Writer:

Marti Noxon

Director:

David Greenwalt

Regulars:

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 Star:

Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers

Cast:

Jeremy Ratchford as Lyle Gorch

James Parks as Tector Gorch

Rick Zieff as Mr. Whitmore

Danny Strong as Jonathan

Brie McCaddin as Cute girl

Eric Whitmore as Night Watchman

Ah, a Monstervision that's easy to write, because "Bad Eggs" is an episode that wears its influences on its sleeve. We've got Ridley Scott's classic 1979 sci-fi horror movie Alien (the newborn young of a grotesque monster wreak havoc on our main characters), we've got Robert Heinlein's 1951 novel The Puppet Masters, which was turned into a 1994 movie starring Donald Sutherland (aliens use mind control to turn humans into slaves in an attempt to conquer Earth), and the 1988 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation titled "Conspiracy" (more mind-controlling aliens, taking over the friends and allies of the protagonists). "Bezoar" is defined in the dictionary as a growth found in the stomachs or intestines of certain animals which was once believed (erroneously) to be an antidote for poison. The writers take their liberties here, obviously.

Xander: "Apparently Buffy has decided the problem with the English language is all those pesky words. You... Angel... big... smoochies?"

Xander: "Which is another secret to conscientious egg care. A pot of scalding water and about eight minutes."
Willow: "You boiled your young?"

Giles: "I suppose there is a sort of Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression."
Xander: "I resent that! Or possibly thank you."

Cordelia: "It's an egg, Buffy, it doesn't emote."

Xander: "Can I just say... gyuhhhh?"
Buffy: "I see your gyuhhhh and raise you a ngyahhh!"

More quotes from this episode...

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• "Then teach it that Dreidel song."  A dreidel is a small top shaped like a cube with Hebrew letters on each of its four side faces, tapering to a point at the bottom and with a little handle at the top. It is a traditional gift given to Jewish children during the holiday of Hannukah, and has long had a song associated with it, the lyrics of which are as follows:
  

  I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay, And when it's dry and ready, Then dreidel I shall play! Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay; Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, Then dreidel I shall play. It has a lovely body, With legs so short and thin, And when it gets all tired, It drops and then I win! Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, With legs so short and thin, Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, It drops and then I win!

• "I killed my Giga Pet!"  When the Japanese Tamagotchi, a "virtual pet" which was in fact a small electronic device one carried in one's pocket and "fed" and generally paid attention to lest it died, became an instant fad and sold out literally in hours here in the U.S. in 1996, Tiger Electronics came up with their own version called the Giga Pet, which was more easily available and just as popular.

  

• "I suppose there is a sort of Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression."  The Italian philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was one of the most influential of Renaissance thinkers. His most famous work was the 1515 treatise The Prince, in which he says that to remain in power and be truly effective, a ruler must reject traditional morality and use his power ruthlessly — for instance gaining a reputation for stinginess instead of generosity, or to be severe rather than merciful when administering punishment. As a result, the term "Machiavellian" has come to describe the practice of achieving one's goals by whatever means necessary, whether those means are moral or not.

• Lyle and Tector Gorch are the names of two characters in The Wild Bunch, the 1969 western movie directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Ernest Borgnine and William Holden, along with Warren Oates and Ben Johnson as Lyle and Tector Gorch (two gunslinging brothers), respectively. It was the first film to feature excessive movie violence as we know it today.

• Who—and more importantly, where—were Willow's and Xander's egg-raising mates?

• Although it had been suspected because of her last name, this is the first time it is stated on the show that Willow is Jewish.

• Angel says that he is sterile, most likely a side effect of his being (un)dead.

• Two more of Giles' books are given names in this episode: Bristow's Demon Index and Hell's Offspring.

Brian:

This episode had two handicaps right off the top. First, it was the first new episode after a month of reruns, and expectations can get ridiculously high during such a drought. Secondly, it is the episode before a major two-parter, which can lead to a conception of the episode as "filler." Either way, Bad Eggs seemed doomed to be a disappointment — until I actually saw it. Surprise — this episode rocked! Okay, the premise wasn't exactly blazingly original, but neither were the premises of "Some Assembly Required" or "Ted," and I enjoyed both those episodes as well. It was nicely paced and accentuated by solid performances, and I was on the edge of my seat for the full hour. I was glad to see the realistic and charming relationship between Buffy and her mother once again in the spotlight, even if it was somewhat adversarial here. The lust/hate relationship of Cordelia and Xander continues to be a side-splitter, and for that matter this episode had a nicely high saturation of one-liners. And I find myself hoping for a return of Lyle Gorch, who has the potential to be an excellent recurring comic-relief villain in my opinion. My prediction after seeing this episode: Joyce's cluelessness is not long for this world — I think her constant ignorance is wearing a bit thin, and that she's gonna find out about her daughter's unfortunate avocation any week now. (8/10)

Will:

I'm not sure why I didn't love this episode. I think a few things caused a feeling of mild discontent with this offering. First of all, I have been waiting for a month for new Buffy and I got this decent filler episode. Don't get me wrong... the episode was funny and interesting but it seemed a bit "fluffy." The episode was filled with Buffy and Angel kissing scenes (which I am bored of), and a rather uninspired monster. The Gorch brothers were rather entertaining. I'm not really sure why they were in the episode, but they didn't hurt the episode. I did rather enjoy the verbal jabs between Cordy and Xander. I would think that I would be tired of them by now but, strangely, I'm not. I guess that my main criticism of this episode is that the idea is neat but was a bit underdeveloped. Everyone but Xander and Buffy being possessed is kind of cool, but I feel that it happened too quick and was solved too quick. In addition, I didn't like the fact that the show as a whole didn't move forward (running story lines) at all. I know that next week's episode will move the story lines forward (in big scary ways from what I hear), but for this week I am a bit disappointed. (6/10)