Top five Whedon characters
Monday, October 12th, 2009Five? Five!
Practically impossible but I’ll try:
- Tara
- Willow
- River
- Faith
- Adelle oh hell’s bells, I forgot Buffy, so off you pop for a nice cuppa tea, Adelle
Please join in.
Archive for the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Category
It turns out everybody loves a good goat’s tongue. Rock groups, covens and Greek cookbooks
Monday, October 5th, 2009
Storyteller (Jane Espenson)
Andrew, Andrew, Andrew…
This was better than I remembered because I am more sympathetic towards Andrew and I am not spending my time being annoyed that it focused on him. It’s quite an achievement to make you care about a mainly irritating character but this worked for me and Tom Lenk’s performance helped too. Jane Espenson pulled off a similar feat in “I Was Made to Love You” and we only knew April for one episode.
However, it is far from great. The scene at the beginning when Andrew expositioned unnecessarily about the Hellmouth, the seal, the First and the Bringers felt like it was half an hour long. Jane, we know and it’s S7 and you aren’t going to get new viewers now. Dawn should have been in the scene when they discuss the knife. She’s the Slayer’s sister and she, completely out of nowhere, knows all about ancient languages.
Spike’s bad boy act was nothing compared with his posing in “Restless”. I was jolly disappointed that Robin missed his chance to off him.
I wonder if we are supposed to be persuaded that Andrew is gay when he ignores two women making out to take a close look at Xander’s handiwork. If Willow and Kennedy looked like they were really into each other then that might have worked. I am more convinced that’s he’s gay because he was completely swept up in the Xander and Anya reconciliation. He’s watched that scene so many times. (I must clarify that I don’t believe that all gay men love a melodrama but it is a handy trope.)
I was uninterested in Xander and Anya’s reconciliation. I never I really bought into them as a couple despite their years together. He was often patronising and condescending towards her. Unfortunately, the show now doesn’t know what to do with her unless Giles is around.
Ah well, we are wading to the end.
Well, he was evil, and people got killed, and now he…bakes. It’s a thing.
Monday, September 28th, 2009Get It Done (Douglas Petrie)
Okay, Kennedy has started to really annoy me. Though not as much as the “what the hell was that?” speech from Buffy.
Anyone want to say a few words about Chloe? Let me. Chloe was an idiot. Chloe was stupid. She was weak. And anyone in a rush to be the next dead body I bury, it’s easy. Just, think of Chloe, and do what she did. And I’ll find room for you next to her and Annabelle. I’m the Slayer. The one with the power. And the First has me using that power to dig our graves. I’ve been carrying you. All of you. Too far, too long. Ride’s over.
It may seem interminable but really it’s not been that long. Plus, poor Chloe, yes, she got done by the First but I do believe that Spike was also a victim…speaking of Spike, I truly find him an objectionable character. “Nancy” as a term of abuse? Not nice.
“We’ve got a bunch of fighters with nothing to hit, a Wicca who won’t-a, and the brains of our operation wears oven mitts.” Funny, but surely the brains belong to Giles?
Nice skirt.
Ha, over at TWoP: “Every time Willow does a locator spell, a little part of me dies.”
There was a lovely cute Dawn moment when she teases Buffy.
All the potentials are sent up stairs but when Spike is thrown through the ceiling he lands in an empty room. What a wasted opportunity because Spike scattering potentials would have been funny.
The shadowcasters scene was nifty.
Erm.
Is this the moment that prompted SMG to say "enough!"?
A bidet. Like a bidet of evil.
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009First Date (Jane Espenson)
I almost said to Andy before it started that this episode was likely to be one of the worse ever because all I could remember was that Xander had a date and that she was played by a pop star I hadn’t even heard of then, never mind now.
However, except for Xander’s dire story this was a fun episode. Poor Xander, his story was plainly daft and poorly acted. Just what this random demon was going to do with the ubervamp wasn’t adequately explained and highlights a problem that periodically reoccurs in Buffy in which something which had been so crucial or so important or so precious at one point is then treated cavalierly later. And just how Xander sent Willow that text message will remain a mystery.
Actually, I have just remembered something worse than Xander’s story and that was the stupidity of Giles and Chao-Ahn. Yeah, Giles would definitely be that oafish and the jokes were just silly, no, just cheap and wince inducing. Why would she eat ice cream if she was lactose intolerant?
Oh dear, that just leaves Buffy and Robin. And Andrew and the First. Luckily it’s Buffy’s story and she got the majority of screen time, but I have to admit that now I have reached a peaceful state regarding Andrew’s presence on the show I think he is generally quite appealing. Ow, my expectations have dropped. I blame Angel.
Anyway, the best things in the show involved Buffy. I particularly enjoyed the scene of Willow balling socks (exciting day on the set for Ms Hannigan) and the conversation they have. Any dialogue that mentions a bidet of evil is just class. Willow laughing at Buffy and her counselling skills was cruel but amusing.
