"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsmtsm@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:a1bad5f4-8477-4684-9270-0262824a8fd4@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> A reminder: If these threads were a sign of being evil, where would
> they be?
When I see a pattern on this -er- board, I'll let you know.
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Seven, Episode 12: "Potential"
> I'd remembered Disc 4 as, even more so than the previous one, as a
> dark period in BTVS's lifetime.
Just one problem episode - and even that one has attributes. I think it's
a
pretty watchable group.
> This was the first pleasant surprise,
> an episode I'd forgotten how much I liked and how well it holds
> together. Well, except for going overboard with Dawn being a bit
> stupid - c'mon show, just have her bring a stake to the party and I'll
> shut up about it.
Maybe this will make you feel a wee bit better. The stakes were back at
the
house. She'd just left the house 'cause she didn't want to be there. And
she probably didn't want to take Amanda back there either because the guys
back there would want to take charge. She wants to prove herself, but she
won't be allowed to if she goes back home first. That doesn't make it any
smarter a decision, but it does give it a motive.
> But there are some bite-sized scenes letting
> Potentials (and Clem!) show off their semblance of personalities,
> while we follow someone we do care about getting that responsibility
> apparently thrown onto her. And even the Dawn haters should have
> difficulty with their not caring about her, in the episode's vivid
> portrayal of how capable she can be while still being permanently,
> intractably out of her league in this world. (This is probably the
> example for me in which Dawn best fills the "vulnerable but not
> helpless mortal" niche that made S1-2 Willow such a big contributor to
> the show.) The extended vampire chase through the school holds up
> very well on re-watching - so fast paced. Of course, it's all leading
> up to Xander doing that blah blah blah thing he does so well, in a way
> that puts the episode in its context while helping summarize the pure-
> human characters' part in the larger story. Marvelous scene to
> satisfyingly close a bit of an underrated gem.
> Rating: Good
I enjoy this episode too, though I don't think there's much room for Dawn
after this. I guess with Xander's talk this takes the character about as
far as it gets. A little disappointing maybe, but it's a pretty good
season
for her. A lot better than S6. She gets two episodes centered on her and
a
decent amount of pretty solid filler and good laughs. I think they do
succeed in showing her maturing - but still at high school level.
Last time you or somebody noted that Buffy wasn't around to see what Dawn
did. I commented how for Dawn, it was as if she was by her side telling
her
how to fight. (Hence the very nice cutting between Buffy instructing the
Potentials and Dawn acting those instructions out.) But I think there's a
negative aspect to Buffy not seeing it besides missing her sister's good
work. One of the things Dawn does nicely this episode is demonstrate what
if feels like to be a potential in this situation - reinforced by all the
unfortunate words from Xander and Anya and Willow and Andrew. Buffy
probably thinks she gets that, but doesn't really. She's never been in
the
situation. She never knew she was a Potential. She skipped right to the
full power of a Slayer. Not easy either, but still different. Buffy
might
have got it a little better if she'd seen the struggle her sister went
through. Maybe empathized a little more with the Potentials.
I still think there were no sexual connotations at all for Buffy when she
pulled up Spike's shirt to check his wound. Though it does speak to her
caring for him on a personal level. The snickering of the Potentials and
Spike's embarrassment are understandable, but not really called for.
Which
makes it a really good scene I think - demonstrating how perceptions can
get
fixed a little off kilter. Nothing terrible happens here, but it helps
establish a baseline for what people will think when Spike's status comes
into question. Spike incidentally hurting Vi's arm plays into that too.
Anyway, Good is what I rate this too.
I'm time slicing a bit right now, so I'm just going to do this episode for
now. Hopefully I'll get to the others later.
OBS
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