In the second episode of the third season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, we learn where Buffy went to after the end of season two, and the Scoobies are forced to cope with a Sunnydale existence that doesn’t include her. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Buffy.
I love that Joss Whedon doesn’t give us the answer to the one question we are desperate to have answered until the last minute or so of the cold open. It’s an intentional act, one we’ll see stretched out over the course of “Anne,” a constant comparison of the action in Sunnydale with the vacant loneliness of Buffy’s life in downtown Los Angeles. We watch as the Scoobies try to kill a vampire and fail miserably. (To be fair, the vampire was previously a gymnast, so I’ll cut them some slack.) It’s almost silly when contrasted with Buffy, even though killing vampires isn’t a joke.
The entire story with Buffy is just depressing to me, and this may surprise you, too: I found it to be painfully realistic.
Before I get into that, I wanted to separate the two story lines to first discuss everything Sunnydale before I delve into the events of Los Angeles. I’m going to state that my prediction about this first episode is pretty much correct, as the bulk of “Anne” focuses on what Buffy’s up to in Los Angeles. But Sunnydale without Buffy is just not the same. It’s not that the Scoobies are inadequate by themselves. Now Oz is a full-time member (OMG AND HE WAS IN THE NEW CREDITS WITH THE NEW THEME SONG OMG EVERYTHING IS SO PRETTY AND MODERN), and more than every before, they’re sticking together to get the job of vampire slaying done in Buffy’s absence. But Buffy is the glue that keeps them together. I know the entire bit about Buffy and her puns is meant as a joke, but to me, that was a really serious moment. The spark is gone. Her joy is gone. Her finesse is missing, and the group really lacks what she brings to them all.
They miss her.
So do Giles and Joyce, and the two of them are much more emotive about the sadness they feel over Buffy’s disappearance. Giles, desperate to get his friend back, will take off at the slightest rumor of Buffy, hop on a plane, and try to find her. (OMG GILES WENT TO OAKLAND OH MY GOD PLEASE COME HANG OUT WITH ME) Joyce, on the other hand, is destroyed. When Giles came to update her about his attempt to find Buffy, I was excited that it meant that Giles and Joyce had been hanging out all summer. Yeah, nope. Instead, I was brought to tears when Joyce starts blaming Giles for what happened to Buffy. It’s such a horrific situation for both of these characters to be in, and I get why Joyce feels betrayed that this man didn’t tell her the truth about Buffy. But how could he? How could Buffy tell her mother SHE SLAYED VAMPIRES IN HER FREE TIME?
This show is just so difficult to watch sometimes.
The only real comic relief that exists in “Anne” comes from Xander and Cordelia’s attempts to pretend that they both don’t care about each other. OH, STOP IT! OF COURSE YOU DO. It’s not the most fascinating plot of all time, but they’re cute together so I don’t care?
Really, though, I want to talk about Buffy. It’s sort of all I want to talk about. Let me start off this way: I used to live just a few blocks from the bulk of where Buffy’s story is set, and I can verify that downtown Los Angeles is pretty much what you see there. I’m always worried about depictions of the poor, the homeless, the downtrodden, and those who are less fortunate, especially since I’ve been all of them at one time or another. Is this depiction perfect? No, of course not. It’s not the focal point of the episode, and a lot of Skid Row is used to develop an atmosphere to show us Buffy’s growth.
But I lived right next to Skid Row, and I can verify that even ten years ago, a lot of what you see here is kind of frightfully accurate. Los Angeles is a place where people go to seek out new narratives for their life, and I can’t tell you how many girls like Lily I met when I lived there. They’re always a day or two away from some big break, from living their dream, from finding the true love they’ve always wanted. It’s a city of dreams, but so many people talk about it. Honestly, it’s one of the reasons I had to escape Los Angeles. It’s certainly a diverse city; in terms of my own ethnicity, I certainly more at home in Los Angeles than in San Francisco, where I had to be reminded that RACISTS ARE EVERYWHERE. But working in the entertainment industry for so many years, you come to discover how many people flock to L.A. and then just fail.
So yes, a lot of the images that plague “Anne” are meant specifically to make it seem like Buffy is living some hard, depressing life. I get that, and I wouldn’t argue against anyone who found that problematic. I’d agree. Then I’d also offer that I lived in that neighborhood and there’s a terrifying truth to the sense of vacancy in downtown Los Angeles, especially before the redevelopment companies rolled in and began to gentrify everything. I never thought of it as a scary place. To me, it was just depressing, a reminder that there was a place in that giant, sprawling metropolis where it was acceptable to forget people. Did you know hospitals used to dump mentally ill patients just blocks from my house after discharging them from the ER and this was a thing for years? So the images I saw in “Anne” just made me think, “WELL, HOLY SHIT. That’s downtown Los Angeles.”
But the most realistic aspect is Ken. There are Kens every day in Los Angeles. I saw them every morning when I left my apartment. I saw them when I came home. I saw them on the weekends when I got up to eat at the Nickel Dinner early in the morning, trying to beat the crowds that inevitably came later. Clean cut white men in suits, their hair gently combed to one side, pamphlets in one hand, the other ready to reach out and grasp another, a thinly-veiled Bible verses spilling out of their mouths, the promise of a roof and food waiting for the next vulnerable soul.
They are my least favorite people in Los Angeles.
What’s so terrifying about them – and what Joss Whedon nails so perfectly that it makes Ken one of the creepiest villains in Buffy history – is how they prey on those who need real help, and use them as fodder for their own religious crusade. The promise of food or a shower comes with a catch: you have to listen to someone tell you that you’re a sinner and this is the reason you don’t have a home, or you’re down on your luck, or you were abused or beaten. You are full of sin, and you are disadvantaged because you have not accepted the Lord as your personal savior. These people disgust me because good intentions don’t provide significant, meaningful help. A personal quest for salvation doesn’t give someone a home, and it doesn’t do shit to root out the problems of the the institutions we have in this country that contribute to a person being homeless.
Fuck you, Ken.
Okay, well NOW I HAVE GOTTEN VERY SERIOUS ABOUT A BUFFY EPISODE. Oh god, I kind of adore this? Like, look, I love the chance to talk about these things because of a single episode of a television show, and it makes me love what I’m watching even more. How these characters fit into this narrative of loss, identity, and hopelessness is just so fascinating to me, and out of every city in California, Los Angeles was the perfect place to set this episode. The city is used to explore Buffy’s loneliness after losing Angel, and it’s done so brilliantly.
The truth is that this story would not have worked had it not been about people who were viewed as disposable. Ken and his demon buddies specifically targeted people who could be forgotten, who could disappear. It’s got such a powerful subtext about how our society treats those who are poor and homeless, and it’s the little things like that that make me appreciate “Anne.” But there’s actually a “big” thing, too: Whedon invents AN ENTIRE WORLD IN ANOTHER DIMENSION, SHOWS US IT FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES, AND THEN WE NEVER RETURN BACK TO IT EVER AGAIN. I am a sucker for unexplained, immersive sci-fi worlds, and this fucking TAKES THE GODDAMN CAKE. An alternate dimension where “forgotten” people are kidnapped to work as slaves on some project we never discover, then returned to Earth a day later BUT OH MY GOD THEY JUST AGED A YEAR?!?!?!! I love this. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.
Over the course of “Anne,” though, we’re shown how desperate Buffy is to escape her life. For the first time in a long time, she has abandoned her “fate” as the Slayer, and until Lily walks into her life, she actually manages to pull it off. No demons, no vampires, no fights. But she’s also given up her mother, her friends, her Watcher, and hope. She drifts from her job to her barren, plain apartment, and her life has no real point anymore. This is what she wanted, but it doesn’t make her happy. It just makes her numb.
It’s why the moment where she affirms her identity to the demon is so victorious to me. In that instance, she realizes that she’s been denying herself so much, that even in the worst of times in Sunnydale, she still had things to be happy about. Perhaps she even remembers that she was once happy without Angel. Either way, when a demon asks her who she is, she refuses to be no one. AHHHHH IT IS SO COOL TO SEE HER ANNIHILATING DEMONS AGAIN. God, the production quality of this show just skyrocketed, didn’t it?’
There are still questions that need to be answered. I don’t think we’ll ever see Lily again, though I admit that it was awesome they they brought her back in this context. Buffy was expelled by Principal Snyder, so it’s not like she can just walk back into school the next day, so I’m interested to see how the show will deal with it. For now, though, I found myself unbelievably pleased to see Joyce and Buffy reunited with another. I’m glad that neither of them spoke. That needs its own episode. In that moment, they missed one another so much, and no words would suffice. I love it.
God, what a gorgeous open to season three. I CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH MORE.
DEAD PEOPLE COUNT: 3Â Ricky, Ken, and the gymnast vampire. Did that guy die who got hit by the demon when he said his name?
>BUT OH MY GOD THEY JUST AGED A YEAR?!?!?!!
*psst* They aged about 65 years.
That line confused me, too! I seem to remember them aging quite drastically during their time in the other dimension. :3
Psst, are you the b.org Polgara?
Yep, P-C. And the Bronze Polgara.
I was confused too, but I think maybe he meant that they age a year for every day they spent in the alternate dimension.
Time moves way faster in the alternate dimension, so while Ricky was only missing for one day in his normal dimension, he lived an entire lifetime in the alternate dimension–aging normally the whole time. So when Buffy and Lily return to Los Angeles, no time has passed there.
So basically the alternate dimension is Apalapucia. Awesome.
Well, half of Apalapucia, anyway. L.A. would be the other stream.
Yeah, exactly.
This used to confuse me (and irritate me), but I think re-watching the episode this week I finally understood it. Buffy and Lily have X amount of time pass for them in the hell dimension, but when they return to the surface it's as if they haven't been gone at all — or for a tenth of a second or whatever it would be (someone better at math than me could probably figure out what it would actually be).
I appreciated this episode a lot more watching it this week. But maybe I'm just appreciating everything a lot more since I discovered this site! 🙂
actually ken states it's 100 years for every day they spend down there, i believe…
yay! you're early. and i completely agree about the end of the episode. the image of buffy and joyce together brings tears to my eyes every time, even just reading your synopsis of it.
abj oevat ba frnfba 3!! pna'g jnvg sbe snvgu, ubcr naq gevpx!!! jurrrrr!
V ybir gur jnl Gevpx inyvqngrf gur ynpx bs qvirefvgl va Fhaalqnyr…V jbaqre vs znex jvyy pngpu gung??
V ybir gur jnl Gevpx inyvqngrf gur ynpx bs qvirefvgl va Fhaalqnyr…V jbaqre vs znex jvyy pngpu gung??
whfg sbhaq vg va gur fubbgvat fpevcg nsgre jngpuvat gbavgr – pnaabg jnvg sbe gbzbeebj'f erivrj!!!! gevpx gbgnyyl pnyyf bhg gur ynpx bs qvirefvgl va gur qnyr nf fbba nf ur neevirf!
ZE. GEVPX
Fhaalqnyr. Gbja'f tbg dhnvag, naq gur
crbcyr: ur pnyyrq zr fve, qba'g lbh
zvff gung? Nqzvggrqyl, abg n unira sbe
gur oebguref — fgevpgyl gur pnhpnfvna
crefhnfvba va gur Qnyr — ohg lbh
tbggn fgnaq hc naq fnyhgr gurve qrngu
engr. V ena n fgngvfgvpny nanylfvf
naq Uryyb Qnexarff — Znxrf Q.P. ybbx
yvxr Znloreel. Naq abobql fnlva' obb
nobhg vg. Jr pbhyq svg evtug va
urer. Unir fbzr sha.
Snnnnnnnnnnvgu, gung vf nyy.
pnaaaabbbbbgggggg jnvg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! rira zberfb jura fur pbzrf onpx va F4 naq gnxrf bire Ohssl'f obql va Jub ner Lbh, naq tvirf gur ohfvarff gb fcvxr!! bu, njrfbzr-l tbbqarff!!!
Lrffffffffffffff Snvgu!
http://bite-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uplo…
found this gif yesterday thought id post it here for you to enjoy.
LOL, that was such a fun special! "Buffy the Vampire Slayer presents….Videos That Don't Suck!"
Aw, MTV, I miss the days where you did that kind of stuff.
😮 i was wondering where it was from. woot hot xander on oz action! also how do you make the gifs appear as gifs not hyperlinks im new to this.
<img src="http://i42.tinypic.com/wj6r1j.png">
There's also a helpful html guide in the FAQ
And: oh my.
That gif is a true thing of beauty <3
*quietly saves to gif folder*
I enjoyed this episode at lot more upon rewatch. It really deals with the events of the season finale well. You can see how much Buffy has changed because of everything that has happened to her. And I love the Scoobies trying to continue the fight against vampires (and pretty much failing miserably)
It’s fun how Buffy just doesn’t care about the rules in this episode, she just wants to get the job done.
Blood Bank Doctor: What are you doing?
Buffy: Breaking into your office and going through your private files. Candidate for what?
Blood Bank Doctor: I'm calling the police.
Buffy: [rips phone out of the wall] Now you've got a whole bunch of candidates here. I wonder if any of them are missing like Rickie. Gosh, I bet they are.
Blood Bank Doctor: You're getting yourself in a lot of trouble.
Buffy: I don't want any trouble. I just wanna be alone and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and a tea cozy. I don't even know what a tea cozy is. But I want one. Instead, I keep getting trouble, which I am more than willing to share.
Buffy: I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. And you are?
Also, my collection comes with a book of episode information (airdate, writers & summaries) and I thought it would be fun to share.
Episode 1: Anne
Written and directed by Joss Whedon
Original Airdate: 09/29/98
“Still not knowing where Buffy is, the rest of the gang return to school. When Buffy, who is living under an assumed identity, is recognized in a diner, she begins her fight to return home from the Netherworld she has fallen into.”
Yeah, I love that blood bank doctor exchange 🙂
As an aside, I have a tea cozy. I should use it more, but generally when I make a pot of tea I want to drink ALL OF IT right away :p
I think the tea cozy bit is still one of my favorite lines.
I actually thought that in the past I wasn't too crazy about this episode but when I just rewatched I realized, wow this is alot better than I remembered. I'm even willing to say that Anne is my second favorite season opener (frnfba fvk'f onetnvavat vf cebonoyl zl snibevgr.)
Please don't use "crazy" on this site.
Sorry! Just read the site rules now, guess I really should have done that *before* I started posting.
  I think i like this episode simply because it isnt in sunnydale. its a nice change, naq v jbhyq unir yvxr gur Ohssl njnl sebz ubzr nep gb ynfg ybatre vs v qvqag nyernql xabj guvf frnfba’f nep.
  Cant believe we finally made it to season three, Vgf cerggl zhpu zl snibevgr, nygubhtu svir ZVTUG orng vg. Znlor. Cebonoyl abg.
  HeHe, guy shouting ow in the blood bank scene. Background humor.
  Buffy is so badass. “im breaking into your office and going through your private files,” *casually rips phone off wall*
  Nyfb, va gur Zbagntr bs Fnq Ubzryrff Puvyqera, gur fubg bs gur tvey fgnaqvat va gur ebnq fbzrubj sbhaq n jnl vagb gur Natry gvgyr frdhrapr. Qvq nalobql ryfr abgvpr guvf?  Â
Bu lrnu, naq FRNFBA GUERR SGJ!!!
I rot13'd part of your comment sbe Natry fcbvyref. V xabj vg'f whfg gur bcravat frdhrapr, ohg V guvax vg'yy tvir njnl gur snpg gung gur fubj'f frg va YN.
oooooohhh. Didnt think of that. sorry.
OMG first post! Hi guys!!
Buffy is so badass in this episode. I love it. And this line makes me laugh in its absurdity:
"Hey Ken, wanna see my impression of Gandhi?"
"..well, you know. If he was really pissed off."
OK, not really first- I knew it was too good to be true 😉
Hey, do you want to see my impression of Gandhi doing an impression of JFK?
"FOAH SUPPAH, I, ER, UH, WANNA PAHTY PLATTAH."
<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx3debwX5g1r7xb9fo1_500.gif">
Where ya goin so fast? Throw some er's and uh's in there!
There are no words for my love of Clone High. I am so giddy to see references right now
Wait, is this relevant now?
<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx1wjtfJE81qa9htqo1_500.png">
It has never been more relevant.
ot, but I've always liked your name, and this is the first time I've noticed your icon. A+ all around
I miss Clone High so much. Why was it so tragically short?
I miss it too. I have no one in the outside world to share my pain with because no one else watched it.
And no one understands when I say things like "Oh Wesley" or "Nothing bad ever happens to the Kennedys."
Let's have an internet party and watch Clone High. Yes? Yes.
I think my favourite moment in this will always be Lily pushing Ken off the ledge, because not only had he no idea she'd do that, SHE had no idea she'd do that. And it's such a step forward for her.
V qba’g guvax jr’yy rire frr Yvyl ntnva
V nz fb unccl ur'f jebat nobhg guvf. Punagreryyr/Yvyl/Naar vf cerggl zhpu zl snibhevgr erpheevat punenpgre. Gur jnl fur tebjf, jung fur orpbzrf, naq ubj ure shgher vf sbezrq ol gur dhrfgvba "Pna V or Naar?" vf whfg fb irel ornhgvshy gb zr.
Lrf, V xabj V ynhqrq gur tvey onpx va Yvr gb Zr nf jryy. Lbh'yy cebonoyl frr zr qb vg ng yrnfg guerr zber gvzrf. Fb. Zhpu. Ybir.
Fur'f zl snibevgr erpheevat punenpgre naq V nyjnlf jvfu jr'q tbggra gb frr zber bs ure wbhearl nf Naar. V yvxr gung fur sbhaq fgeratgu va gung crefban, V whfg jnag gb frr ure orpbzr n onqnff
Vg jbhyq unir orra sha gb frr zber, ohg V yvxr gung rira jvgu zbfg bs ure wbhearl uvqqra, vg'f fgvyy irel oryvrinoyr.
Evtug gurer jvgu ln. V'z tynq ur'f jebat nobhg vg gbb.
Hell yes.
THAA: Jung vs V gbyq lbh vg qbrfa'g uryc? Jung jbhyq lbh qb vs lbh sbhaq bhg gung abar bs vg znggref? Gung vg'f nyy pbagebyyrq ol sbeprf zber cbjreshy naq hapnevat guna jr pna pbaprvir, naq gurl jvyy arire yrg vg trg orggre qbja urer. Jung jbhyq lbh qb?
NAAR: V'q trg guvf gehpx cnpxrq orsber gur arj fghss trgf urer. Jnaan tvir zr n unaq?
V ybir gung rkpunatr. Vg'f nabgure inevngvba bs Natry'f rcvcunal: "Vs abguvat lbh qb znggref, gura nyy gung znggref vf jung lbh qb."
Be, sbe gung znggre, Yhgure'f cuenfr: "Vs V xarj gur jbeyq jbhyq crevfu gbzbeebj, V jbhyq fgvyy cynag zl nccyr gerr gbqnl."
Avpr ubj nyy gur punenpgref va gur Wbff havirefr tebj naq punatr…ol gur jnl bar orfg fraqbssf sbe n frevrf rire….
Naar…Yvyyl sebz Inzcver tebhcvr gb ehaavat n ubzryrff furygre…nyy gur punenpgref va Wbff'f jbeyq tebj naq punatr….
Punagneryyr/Yvyl/Naar’f zvav-nep vf bar bs zl nofbyhgr snibevgr guvatf va nyy gjryir frnfbaf bs gur Ohsslirefr. Ure svany nccrnenapr va Abg Snqr Njnl vf bar bs gubfr ener abgr-cresrpg zbzragf bs gryrivfvba.
Yes. I squeed so hard at that. <3
Jura V frr gur gvgyr bs guvf rcvfbqr, V arire guvax bs Ohssl. V nyjnlf guvax bs Yvyl/Naar. Fur vf nyjnlf Naar gb zr orpnhfr gung vf gur anzr jurer fur sbhaq urefrys. Fur yrnearq gb gnxr pner bs urefrys naq yngre bs bguref. Naq fur vf ybiryl. Fb gb zr guvf rcvfbqr vf whfg nf zhpu nobhg gung crefbany tebjgu nf vg vf nobhg Ohssl'f ubcryrffarff naq erghea ubzr naq gur Fpbbovrf jvgubhg ure.
