The Talent Show

[Randy Giles]

Does it bother anyone else that Snyder made it mandatory for Buffy and the gang to participate? I've never heard of a faculty member having the power to force someone into something other than the required classes. Buffy could have just said no.

I know her joining the talent show was necessary to the plot, but they should have found another way.

[VisionGuy]

Yeah it does bother me. Just like Snyder volunteered them for the trick or treat thing. If it was me I would have been like "Bish please!"

[Buffy Summers]

Well I think it was the point - Snider being a total, how should I say, jerk. The point was that he shouldn't have been able to make them do that, but he did it anyway.

:)

[Randy Giles]

The only thing he could have done to punish them though would try to get the teachers to be hard on them if they refused though.

[JCC]

Or expelled them (well, Buffy), considering his sway in local political circles and his apparent lack of concern for the rules when it came to teaching.

[Randy Giles]

Expel her...for not participating? Even on this show that doesn't seem that realistic, I mean they were able to get Buffy back into school in season three by going over his head.

[SpikedBuffy]

Actually, I think it was a form of punishment. If I remember correctly, they were laughing and teasing Giles, and Snyder overheard them. Being 'rude' to a faculty member is something that requires some sort of consequence, and maybe that was why Snyder forced them into the talent show.

Most likely it's because he was a jerk.

[white avenger]

I think it was his "little tyrant" complex coming out.

[ILLYRIAN]

As a result of them being insolent to a member of the schools staff they all could have been expelled.
or maybe school staff and principals were able to do those things when I went to school.

[Randy Giles]

They were teasing Giles in a friendly way, Giles wasn't interested in punishing them, obviously, so I don't think disciplinary action was in order. And a school cannot punish a student for making fun of a school event. The most Snyder could have done would be blackmail them, saying if they didn't participate he'd suspend them, but that sounds illegal to me.

There's definitely no way he could have expelled them, they didn't do anything wrong, they weren't being RUDE to Giles either, so the very most they could have been given without the parents being able to do anything about it would be a three day suspension.

Mostly it bothers me because I've never heard of a principal having that kind of power, and stuff like a talent show, like sports, is optional and Buffy easily could have said no. It's just not realistic to me that Buffy would just go along with it if it was something she truly did not want to do, and I think I would have bought it had they made her joining it more believable.

They could have even done something like, Buffy refuses but Willow is scared of Snyder so she says yes, and Buffy just does it so support Willow and Xander.

[Buffy obsessed fan]

Well, my head teacher/principal would get us all to participate with his un-infectious [sp] enthusiasm, but Snyder has none, so that's the simple root :p

[UlaGan]

Does it bother anyone else that Snyder made it mandatory for Buffy and the gang to participate? I've never heard of a faculty member having the power to force someone into something other than the required classes. Buffy could have just said no.

I know her joining the talent show was necessary to the plot, but they should have found another way.

Hm, sounds pretty normal for our schools. (especially in Soviet Union times).
I loved instantly the American school I got into when our family moved to South Korea (junior-senior school years).

So, this episode with Snider's overpower didn't surprised me much.

[Joyce Summers]

I know he doesn't technically have the power to force them into doing it, but if you think back to when you were in High School (or just think if you still are....haha) when the Principal tells you to do something, your instinct is not to go 'thanks, but no thanks' but rather 'okay, sure' with a bright smile followed by grumbling with friends.
It's only when you get that little bit older, maybe senior year at the earliest, when you do get that confidence to go 'Just a minute, you can't force me to do something you have no power over'. Which is essentially what Buffy tells Snyder in the exchange in Faith, Hope and Trick.
Buffy: So I'm really back in school because the school board over-ruled you...wow. That's like having your whole ability to do this job called into question when you think about it.
(Translation: Nyah, nyah, nyah-nyah, nyah. Heehee)

But otherwise, you do generally (unless you are/were a student like Sheila in School Hard and therefore do not care) tend to do as the Principal says for fear of detention, letters homes to parents or gasp! The dreaded meeting with parents. The threat of calling my Mom in always used to make me shake a little in my stylish yet affordable boots. (Till we reached a cool stage in the end of my junior year where Mom kinda started to realize the dictatorship that is still high school and so the phone calls home ceased to be a threat.)

Plus, like SpikedBuffy said, as they were caught teasing Giles (despite the fact he knew it was in good fun) Snyder used it as a form of punishment. Kinda like the whole 'You just played a trick on a teacher so you're gonna be one of the assisstants at Parent-Teacher Night' deal.

[sosa lola]

They were teasing Giles in a friendly way, Giles wasn't interested in punishing them, obviously,.

Actually, I think Giles was annoyed by their teasing, and he did smirk when Snyder made them participate.

[Joyce Summers]

Actually, I think Giles was annoyed by their teasing, and he did smirk when Snyder made them participate.

I love Giles' expression when they are getting told off. It's perfect. He's practically saying 'nee hee, you got in trouble, nah nah nah nah' though of course in Giles fashion he keeps quiet and just silently smirks....teehee

[sosa lola]

I loved it, too. Buffy, Xander and Willow got what they deserved. Never mess with Giles. :)

[Jules]

I always just thought of it as another way of Snyder being cruel to the students. He was never 'by the book' with anything he did. I think the main example of this was in Season 3 when he refused to allow Buffy back into school even though he had no grounds to keep her out. Snyder was just mean for no reason and he ran his school the same way.

[Fake Shemp]

im sure we all knew teachers like him.

[TheSlayer]

I liked this episode. I thought it was funny. That dummy was very creepy.