AOQ Review 4-9: "Something Blue"
Arbitrar Of Quality
threads.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
(or "Here comes the bride, she's out of her friggin' mind")
Writer: Tracey Forbes
Director: Nick Marck
Yet another primarily-comedy episode. That's a lot in a short time.
Since it's the first plot that's addressed, and since it doesn't
fit neatly anywhere else in the review, I'm actually going to start
by talking about the growing feelings between our hero and Riley The
TA. I'm not so crazy about the conceit that he acts exactly the same
towards her as he would were he not a sinister soldier who may or may
not be aware on some level that Buffy isn't as she seems. But
that's standard BTVS conceit, so I'll cope. More relevant is that
there's some real lack of sparkage. The show misdirects us a little
by suggesting that the issue is that Buffy is attuned to dangerous men,
so nice guys seem a little boring. It's a fair point to raise
(although I think the only reason it's mentioned is to try to
"justify" the Spike thing later), but in my mind the problem is
simpler than that: *Riley* is boring. Other than his reaching out to
Willow during the picnic, every scene in this episode in which he
appears is a big nothing for me.
Okay, on to the protein of the show. Willow's still feeling sad.
And it's not the kind of thing one would expect to just go away. If
nothing else, the earlier parts of "Something Blue" do good work in
showing her continuing issues mixed with her attempts to not suck the
cheer from every room she's in (think of all her claims that she's
"feeling better," both here and elsewhere). And she feels
increasingly isolated since having talked people's ears off about it
hasn't helped much, so she assumes that everyone's sick of hearing
about it, and isolates herself as a result... With all the humor that
the later parts of the episode will bring, there's some good
"serious" character work, both before and after Willow starts
getting hostile. Spike continues in his role of mostly providing
sarcastic commentary on the action, and occasionally being strangely
perceptive about human behavior with lines like "what, are you people
blind? She's hangin' on by a thread!" Sticking with Spike for
the moment, I do continue to get a kick out of his attitude in
captivity, coming off as desperate and contemptuous at once (especially
when hungry). What's funny is that he's not the center of the
episode per se, but his personality dominates it, to the point that
I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to him
("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!" "Among other things,
I'd like to shower sometime today. Alone").
Back on Willow, I'm glad to see that she's back to being portrayed
properly after the questionable scenes in the last two episodes. I
wanted to mention the buzzed ("drunk" is such a guttural
Anglo-Saxon word) dance in the Bronze, since, well, it's my favorite
scene in the episode. This hammers home how good she can be at looking
like (and trying to convince herself that) she's okay, and also how
thin the veneer is getting. Buffy's reaction of concern is spot-on
too ("you'll thank me when you still have a friend in the
morning"). Also good is Xander continuing to try to be a friend to
her despite how hard she is to talk to at times like this, and even her
childishly clinging to Buffy makes sense (and we know that Buffy
shouldn't leave her alone at a time like that, but what else can a
Slayer be expected to do when a crisis arises)? Probably more so than
before, the end of the episode gives her a chance to see some
consequences of her tendencies to be reckless and to lash out, and I
think it'll be interesting to see whether this is the one that
she'll take to heart and remember... it'll tell us a lot about the
character.
So our witch's words start coming to pass. I was kept guessing long
enough about what device in particular was going to be used to make all
hell break loose, so I suppose that's to the episode's credit. All
hell does in fact break loose, and it's mainly simple silliness.
Nothing earth-shattering in the blind-Giles sections, but they work
adequately. Xander and Anya seem to be working out a good
demon-killing rhythm, mainly involving being on opposite sides of it so
that only one of them gets thrown around at a time. Got a kick out of
Anya's impatiently classifying their assailants.
I don't know what it is about fandumb that gives rise to such rabid,
irrational "shipper-ism," but I'm assuming that chunks of this
episode were written to cater to the segment of the fanbase clamoring
for Buffy and Spike to get together. But such a romance would be
hindered by the tiny trivial fact that, at least at the moment, it
would make no fucking sense whatsoever (yes, even given Buffy's thing
with bad-boy types). That wouldn't stop a fanfic writer, but TV
writers do have to note these things. Ergo, Forbes forces the issue
through magic and then has it "not count." The actors and dialogue
do enough good work to salvage what could have been something painful
and make it something fun. Most of the time, they continue to act like
the characters we know and love, only they inexplicably love each other
too. It's only the last act that lets us down a little once they get
too wrapped up in each other to worry about, say, their friends in
danger of being slaughtered five feet away. The rest of the time, we
get exchanges like "do you wanna be 'William The Bloody' or just
'Spike?' Cuz either way it's gonna look majorly weird."
