Giles has been put in charge of the school (lack of) talent show; much to the amusement of Buffy, Willow and Xander who turn up for a laugh
their amusement is short lived as newly appointed principal, Mr Snyder, has the three of them pegged as trouble makers and tells them that they must participate. Most of the acts in the show are fairly terrible; one includes a boy doing a ventriloquism act and his lips are clearly moving then suddenly the dummy starts criticising his performance and being somewhat vulgar; is this all part of a rather clever act or something more sinister? Things turn nasty when a girl is found murdered with her heart cut out; Buffy believes the dummy may be involved but the others are somewhat mocking
at first. It tries to attack her in her bed than again backstage at school
but all is not quite what it seems.
This was one of the best episodes so far; Sid the Dummy was distinctly creepy so made a good 'monster of the week' then just as we are absolutely certain that he is behind the killing there is a brilliant twist that I didn't see coming. As well as a fairly creepy tone, some good scares and an ending that puts one of the protagonists in real danger there are a surprising number of laugh out loud moments; some of these are a little dark, notably when Principal Snyder links his predecessor's touchy-feely attitude to the fact that he ended up being eaten! Armin Shimerman is a great addition to the cast as the principal; he manages to make the character very funny while still being serious. The end credit scene, where we see Buffy and her friends' performance was priceless. Overall I'd say this was a great stand-alone episode.
This was one of the best episodes so far; Sid the Dummy was distinctly creepy so made a good 'monster of the week' then just as we are absolutely certain that he is behind the killing there is a brilliant twist that I didn't see coming. As well as a fairly creepy tone, some good scares and an ending that puts one of the protagonists in real danger there are a surprising number of laugh out loud moments; some of these are a little dark, notably when Principal Snyder links his predecessor's touchy-feely attitude to the fact that he ended up being eaten! Armin Shimerman is a great addition to the cast as the principal; he manages to make the character very funny while still being serious. The end credit scene, where we see Buffy and her friends' performance was priceless. Overall I'd say this was a great stand-alone episode.