Let's Fold Scarves

It’s not coddling. Now go to your closet.

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.

Posted in Buffy Season 7, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly/Serenity, Television | 6 Comments »

I think we already know what Lady Hacksaway wants

“Selfless” (Drew Goddard)

This is another excellent episode. It focused on Anya and I think it must be the first one to do so. She had to wait a long time since her first appearance in “The Wish”.

I was snorting with derision when Buffy announced that she had to kill Anya. “Just like all those times she should have killed Spike,” I sneered. However, by the time she had reminded Xander that she did actually kill Angel, she had convinced me.

While she was reminding Xander of that she also mentioned that he and Willow had been rather unsupportive at the time (”Do you remember cheering me on? Both of you. Do you remember giving me Willow’s message: kick his ass.”) Not many other shows would reference something that happened four and a half years of broadcast time ago so casually.  The scene wouldn’t really work at all if you didn’t know anything of Buffy’s relationship with Angel. I felt a bit sorry for Willow. She barely got to defend herself and Buffy had bottled it up for years.

Anyway, moving back to Anya, Emma Caulfield is marvellous again. She gets to be comedy Swedish, anguished vengeance demon, hardened vengeance demon, singing human, resigned and weary demon, and sad lonely human. And she gets to kiss a bunny.

There was a lot of Willow to like, except for grimly angry Willow (Alyson Hannigan just cannot sell that to me), particularly chilling was the way she turned on the terrified woman as she used magic to prevent a spider attack.

I am very sad to see Hallie go although a consequence of that is getting fannish about D’Hoffyn’s remark to Anya and from beneath her, it devours.

Even Spike’s scene didn’t bother me. It was alleviating to see an actual manifestation of his visions (that we think are his visions anyway) in the form of soft-spoken, white-wearing Buffy. [Who, by the way, has been wearing some horrible trousers this season. Were they the fashion back in the day? All the way to 2002!]

“I am Aud.” Best line of the show, perfectly delivered. Best visual of the eppy was the sight of Buffy balancing a pot of pencils on her head.

The fight between Buffy and Anya was pretty good but, I’ll say it again, nothing matches a Buffy/Faith dust-up.

Bold statement: all in all, this was an episode up there with the best. Actually, not that bold, after all.

Posted in Buffy Season 7, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 6 Comments »

What if their problems are all weird and tricky?

Help (Rebecca Rand Kirshner)

Season 7 is now 3 for 4 which isn’t bad, I suppose. This strongly reminded me of “Reptile Boy” from way, way back. However, it was better than “Reptile Boy” even if it was relatively predictable until Cassie’s death which was totally unexpected and yet satisfying. Buffy cannot help everybody. Actually, that theme may have been touched upon before. Maybe in S5. Oh, anyway, I enjoyed this rehash of old stories and themes with added Amanda (“and I slammed his stupid-ass insecure face right into the pavement”).

Obviously there is still that elephant in the room. Maybe Xander might have mentioned Tara to Willow as they were walking to her grave? Maybe.

It's as if they can't say her name.

Buffy knows an awful lot about the Foreign Legion.

“Have you Googled her yet?”

“Look, all I’m saying is that this is normal teen stuff. You join chat rooms, you write poetry, you post Doogie Howser fan-fic. It’s all normal, right?” – who knew Alyson and Neil would be together in a Friends type environment?

I'm over you now, sweetie.

When is Cassie’s dad going to sue Sunnydale High, Buffy’s employer?

We lasted such a long time without Spike in this episode. No Anya at all.

I love it when Buffy catches the bolt (that is some booby trap) and then Cassie dies.

Azura Skye totally looks like…

Posted in Buffy Season 7, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 2 Comments »

I got so much strength, I’m giving it away

Same Time, Same Place (Jane Espenson)

This is more like the Buffy I love. It felt like an old fashioned earlier episode in which valuable lessons are learned and wrapped up in an interesting MOTW with the bonus of Gnarl being really nasty looking and really nasty behaving. Moreover, it is no coincidence that it was a Willow-centric episode in which Alyson Hannigan gets to play sweet, lost, perturbed, vulnerable, confused and adorable, and that is what she does brilliantly.