Lrnu, fnzr urer. Vg'f nyjnlf gur rc jurer Naar orpnzr Naar. Bs pbhefr, V'z ovnfrq ol univat frra frnfba 2 bs Natry orsber V fnj guvf rc.
V jbaqre vs Znex jvyy ernyvmr gung vg'f gur fnzr punenpgre. Nf sne nf V erzrzore fur arire ersref gb ure cnfg va nal jnl ba NgF. Vg'f whfg fbzrguvat gur ivrjref vasre sebz gur anzr naq gur snpg gung vg'f gur fnzr npgerff.
Gurl zragvba gung fur punatrq ure anzr n srj gvzrf, naq gurer'f guvf rkpunatr:
Naar: Jryy, V'q fnl sbe fher lbh'er n inzcver. N uhzna orvat jbhyq or va gur ubfcvgny, gur orngvat lbh gbbx.
Natry: Naq gung qbrfa'g sevtugra lbh?
Naar: N srj lrnef ntb vg jbhyq unir orra n ovt ghea ba. V gubhtug inzcverf jrer gur pbbyrfg.
Natry: Jung unccrarq?
Naar Fgrryr: V zrg bar.
Fb znlor gung'f rabhtu gb pyhr uvz va, znlor vg vfa'g. 🙂
Buuu, V qvqa'g erzrzore gung cneg. Ohg jnvg… qbrfa'g fur Natry va gur inzc jnaanor pyho va Yvr gb Zr? Fubhyqa'g fur erpbtavmr uvz? Be qbrf fur naq V qba'g erzrzore gung rvgure?
Fur qbrfa'g erpbtavmr uvz, ohg gura, gurl zrg sbe nobhg unys n zvahgr gjb lrnef rneyvre, fb gung'f abg fb fgenatr.
V pna'g jnvg gb frr gur ernpgvba jura Yvyl fubjf onpx hc ba Natry nf Naar, urnqvat gur furygre naq nyfb grnpuvat grraf abg gb vaivgr crbcyr va, rgp. Gur pbagvahvgl ba Ohssl naq Natry znxrf zr unccl orpnhfr enaqbz punenpgref fubj hc guebhtubhg gur frnfbaf.
Naq BZT, cyrnfr trg gb Gur Jvfu abj, Znex! Naln! Inzcver Knaqre naq Jvyybj! Fpneerq Ohssl naq gbegherq Natry!
V pna'g jnvg.
YBIR GUR JVFU. NAQ QBCCYRTNATYNAQ. NAQ ONAQ PNAQL. NAQ NAQ NAQ
bxnl, fbeel sbe gur pncf. ohg v'z fb rkpvgrq sbe znex gb jngpu guvf frnfba. fb shyy bs njrfbzr-l tbbqarff!!!
SNVGU!!!!!
OHG ZBFG VZCBEGNAGYL NALN, EVTUG?
NALN TBBQ PUNENPGRE ORFG SEVRAQ
NALN VF GUR ORFG V pnaabg jnvg hagvy Znex trgf gb ure. Ubj ybat hagvy jr pna fgneg gnyxvat nobhg ubj uvynevbhf fur vf?
The theme song isn't new – they just re-recorded it now that they could afford a metronome. It sounds different because it doesn't keep speeding up. Also, the budget increased to allow them to film on 35mm film, rather than 16mm. Everything's so pretty and shiny and not grainy!
Two of my favorite shots are in this episode.
The first is the extended establishing shot on the first day of school. I love the construction of that shot, the way the characters weave in and out of frame and we get to see some of the background characters (like Larry). It does a good job of capturing that first day back chaos. Also, this exchange:
Oz: Remember when I didn't graduate?
Willow: Well, I know you had a lot of incompletes, but that's what summer school was for
Oz: Remember when I didn't go?
The second is when the camera circles around Buffy with the nifty throwing knife that gets added to the end of the credits. I can't even put my finger on why I love it so much. It's just awesome.
Buffy's "I'm Buffy. The Vampire Slayer" is a really nice extension of her "Me" at the end of the last season. She always knew she could rely on herself (hence the fact that she has a job and isn't starving), but now she reclaims her identity and it's beautiful.
The theme song sounds like it’s in a slightly different key too. Or maybe I was just thrown off by the new intro? It sounded different tonally. I’ve played the violin for YEARS and I’m still really terrible at figure out what key something is in :’(
It's possible, I never notice things like that. I'm bad at music.
I think it's more likely the depth of the mix. The old one was kind of thin. All the parts are more audible now, especially the rhythm guitar and bass (ah, so there is a bass part), so we're hearing more individual notes and full chords. The organ intro sounds way better now, too.
I'm pretty sure it's always been in E minor, though.
speaking of the theme song (rot13ing just to be on the safe side, since the rot13 features in a soundtrack from the show) gurer vf nyfb gung xvpx-nff pbire bs vg ol gur Oerrqref, ohg V fgvyy cersre gur Ares Ureqre irefvba orpnhfr those first four notes of the intro have spelled "BADASS" to me for over half my life now, and will never cease to do so.
I just think of it as "the version without the scream."
Gur gurzr fbat vfa'g arj – gurl whfg er-erpbeqrq vg abj gung gurl pbhyq nssbeq n zrgebabzr. Vg fbhaqf qvssrerag orpnhfr vg qbrfa'g xrrc fcrrqvat hc.
Znex abgvprq vg fb V thrff fbzrguvat zhfg or qvssrerag, ohg V gubhtug gur arjyl erpbeqrq gurzr qvqa'g nccrne hagvy Snvgu, Ubcr, naq Gevpx? Be vf gur bayl qvssrerapr ng gung cbvag gung gurl erzbirq fbzr bs gur fbhaq rssrpgf (yvxr gur fpernz ng gur ortvaavat bs gur frpbaq evss), ohg unq bgurejvfr er-erpbeqrq gur fbat vgfrys ng gur ortvaavat bs gur frnfba?
V qba'g guvax gurl punatr gur perqvgf ntnva guvf frnfba. Gurl'ir nyernql tbggra evq bs gur fpernz naq guvf erpbeqvat bs gur gurzr fbat erznvaf sbe gur erfg bs gur fubj.
Ernyyl? Uhu. Ba zl QIQf, gur fpernz vf gurer sbe gur svefg gjb rcvfbqrf bs gur frnfba.
I was so grateful for the improved quality! I've been doing this rewatch on my laptop rather than on my TV because my DVD player broke, and watching the first two seasons on a fancy screen was almost painful (oh my god, bourgeoispeeves). Where they look okay on my old-ass TV (you know, not great, but fine), they look utterly terrible on my computer (as in, I CAN ONLY SEE HALF OF PEOPLE'S FACES BECAUSE THE REST IS JUST BLACK WITH SHADOW URGH).
One of my favorites is when Oz throws the stake and for a second you're all, oh my goodness, he's going to dust that vamp, and then it's a complete dud and you remember why Buffy is so special.
Am I the only one who prefers the original version of the theme song? It was way more punk rock.
– OMG NEW INTRO!! Did they have to use that clip of Giles and the rose, right before he finds Jenny?
– I love Buffy's angry face. Everyone in that diner is annoying. VERY annoying.
– I love Willow's 90s hat.
– HOLY SHIT XANDER AND CORDELIA SO AWKWARD I CAN'T. Their relationship is so weird. I like them together, but I don’t think it’s very healthy.
– OMG VAMPIRE CULT LADY!! KLAJSD;FLKJALS;DFJALSJFAS
– NOOO, DON’T BLAME GILES, JOYCE! 2 seconds before that I was thinking "what if Joyce and Giles got together…"
– Buffy…what are those pants. And are her bangs bleached? I forgot about that hairstyle. 90s fashion, please come back to me.
– THIS CREEPY MAN. HE MUST BE DOING IT. I BLAME HIM. Nothing good ever follows "Soandso is with us now"
– UGH WHY WAS I EATING YOGURT WHEN THAT GUY TORE OFF IS FACE??? WHYYY
And then I was too grossed out to take any more notes. Fin.
jung vs Wblpr naq Tvyrf tbg gbtrgure
"Lbh unq frk jvgu Tvyrf? Lbh unq frk jvgu TVYRF?!"
"Ba gur ubbq bs n cbyvpr pne… gjvpr?"
I didn't have to rot13 this to start laughing.
I miss 90s fashion. I dressed with a serious Cher from Clueless vibe yesterday. It was so fun.
Mini backpacks, knotting your shirts, etc. – come back to me!
The 80s keep coming back, it’s time for the 90s to shine again! I guess they briefly did this past summer (I saw some denim jumpers and floral dresses) but I need more! I had an awesome pair of pink overalls when I was a kid. Now THOSE need to make a comeback.
I do love my 80s fashion, but I need more variety. I had baby blue ones! I specifically remember wearing them when I did a dance routine to the song from the Rugrats movie for a school talent show. The rest of the time it was denim overalls. I also seem to recall a lot of spandex pants, but I hope that part I am misremembering.
RUGRATS!!! I loved that show! I wonder if it’s available online…somewhere..
I wore a LOT of brightly patterned leggings with large sweaters or turtlenecks, so you might not be misremembering :/ I remember wearing stirrup leggings too. And sweater vests with turtlenecks. And skorts. OH, THE SHAME. But I still miss it.
*cough*I have recently seen the Rugrats movie available at both Walmart and Target*cough*
EDIT: not to say that it is the same as the show but I think that might have been there too.
…I may have to make a trip to Walmart…
Uhhhh…. the whole show (excluding, I think, the first three seasons) is on Netflix Instant. My roommates and I kind of watch it… all the time.
I had the coolest outfit as a 90s child – floral patterned bike shorts and matching scrunchie, and t shirt with the same flower design as a big logo. I thought I was so awesome :p
that DOES sound cool! Did you have jelly shoes too? That would complete the awesomeness of the outfit! 😀
Nooo I didn't 🙁 apparently they were “not good for my feet” so my parents never let me get them. Such a tragedy!
NYOOOO!! Your parents were right, though. They were TERRIBLE shoes- rocks would get in them, you'd sweat in them and then your feet would smell, they offered no support whatsoever. BUT they looked cool!
YES! Every time I say what overalls to come back, people look at me like I just said I wished George Bush could be president again. I loved overalls, and I also had an adorable pair when I was a kid. You could find them in all kinds of cute colors, but now all you can get are denim worker overalls off ebay. Sigh.
90s fashion was kind of weird at time (see all the animal print that was all over everything), but it was also cute. Where is the 90s love, fashion world?
overalls are so comfortable and handy! They weren't all that flattering, but lots of trends aren't! One day…one…day….
I love overalls! Have you seen Rihanna's latest video? She has these black shiny overalls and she's ADORABLE. And the rest of the video is just awesome. In fact, I love it so much, I shall embed.
[youtube b3HeLs8Yosw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3HeLs8Yosw youtube]
Well that was an awesome three minutes that just got added to my life.
UGH WHY WAS I EATING YOGURT WHEN THAT GUY TORE OFF IS FACE??? WHYYY
I was eating a ham sandwich when I watched 'Go Fish' and that guy was skinned.
I…didn't eat the rest.
🙁 🙁 why do we eat food while watching Buffy?
The only thing worse is eating food while watching Bones!!!
Though, the other day I was eating and watching The X-Files, and then there were maggots throughout the episode! DO NOT WANT!
The hair! It was the era of sun-in, I think – because I distinctly remember my younger sister doing that with her hair all the summers she was in camp, which would've included 1998…though she's about six years younger than Buffy, but whatever. It was all across the land of teenagers?
Buffy: Hey Ken, wanna see my impression of Gandhi?
[beats him to death with a club]
Lily: Gandhi?
Buffy: Well, you know, he was really pissed-off.
[on Oz repeating a grade]
Willow Rosenberg: I'm trying to get to cute, really, but I'm still sorta stuck on strange.
Oz: Well, I'd be willing to bargain down to eccentric with an option on cool.
Oz: Oh, I don't know. I think we're kinda gettin' a rhythm down.
Xander Harris: We're losing half the vamps.
Oz: Yeah, but… rhythmically.
Buffy: You know, I just – I woke up and I looked in the mirror and I thought, "Hey, what's with all the sin? I need to change. I'm-I'm dirty, I'm-I'm bad with the sex, and the envy, and that-that loud music us kids listen to nowadays. B-" Oh, I just suck at undercover.
The shot of Buffy holding the axe waiting for demons to attack her….priceless…
The Gandhi line is so perfect. I think it's because it's so wrong.
The first time I heard that line…I was not sure whether to laugh or not…only Joss could be so demented…
An LJ friend of mine, norwie, thinks it's not so demented. Here's his comment on my review of "Anne":
"I really like Buffy's comment about Ghandi to Ken – because it is true: That is exactly what Ghandi would have done. The audience laughs, because within the western culture Ghandi is a stand-in for the ultra pacifist, while in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. (Tangent: Ghandi was very clear on his stance on violence and armed combat: First, try without active violence, if that doesn't succeed – take up arms. For anyone interested, go read south african liberation theory – eg. Mandela – , which heavily builds up on Gandhi and his stance on freedom and how to achieve it. Mandela's active role in building up the armed forces "Spear of the Nation" of the south african liberation movement are all build on Gandhi's theoretical groundworks).
I also like how it plays that Buffy is actually (like) Gandhi: She wants to live a peaceful life (ng guvf cbvag va gur frevrf), alas, Evil won't let her. She has to take up arms and fight (back)"
http://boot-the-grime.livejournal.com/18007.html
So cool…I would not be surprised if Joss knew that…
"Demented," like the words "crazy" and "insane," is against the rules of the site; please refrain from using it here in the future.
Here's one for me having never connected the words together. Looking at it now, it makes total sense that demented comes from dementia, but never crossed my mind.
Random question: Isn't "insane" technically a legal term that means "unable to distinguish between right and wrong"?
"The shot of Buffy holding the axe waiting for demons to attack her….priceless… "
So very iconic. ILU Joss Whedon!
Of the Sunnyvale gang, I felt the worst for Giles. Between Buffy being his only real purpose in life and having Joyce blame him for everything, I just wanted him to have someone to go to for comfort.
Was I the only one looking for Angel in what looked to me like Hell? As soon as Buffy went through the floor I thought for sure she would find Angel there.
Well, y'know, these hell dimensions all sort of look the same.
Did anyone else notice the Firefly/Buffy actor crossover?
Beat me to it ;op
Yay Dobson!
Ur'f n guerrcrng – va na rcvfbqr bs Natry, na rneyl frnfba bar rc juvpu vf hasbeghangryl pybfr gb guvf bar. Zl snajnax vf gung nf n qrzba va guvf Ohssl rcvfbqr ur perngrq n fxva gung ybbxrq yvxr n erny thl va YN (jub whfg unccraf gb nyfb or unys-qrzba)
Lhc. Ur'f n ung gevpx, rira; ur jnf ba Natry gbb.
V zvffrq vg…jnf gur onq thl gur fnzr npgbe nf gur onq thl Zny whfg jnyxrq hc gb naq fubg gb cebgrpg Evire va gur Sversyl cvybg???
Yep – Xra==Ynjerapr Qbofba 🙂
Ur’f fubjf hc ba Natry nf jryy. Vs lbh yvfgra gb gur pbzzragnel sbe Sversyl, Wbff Jurqba ersref gb uvf ung gevpxf, npgbef jub unq nccrnerq ba nyy guerr bs uvf fubjf. (Gurer jrer guerr ng gur gvzr.)
V pvcurerq guvf sbe Natry pnfgvat fcbvyref.
V pnaabg jnvg gb frr crbcyr ybfr vg jura jr uvg Frnfba 7 naq ANGUNA SENXXVAT SVYYVBA.
(be sbe gung znggre, FHZZRE TYNH'f npgvat qrohg va Frnfba 3 bs Natry)
Didn't realize he was Dobson. V riraghnyyl cynprq uvz nf Qblyr'f rk'f svnapr sebz Natry but would never have connected him with Dobson. (Zbfgyl orpnhfr V guvax bs Qbofba sebz uvf nccrnenapr va "Gubfr Yrsg Oruvaq," abg gur GI frevrf.)
The only real comic relief that exists in “Anne” comes from Xander and Cordelia’s attempts to pretend that they both don’t care about each other.
That and the fact that in the UK, Anne Summers is a major chain selling lingerie and sex toys. That provides some major comic relief on this side of the pond!
OMG I'm so glad I didn't make that connection during the episode, because this is now officially ruined for me.
Brb laughing forever.
Me neither. Now I will never be able to watch this episode seriously again :).
OMG, how did I never notice this?!
Me neither! Possibly because it's Ann Summers, as opposed to "Anne"?
Jnvg gvyy Znex frrf Yvyl ba Natry evtug hc gb gur ynfg rcvfbqr jura Thaa tbrf gb frr ure…
Random: If you look at the bottom of the screen during that part when Buffy's kicking demons off the platform, you can see them landing on carefully placed safety mats.
I love this episode–such a great way to set up for S3, and it makes my heart swell with love for the Scoobies (hagvy gur arkg rcvfbqr, gung vf, jura gurl'er nyy whqtl ohggubyrf gb ure nobhg ehaavat njnl nsgre, lbh xabj, fur XVYYRQ URE ARJYL ER-FBHYRQ OBLSEVRAQ NAQ URE ZBZ GBYQ URE GB TRG BHG BS GUR UBHFR). Especially Giles. Oh Giles.
Giles: I mean, uh, you know, I appreciate your efforts to keep the vampire population down until Buffy returns, but, uh, well if anything should happen to you, or you… should be killed, I should take it somewhat amiss.
Willow: You'd be cranky?
Giles: Entirely.
omg I want him to be my school's librarian and guide me through my life in his caring yet reserved British way.
*fvtu* Lrnu, arkg rcvfbqr vf ebhtu. V hfrq gb ungr vg sbe vg'f sehfgengvatarff
Both me, my sister and my mother all have huge crushes on Giles. My mother is a librarian though, and she claims about 90% of all male British Librarians are gay, so…no luck in her library.
Okay list of random thoughts because I have a massive headache:
– First of all: Yay for the rerecorded theme tune (I really prefer this version to the previous one), new logo and improved film quality. Everything just looks so much clearer now compared to the previous seasons. And Willow's haircut is adorable.
– It's a nice touch to bring back Chantarelle from Lie to Me. Her summary of her backstory, with the constant changes of her identity give an initially silly character (she seems to have realised who ridiculous the whole vampire cult thing was) some extra depth and makes her very sympathetic.
– "…and not have quite as many myterious deaths…" lol Larry
– Anne Summers…well done Hank and Joyce/writers.
– the toy duck in Buffy's apartment is cute but, no Mr Gordo?
– "I don't know what a tea cosy is, but I want one" lol
– I may be imagining it but I swear the new final shot of the credits, with the camera moving around Buffy, is a slightly different take to the one used in the actual scene. Sarah's expression looks slightly different, she looks more confident in the credits version and a little more unsure in the episode itself.
– "Gandhi?" "Well you know, if he was really pissed off." it makes no sense but I still lol.
– And Joyce seems to realise before she even opens the door, aww.
that shot looks different to me too! perhaps it was a different take.
"- "…and not have quite as many myterious deaths…" lol Larry "
Love that line from Larry! Guess those Sunnydalers aren't as oblivious as we thought!
Okay, during the montage of kids living on the street? I SWEAR TO GOD, SUMMER GLAU.
<img src="http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z214/Ladililn/summerglauinbuffy-1.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
I MEAN, RIGHT????
Except I can find no mention of this anywhere on the Internet, so maybe I am just delusional??? Thoughts???
Might just be a lookalike. No visible ears here, and it's a terribly shadowy shot, but I think Glau's jaw might be squarer than this person's? Maybe??
