Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S3 E13 The Zeppo

Set into despair by Cordelia's insults, Xander tries desperately to appear "cool." For this purpose, he borrows his uncle's Bel-Air.This triggers an odd series of events in which he ends up killing several zombies, stopping a bomb, and sleeping with Faith. At the end of the episode, he's gained a lot of self-confidence after staring down a psychopathic zombie.

In other news, yet another demon cult tries to open the Hellmouth.

This episode contains examples of:
"Bob: Good for chopping."
 * Always a Bigger Fish: An axe-wielding Xander chases Zombie!Dickie down a corridor, only for them both to come tearing out again pursued by the Sisterhood of Jhe.
 * An Axe to Grind

"Buffy: Do you remember the demon that almost got out the night I died?
 * Anxiety Dreams

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."

"Buffy: Is this a penis metaphor?"
 * Barrier-Busting Blow: Xander relaxes after escaping a zombie, only for the head (one of them at least) of the Hellmouth demon to burst through the wall next to him.
 * Blood Magic: Jack cuts his palm to raise his zombie friends.
 * Buffy-Speak: Buffy suggests Xander be "fray-adjacent."
 * Conflict Ball: Despite having risked his life to fight demons for over two years, Xander is arbitrarily kept out of events by Buffy who's worried he'll get hurt.
 * Cool Car: Xander tries to make himself cool by borrowing his uncle's light blue 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible.
 * A Day in the Limelight: Xander
 * Delicious Distraction: In the middle of preparing for the apocalypse, Giles gets miffed when Buffy eats all the jelly donuts.
 * Description Cut: Loads of them.
 * Dialogue Reversal: Xander's gambit at the end mirrors the "Who has less fear?" dialogue from his earlier confrontation with "Katie".
 * Dude, Where's My Reward?: Averted because Xander, having proved something to himself, doesn't feel the need to tell the other Scoobies about his adventures.
 * Dying Declaration of Love: Willow hugs Xander and says she loves him, before running off to face whatever rough beast will come slouching out of the Hellmouth.
 * The End of the World as We Know It: The Sisterhood of Jhe wants to open the Hellmouth.
 * Everything's Better with Bob: Zombie!Bob
 * Failed Attempt At Drama: "He should have known that if you're gonna play with fire... (zombie runs away) I wasn't finished!"
 * Also Jack threatening vengeance on Xander, only to open a door and be killed by werewolf Oz.
 * Freud Was Right: Xander pulls up in his Cool Car.

"Xander: Oh man, I'm out of my league. I gotta find Buffy. She'll know what to do.
 * Geeky Turn On: Cordelia is smirking over Xander's belief that his Cool Car will somehow make him cool when a hot blonde suddenly expresses an interest. Triumphant!Xander takes her for a ride, only to end up at the Bronze bored out of his skull listening to her rave on about engines -- he's even happy to see Angel in the hope that Angel will call him away on some important Scooby business.
 * Gory Discretion Shot / Sound-Only Death: Dickie is killed by the Sisterhood behind venetian blinds.
 * The Greatest Story Never Told: How Xander stopped a zombie gang from blowing up the school.
 * Hannibal Lecture: Cordelia does this to Xander and loves it. At the end of the episode Xander just smiles and walks off, having gained the required coolness to ignore her.
 * Hold Me: Subverted when Xander helps Faith escape a demon -- she's a little banged up, says "Hold me" to him, and as he goes to comfort her she positions his hands so she can snap back her dislocated shoulder.
 * Incredibly Obvious Bomb / Time Bomb
 * In Medias Res: By seeing events from Xander's point-of-view, all the snippets of Buffy cliches and tropes that any Buffy fan could tell would make sense in context if the full story was ever told come across as hilariously random, nonsensical, and melodramatic.
 * Ironic Echo Cut

Buffy: (To Angel) I don't know what to do!"

"Parker: It's in the, it's in the boiler room!
 * Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Xander grabs Zombie!Parker and drags him alongside his moving car until he reveals where the bomb is.

Xander: Alright. Now I'm gonna ask you this once, and you better pray you get the answer right.

Parker: Okay, okay!

Xander: How do I defuse... (Xander drives too close to a mailbox which knocks Parker's head off) I probably should've left out that whole middle part."

"Xander: Hey! They're not baking any cakes!"
 * Knife Nut / I Call Her "Vera": Jack has a very large Bowie knife he calls "Katie"
 * Late to The Punchline: Xander finally gets round to looking at what the zombie gang looted from the hardware store -- finding kerosene, electric wire and dynamite.