"Whereas the name 'Buffy' gives it that touch of classic
elegance." And Giles shines as the voice of reason. Not much else
to say about the wedding storyline: pure fluff, but fairly enjoyable.
Totally predicted the joke at the end of Ta'hoffren's scene -
"oh well" [complete with the music abruptly stopping]. It was
still good for a smile.
One fleeting moment of Elizabeth Anne Allen in all her nudely glory,
and that's it? I don't remember seeing the rat cage previously
this season, despite all the views of the dorm room, but whatever. Now
I hope more than ever that she eventually gets restored, if only
because of how overjoyed she looked to momentarily be human again.
I seem to get a kick out of the "Buffy stakes a vamp in passing"
scenes, no matter how many times that joke is reused, and this was the
most in-passing yet.
As far as I can tell, Willow still has that amulet. The show sometimes
likes to follow up on that kind of stuff, but not always. So I
wouldn't call it a Chekhov Gun, but it has potential.
Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill us
to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
I feel pretty strongly about not dividing my rating scale into smaller
increments and sub-sub-increments, but I must admit it hurts a little
bit to be giving this episode the same rating as "Pangs." That was
one of the best Good episodes of the series, and this is one of the
weakest, not all that far removed from Decent. But Good stuff is Good
stuff.
So...
One-sentence summary: Something pleasantly silly.
AOQ rating: Good
[Season Four so far:
1) "The Freshman" - Good
2) "Living Conditions" - Decent
3) "The Harsh Light Of Day" - Good
4) "Fear Itself" - Decent
5) "Beer Bad" - Weak
6) "Wild At Heart" - Excellent
7) "The Initiative" - Decent
8) "Pangs" - Good
9) "Something Blue" - Good]
eli...@gmail.com
>hindered by the tiny trivial fact that, at least at the moment, it
>would make no fucking sense whatsoever (yes, even given Buffy's thing
>with bad-boy types). That wouldn't stop a fanfic writer, but TV
>writers do have to note these things.
still does produce!
Anyway, that's not really the point. Personally I love this episode to
tiny, tiny pieces and could probably recite most of it by heart. But
then Buffy & Spike in love is just too wonderful to describe - as are
the responses:
Buffy: Spike and I are getting married!
Xander: How? What? How?
Giles: Three excellent questions!
And of course "Can I be blind too?"
But before I strat to quote the whole episode... to get to some actual
points. First about Willow. I listened to the commentary for 'Reptile
Boy' the other day, and David Greenwalt (the writer) mentioned that
Willow needs order - she _depends_ on it. I thought this a very good
insight into the character and also helps show what she is (mostly)
trying to do with her magic. (I could go on about this, but I don't
have the time. I just thought it an interesting point and one worth
remembering.)
Now Riley... I'm afraid there's nothing I can do to make him less
boring. But it's worth noting why Buffy decides to go for him in the
end. At the beginning of the episode she says:
Buffy: Seeing Angel in LA.. even for five minutes.. hello to the pain.
Willow: The pain is not a friend.
Buffy: But I can't help thinking... isn't that where the fire comes
from? Can a nice, safe relationship be that intense? I know it's nuts,
but.. part of me believes that real love and passion have to go hand in
hand with pain and fighting.
Of course knowing what really happened in LA adds a lot more to this.
And her later rejection of 'the pain' in favour of 'nice and safe' is
in many ways a subconcious way of safe guarding herself from ever being
so hurt again.
Darn it, must run. Just one last point re spelling - it's D'Hoffryn.
(It is often misspelt, just like Jonathan's name!)
eli...@gmail.com
Re. Spike's perceptiveness, he obviously watches a lot of TV
("Passions" is on! Timmy's down the bloody well, and if you make me
miss it, I'll -) which I'm sure helps.
