Buffy Season II Episode Guide: School Hard

Principal Snyder has assigned the task of organizing the upcoming Parent-Teacher Night to his two worst students at Sunnydale: Sheila and Buffy. If either of them fails to do their job, the result would be expulsion. Unfortunately for Buffy, Sheila has absolutely no concern for her school career, so she simply brushes off the task and continues on with her daily routine. Buffy is left with only her friends, Xander and Willow, to help her with the preparations for Thursday night.

Later that night, a new pair of vampires arrive in Sunnydale. Their names are Spike and Drusilla, and they are coldly received by the Annointed One and his lackeys. The Night of St. Vigeous will be upon them Saturday Night, the time of the year when a vampire's strength is at its peak. This is their best chance to defeat the Slayer, and Spike offers to kill her.

The next day, Giles and Ms. Calendar warn Buffy of the coming Night of St. Vigeous, but she is too preoccupied with Parent-Teacher Night. Later, at the Bronze, Spike observes Buffy dancing with her friends. He sends a fellow vampire outside to start his plan. Buffy hears of an attack and runs outside, where she sees the vampire ready to bite a struggling girl. Buffy frees the girl from his grasp and, with a little help from Xander, drives a stake through the vampire's heart. As Buffy starts to walk back to the Bronze, she hears someone clapping. She turns around to see Spike, who warns that he will kill her Saturday night. After they have left, Sheila exits the Bronze and meets Spike, who lures her back to the warehouse. There, Spike feeds her to Drusilla.

The next day, Buffy makes her last-minute preparations for that night while Xander and Cordelia whittle stakes. In no time, Parent-Teacher Night has begun, and Buffy manages to keep Principal Snyder from meeting her mother, Joyce, for two and a half hours. Unfortunately, the inevitable meeting occurs, and Joyce learns of her daughter's problems at school. Meanwhile in the library, Giles finds a passage in an old text about Spike. It states that he was once referred to as William the Bloody. He earned his nickname from torturing victims with railroad spikes. Giles goes on to read that the 200-year-old vampire has successfully killed two slayers in the past century. His discovery is too late, however, for immediately after Principal Snyder's conference with Joyce, Spike and an army of vampires invade the school, two nights before the Night of St. Vigeous. This surprise attack prevents Buffy from regrouping with her friends, so she quickly herds the parents into a room and shuts the doors leading into it. Willow and Cordelia run into a nearby utility closet, while Giles, Xander, and Ms. Calendar barricade the doors to the library. Giles sends Xander through an abandoned cellar behind the book stacks to get Angel. Buffy climbs through a ceiling tile and crawls to the library, where she retrieves her weapons. She takes on the vamps one-by-one, when Sheila appears out of nowhere. Unbeknownst to Buffy, Sheila is now a vampire. Giles sees her about to attack Buffy and yells out through the door, alerting Buffy to the danger behind her. Buffy knocks an axe out of Sheila's hand, who quickly flees the scene. Elsewhere, Angel meets up with Spike, Xander firmly locked in his arm. He offers Xander's blood to Spike, but the plan fails, and Spike sends his army after Angel and Xander. Spike stays behind to fight Buffy and nearly kills her when Joyce smashes an axe over Spike's head from behind. Stunned by the surprise attack, Spike quickly vacates the school, his vampire troops not too far behind.

In the aftermath of the crisis, Principal Snyder discusses the incident with a friend of his on the police force, Bob. Bob mentions that he has to make a statement to the media, so they decide to cover up the truth with the usual story of a gang-related attack. Joyce tells Buffy how proud she is of her daughter's bravery and resourcefulness, and mentions how those qualities are more important than her problems at school. The next morning, in the abandoned warehouse, Spike decides to end the Annointed One's term as leader and locks him in a cage, which he lifts into the rays of sunlight pouring in through a broken window. The sunlight vaporizes the Annointed One, leaving only a wisp of smoke in the cage.

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