The funniest part of this was Dawn falling off the sofa with a squeal. Poseable Dawn was a treat even if people should have cared a tiny bit more.

Buffy’s total lack of concern over Dawn’s paralysis make me think of the lack of concern over Xander’s syphilis in “Pangs”. Both episodes were written by Jane Espenson…

There was evidence of the episode being cut (or a lack of concern about continuity) when Buffy and co appeared in the cave just like that despite the fact they had previously blocked it up.

I liked Anya interactions with Willow. I liked her telling Willow she was the one responsible for the mayhem.

I love Jane’s dialogue here:

Oh, at the new high school, probably. Everyone’s all about the high school. Buffy’s got some kind of job there helping junior deviants, Spike’s insane in the basement, Xander’s there doing construction on the new gym—

Wait, Spike’s what in the whatment?

Insane. Base. Xander does construction. He likes to start early, so he’s probably there by now.

And here:

This isn’t going to get all sexy, is it?

I’d be shocked. OK, do you have your powder?

Oh, I ate that. I have it.

And here:

I don’t know. Sounds pretty thin to me.

Well, that’s why you teleport over there real quick like a bunn—real quick and, uh, see if I’m right.

No. Sorry. You damaged my carpet.

Anya, you’re a vengeance demon. Just teleport!

…because that bunny reference is just for the fanatics.

Unfortunately, Anya doing spells with Willow highlighted the loss of Tara. The Scoobies conversation at the airport would have been a good moment to mention Tara. So far we have had no dialogue that mentions her by name and no other character (apart from Willow) has alluded to her at all. Not that I am obsessed in noticing this or anything.

Nobody should be at be worried that Willow made her friends go away by  “just by thinking it”, should they?

Posted in Buffy Season 7, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 10 Comments »

From beneath you, it devours

Beneath You (Douglas Petrie)

For some people the last five minutes of this are some of the best minutes of Buffy ever. For others, they might have been some of the most interminable. Apparently the scene was written by Joss Whedon himself.

I’m struggling to find much to say about this episode.

I like DB Woodside as Principal Wood. He’s handsome and appealing.

I like Emma Caulfield and she makes Anya, the unrepentant vengeance demon, far more likeable than she should be. She was the highlight of this episode particularly when she realises the truth about Spike.

And how much better would the scene at the end have been if we hadn’t known about Spike’s soul?

This is the one that begins with a homage to an early episode of Alias which itself was a homage to Run Lola Run. Dollhouse played Beck’s cover of “Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime” which itself was used at the end of the similarly themed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Nothing original there, is there?

Posted in Buffy Season 7, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | No Comments »

And stay away from hyena people, or any lizard-type athletes, you know, or if you see anyone that’s invisible.

“Lessons” (Joss Whedon)

I turned to Andy at the end of this and said “here’s hoping the rest of the season is as good as this”.

My heart sunk when Spike appeared because insane characters don’t entertain me at all.

…I only tolerated Tara in S5 because, you know, Amber Benson.

…and River because, you know, Summer Glau (and because I had seen Serenity first).

…okay, I lied.

…maybe it’s because Spike and Dru don’t entertain me.

…okay, maybe it is just my low Spike tolerance.

I’m not buying that anyone could think that Buffy was Dawn’s mother but it was funny and Michelle Trachtenberg was sweet without being patronising.

Who’s got the power?
He does.
Never forget it. Doesn’t matter how well prepped you are or how well armed you are. You’re a little girl.
Woman.
Little woman
I’m taller than you.

Often Hollywood can’t fake England without it looking like Random Harvest so it was fun seeing genuine English locations.

It’s sad that Xander has moved on to wearing a suit and driving a snazzy car while Anya has coffee while seated on uncomfortable stools with her only friend listening to a drippy duo. I’m sure this is a point that could be developed further.

It was nice having some quippy vampire dusting in the pre-credits sequence and it was nice to have a MOTW episode after the a stretch of breathless arc-y stuff at the end of S6. And you can’t beat a “duck” joke.

