Archive for the ‘Buffy Season 5’ Category
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
Blood Ties (Steven S. DeKnight)
This is the best episode of the season so far. It has a jolly exciting climax in the hospital: Spike gets put in his place (and there’s more of that soon), the witches get to do something and Buffy’s indignant “He is not my boyfriend!” is very funny.
Dawn and Spike’s relationship is sweet while Buffy and Dawn’s bitching at each other at the beginning is fun (and Glory is better looking).
Spike painting his nails and falling into the sarcophagus is a treat too.
Michelle Trachtenberg is mostly excellent (though I think she should be a tiny little bit more terrified in her scenes with Glory). Personally, I love her “get out, get out, get out, get out!, and her sad “Is this blood?” and “Am I real? Am I anything?” is distressing.
Actually, it’s these lines that make me saddest: “she’s a brain-sucker?…at least vampires just kill you.”
The dialogue is particularly strong in this episode:
“How can she not be real?” “She’s real, she’s just…kinda…new.”
“Well, we thought you’d get lots of crossbows, other killy stuff.” “Yeah, so we figured, less killy, more frilly.” “Gotta look. Oh, it’s just so lovely! Oh, I wish it was mine!” “Oh, like you weren’t all thinking the same thing.” “I’m fairly certain I wasn’t…I’ve got one just like it.” ASH’s delivery here is perfect.
“Look, it’s blood. It’s Summers blood. It’s just like mine. It doesn’t matter where you came from, or, or how you got here. You are my sister. There’s no way you could annoy me so much if you weren’t.” Sisters. Adam can’t believe it when I tell him what terrible things my sisters did to me when we young (“terrible” is a relative term, of course).
Other things:
In the fight between the knights and the minions, one of the minions manages to find a rope to swing from which is a fun prop but strange.
Ah, tiresome tv trope, someone overhears a conversation but only hears the bad part. Has it actually happened in real life?
Just why is Giles looking behind things and in dumpsters? If he is serious that he may find Dawn in any of those places then he should maybe look a bit more concerned.
This had everything: good acting, a strong plot, fine dialogue, lots of new information, exciting action, funny situations, and a classic swearing but not swearing moment with Glory.
Posted in Buffy Season 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, July 24th, 2007
Checkpoint (Jane Espenson and Douglas Petrie)
Episodes like this leave me a bit stuck for words: the Watchers’ Council has that effect. The bizarre “Englishness” of the characters doesn’t help (maybe Joss as an Old Wykehamist hasn’t actually met any ordinary Brits) and if you are going to hint strongly about a paternalistic organization why not go the whole hog and stop foisting female Watchers on us. And if a Watcher is paid then why isn’t the Slayer?
The highlight of the episode is the amusing montage of interviews in which Willow actually manages to be cute. It’s a well worn but fun device next seen in Entropy. My favourite bit is when Tara makes an inspired guess at level five.
Buffy’s speech may be the last of the effective ones. I love the gang watching from the gallery with their legs dangling over the edge (except – oh, go on, have a drink).
Poor Amber getting saddled with lines like this: “Are you sure they’re English? I-I thought English people were, um, gentler, then, uh, normal…”
I owe Clare Kramer an apology. She is getting into her stride as Glory and her relationship with her minions is fun.
And a big hello to the Knights of Byzantium.
Posted in Buffy Season 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 20th, 2007
Triangle (Jane Espenson)
I like Jane Espenson. Some of the funniest episodes, scenes and lines have been written by her. However, based on Pangs and Triangle, she seems to really dislike Willow. Willow is just an utter cow in this episode. She’s not funny (well, she is but I didn’t mean to laugh), she’s mean and selfish.
I’m also tired of women bitching with each other over men. What I loved about Homecoming was that Buffy and Cordelia were bitching over each other: in this it’s the usual rubbish.
