"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsmtsm@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:fbaa1b27-da55-4705-8b17-6e6eb1291fb8@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Seven, Episode 9: "Never Leave Me"
> This is better.
Yes it is. As an episode in and of itself it's definitely the easiest and
most satisfying one of this sequence to watch. Funny. Meaningful
dialogue.
Really strong staging. Indeed, I had so much fun watching it this time
that
I'm raising the rating to Good, even though it still bothers me how much
it
repeats the ideas from the prior episode.
> Even if, as was argued in some parts last time, the
> Spike ****tions cover a lot of the same ground as "Sleeper," they cover
> it in a much more fulfilling way.
It's presentation is more fulfilling. The subtle distinctions in abstract
content I'm not so sure. Here Spike starts hoping and believing in
himself
because Buffy believes in him. That's pretty good. It harkens back to
how
Spike was moved by Buffy's respect late in S5, which serves as excellent
foundation for making it believable now. And getting Spike to believe in
himself (however tentatively at this point) speaks to the empowerment
theme
of the season. All good.
Sleeper, on the other hand, speaks more to Buffy miraculously seeing the
possibilities within Spike and making the commitment to helping him - a
defining commitment for her this season. Spike's side of his redemption
arc
is certainly wonderful, but his path is also the example for Buffy's great
task. Before the Potentials are empowered, Spike grows into his own
potential - with Buffy showing him the way. She's been his role model for
a
long time now. Now the applied meaning of that finally comes clear.as
Spike
learns to be the best he can be. Buffy's job is to achieve the same with
everybody else.
Sleeper also has the virtue of better showing Spike's existing inner
strength as he pretty much on his own puts a crack in The First's hold on
him.
> I feel like I had a healthy amount
> of skepticism about the way the relation****p between Buffy and Spike
> would develop during Season Seven, but scenes like the second basement
> argument got me on the show's page. It's layered, intense, and
> heartfelt, not to mention one of our only looks at how Spike thinks
> about the stuff he tries to avoid thinking about.
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
what
connects the two beyond *** and love.
> In the meantime,
> dialogue crackles, and the fight scene is pretty creative with its use
> of human props.
Buffy wants to use Spike as a weapon but can't yet. So, in the meantime,
she literally uses Andrew as a weapon instead. 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
laughs.
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.
> Rating: Good
Good.
> Season Seven, Episode 10: "Bring On The Night"
> I think we all felt there was something a little awry here.
It's a periodically awkward episode in just about all respects. Sometimes
a
little dull too - in spite of some individual high points.
Back in Selfless I spoke of how the big argument was filled with subtext
about season themes, yet was still dead on for the moment at hand - a
really
nice melding of multiple objectives. I think what's going on this episode
is that Mutant Enemy is so determined to serve season themes that it
sacrifices some of the story flow and dialogue of the moment. Hurts the
episode. But the subtext is kind of interesting. Or at least that's what
lets me watch the episode without groaning too much.
> 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,
they
don't even have a word for it. I'm bad. Baddy bad bad bad. Does it make
you
*****?" 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?
I do not get why, at this point, The First is treated like such a big
deal.
It's not like Buffy has never had to deal with it before. She has a
template for what to do. Kill and/or chase off the Bringers (or whatever
other creature it sends), but mainly work to restore the sense of self
worth
and confidence of whoever it attacks with its ghosts.
> 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.
The
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.
I believe that's what they're seeking to establish with Giles this
episode.
Everybody has been pu****ng responsibility onto Buffy's shoulders this
season. But nobody puts it quite so starkly as Giles.
Giles: I'm afraid it falls to you, Buffy. Sorry. I mean, we'll do what we
can, but you're the only one who has the strength to protect these
girls—and
the world—against what's coming.
Aside from the absolute character of his charge to Buffy, there's also the
authority behind it. He's the Watcher. Now he's effectively the
Watcher's
Council. He more than anyone seeks to define her role, her duties in
classic Slayer terms. She's the Chosen One. She alone will stand against
the forces of darkness.
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
Giles
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
her
instincts so often are.
(Actually, this change can be seen at the end of S5, but not as
pervasively
or lasting as now.)
Obviously I don't much like it. But I can see what they're going for.
He's
the biggest promoter of the Slayer trap. The First doesn't haunt him.
Incidentally, one of the questions people often have is why The First goes
after the Potentials, but not the Slayer. Giles offers a reason this
episode - expanded upon by Buffy. But I wonder if the reason is that
"potential" is the thing that The First most likes to step on. Meanwhile,
Buffy is already effectively enslaved. In that sense he already has her
where he wants her.
> The house is filling with characters who seem designed
> to make us tune them out, and it won't stop. 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
talk
about evil being everywhere. Still, Joyce's appearances may be the most
obscure ghostly sightings of the season.
> And
> for big moments, can't go without mentioning "... and it'll choke on
> me."
Oh, yeah. That is so cool. Of course that starts the speechifying to
follow - and we know how well that works out.
That speech also continues with lines like, "'Cause we just became an
army.
