Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Buffy Rewatch Week 14: Spoiler Forum

As always, this is the spoiler forum where you can discuss this week's episodes ("Beauty and the Beasts," "Homecoming," and "Band Candy") without fear of spoiling anything for the n00bs. I don't really have much to say here, other than wondering if maybe after being Ripper again for a bit, perhaps this is where Giles begins to loosen up. And I love the Mayor. And Snyder. And laugh when I think that one of them will end up in the other one's belly.

11 comments:

Colleen/redeem147 said...

Buffy mentions being "looney bin material" - another indication that Normal Again was not planned way back when.

Buffy being watched by the Germans in the van is similar to the Nerds watching her in season 6.

The Mayor says "You have all my faith" and he'll later Faith will be all his.

Koolak of the Miquet clan (or however you spell it) has the same name structure as Lorne. Is he from Pylea?

I don't believe that Willow is gay at this point (see Xander, lusting after). I don't like the implication that it a. is chosen or b. comes up out of the blue. I'm still going for bi.

Slayerfest is like a foreshadowing of what Giles will do to Buffy later in the season, but it will be even more cruel because of her powerlessness and his betrayal.

Buffy lies to her friends and family about Angel the way she later will about her relationship with Spike.

Is Band Candy where they got the idea for the Buffy chocolate bars? (I particularly liked raspberry filled Buffys.)

Buffy trying to be responsible foreshadows how she will be thrust into it when Joyce dies and she has to look after Dawn.

Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes? And does the Mayor have an affinity for big snake demons? (He probably founded that snake fraternity too.)

Paige Y. said...

I seem to recall ( but have absolutely no idea where -- who knows, I could have dreamed it :-) that Joss once said he intended for Willow to be bi but after Tara's death, he feared a backlash if she then went on to have a relationship with a male.

Page48 said...

@Colleen/redeem147,

There are/were Buffy chocolate bars? I did not know that.

So then, were Mars Bars named after Veronica?

Tom D. said...

I love the idea that the Mayor founded the snake fraternity! I'll bet he did.

Efthymia said...

@Colleen/redeem147: I, too, was reminded of the Trio when Buffy was being watched by the Germans, and I was thinking that "Homecoming" is the first time we see completely human --nothing demon-y or monster-y about them-- villains who use technology.

I love Xander, but he is really crappy to his girlfriends: he ignores (romantically, that is) Willow for years and decides to notice her when they are both involved with other people, and the moment they get caught, he doesn't seem to want to continue their relationship; he wants Cordelia to choose him over her friends and her social life, and when she's most into him he cheats on her; and he insists that he didn't ask Anya to marry him just because he thought the world was going to end, and then goes and leaves her at the altar. Grrr!

Unknown said...

Efthymia--it's totally clear that Xander has some massive commitment issues. . .

This is a thorny topic around Willow's sexual identity. I thought they always played it that she had been bi or attracted to men until she met Tara--that Tara was the first woman she loved. . .and that was a surprising, new experience for Willow. So yes, here, I think it's at least a latent part of her character (and a retconny one, at that)

I really noticed there's not a lot of discussion yet about Faith. Who she is, what she will become, her story. Was she initially intended to be a more minor character (a la Kendra) and then written in more as the season went on?

Unknown said...

And if no one else is going to bring it up, I will. None of the first-time watchers caught the look Joyce and Giles exchange at the end of Band Candy after Buffy says, thank goodness I got to you guys before anything really happened! Or didn't comment upon it. The way this show refers back to stuff (like Earshot mentioning the events of this ep) make it so rewarding to watch!

I rather enjoy Ethan as a villian and a foil, and liked every episode he appeared in. I thought it would have been great if they did a whole season with him as a "big bad" but we have to settle for accessory to big bad in season 8. . .

Blam said...


@redeem: I don't believe that Willow is gay at this point (see Xander, lusting after). I don't like the implication that it a. is chosen or b. comes up out of the blue. I'm still going for bi.

As I've said before, I'm all for people self-identifying however they wish, but it's pretty clear that Willow has — or at least had, for a long time and substantially — both romantic feelings and sexual urges towards fellas. On the other hand, I think it's weird to hear people complain or just remark about Willow being revealed as a lesbian not just because I wouldn't use the word "lesbian" but because I think it's much more appropriate to say that thanks to Tara it, well, came out both to viewers and to Willow herself that she also dug the ladies. Not sure why folks are so stuck on either/or, regardless of how one feels about Kinsey...

VW: multents — 1. Tech-speak for "people" (short for multiple entities. 2. Portable cloth shelters pitched for brewing cider.

Missy said...

EBethToThePowerOf?

I too was surprised by the lack of questioning about the look Joyce&Giles shared at the end of the ep.
I suppose it was really really subtle that 1st timers missed it.

Nikki Stafford said...

EBeth and Missy: Actually, I think that many people caught it (it's quite obvious to me) but being on the non-spoiler boards and knowing how many of us know everything that's going to happen, there's definitely a fear there. If they say, "I wonder if Giles and Joyce actually slept together??" they know that if they DID, someone who's seen the show and doesn't know the spoiler policy could jump on and say, "Oh yes, they did!" So I think that's why we see far less speculation on this show than we did on Lost. With that show, we were all on the same page. ;)

Missy said...

@Nikki
I was sooo tempted to Spoil(I'm so use to just saying what Joyce&Giles did)
But I refrained and used the word Shenanigans instead.