And as for Tara and Willow’s reunion in the Bronze! “Reunited” is a strong word when they don’t touch other and Willow doesn’t even acknowledge Tara. Perhaps Tara was horrified to find the girlfriend she was so worried about is still behaving atrociously and decided there’s no way I’m hugging that. More to the point it feels like that they are not allowed to show affection in front of others even though they are allowed to be affectionate with non-partners.
The episode opens with Xander moping that Riley has left and that “relationship debris is kind of piling up on the Buffy highway”. I don’t think it’s supposed to be insulting, it’s just meant to contrast with Buffy in a nunnery but we are not off to a good start.
“Yeah, do you, do you have to be like super-religious?” “Well, uh…” “How’s the food?”
“We can come by between classes! Usually I use that time to copy over my class notes with a system of different coloured pens. But it’s been pointed out to me that that’s, you know, insane.” “I said ‘quirky.’”
Spike and the mannequin is once again funny. It’s also cool that the chocolate box he smashes up here is the same one he brings for Buffy’s birthday in Blood Ties.
I can’t actually bring myself to think any more about the scenes between Willow and Anya except the “hello, gay now!” remark which beautifully delivered and funny but seems to suggest that there is a gay switch and that you are one or the other.
The scene between Tara and Buffy would be perfect if SMG wasn’t quite so strained with the tears but as it is I love her illogical panicky inferences and poor Tara’s struggle to stop Buffy losing it.
Olaf has funny lines: “Puny receptacle!” “Barmaid! Bring me stronger ale, and some plump, succulent babies to eat.” and my favourite bit “You there! Do you know where there are babies?” with Spike’s reply “What do you think, the hospital?” and “What are you fighting for, minuscule blonde one? Your friends? These two? They will never last. Anyanka is very difficult to live with, and he is ludicrous and far too breakable. Their love will never last.” (I wish he had mentioned Tara and Willow)
Spike is trying so hard: “What are you doing? “Making this woman more comfortable. I’m not sampling, I’ll have you know. Just look at all these lovely blood-covered people. I could, but not a taste for Spike, not a lick. Know you wouldn’t like it.” “You want credit for not feeding on bleeding disaster victims?” “Well, yeah.” “You’re disgusting.”
I want to love Willow again.
Posted in Buffy Season 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 6 Comments »
Sunday, July 15th, 2007
Into the Woods (Marti Noxon)
Alas not the musical or the children’s book but a Marti Noxon blood boiling special. I apologise in advance for getting so cross.
Riley is the fourth major male character who gets to leave Sunnydale without having to die.
It starts off okay with Joyce and the all-clear and the nice scene with Xander, Anya and Dawn: “Well, we could play that game again, Life. That was fun.” “For you. You always win.” “Well, we can make a wager this time. You can give me real money. That would be different.” “And after we teach her to gamble, maybe we can all get drunk!” “I don’t think the bar would serve her, but we could bring something in. Strawberry schnapps taste just like real ice cream.”
Then there is the sex bit. Then there is scene in the Magic Box setting up the events in Triangle. All okay: amusing and/or reasonable.
Good line from Giles: “No longer a victim of crass holiday commercialization, I’m…a purveyor of it.”
Then one of many hard to believe scenes: why doesn’t Riley kill Spike? I know the real answer is that James Marsters is very popular and he’s funny and sexy and not Marc Blucas. But in terms of drama: why does he stake him and not kill him?
I do believe that I never praise James Marsters as Spike but he is great. In this episode he has the funny “are you naked under there?” and the smirking at Riley, the subsiding terror of nearly dying, the frankness of “sometimes I envy you so much it chokes me” and he is charismatic throughout. Despite all Spike’s dreadful behaviour, he’s a charmer.
Spike is right: of course, Riley is not Buffy’s long haul guy but that isn’t her fault: right guy, wrong time. It happens.