"Faith: Don't worry. (pulls off her own shirt) I'll steer you around the curves."
 * Our Zombies Are Different
 * Person as Verb: Cordelia derides Xander as being "The Zeppo" of the Scooby Gang.
 * "Previously On...": The shortest one ever in the series, consisting only of Giles being told he's fired.
 * The Last Dance: Willy suggests Buffy and Angel get together as the world's going to end anyway.
 * Let's Split Up, Gang!: Jack's gang in the school.
 * The Load / What You Are in the Dark: Xander feels like a fifth wheel, and the entire episode is about how he proves to himself -- not the Scooby Gang -- that he isn't.
 * A Man Is Not a Virgin: Averted; Xander drops some big hints to Faith that he's never actually done it before. It doesn't stop her.

"Xander: I don't think I wanna be seeing you on campus anymore, Jack."
 * Melodrama: Spoofed when the usual romantic wangst of a distraught Buffy arguing with Angel who's determined to make a Heroic Sacrifice, with mutual Love Confessions and It's the Only Way, is interrupted by Xander bursting in on them. After making a half-hearted attempt to bring up his own problems Xander leaves, and the romantic music commences again as Buffy and Angel start up exactly where they left off.
 * Mood Whiplash: Whenever the overly-dramatic events of The End of the World as We Know It cut to Xander's antics with the zombie gang, culminating when a Battle Royale with a shrieking Multiple Head Case Eldritch Abomination Smash Cuts to Xander and Jack's quiet face-down over the Time Bomb.
 * My Girl Is a Slut: Xander runs down a demon Faith is fighting. They flee to her motel room and, frustrated over not being able to kill, she has "Glad to Be Alive" Sex with Xander. Cue romantic music and snuggles under the bedsheets, then a Musicalis Interruptus Smash Cut to Faith booting Xander out the door now she's finished making use of him.
 * Not Afraid to Die: How Xander wins the Time Bomb face-off; as Jack doesn't have time to fight his way past Xander and escape, he's forced to defuse the bomb.
 * Not Big Enough for the Two of Us: After Xander has successfully faced down Jack into defusing the bomb.

"Xander: Who, at a crucial moment, distracted the lead demon by allowing her to pummel him about the head?
 * Noodle Incident: Angel almost died, Giles did the bravest thing Buffy had ever seen ("Stupidest," he corrects), and Willow saw the Hellmouth beast's "real" face.
 * Riddle for the Ages
 * Screams Like a Little Girl

Faith: Yeah. That was real manly how you shrieked and all."

"Oz: Not the way I play it."
 * Self-Deprecation: Desperate for coolness, Xander asks Oz if it is hard to play the guitar.

"Faith: A fight like that and... no kill... I'm about ready to pop. (her hand reaches down for Xander's groin) You up for it?
 * Self-Parody
 * Sexy Discretion Shot: Xander and Faith sex is shown reflected in her TV screen.
 * Something Else Also Rises

Xander: Oh, I'm up. I'm suddenly very up. It's just, um... (grins sheepishly) I've never been up with people before."

"Willow: Xander, what are you doing here?
 * Strange Minds Think Alike: Xander makes a sarcastic remark about feeling like Jimmy Olsen to Giles. Later, Cordelia mocks him by saying that, with everyone he knows having superpowers, he must feel like...Jimmy Olsen. Xander starts lampshading this, but then cuts himself off with "Mind your own business!"
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: Xander finds himself the wheelman outside the store the zombie gang are looting when Willow walks by.

Xander: Nothing! Certainly not crime."

"Xander: (breathing hard) Less than two minutes. Dumb guy. Little bomb. How hard can it be?
 * Talking Is a Free Action: The time bomb takes longer than it should to count down.
 * Tempting Fate: Xander is faced with a ticking Time Bomb

(Jack jumps him from behind)

Jack: And it just got harder."

"Xander: What is it? How do you get it? Who doesn't have it, and who decides who doesn't have it? What is the essence of 'cool'?
 * Their First Time: Subverted. As Xander puts it to Faith later on, "It was nice. It was great. It was kind of a blur."
 * Terse Talker

Oz: Not sure.

Xander: I mean, you yourself, Oz, are considered more or less 'cool'. Why is that?

Oz: Am I?

Xander: Is it about the talking? You know, the-the way you tend to express yourself in short, non-committal phrases?

Oz: Could be."

"Jack: 	I'm gonna carve you up and serve you with gravy. You piss me off, boy. Now you pay the price. First the eyes, then the tongue. I'm gonna break every one of your fingers.
 * To the Pain

Xander: (indicating Time Bomb) You gonna do all that in forty-nine seconds?"


 * Two Lines, No Waiting / Trapped by Mountain Lions: Inverted with the B Plot becoming the focus.
 * You Get Me Coffee: The apocalypse is coming, so Xander asks how he can help. Buffy sends him to get donuts.