Episodes

ted n buffy Ted

Season 2, Episode 11 (Episode 23 of entire series)

This episode marks the first time we've seen Buffy's mom, Joyce, go out with someone. Cordy and Xander sneak around in broom closets at school, and Buffy must deal with her mom's relationship. Also features the first time Buffy's responsible for supposedly killing someone other than your basic vampire/evil-thing.

PLOT:

Buffy, Xander, and Willow arrive at Buffy's house after an evening of fun. When Buffy hears a noise coming from the kitchen, she goes to investigate and catches her mom in a clinch with a guy! Turns out that the guy is a computer systems/software salesman named Ted, and he's also a whiz in the kitchen. Xander's entranced by his mini-pizzas, while Willow's grateful for the free computer upgrades. Only Buffy's not into Ted.

Buffy and Giles are at the park doing the vamp-dusting thing, and Buffy takes the opportunity to take out her aggressions on the vamp. She beats the hell out of him before staking, and we're clued in to the fact that she's upset by her mom's dating Ted. Makes sense, I guess.

Anyhoo, Buffy's complaining about Ted to Willow and Xander the next day at school, and they think she's just having "parental issues." Ted appears to give Willow her upgrades and to invite them all to go mini-golfing with him and Buffy's mom. Buffy tries to beg off, but Xander locks them into going when he learns that Ted's making a picnic basket.

Meanwhile, Giles visits Jenny to see how she's doing since the whole Eyghon possession. (See The Dark Age.) Jenny tells him that he needs to back off a bit.

Mini-golfing brings out the worst in everyone, apparently. When Buffy hits her ball too hard, she ends up going for the cheat. But Ted catches her and offers to slap her "smart-ass mouth". I thought threats like that only happened in professional ice skating...Anyhoo, the gang appears behind Ted and he's off to give them some cookies, as though nothing happened. A day or so later, when Buffy tries to tell her mom that Ted threatened her, Joyce doesn't see it that way. She believes Ted did a good thing by not outing Buffy's cheating to her friends.

At school, Buffy engages Willow's help to try to find out where Ted works, and Cordy and Xander head off for a utility closet make-out session.

When Buffy arrives at Ted's workplace, she chats with one of his co-workers, Neal. Neal informs Buffy that Ted plans to marry his girlfriend in two months and that he's the top salesman in the office. Buffy looks at the picture that Ted lets "clutter" his desk, and she discovers that it's the same photo of her and her mom that used to be on their refrigerator.

Dinner time, and Ted's doing the grace thing. Buffy sits there petulantly, and finally asks if her mom and Ted are engaged. Ted explains that he might pop the question someday, and asks how that would make Buffy feel. She replies that she'd feel like killing herself, and her mom sends her to her room.

Buffy goes to the park in the hopes of meeting up with some vamps, but they don't show. When she climbs back into her window, Ted's waiting for her. He's gone through her vamp-killing supplies and read her diary, and he basically tells her that she's delusional. He threatens to show Joyce the diary and have her locked up. When she tries to stop him, he hits her, and a fight ensues. It ends with Ted's being knocked down the staircase, and with his being pronounced dead by Joyce.

The cops show, and the scene shifts to the police station, where Buffy is questioned. She's not charged with anything, but the papers printed the story and she's the object of everyone's staring and whispered talking at school the next day.

Basically, Giles takes over the Slayer's duties, and the Slayerettes dig more into Ted's life. Willow discovers that the cookies contain a tranquilizer of sorts, not unlike that of ecstasy, and Cordy finds an address for Ted.

Jenny's followed Giles to the park to apologize for her harsh behavior the other day, but she's interrupted by a vampire. She ends up using the crossbow to get the vamp, but she hits Giles instead. They dust the vamp, and take Giles to the doctor.

Back at Ted's place, Xander's uncovered the bodies of Ted's 4 other wives...

Ted shows up at Buffy's place to talk to Joyce. He explains that he was unconscious, yada, and that he wants to marry her. He shifts into '50s speak, saying odd things, and starts to freak Joyce out. He slams her into the wall, and Buffy arrives to whack Ted with an iron-cast skillet -- the same kind that makes the mini-pizzas so darned tasty! Turns out that Ted's a robot, which explains why he kept saying, "I'm not wired that way!" Buffy's cleared, the gang discovers that Ted was a great scientist whose wife was dying, so he kept reanimating her in the bodies of like-sized women, and Jenny and Giles are back together, smooching in the library. All in all, a different kind of episode that deals with Buffy's take on life with mom, life in general, and life with mini-pizzas.

What Got the Job Done:

1. Buffy beat a vampire using a garbage can lid, then a stake.
2. Jenny Calendar used the crossbow to save Giles from a vampire.
3. Buffy used a cast-iron skillet to hit/kill Ted.

What We Learn in This Episode:

1. There's now a mini-golf course in Sunnydale.
2. That Xander sometimes likes things that are not good for him.

An Amusing Exchange:

Cordelia: "But she's like this superman. Shouldn't there be different rules for her?"
Willow:  "Sure, in a fascist society."
Cordelia: "Right. Why can't we have one of those?" --
on discussing Buffy's slayer status and the death of Ted.

Settings Seen:

1. Sunnydale High School
2. Buffy's house
3. Angel's place
4. The mini-golf course
5. Ted's workplace
6. The park
7. Ted's house
8. The Sunnydale Police Station

ted

Characters Seen:

1. Buffy
2. Willow
3. Xander
4. Giles
5. Cordelia
6. Angel
7. Jenny Calendar
8. Ted
9. Joyce Summers
10. Neal
11. Detective Stein


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This page last updated on September 7, 1998.