The scene between Buffy and Riley is well acted and what Riley says is so wrong that Buffy can only respond negatively. Riley says the vampires needed him in a way that Buffy didn’t: say what? They are desperate not needy. Even vampires are humiliating themselves when they sell themselves like this. It is not a healthy transaction.
I do believe that he believes what he’s saying except when he asks her to hit him which is just odd to me (perhaps I’m sheltered). Does he think if she hits him that means she cares? Does he want her to hurt him? I dunno.
She rightly refuses to accept his ultimatum and that would be okay if the episode ended there. But then we have to put up with the intervention of Xander which is the scene that makes me want to thump the screen, just like the Xander scene in Dead Man’s Party because if there is anything I like less than patronising Xander it’s self-fucking-righteous Xander.
“You shut down, Buffy. And you’ve been treating Riley like the rebound guy. When he’s the one that comes along once in a lifetime. He’s never held back with you. He’s risked everything. And you’re about to let him fly because you don’t like ultimatums?” He’s the one who comes along once in a lifetime? Oh please.
And then there is the scene with Buffy running, running, running – running after the man who took up with whore vampires because she wasn’t giving him what he needed. And what he needed was validation of himself as a man with a woman to look after. Fuck. Off.
The episode is partly redeemed by Xander’s speech to Anya which at least shows he was listening to himself.
Is it me or are Marti Noxon’s scripts incoherent? Characters do and say things that have an effect on others when they shouldn’t. And things happen that make no sense. New Moon Rising is a good example of this.
Posted in Buffy Season 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 7 Comments »
Thursday, July 12th, 2007
Listening to Fear (Rebecca Rand Kirshner)
I enjoyed the Scoobies fighting at the beginning. It contrasts with the opening of Bargaining I when Willow is showing off with the magic and the telepathy while in this she goes all wobbly knees instead.
Riley is on the downward spiral. It’s not long now until we can concentrate on enjoyable angst. Riley getting sucked off is positively icky (I was feeling chuffed that I had spotted this subtle interpretation and in the next episode Spike was saying it. Pah!).
Those stupid gifts that Willow brings make her seem like some sort of idiot. Season five so far for Willow has been a bit like Xander’s season four: poor. And we haven’t even got to Triangle yet.
I adore the scene on the roof with Tara and Willow. I like Tara’s intuition and thoughtful remark, and her not-really-that-daft names for the stars. And they are so sweet together.
I happened to look over some old posts and they were full of quotes. I’m not finding it as easy to find zingy stuff these days. This was fun though: “Festive piñata? Delicious candy?” “Something evil crashed to earth in this and then broke out and slithered away to do badness.” “In all fairness, we don’t really know about the slithered part.” “Oh, no. I’m sure it frisked about like a fluffy lamb.”
Joyce ranting, Dawn cringing, Buffy crying, it’s heart-rending: and it only gets worse. Dawn does a great job of trying to protect her mother. Spike is still being stalkery but it’s worth it for SMG’s delivery of “are those pictures of me?”
Joyce asks the inconceivable question: “She’s not…mine, is she?”. This scene is beautiful played by Kristine Sutherland and SMG.
With Buffy stroking Dawn’s hair and Tara sitting with her feet up I could get drunk very quickly if I had a drinking game. Hmm.
Posted in Buffy Season 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 5 Comments »
Monday, July 9th, 2007
Shadow (David Fury)
A gloomy, gloomy episode.
Dreg (Kevin Weisman, Marshall Flinkman in Alias – Alias two seasons of fun, fun, fun and then wtf?) fawning over Glory is amusing. “No! No, no, your terrifically smooth one, it is the epitome of ankles. To touch such an ankle would be – but I’m not touching. I’m backing away.”…”Dreg, is it?” “Yes. Dreg. Your creamy coolness has honored me by speaking my name. Your voice is like a thousand sweet songbirds that..” “Yeah, I never tire of hearing that…”
Spike is stalking Buffy and in any other show that would be disturbing but in the world of BtVS it seems relatively normal and funny. “Ah, that’s the stuff! Slayer musk, it’s bitter and aggravating!”
