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mamajoanIf it's Wednesday, it must be the Buffy/Smallville post.
Actually, I have nothing really to say about the Smallville episode. I thought it was fairly lame and ehh. It wasn't actively horrible, just sort of low-level sucky. And I was completely not surprised at ALL by what Martha's secret turned out to be. Also, I think Chloe ought to go after Lex now. That would teach Clark a lesson! ;)
As for "Buffy," I thought this ep was also kind of ehh in a setting-things-up way; and it had several very weird elements that I'm scratching my head about. To wit:
* Where was Giles? I thought at first that he was in the beginning of the ep and then disappeared, but after discussing with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jenwrites I'm pretty sure I imagined that part. Still, his absence seemed strange especially during all the dimensional-portal-magicking and the Buffy-speechifying. Usually they at least toss out some line about Giles having gone off to pick up another potential, or something. If that was in this ep, I missed it.
* Since when is Andrew "the brains of the operation"??? Please tell me that was Buffy being sarcastic. Or else there was a scene that got cut, where Giles wore oven mitts. Yeesh.
* Why is Kennedy the one who gets to train the other potentials? What's special about her other than being the new girlfriend of a Scooby? I mean, she's just another potential, right?
* Why is the whole "Buffy has some of the demon in her" thing being portrayed as such a shocking new concept? Haven't we been through this a zillion times already?
* As others on LJ have already been asking, why was Wood allowed to keep the sacred bag of Slayer gear for all this time when it was supposed to be handed on from slayer to slayer? We know he was only four when his mom died, so it's not like he could have hatched a plot to hide the mystery bag from the Watchers. Unless he was a VERY precocious four-year-old. Some Watcher, presumably the one who raised Wood, must have decided to let little Robin keep the bag rather than passing it on, and really, that doesn't make much sense.
I also didn't really care for Buffy's "pep-talk" thing. Sure, I get that she decided it was time to get harsh, but it was also the return of Thinks She Has All The Answers Buffy, which would have been a nice time to have Giles around to take her down a peg or three.
I *did* like all the Spike bits, except the whole Anya-hitting-on-Spike thing, which needs to stop. I'm happy about the return of BigBadSpike, and hope it will continue. I also like the idea of smart translator Dawn, although it sort of came out of nowhere. Someone on LJ suggested that Dawn, and possibly also Xander, is being set up as the beginning of the next generation of Watchers. I think that's a super-cool idea, and it makes sense in so many ways.
And yes, like so many others, I also thought immediately of LOTR when I saw the closing scene. Willow: "What did they show you, Buffy?" Buffy: "They showed me orcs." Groan!
You know what else just occurred to me, is that with all the talk about how the First can only appear as someone who's dead, we saw it appear to Spike in the form of Buffy several times. I guess you could argue that Buffy is technically dead in some senses, having actually died twice now, but still, it seems weird.
And now, so very partisan that it deserves its own separate lj-cut, some thoughts on the whole Buffy/Spike thing.
First of all, let's get one thing clear. If this were real life, if Buffy were my friend, or even just some chick I knew vaguely, I would be telling her to run far, far away from Spike, very fast. Probably even taking drastic measures, like staging an intervention or something. But this isn't real life, and it's largely metaphorical, so the rules are different.
Having said that, can I just say that I'm dying (and I mean that in the sexually-frustrated sense) to see them get back together already. Don't think I didn't notice in last week's ep the way Buffy said "why does everyone think I'm still in love with Spike?" -- and I thought it was weird that Willow didn't call her on that phrasing. Even Giles picked up on it, Giles who (at least in the high-school years) made a serious effort to avoid thinking or knowing about Buffy's (and the others') sex life in any way.
The thing is, now that Spike is chipless and ensouled, it seems to me he's just what Buffy needs. Consider: He's still dangerous, still theoretically evil even if Buffy claims to think that he's reformed, or at least reformable. This makes him attractive to Buffy. At the same time, she has ample evidence to show that she can trust him; barring new revelations, it's reasonable for Buffy to continue thinking of Spike as one of the good guys. And finally, I really think she *needs* to be in a relationship, and not a destructive consuming one like she had with Angel (jennyo recently wrote some very true stuff about the badness of B/A), nor a boring vanilla go-nowhere one like she had with Riley (sorry, Riley fans, but it's true). The thing about her relationship with Spike has always been that he insists on being treated like an equal -- which often she rebels against, but that in itself is good for her. Furthermore, I think her Speech O'Harshness to the potentials in this latest ep goes to show that she really needs to have someone like Spike around to give *her* similar wallops upside the head from time to time, lest she get full of herself and start turning back into Thinks She Knows It All Buffy.