She kind of looks like a blend of Miranda Otto and Summer Glau, but maybe?
That's definitely not Summer Glau. Summer Glau was actually a ballerina before she started acting, and her first acting gig was several years after this episode aired.
Oh, I know! That's why I didn't actually think it could be her. I was just shocked that seemingly no one else had freaked out about the resemblance like I had. Maybe I just have even worse eyesight than I thought…
Ehhh. She's got a similar expression and the sort of soulful dark eyes, but she doesn't really look all that similar to Summer Glau beyond that.
Doesn't really look like Summer to me… Maybe a little bit? But not enough to where i think it's actually her.
That's not Summer Glau. This is 1998, Summer didn't even move to LA till 2001-02 (ohg whfg lbh jnvg, lbh'yy frr ure qrohg lrg). Also wasn't she still working full-time with a ballet company in Texas when this episode was shot?
To me, she looks more like Melissa Leo's younger sister (if she has one).
One of my top 10 maybe.
My favourite moments.
Oz throwing the stake.
The fight on the stage.
Joss’s 4 minute one-er after the credits.
I love that one-er. This is around the time I started getting interested in cinematography and how different shots and angles can enhance a story.
Okay, I really like the different part near the end of the new/updated/rerecorded/whatever theme song (DUHDUH DUHDUH DUH), but I miss the the the the like… I don't know what it was. But near the beginning of the theme song, when they showed Amy's mom and that big flash of light. I miss that part. Yeah.
And it totally messes up my Buffy theme song dance.Va bgure arjf, V nz tbvat gb jngpu Nzraqf va n pbhcyr bs zvahgrf naq V jnf rkpvgrq jura V fnj gur rcvfbqr gvgyr orpnhfr vg znqr zr guvax gung znlor Jvyybj & Bm jbhyq znxr hc! Be ng yrnfg fgneg urnqvat va gung qverpgvba! Naq gura V fnj gung Wbff Jurqba jebgr gung rcvfbqr.
the scream? I still always do the scream during the credits every single time I watch Buffy. You can't take it away from me!
I could never tell if it was just a scream or if it was some instrument or something, but yes, the scream! I want it baaaaack!
I like the that in Seth Green's part in the credits, they include the scene where he throws the stake. It looks so badass, it's super-funny to come back to this episode and remember that it didn't actually work! *love*
I like this episode a lot. It was surprising that is didn’t simply start off with Buffy back home, but with a really depressing few days in LA.
Oh yay, the Scoobies are so badass.
“He’s getting away and ow!”
(V ybir ubj fvzvyne lrg qvssrerag guvf fprar vf gb gur frnfba fvk bcrare.
Gurl ner zhpu orggre svtugref guerr lrnef yngre)
Vg’f shaal gung gurl ner znxvat fhpu n ovt qrny bhg bs gur rkchyfvba sebz fpubby, va frnfba fvk vg jbhyq or zber yvxr “Fur pna’g whfg fubj hc, fur’f qrnq.)
LA is one depressing place (Natry jbhyq xabj) compared to Sunnydale; loud anonymous, packed with people, perfect for vamps and slayer alike.
Chantarelle! She is so cute and just so naïve when it comes to “forever”.
Do we know her at actual name?
Cordy and Xander are so in love, so are Oz and Willow.
Happy couples are happy. Naq unccl vf jung Wbff unf gb qvfgebl.
I adore how the contrast between Buffy’s life and the Scoobies’ is shot with the Bronze and begging kids on the streets, really beautiful.
It’s so sad that Giles is searching the globe for Buffy when she is actually so close to them.
But Joyce shouldn’t be angry at Giles, it is heartbreaking.
“Who exactly is she?” Oh Joyce, I want to hug you.
I like the idea of dimension where time moves differently (rira gur uryy qvzrafvbaf va gur Ohsslirefr ner nyy qvssrerag jvgu guvf bar univat nobhg bar uhaqerq lrnef va bar qnl, gur bar Natry tbrf gb vg’f nebhaq bar uhaqerq lrnef va svir zbagu gur bar jurer Pbaabe fgnlrq gurer ner bayl rvtugrra lrnef va n srj zbagu.)
“I don’t even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one.” beautiful line.
Buffy is still not better at undercover and she even admits it.
The way the demon peals his face off is much scarier than the actual demon face.
The other dimension enslavement is used so often in Sci-fi and fantasy, but I still like it a lot.
It’s nice that they don’t manage to break Buffy and don’t spend much time showing us how horrible it is. (Though I love the Stargate SG1 version even more.)
“I’m Buffy the vampire Slayer and you are?”, wonderful classic line.
Hammer and sickle, fight communism with its own weapons!
“Wanna see my impression of Gandhi?” I love this to pieces.
(V’yy pnyy, purpx hc ba lbh. Ab, lbh jba’g, ohg qba’g jbeel, Natry jvyy gnxr pner bs vg.)
And then she’s back and there is no yelling, no arguments, just a hug. So sweet.
Gubhtu jr jvyy unir gb qrny jvgu gur bgure fghss fbba.
Hammer and sickle, fight communism with its own weapons!
Funny you should say that, because I've always read this hell dimension as a capitalism allegory 😛
Oh, it could be both. I just though this mass of people working hard for a greater goal (reminds me of LPGs) withoutany way out of it worked well for communism.
Communism as practiced in Soviet Union, maybe. They never instituted actual Marxist communism.
I agree! After all, Buffy is freeing the workers and enabling them to rise up against those who own the machines and profit from their labor. Down with the demon hell dimension of capitalism! etc.
Yeah, this!
(V’yy pnyy, purpx hc ba lbh. Ab, lbh jba’g, ohg qba’g jbeel, Natry jvyy gnxr pner bs vg.)
Ubj qb lbh xabj Ohssl qvqa'g? Whfg orpnhfr jr qba'g frr vg ba fperra, qbrfa'g zrna vg qbrfa'g unccra…
V oryvir Yvyl vf fbzrbar jub vf uneq gb svaq, nyjnlf punatvat ure anzr naq ubzr.
Nyfb, gurer vf n ybg tbvat ba va frnfba guerr, V jbhyqa'g oynzr ure sbe abg gelvat gb genpx ure qbja.
Do we know her at actual name?
Gur fubbgvat fpevcg sbe "Yvr gb Zr" fnlf vg jnf Wbna, naq ohssl.jvxvn tvirf ure ynfg anzr nf Nccyrol. V'z abg fher jurer gung'f sebz.
V ubcr vg vf Wbna, gung jbhyq or nyy xvaqf bs njrfbzr
Pbaabe'f fgnl va Dhbegbgu jnf rvtugrra lrnef va n srj jrrxf, npghnyyl. Yrff guna n zbagu, V oryvrir, sebz Ubygm'f ernpgvba gb ernqvat gur cncre.
Bu, gung'f vagrerfgvat. V svtherq gur gvzr orgjrra gur frnfbaf jbhyq or gur fnzr sbe Ohssl naq Natry, ohg gurl ner nyjnlf gur fnzr va rvgure fubj.
Frnfba bar bayl unq gur fhzzre oernx orgjrra gur frnfbaf, va frnfba gjb Ohssl yrsg orsber gurl svavfurq gur fpubby lrne, fb jub xabjf.
Orgjrra frnfbaf? Pbaabe jnf noqhpgrq va rcvfbqr 16 naq pnzr onpx va rcvfbqr 19.
The shooting script says that her original name is Joan Appleby.
…gung whfg znxrf Gnohyn Enfn orggre.
V xabj.
-Aww, Slayerettes. Y'all get an A for effort.
-I approve of Oz's sleeping habits.
-Season One has been stricken from the opening. Also thanks for the spoilers production team. 😛 Not that I pay enough attention to remember much.
-Why has the library become Grand Central Station?
-Awesome plan Larry! 🙂
-Oh Xander/Cordy. So soon?
-Sad music shouldn't accompany Spaghetti O's. 🙁
-Aww Giles 🙁
-Chanterelle! I thought she looked familiar, but I thought it was just American Actor Bingo again.
-Aww Giles again. 🙁 It is not his fault Joyce.
-Yay, Xander and Cordy is still functional…not literally of course. 🙂
-I can't really say much about the rest. I have never really experienced being on my own like that so I know I can't talk about it as if I know what it is like. I will say that Ken was pure evil for taking advantage of people with his false promises, and I am proud (that sounds condescending but I can't think of another word) of Lily for “taking care of herself” (and Buffy and the others) by pushing him.
-I also want to know what happened to the other kids that seem to have been left sealed in the other dimension, unless they escaped off-screen?
One thing I like about the internet is the ability to choose your own name. I would be too insecure to do as Lily does in real-life. I tried going by my middle name once and I was terrified someone would catch me at it as if I was doing something illegal. On the internet though I have so many names: Yavosaur here, a slight variation on that before; in other places I go by Falcon/Falke, Black, Danica, and a few others. They don't even have much to do with each other, but I would probably react to any of these in real life if someone called out.
It's not so hard to go by a different name in real life… just introduce yourself as it! I've gone by so many different names, but mostly Lynne [my middle name] and Fuchsia. Lynne I started using when I was twelve, I started by telling it to my internet friends but after a couple years, some of my "real life" friends started calling me it as well. And I started going by Fuchsia sometime between my junior and senior years of college, my college friends all accepted it without a fuss. When I moved to Chicago, I didn't know a single person there so I just told everyone my name was Fuchsia and they went along with it. Even to this day, some people are surprised when they find out that it's not my birth name, and very few people aside from my family knows what that is.
Sadly I haven't ever moved/lived somewhere on my own yet to give this a try.
You did remind me of a story though. I stopped introducing myself by my full name right after Middle School, my full name has too many sylibles so it is just easier. My first week of college I had met maybe 5 people and I had used my nickname when introducing myself to all of them. I was in my friend's dorm building and I heard someone calling out my full name, and it really freaked me out. Turns out is was someone I had been in band with in Middle School.
In other words, like Avit said below, it can get confusing.
Well moving somewhere new definitely makes it easier but like I said, I started going by Fuchsia while I was still in college. It was pretty easy to just tell people, "Hey, I'm going by Fuchsia now" and they all accepted it. Possibly because it fits me so much better than my birth name. Even people from high school now call me Fuchsia. I think facebook definitely helps with this, and also possibly because a lot of my friends are trans*/genderqueer/allies and are used to people changing their names to fit their gender expression. That wasn't my reasoning behind my name change [at the time] but it helped.
Yeah, as long as you stick to putting your legal name down for forms and stuff that require it for ID/legal reasons, no problem. I literally went through ten or eleven names in my first couple years of university, the only catch is that if you keep certain names for certain places, people who overlap might be confused and ask exactly which one to call you by.
That reminds me, I still have to change my name on my credit card…
Why has the library become Grand Central Station?
First day of the new school year. People are apparently picking up their textbooks.
And yeah, I, too, love the ability to define my own identity online. I actually have a split personality on the internet. This is the one I use for fandomish stuff, and then I have another one I use for "real life" stuff, though that's not under my real name either.
"who are you?"
"i'm buffy, the vampire slayer and you are?"
i had to go out of town for a few days, so i missed commenting on the season 2 finale. to say that i am sad about that is an understatement. alas! moving on to season 3!
first let me say that i HATE xander's hair here. the long-and-slicked-back-with-gel style is NOT working for me. now that that's out of the way…
the build up to oz throwing that stake and then it falling WAY short and bouncing off the grave stone is amazing. you're always subverting what is expected, btvs. and OZ, YOU ARE SO CUTE.
and then buffy wakes up in full makeup. huge pet peave.
seth green is in the opening credits! let us rejoice!
buffy just taking that guy smacking her ass burns me up. i feel like kendra. HIT HIM, BUFFY. HIT HIM!!!
url, vg'f punagreryyr/ yvyl/ naar! vg'f nyjnlf oybja zl zvaq ubj chg gbtrgure fur vf jura jr arkg frr ure ba natry. v'z abg fnlvat vg vfa'g cbffvoyr, ohg vg frrzf uvtuyl hayvxryl. gung fnvq, v yvxr ure.
"…uh, well, if anything should happen to you and you should be killed, i should take it somewhat amiss."
"you'd be cranky?"
"entirely."
cordelia is still rocking the sweaters tied around her shoulders/ waist. I DO NOT GET IT.
seeing that many people in the library is really jarring.
oz repeating his senior year could come off as ludicrous, but i don't think that it does. from what we know about him, this development fits with his personality nicely. plus MORE OZ.
hi, larry!
"if we can focus, keep discipline, and not have quite as many mysterious deaths, sunnydale is gonna rule!" LULZ.
url, vg'f pneybf, gur ung gevpx! v guvax v yvxr uvz orfg ba sversyl, crefbanyyl.
the cheesy song and montage of homeless kids is CHEESY, and it takes me out of the story every time i see this episode.
"i don't even know what a tea cozy is, but i want one."
xander and cordelia stake the vamp between them, and then they make out. it's clever. it's hot. i like it.
gurl frg hc urer gung gvzr pna, naq qbrf, zbir qvssreragyl va bgure qvzrafvbaf, fb gung jura natry pbzrf onpx, gur nhqvrapr tbrf nybat jvgu vg zber ernqvyl, v guvax.
"wanna see my impression of gandhi?"
"gandhi?"
"well, you know, he was really pissed off."
I'm glad I am not the only one that finds that montage a bit cheesy. And then it's the girl with giant breasts and no bra singing at the bronze and it looks weird to me and I am even more distracted and taken out of the story.
woo early post, came here to browse through comments and got a new post instead. I knew when rewatching that there would be themes that you'd talk about and you didn't disappoint. I'm currently going to be studying these groups for a semester so it's good to hear the 'yeah this isn't a good thing you're doing if there's a catch to it' argument. I've been fortunate enough to never need their help but the whole missionary-salvation side of things does leave me a little uncomfortable, almost as if it's their fault they're poor/in need of help, which is a really old-fashioned idea that in an ideal world would be cast out and treated as the idiocy that it is.
I also see a lot of Marxist ideology in this episode. Working class enslaved, working to the bone by the ruling class (although by force here rather than persuasion/manipulation) before they're chucked out at the end when they can work no more. Buffy, the fighter, who says "No!" starting a revolution by refusing to be seen as a nobody, fights back and, more importantly, wins.
Aww buffy, I love you<3
And the hammer and sickle.
Huh. I always saw the demon slave world as a very thinly veiled allegory of the Soviet Union itself, and defeating it with it's own symbols (hammer + sickle) as an extra irony.
V qba’g guvax jr’yy rire frr Yvyl ntnva
Abj gung lbh'er jngpuvat Natry, lbh jvyy!
Did that guy die who got hit by the demon when he said his name?
I'm pretty sure that yes, yes he did.
I like this episode, but I can't really say a lot about it because as you said, most of the middle part is depressing, and not in a "I have to kill my boyfriend so the world doesn't get sucked into hell"-way, so it doesn't leave me with much to say.
I did just notice for the first time today that they actually have a sex worker in the background when Chanterelle/Lily catches up with Buffy, which… also not something I can say anything about, just noticing.
But the final 10 minutes are awesome and Buffy kicks some serious arse, and then! The most amazing TV hug.
German title: Anne, gefangen in der Unterwelt – 'Anne, trapped in the Underworld' because, you know, we have to make the title ~dramatic~.
Oh wait, two comments:
– How convenient that Oz failed so he can be around for the season a lot more than he would've been otherwise. How convenient.
– Also convenient? That depressing night at the Bronze just falls into sad montage time. Imagine if they had played the Macarena.
Yeah, Oz repeating senior year always makes me roll my eyes a bit. I can totally see him failing; what I can't see is him going back instead of dropping out. It's not like he needs the diploma to get a job. We know from What's My Line that there's a software company that already wants to recruit him. So why isn't he taking them up on that–or just bumming around washing dishes to support his music-playing?
BECAUSE WILLOW
I really hope not. I mean, I don't know about you, but I'd find it pretty creepy and over-invested if my boyfriend failed school so he could spend more time with me. It's not like they can't still date if he's working in town somewhere!
No, not the failing part, the staying part! I can easily see him as the type of person to ignore busywork and not take enough required-classes and so forth; despite being intelligent (in a way that is academically recognized, too), school itself isn't too high on his priority list. So having already failed, he chooses to redo a year.
Yes, I can totally see him doing this on purpose just to be with Willow and the Scoobies.
After all, school is not hindering him in his carrer.
Cebonoyl gur fnzr ernfba ur vf va pbyyrtr yngre.
The German titles for things always crack me up.
V fgvyy guvax gur shaavrfg bar vf "Natry – Wnrtre qre Svafgreavf" – V zrna, gung znxrf vg fbhaq yvxr ur fubhyq or tbvat nebhaq rvgure jvgu n terng ovt sybbqynzc, be fbzr zntvpny qnexarff genc, hfvat uvf fgrnygul uhagvat jnlf.
Does anyone else get kind of annoyed that Joyce blames everything on Giles when she's the one who threw Buffy out of the house?
No. I think framing it as Joyce throwing Buffy out of the house takes things out of context and oversimplifies the reasons Buffy actually left which this episode shows has more to do with not wanting to the The Slayer anymore and less to do with the fact that Joyce told her not to come back.
But Joyce doesn't know that.
Well we don't know what was in the note Buffy left. But I mean, other than that, from Joyce's perspective, the reason that she and Buffy fought was because of being The Slayer which is something that she blames Giles for at least she's blaming him for helping Buffy conceal it from her for so long. And if it hadn't been this huge secret that was dumped on her in a high pressure situation then the fight wouldn't have happened.
And it shouldn't be hard for even a teenager to see that Joyce didn't mean it literally.
she might not have meant the "Don't come back" thing, but that entire fight was about Buffy telling her mom who she really was and her mom rejecting it. I don't blame her for leaving.
Yes. I am annoyed at Joyce deflecting blame. I adore Joyce, and am sympathetic to her situation, but she should really be a gown-up and face her own failings first.
enigmaticagentscully where are you????…Luv your comments
WELL THE DARN REVIEW WENT UP EARLY AGAIN. Awww that's really nice of you to say though!
Sorry! I'm here now! Every Wednesday I go to my sister's flat to watch episodes of Buffy and then race back in time for 9pm (when the reviews usually go up here in Jolly Olde Englande).
But every now and then I come back and the review is already up and y'all have commented and left already and I get sad because I've missed a lot of discussion.
But no power in the verse will stop me from having my say, don't you worry. 😛
Cool the only reason the early post did not catch me be surprise is that I lurk hoping Mark will post because I hate WAITING…..
HAH I totally ran home from work and threw the laundry around and did the thing with the food for the dinner and wrote cards to my grandmothers and then it was like AUGH IT'S ALREADY 9.15 I'M LATE FOR THE REVIEW.
I Love This Episode Because It Deals with Identity Issues, but Also This:
This is our year, I'm telling you. Best football season ever. I'm so in shape, I'm a rock. It's all about egg whites. If we can focus, keep discipline…and not have quite as many mysterious deaths, Sunnydale is gonna rule!
Almost forgot…so much for unaware Sunnydale….jnvg gvyy Znex frrf gur fghqragf ng gur cebz tvir Ohssl gur yvggyr hzoeryyn
Vg'f yvxr Yneel pbzcyrgryl wvakrq uvzfrys whfg ol fnlvat gung, cbbe thl :). Vg'f bar bs gubfr dhbgrf juvpu cresrpgyl fhzf hc gur vqrn bs Fhaalqnyr gubhtu.
Bu Fhaalqnyr, lbh ner fb hacercnerq
"I'm Buffy, the vampire slayer. And you are?"
That, right there, encapsulates so much of… SO MUCH that I'm having trouble finding the words.
It's certainty. She knows exactly who she is.
It's equality. She knows she's at least as good as, if not better, than the questioner.
It's everything I wanted to be when I grew up.
Oh, wait, I am theoretically growed up now, and most days I am like that!
We're still working on the other days.
-WILLOW, YOU'RE SO SASSY AND I ADORE YOUR HAIR. I LOVE YOU
-Cheater!
