Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Buffy Rewatch Week 21: Spoiler Forum

Here is the forum where you can talk about Angel and Buffy without fear of spoiling anyone. Just a couple of tidbits this week:

Spoilery bits
• Buffy’s line about her mother – “I hope it’s a funny aneurysm,” never fails to make me wince in retrospect. Shudder.
• Did you notice the line from Xander, “Okay, once more, with even less feeling.”
• I mentioned above that Spike uses Harmony for sex while treating him like dirt... karma will bite him in the ass on that one when Buffy does the same thing to him.

14 comments:

Lisa(until further notice) said...

I also noticed how Buffy's roommate Kathy made reference to how spoiled Buffy, as probably an only child, was and therefore it was about time she (Buffy) had to learn how to cohabitate with someone. Ahhh...what Dawn will do to her "only"ness.

Dusk said...

I laughed at the absurdity of the Initiative sneaking across the trees. If there is one place in the world that would be busy every hour of every night and day, it's a University. -Let's put a secret lab under it and have commandos go constantly in and out, while captiuring monsters for storage!

Dusk said...

Another thing that bugs me is that Cordy goes through a major change and becomes a lot more mature, but the Scoobies never see or really see that.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the last time she's mentioned in Buffy's show is when Buffy is trying to describe Glory to Giles? That was like early Cordy, but her transformation would have been great to mention in Sunnydale.

Colleen/redeem147 said...

I would LOVE Buffy to have known that Angel was in love with Cordy. :)

I'll have more comments later. Trying to watch DWTS.

Tat said...

Okay, I have to stand up for Season 4 a little. (I know the whole Adam/Initiative bit was terrible but bear with me) Considering high school is hell was the metaphor for the Scoobies in first 3 seasons I always felt that college was a metaphor for the show in this season.

Like going to college for the first time the season had moments where it was awesome, awful and often awkward. Even with the Initiative arc it's pretty spot on for what it's like after you graduate; everyone is trying to figure out who they are now (which is what the show was doing) and not always getting it right.

Tom D. said...

In the first scene in The Freshman, Buffy says that Willow picked her major in kindergarten (or something like that). Unless I'm very mistaken, we are never actually told what Willow's major is. But I guess the fact that she (suddenly) knows a lot about psych pretty strongly suggests that that's what she's been planning to major in since she was little.

Which is a bit odd, to me. The only time we see Willow's mother, in Gingerbread, we learn that she's a psychologist herself, and see that she seems to view Willow in a very distant and abstract way, through the lens of her profession. (Not that all psychologists are like that, but Willow's mom sure seemed to be.) So why is Willow so interested in following in her mom's footsteps, given that her mom doesn't exactly seem like a shining example of awesomeness?

Two theories. One, Willow is quietly desperate for her mother to love her and pay attention to her, and wants to go into psychology in order to connect with her mother. Two, Willow, having spent years as a social outcast (and still feeling like one, as we'll see in Restless), has trouble understanding people, finds them puzzling and mysterious, and goes into psychology in order to understand people better.

(The second theory might just be projection on my part. I didn't major in psych, but if I had, that would have been why.)

Also: it's quite sad that the Class Protector award, which Buffy got just three episodes ago in one of the most poignant scenes ever, gets stomped on and broken in this episode in a very symbolic way. And I don't think we'll ever see it again, which is sad. If I was Willow or Xander I would totally get that thing repaired for Buffy's sake.

Colleen/redeem147 said...

Willow makes some odd metaphors for a lesbian.

Giles tells Buffy she'll have to take care of herself - foreshadowing.

Sunday reminds me of Glory.

Having had her soul sucked, you'd think Buffy would have more understanding of Spike later on.

Cathy says she saw Buffy taking off 'in her eyes' but in the previous episode she was told Buffy had done that before. Nobody mentions the note? It just happened.

Maybe things wouldn't have worked out so badly in the end for Anya and Xander if she hadn't pushed so hard in the beginning.

Is Harmony Spike's version of a Chaos Demon?

