| Written by: | Matt Kiene & Joe Reinkemeyer |
| Directed by: | Ellen S. Pressman |
| Starring: | Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase David Boreanaz as Angel Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles |
| Guest Starring: | Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers Ara Celi as the Inca Mummy Girl Seth Green as Oz |
| Co-Starring: | Jason Hall as Devon Hendrik Rosvall as Sven Joey Crawford as Rodney Danny Strong as Jonathan Kristen Winnicki as Gwen Gil Birmingham as Peru Man (The Bodyguard) Samuel Jacobs as Peruvian Boy (The Real Ampata) |
The Peruvian exchange student that Buffy was hosting turned out to be a killer mummy, and Xander's new love interest.
While on a field trip to a natural history museum, Buffy complained about her mother agreeing to host an exchange student, Ampata, for a couple of weeks. Cordelia was more excited because her exchange student was male and attractive. Xander liked the idea of Buffy hosting an exchange student until he found out that Buffy's exchange student was male.
This discussion was interrupted when Buffy noticed Sunnydale High's latest worst student, Rodney Munson, scraping paint off of a mask. She wanted to intervene, but Willow went instead. Rodney seemed unimpressed with Willow pointing out that he might get in trouble for defacing an artifact.
The tour guide called people to view a human sacrifice, but Xander was cynical about his chances of actually seeing one. He was right. They just saw a mummy protected by a "cursed seal." When the group moved on,Rodney stayed behind and tried to steal the seal. Unfortunately, he broke it instead. The mummy then came to life and strangled him.
Back in the library, Buffy once again wanted a social life and Giles once again told her that her duties will not allow a social life. This time, the issue was the student exchange dance. Giles eventually gave in. Xander was happy because this meant that he would not go to the dance alone with Willow, which might be misconstrued as a date.
Willow arrived to say that Rodney Munson was missing. Apparently this is cause for concern rather than celebration. They joked about him being attacked by the mummy until they remembered that they were in Sunnydale. This led to an after-hours field trip to the museum. They noticed a mummy still there, but the seal was broken. Giles was examining the seal when a nutcase with a large knife/small sword started to attack. He took a glance at the mummy and ran off. Giles was deciding that they should leave when Willow noticed that the mummy had braces.
Back at the library, they concluded that the mummy they saw was Rodney and that the real mummy was loose. Buffy ran off to fetch Ampata, much to Xander's protests. Unfortunately, she was too late. Ampata instead met the mummy girl, who kissed him to death. By the time that Buffy, Willow, and Xander arrived, they found a very attractive woman who identified herself as being Ampata. Xander was very pleased, but Willow was a bit jealous.
The next day, Giles was quite eager to have the fake Ampata translate pictographs on the broken seal. She could not contribute much other than suggest that one of the symbols indicated "bodyguard." Xander eagerly volunteered to show the fake Ampata around the school, much to Willow's disappointment.
Meanwhile, Giles, Buffy, and Willow were doing research. Actually, it is more accurate to say that Giles was doing research, Willow was obsessing over Xander being with the fake Ampata, and Buffy was worrying about Willow. They did succeed in discovering that the mummy may have killed Rodney.
Xander introduced Ampata to American food. In particular, to eating a Twinkie in one bite. The nutcase who attacked in the museum again interrupted them. He could not decide whether he wanted to force Xander to tell him where the seal was or kill Xander, so he attempted both. Xander managed to fight him off and escape with the fake Ampata, but not before the nutcase recognized her.
They returned to the library. Xander wanted to tell the fake Ampata what they really did rather than go with an archeology club ruse. Giles would not have it, so Xander went with a crime club ruse. Either way, the fake Ampata was "wigged" and left the library. Willow suggested that Xander take her to the dance alone, making Xander very grateful.
Buffy and Giles decided that they needed the rest of the seal. Buffy wanted to go right away, but Giles wanted to wait until the museum closed, which would mean that Buffy could not go to the dance. She was not happy.
The fake Ampata was very happy that Xander asked her to the dance, much to Xander's relief. She went into a restroom to freshen up, only to find the bodyguard waiting for her. The bodyguard tried to kill her, but she stabbed him with his own weapon and kissed him to death. She then left the restroom and agreed to go to the dance with Xander.
In Buffy's room, the fake Ampata asked to borrow Buffy's lipstick, claiming that she did not have any, even though we saw her with lipstick in the previous scene. She did not want Buffy to unpack her stuff, but Buffy did so anyway.
