Joss, you bastard.
Or possibly, Drew, you bastard.
Whoever thought this plot twist up, they're making a pretty good job
of turning Toru and his gang into the sort of villains you really,
really hate. So even though I urgently want to see them receiving a
righteous smackdown in the next episode, I'm also kind of hoping they
escape to return again in future episodes. Anyway, on to the review.
The opening scene of Aiko strung up as a welcome message is the sort
of thing that's effective as long as you can suspend your disbelief...
like, how did Toru know where and when Buffy would land? Presumably
they put Aiko there immediately before the other Slayers arrived,
since the police haven't had chance to intervene... but that still
doesn't explain why Buffy is actually allowed to cut her down and take
her body away without the authorities objecting. It's either the
Japanese version of Sunnydale forgettyitis in full bloom, or the Tokyo
police are even more deeply stupid than the Sunnydale ones... or
maybe they're been bribed by Toru's gang to stay well away from the
area and let Buffy deal with the body herself.
I assume that it's Satsu standing at Buffy's right shoulder... she's
wearing the same red circular hair ornament she is later on, although
it's on the opposite side of her head then. (If this were TV I'd call
that a continuity error.) If it is her, this scene does at least prove
that she can read and speak Japanese, making it more likely that she
is in fact Japanese herself and not an Asian-American or some such.
The Japanese version of Castle Slayer is even more impressive than the
Scottish one. I'm not sure why Aiko's body has been wrapped like that;
as far as I can tell (from Wikipedia, where else?) it's not a normal
Japanese or Buddhist custom. As I've mentioned before, the scene where
Buffy carries her in her arms past the horrified spectators is very
reminiscent of the similar scene in 'Fray'.
It's very in character of Buffy to carry Aiko's body like that, being
all dutiful and strong (and solitary) until she's finally alone, at
which point she curls up into a ball and sits there brooding for
hours. You can tell why Angel liked her. It's also nice to see that
for all their recent quarrels Willow is still there to be sup****tive.
Mind you, I'm not sure Tara would approve of Willow 'conjuring up some
blankets' instead of just going to fetch some. Unless either Willow
was joking (or being metaphorical), or else using magic to meet
trivial everyday needs is only dangerous and addictive for witches at
a certain stage of development, which Willow has now got past. This
scene did get a bit heavy on the exposition of things we already know,
I thought - though it's interesting that Willow is happy to refer
fondly to Giles, so whatever quarrel he had with Buffy doesn't apply
to her. (She's also the one with his number in her phone, if you
remember).
Dracula is great in this scene - supercilious, arrogant, snarky,
annoying and saying exactly the most appalling thing he could possibly
have said. Willow, on the other hand, is adorable, from her
enthusiastic "And Xander!" to the way she dubiously sniffs at her
armpits after Dracula comes out with his "acrid stench" crack, then
insecurely tucks her hands under her arms.
So, Toru's gang have a "robotics division", do they? I dread to think
what we're going to see in episode 8.15. I'm thinking that cyber-ninja
are going to be the most likely (especially given what happened in
Angel Season 5), although I wouldn't entirely rule out a mass of
killer 'Smile Time' puppets... However, what I'm really hoping for is
that they've built a squad of 12-metre tall fusion-powered battle
robots, so we can have a grand mecha-versus-giant-teenager battle next
month.
Renee is good at acting baity. (It took me a moment to recognise her).
I did like her line about the street signs being in Japanese.
Incidentally, Willow still sucks at Latin. As far as I can tell,
"Constrixi deficio" is meaningless: although 'deficio' does mean "I
cease", there's no such word as "constrixi". ("Constrinxi" with an 'n'
means "I restrained").
Buffy shows her ruthless side. I actually felt sorry for the vampire
for a moment, until I remembered that he was in fact planning to eat
Renee before he got caught. It's obvious that Buffy never realised
that the Slayer spell could be reversed, and she's horrified by the
idea.
And then there's the other side to Buffy. There was speculation before
that she would abuse her power to show favouritism to Satsu, and
that's exactly what seems to be going on here... although when Satsu
says she doesn't know if it's to avoid her or protect her, I'm not
sure myself which is the right answer. For that matter, I'm not sure
if Buffy herself knows... or maybe she honestly thought she was making
the best tactical decision by leaving Satsu in charge of the Japanese
Slayers, and didn't realise how it would be perceived.
Those who argue that the Slayer organisation is a strict military
hierarchy where everybody has to obey orders should note that Satsu
here says to Buffy's face "I'm not following your orders", and
apparently doesn't suffer any consequences. In a real army, she could
be shot for less.
And it seems that Buffy's ***ual attraction to Satsu wasn't entirely a
one night stand kind of thing. :-) Much to her own confusion and
disbelief. So, does Buffy get off on being called 'Ma'am' in general,
because she's a control freak with megalomaniac tendencies? Or is it
specifically something about the way Satsu says it? One thing for
certain is that it's not submissiveness that turns her on, given the
way I imagine Satsu angrily spat out that last 'Ma'am' as she left...