-Oooh, pretty dress, Buffy
-Head!Angel, you're so cheesy. I hate you
-David Boreanaz in the credits: BOOO (I thought you were gone, Angel) – nothing against DB though. It also means I already got a prediction wrong.
-Seth Green in the credits: YAYAY I love you, Oz
-Cordelia, you're so cute
-This is depressing
-Chatarelle! Never expected to see her again
-Rickie??? weird
-Creeeeeepy
-Buffy, you're such a badass <3
-I DON'T KNOW WHAT A TEA COZY IS EITHER, BUT I WANT ONE TOO. I imagine it to be similar to a doily. Or a beret. DOBBY HAS ONE, DOESN'T HE???
-Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh
-BUFFY, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH
-Lily, I love you too
-All those people still down there… 🙁
-Joyce, I have mixed feelings about you. I will reserve judgment.
If this episode is a solid indication of what the third season will be like, I think I'll enjoy it very much. YAYAY
A tea cosy is a cover for a teapot to keep the tea warm while it brews. I think they tend to be knitted, traditionally?
(The mere mention of them always reminds me of in Pushing Daisies when Emerson Cod knitted himself a pair of handgun cozies. OMG LAUGHING SO HARD.)
Ohhh, cool. I think I just assumed it was clothing because I thought it was a "tea cozy," not a "tea cosy." And cozy makes me think of warm hats that fit snugly on your head.
<3 Pushing Dasies <3 But I forgot about that. Good thing my recently ordered DVDs arrived today so I can refresh my memory!
"Cosy" is the British spelling of "cozy". It's knitted item, rather like a hat, to cover your teapot and keep it nice and cozy.
…between this and the other co(s/z)y thread, "co(s/z)y" doesn't look like a word to me anymore.
I must have missed the other one. "Cosy" never looks right to me, even though I use British spelling for just about everything else. (I went to Uni in the UK for five years, and I got points docked from my papers if I used American spelling. I've been back in the US for nine years now, and I don't think I'll ever break the habit.)
A few years back there was a craze at my university back in New Zealand where students would wear tea cozies as hats in winter. So you're actually not far off! :p
Please don't say "craze" on this site.
Wow, you know I had never made that etymological connection before. From a person with mental health issues, thanks for pointing this out to me!
Emerson's knitting hobby was one of my favorite things about that show. Wasn't he shown reading a magazine about YARN JOKES one time?
Yes! And it was called "Knit Wit", IIRC. 😀
KNIT WIT
FANTASTIC
RIGHT??? BEST SHOW EVER.
-All those people still down there… 🙁
I always think this, too. Like, way to save fifteen people Buffy. Too bad you missed the other 100. Oh well, I suppose no one is perfect.
Yeah, I was wondering what happened to all the older kidnap victims. Looks like Buffy just saved the newest recruits. But then I guess Ken has to go get a fresh batch every day, since the old ones are worn out by then.
Yeah. The timey-wimey-ness of this episode makes my head hurt if I think about it too hard. If a hundred years in Hell is equivalent to a day on Earth, then it seems like Ken would need to be recruiting new people every hour. I'm not sure where he finds enough homeless kids to populate his factory thing.
No wonder their demon recruitment effort is based out of LA, huh? I wonder if Ken was the only recruiter they had?
Also, if time moves more quickly in our world, and Lily fell in a good 5 seconds before Buffy and Ken did, wouldn't she have been waiting for quite a while? Let's see… if 24 hours is the equivalent of 60 years, then 1 hour is 2.5 years, which means 1 minute is the equivalent of 15.2 days, which means 1 second is the equivalent of just over 6 hours. So if Buffy fell in 5 seconds after Lily, Lily should have been waiting there for over 30 hours. Yeesh. The logical trappings of this episode do not hold up upon scrutiny. (Though that was never Joss's strong suit anyway.)
Yeah, I always think it should go the other way. Like one day in hell ends up being 100 years on Earth. But then the emotional impact and thematic stuff doesn't work. And I think that's more important in Buffy
Clothing will always be the first thing to comes to mind when I hear "tea cosy", because of Dobby, and because it sounds like Buffy wants to wear one. Even though I now know it's a cover for a teapot.
David Boreanaz in the credits: BOOO (I thought you were gone, Angel)
You know, he WAS in my Hulu credits. It didn't occur to me.
Do any other long time viewers remember if Angel was always in the credits for 3×1 back when the show was airing? That seems like a pretty big spoiler for them to just tip off that Angel isn't gone from the Buffy verse forever. I mean, now it's not, because everyone knows an Angel spin-off exits. But at the time….
Which makes me think… V qrsvavgryl erzrzore gung va frnfba sbhe gur perqvg frdhrapr ercynprq Bm nf n znva punenpgre va gur perqvgf jvgu Fcvxr nsgre Bm yrsg gur fubj. V ernyyl ubcr gung'f fgvyy gehr ba Uhyh naq Argsyvk, rgp. Vs gur perqvgf tvir njnl Bm'f qrcnegher naq Fcvxr wbvavat gur pnfg sebz gur ortvaavat bs frnfba sbhe, gung'f n ovt fcbvyre sbe nalbar jub qvqa'g xabj. (Fher, nyzbfg rirelbar cebonoyl xabjf sebz orvat ba gur vagrearg gung Fcvxr orpbzrf n znva punenpgre naq gura n tbbq cbegvba bs crbcyr jvyy unir svtherq bhg gung Bm riraghnyyl yrnirf orpnhfr bs Jvyybj'f snzr nf n tnl punenpgre, ohg abg JURA.)
Well David Boreanaz was in this episode. He appeared in Buffy's dream.
They didn't have the money to keep making new credits, so I'm pretty sure we get this set of credits for the entire season.
V guvax vg jnf va gur sbhegu frnfba gung gurl unq rabhtu rkgen ohqtrg gb nqq Fcvxr naq Evyrl gb gur perqvgf zvqjnl guebhtu, naq gb qb gur fcrpvny perqvgf sbe Wbanguna. Nsgre gung, V guvax gur perqvgf punatrq n pbhcyr bs gvzrf n frnfba
Bar bs gur guvatf gung nyjnlf vexrq zr jnf gung gurl arire nqqrq Nzore Orafba, hagvy gur qnl gurl xvyyrq ure.
Vg'f qrsvavgryl fgvyy gung jnl ba QIQ, jvgu gur bcravat perqvgf punatvat zvq-frnfba 4 (npghnyyl, V guvax gurl punatr gjvpr, bapr gb nqq Evyrl, naq bapr gb qebc Bm/Nqq Fcvxr, ohg abg 100% fher ba gung.)
Gur erny ceboyrz vf gur svefg rcvfbqr bs NgF 5 univat Fcvxr va gur bcravat perqvgf, qrfcvgr vg orvat n ynfg zbzrag fhecevfr va gur rcvfbqr.
Ok, I had a LOT of thoughts for this one, so I’m re-watching the episode in the background as I do this to jog my memory and trying to go through in roughly chronological order here:
-Did the theme music change? I mean, the clips changed obviously, but I feel like the music was a little different too. Sort of…smoother?
-Speaking of which, it always bothers me that they use clips of stuff you haven’t seen yet in the intro. It bothers me even more that they used the clip of Angel snapping Jenny’s neck in the intro. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? Yeah, because I want to be forcibly reminded of THAT horrific scene every time I see the opening credits. Jeez!
-“If we can focus, keep discipline…and not have so many mysterious deaths, I’m telling ya, Sunnydale is gonna RULE!” BEST QUOTE OF THE EPISODE. Possibly the only moment that made me smile.
-Xander and Cordelia are adorkable. I love them both so much more together! Ok, so that made me smile too.
-I totally recognised Chanterelle as soon as she appeared! I love the continuity in this show, I really do. All the stuff about homeless kids in this episode was really heartbreaking too. Although the actual plot with the demons and whatnot was pretty weird, it still hit quite close to home – the idea of people preying on the vulnerable and lost, those that wouldn’t be missed. It felt creepily like something that could happen. But I’m glad Buffy helped her in the end, at least.
-I can’t BELIEVE what an asshole Joyce was to Giles! Ok, ok, she was worried about Buffy and I kind of get where she’s coming from but…jeez, the one person who might have some idea of what she’s going through, and she’s a complete dick to him. Though it’s not entirely her fault and I can’t bring myself to HATE her for it, it’s still gonna take me a while to really forgive Joyce for all this recent stuff.
-Giles going out to look for Buffy, and the Scoobies picking up the slack with their little slaying team…BE STILL MY HEART.
-This continues to be one of the most depressing shows I have ever seen. Since about halfway through season two, it’s just continued down this long slippery slope of…of doom. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a bad thing – I mean, hey, I have a certain fondness for being emotionally traumatised by a show, hence my love of stuff like Battlestar Galactica and Game of Thrones. But I would really appreciate it if they let up just a bit as we move into this next season. Maybe they could alternate, y’know? Have one season with a really positive ending (a la season one) and the next with a depressing one (a la season two). That way…we could get some happiness and victories this time please? Please?
I used to obsess over the opening clips at the beginning of every season to get the barest hint of what was to come.
Chanterelle going from Vampire groupie to pushing the bad guy off the ledge …got to love that…
They seem to mix in clips from the first couple episodes of any new season along with clips from previous seasons; I guess they figure since it's in the first few episodes, you're not really getting spoiled for anything major. *shrug* It's not uncommon for shows to do this. Personally, I kinda like it; the new clips are enticing hints for me. (But I am a shameless spoiler-hound who hears "What? Spoilers are on the internet? I MUST FIND THEM AND READ THEM NOW.")
I swear I heard the 'mysterious deaths' line somewhere and yet… I don't think I ever actually watched this episode. I should probably go back and do that.
If you don't want depressing… don't watch Joss Whedon (watch ponies or something instead!) I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but uh, yeah, you're not prepared, as the motto goes.
And yes, you are correct, the intro music was updated by Nerf Herder. Not actually sure what they adapted, but it does sound a lot better 😀
They re-recorded it specifically so it could be included in the TV soundtrack. Mostly it was just bringing them into a better studio and playing it cleaner with better production values (and also if you listen to the soundtrack version, it's quite a bit longer.)
You know, while Joyce was a dick to Giles in this episode, I always loved when they showed her doing flawed things. As with any character, in my opinion, if they never screw up, or never say something they don't mean, they become caricatures. In this case, rather than portray Joyce as the concept of what a good single mother should be, they portray her as real, flaws and all. She loves her daughter, first and foremost, but like every single parent (or person) on the entire planet, she has a spectacular ability to fuck up, despite her good intentions.
I think part of what endears many of these characters to me is that they do screw up, especially when under the stress of heightened emotions. It makes it easier to relate to them and their stories when they say/do things that we have either also done (or thought about), or seen others say/do. We can all sit here and pretend all day long that we would "never do/say that," but if we are being honest, haven't all of us done/said something equally terrible, only to regret it later? Don't we all have moments when we reflect on the past and blush at the thought of how we behaved in a given situation?
I know I'm way projecting at this point, so all I'm trying to say is this – there's not a single character on the show that's without sin, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
You hit the nail on the head. They are all flawed in their own ways and yet entirely lovable. Okay maybe not Xander but that's… complicated. He's sometimes lovable though!
It's completely realistic that Joyce would feel betrayed by Giles. Here she thought he was just a librarian who took an interest in this group of kids for… uncertain but seemingly innocent reasons. (He never gives off an unsavory "I like these kids because they're all unreasonably attractive" vibe.) And then she finds out that he's secretly been sending her daughter off to get maybe, or actually, get killed every night. I'd definitely be a little miffed. Though I am mad that she makes Giles make that super sad face, I can completely understand it, and I think Giles does too.
All the +1s!
"-Speaking of which, it always bothers me that they use clips of stuff you haven’t seen yet in the intro."
I think this is one of those places where it's hard to strike a balance, because you want to use all the pretty new stuff, but at the same time, if you use all the pretty new stuff, are you spoiling? I think the best way is to do what they did here – there's clips that I've spotted from the first three, maybe four episodes, as well as the S1/S2 stuff, but nothing that is actually spoilery for plot – at least, nothing more than the characters, because, well, David Boreanaz is in the credits…though at least his one scene this ep was BEFORE the credits, because it's at least slightly better that way.
I think it's harder with Season 1 – when you HAVE to use stuff from later eps, or have no credits at all. In later seasons you can at least use stuff from previous seasons, including major plot stuff (and, seriously, I will always associate the Buffy/Angel fight with that point in the music, which was obviously an addition this season). But in Season 1, you're screwed if you don't spoil a little.
I guess the trick is to not spoil too much, or if you're really into not being spoiled, at least with DVDs you can skip over the credits, and you can always go back and watch them later. I do recommend watching them all at some point, because I think the Buffy ones are generally well-done.
YAYAY! NEW DVD MENUS. The s2 DVD menus are awful, JSYK.
Anyway, I think that this is a pretty great episode, in terms of writing. I mean, it’s not particularly bombastic or show stopping or dramatic, but I think it’s a pretty clever exploration on names and identity while at the same time easing the viewer back into the world of Sunnydale.
After the events of last season, Buffy left town and has ended up in Los Angeles where she is living under another name in a crappy apartment and working at a diner. The episode opens with Buffy dreaming of being with Angel and idk. I think this bolsters the argument that the reason Buffy left Sunnydale was because of what happened with Angel and not just because of what Joyce said (although no doubt that did figure into her overall emotional state at the time). Buffy is in LA which is where her father is, so even if she felt unwelcome with Joyce, she could still stay with her dad, but that fact that she doesn’t choose to do so indicates to me that Buffy really just wanted to be on her own, away from the responsibility of being The Chosen One. She didn’t want to be Buffy anymore. And thus, she became “Anne”.
So while Buffy is hiding from her destiny in Los Angeles, she comes across someone who knows her- Lily (formerly known as Chanterelle). Poor Chanterelle-Lily-Anne-Sister Sunshine. It’s so much easier to just become someone else. I get the feeling that she’s been running for so long that she’s forgotten who she is or where she’s from. Or maybe she came from a place that it’s just better and easier to forget. She always defines herself by other people. When they’re at the blood bank Buffy says they should split up and Lily says, “can I come with you?” which speaks volumes. And later when Buffy tells her that she thinks Rickey is dead, the plaintive, “but he takes care of me” is so heartbreaking. I think Lily has spent a long time finding comfort and safety in other people.
So Buffy meets Lily and even though Buffy resents being the Chosen One and has been avoiding her destiny, she can’t resist Lily’s plea for help. Even so, when she is confronted by the worker at the blood bank Buffy says, “I don’t want any trouble. I just want to be alone, and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and tea cozy.” Buffy still isn’t embracing being the Slayer. She just wants to be left alone.
The theme of naming and identity gets a bit heavy handed when Buffy and Lily are in the hell dimension. T he demons running the place tell their captives that “you are no one now and you mean nothing”. But I’m ok with that because it sets up the brilliant moment where Buffy reclaims her name and identity.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Buffy. The Vampire Slayer. And you are?”
And thus kicks off a pretty great action sequence where Buffy fully comes back into her role as the Slayer and kicks a bunch of ass while freeing the people who had been taken captive. In the middle of this whole sequence, there’s a pretty great moment where Lily pushes the leader off of the balcony that they are on. The look of surprise she has on her face, like she can’t believe what she just did is just wonderful.
Anyway, at the end of all of this, Buffy has realized that she can’t run from who she is anymore, so she gives Lily her old life in LA and prepares to go back to Sunnydale. I’m not 100% sure how I feel about the ending because in the end, it still feels like Lily is just putting on someone else’s identity again. But idk. In my headcanon, she’s come from a pretty traumatic past, so I guess it makes sense that she’d just rather not be whoever she was initially. Anyway, Buffy has inspired Lily to not be passive and I think Buffy helped Lily see how she could take care of herself. So yeah.
And then Buffy shows up at her house and it is lovely and wonderful. Buffy’s home!
The B-plot of this episode is just showing us what the Scoobies have been up to in Buffy’s absence. Xander, Willow and Oz have been hunting vampires and they’re not particularly good at it. Anyway, the school year is about to start for them. Xander and Cordy are both nervous about seeing the other after a summer apart, but then they see each other and it’s awkward and weird.
So later at the Bronze, Xander is obsessing over Cordelia. They didn’t talk and so Xander has created this fictional summer romance that she had. And like XANDER REALLY IS THE WORST HERE. He’s mad at Cordy, so he decides to use her as bait. WHAT AN ASSHOLE. Anyway the two of them bicker and are obnoxious and then again there’s the swelling music and the kissing. Idk. It just seems like they still don’t particularly like each other.
Meanwhile in Grown Up Land, Giles has been spending the summer looking for Buffy. I think that the scene between Joyce and Giles is great. Buffy’s double life and the revelation left Joyce feeling a bit betrayed and like she didn’t really know her daughter. Her daughter had this whole secret life going on and Giles helped Buffy hide it from her. And in Joyce’s mind, Giles was the adult and thus the responsible one, so that’s what Joyce is blaming Giles for this. Anyway, Buffy comes home at the end, and I’m happy that the Summers women are together again.
OMG, yes new DVD menus! I'm so glad they learned that lesson
I always saw Lily becoming Anne as an empowering moment for her. She's committing to taking care of herself, and if she needs to emulate someone strong to do that so be it. She doesn't answer when Buffy asks her about home, so I'm guessing that is something she'd rather forget. If she's going to keep reinventing herself, at least it's a positive change this time.
Those DVD menus are terrible but what makes them even worse is that you can't even skip them. Grrrrrr. They're so ridiculously long as well as having such cheesy CG. I wish they would lose them on newer editions of the DVDs somehow.
I actually like the animations, but I'm glad they're only in the one season.
Haha yeah those menus, sooooo painful.
My favorite part of this episode is Larry's excited, "If we can have fewer mysterious deaths, Sunnydale's gonna ROCK!" Lolz.
Awesome review of the episode, Mark! Your unique background and experiences really added a lot to your analysis of the themes of this episode in particular, and it was just fascinating to read.
Your own experience with Los Angeles was so unsettling and unnerving to read about — my god, your comment about hospitals dumping mentally ill patients near your home after being discharged was absolutely horrifying even as I was completely able to believe it. Sometimes the world is unsurprising in its awfulness. 🙁
Everything about Buffy is so, so awesome in this episode, too. But the Joyce/Giles scene was so hard to watch. ;___; It's a wonderful show that can make me so profoundly uncomfortable and squirmy for all the right filmmaking reasons, ahhhh.
Hmm I still feel like we needed two episodes with Buffy away from Sunnydale, to really give her choice to leave in the finale a big impact. I think my frustration with this tends to interfere with my enjoyment of the episode.
But I really liked that we did cover what everyone was doing in her absence (though I just can't help thinking how awesome it would have been to give Sunnydale a whole episode without Buffy, and then give Buffy a whole episode without Sunnydale).
Picking up Chantarelle from Lie to Me again was a great move.
naq gura bs pbhefr pneelvat ure bire gb Natry jnf OEVYYVNAG.
Ken is an effective monster for me for probably the same reasons as Mark. I've seen it, it's based on something real and super awful, and so it's petty but satisfying to watch him get defeated.
I know Joyce is going through some tough times and guilt, but my heart is too full of POOR GILES to properly empathize when they're put together. Because we've gotten to know him so well, and we know what he's just been through last season, and this is the last thing he needed as a topping for his epic pain sundae.
V qba'g guvax jr arrq gjb rcvfbqrf bs Ohssl ryfrjurer, orpnhfr gur arkg rcvfbqr fgvyy qrnyf jvgu gur snyybhg bs ure qrcnegher. Ohg qvssrerag fgebxrf, ru?
And yes, poor Giles!