And re. whether vampires eat food, then I think it changes from vamp to
vamp. They obviously don't need it, but maybe some of them miss it?
Bill Reid
Arbitrar Of Quality <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
news:1146229321....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
> (or "Here comes the bride, she's out of her friggin' mind")
>
>
> The show misdirects us a little
> by suggesting that the issue is that Buffy is attuned to dangerous men,
> so nice guys seem a little boring.
Yeah, Buffy is ultimately attracted to a certain type of man who
can appear normal on the outside but a certain danger lurks unknown
within, or something like a mix of danger and sensitivity...what I
like to call a "project" man, a guy that in everyday life a girl can
"fix up"...
> It's a fair point to raise
> (although I think the only reason it's mentioned is to try to
> "justify" the Spike thing later), but in my mind the problem is
> simpler than that: *Riley* is boring.
I think you're the first person to ever mention this...
> Spike continues in his role of mostly providing
> sarcastic commentary on the action, and occasionally being strangely
> perceptive about human behavior with lines like "what, are you people
> blind? She's hangin' on by a thread!"
Hmmm, he's displaying a certain level of sensitivity there, hmmmm...
>
> One fleeting moment of Elizabeth Anne Allen in all her nudely glory,
> and that's it?
What are saying, you wanted her to go from rat to full beaver on TV?
I didn't just say that...
> I don't remember seeing the rat cage previously
> this season, despite all the views of the dorm room, but whatever.
It was there, Mr. Non-Observant.
> Now
> I hope more than ever that she eventually gets restored, if only
> because of how overjoyed she looked to momentarily be human again.
>
Yeah, but on the other hand, she's got the whole Habit-Trail thing
goin'...
>
> Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill us
> to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
>
I think they do in the next episode, sort of...
> I feel pretty strongly about not dividing my rating scale into smaller
> increments and sub-sub-increments, but I must admit it hurts a little
> bit to be giving this episode the same rating as "Pangs." That was
> one of the best Good episodes of the series, and this is one of the
> weakest, not all that far removed from Decent.
Well, you're all mixed up, as usual...
> One-sentence summary: Something pleasantly silly.
>
> AOQ rating: Good
>
> [Season Four so far:
> 1) "The Freshman" - Good
Yeah, didn't like "Sunday", but pretty much OK, decent if
discontinuous metaphorical explication of the disorientation
of the first day of college for people who were "big shots"
in high school...
> 2) "Living Conditions" - Decent
This was pretty stupid but I still liked it, more so than many other
people apparently...
> 3) "The Harsh Light Of Day" - Good
This had a lot of good stuff in it, I liked it...
> 4) "Fear Itself" - Decent
SUX!!!
> 5) "Beer Bad" - Weak
This is one of those episodes that I HATED on first viewing for
a specific pet peeve. In this case, I was HORRIFIED at the "joke"
of Buffy hitting people over the head with a club. In real life,
you whack somebody on the head like that, they very likely
won't be getting up again. I thought that treating that as light
humor was the height of irresponsibility.
But ignoring that aspect, I actually thought the remainder
of the episode was pretty much OK, kinda funny...
> 6) "Wild At Heart" - Excellent
Pretty good...
> 7) "The Initiative" - Decent
Better than that, but definitely not that great. I must step in at this
junction and exercise my powers as "Arbitrar of Funny" (AOF) to
clear up all the confusion about this one:
* Cheese - funny, cheese is always funny, the word "cheese" is
a "comedy word" and of course it is significant because Buffy is
clearly still suffering the after-effects of being a rat (and the show
will further explore the ramifications of her rodent transformation
in later episodes.
* Xander-Harmony chick fight - HIIII-LARIOUS, and not out
of character at all, ask any boxer and he'll tell you that sometimes
an awkward bad fighter can mess up his fighting "style"; Xander
was not expecting a vampire to kick him in the shins and start
pulling his hair.
* Spikes "failure to perform" - NOT FUNNY, not offensive, just
STUPID BAD WRITING PANDERING TO IDIOTS WHO
WILL SNIGGER AT ANY SEXUAL REFERENCE.
* EVERYBODY FORGOT THE FUNNIEST THING OF ALL:
when "Graham" helpfully speculated about the reason Buffy was
"a little weird":
Riley: I mean, there's just something a little "off" about her...doncha
think she's a little weird?