Buffy was a bit surprised to see men's underwear in Ampata's bag, but was immediately distracted by the fake Ampata opening Buffy's drawer containing stakes and holy water. Fortunately, Ampata was too busy giving a speech to viewers who have not figured out that she was like Buffy in that they were both chosen against their will to make a sacrifice for the good of others. Buffy started to open a trunk containing the real Ampata's mummy, but was distracted by Xander ringing the doorbell.
At the dance, Xander dressed as if he were in a spaghetti western, Cordelia dressed in Hawaiian garb, and Willow dressed as an Eskimo in a heavy parka. Cordelia was still upset that her exchange student could not understand her. One of her Cordettes took him and found that he understood normal English, not Cordelia's slangy pidgin English.
Giles arrived at Buffy's house to say that the bodyguard's mummy was found and that the bodyguard was there to keep the mummy from escaping. They both concluded that the fake Ampata might be the killer. They opened her trunks and, this time, noticed male clothes and the real Ampata's mummy.
Willow was feeling quite sad as she watched Xander and the fake Ampata dance. She did not even notice that Oz, the guitarist in the band, was noticing her. We spent a while watching Xander and the fake Ampata almost kiss, wondering if she will turn him into a mummy. Instead, just as they were about to kiss, she started to turn back into a mummy. She then made like Cinderella at midnight and fled, leaving a very confused Xander.
The fake Ampata grabbed another student (Jonathan), to kiss instead. He seemed reluctant and was grateful when Xander interrupted. This time, they actually kissed, and Xander did not turn into a mummy. She started to instead.
On the way to the dance, Giles figured out that repairing the seal would retrap the mummy. He dropped Buffy off at the school while he continued to the museum to recover the remaining pieces.
Buffy pulled Willow away from the dance to look for Xander just as Oz was going to approach her. When Buffy and Willow found Xander, he said that she said something about the seal. Giles was about to finish the seal when the fake Ampata arrived and shattered it. She then tried to strangle Giles as Buffy arrived. They fought briefly before the fake Ampata trapped Buffy in a sarcophagus. The fake Ampata then turned toward Willow, but Xander arrived and insisted that she kill him instead. She turned to dust before she could do so.
It is nice to get an ambiguous villain who had a motive beyond simply being evil.
There were some good Willow scenes as she dealt with the fact that Xander would probably never love her the way that she wanted him to. Alyson Hannigan was very good in this episode.
There is too much that we have seen before. The random commentary section describes how the opening was similar to "The Pack." Xander is once again attracted to a nonhuman like in "Teacher's Pet."
Two important characters were introduced in this episode, but neither received much time. In fact, I would guess that many people who are unfamiliar with any episode beyond this one would have a difficult time guessing both of the characters that I am referring to.
The bodyguard started to attack Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Xander in the museum, but he left when he saw that the wrong mummy was in the coffin.
A bit later, the bodyguard attacked Xander and the fake Ampata. Xander managed to fight him off and escape.
The bodyguard finally decided to attack when Xander was not around. However, the fake Ampata managed to defeat him.
In the climax, the fake Ampata fought Giles, Buffy, and Willow before Xander stopped her.
There was very little comedy other than a few funny lines and Xander showing Ampata how to eat a Twinkie in one bite.
Willow had to deal with her hurt feelings when she saw that Xander and the fake Ampata were clearly attracted to each other.
Willow overheard Xander explicitly say that he did not see her as a potential girlfriend. Furthermore, she had to watch Xander and the fake Ampata being openly attracted to each other.
Xander once again was attracted to what looks like a beautiful woman who turned out not to be human.
Cordelia has a new boyfriend but is not so committed to him that she cannot fantasize about being with an attractive exchange student.
Someone seemed to have noticed Willow.
Willow is starting to recognize that Xander will probably never be attracted to her the way that she is attracted to him. This greatly hurts her, but she is willing to set aside her pain for the sake of Xander and the person she believes is Ampata. It is not clear whether she is being noble—after all, as far as Willow knew, she would be gone in less than two weeks—or starting to let go of her fantasy about her and Xander. She was momentarily pleased when she found out that the fake Ampata was the mummy, but she seemed genuinely sad for Xander when the mummy turned to dust.
Xander once again showed that he may be attracted to other women romantically, but Willow comes first in his life.
Oz may be attracted to Willow even though she was not wearing a feather boa and even though the theme to A Summer Place was not heard.
Establishes once again that Xander tends to attract demons. We do see two important characters for the first time, but they get little development.
Xander fought the bodyguard twice and saved Willow from the fake Ampata for a clear MVP of the episode.
The four main characters each figured out something. Xander, Willow, and Buffy all figured out that the mummy could have attacked Rodney. Willow noticed that the replacement mummy had braces. Giles figured out that the pictograph suggested that the mummy killed Rodney and that the bodyguard was there to keep the mummy from rising. Both Buffy and Giles guessed that the fake Ampata was the original mummy. Overall, Giles seemed to do the most.
