From Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Part of what was done Buffy the Vampire Slayer Such a funny show was their countless references of pop culture. It soon became clear that these characters were as nerded as the show’s audience, and that made scoobies like Xander and Willow much more lovable. Nevertheless, one of the show’s best pop culture references came in the form of an entire episode homage to the largest action film that it has ever made. The Buffy Episode “School Hard” was made loosely as a homage Die Hard, With Sarah Michelle Gellar’s defending champion, who imitates the legendary John McClane character by Bruce Willis.
Buffy becomes hard to school dies hard
Also for experienced Buffy Fans, it is easy to miss this “school hard”, a tribute to Die Hard… sure the name does it appear Obvious, but later episode titles such as “Beer Bad”, imply that “School Hart” is only an ironic observation of one of our characters. Nevertheless, the similarities to this pioneering 80s action film are quite obvious: This is an episode in which vampires have taken on a school, similar to Alan Rickman’s terrorist leader Nakatomi Plaza in the takeover of Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard. And Buffy Must become a one-Woman action hero a la John McClane, right down to the school’s ventilation slots to avoid its potential attackers.
To really appreciate how much that Buffy Episode channels Die HardYou may need a brief summary of the plot. This episode introduces future Big Bad Bad (and Future Scooby) Spike, a vampire that makes a lively entrance by watching the slayer during a parent/teacher night at the Sunnydale High School. This creates a sticky situation for Buffy, who quickly has to take responsibility and protect the different parents, including her own mother, who does not yet know that her daughter is basically a superhero.
Part of why it is difficult to realize this Buffy Episode is a Die Hard HOMMAGE When looking at the first, the deliberate misconduct is. At that time, vampires that openly attack large groups of people at the high school as isolated goals were practically unknown, so that the school act was more about that Buffy kept her mother from headmaster Snyder than anything else. Spike’s brazen attack on the assembled teenagers and adults is reasonably surprising, and like John McClane, it is worth watching our capable heroes on the back foot and trying to remove the evil individually.
Apart from the premise and similarities like Buffy, who crawl through the air slit to avoid their attackers, the similarities are Die Hard are relatively subtle. For example, Spikes accent and bold planning are reminiscent of Alan Rickman’s memorable cinema, but this vampire is not there for the money. Instead, he came to Sunnydale High to kill Buffy and booted the anointed how he had previously killed two slayers. In contrast to Rickmans Hans Gruber character, Spike does not die in the end, but it is not due to the lack of experiments. If he weren’t a vampire, Buffy’s mother would have killed him immediately.
Even if you have one Buffy Fan who doesn’t love it Die Hard (And first of all, how do you dare!), It is worth watching “School Hard” for the introduction of Spike and the additional tradition of the relationship of the new vamp to Angel and the additional tradition. It is also a real thrill that Buffy shows her skills as a leader and as a fighter in front of adults, such as her mother, who are normally in the dark over her children in Spook Central. Finally, the episode (spoiler, sweet) ends with Spike, which kills the anointed, which feels remarkably cathartically for everyone who, like us, thought in this character of the first season over and beyond annoying.
