Restless (Joss Whedon)
Whatever you think of Restless, and I can imagine it rarely provokes a neutral reaction, it must be one of the most extraordinary programmes ever shown on mainstream television. How did Joss Whedon get away with it? It is complex, pretentious, metaphorical, gorgeously photographed and scored, weird, clever, beautifully acted, funny and silly. It’s never dull or boring.
But, it’s not an episode I love despite Willow painting on Tara’s back, a giant Miss Kitty Fantastico, Willow being "very seldom naughty", Giles and Spike on the swings, Anya’s emphatic steering, Snyder as Colonel Kurtz, Anya doing stand-up, Spike posing in black and white, Amber Benson’s bare midriff, Sarah Michelle Gellar looking beautiful in the bright, sun-drenched scenes, the fight in the desert sands and Buffy’s final eye-roll as the First Slayer attacks her yet again.
I appreciate the fantastic thing it is but I can’t love it. I think the cheese man is a mistake because he literally and figuratively gets in the way. The episode never awes me. I want to use the word it lacks emotion (it’s an umbrella word like nice but it’ll do) and goes for the intellect instead. Oh, I dunno really, it is funny and endlessly rewatchable so what am I complaining about?
Two reviews worth reading: Mikejer ("and the Cheese Man appears for the first time. This guy rocks!") and Kip Manley ("I’m not even going to dignify the Cheese Guy. Nor does Buffy").
I do love Restless. I love that there is so much I don't understand, I love that there are bits I do understand, I love knowing that I could watch it over and over again and still get things out of it, I love how it looks and I love how it sounds, and I even love the cheese man who tells me that dreams are (mostly) stupid so maybe not all of what I'm watching will/should/does make sense.
I got scared reading those posts you link to though - firstly because of the "wow that's a lot of watching they've done" and secondly because I want to spot these things for myself. I stopped reading them very early on.