Archive for February, 2007
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007
I have seen this blogged around quite a lot today so I thought I’d join in.
What Shall I Be? (for Girls)
Schools and their respective professions are:
College - Teacher
Airline Training School - Airline Hostess
Drama School - Actress
Nursing School - Nurse
Charm School - Model
Ballet School - Ballet Dancer
What Shall I Be? (for Boys)
Schools and their respective professions are:
Law School - Statesman
Graduate School - Scientist
College - Athlete
Medical School - Doctor
Technical School - Engineer
Flight School - Astronaut
It’s almost funny…
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Tuesday, February 13th, 2007
Bad Girls (Doug Petrie)
The costume designers have gone mad again. In order to totally underline the contrast between Faith and Buffy, they book-end the episode with Buffy dressed like she is either going to church with her mother or she is her mother but in the middle of the episode when she is a bad girl, she’s in leather.
Wouldn’t you blow off a class
for someone who drew hearts on the window
and smiled like that?
Yeouch, that is one awful looking villain: yuck all round and boring too.
“Is he evil?” “Not in the strictest sense”: Wesley is treated very rudely at first as if the others already know what an irritant he is going to be. It might have been better if their behaviour towards him changed through the episode as he comes genuinely annoying with the added bonus of the unattractive trait of cowardice.
“I hate it when they drown me”: I didn’t like the drowning sequence; it seemed silly, pathetic and her hair isn’t wet enough.
The highlight of the episode is Xander’s twitching eye and he says “you know” in a sweet way.
As a mother, I totally get Joyce’s comment about things not being calorific if they are made for someone else: chips for Adam and just a few for me (no harm done).
Clearly, Buffy blowing off Willow for Faith is to show that if she deserts her oldest friends he is going to get into serious trouble; robbing a store is nothing compared with getting involved in aiding and abetting manslaughter. And it is manslaughter, not murder.
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 3, Television | No Comments »
Sunday, February 11th, 2007
Hey, we did it. Andy attempted to play Under Your Spell on the piano for me but apparently it’s not as easy as it looks. Anyway, Adam was interested and they started acting out scenes. A Walk Through the Fire read-through resulted in us putting the DVD on. And, now after 48 minutes of that and 10 minutes of the waking up scene in Tabula Rasa, the boy’s a convert. I just need to sort out some suitable episodes for him. Halloween, Pangs, Something Blue come to mind. Any other suggestions?
Posted in BtVS | 3 Comments »
Thursday, February 8th, 2007
The Zeppo (Dan Vebber)
My word, this is the second stinker of season three. Many fans rate this Xander centric episode quite highly but for me it is a demonstration of how badly wrong an episode can go if characters’ fail to behave in a consistent and believable manner. I don’t think it is unreasonable to compare this with Doppelgangland. Both are standalone, quirky, humorous in tone and deal with a character developing in self-awareness (Xander by the end of the episode knows he can handle himself in a crisis and that he isn’t any of the things Cordelia accused him of (and anyway, just what does a werewolf offer? He’s useless three nights a lunar month. Oh wait, he has a heightened sense of smell but that may just be Willow’s scent.)). However, Doppelgangland is brilliant while The Zeppo is appalling. One of my problems is that we (the viewer) know how brave he is and to see Xander humiliated as he is in the first scene and then throughout as his friends behave totally out of character (giving him the brush-off and patronising him) just to demonstrate his lack of self-belief is annoying. Then we have scenes where Xander behaves in such insanely stupid ways so he can keep on staying in trouble e.g. he doesn’t run away like Lysette in the cemetery and doesn’t take his opportunities to drive off outside the hardware store. Then we have Cordelia just being so bitchy and cruel that my teeth hurt listening to it (“‘Integral part’ of the group? Xander, you’re useless part of the group. You’re the Zeppo”). The apocalypse story is presumably played for laughs (I had to tell Andy that as we sat stony faced through it all) but it just clunks along (I guess the writers didn’t want to waste a good world ending story on this dreck) with wince-inducing scenes like Angel and Buffy’s angsty scene (the real ones we saw in Amends are bad enough). Finally, the finale of Xander’s own story doesn’t really make sense. I should say that I did laugh when werewolf Oz, like many dogs, ate some rotting meat.
The only thing that would induce me to watch this again would be to see the scene when Faith seduces (if seduces is quite the right word) Xander.
