Buffy The Vampire Slayer, "The Zeppo" Review (3x13)

Brief Synopsis: "When Xander realises that he isn't needed by the Scooby 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 raising the dead and rolling with a dangerous crowd that could put Sunnydale in a lot of danger. Meanwhile, the rest of the Scoobies engage in a furious battle with the Sisterhood of Jhe, an all-female demon apocalypse cult that intends to re-open the Hellmouth and bring about the end of the world.”

"Helpless" (3x12) quick link here                                                                                                                   "Bad Girls" (3x14) quick link here


Four quick notes before we get started...

1)    I will be reviewing the episodes in bullet point form. This is because it makes the reviews simple to read, and helps break up the text.
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With that being said, let’s get started, shall we? 



•    “The Zeppo” is a Xander-centric episode that focuses on Xander’s insecurities about being useless to the Scooby Gang. It also deals with Xander’s self-esteem issues in a more general way. For a character that uses humour to mask insecurities, I think it’s only fitting that the episode which deals with them the most is primarily a comedic episode. Oh, and there’s an apocalypse going on in the background. That makes two in just over six months.

There are two things that I really, really appreciate about this episode. The first of which is that (as mentioned above) it deals with Xander’s insecurities. It’s the first real instance of Xander taking a look at himself and realising that he’s worth something. I think this episode works really well alongside the last Xander-centric episode, “Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered”. In that episode, Xander was heartbroken after Cordelia ended their relationship (which is ironic in itself when you think about this episode). To counteract this, he did a spell that ended up making every female except Cordelia fall in love with him. Until things turned sinister, I think he loved the attention. He’s been unpopular and bullied since the inception of the show. He wants to be in the limelight! He wants to be popular and desired! He wants to be the hero...and who can blame him for that? This is a character that is surrounded by people that are all more intelligent than him and almost all of which have superpowers. They all have something to offer. Buffy is the Slayer, Willow has witchcraft and her tech savvy, Oz is a werewolf, Giles is the brains of the operation...what does Xander do? How can he contribute to the Scoobies? This is what is explored in this episode. We get to see this explored through Xander’s eyes. It’s not just a case of Xander being the only Scooby that has no special power. All of the Scoobies seem to have grown this season except Xander. Buffy is becoming more appreciative and aware of her slaying powers, Willow is becoming a bona fide witch (and is growing in confidence because of it), Giles chose Buffy over the Watcher’s Council, Oz has been dealing with the wolf inside of him...even Cordelia has grown, but Xander hasn’t until this episode.

While on the subject of Xander being unpopular and bullied...Why is Xander unpopular and bullied?! He’s attractive, in good shape, dresses relatively normally, etc. I know that bullies can pick on someone for pretty much any reason in the world (I was bullied terribly myself for 4 years), but it just strikes me as odd that Xander would be so unpopular. At my school he’d have been one of the most popular people in school.

At the beginning of the episode, Xander is perceived to be useless. He’s unconscious for the entire fight that opens the episode (“Becoming Part One” flashbacks, anyone?). Hell, they sent Xander on a doughnut run during the apocalypse! He’s not that useless, surely? At this point, nobody (especially not Xander himself) realises that Xander is the heart of the Scoobies. He’s the glue that holds them all together. In season four’s “Restless”, this gets explored in a literal sense as Xander becomes the heart aspect of a super-Buffy during the enjoining spell. Xander being the only Scooby to not have superpowers means that he has to rely more on other things. He becomes the man who sees everything; the only man to see Riley and Buffy falling apart. He saves the world in “Grave” for crying out loud! But this episode takes place before all of those realisations. I like to think that this episode starts all of that.

While trying to figure out what he can offer and what makes him cool, he discovers that he has a lot to offer the way he is now. He saves Sunnydale High from being blown up (which would have killed all the Scoobies that were inside the school at the time). He gets to be the hero that he’s always wanted to be. The best part about all this? He tells nobody what he did! He doesn’t feel the need to take credit. He’s evolved. He’s found his place in the Scoobies. If he bragged about his success, all of that character growth would instantly disappear.

