The Zeppo

Whereby Zander Zaps the Zombies singlehandedly...

This is one of my favorite episodes of Buffy, and I will give you a little background, but MOSTLY, I think it is just instructive as to what makes a really great tale.


The Zeppo Plot Summary:

See... Zander (yes, I know officially this starts with X, since it is part of Alexander, but for Z day, let's go with it...) is the character who is NEVER something special. Buffy is the Slayer. Willow is a powerful witch. Oz is a werewolf... everybody is something special, but... and Cordelia says it best (if most cruelly)

"'Cool.' Look it up. It's something that a subliterate that's repeated 12th grade three times has and you don't. There was no part of that that wasn't fun."

Or worse: “It must be really hard when all your friends have like, superpowers: slayers, werewolves, witches, vampires, and you're like this little nothing. You must feel like Jimmy Olsen.” (for non-Superman aficionados, this is a Superman reference to an ordinary guy who is often a liability)

Zander is trying to prove himself 'cool'--he borrows his uncles cool old car, but Buffy and the gang STILL send him off 'for his own safety' while they head to fight a big nasty. Zander earns the notice of a pack of tough guys who proceed to rob a hardware store (for... uh oh... a lot of explosives...) ... who... it turns out... are also dead.

The gang really DOES have a big nasty to fight... there is a monster at the school... But everybody is CLUELESS as to the Zombie plan that Zander has to singlehandedly undermine...


The Beauty of this Episode

Zander, with his no-particular-talent, has to find something in himself that he can do BETTER than the supernatural... better than the powerful... Just... BETTER. And he DOES. And the ripple effects are big. People notice. His very person is changed due to this thing he does that nobody knows about.

This episode earned an emmy nomination because I think it really speaks to people. We don't MIND having great friends, but it can be tiring to ALWAYS take backseat. Wouldn't it be FABULOUS to dig into what is inside of us and SUCCEED in squishing whatever evil we come across.

And heck... the aura change is palpable... Zander even gets laid for it...


How We APPLY It...

I don't think it is as simple as starting ordinary and doing great things. You have to earn reader love in more normal ways... you have to be a good supporting actor before you earn center stage. At least Zander did... and I think this particular case of 'ordinary boy makes good' is more powerful than it often is.

In this case the BATTLE is thought to be ELSEWHERE. The HERO has discounted him. Buffy has said they are all better off is ZANDER is safely elsewhere. But there is a battle on an unknown playing field that the big fish don't even know about...

HECK—we ALL think this could be us, don't we? And isn't THAT the level at which things go viral?

How do you like Zeppo tales?