The ending with Spike being tormented by Warren, Glory, Adam, The Mayor, Drusilla, The Master and Buffy was a handy S7 mission statement:

And that’s where we’re going…right back to the beginning. Not the Bang. Not the Word. The true beginning. The next few months are going to be quite a ride. And I think we’re all going to learn something about ourselves in the process. You’ll learn you’re a pathetic schmuck, if it hasn’t sunk in already. Look at you. Trying to do what’s right, just like her. You still don’t get it. It’s not about right, not about wrong…it’s about power.

[Spoiler: Dru touches Spike but I remembered that the First couldn’t touch anyone or is it different for vampires?]

Posted in Buffy Season 7, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 4 Comments »

I’d like to test that theory.

Two to Go (Douglas Petrie)/Grave (David Fury)

I’m about to commit heresy. Alyson Hannigan isn’t very good as Dark Willow. The terrible dialogue that she was saddled with didn’t help her. “Get off, superbitch” (a throwback to “This Year’s Girl”) and “Cause I’ve turned pro” are just two of the clunkers littering the script.

I have no idea whether it was AH’s choice or the directors’ or the showrunners’ to have her so one-note as if she is controlling a great rage but unfortunately she appears as if she is suppressing nothing. It’s as if there is zilch going on under the surface: it’s all shallow water (a puddle even) and highly disappointing. We get a glimpse of the Hannigan magic, and what she can do, when she collapses into tears and into Xander’s arms.

“Villains” now seems a fantastic episode compared with these two. The opportunity for an exploration of Willow’s character was generally passed up for laughable sequences such as Willow tearing down the police station (and screaming) and riding on top of the cab of a truck. The scene between Buffy and Willow at Rack’s is the notable exception except that Willow is more perceptive about Buffy than she is about herself.

Willow murders Rack (though interestingly what she does to him which kills him doesn’t kill Giles when she does it to him) and nobody cares. Unless I missed the note informing us that Rack isn’t human, she kills a man and nobody cares.

Talking of not caring, I really really don’t care about Spike and his challenges to get – - – a soul – - – and not what Buffy has coming to her. A gigantic yawn of a mislead which kept getting in the way of the main story.

[Discussion question: did Spike ruin Buffy?]

The special effects in Buffy are generally cheesy but that’s no problem for someone raised on Blake’s 7. However, the spire (aka temple) at the random bluff we have never heard of before was tacky and off-putting. Well, not completely off-putting so that the scene between Willow and Xander isn’t beautiful and moving.

It was good of Willow to take time off from ending the misery of all of us to give Buffy something to do in the finale.

One of my other disappointments with Buffy is the complete failure to do something interesting with Dawn. No wonder folk don’t like her when she is written so implausibly and immaturely. The promise we see as she fights the demons alongside Buffy was sadly not capitalised on.

I liked Anya and Xander’s conversation:

I care if you live or die, Xander. I’m just not sure which one I want.

Again with the comfort. Look, we both know things might get ugly at, uh, Wiccapalooza. And if it gets really bad…

Let me guess. You’ll propose?

The fight between Willow and Buffy was no Faith/Buffy face-off, which was unsatisfactory.

Giles’ appearance at the end of “Two to Go” was the bestest thing eva. However, as Andy put it, the laughter from Giles when he hears the summation of S6 from Buffy is a bit rich because we had to sit through it and it wasn’t actually funny.

Andy reckons S6 isn’t so bad and thinks my sad fannishness (not that he called it that) is the reason why I don’t like it. I’m not so sure that he is right because there is so much fabulous Tara stuff in S6 and I still don’t like it as a whole. I have no desire to watch episodes like “Smashed”, “Wrecked”, “Gone”, “Doublemeat Palace” and “As You Were” ever again and I think that is the worst thing I can say about Buffy.

I’m going to try very hard while watching S7 (alongside Angel S4) to be positive. I will be banning the words “I don’t care” because ultimately this a TV show created by Joss Whedon and, honestly, despite what I also say about Dollhouse, I do care.

Posted in Buffy Season 6, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 4 Comments »

Bored now

Villains (Marti Noxon)

The ending of this is vile. Truly Willow is Dark. Cold blooded murder. Nasty.

Coolest scene: Willow absorbing the dark magic and going dark. A chilling and memorable moment.