“A fight like that and…no kill…I’m about ready to pop.” “You up for it?” “Oh, I’m up. I’m suddenly very up. It’s just, um…I’ve never been up with people before.” “Don’t worry. I’ll steer you around the curves.” (later) “That was great. I gotta shower.”
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 3, Television | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 8th, 2007
Helpless (David Fury)
This episode was rather annoying me at the beginning with Giles’s behaviour making him appear to be rather a hypocrite following his comments to Buffy in Revelations. I felt the time for Giles’s doubts as expressed to Travers should have been made before administering drugs to Buffy. However, when we see that Giles is as helpless as Buffy when it comes to the Council the episode does fall into place. But…I don’t really care about the machinations of the Council and its patriarchal attitudes. And I do care that Giles’s “father’s love for the child” results in Wesley turning up.
Jeff Kober was an exceptional villain; he has the right idea in wanting to turn Buffy rather than simply killing her and the chase in the house is tense and spooky.
Buffy playing with the long, thin crystal after her workout with Angel was amusing but unnecessary.
What were they on? It’s southern California not Nebraska. I find it unlikely but did AH have dandruff?
“You’re not getting the big picture here. I have no strength. I have no coordination. I throw knives like…” “A girl?” (what?)
Xander and Oz geek over Kryptonite.
“Cause I could see your heart. You held it before you for everyone to see. And I worried that it would be bruised or torn. And more than anything in my life I wanted to keep it safe. To warm it with my own.” “That’s beautiful. Or taken literally, incredibly gross.”
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 3, Television | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 7th, 2007
I think most of us thought that Kylie (or Charlene as most of us referred to her back then) would be lucky, lucky, lucky if her career had reached the 90s and yet the V&A are honouring her twenty years in the business with an exhibition of her costumes. For Better the Devil You Know, Step Back In Time, Confide in Me, Where the Wild Roses Grow and Can’t Get You Out of My Head, thanks Kylie.
Posted in Music | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007
Gingerbread (story by Thania St. John and Jane Espenson, written by Jane Espenson)
This had the feel of a season one episode and really isn’t very good apart from the scene between Willow and her mother.
Clearly, teamwork is a metaphor for forgiveness because after this episode there isn’t any more tension between Oz and Xander.
Sorry to bang on about Cordelia but now I remember why didn’t like her much first time round; all I can remember is the horrible scenes she has in the second half of season three.
“No. It’s just… This hall is about school, and you’re about home. Mix them, my world dissolves.” (Buffy obviously did well in chemistry)
“Oh, I should say it’s just beginning. Fight it if you want. Just remember, lift a finger against me, and you’ll have to answer to MOO.” “Answer to MOO? Did that sentence just make some sense that I’m not in on?” “Mothers Opposed to the Occult. A powerful new group.” “And who came up with that lame name?” “That would be the founder. I believe you call her Mom’ (Snyder is such a meanie and relishes these moments of superiority which he dishes out with such condescension)
“Mom, how would you know what I can do? I mean, the last time we had a conversation over three minutes, it was about the patriarchal bias of the Mr. Rogers Show.” (I don’t get the reference but it’s funny)
“Mom, I’m not acting out. I’m a witch! I can make pencils float. And I can summon the four elements. Okay, two, but four soon. And I’m dating a musician.” “Oh, Willow!” “I worship Beelzebub. I do his biddings. Do you see any goats around? No, because I sacrificed them.” “Willow, please!” “All bow before Satan!” “I’m not listening to this.” “Prince of Night, I summon you. Come fill me with your black, naughty evil.” (“black, naughty evil” – both funny and shivery)
“Okay, so I battle evil. But I don’t really win. The bad keeps coming back and getting stronger. Like that kid in the story, the boy that stuck his finger in the duck.” “Dyke.” (look from Buffy) “It’s another word for dam.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna go trade my cow in for some beans.”
“She couldn’t do us first?”
“We’re here to save you.”
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 3, Television | No Comments »
Friday, February 2nd, 2007
Amends (Joss Whedon)
The bad hair and bad wig and bad ending fairies all paid a visit to this episode. Luckily the good Willow/Oz scene fairy was also on hand (twice).
First, someone’s scissors must have slipped because Buffy’s hair at various times through this episode is a horror.