Yes, the idea of going out with Spike is ridiculous. Laugh now, Buffy.

Spike wears the amulet and Harmony asks if it shouldn't glow or something. Well, that one doesn't.

There will be a season 7 episode when everyone has sex - except Buffy and Spike who have the deepest emotional attachment in the episode.

I love to watch Buffy and Spike dance. It's hot. Especially when Buffy pulls his ring off.

Jakenderek said...

I hope no one minds, I've been lurking here since the beginning - love the conversation - and i felt an absolute need to post this here because it is still one of the best scenes in the buffyverse... ever :)

Spike in high voice: “How can I thank you, you mysterious, black-clad hunk of a night thing? (low voice) No need, little lady, your tears of gratitude are enough for me. You see, I was once a badass vampire, but love and a pesky curse defanged me. Now I’m just a big, fluffy puppy with bad teeth. (Rachel steps closer to Angel, and Angel steps back warding her off with his hands) No, not the hair! Never the hair! (high voice) But there must be someway I can show my appreciation. (low voice) No, helping those in need’s my job, - and working up a load of sexual tension, and prancing away like a magnificent poof is truly thanks enough! (high voice) I understand. I have a nephew who is gay, so… (low voice) Say no more. Evil’s still afoot! And I’m almost out of that Nancy-boy hair-gel that I like so much. Quickly, to the Angel-mobile, away!”

Unknown said...

I hate that they pretty much forget that Cordy exists. I mean, hello! She becomes a medium for TPTB! I would think that at least Giles would find that interesting.

Witness Aria said...

@Colleen/redeem147
"Spike wears the amulet and Harmony asks if it shouldn't glow or something. Well, that one doesn't."
Did you notice his pose as he tried it out. Totally made me think of Chosen when I saw it.

@Tom D.
"Unless I'm very mistaken, we are never actually told what Willow's major is. But I guess the fact that she (suddenly) knows a lot about psych pretty strongly suggests that that's what she's been planning to major in since she was little."
I never took it that psych was her major. I took it that Willow being Willow, she had probably read up on all of her professor's backgrounds and previous publications. But I think the only other class we know she takes is the media studies one in season 6, so IDK what she was going for. I do think her interests are many and varied. Would be interesting to know what she would have gone for.

Chris said...

With respect to Willow's possible major.

They do show her in a couple of other classes: In the season 5 ep. 'Out of My Mind', Buffy and Willow are leaving class discussing the French Revolution, and later in 'Listening to Fear' Willow hands Buffy a textbook entitled "World History" and mentions that the class is now covering World War I. And in season 6, in 'Life Serial' Willow brings Buffy to a Sociology class (the one taught by "Mike").

It is interesting to me that the computer/science nerd in high school is only seen taking liberal arts classes in college.

Witness Aria said...

Nice, I had forgotten those. The SOC class was what I referred to as media studies just because that's how I remembered the conversation. Most seem to be fairly standard classes, not that different from what I took, and I was an English major who just really liked taking classes.

Nikki Stafford said...

Great posts guys, and it's interesting that I never really thought much about Will's major before... it was like she was taking a general degree, but focusing on her extracurricular magical activities as her real future. Great post, TomD.

Dusk: Re the Initiative lurking about on the campus being obvious: I KNOW, RIGHT?! Every time I saw them in these early episodes this time around I was snorting and rolling my eyes. Ugh.

Come. ON.

verif: "belyted" How Riley would refer to a room that suddenly had the lights turned on.

Blam said...


Tom D.: [I]t's quite sad that the Class Protector award, which Buffy got just three episodes ago in one of the most poignant scenes ever, gets stomped on and broken in this episode in a very symbolic way.

Yeah. No pun intended (truly; and it's a rarity, I know), that crushes me.

Witness Aria: I do think [Willow's] interests are many and varied. Would be interesting to know what she would have gone for.

Since Lesbian Witchcraft with a concentration in The Corruption of Power probably weren't on her plate in kindergarten, I'd go with Total Adorability.