Archive for the ‘BtVS’ Category
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
All the Way (Steven S. DeKnight)
I know that I view BtVS through my own lens so that this and “Older and Far Away” don’t elicit the response from me that many others have towards them. First, I don’t mind too much bratty teenagers doing bratty things (as long as it makes sense) and second, both episodes are significant in the stories of Tara and Willow.
Tara: I’m not really much for the timber.
I love the way that Amber looks almost apologetic for this joke which sadly enough does make me snigger unlike the wearisome “I’m a breast girl myself” from “Life Serial”.
Two fine moments from the Magic Box: The dance of capitalist superiority and Buffy’s perfectly pitched shocked tone as she watches Giles clean his glasses and she says
Is that why you’re always cleaning your glasses? So you don’t have to see what we’re doing?
It’s hard to see that Willow creating some “extra biodegradable-y” decorations is actually wrong but you can sense her arrogance and irritation at simply being challenged.
The dancing in the lounge is one of the most pitiful sights I have ever seen, except, maybe for Tara’s sad face as she watches. She must be upset or she would be in fits of laughter.
The Dawn and Justin story is strangely non-compelling mainly because he and Zack behave like children and the kissing is, erm, amateur. And my interest is elsewhere:
Tara: Do you think Dawn might have come here?
Willow: It’s where I’d be if I were fifteen and on the lam.
Tara: Really?
Willow: Well, not me at fifteen, cause, hello, spaz.
Tara: You?
Willow: Yeah. Hard to believe such a hot mama-yama came from humble, geek-infested roots.
Tara: Infested roots, trying to turn me on?
Willow: I have to try now?
Help me, what is that about? How would anything infested turn anyone on?
Tara: Willow, you are using too much magic. What do you want me to do, just, just sit back and keep my mouth shut?
Willow: Well, that’d be a good start.
Poor “Grandpa”.
I like this exchange and maybe I’ll try it out in real-life one day:
Dawn: This the part where you tell me you’re not angry…just disappointed?
Giles: Pretty much…except for the bit about not being angry.
The ending makes my heart sink and at the same time I find myself confused about how easy or hard spells are to cast depending on the mood of the scriptwriter.
Adam asides: Willow bitching at Tara in the Bronze prompted an ooo from Adam while he astutely described Dawn and Justin’s kissing as gorilla kissing (though he did mean chimps).
How did this get here?
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 6, Television | 1 Comment »
Sunday, February 17th, 2008
Life Serial (David Fury & Jane Espenson)
This a pretty funny episode but it’s surely no coincidence that once again in an episode written by Jane Espenson, Buffy’s friends prove to be not very good ones. Why doesn’t Tara question more where Buffy’s disappears to? Why does Xander seems care more about this job than his friend? On the other hand, in the light of the incomprehensible characterizations and motivations in Angel maybe I should be grateful for the sense that BtVS does make.
The trio turn up again and they are funny although the hilarity that is references to porn does my head in but otherwise amusing (‘Stop touching my magic bone!” and “You’re insane. You’re short, and you’re insane.”).
My favourite sequence involves Buffy as shop assistant which works on that irritating bell rift and revisits Buffy’s (SMG’s) finest physical comedy moment from “Surprise”.
“You play for kittens?!” “So, who’s gonna advance me a tiny tabby, get me started?”
I love Buffy getting drunk and her off screen bleaahs.
It’s very nice of Giles to give Buffy money but the Watchers’ Council are a bit naughty not to actually pay Slayers.
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 6, Television | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 8th, 2008
Flooded (Douglas Petrie and Jane Espenson)
The trio make their first appearance, I’m not stressed out and I even like Warren handing the M’Fashnik demon Buffy’s address and pretending he has the Force.
The episode also introduces the freeloaders. I don’t know what the writers or executive producers were thinking of by omitting any reference to how Tara and Willow were contributing financially but we can pretend that they were but were too modest to say it out loud. I find Anya’s remarks ironic about charging (were they supposed to be?) considering Angel Investigations.
The gun - “These things? Never helpful.” – chucks it away and it goes off – oh my.
How perfect is this Anya dialogue and Emma Caulfield’s delivery? “No, no. Captain Logic is not steering this tugboat. I smell Captain Fear at the wheel! God, I hate this. This tone in my voice? I dislike it more than you do, and I’m closer to it!”
And they may forget about how close Dawn and Spike were but they continue to remember Tara and Dawn’s relationship and I love Tara’s “Knock yourself out” and Dawn’s “That’s a weird place for a horn…That’s not a horn..”
