Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Buffy Rewatch Week 20: Spoiler Forum

Here is the place where you can talk about this week's episodes -- Graduation Day, Parts 1 & 2 -- without fear of spoilers. Just a few notes of my own:

Spoilery Bits:
• Anya stands in the hallway and says that she’s afraid they’ll die, and she just wants them both to run away. It’s the very hallway where she’ll be sliced in half and killed in “Chosen.”
• I used to cheer when Buffy stands up to Wesley and Giles backs her, and yes, I still love her in this moment (though I’ve always hated the “Get a job” line), but after seeing season 5 of Angel, I feel very badly for him here. We now know that Wesley’s father was a hard-ass who pushed him very hard and he desperately tried to show him he could prove himself worthy. Imagine the terror that must have run through him when Buffy let him go like this.
• Faith says, “Look at you! All dressed up in big sister’s clothes,” and many fans later saw this as a foreshadowing of the arrival of Dawn.
• The dream featuring Buffy and Faith in “Part 2” is very foreshadowy as well... when Faith says, “Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0,” it’s not only a reference to the arrival of Dawn (who is referred to as Miss Muffet and Curds and Whey when she appears) but exactly 730 days after this episode aired was the season 5 finale, where Buffy made a decision to save Dawn’s life and sacrificed herself instead. In other words, in this episode Buffy only has 730 days left to live.
• Watch when Harmony runs at the vampires... you see the moment where she’s turned into one. (I’ve often wondered, what kind of vampire decides not to kill, but to turn a person in the midst of a freakin’ apocalypse?!)

16 comments:

Dusk said...

Never realized Anya dies in that same hallway, Iunderstand how she arcs form Season 3 to her death, but I stil have mixed feeling on it.

I assumed the Scoobies warned everbody of siring, and Harmony just bit back.

I never saw any sparks between Alyson and Alexis, must be profesionalism.

How much smoother would S7 have gone if some of Buffy's class were Potentials or at least still around like Johnathan in Superstar? (Ignoring the ridculousness of a small town like Sunnydale having a Univversity of course).

Tom D. said...

I’ve often wondered, what kind of vampire decides not to kill, but to turn a person in the midst of a freakin’ apocalypse?!

Maybe a vampire who had a crush on Harmony and wanted to be with her forever?

Colleen/redeem147 said...

Isn't UC Sunnydale just a campus of a larger university?

Faith. Vulcan. Snicker.

Oz has 'Spike between seasons' hair.

No wonder Amy came back emotionally messed up. They could at least have thrown a towel over her cage.

This is NOT Buffy's last office romance. But she forgets how badly things go when she dates civilians (Owen, Scott...)

Wes says "I'm not here for the Council" - his first step in becoming a rogue demon hunter.

Buffy rallying the troops is very season seven.

Cordy stakes a vampire - and she too will become a warrior.

Dusk said...

Oh yeah. The B & A Wiki says it was part of University of California system, just a nitpicky thing that bugs me. Like the airport and the docks.

Colleen/redeem147 said...

The disappearing shore really bothers me. Desert docks.

Tom D. said...

The diploma moment between Giles and Buffy is quite heartwarming. But, looking at how their relationship has developed, I think it still has never fully recovered from his betrayal of her in Helpless (nor will it ever). Since then, Giles has been able to endear himself to Buffy by being her ally against Wesley (and by being much cooler than him). But next season, with Wesley gone, the Buffy/Giles relationship is really going to be adrift.

The thing about Anya dying in the same hallway in Chosen is quite poignant. I mean, it's not really the same hallway, they built a whole new high school, but still. She's been around for centuries, then suddenly she gets thrust into this new life as a human, falls in love intensely, gets her heart broken, and in four years -- poof, the whole thing's over. Mortality bites.

Buffy's offering herself to maybe die to save Angel -- the whole "death is your gift" thing from season 5 refers to that rather well. And she's going to give her own death as a gift again in 730 days, as foreshadowed here.