Lrc, qvssrerag fgebxrf sbe fher. Vg'f whfg n guvat jvgu zr — V yvxr rkgraqrq pbafrdhraprf sbe ovt, tnzr-punatvat svanyrf. (V YBIRQ ba OFT jurer jr tbg zhygvcyr rcvfbqrf sbe gur bpphcngvba fgbelyvar, naq n pregnva cybgyvar ba Snefpncr gung V jba'g ersrerapr shegure qhr gb fcbvyref.) Gur snpg gung jr trg Natry onpx fb fbba gbb vf nyfb n snpgbe sbe zr. Vg'f ernyyl gur pbzovangvba bs gur gjb gung yrnqf zr gb srryvat fbzrjung qvffngvfsvrq. Rnpu ba vgf bja V cebonoyl jbhyq unir fuehttrq bss. V thrff.. V whfg ybirq Orpbzvat fb zhpu gung V jnagrq vgf riragf gb erireorengr guebhtu gur arkg frireny rcvfbqrf va na rira zber qenzngvp snfuvba. Vg'f gbgnyyl n Lbhe Zvyrtr Znl Inel guvat. V jbhyq unir yvxrq gb frr Ohssl frcnengrq sebz gur pnfg ybatre ba gur fubj naq Natry tbar hagvy zvq-frnfba. Ohg gung'f whfg crefbany cersreraprf.
Cyhf, V jngpurq vg jura vg nverq… fb V unq n ybat orgjrra-frnfbaf oernx gb fcrphyngr jung Ohssl pbhyq or hc gb, raivfvbavat ubj jr pbhyq trg zhygvcyr vagrerfgvat rcvfbqrf bs ure nqevsg naq svtugvat zbafgref abg va Fhaalqnyr… V guvax vg'f angheny gung V raqrq hc tbvat, "urrrrrl" n yvggyr jura abar bs zl jvyq qernzf pnzr gehr. 😉
Qvssrerag Fgebxrf. V jbhyq'ir *yvxrq* nabgure rcvfbqr bs ure orvat tbar, ohg V qba'g guvax gurer'f ernyyl nalguvat gurl pbhyq unir nqqrq. Fur jnf qbar svtugvat, fb vg'q or… whfg n jubyr rcvfbqr bs ure orvat n qvare jnvgerff? Vg'f gur svtugvat gung znxrf ure ertnva ure frys sbphf naq gnxr ure ubzr…
Ohg va n yrff bcvavba guvat – Gur guvat nobhg jura Natry pbzrf onpx gubhtu… jryy sbe bar guvat V qba'g guvax gur vffhrf bs Orpbzvat ner pbzcyrgryl qbar orvat erfbyirq hagvy guebhtu Nzraqf, juvpu vf gur zvqcbvag… Naq vs ur pbzr onpx yngre, gurer jbhyqa'g unir orra dhvgr rabhtu gvzr gb enzc gurz hc vagb n fhcre frevbhf pbhcyr naq gura uvz yrnivat…
V xvaq bs ybfg zl genva bs gubhtug bs bgure guvatf V jnf tbvat gb fnl… bu jryy
uru, jryy, V jbhyq unir orra cresrpgyl unccl abg gb frr gurz gbtrgure nf n pbhcyr ntnva ng nyy, fb gung jbhyq unir orra whfg svar jvgu zr. Ur pbhyq unir pbzr onpx, gurl erpbapvyr rabhtu gb or njxjneqyl sevraqyl naq sbe gur Fpbbovrf gb npprcg uvf uryc bapr be gjvpr, naq gura ur yrnirf sbe gur fcva-bss. Gung jbhyq unir orra njrfbzr sbe zr. Vg jbhyq unir punatrq gur pbagrag bs fbzr bs gur rcvfbqrf, ohg V unir pbasvqrapr gung jungrire gurl pnzr hc jvgu vafgrnq jbhyq unir fgvyy orra tbbq. Vg'f ernyyl fgvyy n znggre bs crefbany gnfgr, va zl bcvavba. V jbhyq unir rawblrq vg zber vs gurl cybggrq bar jnl, ohg gung jnfa'g gur qverpgvba gur jevgref jnagrq gb gnxr. bu jryy, gurer'f ab pelvat va onfronyy.
V guvax zbfg bs hf graq gb nccebnpu bhe fubjf jnagvat fyvtugyl qvssrerag guvatf, va grezf bs gurzrf, cybg fgehpgher, punenpgref, rgp. Vg vf jung vg vf. V pna frr jul lbh srry gung jnl, vg'f whfg abg n ivrjcbvag V funer. 🙂
Are tea-cosies not a thing over the pond then? But how do you keep your teapots warm?
I thought tea cozy was just another name for potholder. APPARENTLY I AM WRONG.
A quick Google image search will help you there. It's like a little woolly jumper for your teapot. To keep the tea hot, y'know?
My goodness! So all this time I've been misimagining the house-elves-and-tea-cozy scenes.
My parents drink tea, but I don't think they ever make enough of it at once to need keeping warm?
I also thought this…. I never knew there was a separate thing that keeps teapots warm. OMG I WANT ONE.
We don't generally make tea in pots? I drink a lot of tea, but I brew it one mug at a time.
With tea lights, obviously. http://www.jcm.co.uk/shop/media/catalog/product/c…
With tea lights, obviously. http://www.jcm.co.uk/shop/media/catalog/product/c…
THAT'S why they're called tea lights!
You just blew my mind.
Our tea culture is severely under-developed. We mostly just do the little bags in mugs and pour hot water over them. (Hot water that we nuked the microwave, maybe, some people do that, not me.)
Unless you're from the South, and then the only tea you know is the iced kind and it is FULL OF SUGAR, OH SWEET NECTAR, I LOVE IT.
See, this is why you guys don't like tea. You're not doing it right…
If icing down tea and filling it with sugar is wrong, I don't want to be right.
I loved living in the UK, but one of the things I missed most about the US was proper iced tea. THE BRITS DON'T KNOW ABOUT REAL FRESH BREWED ICED TEA.
That makes me so sad for Brits. And for a lot of regions in the US where iced tea just isn't a thing. When I lived in New York, finding iced tea was like spotting a unicorn — and even then, it was never, ever sweet tea.
I'm the opposite. I absolutely hate having to specify that I want my iced tea UNsweetened. Just a bit of lemon for me.
Same here, lol. Idk, we never had it sweetened growing up so I cannot stand it – even with lemon! Straight up no sweetener at all, thank you very much!
I prefer unsweetened because I like to sweeten it myself, but like, the UK doesn't have ANY freshbrewed iced tea. They just have pre-bottled stuff that just does not taste the same.
When I moved south after NY, I embraced sweetened iced tea whole hog. My hips haven't been the same since.
Me too. I actually prefer about 3/4 unsweetened tea, 1/4 lemonade, if I can get it.
I'm torn on still patronizing Chickfila, but this is one thing that they get a gold star on — if you ask them for a tea/lemonade combo, they'll do it for you. And their lemonade is ridiculously delicious.
exactly. i want it a little bitter with just a little lemon. maybe if i'm in the mood, i'll add a little sugar, but "sweet tea" is way too sweet for me. coffee i can do that sweet, but not iced tea
I was born and raised in the Great Lakes region, but my father was from the South and sweet tea is one of the habits I remember from… well, whatever age I was when my parents decided letting me have caffeine wouldn't make them want to give me away. You can almost always find unsweetened iced tea around here, but on the rare occasions I have unexpectedly been asked in a local restaurant if I want sweet or unsweetened tea I have sometimes had to repress an urge to hug the waitress.
I do love hot tea — can't stand coffee in any form — but since drinking things that are *too* hot is a problem a cozy has never been necessary. Kettle on stove, pour into cup over bag.
And I just found this http://tinyurl.com/722cymu article in my saved documents folder as a PDF, that as I recall was emailed to me by another sweet tea deprived friend. (Actual southerner, moved to New England.)
That was a great read! Thanks for sharing! Although reading it before breakfast has me wondering where I can get a slice of pecan pie before 9am.
That's because if you drink hot tea in the summer, you'll just die of heat stroke. At least down here in the deep south with 95 degree weather and 100 percent humidity.
Hot tea is just not a thing that people in the South need. I never even tried it until I moved to New York, and that was only by necessity because DEAR GOD it was cold in my office building there. And I wanted to submerge myself in hot tea after my first NY winter.
In a Southern summer, you need iced tea just to survive. Without it, I would just lie under a ceiling fan all day. I may still do that, but now it's by choice, and not because of the heavy hand of humidity pressing down on me.
lol, you obviously haven't met any Indians – scorching/humid tropical weather+ daily hot tea is how we LIVE. (of course, there are other cold things to drink during the summer, but tea is not usually one of them)
Magic?
I though that everyone used magic to keep their tea warm? Apparently I'm the only one putting my Charms degree from HSWW to any practical use
My issue is always less with keeping my tea warm than with waiting for it to cool down so I can actually drink it. I have a ceramic pot that holds the heat in as much as I need it to.
We don't. We heat up the kettle, make the tea in the cup, and drink it.
I have a cozy for my iPod. (Not to keep it warm, though.)
Does that count?
What cracks me up the most is that people on etsy actually knit APPLE COZIES. WHY WOULD YOU EVER NEED CLOTHING FOR YOUR APPLE
I think they're meant to keep your apple from bruising? idk how well they work but maybe a layer of fashionable knitwear is just enough to keep an apple from bruising against the corner of a book in your bag or something.
Oh! I never thought of it that way before. Perhaps there is some merit to these ridiculous things!
I drink lots of tea, but do not have one. My tea just… gets cold. AND THEN I HEAT IT UP AGAIN.
I am seriously rethinking this behavior pattern now, though. Does the cosy really work?!
I don't even have a proper teapot 🙁 🙁 🙁 I NEED AND WANT ONE. I make do with strainers but dammit, I want a teapot.
A friend and I recently pooled our funds to get a complete antique tea set from like… 1893? Somewhere around there. We actually used it for the first time last weekend while watching Downton Abbey, because, well… Downton Abbey. It requires tea!
I admit I'm still a little afraid to use the tea set, though. It's so old, it seems too special to be used. XD
AHHHHH SO JEALOUS. I would be the exact same way about using it, though! XD
Fortunately the design is not so fancy that it seems completely priceless, and the teapot itself is already slightly damaged (one or two small chips, part of why we could afford it) so that lessens the paranoia a little.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
**is incapable of further speech**
now you make me feel bad for you – if I could be sure of packaging something to survive being sent across international borders, I'd send you a teapot myself (WITH a tea-cosy, too).
<3 <3 <3
We definitely had a tea-cozy when I was growing up (shaped like a blue cat with button eyes!), but it wasn't an every-household's-got-one kind of item. There's no reason why a hip teen in 90's California would necessarily be familiar with them.
well, they do know Giles. Who is as stuffy, British and tea-drinking as you could ever imagine a person being.
We don't. The tea gets poured into mugs and that's it. The water goes up to boiling anyway, it never occurred to me you'd need to keep the kettle warm longer than it stays already. I'm super lazy so usually I just put a mug of water in the microwave for a few minutes and then put the tea bag in.
(But I'm guessing you're talking about the pot, after you boil the water. Most people don't have one of those at all.)
There are sort of foam things that are used to keep soda cans cold, but no tea cozies. I always kind of imagined them like the lace doilies that used to go on sofas when I heard the term in Harry Potter. Clearly this was completely wrong.
Putting the tea bag in after you heat the water up in the microwave is something I never do. The boiling water must be poured OVER the tea bag! That's one thing I do know about making proper tea.
Hee. Property.
We've always used tea cosies in my family! I had no idea that was unusual until just now.
EXACTLY!!! Though I had to leave my good big teapots back in NZ when I moved here, so now I only have a tiny pot big enough just for me, so there's not much point 🙁
yeah, I'm not American or British and even my parents use a tea-cosy to keep their teapots warm.
(rather surprised no one remembers them from Dobby the House-elf's tea-cosy hats, though, but I freely admit to being too fond of Harry Potter)
All this tea-talk has made me want some tea.
i am about to make some for sure. i'm craving some english breakfast tea and jasmine and chai…
I have a tea-cozy because I am obsessed with tea, but I generally use an electric kettle most of the time for a quick cup of tea. If I'm feeling fancy I use my nice teapot and my tea-cozy.
Electric kettles are the best. You can make tea AND instant noodles! And what more do you need really.
I always forget that electric kettles don't seem to be so common in the US. I don't know how people live without them.
That line confused me, too! I'm Canadian, but my family has quite the selection of tea cosies — the fact that Buffy didn't know what one was had me narrowing my eyes at the screen.
But according to the comments, apparently that's a thing in the states? :O
Most people in the states don't drink tea, and those of us who do…don't drink enough to make a tea cosy worth it. Because, really, unless you're going to drink the entire pot, why bother making more than just a cup?
WE'RE AMERICANS. We drink COFFEE.
No, I'm kidding, because I don't drink coffee and I actually love tea, but I never make a whole pot. I just put the kettle on and then pour the water over a tea-bag in a mug or, if I'm feeling really fancy, I have one of those loose-leaf-tea strainers that fits over a mug. Even when I have friends who also want tea, we usually all want different kinds.
I was a teenager in the 90s (I'm four years younger than Buffy) and I was born and raised in Southern California, and I did not know what a tea cozy was until reading this comment thread (and tea lights! that's really what they're used for?!).
I really like tea. I choose to drink it without milk, sometimes with honey or a little sweetener.
Everyone I know makes tea one cup at a a time using tea bags and a microwave. Or they heat water in a tea kettle on the stove and pour it over a tea bag in a mug. Unless we eat out at an Asian restaurant. I love ordering tea there because it tastes really good and it comes in a kettle (without a cozy).
I think this is probably the longest-ever comment thread in MW to feature NO rot13.
(I love all you tea-fanciers)
The longest thread over at Mark Spoils right now is about re-decorating your kitchen.
And about kitchen differences between the US and Europe. Because, y'know, intercultural communication rocks.
So now we all know how to make tea in our different kinds of kitchens!
Now I only need to start appreciating tea (I'm the kind of person to drink coffee at midnight)!
i love both. good coffee and tea are always welcome any time of the day or night.
"Jung'f n fgrirqber?"
Lovely review, Mark. I love your keysmashes, but I also love when you get all wordy.
My original viewing of Buffy was spotty at best (the networks where I lived kept cancelling it and then bringing it back at random times), so I missed this episode on my first go and didn't watch it until 2008. I really, really like it. I wouldn't say love, because I do enjoy it when there's a bit more comedy in my Buffy (there are exceptions to this rule, like Passion), but I think the storytelling, setting, and overall feeling are just wonderful. Also, Oz' ineffectual stake throwing and Buffy's fabulous fight scene. Obviously.
"Did that guy die who got hit by the demon when he said his name?"
I've adopted him as my personal avatar in the Buffyverse. This is because the name he gives is my actual name, he looks a bit like me, and because it's ambiguous whether he's being defiant or just doesn't understand the rules, which is kind of my thing.
Now what confuses me in this episode is that Ricky gets a tattoo of Lily's name…even though he knows that Lily changes her name all the time, since he picked her name himself. And Lily went along with this, even though she tells Buffy her name is just for now. So Ricky just got a permanent tattoo of a temporary name.
That bugged me, too. Maybe he belives she no longer has a reason to change her name, because he is with her and their love is "forever". Poor naive kids. You should neither say nor even think something like that on a Joss Wedon show.
You should also never get a tattoo of a significant other. Surest way to jinx the relationship
It actually bugs me more that Lily got the tattoo. She's talking about how she's always changing and nothing is ever permanent. She even says that "Lily is fine…for now". But she got the tattoo of Ricky as though she is intending to stay in this life forever. Maybe it just points to her impulsiveness.
A lot of people seem to believe that committing to something is enough to make it permanent — like if you get a tattoo, or make a wedding vow, or have a baby with someone, that makes "forever" more likely to actually happen. It's like people think sympathetic magic works, and maybe this was the way Lily's mind was working at the time.
Random thoughts time:
– ‘That’s right big boy. Come and get it!’ Ah Willow, it’s only been a couple of days but I still missed you. I’m also a big fan of the new hair.
– Laughing forever at Oz’s epic fail. I don’t know why they insist on having that kind of thing in action films, it’s always really unrealistic.
– I love how certain Willow is that Buffy will be back. Their friendship always made me incredibly happy.
– Guvf qernz erzvaqf zr bs V Jvyy Erzrzore Lbh. Bu tbq, vg’f tbvat gb or rzbgvbany jura Znex trgf gb gung rcvfbqr va Natry.
– Eurgh blatant sexism.
– Yay, Chanterelle. Ure yvggyr fhocybg vf bar bs zl snibhevgr guvatf va Natry. Ubj fur trgf ure yvsr gbtrgure naq cbcf hc bppnfvbanyyl nf n erfcbafvoyr crefba. Vg’f bayl n gval guvat ohg qrgnvyf yvxr gung nyjnlf nccrny gb zr.
– Buffy’s reaction to the word forever makes my heart hurt. She isn’t as much of an idealist any more and she’s learnt from her experience that forever doesn’t always mean that much.
– Organised ‘fun’ is my least favourite thing.
– ‘Ohg gura ntnva ur’f nyjnlf orra nggenpgrq gb zbafgref.’ V yvxr ubj guvf vf nyernql na va-wbxr ol guvf cbvag. (Bs pbhefr fur unf ab vqrn jub uvf arkg tveysevraq nsgre ure vf. Nu vg’f tbvat gb or sha jura Znex svanyyl frrf Naln.)
– Xander, you will always be a geek, don’t fight it.
– Nice three piece suit Giles, along with trousers for once!
– Way to stay under the radar Buffy, get hit by a car.
– Pneybf! Ur frrzf gb fcrpvnyvfr va gur thl jub frrzf avpr ohg vf npghnyyl rivy.Ur’f nyfb bar bs gur srj crbcyr gb or va Ohssl, Natry naq Sversyl. Gurer ner bayl nobhg sbhe bs gurz.
– V pbhyq fjrne gung svefg fubg bs n jbzna va gur zbagntr jnf va gur bcravat perqvgf sbe Natry. Ubj enaqbz.
– Wanting to use your own girlfriend as bait, really classy there Xander.
– I love you Joyce but don’t blame Giles for everything, he really doesn’t deserve it.
– I like how Buffy has to know what happened. She can’t just ignore it and keep going with her life, it just goes to show that she was really meant to be the slayer and it’s a part of her.
– Buffy’s interrogation technique is much more effective than Willow’s although her’s is adorable.
– You’re being a dick again Xander. I mostly put part of it down to insecurity and his background but sometimes I do want to punch him, as much as I love him.
-As someone who couldn’t swim until I was 16 the idea of that pool thing that sucks you in really creeps me out.
– Lily thinking that she deserves to go to hell is really messed up. It makes me glad that I’ve never been religious.
– So if time moves differently in there wouldn’t Buffy technically be in her twenties or something by the time they left? 🙂
– Bu gur Fbhepr. Shpx lbh sbe pnhfvat Qblyr’f qrngu lbh onfgneqf.
– ‘I’m Buffy, the vampire slayer, and you are?’ I want to marry this moment. That little smile she does <3.
Then I stopped paying attention because I got too into this episode :). Va fbzr jnlf guvf srryf n yvggyr ovg yvxr na nqqvgvbany cvybg gb Natry, yvxr Orpbzvat cneg 1 qvq va n jnl, ohg vg jbexf jryy nf na rcvfbqr va vgf bja evtug. The story always sucks me in because of all the little details they put in and it feels like at this point the writers had really hit their stride. It's one of those ones which doesn't quite fit onto my top episodes lists but is still a good, solid episode.
Why do I always realise I missed something tiny after I post these? Sorry about that, I'm never entirely sure what would count as a spoiler once it gets to the cryptic side. Probably best to rot13 things to be on the safe side in the future :).
Yeah. V pvcurerq n pbhcyr bs rkcrpgngvba fcbvyref sbe Natry, naq fbzrguvat nobhg Naln.
I was pretty sure I'd already done that but it must have slipped through. Sorry, tiredness and lack of checking. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be more alert.
– V pbhyq fjrne gung svefg fubg bs n jbzna va gur zbagntr jnf va gur bcravat perqvgf sbe Natry. Ubj enaqbz.