I’m not keen on Xander so patronising Xander is squirmy. “An, we talked about the employee-employer vocabulary no-nos. That was number five.”
Riley, Riley. I have tried to be supportive but he’s not helping himself at all. If I have learned one thing from BtVS it’s that you should talk to the person you have a problem with and not listen to their stalker or their little sister instead (and then extrapolate the worst).
“My god, are you guys okay though? I mean, did – no one got hurt, right?” “Oh no, thankfully, no, uh, no violence to speak of.” “Okay, so, that’s good…how did she get away with this bad mojo stuff?” “Giles sold it to her.” Anya’s whisper is very funny. I have just discovered that Emma Caulfield has a MySpace space and it’s interesting…
Riley is being a bit yucky now though it’s a nice touch having Sandy return from Doppelgängland before being cast aside in disgust.
The cgi monster is scarier than the animatronic one but that’s scary in the loosest sense.
The final shots: what are we supposed to be thinking here? Sorry for Riley? I don’t get why the last shot is of him looking forlorn as if he’s been deserted for no good reason.
Posted in Buffy Season 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 9 Comments »
Thursday, June 28th, 2007
Fool For Love (Doug Petrie)
There is a thread on TWOP called I love Kennedy!: Unpopular Opinions about Buffy in which, well, people voice unpopular opinions of a controversial nature such as Dawn wasn’t that annoying, Beer Bad and Where the Wild Things Are are really not that terrible (and they really weren’t) and Hush isn’t that great because it has a whole section without dialogue (!?). It’s currently at 119 pages and I presume somewhere in there is a person or two who thinks Fool For Love is not that great.
It’s 13th at GEOS, it is 9.3 on TV.com, 9.0 at IMDb: you get the picture but I don’t.
Buffy is off her game and Riley saves her. He is not content until he has wiped out the nest. These two things were interesting. Buffy’s need to know more about former slayers is believable (but Watchers don’t keep records?) and much of Spike’s past is amusing (if humiliation is funny) but otherwise, shrug.
Willow, Xander and, to a lesser degree, Anya’s behaviour is appalling. Not just in itself, which is disrespectful and rude, but in the terrible things done to the characters: four seasons of Scooby responsibility thrown away for cheap laughs.
It’s clear that many people love back story and care about Darla, Angel, Drusilla and Spike’s past but I don’t. I really don’t. I’m certainly affected by the laughable nature of the historical scenes with their poor wigs, inauthentic dialogue (“bloody” in polite society?, railroad spike and purse) and poor attention to detail but even if that was great I’d still be bored (I feel I’m a bad BtVS fan for saying that b word).
And have a strong apathy to slow motion (in most cases it is an annoying gimmick e.g. the shootout in Road to Perdition and that bloody pram down the steps in The Untouchables) particularly if all it does is highlight the bad wigs.
Good things: the fight with the New York Slayer and the look of absolute confusion on Buffy’s face as Spike comforts her.
“I do see you. That’s the problem. You’re nothing to me, William. You’re beneath me.”
“You ever hear them saying the blood of a Slayer is a powerful aphrodisiac?”
“Every Slayer has a death wish. Even you. The only reason you’ve lasted as long as you have is you’ve got ties to the world. Your mum, your brat kid sister, the Scoobies. They all tie you here but you’re just putting off the inevitable. Sooner or later, you’re gonna want it. And the second…the second…that happens. You know I’ll be there. I’ll slip in. Have myself a real good day.” – a touch of foreshadowing
Posted in Buffy Season 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007
Family (Joss Whedon)
A Tara episode. I should be delighted but unfortunately this more Amends than Doppelgangland. And it is also signals the end of any interest the programme makers had in Tara as a character for the rest of the season until The Body and Tough Love (and that was only to kick off Dark Willow).