And I would like to direct people to the long shot of Amber Benson in this scene and say this woman is a slender woman and the word voluptuous cannot be applied to her.
The scenes between Giles and Buffy are very well done but his concern and tenderness is at odds with what he does to her in “Tabula Rasa”.
I remember being gobsmacked by the scene between Giles and Willow in the kitchen with the two of them being so angry. It still packs a punch particularly when you know just where it is all heading: “You’re a very stupid girl.” and “Are you saying you don’t trust me?” but the scary exchange is
GILES: You were lucky.
WILLOW: I wasn’t lucky. I was amazing. And how would you know? You weren’t even there.
GILES: If I had been, I’d have bloody well stopped you. The magicks you channelled are more ferocious and primal than anything you can hope to understand, and you are lucky to be alive, you rank, arrogant amateur!
WILLOW: You’re right. The magicks I used are very powerful. I’m very powerful. And maybe it’s not such a good idea for you to piss me off.
The fight between the demon and Buffy is funny in its destructiveness and for once all that damage means something and Buffy’s “No…more…full…copper…re-pipe…” is full of more than just demon directed anger.
It is in fact a very angry and tense episode and I liked it a lot although it is uneven.
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 6, Television | 1 Comment »
Saturday, January 19th, 2008
After Life (Jane Espenson)
The last five minutes of this are superb - worthy of just quoting Buffy’s monologue (though that doesn’t do justice to what is essentially a dialogue between SMG and James Marsters despite Spike’s silence).
I was happy. Wherever I…was…I was happy. At peace. I knew that everyone I cared about was all right. I knew it. Time…didn’t mean anything…nothing had form…but I was still me, you know? And I was warm…and I was loved…and I was finished. Complete. I don’t understand about theology or dimensions, or, any of it, really…but I think I was in heaven. And now I’m not. I was torn out of there. Pulled out…by my friends. Everything here is…hard, and bright, and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch…this is Hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that…knowing what I’ve lost…They can never know. Never.
(Not until that pesky musical episode anyway.)
I really really dislike the others when they pile into the living room and effectively terrorize Buffy leaving it to Dawn (after Spike understandably scarpers) to tell them to back off.
And, I can hardly write this for laughing at the incongruity that my son who would wear pyjamas 24/7 if we, ahem, let him, exclaimed, “What is Willow wearing?” when Alyson Hannigan appeared clad in what can only be called a plush synthetic bathroom set.
Unbelievably in all seven seasons of Buffy when some pretty terrible clothes were worn this takes the biscuit. It is seriously vile.
It also detracts from Buffy’s very convincing thank you even though she struggles to disguise her revulsion at the realisation that it is ALL Willow’s fault.
(Actually maybe it is just the top she has a problem with.)
Why does Tara wear a bra to bed? (What? Everybody does?) Whatever. I find that distracts me from Tara and Willow’s conversation as well as the arm stroking and the fact they are in bed together - but maybe that’s just me. Anyway - moving on - how dozy are they that it does not occur to them that Buffy’s lack of gratitude may be related to the place they just took her from? This line tickles me - “Right. No need to be in a big furry hurry” because clearly Willow ignores her own advice later on.
Serious stuff and big trouble ahead:
Tara: “Well, what was it talking about? Did you understand it?”
Willow: “Well, I understood the words, but…no.”
(It said “The blood dried on your hands, didn’t it?”)
The scene between Tara and Xander (when he presumably talks to the only person he can about Willow’s behaviour) is unusual because I can’t recall another scene with just the two of them and Tara’s defence of her girlfriend is just that - defensive.
I feel genuinely sad when Willow and Tara are doing the spell together and Willow breaks their connection and finishes it herself. She has come a long way from floating the rose.
I read some other analyses of BtVS and I feel shallow that I get amused by “furry hurry” lines because it conjures up that top and because I wonder why Tara is wearing a bra but then I revel in the fact that BtVS can handle any interpretation thrown at it. It works on so many levels and I think I know where mine is.
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 6, Television | 3 Comments »
Sunday, January 6th, 2008
Bargaining I and II (Marti Noxon)
As season openers go then this is one of the better ones – at least the first part is – the second part drags at times and the climatic scene between Buffy and Dawn is definitely too long.