The bodyguard was there to keep the mummy from rising. He failed. He tried to attack Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles but let Xander get the jump on him. He attacked Xander and the fake Ampata, but Xander managed to fight him off. He tried to attack the fake Ampata alone, but she managed to defeat him easily. One wonders how the fake Ampata was able to remain a mummy for so long given the bodyguard's incompetence.
In the teaser, Buffy, Willow, and Xander are on a field trip and noticed a supposedly bad student misbehaving. Buffy went to intervene but one of the others did so instead because Buffy's approach was not necessary. I have not seen this since "The Pack."
One of the most inexplicable things about this show is how the male students could possible resist someone as lovable as Willow. To know her is to love her. She does have two handicaps. First, it does not seem like many people really know her. Second, she is attracted to the one person for whom it makes sense that he would not be attracted to her.
Xander knew Willow since she was five years old, perhaps earlier. Back then, he was not thinking about her as a potential girlfriend. He thought of her as a playmate. Puberty is a gradual process. It is not like one day, Willow was a girl and the next day, she had woman parts. It is perfectly understandable that he would continue to think of her as he did before, as a good friend.
Willow's comment that she knew that Xander had no chance with Buffy places the opening of "Prophecy Girl" in a new light. Many fans accused Xander of being cruel by rehearsing his asking Buffy out speech with Willow. They thought that he was teasing her. However, it appears that Willow was encouraging Xander to ask Buffy out directly knowing that he would receive an explicit rejection. This way, his interest might go elsewhere, perhaps to Willow.
I imagine that both Willow and Alyson Hannigan must have been very hot in that parka.
I suppose that a very low budget museum might have security this lax. However, I cannot see how such a museum could afford important artifacts like the ones we supposedly saw. Nor can I see how anyone who owned a valuable artifact would loan it to this museum.
In Spanish, names that end in "A" are feminine. Therefore, Ampata would be a feminine name. It is possible that Ampata is a Peruvian Indian name.
How did the bodyguard know which restroom to hide in to find the fake Ampata?
Willow's harpoon looked a little too much like a weapon to be allowed in a school.
"You didn't look at him first? He could be dogly. You like living on the edge." Cordelia
"What he lacks in smarts he makes up in lack of smarts." Xander
"I got it; the nonviolent approach is probably better." Willow
"I wasn't gonna use violence. I don't always use violence. Do I?" Buffy
"The important thing is you believe that." Xander
"Typical museum trick. Promise human sacrifice, deliver old pots and pans." Xander
"Oh, I know this one. Slaying entails certain sacrifices, blah, blah, bitty blah. I'm so stuffy; give me a scone." Buffy
"Hey, maybe he awakened the mummy." Xander
"Right, and it rose from its tomb." Willow
"And attacked him." Buffy
"We'll deal with that when we've ruled out evil curses." Giles
"One day, I'm gonna live in a town where evil curses are just ruled out without even saying." Buffy
"Oh yeah, call for the old 'let me translate that ancient seal for you' come-on. Do you know how many times I've used that?" Xander
"Xander can find someone else who's not me to obsess about. At least with you, I knew he didn't have a shot. Well, you know, I have a choice. I can spend my life waiting for Xander to go out with every other girl in the world until he notices me, or I can just get on with my life." Willow
"Good for you." Buffy
"Well, I didn't choose yet." Willow
"No, bad plan. I have other plans. Dance plans. Cancelled plans." Buffy
"You're not a praying mantis, are you?" Xander
"What kind of girl travels with a mummified corpse and doesn't even pack lipstick?" Buffy
"That girl, who is she?" Oz
"I'll still get Xander before he gets smoochy with mummy dearest." Buffy
"Have you seen Ampata? [Willow sort of shrugs under her parka] What was that?" Xander
"I shrugged." Willow
"Next time, you should probably say 'shrug'" Xander
"Sigh." Willow
"I thought this exchange student thing would be a great deal, but look what I got stuck with. 'Momento.' 'Punchy fruity drinky.' Is Cordelia even from this country?" Sven
"Ampata's the mummy." Buffy
"Oh, [becomes happy] good! [becomes alarmed] Xander!" Willow
"I remember how I felt when I heard the prophecy that I was gonna die. I wasn't exactly obsessed with doing the right thing." Buffy
"Yeah, but you did. You gave up your life." Xander
"I had you to bring me back." Buffy
Highlight the space after each question to find the answer. It is strongly recommended that you do not do so if you have not seen episodes through the episode indicated.