Graham: Maybe she's Canadian?
Now THAT"S funny!
> 8) "Pangs" - Good
Not good; the funniest thing about this one was the writer of the
episode came to this very newsgroup to defend it when everybody
complained about it when it first aired. She cried about how hard
she worked researching the history of the Chumash Indians,
ignoring the fact that people watching a show called "Buffy The
Vampire Slayer" aren't looking for a friggin' lesson on "Native
American" history...
> 9) "Something Blue" - Good]
>
Stupid good fun, I laughed several times...
---
William Ernest Reid
George W Harris
<tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
:I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
:because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to him
:("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!" "Among other things,
:I'd like to shower sometime today. Alone").
One bit that's funny, but plays as incredibly sexy
and shows the tremendous chemistry between Marsters
and Gellar is when Buffy tauntingly offers her neck to
Spike.
--
e^(i*pi)+1=0
George W. Harris For actual email address, replace each 'u' with an 'i'.
Espen Schjønberg
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
> (or "Here comes the bride, she's out of her friggin' mind")
> Writer: Tracey Forbes
> Director: Nick Marck
>
> simpler than that: *Riley* is boring.
Yes, don't you think. I have met _very_ few fans to think otherwise.
I just go AOL on this point, 'cause thats the only fun we can get with
Riley around: bonding on how _incredible_ boring that guy is.
> [Spike] What's funny is that he's not the center of the
> episode per se, but his personality dominates it,
I think they should have been more careful with this. Give the man his
own show, if he is so damn important. To late to fix now.
> Totally predicted the joke at the end of Ta'hoffren's scene -
> "oh well" [complete with the music abruptly stopping]. It was
> still good for a smile.
And who _is_ this D'Hoffryn-guy. (You noticed you have seen the actor
before? (Not that I did when I saw him in his other part other way
around, out of order). )
> Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill us
> to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
I have a fanwank (actually, it's not even fanwank, just the plain truth
of how this works on real vampires in the real world;-))
- vampires _can_ eat food. They just don't digest it. Digesting takes
living bacteria etc inside your body, and inside, the vampires are dead.
So, it will come out the way he ate it. Almost.
Ok?
>
> I feel pretty strongly about not dividing my rating scale into smaller
> increments and sub-sub-increments, but I must admit it hurts a little
> bit to be giving this episode the same rating as "Pangs." That was
> one of the best Good episodes of the series, and this is one of the
> weakest, not all that far removed from Decent.
People tend to like this one a lot, you seem to be on the lower end of
the scale here. I found this one utterly amusing. But of course, that's
how it is.
But to nag on something you don't seem to mind: When the spell is
reversed in the ending, I think it is a cop-out to make everything
disappear. Like, when Xander is not a magnet anymore, he stops
attracting demons, but they shouldn't vanish in thin air those who
already are there.
But you knew I would say that.
--
Espen
Noe er Feil[tm]
George W Harris
<ess...@excite.com> wrote:
:> Totally predicted the joke at the end of Ta'hoffren's scene -
:> "oh well" [complete with the music abruptly stopping]. It was
:> still good for a smile.
:
:And who _is_ this D'Hoffryn-guy. (You noticed you have seen the actor
:before? (Not that I did when I saw him in his other part other way
:around, out of order). )
We've seen him before on Buffy, at the
beginning of Doppelgangland; Anya was begging
him for her powers back.
--
They say there's air in your lungs that's been there for years.
Don Sample
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> I don't remember seeing the rat cage previously
> this season, despite all the views of the dorm room, but whatever.
The cage has been there, ever since Willow moved into the room. They've
just never drawn attention to it.
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
Opus the Penguin
> Buffy: Spike and I are getting married!
> Xander: How? What? How?
> Giles: Three excellent questions!
This may be my favorite exchange in the whole series.
--
Opus the Penguin
The best darn penguin in all of Usenet
Opus the Penguin
> * Spikes "failure to perform" - NOT FUNNY, not offensive, just
> STUPID BAD WRITING PANDERING TO IDIOTS WHO
> WILL SNIGGER AT ANY SEXUAL REFERENCE.