The opening scene between the two is sickly though we do get the joy of “vixen” and, gasp!, snuggling.
No! No! You can write a feminist text without making men such bad guys and it is particularly galling when the man in this case (Buffy’s father) has been rewritten so that all older men are bad except Giles and even he leaves…
Xander and Riley play fighting is so cute: “…and are a complete dork.” “Oh, then how come Xander didn’t laugh?” “I don’t know that Taglarin stuff.”
My heart aches for anyone who is insecure and makes a bad joke or a stupid remark – I’ve been there. “Stupid.”
The conversation between Buffy and Xander about Tara seems mean but does make sense: she’s shy, she’s hiding a huge secret, she’s getting to know her new girlfriend: they don’t know her at all and she’s a lesbian Wiccan. It really won’t be “the most thrilling social event of the season.”
Spike and Harmony having sex: poor Adam will have his eyes closed for quite a bit this season (I’m kinda hoping he’ll have lost interest by the middle of season six).
The metaphor couldn’t be clearer: “It, it doesn’t feel evil, sir.” “Evil never does.”
One scene doesn’t sit right with me and that is Willow leaving Tara alone. Tara is clearly upset and snaps at Willow and Willow doesn’t put up much of a fight as she buggers off. It feels contrived just so Tara can cast as spell on all the Scoobies. (And she seems to get to the Magic Box really quickly.)
Future Oscar nominee sighting: the scene between Tara and Beth is superb and I still wince when Beth calls Tara a bitch. And this doesn’t seem that unreasonable: “Don’t you see how out of control you are? You’ve been lying to these people for a year, and now you’ve put a spell on them, is that right? Is that a human thing to do? Now I’m telling your father. If he doesn’t force you to come home, and I think he should, I know he’s going to tell your friends the truth. If I were you, I’d tell them first. And then I’d tell them good-bye.”
The fight in the Magic Box is well done. “I’ve already been injured once this month!” But why does Mr Maclay fall over?
“You want her, Mr. Maclay? You can go ahead and take her…You just gotta go through me.” “What?” “You heard me…You wanna take Tara out of here against her will? You gotta come through me.” “And me!” “Is this a joke? I’m not gonna be threatened by two little girls.” “You don’t wanna mess with us.” “She’s a hair-puller.”
“We’re family.”
I usually have a heart of stone over scenes like the following but what the hell: “I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me about your family and all that.” “I was just afraid if you saw the kind of people I came from, you wouldn’t wanna be anywhere near me.” “See that’s where you’re a dummy. I think about what you grew up with, and then I look at what you are. It makes me proud. It makes me love you more.” “Every time I…even when I’m at my worst…you always make me feel special.” “How do you do that?” “Magic.”
Some complain that Tara’s family is one dimensional but I think they are painted rather richly in such a short time on screen. And let’s face it, Tara wouldn’t be Tara without a one dimensional family to beat her down and make her so. Cousin Beth is appalled by Tara’s actions and who can blame her? Tara gets to escape and do what she wants, live how she wants while Beth has to conform and be stifled and that hurts.
Alyson Hannigan/Willow has been annoying me this season being unconvincing and irritating. She is better in this episode because she has a bit more to do: her disappointment when Tara doesn’t introduce her to her family and her angry “I know that!” are two highlights.
Amber Benson is gorgeous throughout even in that skirt and top at the end. But that’s irrelevant. She gives a rather wonderful performance (Joss really really gets the best out of her): her embarrassment at being a dork, her stutter returning, her tears, her cringing, her delight and her new found courage.
I’m unhappy with what Tara did in Goodbye Iowa because she could have been responsible for people’s deaths. Ditto in this and the gang are awfully forgiving of such reckless behaviour, family or not. Considering how she is later portrayed as being the moral centre of the gang it is strange that such uncharacteristic and foolish behaviour is whitewashed. It can be argued that she was scared and wasn’t thinking straight but I feel her morality should have overridden her selfishness. It’s also a problem that Willow doesn’t seem to mind at all that Tara lied to her for so long. I would be less forgiving and I certainly would have brought it up later in any argument…(I’m looking at you Tough Love). It should be a real difficulty for fan fiction writers but most of them ignore it. So if you know a good fiction which explores this sticky moment then let me know.