The second thing I love about this episode is that it changes the norm. In an episode involving an apocalypse, you’d expect the apocalypse to be at the forefront and the secondary story to be in the background (this is what happens in 99.9% of television episodes). Xander’s story and character growth are at the forefront of this episode. The apocalypse is playing second fiddle to Xander’s journey. It’s a welcomed change of pace.

With all of that being said, there are two things about this episode that I dislike...

1)    All of that character development mentioned above takes ages to kick in. By “Bad Girls” (the next episode), Xander is back to the character that he was before “The Zeppo” had taken place! It’s not until the beginning of season five that Xander really matures and becomes self-assured (to a certain extent). Why have all this wonderful character development just to ignore it for so long afterwards? I wasn’t expecting Xander to instantly be mature and noble, but I was hoping for his character to change to some degree after the events that transpire in this episode.
2)    My biggest pet peeve of this episode: As much as I enjoy the background apocalypse, it’s ridiculous! The Hellmouth is open! It should be a big, dramatic, intense, emotional event like it was in “Prophecy Girl”. In “Prophecy Girl”, the Hellmouth opening was the worst thing that could ever happen. Now it’s treated as a joke to a certain extent. How are we ever supposed to take an apocalypse seriously again after it’s perceived to be such a casual affair in this episode? I love the idea of this episode, but I would have preferred the background story being a strong villain rather than an apocalypse.


Now that the main story points are out of the way, here are some other thoughts and musings about “The Zeppo” :-


•    Xander: “Excuse me? Who at a crucial moment distracted the lead demon by allowing her to pummel me about the head?”
Faith: “Yeah, that was real manly how you shrieked and all…”
Xander: “I think you’ll find that was more of a bellow.”

Can you believe these two have sex later in the same episode? Xander loses his virginity to Faith! FAITH! Where did this come from? There is zero attraction from Faith’s side at all. Faith sleeps with Xander for no other reason than slaying making her horny. That’s it. That’s why Xander lost his virginity. I’d have personally liked it if Xander had waited and lost his virginity to Anya, but it’s realistic and rather in character that Xander would lose it casually. However, Xander dated Cordy for a year and they didn’t sleep together, so it does feel a little odd. It’s also interesting to see the parallel between Xander and Oz’s actions in relation to sex. Oz refused Willow in “Amends” because he didn’t feel the timing was right. Xander hopped straight into bed with Faith, whom he barely knew. To be fair, though, he barely had a choice in the matter. Faith just threw him down and had her way with him...is it wrong that I found that entire scene rather sexy? Well played, Xander. Kudos.

 ...then Faith kicks him out of her apartment right after they’d finished. A world of LOL. Poor Xander. Not the romantic post-sex spooning he was expecting. Speaking of LOL...

Faith: “Are you up for it?”
Xander: “Oh I’m up! I’m suddenly very up…”

Looks like someone’s flagpole is at full salute!

•    Cordelia: “It must be really hard when like, all your friends have superpowers: Slayer, werewolf, witches, vampires, and you’re like this little nothing. You must feel like…Jimmy Olson.”

Ouch. This comment by Cordelia is like a prequel to Xander’s “you’re extraordinary” speech to Dawn in season seven’s “Potential”. Cordelia clearly still has feelings for Xander and is still very bitter over Xander cheating on her, which she has every right to be. Cordelia knows that Xander has self-esteem issues – especially about how useful he is to the Scoobies – so she hits Xander where it hurts with this comment.

•    It took me many years to figure out what “The Zeppo” actually means. For those of you who don’t know, Herbert “Zeppo” Marx was the youngest of the five Marx brothers (a famous comedic group in the 30s/40s), but he left to start another career. All his brothers went on to become extremely famous and wealthy, while Herbert did not. Herbert is also the name of the pig that was eaten in season one, so perhaps that name is cursed...apologies to the Herbert section of my audience.
•    Xander: “What do I have?”
     Oz: “An exciting new obsession, which I feel makes you very special.”

Oz is funnier than he gets credit for. He doesn’t talk a great deal, but when he does, it’s always amusing or witty. Xander is right, Oz is cool. The laid-back attitude, the interesting fashion sense, the guitar playing abilities, Dingoes Ate My Baby, his hilarious one-liners...these are all reasons why Oz wins at life.