Basically, I think that Buffy works better all around -- is a better person, a better friend to Willow and Xander, and a better slayer -- when she's in a relationship. Even one with the violent, dysfunctional, and/or angsty elements that make her thing with Spike so complex and interesting. The reason it works is that Spike is willing to take some shit from her, but has his limits, and also has the strength (not necessarily physical) to stand his ground when his limits are reached. Which is just what Buffy needs, like a child being parented: a certain amount of structure, a certain degree of discipline, but otherwise the freedom to be herself and make her own mistakes within that framework -- with someone around all the time to point out to her when her actions affect others.
Plus, let's face it, the sex is hot and I need my vicarious thrills. Seriously, people. I'm dyin' over here. At least give me a smooch or something. Augh!
OK, I'm done. It's safe to come out now. ;)
In closing, let me just say that last night was an aberration -- chorus rehearsal cancelled due to weather, allowing me to watch Buffy and Smallville "live" -- and from now on I fully expect "Buffy" to resume following the rehearsal schedule, such that when we *do* have a rehearsal there's a new episode, and when we don't, there's a rerun. :P Ah well, that's life.
Actually, I have nothing really to say about the Smallville episode. I thought it was fairly lame and ehh. It wasn't actively horrible, just sort of low-level sucky. And I was completely not surprised at ALL by what Martha's secret turned out to be. Also, I think Chloe ought to go after Lex now. That would teach Clark a lesson! ;)
As for "Buffy," I thought this ep was also kind of ehh in a setting-things-up way; and it had several very weird elements that I'm scratching my head about. To wit:
* Where was Giles? I thought at first that he was in the beginning of the ep and then disappeared, but after discussing with
jenwrites I'm pretty sure I imagined that part. Still, his absence seemed strange especially during all the dimensional-portal-magicking and the Buffy-speechifying. Usually they at least toss out some line about Giles having gone off to pick up another potential, or something. If that was in this ep, I missed it.* Since when is Andrew "the brains of the operation"??? Please tell me that was Buffy being sarcastic. Or else there was a scene that got cut, where Giles wore oven mitts. Yeesh.
* Why is Kennedy the one who gets to train the other potentials? What's special about her other than being the new girlfriend of a Scooby? I mean, she's just another potential, right?
* Why is the whole "Buffy has some of the demon in her" thing being portrayed as such a shocking new concept? Haven't we been through this a zillion times already?
* As others on LJ have already been asking, why was Wood allowed to keep the sacred bag of Slayer gear for all this time when it was supposed to be handed on from slayer to slayer? We know he was only four when his mom died, so it's not like he could have hatched a plot to hide the mystery bag from the Watchers. Unless he was a VERY precocious four-year-old. Some Watcher, presumably the one who raised Wood, must have decided to let little Robin keep the bag rather than passing it on, and really, that doesn't make much sense.
I also didn't really care for Buffy's "pep-talk" thing. Sure, I get that she decided it was time to get harsh, but it was also the return of Thinks She Has All The Answers Buffy, which would have been a nice time to have Giles around to take her down a peg or three.
I *did* like all the Spike bits, except the whole Anya-hitting-on-Spike thing, which needs to stop. I'm happy about the return of BigBadSpike, and hope it will continue. I also like the idea of smart translator Dawn, although it sort of came out of nowhere. Someone on LJ suggested that Dawn, and possibly also Xander, is being set up as the beginning of the next generation of Watchers. I think that's a super-cool idea, and it makes sense in so many ways.
And yes, like so many others, I also thought immediately of LOTR when I saw the closing scene. Willow: "What did they show you, Buffy?" Buffy: "They showed me orcs." Groan!
You know what else just occurred to me, is that with all the talk about how the First can only appear as someone who's dead, we saw it appear to Spike in the form of Buffy several times. I guess you could argue that Buffy is technically dead in some senses, having actually died twice now, but still, it seems weird.
And now, so very partisan that it deserves its own separate lj-cut, some thoughts on the whole Buffy/Spike thing.
First of all, let's get one thing clear. If this were real life, if Buffy were my friend, or even just some chick I knew vaguely, I would be telling her to run far, far away from Spike, very fast. Probably even taking drastic measures, like staging an intervention or something. But this isn't real life, and it's largely metaphorical, so the rules are different.