Heh heh. He said "sexual". Heh heh.
Opus the Penguin
> This is one of those episodes that I HATED on first viewing for
> a specific pet peeve. In this case, I was HORRIFIED at the "joke"
> of Buffy hitting people over the head with a club. In real life,
> you whack somebody on the head like that, they very likely
> won't be getting up again. I thought that treating that as light
> humor was the height of irresponsibility.
Got a movie for you: _Thunderbolt and Lightfoot_.
Arbitrar Of Quality
> * Cheese - funny, cheese is always funny, the word "cheese" is
> a "comedy word" and of course it is significant because Buffy is
> clearly still suffering the after-effects of being a rat (and the show
> will further explore the ramifications of her rodent transformation
> in later episodes.
Yeah, central metaphor of the series, I know. Actually, I already know
about the cheese-intensive Buffy/Amy sex-fest next season; I'm curious
and worried at the same time.
> > 8) "Pangs" - Good
>
> Not good; the funniest thing about this one was the writer of the
> episode came to this very newsgroup to defend it when everybody
> complained about it when it first aired. She cried about how hard
> she worked researching the history of the Chumash Indians,
> ignoring the fact that people watching a show called "Buffy The
> Vampire Slayer" aren't looking for a friggin' lesson on "Native
> American" history...
LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE!!!
-AOQ
Kisses To You
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
> (or "Here comes the bride, she's out of her friggin' mind")
> Writer: Tracey Forbes
> Director: Nick Marck
> The show misdirects us a little
> by suggesting that the issue is that Buffy is attuned to dangerous men,
> so nice guys seem a little boring. It's a fair point to raise
> (although I think the only reason it's mentioned is to try to
> "justify" the Spike thing later), but in my mind the problem is
> simpler than that: *Riley* is boring. Other than his reaching out to
> Willow during the picnic, every scene in this episode in which he
> appears is a big nothing for me.
I probably like Riley more than most people here do, but even I can't say
you're entirely wrong. ME was trying to build a strong contrast between
nice boy Riley and dark mysterious Angel, and a simultaneous contrast
between his nice, ordinary personality and his dark, mysterious secret
role. Unfortunately, they just went overboard with the ordinary, so that
he sometimes becomes a caricature of a normal guy. One small example: I
think it was a mistake to have him come from an Iowa farm family. That's
not so much a normal background as a Traditional TV Signifier of a Normal
Background. And making it worse, the only times we've seen him being
angry or sarcastic or anything other than pleasant have been when he's at
his night job, separate from Buffy and her friends. Oh, well. But
despite this, I still kinda like the guy. They may have made him *too*
bland, but the basic idea of throwing a bland normal guy into the mix has
potential. How will he fit into Buffy's life? *Can* he?
> Spike continues in his role of mostly providing
> sarcastic commentary on the action, and occasionally being strangely
> perceptive about human behavior with lines like "what, are you people
> blind? She's hangin' on by a thread!"
Continuing the tradition of bad guys who give good advice.
> I don't know what it is about fandumb that gives rise to such rabid,
> irrational "shipper-ism," but I'm assuming that chunks of this
> episode were written to cater to the segment of the fanbase clamoring
> for Buffy and Spike to get together.
Had that started by the time Something Blue was written? I wasn't reading
this newsgroup back then.
> One fleeting moment of Elizabeth Anne Allen in all her nudely glory,
> and that's it? I don't remember seeing the rat cage previously
> this season, despite all the views of the dorm room, but whatever.
I'm pretty sure I saw it in the background during your favorite scene in
The Initiative.
> Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill us
> to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
They can if they want, though they usually don't want to. Sometimes a
vamp will eat in order to pass as human (we see this at least once, but in
an episode you haven't seen yet). And sometimes they just do it to enjoy
the taste. The taste of anything besides blood is no doubt pretty bland
and insipid to vamps (hence mortal Angel's food binge in IWRY), but they
haven't lost the sense of taste altogether.
Buffy's haristyle in this episode is perhaps my least favorite of the
entire series. But I love Giles' "Kiss the Librarian" mug. If anyone
knows where I can get one, please tell me!
--Chris
______________________________________________________________________
chrisg [at] gwu.edu On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog.
