History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E18Earshot

* OhCrap: Xander's face when he learns of Buffy's power. First Willow then Buffy at the idea the aspect of the demon might turn her Transgender.

* {{Hermaphrodite}}: Willow suddenly wondering if it was a boy demon that touched Buffy leads to the fear that she will turn into this.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Cordelia is less upset at Freddy's nihilistic rantings than at his neglecting to mention the cheerleaders. She has the same reaction to Jonathan's suicide note. "We are so unsung".

* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Lauren E. Roman and Creator/SarahMichelleGellar reunite in this episode from their days on ''Series/AllMyChildren'', in which Lauren played Laura Kirk English and Sarah played Kendall Hart.
* IResembleThatRemark: Oz 'interviews' one of his suspects, Hogan Martin, by asking if he's pressured to be "the guy who does everything right", and if so, how much of a strain is it to maintain this "false persona"?
-->'''Hogan''': I guess... Moderate strain? [earnestly] Is that a good answer? I wanna get this right.

* DeliciousDistraction: Xander with Jell-O.
* DirtyMindReading: In the hall, Buffy passes one boy who thinks to himself how attractive Buffy is. She stops briefly to tune in to his admiration, but quickly scurries off when his thoughts turn more lascivious.

* CymbalBangingMonking: Freddy has one on display in the school paper office.

* ContagiousSuperpowers: Buffy kills a demon that passes its telepathy onto her.

* ChekhovsGun: "Ooo, Jell-O!".

During lunch, Xander jealously eyes Cordy as she wanders off, and wonders to himself if she's been making out with Wesley. Buffy empathizes with Xander, thinking that he's just spoken his thoughts aloud. "You read my mind," exclaims Xander. Buffy looks contemplative. She heads down the hallway distractedly and proceeds to zero in on everyone's inner thoughts. She goes to Giles, who is agape--but makes the logical leap that the demons didn't need mouths because they communicate telepathically. Buffy is excited to start playing with her new power. Giles suggests that she could anticipate her opponents' moves.

The gang compares notes, and learn that the only person they've been unable to find is Freddy Iverson. They finally corner him in his office, only to discover that he's been ditching Oz because of a bad review he wrote of Dingoes Ate My Baby. Buffy arrives, telepathy-free. Cordelia finds a letter to the editor from Jonathan, which says: "By this time tomorrow, you will all know what I have done."

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Xander uses the opportunity to quiz girls about their turn-offs and ideal dates. "Smoking, insensitive men, and Birkenstocks."

* BrickJoke: "TWICE?!"

* CallBack: Willow [[PerpSweating grills]] Jonathan in a scene reminiscent of "Go Fish."
** Similarly, Xander asks Larry some leading questions about whether his "secret" is leading to "unexpressed rage." Once he finally figures out what Xander's babbling about, Larry proudly bellows, "Man, [[OpenSecret I'm out]]! I'm so out I've got my ''grandma'' fixing me up with guys." Xander is embarrassed by all this public gay talk -- even more so [[MistakenForGay when Larry encourages Xander to come out himself]]. D'oh.

-->'''Oz''' [reading] "Dingoes Ate My Baby played their instruments as if they had plump Polish sausages taped to their fingers.""\\

* ChekhovsGag:"I've been saying for years that the lunch lady's gonna do us all in with that mulligan stew."
* ChekhovsGun: "Ooo, Jell-O!"

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Cordelia is less upset at Freddy's nihilistic rantings than at his neglecting to mention the cheerleaders. She has the same reaction to Jonathan's suicide note. "We are so unsung."
* ContemplateOurNavels: Oz is quite talkative in his own head. ''"I'' am ''my thoughts. If they exist in her, Buffy contains everything that is me. She becomes me. I cease to exist.''" Out loud this becomes, "[[TheStoic Hm.]]"

* CrashIntoHello: Buffy is too distracted by telepathy to notice Mr. Beach, who bumps into her in the hall. "Ooo, whoa there," says the kindly old teacher, "You watch where you're going now." Buffy apologizes, but Beach's [[BeneathTheMask thoughts turn menacing]] as he skulks off. "''Students. If we could just get rid of all the students..."''

** In a CallBack to "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E16Doppelgangland Doppelgangland]]", Hogan feigns disbelief at Percy's tutoring. "I actually heard him complete a sentence," he tells Willow. "It had a clause and everything."

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Freddy's editorial, "[-BIG GAME DRAWS MINDLESS BRAIN DEAD MOB-]."

* EurekaMoment: "Man, you read my mind."
* ExpoLabel: The box of Rat Poison with "Rat Poison" on it.