I keep reading the transcript and I keep coming across stuff I don’t like. I don’t mind Anya being jealous but I detest the use of “whore” and “slut”. Anya’s role is so shitty these days.
On the other hand, Giles’s gruesome flashcards were a treat. And this is what I do like about Buffy, this is like whizzing back to “Hush” and his presentation in the lecture theatre.
Buffy is struck dumb by the realization that Principal Wood is a white-hat and says it all by saying nothing.
I remember being greatly excited when Robin was told that Spike killed his mother. Oh, revenge. How thrilling.
Random BtVS screencap #17
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
In honour of Sarah Michelle Gellar becoming a mother.
We should have been forever
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
The Killer in Me (Drew Z. Greenberg)
This is the Buffy has a cold episode. It has three separate story-lines of varying degrees of interest. The Spike story is as engaging as any Spike story this season although the funniest joke came about because of this line: “Who you gonna call?” Both Andy and I said “Ghostbusters” and then Spike spoke again “God, that phrase is never gonna be useable again, is it?” (very funny Drew).
Giles had a wonderful exchange with Buffy at the beginning and I reckon her description of the vision quest was pretty accurate although she appears to have omitted mention of the gourd.
I am obviously a keen and close watcher (ho ho) because I was blissfully unaware first time viewing that Giles was behaving out of character and that many many people thought he might be the First. Oh well.
Giles being pounced on by “a teenager, a powerful former demon, and two big geeks” was very funny and although Giles’s line: “you think I’m evil…if I bring a group of girls on a camping trip and don’t touch them?” was ooc, it was still the second funniest joke in the episode.
My initial reaction to the Willow story-line is that it was well acted and nicely dramatic.
I don’t understand why Joss & co thought that Willow should get over Tara and find a new partner over the course of S7. If you remove my bias towards Tara, it still doesn’t make sense. The death of Tara resulted in Willow doing unspeakable things (that’s obviously a turn of phrase because Willow blabs it all over the place as if it wasn’t that important (including in LA)). But, anyway, why should she get over it and move on?
I actually find Iyari Limon quite appealing as Kennedy. She’s okay. She’s no Seth Green or Amber Benson but she is okay.
What isn’t okay is her behaviour. From the very beginning she has behaved in an inappropriate and pushy manner. From the moment she sees Willow she is flirting with her. And in this episode she fakes illness and asks intrusive questions. I totally understand the dislike of her character because of these reasons but, don’t blame her, blame the writers. However, I do draw the line at Kennedy being Prince Charming and kissing Willow’s misery away.
Kennedy likes to get into everybody's personal space.
Amy’s involvement doesn’t make sense and her motivation even less so. Amy is jealous of Willow’s ability? How could she know? Amy was a rat for most of the time that Willow developed as a witch. True, she had ensouled Angel but floating a pencil was hard work and we only saw her doing that after Amy was ratted. I would totally have believed any explanation from Amy that involved her being upset at being a rat for three years.
So the best thing about this episode is that Tara and Willow’s feelings about her were directly referenced.
Writing all this down makes me realise that on a superficial level this episode dealt with a lot of issues in an easy to swallow way. However, digestion is bloody hard.
Still funny
Do people ever think you’re weird?
Friday, September 4th, 2009Potential (Rebecca Rand Kirshner)
And as for those trousers
This follow up to “Showtime” was also pretty poor with more tedious speeches by Buffy. Maybe it’s SMG’s choice but her arm crossing to connote stern seriousness is becoming parodic.
Andrew’s dialogue is getting repetitive with a variation of his “now I’m good” speech from “Bring on the Night” turning up here.
The First is in “remission”? And the town is still “lousy with Bringers”? Oh dear.
Andy noted that Molly’s English accent is now becoming a highlight of each episode which is sadly true.
Georgia’s comment that the potentials are “like a powerful new addition to the mythology” is a fair one if that is what I wanted to see in the show. However, I want the Scoobies not the newbies. And not one of them looks fifteen.
Dawn was in danger of getting an interesting storyline. Although I don’t think I would have wanted her to be a potential slayer, she desperately needed a stronger purpose on the show. Even in the comics she still isn’t that interesting.
Since Xander is my least favourite Scooby: he bugs me a lot of the time particularly when he gets all judgey towards the others. However, his speech about being not being special but extraordinary is rather lovely.
I don’t really understand why Willow is frequently not allowed to do magic without great consequences occurring (i.e. black eyes) whereas if it suits the plot she is allowed to do locator spells.
Here endeth the lesson
Sunday, August 30th, 2009Showtime (David Fury)
This was pretty dreadful.
The Potentials:
- I like to think it was just unfortunate that this poor episode coincided with Felicia Day’s first appearance as Vi
- the sudden influx of Potentials made me think we had missed an episode out
- never mind that they are all girls, just the sheer number of them will lead to bathroom problems
- generally they were all highly irritating
- I understand that Eve’s accent was as awful as Molly’s
- Rona’s whinging was too much
Why is Spike still alive? I mean that the writers ought to have found a good reason why the First hasn’t disposed of him rather than relying on the fact that the character is popular.