Having said that, can I just say that I'm dying (and I mean that in the sexually-frustrated sense) to see them get back together already. Don't think I didn't notice in last week's ep the way Buffy said "why does everyone think I'm still in love with Spike?" -- and I thought it was weird that Willow didn't call her on that phrasing. Even Giles picked up on it, Giles who (at least in the high-school years) made a serious effort to avoid thinking or knowing about Buffy's (and the others') sex life in any way.
The thing is, now that Spike is chipless and ensouled, it seems to me he's just what Buffy needs. Consider: He's still dangerous, still theoretically evil even if Buffy claims to think that he's reformed, or at least reformable. This makes him attractive to Buffy. At the same time, she has ample evidence to show that she can trust him; barring new revelations, it's reasonable for Buffy to continue thinking of Spike as one of the good guys. And finally, I really think she *needs* to be in a relationship, and not a destructive consuming one like she had with Angel (
jennyo recently wrote some very true stuff about the badness of B/A), nor a boring vanilla go-nowhere one like she had with Riley (sorry, Riley fans, but it's true). The thing about her relationship with Spike has always been that he insists on being treated like an equal -- which often she rebels against, but that in itself is good for her. Furthermore, I think her Speech O'Harshness to the potentials in this latest ep goes to show that she really needs to have someone like Spike around to give *her* similar wallops upside the head from time to time, lest she get full of herself and start turning back into Thinks She Knows It All Buffy.Basically, I think that Buffy works better all around -- is a better person, a better friend to Willow and Xander, and a better slayer -- when she's in a relationship. Even one with the violent, dysfunctional, and/or angsty elements that make her thing with Spike so complex and interesting. The reason it works is that Spike is willing to take some shit from her, but has his limits, and also has the strength (not necessarily physical) to stand his ground when his limits are reached. Which is just what Buffy needs, like a child being parented: a certain amount of structure, a certain degree of discipline, but otherwise the freedom to be herself and make her own mistakes within that framework -- with someone around all the time to point out to her when her actions affect others.
Plus, let's face it, the sex is hot and I need my vicarious thrills. Seriously, people. I'm dyin' over here. At least give me a smooch or something. Augh!
OK, I'm done. It's safe to come out now. ;)
In closing, let me just say that last night was an aberration -- chorus rehearsal cancelled due to weather, allowing me to watch Buffy and Smallville "live" -- and from now on I fully expect "Buffy" to resume following the rehearsal schedule, such that when we *do* have a rehearsal there's a new episode, and when we don't, there's a rerun. :P Ah well, that's life.
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no subject
Date: 2003-02-19 09:37 am (UTC)I actually turned to my daughter and said, in my best Buffy voice, "They showed me Army of Darkness."
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Date: 2003-02-19 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-02-19 12:14 pm (UTC)O:)
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Date: 2003-02-20 02:33 pm (UTC)Uh, never mind. :-)
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Date: 2003-02-19 01:05 pm (UTC)I think Kennedy as trainer makes sense, because they've had her be sort of the more hard-nosed take-charge potential from day one, but I think someone should have called her on the whole drill sergeant thing. And again, where was Giles? Another brief Kennedy remark - she pushed Willow the whole ep to use her powers and then freaked out when she did and there were some negative repercussions. Well duh, why do you think she hasn't been using them?
Ditto on the whole, "Yeah, we know the slayer has demon in her, so what," with these additional comments: now that Buffy has kicked the asses of those slayer-maker guys, does that mean the power of that puppet show box is gone, or could she use it again and choose to take in the demon energy that time, now that she knows that the orcs.. I mean, turakhan, are out there. Also, was Buffy cluelessly unaware about the fact that the slayer had some demon in her, or was she (as
About the spuffy thing, I agree, I want to see it, but it does disturb me that they're setting up this whole, "He raped me but now I love him," scenario, even though there are certainly some extra factors in this case. I basically think that having the attempted rape scene with Spike was very untrue to the character (as he had developed) in the first place, so there's not much about the repercussions of it that I like.
no subject
Date: 2003-02-19 01:44 pm (UTC)was Buffy cluelessly unaware about the fact that the slayer had some demon in her
Considering how many times throughout the seven years of the show they've talked about that, she would have to be SUPER clueless. Not that I'm ruling that out ;) but it does seem to me that the point has been beaten into her head (and ours) enough by now, such that it seems weird to have her react with such surprise.
I completely agree about the rape not being in character for Spike (and I said that about a zillion times last season *g*). I don't want to rehash that whole argument again (*groan*!) but I will say that I can accept that they've moved past it now. But can Buffy? (Can Xander? ;) )