Him (Drew Z. Greenberg)
This rehash of season 2’s “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” is quite dreadful for the first two thirds. Women fighting over men is so flipping tedious and (really!) there was no need to tell the story again. It only picks up when Willow and Anya become affected because Alyson Hannigan and Emma Caulfield do funny very well indeed (I was going to point at “Triangle” for evidence and then I read my earlier reaction).
W: This isn’t about his physical presence. It’s about his heart.
A: His physical presence has a penis!
W: I can work around it!
I like the t-shirt and waistcoat look.
Sarah Michelle Gellar seemed off as if she couldn’t quite engage with a character who was bewitched in to doing the dirty on her sister and seducing a schoolboy while in a position of authority (despite being “extremely youthful. And peppy”): maybe SMG was as unamused as me. Also, as StephenT asks, does RJ know what effect the jacket has? Urgh, skeevy all round.
Poor Dawn,
Well, I guess you guys could use my help. Willow’s not very good with the practical strategizing – except when she’s evil. And Dawn – she’s not really good for anything.
She amply demonstrates this in a series of excruciating and humiliating and unfunny scenes: trying to make “Him” notice her and trying out for cheerleading, (bloody hell) sexy dancing and, naturally, a cat fight.
It was nice to see LouAnne from Girltrash! Riki Lindhome has such a distinctive face.
And look in that shop window, isn’t that Spike’s reflection?
The bazooka is funny.
I completely agree about the awfulness of Buffy in thrall. Putting her in a short kilt, and letting Xander find her straddling the kid? Ick ick ick!!! Almost as bad, though, was Dawn’s “sexy dance,” and Xander’s comment “Daddy like!” What IS this? Fan service?
But for me, the second half of the show, when it went into Mission Impossible-mode, was pure comedy gold. The split screen action! The soundless chasing around with a bazooka outside of Principal Wood’s window! And Xander and Spike’s final non-mystical solution to the problem was hilarious.
So, because it made me laugh, and because of the use of “Theme From a Summer Place” (a callback to an Oz line), I enjoy this one a lot.
(Almost the) Worst. Buffy. Episode. Ever. Certainly the one I find most insulting because it’s an exercise in the complete humiliation of every female character on a supposedly feminist show. I whine about it more over here.
I also like the t-shirt/vest combo on Anya. We call them vests over here though waistcoat is a much nicer word. I also think Willow looks nice. Her shirt is kind of weird, but it’s very Willow and the colors are nice.
The rocket launcher from “Innocence,” Dawn wearing Buffy’s cheerleading outfit from “Witch,” Xander reminiscing about “Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered”… This episode is very callbacky.
Weirdness. I had edited this post to link to your review, Stephanie*, and also added that your Firefly reviews were worth reading but that text has gone although the Firefly/Serenity category is there.
Nevermind.
*I said that you had said the exactly the same thing as me only with more words…
“The split screen action! The soundless chasing around with a bazooka outside of Principal Wood’s window!”
Jackie, I totally agree that these few minutes are hilarious. Top stuff.
I’m with Jackie on this one – the last half of the show came pretty close to making me forget the awful first half ~ so while Hazel was thinking of writing “quite dreadful” for this post I was still mostly smiling.
And Theme from s Summer Place reminded me of the episode of The Simpsons where it’s sung at an audition for Homer’s barber shop quartet.
I’m with Stephanie. One of my least favorite Buffy episodes ever. Juvenile, embarrassing, silly…and a lot of other less than complementary adjectives.
I think you’ve hit on the main difference between you and I, Hazel.
Half? The Willow/Anya/Mission Impossible hijinks don’t start until there’s only nine minutes left. Nine minutes just ain’t enough to redeem the other 33 for me.