And, bummer, after I said nice things last time about Kennedy and Andrew, it’s a shame that the latter was so blimming annoying this time with his unfunny interjections. I imagine that the character bible was rewritten to say that Andrew should be “amusingly nerdy” but clearly not all the writers got it right. Kennedy is still a great Potential but I really don’t like her flirting with Willow and, it’s not (just) because she’s not Tara, it’s because it just seems inappropriate and implausible.
Telepathy! We know that Willow has the power but not that Buffy can instigate it. If the Scoobies can communicate in such a cool way then why don’t they do it all the time? Nonsense.
What a lousy plan! Willow could have had a relapse or died or been possessed; Xander came close to being killed and, as for a lesson…, look, there’s THE Slayer getting whipped and the Potentials, who for the most part didn’t even know they were special until sometime between “Bring on the Night” and this, are supposed to be impressed? Some lesson.
Beljoxa’s Eye: all that fuss to get into another dimension (with vortex) including Anya being willing to prostitute herself (which is just plain nasty thing to do to her character (see also “Sleeper’)) and it turns out to be a non-threatening cheap rubber multi-eyed thingy. OK, there were two funny lines delivered impeccably by Emma Caulfield but, oh, what have they done to Anya?
Sorry to barge in. We have a slight apocalypse.
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009Bring on the Night (Marti Noxon and Douglas Petrie)
The Potentials have arrived and only one of them isn’t annoying. So far.
Why, oh why, did it have be Annabelle that ran? If it had been Molly then we would have been spared any more of Clara Bryant’s atrocious English accent. Even Dick Van Dyke and Juliet Landau’s were better. It was so bad that it occasionally sounded Australian. Also we don’t say trash, we say rubbish, but we do say biscuits for cookies so, in the course of two lines of dialogue, it’s was one all.
This is going to be a weird sentence but I like Kennedy. So far. She’s feisty and has spoken sensibly. So far. I do take issue with her flirting with Willow because that is one heck of a lesbidar she has. After all, some people even now still maintain that Willow isn’t gay.
Dawn and Anya’s behaviour in this was awful. Really unattractive and horrible. Dawn is now annoying me. It would be hard to sell the terrible dialogue she has had in this and the previous episode about Buffy’s “illness” at the best of times but she is failing.
Coupling Dawn and Anya’s meanness with Spike being used as a punchbag made this unpleasantly violent to watch.
The fight scenes were well done (fighting and hitting vulnerable people is different) although I am concerned about just how Buffy is going to beat this single uber-vamp.
Buffy has dreams. Buffy’s dreams are always significant. Does Buffy tell her friends about her dreams? Of course not.
Oh dear, Willow has been possessed by the First Evil and really, really doesn’t want to do magic anymore. Great. I can’t say that I’m sad that she eventually gets over this.
"with the magic going all aah and me going all eeee and everything getting all rrrr"
“Sorry to barge in. We have a slight apocalypse” but not the one that is happening up the road in LA.
Once I stop thinking that Andrew is weak and was far too easily led to commit murder, I find him amusingly nerdy. His interjection of “and it cost them their lives!” was very funny. And this was great too: “I admit I went over to the dark side, but just to pick up a few things, and now I’m back”.
Giles is awfully negative, isn’t he? Maybe he was trying to get Buffy pepped up to get her to make the first of many speeches (I do remember that from S7). This was in a call to arms that required full attention because it starts off unpromisingly.
Determined face - we'll see this again
Warren killed Tara. I didn’t do it. And he was aiming for Buffy anyway.
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009Never Leave Me (Drew Goddard)
Andrew can’t help himself by mentioning Patrick Swayze. Tom Lenk is excellent as Andrew, by the way. It’s a pity that Andrew is a character I have little time for. Or that I think I have little time for although time will tell if I revise that opinion.
Tying a super strong vampire to a chair was always a good idea, I don’t think.
Are all American butcher shops like that? Super busy and with a ticketing system?
I love that Andrew is terrified of Willow and how she plays up to that. It’s a nice contrast with Willow’s attempt at being mean in “Doppelgangland”. This Willow knows how to be scary but still adds an “ok?”
I have reached a stage where I plain cringe when women hit men (because, obviously, I already cringe when men hit women!) and so I didn’t enjoy Xander and Anya’s good cop, bad cop routine.
Spike in shackles. The imagery is complete.
Eye roll: “You like men who hurt you”. Buffy denies this, thank goodness.
What the hell was that with Principal Wood and Jonathan’s body?
Duh, duh, duh, Buffy has sussed it; it’s the First.
I know Buffy is low budget but that Watchers’ Council explosion is pretty awful stuff.
Page 48 on 
Georgia, USA on 