We never see Angel say "thank you for saving my (un)life" to Buffy. Which is pretty rude of him. Maybe he's just too ashamed about the whole thing to be able to get the words out.

karoliina said...

I'm not clever enough to think of all the parallels, but I noticed how when Buffy goes to kill Faith, she talks to her with the same zero-emotion voice she has in OMWF when talking to the dance-demon - like in both cases she is ready to lose everything or feels she has lost it already: her humanity/morality by killing Faith (for Angel) or her life by burning up (but I'm not sure it would have been that much for Dawn).
Maybe it's just accidental acting, but I've been pondering about it. How she got over Angel and almost-killing Faith quite easily, but needed all the Season 6 to get herself together then. Poor Buffy.

Lisa(until further notice) said...

It's funny, I remember being pretty miserable most of high school. But now I look back on it so fondly. How easily we forget the pain (like childbirth). But what it's really about in Graduation 1 and 2 is the friendships. Like the scoobies, I have remained friends with many of the people I was friends with back then, even though I have moved thousands of miles away from where I grew up. Those friendships are the ones that shape you and help you prepare for the future.

The Scoobies will remain friends, eventually look back fondly on high school, and continue to grow...even if they don't leave Sunnydale. And for those that do leave, Cordy, Angel and Wes will find that they need to call on Buffy, Willow and Giles every now and again.

Angel and Buffy will find out that while old lovers never die, they do eventually move on. Angel will move on more triumphantly than Buffy, but he will still never be able to be happy. Even Harmony will show up again to help us harken back to the Sunnydale High days.

Spike's permanent return, however, is what I am most looking forward to...

And then there's Anya *sigh*. Je t'adore!!!

Delvin Anaris said...

karoliina said:

...or her life by burning up (but I'm not sure it would have been that much for Dawn).
Maybe it's just accidental acting, but I've been pondering about it. How she got over Angel and almost-killing Faith quite easily, but needed all the Season 6 to get herself together then. Poor Buffy.


No, it's quite clear that when she tries to burn herself up in OMWF, it's purely to end the pain. She was in heaven—and just as is brought home in Angel, when he tries to get to Wolfram & Hart's "Home Office," Earth is pretty darn much like Hell.

She gets over not killing Faith quickly because she didn't kill Faith.

She needs all of season 6 to get over not her near-suicide in the musical, but being dragged out of heaven into her own grave—and it's not until the season finale that she actually climbs out of the grave.

Unknown said...

Tom D.--re: a vampire having a crush on Harmony and wanting to be with her forever. . .

LOL! I am thinking of Spike's comment, "I just MET you and I can't stand you, I don't really fancy eternal life with you" (or something to that effect.

Harmony is the most lovably obnoxious, truly vile character on Buffy. I can't imagine anyone, even a vamp wanting to spend more than 10 minutes with her. I agree that she likely bit back, being the selfish, shallow bint that she is;)

Missy said...

Now starts the Dawn Countdown.
(And more hints she's on her way)
s4 has some of the best standalone eps of the entire series but with all the contract burning and what not the overall season arc just gets thrashed.
Oh and Stinky Parker Man :(
s4 and s7 tie for my least fav season even though both have great standalone episodes ....the seasonal arc is weak.

myeck said...

Yeah, the sudden appearance of UC Sunnydale plus the Sunnydale airport, train station, ocean beach and dockside district bugged the crap out of me. That's just a bit too much of the old nudge-nudge wink-wink.

I would have preferred it if the airport, etc., were regional or simply nearby things, and if they had maybe included a line somewhere about Carlton College from Reptile Boy becoming UCSD. It's a small thing but it takes me out of the story every time.

Lisa(until further notice) said...

Adding to the list of Sunnydale size/inconsistencies: It also has an Army base.

Tom D. said...

Also a mall, and an ice rink, and a zoo.

The army base kind of makes sense, given that the Initiative is also secretly located in Sunnydale.

Lisa(until further notice) said...

Ok Tom D., I'll concede the army base :)

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