•    Xander: “It’s my thing.”
     Willow: “Your thing?”
     Xander: “My thing!”
     Buffy: “Is this a penis metaphor?”

*exuberant giggling emanates from my bedroom (where I’m watching this episode)*. I do love that car.

•    How, oh, how, did Xander hit the car that is parked in front of him? It’s stationary! Xander is a terrible driver. Not as bad as Buffy, but still terrible. Xander doesn’t tell the police officer that Jack pulled a knife on him and he’s suddenly perceived to be ‘cool’ by Jack. Congrats, Xander, you got your wish! All you need to do to be cool is to not tell the police when someone does something criminal. Problem solved. That’s some, erm, questionable ethics to send out to the audience to say the least.
•    I get such joy from Giles’ little hissy fit about the lack of jelly doughnuts. He’s usually so mature, but he gets pouty over doughnuts.
•    Pulling a knife on someone for hitting your car (at a slow speed) seems a tad dramatic. Then it turns out it’s not even Jack’s car!
•    Until Willy is mentioned again in “Enemies”, I thought he might have died during this episode after he was attacked by the Sisterhood of Jhe. I’m glad he didn’t die. He’s a great recurring character. He does just disappear after “Goodbye Iowa” though. Willy’s Place makes a few more appearances, but Willy is never actually there. Willy is no longer in his place...perhaps I should rephrase that.
•    Then this episode goes from hilarious and interesting to downright bizarre. There’s a zombie gang on “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”! What the hell is going on?! Jack’s dead?! Why is he at school then?! Does a corpse need an education?! I do love the zombie gang though. If nothing else, they’re entertaining. It’s a bunch of dead young men that like to cause destruction and party...like a fraternity. Plus, all of the gang’s deaths are spectacular.
•    Angel is talking to Buffy about sacrificing himself to save the world...and then Xander interrupts, causing one of the most hilariously uncomfortable scenes of the season. Typical “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, right there. It’s either intense drama that gets undercut with comedy, or a comedic episode/scene that suddenly has a heart-breaking moment. Curse you, Whedon!
•    Xander interrogating the zombie guy and his head getting chopped off by a mailbox is one of the funniest things to ever happen on “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, in my opinion. When I first watched “The Zeppo”, I had to pause the episode (on VHS!) because I was laughing so hard for about 5 minutes. It was one of those ‘pause, rewind, play...pause, rewind, play’ type moments.
•    Xander tipping the vending machine on Bob was an excellent death. Between Bob, Zachary Kralik in “Helpless”, and the demon from “Gingerbread” (“Did I get it, did I get it?!”), the deaths have really gotten creative for season three.
•    Xander: “You should have learnt by now, if you’re going to play with fire, sooner or later you’re going to…I WASN’T FINISHED!”
For a split second, Xander was almost badass...almost...then he ruined it with his voice going high-pitched and yelling, “I wasn’t finished!”.
•    Xander: “So I guess the question really is, who has less fear?”

 I love the call-back to Jack’s line about who has the least fear earlier in the episode. Great piece of writing. At this moment, Xander finally has some control over his life and his sense of self-worth.

•    I’d have loved to have seen what actually happened in the background apocalypse! Giles did something brave, Angel was “out for a few minutes”...what the bloody hell happened?!
•    You certainly should be feeling full, Oz. You ate a zombie jackass the night before. Oz ate Jack!
•    The episode ends with Cordelia being mean to Xander, like she was before, except now Xander doesn’t rise to the bait because he’s more secure about his place within the Scooby Gang (and in general).


Quote Of The Episode

Jack: “What are you, retarded?”

Xander: “No, I had to take that test when I was seven. A little slow on some stuff, mostly math and spatial relations, but certainly not challenged or anything.”


I have used this Xander quote more times than I can count. Whenever someone calls me crazy or insane, etc., I either use this quote or Sheldon’s, “I’m not crazy, my mother had me tested” (The Big Bang Theory). It’s also an interesting character development that Xander’s mother had him tested. 


FINAL SCORE: 7/10

What are your thoughts on "The Zeppo"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

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