Cordelia (or should I say Charisma) is shoved on for one of her (presumably obligatory contractual) appearances and she is just so bitchy and season one that I am pissed off with JW for doing this to her.
Oz and Willow make up and there’s a “can you just be kissing me now?” moment or something like that (”do you want us to… to hug now?”).
Angel is haunted and he’s really quite good in these scenes (but not in the be-wigged flashbacks because nobody can act past that accent and those wigs). A visit from Jenny is always nice because Robia LaMorte is a pleasure to look at but The First seems to do an awful lot of touching “No touching!“).
The scene at Willy’s bar with Xander being all “threatening” is a cringer.
It’s supposed to be really hot but never does anyone look hot (except Jenny and Faith but that’s a different hot) and that is not good direction or costuming (and we know that is often not good).
Willow tempts Oz but as usual Oz is far too sensible for a teen and says no, we’ll wait until I’m ready, I mean, we are. Actually, this scene is the highlight of the episode with the bottle of fizzy drink in the cooler, the whole Barry thing working, Willow looking lovely and Oz being so damn sensible.
I think the scene on the hill is very powerful with some top acting but just as it’s getting somewhere it bloody snows.
“Well, it must be that whole Angel killed his girlfriend and tortured him thing. Hey, Giles is pretty petty when it comes to stuff like that.” (Please. When do I get to like Xander again?)
“Hello, still Jewish.” (yes, we know, and we know you were gay in season five too)
“”A child shall be born of man and goat and have two heads, and The First shall speak only in riddles” No wonder you like this stuff. It’s like reading the Sun.” (not The Sun but the Sun)
“Hmm. You think you can fight me? I’m not a demon, little girl. I am something that you can’t even conceive. The First Evil. Beyond sin, beyond death. I am the thing the darkness fears. You’ll never see me, but I am everywhere. Every being, every thought, every drop of hate.” “All right, I get it. You’re evil. Do we have to chat about it all day?” “Angel will be dead by sunrise. Your Christmas will be his wake.” “No.” “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.” “Let me guess. Is it evil?”
“I know. I can smell the sunrise long before it comes.” (this line is meaningless if you think too hard about it)
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 3, Television | 2 Comments »
Thursday, February 1st, 2007
The Wish (Marti Noxon)
This is one of my favourite episodes of BtVS and I consider it so highly that I forgive Marti Noxon for both Bad Eggs and Dead Man’s Party. For just now, anyway.
Setting a story in an alternative universe, means you can do what you like to the characters (within plausibility) without any long-term repercussions. It is a concept that can only work when we have come to understand the characters and care about what happens to them even in this alternative universe. Contrast this with The Zeppo where it seemed that they were all in an alternative universe but the writers forgot to tell us.
I’m not going to go on about this episode because I’ll just become incoherent. Suffice to say that the death of Cordelia with an anguished Giles looking helplessly on is only surpassed in this episode by the breaking of Buffy’s neck by the Master. The way she lifelessly sways and drops is more of a gut-wrencher than her real death in The Gift.
Xander and Willow killing Cordelia is powerful and shocking. There is something perverse about Xander pulling Willow further towards Cordelia’s neck.
Anya seems to perk up at the notion that Xander is marginally cooler just before Cordelia makes her fateful wish.
There are two clunky bits of dialogue which written down don’t seem so bad but maybe Nick Brendon’s teeth made it difficult for him to deliver them well: “You love all the parts.” and “We really are living in a golden age.”
Dialogue to relish:
“Look, I’m sorry this is hard for you. But I told you what I need. So, I can’t help feeling like the reason you want to talk is so you can feel better about yourself. That’s not my problem.” - the way Seth Green as Oz delivers this makes it seem much less harsh and makes Oz seem like the wisest teenager ever.
“That didn’t work. Who wants chocolate?”
“Still, I mean… Don’t you kinda wish…?”
“Bored now”
“Hmm. Buffy. Ooo. Scary.” “Someone has to talk to her people. That name is striking fear in nobody’s hearts.”
“Why don’t I just put a stake through her heart?” “She’s not a vampire.” “Mm, well, you’d be surprised how many things that’ll kill.” - Buffy is extremely Faith like in this episode…
“World is what it is. We fight. We die. Wishing doesn’t change that.” “I have to believe in a better world.” “Go ahead. I have to live in this one.”
Vamp Willow
The alternative Scoobies
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 3, Television | 1 Comment »
