History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E13TheZeppo

Xander heads down to the boiler room where the bomb is, and finds Jack. Jack shows up, and after a fight between the two, Xander asks Jack who is more afraid of death. Jack points out that he's already dead, but Xander points out that "'walking around drinking beer with your buddies'-dead is a lot different from 'being blown up and swept up by a janitor'-dead." When Jack confronts Xander about him dying, Xander merely remarks, "I like the quiet" and stares at him calmly. Jack defuses the bomb with seconds to spare. Xander tells Jack he doesn't want to see Jack around school anymore, then leaves by a side door. Jack promises revenge against Xander the instant his back is turn, as he moves to leave by another door... only for Werewolf Oz to jump out and tear him to pieces.

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: Explored InUniverse. Most of the drama at the beginning happens because Cordelia (and most if not all of the rest of the Gang, it seems) don't believe that Xander is badass enough to be helpful in their upcoming fight. Xander manages to do enough badass things throughout the night (including saving their friends from a threat that was totally unknown to them) that he doesn't thinks telling Cordelia is worth it.

* GoryDiscretionShot[=/=]SoundOnlyDeath: Dickie is killed by the Sisterhood behind venetian blinds.

Directed by Creator/JamesWhitmoreJr.

Directed by Creator/JamesWhitmoreJr

Written by Dan Vebber, Creator/JaneEspenson, & Douglas Petrie

Written by Creator/DanVebber, Creator/JaneEspenson, & Creator/DouglasPetrie

* TakingYouWithMe: Exploited in the climax, when Xander gets Jack to defuse the bomb by pointing out that Jack's [[PaperTiger not brave enough]] to do this to the school, but Xander is [[WhatYouAreInTheDark more than willing]] to pull this on Jack. [[BatmanGambit He's right.]]

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Turned UpToEleven and parodied: The gang is fighting what is described as the worst threat they have ever faced, an EldritchAbomination bent on destroying the world. This is a barely-seen background plot. The main plot is Xander learning an {{Aesop}} about confidence. Double-parodied in that Xander's subplot is ''also'' an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome for all the other characters in a TheGreatestStoryNeverTold fashion, as he's running around trying to get out of the way of the out-of-context fallout from the main plot while chasing down a gang of undead juvenile delinquents bent on blowing the Hellmouth wide open. He decides not to tell anyone else about this, as he now knows full well that he is made of awesome, without validation from anyone else.

* PreClimaxClimax: Willy points out that as the world is going to end, Buffy and Angel have nothing to lose by having sex. They're not amused by the suggestion.

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

* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: When Xander jokingly addresses Giles as "Mr. White" and mentions Clark and Lois, Giles is confused by the reference.

* ShoutOut:
** When Xander first sees the basement bomb: [[Music/BeastieBoys "Hello, nasty."]]
** When Jack first threatens Xander he asks if he "wants to start something," and Xan-man is just praying he's talking about that Music/MichaelJackson song.

* TheLoad: Xander worries that he is this, and the other characters agree and treat him that way. Buffy then excludes him from the group's activities against the threat of the week. He spends the rest of the episode saving the school, and the world, from a completely separate threat, while the rest of the characters deal with what they think is the main threat in the background. Of course, in most episodes Xander was actually very effective at contributing to the group, making his sudden "uselessness" in this episode pretty incongruous.

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: Explored throughout the episode. Most of the drama at the beginning happens because Cordelia (and most if not all of the rest of the Gang, it seems) don't believe that Xander is badass enough to be helpful in their upcoming fight. Xander manages to do enough badass things throughout the night (including saving their friends from a threat that was totally unknown to them) that he doesn't thinks telling Cordelia is worth it.

* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: An axe-wielding Xander chases Zombie Dickie down a corridor, only for them both to come

tearing out again [[AlwaysABiggerFish pursued by the Sisterhood of Jhe]].

->'''Faith:''' ''"You up for it?"''
->'''Xander:''' ''"Oh, I'm up. I'm suddenly very up. It's just..um..I've never been up with people before."''
->'''Faith:''' ''"Just relax. And take your pants off."''
->'''Xander:''' ''"Those two ... concepts are... antithetical."''
->'''Faith:''' ''"Don't worry. I'll steer you around the curves."''


[[quoteright:284:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/btvs_s3_ep13_thezeppo.png]]
[[caption-width-right:284:"Did I mention I'm having a strange night?"]]

* IdiotBall[=/=]LoweredMonsterDifficulty: You’re on the ground and someone tries to drop a heavy soda machine on you, what do you do? You just stare at it until it crushes your head of course.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: The Scooby Gang are completely unaware that Xander not only stopped the school from blowing up but saved their lives in the process.

* BadassBoast: Xander gets one in the climax when Jack asks him if he's afraid to die. It's all the more powerful for how quiet it is.

* AnAxeToGrind
-->'''Zombie!Bob:''' Good for chopping.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Jack lays out the ways he's planning on [[ToThePain torturing Xander.]] Xander responds by asking him how he's going to do all of it in the time left before the bomb goes off, then blocks the door so he can't escape.
* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: An axe-wielding Xander chases Zombie Dickie down a corridor, only for them both to come tearing out again [[AlwaysABiggerFish pursued by the Sisterhood of Jhe]].

-->'''Xander:''' [[NotAfraidToDie I like the quiet.]]

* TakingYouWithMe: Exploited in the climax, when Xander gets Jack to defuse the bomb by pointing out that Jack's [[PaperTiger not brave enough]] to do this to the school, but Xander is [[WhatYouAreInTheDark more than willing]] to pukk this on Jack. [[BatmanGambit He's right.]]

* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: An axe-wielding Xander chases Zombie!Dickie down a corridor, only for them both to come tearing out again [[AlwaysABiggerFish pursued by the Sisterhood of Jhe]].

* TemptingFate: Xander is faced with a ticking TimeBomb

* CounterpartComparison: InUniverse. Xander is compared to ComicBook/JimmyOlsen and [[Creator/TheMarxBrothers Zeppo Marx.]]

* HeroOfAnotherStory: What the rest of the Scooby Gang becomes. 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.