A reminder: Are these threads protecting vampires? Are they the bad
Slayer now? Am I the good Slayer now?
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Season Seven, Episode 16: "Storyteller"
Writer: Jane Espenson
Director: Marita Grabiak
I=92ve always been tempted to make more of this than it is. About three
quarters of =93Storyteller=94 is flat out comedy and Andrewness, but it
positively begs to be taken seriously and plumbed for depths. At
least to me. It helps that many of the jokes are funny =96 I have to
differ from what some have said and say that whether or not one likes
the comedy portions does highly depend on one=92s tolerance for Andrew
(I don=92t think I=92ve praised Lenk yet this go-round for his handling of
an unwieldy sort of role that would sink a lesser actor). Andrew=92s
character development makes a strikingly smooth transition from goofy
shtick to emotional catharsis. The aspect of the episode that I think
some people =96 including yours truly =96 don=92t spend enough time
pondering is the way it=92s a way to view the show, and Buffy in
particular, from a perspective outside that of the main cast we=92re
normally stuck with. Kinda like the agenda of *every other faux-
documentary episode of a SF/F show ever made*. It may be obvious to
point it out, but it=92s a big part of the story being told. Small
manifestations include humor-with-a-point about how the kids react to
Buffy=92s speechifying. Larger themes come in the ending, with an up
close and personal look at the Buffy who=92ll do whatever it takes to
win, the Buffy who fills out =93none of the above=94 on multiple choice
prompts, and the Buffy who has a sense of when and how someone can be
given a shot at redemption. (Here would be a good place to see
parallels to Spike, but the story that they hint at is more about our
hero than anyone else.) I=92m a bit hard pressed to really distill
anything the episode says into a particular moral that we don=92t also
get elsewhere, but I do feel like this reinforcement is good to have.
Rating: Good
Season Seven, Episode 17: "Lies My Parents Told Me"
Writers: David Fury and Drew Goddard
Director: David Fury
I try to be open to whatever story the writers want to tell, as long
as it=92s done well. This isn=92t one of those times. Objectivity be
damned. I *hate* the story being told, the culmination of the
wholesale destruction of Giles=92s character that=92s been going on for
the past two seasons, and no justification could ever make me enjoy
watching it. When I attempt to step back and analyze more
objectively, though, it=92s also not done well in this case, with his
irrational mix of impulsiveness and passiveness about the whole thing,
and the way the assholishness displayed by Wood and Giles forces the
viewer to take Buffy=92s side on a topic that should be morally
ambiguous. (Meanwhile, doubters like Anya are made to look as selfish
and whiny as possible.) The Spike/Wood confrontation itself still
doesn=92t do much for me either; I thought I was burned out on heroes
fighting, but maybe it=92s just that I=92m not in Robin=92s head yet,
since
we only really got to know him a few episodes ago. On the other hand,
some truly great scenes are mixed in with all the dross, most notably
anything involving Spike=92s mum. Or Spike himself, really; this one
hits the balance of portraying a Souled!Spike who=92s as much Spike as
William. But those flashbacks=85 As I said originally, Langerfelt,
with help from Marsters, makes me very fond of her pretty quickly, and
then gets me to despise her in record time once vamped. It=92s a strong
origin story of sorts that rivals anything about Spike in =93Fool For
Love=94 or about Angel in ATS. For that, if nothing else, the episode
is worth watching.
Rating: Decent
Season Seven, Episode 18: "Dirty Girls"
Writer: Drew Goddard
Director: Michael Gershman
I know there are too many characters already, but I enjoy watching the
Special Guest Stars here. If Faith didn=92t stop by for this last bit
of Slayer business, We The Viewer would wonder why. The way she
bounces off other characters is great, especially in the cemetery, but
also in the subdued chat with Spike, a fellow aging and responsible
wild=92un. And of course she=92ll unintentionally leave a trail of misery
behind her again, for old times=92 sake. Caleb is a more questionable
addition, and the flaws with both the character and the construct have
been well plumbed in this NG. But is it just me, or does he seem
better rounded in =93Dirty Girls=94 than in the subsequent episodes?