We just declared war. From now on, we won't just face our worst fears, we
will seek them out." Not as dramatic of course, but that's a statement of
empowerment. The whole speech is aimed at everybody reaching inside to
make
themselves greater. And it also strongly suggests an early recognition by
Buffy that she can't do it by herself. The people listening might have
been
more carried away with the thought of what Buffy would do herself - Buffy
will continue to struggle to get the empowering message across. But it's
still showing an early intent that's quite a bit at odds with the notion
of
it all being up to her that others demand of her and eventually accuse her
of.
It's also a sneak peek at the way it will ultimately work.
There are lots of other moments this episode that speak to this theme - it
positively reeks of it. I want to mention a couple of them.
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
that
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
obvious
big deal with her. But as a Potential, her function is to be the one most
ready and eager for personal empowerment. Which leads into the other
moment
I want to mention, as she illustrates how it's not enough to want it.
Kennedy: Hey, are we getting weapons? Trained fighters? Patton is coming?
I've heard worse ideas.
Annabelle: We'll be armed when the slayer feels we're ready.
Molly: I feel ready.
Annabelle: You're frightened. You must learn to control your fear.
Kennedy: Hey, you know what would help with that? Weapons.
I believe that's metaphorical. Yes, there's an immediate in story need to
deal with weapons. But the awkward fumbling around over whether to
actually
arm them (which I don't think plays very well in story) speaks to a
greater
meaning. They need access to the tools of empowerment - not just the
desire. And those tools - just like the weapons - are only reluctantly
meted out to them as little as possible by the powers that control them,
rather than be theirs by right.
Highlighting this is a useful function for Kennedy. She may be annoying
as
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
speaks
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
Buffy
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.
> At times like that, I want to like BOTN better than I do,
I'm quite fond of Spike's declaration that he believes in himself because
Buffy believes in him. While this kind of just further affirms the
endings
of the last two episodes, there's a sense of triumph in it this time
that's
the strongest hint yet of how The First will fail. I think it's also when
I
started to realize that they were going to make a real hero out of him.
Be that as it may, I'm right there with you wanting to like the episode
more
than I do. It's just not done very well - unworthy of its highpoints or
the
theme exploration I spoke of above. From a viewing perspective, one of
the
things that sticks with me is the annoyance of a barely audible Anya
mumbling in the kitchen while the Potentials had breakfast. It sounded
like
audio tape leakage rather than part of the scene.
> Rating: Decent
Agreed
> Season Seven, Episode 11: "Showtime"
> Has there ever been more of an Act Four episode?
I don't understand the question.
> Building to the
> arena sequence is the point of everything that's done. (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.
> Really, this one comes
> down to Buffy tearing a monster's head off and saving the he-damsel in
> distress. If that sort of thing didn't make for good TV, we wouldn't
> be watching _Buffy The Vampire Slayer_. Buffy overcomes a difficult
> foe through sheer stubborn persistence, and her ability to find new
> things to try anywhere until something works. She also tries to
> reduce everything into a show in which she solves everything, despite
> her lack of an actual plan, with a one-on-one pummeling while everyone
> else shuts the hell up and watches. I'd say the writers are making a
> few points at once here. I thought that the way Buffy's being set up
> for a bit of a fall was quite clear and noticeable as a first-time
> viewer too, but that time I was a little more caught up in the fact
> that it's also a stirring feel-good moment, more so than her speech at
> the end of the previous show. (Not that I think they're redundant.
> You kinda need both.)
> Rating: Good
I don't have much to say about the episode. It's OK. My main problem
with
it is that, just as Buffy is so worn down, I'm really weary by this point
in
the 4 episode sequence. The big fight's pretty good, but of course we've
been fighting this creep seemingly forever by this point. I'm as much
relieved as thrilled at its ending. There's just enough here to push it
to
a Good rating. Decent for me.
> Additional comments on S7D3: I'm still enjoying _Buffy_, but at this
> point (the four-episode run from "Sleeper" to "Showtime" - although
> they're separated by a winter hiatus, they go together), I don't know
> how much I'm feeling it, NLM excepted. S7 is much the same way, where
> the individual episodes get rated well but I don't feel so good about
> it. In my opinion, ATS S4, despite also being quite messy, has a
> "more than the sum of its parts" momentum that BTVS S7 doesn't manage
> so often. OBS called these four episodes of S7 the least rewarding
> part of the series last time through. I wonder if the fact that the
> show is spending way more time than it used to on sorting out its
> mythology and elaborate, sprawling storylines has finally caught up
> with it. Or, as best summarized by Ian G., "this is actually why I
> don't think the group of 4 episodes ending in this one are
> particularly good, they're too plot driven and not particularly
> resonant emotionally or thematically."
I think there's actually a lot of theme in this group, plus a major push
in
Spike's story. But the theme stuff is hard to get at this point. And
theme
and Spike both are terribly repetitious. 4 episodes for 2 episodes of
ideas. There's a fair amount of emotional potential - and somewhat
realized
in the first two especially - but it tends to be overwhelmed by the sense
of
fatigue that's so played up in the last two episodes. There's a fairly
large barrage of good lines in this group, but when it's over, my favorite
image is Buffy impassively feeding Spike as he's tied up. That's a good
image, but gee, you'd think there'd be more striking visuals in these
stories.
> 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.
OBS
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