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
> Arbitrar Of Quality <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
>> threads.
>>
>>
>> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>> Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
>> (or "Here comes the bride, she's out of her friggin' mind")
>> Writer: Tracey Forbes
>> Director: Nick Marck
Forgot to mention a couple of my favorite bits:
-The whole conversation between Buffy and Riley outside the bridal shop.
This alone would justify Riley's existence, even if he was nothing but
pure bland for the rest of the series.
-"'Comfy'? I'm chained in a bathtub drinking pig's blood from a novelty
mug. Doesn't rank huge in the Zagat's Guide."
-"I will that this Q-tip becomes ... unbendy?"
-Buffy's engagement ring.
eli...@gmail.com
discussed ad nauseam!
How exactly does the spell work? The best theory I've read is that it
can only perpetuate what already exists - which is why the Q-tip
doesn't unbend etc. But Giles's eyesight is already poor, Xander has a
history of being attractive to demons, Amy used to be human and Buffy
and Spike spend a great part of the episode aruging like an old couple.
Not sure if that was of any interest?
Scott Lurndal
>> a specific pet peeve. In this case, I was HORRIFIED at the "joke"
>> of Buffy hitting people over the head with a club. In real life,
>> you whack somebody on the head like that, they very likely
>> won't be getting up again. I thought that treating that as light
>> humor was the height of irresponsibility.
>
In real life, there are no slayers and vampires.
scott
Kevin
Kisses To You wrote:
> ????
Welcome to the discussions! Fascinating post.
--Kevin
Don Sample
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
> (or "Here comes the bride, she's out of her friggin' mind")
> Writer: Tracey Forbes
> Director: Nick Marck
Best line: "*This* is the crack team that foils my every plan? I am
deeply shamed."
Sam
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill us
> to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
>
Ok, I don't think this is a spoiler, because I certainly remember
knowing it by this point in the series:
Vampires can eat as much human food as they want. They just don't get
any nutrition out of it.
"I Will Remember You" added the wrinkle that it doesn't taste as good
as it does to the living, but the whole vampire-food thing in general
was settled a lot earlier, wasn't it? Am I misremembering?
nimue
snip
>
> Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill us
> to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
Huh? Vamps have always eaten human food on BTVS. Anne Rice's vampires
don't, but vamps in the Buffyverse do. They don't like it as much as blood,
but they eat it. Don't you remember Spike's request for marshmallows in his
hot chocolate in Lovers Walk?
>
snip
--
nimue
"Evil is not merely banal; it prides itself on sticking to the rules
and looks forward to its pension." Kyle Smith
"Violence always wants to erupt and only creativity can control it."
Sister Wendy
nimue
I've got a theory.... Okay, okay, I like that theory, especially as it
relates to Buffy and Spike.
nimue
> chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
>> Arbitrar Of Quality <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>>> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
>>> threads.
>>>
>>>
>>> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>>> Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
>>> (or "Here comes the bride, she's out of her friggin' mind")
>>> Writer: Tracey Forbes
>>> Director: Nick Marck
>
> Forgot to mention a couple of my favorite bits:
>
> -The whole conversation between Buffy and Riley outside the bridal
> shop. This alone would justify Riley's existence,
I am sorry, but nothing can justify Riley's existence. Nothing. He should
just go back to Pleasantville and stay there (Jonathan, on the other hand,
is welcome in the Buffyverse at any time).
> even if he was
> nothing but pure bland for the rest of the series.
>
> -"'Comfy'? I'm chained in a bathtub drinking pig's blood from a
> novelty mug. Doesn't rank huge in the Zagat's Guide."
>
> -"I will that this Q-tip becomes ... unbendy?"
>
> -Buffy's engagement ring.
>
>
> --Chris
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> chrisg [at] gwu.edu On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog.
--
nimue
>
>> Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill
>> us to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
>
> They can if they want, though they usually don't want to. Sometimes a
> vamp will eat in order to pass as human (we see this at least once,
> but in an episode you haven't seen yet). And sometimes they just do
> it to enjoy the taste. The taste of anything besides blood is no
> doubt pretty bland and insipid to vamps (hence mortal Angel's food
> binge in IWRY),
It was ice cream, wasn't it? Some insane flavor that doesn't exist, but
really, really should.