Poor Dawn. The only emotional part of this episode is her sitting in the dark, shocked “I didn’t want to leave her alone.”

I’ll also put Xander and Buffy’s muted reaction to the news of Tara’s death down to shock. At least Buffy looks concerned and I’m sure there is plenty of time to pay proper tribute to her. OK, I’ll stop snarking and think positively.

The conversation between Buffy, Xander and Dawn is heavy handed but otherwise this episode is good. Willow’s reaction is in character. Vampire Willow was a sadistic, cruel piece of work.

Why can’t Dawn go with Buffy? It is so bloody boring that she has got to kept safe all the bleeding time. And her sister’s the Slayer: teach her self defence, Buffy. And, this really bugs me. I know that Buffy is depressed and that’s one of the reasons she works in a burger bar but why couldn’t she have become a fitness instructor or someone who works in a gym?

Spike in “Africa” was tedious and I hate being mislead by his use of “bitch”. It’s okay for Warren to use it because I think he might be a misogynist. Not sure though, it’s kinda subtle.

My word, Adam Busch is a hairy chap. I hope Amber got paid the full amount for this episode even though she did spend a lot of time lying on the floor.

I’m glad he’s dead and only two to go except they renege on that promise.

I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been to watch S6 in real time and for it to wind up over three episodes and three weeks. It’s too long.

Buffy’s hair was very nice.

Posted in Buffy Season 6, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 3 Comments »

Your shirt

Seeing Red (Steven S. DeKnight)

The teaser finishes and straight away I’m calling the makers of Buffy bastards as Amber Benson appears in the credits.

Andy and I had a very long discussion about this episode after we watched it.

[Followed by a discussion about the implications of  “Normal Again” and sexual violence on TV and particularly in Mad Men.]

We discussed the ambiguity of Spike’s attempted rape of Buffy. If Spike was human and if Buffy was an ordinary woman and if they hadn’t been involved in a violent abusive relationship then there would be no ambiguity. It seems an appropriately sad and tacky culmination to the Buffy and Spike relationship. The fade to black for an advert break was pretty outrageous though. I hadn’t actually given the incident any thought at any time because I was distracted by the other important event so it made a change to consider it.

I asked Andy for his reaction to Tara’s death (I hesitate to call it murder when manslaughter seems more appropriate) bearing in mind that Andy isn’t an obsessive Tara fan and doesn’t read much about the show. He felt her death was undramatic and that the sex and the kissing and the intimacy were in poor taste considering what unfolds.

I can only agree.

I find it really hard to separate my thoughts about Tara’s death based on season 6 alone and those based on subsequent events (or non-events) because they are all tangled up together.

The way season 6 was designed means that Tara’s death is necessary for Willow to go dark. Buffy or Xander wouldn’t have done. It had to be a lover. It could have been Oz. They could have cheated and had Willow think Tara was dead when she wasn’t but that wouldn’t be dramatically satisfactory. If Tara has to die why is it so undramatic?

They have just back to together, they are a hot sexy couple (who knew?), they appear to be happy and in one measly episode it’s over. Tara was interesting. She had a relationship with Buffy, She even had friends (do any of the other Scoobies have friends? Real friends? Janice. Gotcha.) If Tara had been offed in season 5 who exactly would have cared? I may have just understood why Tara is interesting in season 6 – so we can miss her.

And all the winds go sighing, for sweet things dying.

I do know one concrete reason why I dislike her death so much and that is because it is so unbelievable. The scriptwriters (or just Steven S. DeKnight) know they have to kill her but they don’t take any care to make it plausible. She hugs Willow and impossibly sees Xander arrive in the garden. Warren’s final shot must have taken the amazing ricochets to enter her body the way it does (it looks as if it’s horizontal and as if it was directly fired at her) to kill her instantly and to splatter her blood over her lover.

I have read that the ricochets aren’t actually impossible but to a layperson who knows nothing about guns it seems impossible. If they had been in the kitchen then I would be placated but then if they had been in the kitchen then the whole sex and then death thing wouldn’t be there to rankle.

Putting Amber Benson in the credits suggests a lack of respect to the character (and to the actor…). I often wonder about that. I think it speaks volumes of an unknown nature that AB didn’t come back for ‘Conversations With Dead People”. I don’t suppose we shall ever know the complete story but Amber if you are reading this…!