Buffy’s burial dress is quite unattractive and SMG’s wig looked like the same one she wore in “Beer Bad” – both rather poor costuming errors. Maybe this is an omen for a season littered with errors of judgement. In fact these two episodes could be seen as a microcosm of S6 – a mix of the good, the intriguing and the bloody awful.
The good includes more Tara goodness in 80 minutes than the whole of S5 (minus a couple of episodes): Tara going “Grr argh” is just cuteness itself.
Plus, the teaser is glorious: “Oh, poor Watcher. Did your life pass before your eyes? Cuppa tea, cuppa tea, almost got shagged, cuppa tea?”
Intriguing includes Willow’s solo determination to fix Buffy’s death and the clear concerns of the others about what and (when they realise) how she went about it. The bloody awful includes some lame villains and Buffy’s hair.
Spike and Dawn resume their relationship from “Forever”, the Buffybot continues to be perfectly played by Sarah Michelle Gellar (”That’ll put marzipan in your pie plate, bingo!” and “‘If we want her to be exactly she’ll never be exactly I know the only really real Buffy is really Buffy and she’s gone’ who?”) and Giles and Anya’s relationship has plenty of sexual tension.
Finally, these two episodes are the source of Tara and Willow fan fiction’s greatest cliché: pancakes.
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 6, Television | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 19th, 2007
The Gift (Joss Whedon)
“The Gift” could have been the downbeat conclusion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Should it have been? We wouldn’t have had “Once More, With Feeling” but then we wouldn’t have missed what we didn’t have. The pre-credits sequence is one of the best with the previously on to end all previously ons. Buffy’s casual rescue of the boy: “Hey, what’s going on?”, the funny quips and “That’s what I keep saying.” is excellent but back indoors it’s old grim face again. The attitude towards an Anya who is actually trying to do something is rather snotty and I do like her remark “Here to help. Want to live.”
The “I don’t know how to live in this world” speech shows that Buffy is depressed and should probably see a therapist. She is in no fit state to do her job: it is an awful burden no matter what support she has and who can say she is irresponsible to want to give it up (despite the fact that the other Slayer is banged up).
“I had the pleasure moment.” Emma Caulfield looks particularly attractive just before Xander proposes.
Buffy remembers that Willow hurt Glory but actually no, Willow shouldn’t have been spending her time trying to help Tara (even though this does prove very useful). Tara’s mind is really screwed since kind gentle Tara wallops Willow quite some.
“You’re a killer!” Tara snaps at Giles: maybe that gave him the idea…
Who came off worse in the last few episodes? Tara in her PJs or Willow in her green polo neck? At least she lost the studded plaid shirt.
“Band of buggers”.
Sometimes BtVS is so sloppy but I am forgiving. When does Willow pick up her jacket? Well, would you look at that tiny tower? You would never have spotted that sooner.
Oh boy, a favourite, favourite moment : “She’s with me.” says Willow (and I love her again). Anya’s wielding of a baseball bat is inappropriately amusing. Oh, and another favourite moment :“I got so lost”… “I will always find you” (and boots).
Glory got the best funny lines: “The Slayer’s a robot. Did everybody else know the Slayer was a robot?”
They didn’t really go anywhere with the telepathy maybe because it was a bit contrived. I know, it’s a programme about vampire slaying and telepathy is a bit much… And were we supposed to think Spike thought he was listening to Willow through that cylinder?
Giles murders Ben. Giles is a bad-ass.
What is Doc’s motivation? I love Buffy’s casual shoving aside of him when she gets to the top.
Oh look, Alien like monsters.
The score as Buffy decides on what she must do and tells Dawn of her intention is beautiful and makes the scene even more moving. How does she end up on her back?
This is a fantastic conclusion to a mediocre season by BtVS standards. Of course, there was the brilliant “The Body” but otherwise only “The Replacement,” “Blood Ties” and “I Was Made to Love You” were outstanding. There were far too many indistinguishable episodes, cheap laughs at the expense of carefully developed characters, and the harsh treatment of a dull but nice character led to one of my least favourite episodes ever, “Into the Woods”. And, let me add just how hard it was finding any decent Tara dialogue episode after episode. So here’s hoping that season six is better!
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 5, Television | 7 Comments »
Monday, October 22nd, 2007
Weight of the World (Douglas Petrie)
Spike warns the Scoobies that “You waste time with kid gloves. I’m willing to wager, when all is said and done, Buffy likes it rough.” Are these lines written with intent? Or do obsessives just seize on the innocent?