>but they haven't lost the sense of taste altogether.
>
> Buffy's haristyle in this episode is perhaps my least favorite of the
> entire series. But I love Giles' "Kiss the Librarian" mug. If anyone
> knows where I can get one, please tell me!
Here's a tiny one with a Spike doll.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5961955309&category=36554
>
>
> --Chris
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> chrisg [at] gwu.edu On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog.
--
nimue
> On 28 Apr 2006 06:02:01 -0700, "Arbitrar Of Quality"
> <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
>> because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to him
> :("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!" "Among other things,
>> I'd like to shower sometime today. Alone").
>
> One bit that's funny, but plays as incredibly sexy
> and shows the tremendous chemistry between Marsters
> and Gellar is when Buffy tauntingly offers her neck to
> Spike.
Their chemistry is the hottest chemistry I have ever seen. Can anyone think
of any couples in film or television that rivalled Buffy and Spike for
sheer, delicious hotness?
Rowan Hawthorn
> George W Harris wrote:
>> On 28 Apr 2006 06:02:01 -0700, "Arbitrar Of Quality"
>> <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
>>> because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to him
>> :("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!" "Among other things,
>>> I'd like to shower sometime today. Alone").
>> One bit that's funny, but plays as incredibly sexy
>> and shows the tremendous chemistry between Marsters
>> and Gellar is when Buffy tauntingly offers her neck to
>> Spike.
>
> Their chemistry is the hottest chemistry I have ever seen. Can anyone think
> of any couples in film or television that rivalled Buffy and Spike for
> sheer, delicious hotness?
>
Willow and Vamp!Willow (And I'd *much* rather watch them,
although this episode's worth of Spuffy was pretty damn funny...)
--
Rowan Hawthorn
"Occasionally, I'm callous and strange." - Willow Rosenberg,
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
Scott Lurndal
>George W Harris wrote:
>> On 28 Apr 2006 06:02:01 -0700, "Arbitrar Of Quality"
>> <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
>>> because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to him
>> :("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!" "Among other things,
>>> I'd like to shower sometime today. Alone").
>>
>> One bit that's funny, but plays as incredibly sexy
>> and shows the tremendous chemistry between Marsters
>> and Gellar is when Buffy tauntingly offers her neck to
>> Spike.
>
>Their chemistry is the hottest chemistry I have ever seen. Can anyone think
>of any couples in film or television that rivalled Buffy and Spike for
>sheer, delicious hotness?
Pierce and Stephanie? For the older gen, Robert and Stephanie. Hmm.
starting to see a pattern here ....
Michael Ikeda
news:F3w4g.46982$x97....@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com:
> snip
>
>>
>>> Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it
>>> kill us to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat
>>> human food?
>>
>> They can if they want, though they usually don't want to.
>> Sometimes a vamp will eat in order to pass as human (we see
>> this at least once, but in an episode you haven't seen yet).
>> And sometimes they just do it to enjoy the taste. The taste of
>> anything besides blood is no doubt pretty bland and insipid to
>> vamps (hence mortal Angel's food binge in IWRY),
>
> It was ice cream, wasn't it? Some insane flavor that doesn't
> exist, but really, really should.
>
Cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip.
There's probably SOMEONE somewhere who makes it.
--
Michael Ikeda mmi...@erols.com
"Telling a statistician not to use sampling is like telling an
astronomer they can't say there is a moon and stars"
Lynne Billard, past president American Statistical Association
vague disclaimer
eli...@gmail.com wrote:
Or the spell can't be self-cast or cast on inanimate objects?
--
A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend
Shloonktapooxis
> I don't know what it is about fandumb that gives rise to such rabid,
> irrational "shipper-ism," but I'm assuming that chunks of this
> episode were written to cater to the segment of the fanbase clamoring
> for Buffy and Spike to get together.
Hey, I resemble that comment! But it wasn't just Spuffys (an
embarrassingly cutesy-poo term for S/B shippers), Sarah asked Joss to
pair up Buffy with Spike too. His response, "No more vampires!" Joss
thought up the engagement spell not to cater, but to illustrate just
how wrong for each other they were, or so he claims.