Posted in Buffy Season 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 9 Comments »
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007
No Place Like Home (Doug Petrie)
No Giles, you can’t hide from it: they are wearing those outfits.
I try not to use words like hate (sorry for being so unsuccessful) but I hate what they are doing to Riley and, by extension, to Buffy. He is coming across as an arse who can’t handle being the “weaker ” half in a relationship and Buffy is whiny and self-centred.
I get quite (utterly irrationally) upset when I read criticism of a certain actress when people have the temerity to suggest that she isn’t that good – which may be true but they don’t get to say that – so, on that note: Ben and Glory*.
Glory’s entrance is wonderfully flat: did they view the rushes and think bugger why did we waste Katharine Towne as Sunday in one episode only?
The wordless exchange between Giles and Buffy is an almost perfect BtVS moment.
“It appears to be paranormal in origin.” “How can you tell?” “Well, it’s so shiny.” – Giles looks so sweet when he says this.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay! The stutter’s sexy. Keep it coming.” – oo, they should’ve kept that line for later in the series.
The trance sequence is unnerving and watching Dawn fade in and out is spooky. And discovering that Joyce’s health problems are not supernatural is painful.
“Out…for…a…walk…bitch.” – hilarious – but I pray (again and again and rather in vain) that Buffy would just stop hitting Spike without provocation: just kill him already.
“Satisfied? You know, I really hope so because God knows you need some satisfaction in life besides shagging Captain Cardboard and I never really liked you anyway and…and you have stupid hair.” – poor Spike, he is so confused.
“Would someone please rip that bloody bell off its hinges?” – I love the bell especially in Life Serial.
“I didn’t ask for this! I don’t even know…what is she?” “Human…now human. And helpless. Please…she’s an innocent in this. She needs you.” “She’s not my sister.” “She doesn’t know that.” – maybe it’s the monk’s accent but I actually feel quite weepy when I watch this.
Let the hair stroking begin!
*Apparently Clare Kramer is a sweetheart in real life and I think it shows.
Posted in Buffy Season 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | 4 Comments »
Friday, June 8th, 2007
Out of My Mind (Rebecca Rand Kirshner)
Uh oh, a sign that Tara won’t be one of the dynamic characters in the future: “I just keep thinking how cool it would be, if we got a real psychic to sit up here and read fortunes and stuff.” “You should do it.” “Not me. But, but I’d love to, to watch and learn. From someone who’s really good, you know?”
Harmony in small doses is funny: “Taking up smoking, are you?” “I am a villain, Spike, hellooooo.” (she starts coughing) but later in the episode I’m all “please make it stop, now”. The scenes in the college operating theatre (or whatever the hell it is) are just stupid and annoying and let’s face it, totally implausible (Spike even moves his head at one time) and Harmony’s smoking is just not funny: entirely lame scenes.
Joyce faints: “Who are you?”
I’m not happy with the way Buffy and Riley’s relationship is going because I get the vibe (and we get hit over the head with it eventually) that it’s all Buffy’s fault. She’s apparently unreachable, untouchable and doesn’t love him. He can’t deal with that so what is she supposed to do? Run after him? (I do concede that maybe she shouldn’t have left him quite so soon after his life saving operation).
Spike could leave Sunnydale to get the Slayer out of his hair but he can’t do that when he’s in the title credits.
But, despite the general ineptitude of this episode (including the embarrassing conversation that Willow and Buffy have at the beginning) it has a jaw dropping ending: “Oh, god, no. Please, no.”
Posted in Buffy Season 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Television | No Comments »
Page 48 on 
Georgia, USA on 