Usually one is anxious for him to shut up, but here I=92m fine letting
Fillion pontificate (nice use of voiceover at the end too). The
defining moment of the episode, the depiction of a crushing defeat, is
very nicely done, with our heroes attacking (ha) a problem the same
way they usually do, and watching everything fall apart so quickly and
brutally. I know I told this story last time, but I=92m still endlessly
amused by the fact that I was =93spoiled=94 that a late-series episode
called =93Dirty Girls=94 would make Xander playing Oedipus in the bonus
scene from =93The Puppet Show=94 suddenly seem more appropriate in a way
that no one (including ME) would=92ve imagined back in =9296. I kept
waiting for them to set up a way for him to kill his dad or screw his
mom.
Rating: Good
Season Seven, Episode 19: "Empty Places=94
Writer: Drew Z. Greenberg
Director: James A. Contner
The early scenes of =93Empty Places=94 are among the best in the episode,
whether we=92re saying goodbye to Clem or watching the stellar (in both
writing and acting) bedside chat between Xander and Willow. After
that I get less enthusiastic, despite the continued energy in
situations like the girls=92 night out (feeling like an empowered
group=85) and the clash between Slayers. There=92s less energy in meeting
Caleb again without much new information, except that he doesn=92t like
women, in case one needed to be reminded of that subtle point. On a
related note, each Andrew joke gets one or more repetitions more than
it needs =96 it can=92t be a good sign when someone who=92s always more or
less =93gotten=94 Andrew starts thinking =93c=92mon, could anyone really
be
that oblivious to the world?=94 Everything=92s just a little=85
overdone?
Off? As far as the ending, my comment as a first-timer was that if
one wanted to tell a story about Buffy being deposed as leader of the
group and alienated from her friends, this would be one of the better
ways to do it; I=92d been spoiled about that before even starting the
season, so was worried it=92d be more out of character. Again, though,
having her get kicked off the proverbial island seems like an extra
step beyond what the scene merits, a little forced. The way I see it
now, =93Empty Places=94 doesn=92t feel like a story that=92s driven by the
motivations of its characters. My impression is that there are
certain ways things need to end up, and the rest of the episode is
wrapped around itself trying to push events towards the prescribed
ending. Not to suggest that this isn=92t frequently or always true in
the Whedonverse, just that it=92s not usually so obvious about it.
Rating: Decent (down from Good)
Additional comments on S7D5: One of the very few problems with all
the animated discussion that AOQ Reviews generated originally (all the
attention was like instant gratification!) is that whenever I want to
re-examine something, I feel obligated to take a shot at trying to
read through the entire threads to remember salient points and to make
sure we don=92t rehash the same territory. I inevitably give up, at
least on the BTVS side of things, since my posts were averaging 100 or
more responses, about a third of which were short novels. Even during
the first round, I wasn=92t always able to read every last one
carefully, although I always tried my best.
One of my goals this time through was to try to make some sense,
character-wise, out of Caleb, since he=92s always confused me. It=92s not
quite congealing for me beyond a potentially interesting collection of
traits. As seen in =93Dirty Girls,=94 Caleb looks down on people.
There=92s his thing with women, obviously, although in DG it=92s not just
the whores =96 the whole human race is dirty and =93can be so damnably
weak.=94 He=92s rarely angry and doesn=92t blame people for being the way
they are, but that doesn=92t stop him from taking pleasure in torturing
and/or killing them. Preacher Tightpants would seem to be self-
righteous and convinced he knows everything, and that everything=92s
simple, yet he still has room for curiosity, confusion, and musing,
provided it=92s about lymph. Caleb is enamored with the First, finding
something pure about its malevolence that answers his questions =96
maybe because he=92s comforted by simple definitions, or maybe because
it frees him of his societal obligations to pose at non-evil. Perhaps
most notably, when asked about his connection to the First, he
mentions the power and enormity (=93they're just sinners. You are sin=94
=96 =93Touched=94). He=92ll do the =93it=92s about power=94 routine
several=
times,
which also leads him to be intrigued by Buffy. His former profession
notwithstanding, he=92s spiritual but not religious. Is there a
defining principle that makes him tick? Fuck if I know. I guess then
we have to go with the boring old allegory, which would have to
incorporate the way he gives himself totally to being an agent of the
First (including letting it metaphorically =93peg=94 him in =93End Of
Days=94), meaning that=85 uh, what did we decide the First represented
again?
It hadn=92t occurred to me until listening to the commentary that Marti
was the one who wrote the basement Spike/Faith scene in =93Dirty Girls,=94
but now that we know, doesn=92t it seem obvious?
Thoughts?
-AOQ
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