* FalseReassurance: Giles walks Buffy to the car and tries to reassure her when Buffy asks if she'll be okay. Giles says, "You'll be fine. I promise." To himself, Giles thinks, ''"If it doesn't go away, she'll go insane."''

** When Buffy tells her friends that someone was thinking about killing students, Xander quips that the lunch lady will "do us all in with that Mulligan stew."

* GreenEyedMonster: Buffy's not sure if she can trust Angel, because it looked as if he were enjoying his tongue-wrestling session with Faith a little too much. This is mirrored by her teacher's lecture about everyone having "internal [[Theatre/{{Othello}} Iagos]]."
* GoodIsNotNice: In the epilogue, Buffy's afraid that Jonathan's starting to "[[RescueRomance get that look]]", meaning that he'll ask her to prom. Giles suggest it might be a charitable gesture. "What am I, Saint Buffy?," she balks. "He's like three feet tall!"

* IHaveToGoIronMyDog: Joyce gives a bedridden Buffy a wide berth. "I-- ...I have laundry."

* InterrogationMontage: The gang splits up to investigate who might be the potential killer. The scene cuts between Willow, Xander, Oz, and Cordelia interrogating different people around the school.

* KirkSummation: The lunch lady is about to cleave Xander a new one when Buffy appears and grabs her arm. The lunch lady is of the opinion that high-school students are vermin and filth. Buffy: "[[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption I don't see this being solved with logic]]."
* LameComeback: Buffy, snapping at Xander, asks if sex is all thinks about. Xander: "Actually... [{{beat}}] Bye." He bolts.

* LiquidAssets: The "Aspect of the Demon."

* MistakenForGay: The Xander/Larry scene, but another one that's easily missed is what Buffy suddenly blurts out "No, I do need you!" (answering Willow's thoughts as opposed to what she's saying) to which Cordy says, "Ok, what are you talking about? Because you are soooo creepy right now."

* NietzscheWannabe: Freddy of the misanthropic editorials dismissively thinks, "''Look at them, scrambling for the teacher's praise like pigeons for old bread crusts''," then decides he should write that down because it's ''"deep."''

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Jonathan scoffs at Buffy for presuming to know his pain. "Oh, right! 'cause the burden of being beautiful and athletic, ''that's'' a crippler!" Duly ticked off, Buffy carefully explains that sometimes her life "[[ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne sucks beyond the telling of it]]."

* PsychicBlockDefense: Angel tells Buffy that her parlor tricks won't work on him because, like mirrors, "The thoughts are there, but they create no reflection in you."

* RaceAgainstTheClock: "This time tomorrow, I'll kill you all."

* ScullySyndrome: At first, Giles doesn't believe that Buffy can read minds--until she repeats back to him what he thought about her shoes. "If a fashion magazine told her to, she'd wear cats strapped to her feet."

* SpellMyNameWithAThe: Willow gushes about she's never seen ''anyone'' jump like Hogan Martin! "They should call him The Jumper."

** Buffy, discussing her itch problem with Giles, is obliged to mention that it was "A ''good'' touch. Not a bad touch."

* TheTriple: Willow tries to reassure Buffy as Buffy lists the possibilities of what demon part she could end up with, like "claws, or scales." Willow's eyes go wide with fear. "Was it [[{{Hermaphrodite}} a boy demon]]?"

* WhamLine: "I would never hurt anybody! I came up here to use that on ''myself''."

-->'''Giles:''' It could be very useful. You could [[CombatClairvoyance anticipate your opponent's every move]]. Turn his plans against him.
-->'''Buffy:''' Oh, way better than that. ''(Cut to Buffy cheating in literature class)''

-->'''Buffy:''' [[ParentalSexualitySquick You had sex with Giles? You had SEX with Giles?!]]\\

* CrashIntoHello: Buffy is too distracted by telepathy to notice Mr. Breech, who bumps into her in the hall. "Ooo, whoa there," says the kindly old teacher, "You watch where you're going now." Buffy apologizes, but Beech's [[BeneathTheMask thoughts turn menacing]] as he skulks off. "''Students. If we could just get rid of all the students..."''

* EveryoneIsASuspect: Willow takes charge of the investigation, playing RabidCop with Jonathan (again). Cordelia goes to Mr. Beech and bluntly asks him if he plans to kill everyone tomorrow (somehow, I doubt that was in Willow's script). Xander gets sidetracked and schmoozes with some girls. Oz goes looking for his next suspect, Freddy, but can't find him--he's hiding under a desk.