way I play it.

    • Lysette: Is that your car? Xander: Why, uh... Yes! It is! Lysette: '57 Chevy Bel Air... 283 CID... Solid lifter... Fuel-injected V-8... Xander: Uh... very possibly. Lysette: How does she handle? Xander: Like a dream about warm, sticky things.

    • Buffy: "Sisterhood of Jhe, race of female demons, fierce warriors.." Ew. "..celebrate victory in battle by eating their foes." They couldn't just pour Gatorade on each other?

    • Willow: Are you okay? Xander: Tip-top, really. If anyone sees my spine laying around, just try not to step on it.

    • Buffy: And, you know, with the pain and the death, maybe you shouldn't be leaping into the fray like that. Maybe you should be... fray adjacent. Xander: Excuse me? Who, at a crucial moment, distracted the lead demon by allowing her to pummel him about the head? Faith: Yeah, that was real manly how you shrieked and all. Xander: I think you'll find that was a bellow.

    • Faith: Relax. Take your pants off. Xander: Those two concepts are a bit antithetical.

    • Xander: You gave your knife a girls name, how very serial killer of you!

    • Cordelia: Ooo, look, it's Mr. Excitement. On another life-or-death doughnut mission, or are we just cruising for bimbos again, giving them lessons in lack of cool?

    • Willow: Xander. Boy, you're lucky you weren't at school last night. It was crazed. Xander: Well, uh, gimme the quiet life. I'm gonna grab a snack. Anyone want? Giles: No, thank you. Xander: Oz? Oz: No. I'm oddly full today.

    • Cordelia: Ooh, is some evil going on? Must be big for them to trust you with this daredevil mission. Xander: Cordelia. Feel free to drop dead of a wasting disease in the next twenty seconds. Cordelia: Oh, again I strike the nerve. I am the surgeon of mean.

    • Buffy: What is this? Xander: What do you mean, what is this? It's my thing. Willow: Your thing? Xander: My thing. Buffy: Is this a penis metaphor?

    • Buffy: Should I burn them? Willow: I brought marshmallows! ... Occasionally, I'm callous and strange.

    • Jack: What are you, retarded? Xander: No. No, I had to take that test when I was seven. A little slow in some stuff, mostly math and spatial relations, but certainly not challenged or anything.

    • Buffy: Willow, you okay? Willow: Yeah, I'm fine. The shaking is a side effect of the fear.

    • Buffy: Remember the demon that almost got out the night I died? Willow: Every nightmare I have that doesn't revolve around academic failure or public nudity is about that thing. In fact, once I dreamt that it attacked me while I was late for a test and naked.

    • Cordelia: 'Cool.' Look it up. It's something that a sub-literate that's repeated twelfth grade three times has, and you don't.

    • Xander: I happen to be an integral part of that group. I happen to have a lot to offer. Cordelia: Oh, please. Xander: I do! Cordelia: 'Integral part' of the group? Xander, you're the, the useless part of the group. You're the Zeppo.

    • Cordelia: It must be really hard when all your friends have, like, superpowers -- Slayer, werewolf, witches, vampires -- and you're, like, this little nothing. You must feel like Jimmy Olsen.

    • Xander: I need a thing, something no one else has. What do I have? Oz: An exciting new obsession. Which I feel makes you very special.

    • Xander: Why is it that I've come face-to-face with vampires, demons, the most hideous creatures hell ever spit out, and I'm still afraid of a little bully like Jack O'Toole? Cordelia: Because, unlike all those other creatures that you've come face-to-face with, Jack actually noticed you were there.

  • NOTES (10)

    ADD NOTES

    • This episode is sixth in Joss Whedon's list of his top ten favorite episodes according to his personal letter included in the Australian Chosen Collection Box-set. The episodes on this top ten list are not ranked, but are put in order of which episode aired first.

    • Music: While Xander is driving his uncle's car -- "Dodgems" by Sound Stage Ltd Xander and Lysette are at the bronze -- "G Song" by Supergrass Xander is driving the zombies around town -- "Easy" by Tricky Woo At the end of the episode -- "For the Glory" by Extreme Music

    • Sunnydale apparently does have gangs (not just made-up "gangs on PCP," which is a popular excuse for the tragedies in Sunnydale). One of them is the Jackals.

    • Xander has an Uncle Rory who seems to have a drinking problem. He owns a 57 Chevy Bel Air, which he rented to Xander since he stacked up so many DUI's (for those of you outside the USA a DUI is a ticket for Driving Under the Influence of alcohol). This Uncle Rory is briefly shown somewhere in the season 6 episode "Hell's Bells".

    • In addition to having frog fear, Willow also has nightmares about public nudity, academic failure, and the demon that came out of The Hellmouth.

    • According to Nicholas Brendon this is the episode that changed Xander's character.

    • In this episode, Xander loses his virginity to Faith.

    • Xander's exploits in this episode are reminiscent of some of the events in the film "American Graffiti".

    • Channon Roe is no stranger to playing an undead gang leader. He was Cash, head of the Gangrel clan of vampires in the 1996 TV series Kindred: The Embraced.

    • Channon Roe worked with Seth Green in the 1998 movie Can't Hardly Wait, and will work with Nicholas Brendon again in the 2000 movie Psycho Beach Party.

  • ALLUSIONS (7)

    ADD ALLUSIONS

    • Xander: Hello, nasty!
      This is what Xander says when he goes down to the school basement and discovers the bomb. "Hello Nasty" is the title of a 1998 album by the Beastie Boys.

    • Bob: Walker Texas Ranger. You been tapin' 'em?
      "Walker Texas Ranger" was a popular CBS drama starring Chuck Norris as the Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker, who fought numerous criminals throughout the show's eight-year run, from 1993 to 2001.

    • Xander: I've never been up with people before.
      It's not clear if Xander made the reference intentionally but Up With People is a youth organization that performs traveling shows to "build understanding and cooperation among people of different cultures". Faith is in a way introducing Xander to a whole new world

    • Buffy: They couldn't just pour gatorade on each other?
      Gatorade is a popular sports drink and it is traditional to pour jugs of it over your teammates after a win. Buffy suggests the demon sisterhood could emulate athletes in celebrating victory by pouring gatorade on each other rather than eating their foes.

    • Cordelia: You're the Zeppo.
      A reference to Herbert "Zeppo" Marx, the youngest of the five Marx Brothers. Zeppo was certainly the least memorable of the comedy troupe, having always been in the shadow of his more famous brothers Harpo, Chico and Groucho.
      Though some will certainly argue that he wasn't useless as Cordelia contends Xander is to the Buffy-gang.

    • Jack O'Toole: You wanna be startin' somethin'?
      As Xander's response indicates, the line is also a Michael Jackson song.

    • Xander: But gee Mr. White, if Clark and Lois get all the good stories, I'll never be a good reporter. ... Jimmy Olson jokes are pretty much gonna be lost on you, aren't they?
      Mr. White, Clark, Lois and Jimmy Olson are all character's from the Superman comics. Xander compares himself to Jimmy Olson when it is suggested that he hang back from the battles. Jimmy Olson was a cub reporter at the paper and often worried about getting experience when all the best stories went to Clark and Lois.

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