Willow gets cranky but not very convincingly. Alyson Hannigan’s charm is wearing off. I feel so bad writing that. I would have loved Willow taking charge at any other point in BtVS but not in season 5.
“Ben is Glory. Glory’s Ben.” This is vaguely funny but once again it makes the Scoobies look like idiots.
Glory goes all Dawn when she shouts “Get out! Get out! Get out!”. I do owe Clare Kramer an apology when I dismissed her performance earlier in the season but I have grown to appreciate her moods, vanity and humour. She is particularly good in this episode as the barrier between herself and Ben breaks down. And this speech is quite something:
“Who’s not crazy? Look around: everyone’s drinking, smoking, shooting up, shooting each other or just plain screwing their brains out because they don’t want them anymore. I’m crazy? Honey, I am the original one-eyed chicklet in the kingdom of the blind cause at least I admit the world makes me nuts.”
By far and away the best thing about this rather plodding episode are the inside Buffy’s mind sequences. They are nicely photographed and it is good to see Joyce and Hank again. The little girl who plays Buffy looks more like a young Britney Spears: she isn’t nearly as convincing as Mimi Paley in “Killed By Death”. More importantly the sequences reveal Buffy’s feelings about her burden very clearly and she can’t wait to lay it down.
She explains why she going to become increasingly more miserable (”I would grieve and people would feel sorry for me. But it would all be over. And I imagined what a relief that would be”) and it’s no wonder she’s peeved in season 6.
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 5, Television | 3 Comments »
Sunday, October 14th, 2007
StephenT has a very interesting analysis of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer opening credits in terms of its female to male regular cast ratio.
And does Serenity pass the Bechdel Test? I was hopeful for the deleted scene when Inara and another companion discuss Inara’s teaching abilities but then they move on to talking about men because that’s what they do.
Posted in BtVS, Films, Firefly/Serenity, Television | 3 Comments »
Friday, September 28th, 2007
Spiral (Steven S. DeKnight)
“Horsies!” cries Tara as she looks out of the window of the Winnebago. She may have actually seen a shark and a ramp. I use the word may because BtVS does recover from this but it did colour my first viewing of the rest of season five to the detriment of “The Gift”. After the episode in which a bad thing happens to Tara in both seasons five and six, there are one too many episodes (ahem): Dark Willow goes on and on and on while this one shouts out “filler!”
The most interesting thing in this episode is Buffy’s increasing depression. Her final reaction when she realises the implication of failing to keep her promise to Dawn is understandably one of devastation.
There is a certain enjoyment in Glory being hit by a truck.
Anya has been amazingly bad lines in this: “We should drop a piano on her. Well, it always works for that creepy cartoon rabbit when he’s running from that nice man with the speech impediment.” (yeah, yeah, yeah, rabbit reference, blah, blah but it isn’t funny) and “Shouldn’t somebody be asking, “Are we there yet?” No wonder Xander looks sick. Xander spends his time in the Winnebago (is it actually a Winnebago?) looking queasy and doing no fighting whatsoever and that seems a rotten thing to do to his character.
I don’t like having a female minion suddenly turn up. It could have been a lot of fun having the male ones not fawning for a change.
Buffy justifies Spike’s presence by saying that “If Glory finds us, he’s the only one besides me that has any chance of protecting Dawn.” which is rather insulting to the be-flannelled one sitting right behind her.
What were they thinking when they introduced the Knights? The idea of them is so naff and awkward and boring and stupid. The clerics hilariously reminded me of the priests in Age of Empires.
It pains me to diss two things I love but Tara in “Spiral” is as annoying as this Tara. Cats get more affectionate as they get older which is bit worrisome.
“Don’t hit the horsies!” cries Willow as if she likes them or something. Perhaps, off screen, Tara had indeed guaranteed “safety and fun”.
Sorry, it’s nitpick city here. However, in “Go Fish” a soaking wet Buffy managed to leap out of a pool and get out of hatch while here she needs Xander’s help to get onto the roof of the RV.
I do like seeing Dawn administering to Spike. That does seem like something she would do. I also like Xander being nice to Spike but also managing to pocket his lighter.
In a scene reminiscent of a rotten scene in Serenity, Giles gets impaled, though rather less convincingly (just watch it bounce).
The whole Ben will he?, won’t he?, thing just didn’t work because Charlie Weber is not a subtle enough actor. It was a relief when Glory turned up.
In summary, Adam enjoyed this very much.
Posted in BtVS, Buffy Season 5, Television | 3 Comments »
