"Can I have you?"

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Rewatching the pilot and I had forgotten this is the first thing Xander says to Buffy! And it's also amusing how uninterested she is after meeting him.

Sure, I know the line is supposed to just be an amusing Freudian slip (he meant to say "Can I help you") but it's a great example of foreshadowing...for the crush he develops on her later.

 

[Moptop]

I would think any woman who was the recipient of that line as the first thing a man said to here would have turned her off to him immediately.🥱

 

[thetopher]

I think its a pretty good 'meet-cute'; he's besotted with the new girl and she's really nervous about being at a new school. Also he's being nice and helping her pick up her dropped stuff (including a stake).
So Xander floofs it and Buffy in turn thinks she mis-hears and asks 'uh, what?' so Xander gets to 're-phrase' properly.

It also works on a meta level; Xander does want to 'have' Buffy (possessive) but ultimately he becomes her friend (and helper); possibly her most important one.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

This is Season 1 Buffy, she just got rejected by all her friends, survived a battle and fire, and just spent some time in an asylum. She's trying to look past externals, and trying to be a normal girl again, and isn't going to hold a bad attempt at flirting against someone until she's gotten to know him better.

 

[Taake]

I always think that’s cute, it’s such a relatable moment. While the specific wording isn’t, I think most people can remember a time or another when something stupid like that has slipped out and you just want to sink through the floor.

 

[Cohen]

I know I have definitely said stupid things to/around men I have found insanely attractive. So I give Xander a pass.

 

[Plasma]

I know I have definitely said stupid things to/around men I have found insanely attractive. So I give Xander a pass.

Thanks. Now I’m remembering all the cringey things I’ve said.

Like the time I basically talked with a girl about a fetish and it was so thinly veiled lmao so cringeworthy

 

[Fuffy Baith]

Doesn't Casper say "Can I keep you?" In that 90's Christina Ricci Casper movie? That's what the threat title reminded me of. A lot of Xander's lines don't hold up well today.

 

[Cohen]

The 90s were a time to be alive! I swear! 😂😂

 

[TamsinValencia]

Doesn't Casper say "Can I keep you?" In that 90's Christina Ricci Casper movie? That's what the threat title reminded me of. A lot of Xander's lines don't hold up well today.

This is an adorable observation. Yes yes yes yes yes I thought it sounded like a line from somewhere else but couldn't think of where.