And from one loving couple to another. Given what happens later, the
comparison to Tara and Willow in 'Seeing Red' is unavoidable. This
scene is cute and funny and touching and occasionally silly,
especially when Dracula joins in. He so wants to be invited to a
threesome date with them, you can just tell.
And Renee says "Now you don't have to worry about what happens at the
end." Can we say "dramatic irony?"
Interesting line-up for the start of the big battle. Buffy. Satsu,
right there just as she threatened. Xander and Renee. Dracula being
snarky. Andrew, for some unknown reason. And Leah, but no Rowena. I'm
beginning to worry about Rowena, we haven't seen her for months... I
liked Buffy's comment about "they can't hurt us" followed by her
immediate qualification.
Willow's next bit of Latin still sucks, but not as badly. "Dea pro
mihi, audite meus dico" means, literally, "Goddess for me, listen my I
say" At least you can figure out what she was trying to say. And
"Patefacio prodigium pro nos totus" means "I reveal the monster for us
all", although the case endings don't match. Still, she's evidently
powerful enough that she can make her magic work despite getting the
words wrong.
"Hi. Or, I mean... roar?" has to be one of the best lines of the
season. Although Dawn's cameo appearance did seem a bit of a let-down
after all the build-up it's had.
And then we have the shock ending. Like I said at the start, if we
didn't hate Toru already, we do now. (At least those of us with any
soul do...) Killing one very new character in a particularly brutal
fa****on was bad enough, but now they've killed one of the most
sympathetic and interesting of the Season 8 characters, who's been
built up over 13 episodes just for this.
Also, now both Xander and Willow have had their girlfriend's lifeblood
splashed over their face. I'm hoping Xander doesn't react the way
Willow did in 'Villains', but I honestly don't know how he's going to
take this. Well, apart from 'badly' but that's a given.
Before continuing, there is one thing I feel I ought to say. What
happened to Renee would probably be fatal within 20-30 seconds for any
normal human - shock, bloodloss and breakdown of the circulatory
system leading to oxygen starvation of the brain and thus death. But
Renee's not a normal human, and she's got a person who's now
apparently capable of healing her own lobotomy and blinding standing
right next to her. The Scythe also appears to have penetrated the
right side of her chest, not the left or centre, so may have missed
the heart. In other words, I'm not ready to completely write her off
as dead and not coming back until we've seen the next issue. I'm
inclined to think she is dead, mind you, but we'll see.
Of course, it's not the first time Renee has been stabbed through the
chest from behind, which now can be seen as foreshadowing. Also, she's
hanging about with Vlad the Impaler, so this form of death is ironic
from that point of view too. (And maybe Dracula knows ways to keep
people alive after they've been impaled?)
Now, I've not read any other reviews before writing this, in order to
remain unspoiled. But I'm willing to bet that there's already a
controversy brewing over two facts, namely 1) "How predictable, Joss
killed off a character's love interest just as they were getting
close." (2) "How predictable, the black woman was the one who got
killed." Am I right?
There's probably also a conspiracy theory getting started that Drew
killed off Renee to clear the path for a Xander/Dracula romance. Or
possibly Buffy/Xander, as they comfort each other over their loss(es).
Regarding the first charge; I kind of agree, it is becoming a formula.
And yet, it's a formula because it works... I was still shocked (yes,
and surprised) by the last page of this issue. And horrified, and
angry, and worried as to how the other characters will react now, and
what's going to happen next. Which is presumably exactly how Drew
wanted me to react.
Of course, I'll be impressed if it turns out there's a twist still to
come, or if the characters themselves recognise and react to the fact
that being romantically involved with a Scooby is likely to be fatal.
It's been hinted that there'll be a memorable Buffy/Satsu moment at
the end of the next issue, and I'm wondering now if it will be her
agreeing with Buffy's warning in 8.11 to stay away from her for her
own safety, and so deciding to remain behind in Japan.
Which will be a pity. After 14 issues the new characters were starting
to acquire personalities and recognisable characteristics, and to lose
both Renee and Satsu in a single arc would not be good.
As for the second charge... I can sympathise with the argument, even
if I don't entirely agree. I was actually quite impressed, given all
the criticism of Joss for his previous shows being almost all-white,
that he introduced love interests for both Buffy and Xander who were
non-white. Of course, given the life expectancy of Scooby girlfriends
this was bound to come back to haunt him eventually, and I'd have been
unimpressed too if he'd chosen to give Renee and Satsu a free pass,
because their ethnicity rendered them immune to harm. So in a way,
poor Joss couldn't win either way.
And now I want to know what happens next.
Stephen
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