It is so lame in many respects. Warren was a genius because he was the first person to realise the most likely way to kill a Slayer is to shoot her.

The lovey-doveyness in the episode doesn’t assuage my discomfit at Tara returning to her violator. Willow may be off the drugs but she hasn’t muttered a word of apology for what she did. It may have happened off screen but I guess it wasn’t deemed important enough to show us.

I have never seen a single minute of any of the rest of season 6 and all of season 7 since my initial dazed and rushed viewing. It will be interesting to see if I can watch the rest without seething over my other problems with Tara’s death.

Also: poor Jonathan. He was betrayed by Warren and what’s his name who is such a weasel. In spite of myself I do laugh at the antics of the Trio. The jetpacks were stupidly OTT but it was funny to see Andrew hit the roof.

I’m disappointed that I haven’t written a more profound entry on this episode but that’s the way it goes I suppose. Thanks Amber, thanks Tara and thanks to Joss, Marti and co for creating her.

Posted in Amber Benson, Buffy Season 6, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 7 Comments »

Can you just be kissing me now?*

Entropy (Drew Z. Greenberg)

It was quite weird watching the whole of this episode rather than the excerpts I usually watch. That said, I think it was good. It’s not the sort that you would ever put in your top twenty (well, I wouldn’t) because it is too tied up in the overall storyline as everything intersects so it doesn’t really stand alone. I think that I’m right in thinking that from now all of season 6 is one long narrative sequence similar to a British series.

The acting from all the cast is exceptional. I sometimes didn’t feel quite enough chemistry between Amber Benson and Alyson Hannigan (although I blame a lot of that on the restrictions placed on the depiction of a same sex couple – no touching! no kissing!) but they had oodles of it in their first and last scenes. I adore that first scene. Amber is just lovely. You get the idea with that.

As much as I love the final scene, it doesn’t seem appropriate or plausible. A part of me is saddened that Tara took Willow back (albeit with caveats) because Willow abused her. It seems wrong. Willow did a terrible thing. She does change but I feel uncomfortable about Tara’s return. I do realise that Tara’s return is entirely for expediency’s sake but that doesn’t help at all. It just reminds me of how expedient Tara was as a character full stop.

Tara’s speech appears to sum up the episode but since she hasn’t actually witnessed the most dramatic events, you have to ask, was she just round for a bit of comfort? Did Anya in the café depress her? Was Willow just too adorable to resist? Or did she want to show off her cool boots?

Willow is a dedicated student. Her two best friends have witnessed something rather traumatic, one has just run off with an axe with the other in hot pursuit, and Willow settles down with her books… She could have at least talked to Dawn.

Emma Caulfield really showcased her talent in this from her hilarious attempts to get the women to curse Xander (“I never use that word anymore.” “Coagulate?” “Squish, squish, squish.”) to her drunken vulnerability and her resignation at the end.

The scene when Xander confronts Anya and Spike and Buffy’s secret is revealed (“It’s good enough for Buffy.”) is a breathtaking one. It’s all out at last, there is sadness, relief, disgust and anger and it is so well acted.

Poor Xander. I really dislike the poor chap. He tells Anya off for hurting him in revenge even though he was never supposed to know and I’m glad she got to tell him that he dumped her and thus had no right to lecture her. And earlier on he really should have been listening to Patsy Cline.

We also discover that Sunnydale has a major shopping street quite unlike anything else we have ever seen but we are reassured with the sight of the Magic Box street which is quite devoid of other people. Dawn is quite lovable and she seems to have grown noticeably taller.

I love these lines: “Did Willow put that there when I was dead? Cause if I had known, I would have crawled out of the grave sooner to…” and “Whoa. Guys? There have only been four…three! Three! Three guys. That’s barely plural.”

Not so sure about this line: “You know I’m only doing this cause I’m…I’m lonely and drunk and you…smell really good.” Obviously vengeance demons have a poor sense of smell.

*Charles for the win. Stephanie also got it but she called me sappy! Lizzie was very close.

You now have to guess the next episode title.

Posted in Buffy Season 6, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 2 Comments »