Vg vf!! V nyjnlf svaq guvf nzhfvat
gurer ner npghnyyl ba gjb npgbef gung ner ba nyy guerr fubjf: pneybf naq wbanguna jbbqjneq nxn ubyqra jrofgre nxn xabk nxn genprl.
V'z cerggl fher gurer'f ng yrnfg bar zber. Gur thl jub cynlf Q'Ubssela nyfb cynlf n pbhcyr bs enaqbz qrzbaf va Natry naq na Nyyvnapr thl gbb V guvax. V'yy unir gb ybbx vg hc fbzrgvzr.
NQQ:
Naql Hzoretre (Ohssl – Q'Ubssela, Natry – perrcl thl va V Snyy Gb Cvrprf, Sversyl – 'Qbegzhaqre Pncgnva'),
Wrss Evpxrgf (Ohssl & Natry – Jrngureol (n thl gelvat gb trg Snvgu nsgre fur jnxrf onpx hc), Nyfb va n yngre Natry rc nf 'Fcvqre Zbafgre', Sversyl – bar bs gur OyhrUnaqf Thlf),
Obo Svzvnav (Ohssl – Ze. Jneq va Cevzriny naq Lbxb Snpgbe, Natry – Tebhaqf Xrrcre, naq gura Pbqtre Qrzba, Sversyl – Ryqre Tbezna)
Naq grpuavpnyyl Wbffve uvzfrys – Ohssl: arjf pnfgre va V Ebobg Lbh Wnar (whfg urneq V guvax, abg frra), Natry: Ahzsne *TEVA*, naq Sversyl – ur'f ng gur shareny va Zrffntr
V fjrne V gubhtug gurer jnf nabgure bar gubhtu.
We'll probably spot someone as the reviews go along. There doesn't seem to be a comprehensive list anywhere which is annoying. Thanks for that though, it's one of those things which would probably bug me for the rest of the night.
Lrnu, fbzr bs gurz ner uneq gb fcbg jvgu qrzbal znxr hc naq nyy gubhtu… ohg lrf, ubcrshyyl jr pna pngpu fbzr zber!!
V'z whfg fnq gung abar bs gur bevtvany unggevpxf frrz gb unir orra va Qbyyubhfr… :o/
v'z whfg dhbgvat wbff urer! znlor ur bayl zrnag crbcyr gung unq ynetre npgvat ebyrf. ur ersref gb pneybf naq wbanguna nf uvf "ung gevpxf".
So if time moves differently in there wouldn't Buffy technically be in her twenties or something by the time they left? 🙂
It's sort of like Narnia. If Buffy had spent years down there, she would still have come out the same day, LA time, but she only spent a day down there, so she probably came out only a few seconds or minutes later, LA time.
BUFFY BEATS THE HOMELESS
…ness problem of Los Angeles
Okay, now that I've gotten that joke out of the way… I love this episode. The one thing I identify with Buffy in is her flight instinct. I can stay and fight and tough it out for a really long time but eventually, something in me breaks and I just need to leave. I've done this so many times. Does it help? Sometimes. Does it solve the problem? Absolutely not. So I completely understand what she's going through.
you have to listen to someone tell you that you’re a sinner and this is the reason you don’t have a home, or you’re down on your luck, or you were abused or beaten. You are full of sin, and you are disadvantaged because you have not accepted the Lord as your personal savior.
Ugh, do you know how many side and direct marks I deal with on a regular basis that I'm unemployed and in debt because I don't believe in God? Seriously, I'm so sick of it. No, I'm unemployed because my state has no jobs. I had the unfortunate timing of graduating from college pretty much minutes before the market crashed. I was days away from being homeless because I paid laughably high rent for a shitty apartment and my paychecks couldn't even make up that money. Attending church has nothing to do with it.
And Kenny… okay, so for years, I was a devout church attendee and was even an altar server in my church, so I was at mass every Sunday. And catechism every Tuesday. And youth group on Wednesdays [I was trying so hard to be a good Catholic despite this nagging thing called a lack of belief]. And the guy in the church who organized all the youth activities was named Ken, and I swear he was pretty much like this character. And now I can't watch this episode without getting seriously creeped out because I swear Joss must've attended my church and based his character on my youth leader.
I had other things to say but I kind of forgot them in my religion rant so maybe they'll come back later.
You could point out all the unemployed people who do believe in God, and all the employed people who don't, but the people you're dealing with aren't acquainted with logic.
Yeah, I've given up on pointing out logical things like that.
Read the homelessness joke…. immediately liked comment.
I have been known to temper my Buffy watching with the occasional episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
That is good. Ponies are made of fluff and win, they definitely help offset any trauma from Buffy.
It's kind of like how I had to curl up with one of my favorite comfort books, Mairelon the Magician, after I read Mockingjay, because…. Mockingjay. ;_____;
I used to watch kdramas/jdramas between seasons of Battlestar Galactica, to get over the trauma, and when Mark was watching it I used the Paddington Bear three-minute shorts instead because I didn't have as much time.
(still too gutted by that finale though, I'd have to spend a year with ponies and Paddington to even begin getting over it)
I feel weird because all my reactions to this show are off, mostly because I went into it like 95% spoiled. So instead of being really upset about the S2 finale I was kind of like "lololol this is super melodramatic whatever I'm sure it all works out in a few episodes." And then I read all the episode summaries for S3 to see when Angel showed back up. >_>
i don't know anyone that really drinks tea, so i'm not really sure of what a tea cozy is. never been in a situation to find out.
OMG no tea? Do you drink coffee instead?
OK, this is my first Mark Reads/Watches/Does/Verbs comment, so please be gentle.
V'ir nyjnlf sryg gung "Naar" vf, rffragvnyyl, gur cvybg sbe Natry, rira gubhtu gur zna uvzfrys vf fgvyy va Uryy. Gur jubyr guvat srryf yvxr vg gnxrf cynpr va n qvssrerag, zhpu qnexre, zber pbzcyrk havirefr guna Ohssl. Crbcyr pna ernyyl trg ybfg naq gebqqra ba va n uhtr pvgl va n jnl gurl pna'g va n fznyy(vfu) gbja yvxr Fhaalqnyr, naq guvf vf jung Natry jbhyq yngre rkcyber va zhpu zber qrcgu.
Punagreryyr/Yvyl/Naar urefrys jnf, bs pbhefr, qrfgvarq gb fubj hc frireny gvzrf ba gur ynggre fubj, vapyhqvat va gur svanyr. Vg'f nyzbfg yvxr fur unq ure bja frevrf tbvat ba va gur znetvaf bs gur znva fgbel, va juvpu fur tbrf sebz orvat n ubcryrffyl-anvir inzcver tebhcvr gb n frggyrq, tebhaqrq cvyyne bs gur pbzzhavgl.
Welcome!
V pna qrsvavgryl frr guvf. Rfcrpvnyyl nsgre ernqvat Znex'f erivrj. N ybg bs gur gurzrf gung trg rkcyberq va gur svefg gjb frnfbaf bs Natry ner ynvq bhg evtug urer. Rfcrpvnyyl gur vqrn gung YN vf Uryy.
V nyjnlf jnag zber Punagreryyr/Yvyl/Naar. Fur'f n snagnfgvp punenpgre jvgu bar bs zl snibevgr nepf.
Gung fprar va frnfba 2 bs Natry jurer gur ryringbe qbbe bcraf naq Natry svaqf bhg gur "Ubzr Bssvpr" vf npghnyyl Rnegu vf bar bs zl snibhevgr zbzragf bs gur ragver zlgubf. Bar bs Jurqba'f onfvp zrffntrf fhzzrq hc evtug gurer: ab fhcreangheny rivy pna ubyq n pnaqyr gb zna'f vauhznavgl gb zna.
I try to avoid italics or any other styling in ROT13. Generally that means capitals for emphasis and nothing for titles.
Well, good for you, I guess. Not sure why that affects me, though. If Mark decides that's a rule, I'll follow it, but until then I think we're all entitled to our own conventions.
I can see why formatting might be lost when it's put into rot13.com, but I found it easy enough to see where your italics were in the original, so I still got what you were emphasizing. And welcome!
Uh… sorry?
I just had another etiquette fail, didn't I.
Nah 😛 It's cool.
Well, thank you… but I can't help but read that as "Yes, you did, but I don't want to have a long, awkward, drawn-out conversation about it." (An aim that this comment is probably working counter to, for which I apologize again. It's just that I worry about my etiquette. A lot.)
I know, and the fact you so clearly worry about it is why I'm not in the least annoyed. If you were the kind of person who went around correcting other people out of arrogance, I'd be annoyed.
Relax, please. You are among your own kind 🙂
Gur vqrn bs Naar nf n fbeg bs cvybg/cerphefbe sbe Natry vf n ernyyl vagrerfgvat vqrn. V guvax vg unf fbzr zrevg.
Uz. V guvax vg'f vagrerfgvat gung Ohssl tbrf gb Ybf Natryrf gb eha njnl sebz ure qrfgval juvyr Natry tbrf gurer gb shysvyy uvf naq svaq erqrzcgvba. Vqx. V guvax gung'f na vagrerfgvat pbagenfg gung YN shapgvbaf va irel qvssrerag flzobyvp jnlf sbe gurfr gjb punenpgref.
Nofbyhgryl. Gur ngzbfcuref bs NgF naq "Naar" ner irel fvzvyne – nyy gur avtug gvzr fubgf, gur pvgl abvfrf, cbiregl, zber nqhygf nebhaq guna va OGIF. Va snpg, guvf rcvfbqr jbhyq unir svg va frnzyrffyl va NgF frnfba 1 be 2 – lbh pna whfg vzntvar Natry be bar bs gur tnat fghzoyvat npebff Yvyl naq cebzvfvat gb uryc ure svaq Evpxl, be znlor bar bs Thaa'f ubzryrff oblf trggvat pnhtug hc va Xra'f fpurzr.
Oh. This is quite possibly my favorite Buffy episode ever. It has such a different atmosphere than the rest of the series. The many ways I adore this, let me tell you them:
– I love that we find out Buffy's middle name – and that for some reason, the sensible "Anne" isn't what her parents decided to use as her first name!
– I love that Buffy is able to afford highlights despite living on minimum wage 😀
– I love the new credits! Especially the multiple shots from the Buffy/Angelus battle and Oz (Oz is now in the credits!!!!) playing the guitar.
– I love, love, love the reappearance of Chanterelle from Lie to Me. The reusing of characters is one of my favorite things about BTVS (witness also the reappearance of Amy the witch in season 2 and Larry in this episode)
– I love that Buffy deciding to help Anne has absolutely nothing to do with her being the Slayer, and everything to do with the core of goodness that is in the heart of Buffy Summers. You know Buffy would have helped Lily even if she wasn't the Slayer. That's just who Buffy is – she helps people. We know this all the way from "Welcome to the Hellmouth", where she befriended Willow simply because Cordelia was mean to her and Buffy didn't want Willow to feel bad. (Although I guess you can argue that becoming the Slayer is what made Buffy compassionate…) This episode is so beautifully about Buffy the person and everything that makes her the hero that she is.
– I love how everyone in Sunnydale is so lost without Buffy, and once again, it's not because she is the Slayer but because she is Buffy. Sure, the Scoobies wish they had her help killing vamps, but they miss her quippiness and her presence at the Bronze the most.
– I love that despite having no extraordinary strength or skills to speak of, the Scoobies take up vampire slaying. They could just lock their doors and stay home, but instead they put themselves in danger so that other people won't be harmed. I think it demonstrates enormous bravery on all their parts.
– I love the way Buffy rips out the nurse's phone and then QUIPS ABOUT TEA COZIES. SHE IS THE BEST!!
– I love that Buffy jumps into that black pool without hesitation to save Lily, even though she has no idea what's down there and whether Lily is even still alive.
– I love that FOR ONCE, Buffy is wearing sneakers and sweats rather than high heels to a Slaying mission.
– I LOVE the power shot of Buffy with the axe.
– I love Willow's new hair! I am less of a fan of how fashionable her clothes suddenly seem because I love awkward season 2 Willow and her unfashionable outfits more than most things, but then Willow isn't really that person anymore. Just like Buffy, Willow grew up a lot during season 2.
– I love how excited Xander and Cordelia are to see each other!
– I love Cordelia's horrible, horrible blue pants.
– I love Cordelia rushing to save Xander (even though he barely deserves it, OMG WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU XANDER. He's so frigging mean to her. What a tool, to channel your own insecurities into rage at another person – your girlfriend no less!)
– I love the Joyce/Buffy hug at the end. OH MY HEART.
Angel spoilers in the next two bullet points:
– V bapr ernq guvf terng erivrj bs gur Natry svanyr juvpu unf fghpx jvgu zr nyy guvf gvzr: Gur erivrjre pnyyrq gur nccrnerapr bs Punagreryyr/Yvyl/Naar va Natry naq rfcrpvnyyl va "Abg Snqr Njnl" bar bs gur ornhgvshy "tenpr abgrf" bs gur Ohsslirefr. Naq vg vf fb, fb, gehr: Guvf punenpgre jnf ybfg naq sybhaqrevat naq Ohssl fubjrq ure gur jnl. Gur arkg gvzr jr frr ure nsgre guvf rcvfbqr, fur'f gnxra ba Ohssl'f anzr, vf n onqnff becunantr qverpgbe naq yvxr Ohssl, vf urycvat gubfr jub arrq vg. Naq ure njrfbzr yrffba gb Thaa va "Abg Snqr Njnl", nobhg ubj lbh whfg tbggn xrrc gehpxvat, xrrc ba urycvat ba. Ure ernccrnerapr va "Abg Snqr Njnl" vf jbaqreshy pbafbyngvba sbe gur snpg gung Ohssl vfa'g va gung rcvfbqr: Punagreryyr/Yvyl/Naar vf rirelguvat gung Ohssl fgbbq sbe.
– V nyfb ybir gung n fubg sebz guvf rcvfbqr (gur jbzna fgnaqvat ba gur fgerrg) vf bar bs gur svefg guvatf lbh frr va gur Natry perqvgf.
I love all of your love! And your Angel spoilers.
Just wanted to say that I love everything this comment chooses to be.
Word to the Angel spoilers. V fgvyy guvax gurl fubhyq'ir cnverq ure naq Thaa, vafgrnq bs Thaa naq Serq. VG JBHYQ UNIR ZNQR FB ZHPU ZBER FRAFR. Cyhf zl vffhrf jvgu ubj gurl ehfurq Serq'f erpbirel sebz ure genhzn fb gung fur pbhyq or n cevmr sbe Thaa naq Jrfyrl, yrg zr fubj lbh gurz. Teee. V ybir gung fubj fb zhpu, ohg vg cvffrf zr bss fbzrgvzrf.
Lrnu, naq gur punenpgre bs Yvyl/Naar vf n ybg zber nccrnyvat guna phgrfl Serq.
I love that we find out Buffy's middle name – and that for some reason, the sensible "Anne" isn't what her parents decided to use as her first name!
Random fact: Buffy is actually a nickname for Elizabeth, and for a long time I assumed that was the case on this show. It was Queen Elizabeth II's mother's nickname when she was young, in fact.
YES! Noone believes me when I tell them that! (my name is Elizabeth, so it's Relevant To My Interests).
Hahahaha really??? Then that means that Buffy actually has the same name as actress Elizabeth Anne Allen, who plays Amy the witch and who had in fact auditioned for the role of Buffy and was the runner-up to SMG!
I assumed that the Queen Mum using it is what made it a popular name!
Apparently it was because her older siblings couldn't pronounce "Elizabeth" so she was "Buffy" instead. My grandmother's name was Elizabeth, and she was called "Bush" her whole life, for the same reason. Hee.
Also, most people I know have "sensible" middle names. Like half the girls I know have Rose, Lynn, or Marie as a middle name, and only one of them actually goes by Rose. I like to think of the middle name as the "backup option." Like, you give your kid a weird name because you love the name, but you also give them a backup in case they feel like going by something more "normal" when they get older.
Buffy the Queen Mum has a nice ring to it. 🙂
Unless you get sensible names as first names! Rose is my first name, and I'm quite happy with it. 😀
(Admittedly, my middle name is sensible too, but, well, I never had to replace my name due to not liking it.)
Yeah, most of my house refers to me as "Honey" because my nephew couldn't say Auntie Helen and blended the two together and got Honey. It can be awkward in public situations.
As a sort of side note, when I was in high school the Superintendent of Schools for my district had a daughter named "Muffy". I could never figure out what that was a nickname for. Muffin? I got nothin'.
YES! I'm not the only one who had that thought about Buffy's hair!!! Highlights/color is NOT cheap, and you wouldn't waste your money on that if you were living paycheck to paycheck at a crappy diner.
I hate that these kinds of details are overlooked so often. Fashion on TV shows isn't just what looks good on screen–it also tells a story about each character, and if you ignore that, your viewers will notice.
Yeah… That and the perfect blow out kinda bugged me to be honest. SMG is a gorgeous woman, she'll look attractive even if her hair isn't styled to the nines. It just looked silly to have her hair be perfect when she's supposed to be scraping by on tips. They've had her in messy updos before, that would have been so much more appropriate for this episode.
On a similar note, another thing that bugs me is when characters wear high heels around the house and lie down on their bed while wearing shoes. Nobody does these things! We see these quite often in Buffy.
Yes, and on top of that, Buffy and Lily spend the entire episode wandering around in makeup.
…When Lily can barely afford pie and Buffy's living on waitress wages.
Admittedly, Buffy could have taken her makeup when she left, and I guess it's important enough to a lot of teenage girls that Lily could have spent what money she had on it, but…still.
I love that we find out Buffy's middle name – and that for some reason, the sensible "Anne" isn't what her parents decided to use as her first name!
Yeah, it makes me wonder what Hank and Joyce were smoking when they named their firstborn – unless they're WASP or something, in which case, odd nicknames for regular use seem to be a go. (there's some New York socialite around whose name is Muffy/Muffie, and I swear it makes me have very rude thoughts)
Good lord! I just mentioned above:
"As a sort of side note, when I was in high school the Superintendent of Schools for my district had a daughter named "Muffy". I could never figure out what that was a nickname for. Muffin? I got nothin'."
Seriously, WTF, parents?!
I used to be friends with someone whose grandmother was known as Muffy. In her case it was short for Maeve (eta: or was it Mavis?), which to me seems like a lateral move at best.
Crap, forgot my comment. Whatever, I like it when you get Very Serious about Buffy! I really liked this episode, and your personal perspective made me appreciate it even more.
(Hi, Carl from Big Love. You certainly make a creepy villain.)
Hahaha wow, I had no idea the number of gay British librarians was so high! I don't even need a Giles in a romantic way, though. I just want him to give me advice and hugs and book recommendations and perhaps a nice cup of tea every so often. I don't think that's too much to ask 😛
Aww, we all need a Giles in our lives. <3
QNJA GUERNQ!
Fb, rirelguvat unccraf va gur fprar jvgu Ohssl naq Wblpr nf va gur bevtvany, ohg Qnja ehaf va n zbzrag yngre naq wbvaf va ba gur uht zbfg ivtbebhfyl. Gung’f zl gubhtug.
Vf Qnja gurer sbe gur Wblpr/Tvyrf fprar, gubhtu? V'z guvaxvat ab, nf fur'f yvxryl trggvat ernql sbe ure bja fpubby fgneg – juvpu, jr'q frr ure trggvat ernql naq nyfb zvffvat Ohssl.
Naq lrf, fur gbgnyyl wbvarq gur uht.
My favorite scene in the episode:
<img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/2vv3kfn.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/23izf2v.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/bgvgwy.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/r90t41.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
Oh Buffy, never change.
Impression of Gandhi might be my favourite quote of Buffy. However that change with every episode, of course.
I love that Buffy's quipping ability came back. She's herself again, and it makes me want to both cheer and give her a hug.
I have always been confused by the quote though is it supposed to be that Buffy doesn't know about Ghandi's non-violent protests or is she just being ironic?
She's just being ironic.
One of my very favorite moments of the series.
