On Mar 27, 12:40 am, "One Bit Shy" <O...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
messagenews:fbaa1b27-=
da55-4705-8b17-6e6eb1291fb8@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> When Spike turns on his insight he's at his best. One of the neat
things
> about their conversation(s) is the flip side of what I spoke of above.
> Spike challenges Buffy with his thoughts - and draws some of the best
out =
of
> Buffy in so doing. These are really good scenes for displaying some of
wh=
at
> connects the two beyond *** and love.
At times, and by the end of the year frequently, Buffy will be as
mopey as ever. But this scene gives a tangible way in which S7 Buffy
has learned and healed since S6.
> Buffy wants to use Spike as a weapon but can't yet. So, in the
meantime,
> she literally uses Andrew as a weapon instead.
Heehee. Thanks for expanding on the idea.
> Somewhere around now in your
> first reviews you asked if Andrew was being used as a parody of Spike's
> redemption arc. The question really struck me as a -duh- moment. I
knew
> his arc was a parallel to Spike's arc. And I knew he was played for
laugh=
s.
> But somehow I hadn't put the two together to see the parody. Thanks.
Now=
I
> get an extra laugh out of Buffy tossing Andrew around.
> > Everyone's taking the First Evil, a rather silly video game style one-
> > off from S3 like a serious villain.
>
> One of the high points of this episode is Anya's line, "I'm so rotten,
the=
y
> don't even have a word for it. I'm bad. Baddy bad bad bad. Does it make
yo=
u
> *****?" Thank heavens somebody notices the hyperbole. That reminds me
of=
> Amends when Buffy herself gets tired of the more evil than evil act.
>
> Jenny/The First: You have no idea what you're dealing with.
> Buffy: (dripping with sarcasm) Lemme guess. Is it... evil?
"Alright, I get it. You're evil. Do we have to chat about it all
day?"
> > Giles returns from his
> > cliffhanger to immediately be marginalized while the show continues to
> > go about tearing down his integrity whilst setting up the most drawn
> > out joke ever.
>
> I've spoken before about problems with how they handle the cliffhanger
of
> impending death for Giles and the suggestion that Giles might be evil.
Th=
e
> messing with his character part gets worse later, but it gets started
now.=
>
> I think the strain on his character is because M.E. has chosen to make
him=
> one of the more allegorical characters of the season. In story he
becomes=
> the literal embodiment of the Watcher's Council - the rest is
effectively
> destroyed and he chooses to carry their banner forward. Metaphorically,
> though, he is the patriarchy whose bonds Buffy must break.
[snip]
> After years of showing Giles to be a different kind of Watcher in much
the=
> same sense that Buffy was a different kind of Slayer, they chose to
revert=
> to the original contention between Buffy and Giles - and make the new
Gile=
s
> uncompromising to boot. Eventually they'll allow Giles to see the
light,
> though I don't find it terribly convincing. And, in the meantime, Giles
> seems to forget everything he's learned about Buffy - including how good
h=
er
> instincts so often are.
I was writing a complaint about Giles as I was working ahead with the
thread for "First Date" & co. It would have included the phrase
"another failed emissary of the status quo, to be ridiculed before
being discarded." Otherwise, I came to almost exactly the same
conclusions and complaints that you did, albeit sacrificing nuance for
terseness. So, yeah, seconded on all counts.
> > Random characters like
> > Joyce make cameos for no apparent reason, or as it turns out in this
> > example, none that ever becomes apparent.
>
> Well she does seem to be trying to get Buffy to give up, what with her
tal=
k
> about evil being everywhere. Still, Joyce's appearances may be the most
> obscure ghostly sightings of the season.
Doesn't she tell Buffy to go to sleep at one point and wake up at
another? Given how the show only barely bothered to (sorta) follow up
on Joyce's words in CWDP, I'm sure everyone will forgive me if I'm
unimpressed with the vagueness for its own sake.
> Kennedy: That's it? That's the plan? I don't see how one person, even a
> slayer, could protect us.
>
> Out of the mouths of babes. I think that pretty much states the issue
tha=
t
> the season will turn on. Let me use this op****tunity to make what may
be =
my
> only defense of Kennedy this season. Her romance with Willow is the
obvio=
us
> big deal with her. But as a Potential, her function is to be the one
most=
> ready and eager for personal empowerment.
[snip]
> Highlighting this is a useful function for Kennedy. She may be annoying
a=
s
> hell, but at least part of that has a righteous basis as she acts as
> agitator and leader for the empowerment cause. One of the curious
things
> about her is that Buffy doesn't really come down on her, even as she
speak=
s
> in defiance of Buffy. Maybe Buffy sees a little of herself in Kennedy -
I=
'm
> not sure. I think it's more that Kennedy actually takes to heart what
Buf=
fy
> tries to instill in the Potentials, and Buffy sees that. Her impetuous
> inexperience is a lot easier to forgive than betrayal by Giles or
> undermining by Xander.
I'll give you Giles, but Xander's generally a voice of reason, if not
assertiveness, during S7. Nothing else to add, except that I'm
curious what I'd think of Kennedy, Ringleader Of The Potentials if
that were her primary function to the story and Willow hooked up with
someone else. Then, at least, her being annoying would be part of the
point.
> > Season Seven, Episode 11: "Showtime"
> > Has there ever been more of an Act Four episode?
>
> I don't understand the question.
Just reflecting the fact that the whole thing is built around the
fourth act (Thunderdome). Nearly everything else is specifically
designed to set it up, and the episode succeeds or fails along with
its last ten minutes.
> > (Well, there's
> > also the visit to the Eye, which is both enjoyable and im****tant. But
> > I'm reluctant to mention it for fear that it will re-start the tedious
> > disagreements about which Buffy resurrection was the problem, despite
> > the fact that it's blindingly obvious to me.)
>
> Buffy's death in The Wish. Anya's failed attempt to get her power
center
> back (leading to Vamp Willow instead) has left a permanent tem****al rift
> which is drawing down Buffy's power to keep a comatose Wish-Buffy alive.
Of course. How could I have been so blind?
> > It's also
> > weird remembering when Kennedy of the winged house didn't stand out so
> > much, or annoy me at all. Even the overdone flirting doesn't really
> > bother me pre-TKIM.
>
> Not much of an actor though.
Well, that's never kept certain other actors who shall remain nameless
become widely beloved by this fanbase. As much as I dislike her
character, it's kinda nice to know that being on the show helped Lim=F3n
so much with her life (coming to terms with her ***ual oreintation and
so on).
-AOQ
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