If I could, I would upvote this 'till my fingers were bloody stumps.
Is it just me, or is the actor who plays Ken always typecast as some creepy guy? I feel like anytime I ever see him in anything I'm like, "HE DID IT, HE'S THE CREEP/STALKER/MURDERER," because he ALMOST ALWAYS IS.
I love the growth of Buffy over the course of the episode. We see her empty, dejected, unwilling to do anything reminiscent of her former life. She's staring off into space, or she's stiffening when some guy smacks her ass and then doing nothing about it. Fast forward to the end of the ep when she's proudly spouting her signature quips ("HEY KEN WANT TO SEE MY IMPRESSION OF GHANDI?") and taking down demon after demon with AXES I LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE FIGHT WITH AXES.
She's not all better. But she's taken her time to start healing, and now she's ready to face Sunnydale again.
Ken always typecast as some creepy guy? I only know he was a creepy bad guy in the first episode of Firefly.
I feel like I see that actor in a lot of bit parts and he's always a creep. IDK.
He is in Jossverse, but he had a minor role in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip where he was actually bland and kinda nice.
I don't think anyone else has said this: the guy who was hit for saying his name survived.
Really? How do you know? buffybodycount.ca and buffy.wikia.com say he didn't. Does he appear in the background in a later scene or something?
I could have sworn I saw him survive when hit.
Mom and Dad, stop fighting! But seriously, Joyce has a very good point. This man has been mentoring her daughter, playing a parental role to her behind her back.
I really enjoy this episode, but I think my favorite part is when the football guy hopes, among other reasons why this is the Sunnydale High team's year, that there will be fewer "mysterious deaths." I really enjoyed that whole sequence in the school and how it switched between the various, beginning-of-the-year conversations going on, but any lampshading of Sunnydale's ridiculously high mortality rate always hits my… apparently scary sense of humor.
Oh great, the moment of Jenny's murder is going to flash up in the opening credits from here on in.
And by great, I mean fuck. ;__;
Right?? Why would they DO that?
BECAUSE JOSS.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/J1jHy.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="" />
Ng yrnfg vg'f bayl guvf frnfba.
"Anyone who's not having fun here, follow me."
The response that popped into my head when I first saw this: "I'm having fun now, does that count?"
I read that last year and promptly decided that I needed to try it….and I haven't yet. <_<
One of these days, I promise!
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyprmbuKRO1qz5stv.png" />
That's a big "if," Larry.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyprnkwKRK1qz5stv.png" />
There's a sex worker in the background so you know it's a bad neighborhood.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lypro0YJVZ1qz5stv.png" />
I would like to draw your attention to the Phish poster and Willow's happy face.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyprouIbCq1qz5stv.png" />
Except for that whole "You walk out of this house, don't even think about coming back" thing, Joyce. I'm mad at you for making Giles sad.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyprrmzG9T1qz5stv.png" />
It wouldn't be an episode of Buffy without me going "Ugh… Xander."
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyprt24sPy1qz5stv.png" />
Workers of the world, unite! (I so wish there was a better still with both the hammer and sickle in view)
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lypruuD12G1qz5stv.png" />
The most memorable line of the episode.
A pretty weak opener for re-watching… though I obviously found plenty to cap. There's a ridiculous amount of foreshadowing regarding what Ken is up to. Also, Buffy walks past a diner called "Helen's Kitchen." I love puns. As always, transcripts modified from BvA.
That first picture makes it look like Larry is planning some of the mysterious deaths.
That whole Giles/Joyce exchange is set up EXACTLY like Buffy's parents fighting over her in Becoming, Part 1 because her slayage is in the way.
(and it makes me sad – I hate it when Mommy/Daddy-for-Effective-Purposes are fighting 🙁 )
For me, this is one of Buffy's Top Ten eps of the whole show. Everyone has pretty much covered why.
Daily Buffy Quotable:
"Don't be stupid. We got to eat healthy. Can we have pie?"-Richie
"Slow down people. Summer is over. Be somber."-Sunnydale teacher
"You're a fan of the sugar rush."-Buffy (yes, B, I am)
"I don't even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one."-Buffy
"But I don't want to be bait. I'm always bait."-Cordelia
"Baits don't hide. Go and be baity."-Xander
"I looked into the mirror and said self, what's with all the sin?"-Buffy (actually her whole speech while trying to be undercover is pure gold but I don't remember all of it).
Here's a link to Adams' explanation of how to make tea.
Love you Douglas, but I am of the more Asian style of WHY WOULD YOU PUT MILK IN PERFECTLY GOOD TEA?! (Unless it's specifically milk tea, which is another thing entirely for me and must be a sweet treat.) But stuff like Earl Grey? I love Earl Grey, but I would not put milk in it, ever.
Nooooooo I believe that tea should have milk in it. Unless it's green tea. Or white tea (as in the lightly-oxidased chinese-style white tea, rather than the general descriptor for black-tea-what-has-milk-in-it. Oh tea terminology, how confusing you can be). Or a tisane, they should never have milk.
When I was living in Germany I had to learn to deal with having black tea (answer = tonnes of sugar :P), but that was still less painful than the abomination that is Half-n-half in tea that I find here in the States.
In other news, rooibos (red tea) with vanilla soy is one of the most delicious things in the world.
god I love white tea
Me too! Especially, Celestial Seasoning's imperial white peach tea, it's amazing!!!!
I'm a fan of Republic of Tea's Emperor's White Tea myself.
I LOVE milk tea! But I can't drink a lot of it because it's too sweet, so every time I get it it's like a special treat 🙂
OMG Milk Tea I miss it desperately. D: It was one of my favorite beverages in Japan and it's not really around in the US (I keep having to explain that tea+milk is not the same thing). Even the Asian supermarkets only have the British brand (?) and the one I liked best was, oddly, enough, Lipton's version.
Also, Apple Tea. I miss it so much. I can't find any here that isn't apple+cinnamon. ):
SO MUCH AGREEMENT. The thought of milk in green tea especially makes me cringe.
If you put anything in green tea you're doin' in wrong. Sugar, milk, honey, anything. I see the flavored green teas in the store (blueberry, pomegranate, etc) and am like WHYYYYY.
*gasp*
my chosen morning tea is Earl Grey with a spoonful of sugar and enough soy-milk that the tea becomes pale in color. DELICIOUS.
I always drink my Earl Grey black because as a child I wanted to be Captain Picard.
But now I've mostly switched to Assam
Ooh, thank you. I'm fairly new to this tea drinking business, which as a Brit I should probably be ashamed to say. My favourite at the moment is a Whittards one which is afternoon tea. It's a black tea which I think is meant to be drunk minus milk but I always put a splash in anyway. It tastes slightly citrusy and flowery and goes really well with lemon cake. Nom nom nom.
All this talk of tea is making me want some, especially as it's freezing here right now.
tea with milk is so good though, chai especially. earl grey is a definite no for milk though, a little honey is all that's necessary. some teas work with milk, some with lemon, some brown sugar or some honey. it all depends on the tea
"Okay, well NOW I HAVE GOTTEN VERY SERIOUS ABOUT A BUFFY EPISODE. Oh god, I kind of adore this?"
Welcome to Buffy fandom, I hope you enjoy your stay. After you are done watching the series, there are literally tons and tons and tons of essays you can look through, college classes you can take, and books and books deconstructing and breaking down literally everything.
All these years, and I only just now noticed that Buffy fights those who exploit human labor with… a hammer and a sickle. WTG, Buffy!
I really enjoy this episode, although I found the transitions between LA and Sunnydale to be incredibly jarring. I appreciate that there was a bit of levity to be found from the Scoobies, but… yeah, it felt like two entirely different moods smushed together. The exception, of course, being Joyce and Giles' brief scene together, which was utter heartbreaking perfection.
Also I just love that very last scene so much. YES, BUFFY. HUG YOUR MOTHER. SHE MISSED YOU ;_;
Shpx, naq abj nyy V pna guvax bs vf UBJ FNQ V JVYY OR jura jr trg gb "Gur Obql" l h qb qvf, wbff?
All these years, and I only just now noticed that Buffy fights those who exploit human labor with… a hammer and a sickle.
And I love it even more that it is THE CLOSING IMAGE OF THE CREDITS. <3 Joss and Buffy 🙂
I'm sympathetic to Joyce, because it must be extremely jarring to discover that a middle aged man had an entire secret life with your teenaged daughter. Your missing teenaged daughter,
Yeah, I can imagine that would seem super super creepy.
Bar jrrx hagvy Onaq Pnaql nyfqwsyxnfqws.
FYI, technically the dumping of the mentally ill into bad neighborhoods still happens. (Famously it happened the most in the 80s when budget cuts forced the majority of chronically mentally ill patients out of hospitals.)
When someone is discharged from a state psychiatric hospital (usually after an average stay of a week or so to "resolve" whatever crisis got them sent there) they are often put on a bus with fare to their hometown. Efforts are made to contact family and make arrangements for follow-up care, but often the most severely ill just arrive at the bus station and have nowhere to go after that. Since at least in my experience bus stations tend to be in bad, downtown neighborhoods, that's how some people end up living on the street. Until they get involved with the police or their illness gets so out of control that they are readmitted to a hospital. Hence the term "revolving door."
(I worked for years in outpatient mental health care, including crisis intervention.)
Welcome to health care in America. Jesus christ. I hate when politicians scoff at the idea of universal health care, saying "we already have universal health care–it's called the emergency room," because once your emergency is over, you're right back where you started until the next emergency.
Just de-lurking to say …. it is great "watching Buffy for the first time again through everyone's eyes … fab!
Also … this episode really helps to underline what is great about this show … in Whedon's world, actions have consequences. Why Buffy is so realistic (in spite of vampires, etc), is because Joss never lets any of his characters get away with anything. If they kill … it changes them …; there is real moral weight to this show …
characters get taken to the dark place.
BtVS = an ounce of horror + an equal mixture of humour + great character development + unending pain + dash of hope + table-spoon full of quippiness + sprinkling of intertextuality + smidgen of self-referentiality + stirred in with mutiple layers of metaphor + beautiful and talented actors/actresses + female self-empowerment message = Best show ever!
Well your first prediction came through. This season definetly starts well espicially with the directing. The very long take with the start of school and the well directed fight scene. Also contains one of my favourite quotes of the show and it's from Larry:
"This is our year, I'm telling you. Best football season ever. I'm so in shape, I'm a rock. It's all about egg whites. If we can focus, keep discipline, and not have quite as many mysterious deaths, Sunnydale is gonna rule!
See they aren't totally oblivious!
Yet again the show opens with the scoobies trying to patrol without Buffy and like in season two it doesn't go very well.
Vg'f shaal naq qrcerffvat gb guvax gung guvf vf qrcerffvba-yvgr Ohssl pbzcnerq gb ure frnfba fvk fgngr. Frnfba gjb, guerr naq fvk nyy bcra jvgu gur fpbbol tnat svtugvat inzcverf jvgubhg ohssl nygubhtu gurl ner n ybg orggre va frnfba fvk.
I love how Larry is only asking for "not quite so many" mysterious deaths. It's like he knows that a complete lack of mysterious deaths is never gonna happen. Why is this darkly hilarious to me?
Juvpu erzvaqf zr bs Rnefubg jurer jr svaq bhg gur fpubby arjfcncre unf na bovghnel pbyhza. V org vg'f n ybat bar. V nyfb thrff gung gur fhaalqnyr arjfcncre vf ng yrnfg unys bovghnevrf naq zvffvat crefbaf.
V xabj bs bar snasvp (bayl bar puncgre bhg fb sne, fnqyl) jurer na vagreqvzrafvbany geniryre svtherf bhg gung Fhaalqnyr'f n inzcver gbja whfg sebz ernqvat gur sbhe-cntr bovghnel frpgvba.
Gung fbhaqf uvynevbhf tbg n yvax?
Spoilers through season 5.
I was already so happy about BTVS and later Angel being done on here, and I think about moments and episodes that are yet to come and get so excited and sometimes a little nervous about Mark and all the newcomer reactions. I CAN'T WAIT! I LOVE THESE TWO SHOWS SO MUCH!!!
I really love that Whedon didn't do a repeat of what he did with Buffy in the opener of season 2. I love that he delved into what Buffy and the Scoobies actually did in the time we were away. I love her taking back and owning her identity of the slayer when she starts fighting in the hell dimension. With all her wavering on having to be the chosen one in some of the past episodes and the little we saw of her completely stepping away from it in this episode, it's like she's finally standing up and reclaiming and celebrating it and kicking ass to do what she does best: fighting against the darkness in the world, supernatural or otherwise.
ok, possibly unpopular opinion time, but did anyone else find Charisma Carpenter's acting dropped a notch at the start of this series? I mean, I got what they were trying to do with the her/Xander jealousy thing here, but I just don't think she in particular pulled it off. Maybe it's more the script?
Don't be mad, I still love Cordelia, but I just thought either the acting or the writing was a little off in this episode. *ducks for cover*
On a completely seperate note, now that I'm back in sync with Mark as a first time watcher (well, almost, I saw a few episodes when I was younger, so I remember the characters, but know none of the storylines), a couple of predictions for this series:
More Willow witchery
More Giles backstory
A new big bad, not angel or spike
A big fallout in the Scoobies
and (in ROT13 because I'm pretty sure I remember it from my childhood):
Snvgu. Fur vf gur bayl punenpgre V erzrzore gung V unira'g frra lrg, fb V'z nffhzvat vg'f fbba, pbafvqrevat V qvq abg pbagvahr gb sbyybj guvf fubj sbe gung ybat svefg gvzr ebhaq.
I don't know that I really noticed it, but I didn't have much to say about her at all. So her character was a bit forgettable in the opener?
Irel fbba. Snvgu fubhyq or urer va nobhg gjb rcvfbqrf.
Okay, well NOW I HAVE GOTTEN VERY SERIOUS ABOUT A BUFFY EPISODE. Oh god, I kind of adore this?"
So massively unprepared.
Lbh xabj, sevraqf, vg vf fgvyy sne qbja gur ebnq, ohg V nz ernyyl ortvaavat gb jbeel nobhg ubj Znex vf tbvat gb ernpg gb "Gur Obql". Vs guvf vf ubj ur ernpgf gb guvf? V zrna ur jnf arneyl qrfgeblrq ol OFT, frevbhfyl jbhaqrq ol Frnfba 2 svanyr bs Ohssl naq fb zhpu yrsg gb pbzr.
V ernyyl qb guvax ur jvyy npghnyyl pbzcyrgryl ybfr nyy PNA.
V'z jbeevrq, gbb. Gung rcvfbqr vf whfg… vg'f fb qrinfgngvat gb jngpu, rfcrpvnyyl vs lbh'ir unq n snzvyl zrzore qvr fhqqrayl. Vg'f n pbzcyrgr znfgrecvrpr, ohg V nyjnlf srry nf gubhtu V'ir orra pbzcyrgryl jehat bhg naq eraqrerq ulfgrevpny jurarire vg pbzrf gvzr gb jngpu vg. Naq gura sbe gur erfg bs gur qnl V srry nf gubhtu V'ir ybfg fbzrguvat vzcbegnag gung V pna'g trg onpx. V'ir arire frra n zber erny qrcvpgvba bs gur vzzrqvngr nsgrezngu bs qrngu, V fjrne.
Zl oblsevraq unq gur zvfsbeghar bs jngpuvat gung rcvfbqr gur qnl nsgre uvf tenaqsngure qvrq. Ur qvqa'g xabj jung vg jnf nobhg, naq whfg jrag bire gb jngpu fbzr rcvfbqrf bs fubjf jvgu uvf sevraqf gb srry orggre. Gurl fubhyq unir jnearq uvz naq jngpurq fbzrguvat ryfr. Ur jnf hggreyl funggrerq. 🙁
Ohg lrnu. V jvfu Znex pbhyq fbzrubj or gbyq gb unir fbzrbar jvgu uvz gb tvir uvz uhtf jura ur jngpurf gung rcvfbqr jvgubhg trggvat fcbvyrq va gur cebprff, fvtu.
V jvfu vg jrer cbffvoyr gb neenatr sbe bar bs Znex'f sevraqf gb or gurer jura ur jngpurf vg jvgubhg gvccvat uvz bss gb gur snpg gurer'f tbvat gb or fbzrguvat ur'yy arrq uhtf sbe. V jbhyq arire, rire erpbzzraq fbzrbar univat gb jngpu gung rcvfbqr nybar. Rira zl fvfgre, jub arire pevrf ng svpgvba, jnf oebxra ol "Gur Obql".
Gura ntnva, Znex frrzf gb znenguba gur arkg jrrx'f rcvfbqrf gbtrgure naq jevgr gur erivrjf nurnq bs gvzr, fb V thrff vs nalbar jub xabjf uvz VEY unf frra gur fubj gurl pbhyq whfg pnfhnyyl nfx gb unat bhg?
Just a question, did you watch Buffy before? I don't remember if you were new to this too. It's nice to see you around for these posts! A lot of BSG fans bailed and they were some of my favorite commenters. 🙁
Thanks Mark! Nice to be around! I really enjoy what you do, so I'm kind of addicted to your stuff :). I watched "Angel" first (which personally I liked better) and then caught up with "Buffy" along the way. I'm so thrilled you're watching "Angel" I'll definitely be around for that rewatch!
reading your comment to the comment, i have to ask – are you reading rot13??? because i'm new here, and don't want to spoil you at all about stuff upcoming, so am living in rot13… there's just something about this comment that leads me to believe that you've read stuff you should not have!!
If you have not seen Buffy before do not read this…Ubcr gur qrngu bs Wblpr naq Gnen qbrf abg qrfgebl Znex….jnvg Xraqen, Wraal, Wblpr, Gnen….V thrff Wbff xvyyvat zbfgyl gur srznyr punenpgref bs guvf fubj vf gb znkvzvmr gur rssrpg…
Oh hey! Nice to see a fellow BSG fan around these parts (I'm one of those saddos who is still not over it and probably never will be *sigh*, but I'm so glad you're along on this one!)
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm still eagerly awaiting a QNJA CBFG for this episode! 😀
Vg jbhyq or ernyyl vagrerfgvat gb xabj ubj Qnja naq Wblpr vagrenpgrq bire Ohssl'f qrcnegher, naq ubj Qnja erfcbaqrq jura fur pnzr ubzr. Zl crefbany urnqpnaba vf natel!Qnja jura Ohssl neevirq onpx ng gur ubhfr nsgre fur naq Wblpr unq gurve erhavba, pbzcyrgr jvgu lryyvat ng ure fvfgre hagvy gur natre ohearq bhg naq gura gur gjb bs gurz pbyyncfvat vagb n uht.
It's back on page two, actually. 😀
Because it had to be said:
"I am a sucker for unexplained, immersive sci-fi worlds, and this fucking TAKES THE GODDAMN CAKE."
<img src="http://wolfclan.spruz.com/user/400490/members/D49734C7-6CA0-4D6F-922D-2ACFA96C9C52/big_20115101801565.jpg" width="600">
I thought of Portal when Lily asked about cake and Rickie was all, "We can't have cake!" Yeah, I'm hopeless.
narrowed-down thoughts:
–"If we can keep our focus and not have quite somany mysterious deaths, Sunnydale is GONNA RULE!”
This new assault-free, no-misogyny Larry amuses me.
-Aww, Lilly, I like your new name much better than your old mushroom name. Also, I like how the writers added the detail that she's always changing her name to fit the theme of finding one's identity. I wish we knew more about her past and why she chooses not to keep her birth name. I imagine it would be really sad though, judging by her silence when Buffy asks her about "back home" and the fact that this is a Joss Whedon show. Perhaps I'm better off not knowing.
-The casting on this guy was perfect. He looks just like one of those too-nice church guys trying to keep you coming back with their niceness and promise of security. The ones who actually turn out to be horrible people. I certainly don't live in L.A. (or anywhere near the state of CA for that matter), but we have plenty of Ken's out here too. You'll often see them around the homeless shelters or just walking around downtown handing out leaflets. And they all look and talk something like this guy.
-Ugh, the scene with Joyce and Giles. I feel torn watching it because I love them both and I can kind of see where she's coming from, since she barely knew Giles before only to find out he was having this very fatherly sort of relationship with her daughter this whole time. At the same time, seeing Giles so anxious about Buffy makes me sad and UGH STOP FIGHTING PLEASE. (Also, don't say you blame him for her leaving when you're the one who told her not to come back…..)
-No, Lilly, don't fall for the creepy pamphlet guy!
-Buffy, you need to work on your ability to spin a lie.
-Cordy and Xander: CHEESEY SMOOCHIES PART TRES.
-THERE IS A CORPSE BEHIND LILLY AND I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS
-BADASS SNARKY BUFFY ACTIVATE! Go go go!
-Yes! I love the moment when Lily finds her inner awesome and pushes Ken. I also love how she chooses to be "Anne" at the end of the episode. I like to think that after that, even if she didn't have anything easy she tried to be more like Buffy and became a lot more assertive and fight for herself.
-YAAY SHE'S HOME! Hug time!
So, in my opinion, this was a very good opener for the third season. It kind of starts where we left off at the end of "Becoming part 2" when Angelus asked her what's left when all her friends and family are gone and she answers "me". It's just that now, she's unsure of who that is. I think they handled it very well, and it was good having an episode that ended on a positive note after the heartbreak that was season 2.
I moved between seasons 2 and 3, and the earlier time for Buffy airing didn't work out with my family's dinnertime, so I didn't get to see any of S3 when it aired. I continued to follow the synopses at the official website (Is there still an official website?) and caught up via reruns, transcripts, and shooting scripts, but there are still episodes I haven't seen. ("Nzraqf" V qba'g zvaq fb zhpu. V unq n punapr naq qryvorengryl fxvccrq vg.) So I'm taking this opportunity to go back and watch all the episodes, in order, as Joss intended. (Lrf, rira "Nzraqf." Naq "Rnefubg" va beqre gbb, nygubhtu vg qvqa'g nve hagvy whfg orsber frnfba sbhe fgnegrq, orpnhfr V nffhzr gung'f jung Znex'f qbvat.)
I want to say something about "Anne," but I'm not good at putting thoughts to pixels. (I've been working on this post, off and on, for eighteen hours.) So… good episode. Not great, and the Sunnydale bits were seriously uneven, but good. And already there was a surprise: Oz's attempt at throwing a stake, complete with dramatic buildup, and *clunk* a few feet away. ("That really never works" had me laughing for a solid minute.) Hope there's more to come.
Man I'm so late….this student teaching thing is so weird, it's like full-time work, but I'm getting paid in units and experience instead of money. And on to the episode…
-Well that was a weird dvd opener thing…
-I'm glad the menu doesn't do that stupid laugh thing anymore.
-Anyway on to the actual episode.
-That was awesome Scoobies! A definite good effort. I loved Oz's throw. I'm glad they're still determined to rid Sunnydale of vampires in Buffy's absence (?) But where is Cordy?
-Where did Buffy get to? Oh here she is. Should I know where that is?
-Ok so Anne is Buffy and really trucker dude?
-Giles yay!
-Aww Cordy is adorable when she's insecure.
-What was that? Why so awkward? Xandelia noooo.
-Is Buffy in Oakalnd? Should I know where she is? DId i miss some context clues? My guess is that it's not Buffy because she's definitely not dealing with vamps right now.
It's Mushroom girl! She didn't get eaten! I didn't know.
-Xander, you're back to creepy again when you look at your (ex?) girlfriend and think bait.
-Oh Joyce….THis isn't gonna be good. That look of hope on her face when she heard the door knock was heartbreaking.
-WHAT? The survey guy wasn't lying. this place does make you age quickly. What are they doing at that blood bank?!
-Hooray for Xandelia. I love that the music swells for them.
-EWW don't take a bath in that!
-AHH Eww he pulled off his face!
-Where are they? Was that some kind of teleporter? What?
-It's like time travel! Kind of. Not really. It's more like Nightmare Narnia
-Oh sir. Maybe you know Anne. Maybe. But you do not know Buffy.
-So…I didn't post season 3 predictions, but "Buffy will stage a rebellion on an alien world." would not have been in them. Not even if I had posted ones to be silly. I…I…just can't have any expectations of what will or will not happen on this show and I love that.
-So that was totally a River Tam moment. Or I guess It's a Buffy moment that River Tam has.
-Yay Buffy Joyce reunion!.
-Yay we get a whole 'noter episode of reunions!
Fb, nccneragyl V nz boyvivbhf tvey orpnhfr V qvqa'g ernyvmr Yvyl/Naar jnf Onqnff, Furygre ehaavat Naar. Naq V whfg jngpurq gur Natry rcvfbqr jvgu gur mbzovr pbcf fb VQRX…
I love this episode. Vg naq Onaq Pnaql ner gvrq sbe zl snibevgr bs guvf frnfba. Gbb onq, Qrnq Zna'f Cnegl vf arkg, htu.
It's been a long time since I watched full seasons in order. I just looked at the line up of episodes for this season and got really excited.
My very short thoughts on "Anne":
– Hey, the new credits with the slightly more cleaned-up version of the theme song! And sword-fighting clips!
– Hey it's the vampire wannabe girl from Lie to Me!
– Willow has cute short hair! Cordelia is worried about looking good for Xander! Awwww
– Oz is repeating senior year! Xander's hair is fine! Larry will have the best football season ever! Egg whites! Mysterious deaths! Hee.
– Hey, it's that guy who plays bad guys on Joss Whedon shows!
– Joyce blames Giles?? 🙁 🙁
– "I'm calling the police." BLAM! Buffy ripping the phone off the wall all casually always cracks me up.
– …and now I know where the title of the blog "a chair, a fireplace, and a tea cozy" comes from.
– It's the return of the Cheesy Music of Spontaneous Makeouts for Xander and Cordelia!
– "I'm Buffy. The vampire slayer. And you are?" HELL YEAH CROWNING MOMENT OF BADASS
– I love Buffy so much. She's just… running around in her hoodie and baggy pants and kicking ass with a fucking hammer and sickle and AWESOMENESS ENSUES. The proletariat is fighting back, Dobson! Capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction!
– I think ChantaLilyAnne is this world's version of YoSaffBridge. (Well, with the name thing. Not with the femme fatale thing.) Apparently this episode is reminding me of Firefly a lot. It even has a special hell!
The sword fighting clips are one of the best things ever. I will always associate that moment in the Buffy theme song with the sword fighting clips.
i almost always find little things that we agree about that i don't notice other people liking, but we have the complete opposite opinion of xander's hair 🙂 ha!
Haha, no, I was quoting Willow, when Xander is all nervous and she's like "your hair is fine." I should have made that clearer, but so much was happening in that scene and I just wrote down all the funny bits.
LOL. i really should refrain from commenting first thing in the morning!
Guvf ebg13 pbagnvaf Natry fcbvyref fbeg whfg gb zragvba. V qba'g xabj vs nalbar ryfr unf fnvq guvf (V qba'g unir gvzr gb ybbx guebhtu nyy gur pbzzragf) ohg qbrf vg oht nalbar ryfr gung gur npgbe jub cynlf Xra nccrnef va Natry gbb (Frnfba 1 "Gur Onpurybe Cnegl"? V zrna V xabj vg'f n fznyy ebyr naq ba qvssrerag fubjf… ohg guvatf yvxr guvf nyjnlf znantr gb obgure zr KQ Vg'f abg gur fnzr guvat nf Anguna Svyyvba orvat Pnyro orpnhfr Natry naq Ohssl ner va gur fnzr Irefr. Onu! V whfg nyjnlf abgvpr npgbe fghss yvxr guvf!
Naq Ubyqra naq Xabk nccneragyl orvat ybat ybfg gjvaf…
Npghnyyl, pbzr gb guvax bs vg, gung bar vf jbefr. Xra jnf whfg cbfvat nf n uhzna nsgre nyy naq pbhyq unir hfrq n cvpgher ur fnj fbzrjurer nf n grzcyngr sbe uvf uhzna "snpr".
There are two separate threads in the episode with a very different tone: the Sunnydale scenes play as a comedy, and the other is a drama about what happens to Buffy in L.A. that makes her reclaim her identity as Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. That's the story that makes me love this episode. It’s one of the story lines that shows Buffy starting in a place of vulnerability and despair and then showing her come back from it with renewed strength.
Is this the BtVS episode that feels most like social commentary or what? Homeless people wondering the streets, saying “I am no one”? Villains posing as a religious organization and recruiting vulnerable young people? Ruthless industrial system using people as slaves, obliterating their identities, chewing them and spitting them out when they’re of no use to it? Buffy starting a rebellion and fighting oppression with hammer and… sickle?*
*Well, something that looks like sickle – apparently it's an African weapon called hunga munga.
Mark and everyone else have already listed the greatest things about this episode – Chantarelle/Lily's development, the moving portrayal of the street kids in L.A. (an old homeless person saying "I am no one" was particularly chilling because you could see that even without the demons in this episode), Buffy helping Lily despite trying to not be a Slayer, Buffy reclaiming her identity, Lily's transformation. I'll add some things that haven't been talked about much.
– Buffy's dream. (Her fantasies tend to take place on a beach – remember her Gavin Rossdale fantasy in The Dark Age naq va frnfba 8 fur unf n fvzvyne bar nobhg Qnavry Penvt.) Since it’s a romantic fantasy, it’s not surprising that Angel says cheesy romantic lines like “If I was blind, I would see you” (which is actually similar to the way the two of them talk sometimes). But at the end it turns depressing, an these lines are interesting:
Buffy: Stay with me.
Angel: Forever. That’s the whole point. I’ll never leave… Not even if you kill me.
It’s not uncommon for people to expect and want love to last forever, but “that’s the whole point” is interesting wording – like she thinks that there’s no point to love if it’s not forever – like its purpose is to be this emotional anchor, the one constant that you can always count on in the ever-changing and confusing world. Unlike, say, her parents’ marriage. But this “forever” thing becomes a problem when your boyfriend is dead (or in this case, in hell, which amounts to the same). Buffy is obviously still tormented by killing Angel, and the promise to “never leave” is ominous since it implies that she’s afraid she’ll never get over it – or maybe at the same time she wants not to get over it, having the familiar memory and familiar pain as this emotional constant to rely on.
– It is good to see Buffy having a job and supporting herself, but it hurts to see her having to put up with jerks grabbing her butt – she would normally kick the guy’s ass and teach him a lesson, but the customer’s always right and you don’t can't allow to lose your job, can you. 🙁
– Lily and Rickie as a parallel to Buffy/Angel: Despite her own dreams of forever love, Buffy’s reaction to this is far more down-to-earth – she seems less than delighted with the idea of a putting something like this on your skin permanently (which is pretty much my reaction to such tattoos every time – yeah, now you’re thinking it’s a good idea to tattoo “Winona forever” on your body, but you’ll want to remove it once you break up…), but Rickie echoes her dream saying “Forever. That’s the whole point.” A line that makes a more obvious kind of sense in this case that it did in Buffy’s dream (the whole point of the tattoo is to be permanent, since our love is forever).
Like so often on this show, Rickie and Lily’s love is portrayed in both romantic and subversive way – Lily says that she needs Rickie because he takes care of her, which means that she doesn’t know how to take care of herself.
– Lily is a teenage runaway who keeps changing her identity and looking for a replacement family; it’s obvious that she’s from an abusive household that she’s been running away, since her family is something she doesn’t even want to talk about, and we don’t even learn her real name.
She went from "Sister Sunshine" to a vampire wannabe! 😀 The vamp worshippers were treated as deluded fools in Lie to Me, and I like that Whedon brought one of them back and treated her in a more serious way, showing the real problems and loneliness that drove them, while still poking gentle fun at Chanterelle/Lily for giving herself what she thought was an “exotic” name, unaware she named herself after a mushroom.
Becoming one half of a romantic couple was her next attempt at finding love and connection, but, as I said, this “forever love” thing becomes a problem when your boyfriend is dead. But this is not "Twilight", and women can go on living without their boyfriends.
– Lily says Rickie named her after a song; my guess is it’s “Lily [My One and Only]” by Smashing Pumpkins, from Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness, which was released in 1997.
– The villain called himself Ken? LOL
– The demons in this episode are metaphors for the ruthless system that uses people as workforce, erases their individuality and rejects them when they’re too old and not needed anymore. The place where the humans are brought to work and treated as slaves is a factory/labor camp, but it is also a metaphorical Hell”– and the villain ‘Ken’ is the spokesman for the writer when he says: “What is hell but the total absense of hope?” It feels a bit like the place is an embodiment of Buffy’s and Lily’s fears and despair, especially when ‘Ken’ as he plays on Lily’s deep insecurities, telling her that she always knew she would end up in Hell, and telling Buffy that she finally got what she wanted: “So pathetically determined to run away from whatever it is you used to be. To disappear. Congratulations. You got your wish.”
And this is where Buffy reclaims her identity and fights back, starting a rebellion and freeing the captives/slaves. Maybe more importantly, Lily, regular human, starts fighting back, too. „Humans don’t fight back! This is how it works!“ shouts Ken, shocked. This is how oppression works: most people don’t fight back and just give up.
Just how many MOMENTS OF AWESOME does Buffy have in this episode?
– breaking into the blood bank and her attitude to the doctor
– “I am Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And you are?"
– the iconic moment of her with the hammer and 'sickle' (hunga munga), already in the opening credits
– Buffy: Hey Ken, wanna see my impression of Gandhi?
[beats him to death with a club]
Lily: Gandhi?
Buffy: Well, you know, if he was really pissed-off.
Her stance of violence is very similar to mine: use non-violent protest as long as you can, but that works only if you're up against people who still have some scruples. When you're up against total bastards and non-violence doesn't work? You gotta use other means.
Ybgf bs sberfunqbjvat: Gur ubeebe bs vaqhfgevnyvmngvba ernccrnef nf n gurzr va Gur Jvfu, jurer ivyynvaf ner nyfb hfvat uhznaf nf rkcraqnoyr zrng (va n zber yvgreny jnl). Xra fnlf gung Ohssl tbg ure jvfu jvgu guvf Uryy; gur nygreangr havirefr sebz Gur Jvfu jvyy or yvgrenyyl Pbeql’f jvfu pnzr gehr.
Xra’f rkcynangvba gung gvzr ehaf snfgre va gur uryy qvzrafvba jurer gur snpgbel vf pbhyq nyfb nccyl gb gur uryy qvzrafvba jurer Natry unf orra. Evpxvr’f sngr – fcraqvat qrpnqrf va uryy naq gura orvat guebja bhg bs vg onpx vagb bhe jbeyq, vf fvzvyne gb jung unccraf jvgu Natry, nf jr’yy frr va n pbhcyr bs rcvfbqrf.
Ohssl fgnegf gur frnfba nf n grrantr ehanjnl yvivat ba ure bja, juvpu sberfunqbjf gur neeviny bs Snvgu, jub funerf Yvyl’f qlfshapgvbany naq nohfvir onpxtebhaq.
I'm not mad about the Sunnydale parts of the episode… There are some nice cameos and funny lines (Larry's "…and don't have that many mysterious deaths"), I like Giles' understatement that he would be "cranky" if Willow and the others got themselves killed, and the scene between Giles and Joyce (the only serious scene in SD in this episode) is interesting and unexpected (we're so used to the line "You mustn't blame yourself", but how often do you hear someone saying "No, I blame you.").
But most of the SD scenes feel a bit too cutesy, too much concentrated high school humor. it’s like the Scoobies, without Buffy, have become solely comic relief characters. I didn't like the return of the cheesy music of the X/C make-out, it felt repetitive and old.
The newly sired vampires are starting seem like a bit of a joke, if you don’t need a Slayer or even an experienced vampire hunter to kill them, just a few of her friends who have picked up on things while helping her for a little over a year. They do mention that half of the vampires are getting away, but if they’re managing to kill half of them, it’s still quite a lot for their level of training and strength. If even they can do moderately well against vampires and not get killed for a few months, imagine how good an experienced human demon hunter would be. Kind of makes you wonder why they even need Slayers, and why do Slayers die young? I really have a problem with how not dangerous and ineffectual these newly risen vampires are, it undermines the concept of the show Yeah, the experienced and older vampires are much more dangerous, but Buffy also seems to spend most nights killing those baby vamps.
– Let's take a moment to mention first notable thing about this new season is: THEY FINALLY DITCHED THE OPENING NARRATION! It was high time. The “Into every generation a Slayer is born, ONE girl in all the world…” bit was cheesy and repetitive (we don’t need to be told every time what Buffy is, thank you) and became obsolete halfway through season 2 with the introduction of Kendra.
One random comment that I haven't seen yet – I find it highly ironic that Buffy went to The City of Angels after having to kill Angel.
Is she intentionally trying to feel close to him? Is she not noticing? Did Joss do this on purpose? Did he just pick Los Angeles because it's the nearest big city to where Sunnydale is supposed to be?
I just think it's an interesting thing to point out.
It's where she's originally from.
(if you remember, she moved from LA to Sunnydale at the start of Welcome to the Hellmouth)
That is kind of strange. I mean, I guess she would know her way around there, but she also might run in to someone who recognizes her, not from Sunnydale, but from her old school.
Buffy: "Hey Ken, wanna see my Gandhi impression?"
*Smashes Ken's head in"
Lily: Gandhi?
Buffy: "Well, you know, if he was pissed."
One of my all time favorite exchanges on the show.
And, of course, of course, of course.
"I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. And you are?"
That axe/sickle thingie that Buffy is so iconically wielding is called a "hunga munga". Which makes me love it even more.
Really? That is awesome.
I think it's my all-time favorite Buffy Power Shot.
Jryy, znlor gur bar sebz gur frnfba 5 svanyr gung raqf gur ynfg gjb lrnef perqvgf, ohg gung qbrfa'g pbhag, pnhfr vg'f ernyyl Ohssl-Obg.
So many beautiful Power Shots! One of my very favorites never made it onto the credits, alas. It's the one at the beginning of "Prophecy Girl" where she's fighting some vamp in slo-mo outside of Lover's Lane, and ruh roh things look bad for our Buffy. But then she pulls out her hidden stake and just…smiles. Gotcha. *swoon*
The lasting great thing about the one from this ep, is that you can say, "Hunga munga!" whenever it appears on the credits, which adds to the Enjoyment.
YES, thank you for reminding me what it was – I've been going around all day thinking it was called a chumbawamba, and then going, "no, that CAN't be right."
All I have to say is that chanterelles are delicious.
YES
…damn, I could go for some venison with chanterelles, lingonberries and maybe potato dumplings now.
POTATO DUMPLINGS!
Ugh, no more reading comments before breakfast. I'm in food agony right now.
If it helps at all, I made myself be in food agony too, because we don't really have any of the abovementioned things in the house 🙁 well, we have ready-made dumplings but on their own they're not actually that delicious 😐
Mmmmmm
Is it just me or did a lot of new people come out to comment on this episode.
🙂 I'm just glad Buffy's back.
Abj jr whfg unir gb jnvg sbe Natry'f erghea.
OHG V GUBHTUG NATRY JNF WHFG TBVAT GB OR VA OHSSL'F QERNZ FRDHRAPRF SEBZ ABJ HAGVY NATRY'F SVSGU FRNFBA?
I didn't realize before (sometimes I'm not very smart), but the awfulness of Ken and his not-quite-so-demonic ilk is especially poignant va gur pbagenfg bs ubj Naar ehaf URE furygre, npghnyyl urycvat crbcyr.
Nyfb, va gur pngrtbel bs "ivqf gung arrq znxvat gung V jba'g znxr," Naar fubhyq or ivqqrq gb Gbev Nzbf' Fvyrag Nyy Gurfr Lrnef: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8tdm_CMZDw
I have a one person sized teapot. It's glorious.
I can't believe I forgot to say this earlier. I like how this episode brings us full circle to Joss Whedon's original concept: "Rhonda the Immortal Waitress".