Apteryx
news:1146229321....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
> (or "Here comes the bride, she's out of her friggin' mind")
> Writer: Tracey Forbes
> Director: Nick Marck
>
It must be awful for you. Our hearts go out to you in this your time of
trial.
> Since it's the first plot that's addressed
There's a plot?
> I don't know what it is about fandumb that gives rise to such rabid,
> irrational "shipper-ism," but I'm assuming that chunks of this
> episode were written to cater to the segment of the fanbase clamoring
> for Buffy and Spike to get together.
Or to mock them for "clamoring" (if any were).
> But such a romance would be
> hindered by the tiny trivial fact that, at least at the moment, it
> would make no fucking sense whatsoever (yes, even given Buffy's thing
> with bad-boy types). That wouldn't stop a fanfic writer, but TV
> writers do have to note these things. Ergo, Forbes forces the issue
> through magic and then has it "not count." The actors and dialogue
> do enough good work to salvage what could have been something painful
> and make it something fun.
Just a little bit.
>
> I feel pretty strongly about not dividing my rating scale into smaller
> increments and sub-sub-increments, but I must admit it hurts a little
> bit to be giving this episode the same rating as "Pangs." That was
> one of the best Good episodes of the series, and this is one of the
> weakest, not all that far removed from Decent. But Good stuff is Good
> stuff.
>
>
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: Something pleasantly silly.
>
> AOQ rating: Good
Along with BBB and Dopplegangland, this is something people call
"hilarious". Its not just the bigger jokes that people have mentioned that
do the job, it is the constant stream of little jokes that keep a smile on
your face while you are waiting for the next big joke. Stuff like "GILES! I
accidentally killed Spike. That's okay, right?" and "something else is going
wrong ... [Buffy and Spike cuddle] horribly wrong". To me, its clearly
Excellent, and just a fraction better than BBB and Dopplegangland. Its the
9th best BtVS episode, and 3rd best in Season 4 (and yes, the fact that
Season 4 gets three episodes in my Top Ten despite not being an outstanding
season overall means that 4 is an even number).
--
Apteryx
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
"nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> George W Harris wrote:
> > On 28 Apr 2006 06:02:01 -0700, "Arbitrar Of Quality"
> > <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
> >> because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to him
> > :("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!" "Among other things,
> >> I'd like to shower sometime today. Alone").
> >
> > One bit that's funny, but plays as incredibly sexy
> > and shows the tremendous chemistry between Marsters
> > and Gellar is when Buffy tauntingly offers her neck to
> > Spike.
>
> Their chemistry is the hottest chemistry I have ever seen. Can anyone think
> of any couples in film or television that rivalled Buffy and Spike for
> sheer, delicious hotness?
wilbur and mr ed
arf meow arf - nsa fodder
al qaeda terrorism nuclear bomb iran taliban big brother
if you meet buddha on the usenet killfile him
Horace LaBadie
sc...@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) wrote:
Fred and Stefanie?
But seriously, Bruce and Cyb.
HWL
Apteryx
news:1146249730....@g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
But the Q-tip was surely once straight - much more obviously than any
concealed love between Buffy and Spike. And Giles was merely short-sighted.
No one's eyesight is perfect, or even as good as an eagle's, which is also
not perfect.
It seems to me that the words must be spoken with some emotional impact
(especially anger it seems). De-rating and re-rating Amy may be exception,
although there Willow is beating herself up over Amy's apparently superior
witchery. The spell doesn't really match description - the wishes that work
are not so much expressions of will (ie, what Willow wants) as vehemently
expressed statements of fact. The exception is the big one - "Well, fine,
why doesn't she just go marry him?" which could be taken as a sarcastic
expression of a wish, but technically is a question.
It is of course just as well that this spell is just used for laughs. If we
were to take seriously that Willow has this much power at this stage, then
it is game over for the series. All she needs do is abandon any further
researches into magic and concentrate on staying focused next time she casts
this spell. No further villains could ever harm our heroes again if Willow
used this spell (intelligently) to stop them. Once she understood how this
spell worked, and learnt to avoid extraneous wishes, she could rid the world
of vampires (or shrimp, or rabbits) with a word, and the series would end.
--
Apteryx
Eric Hunter
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
*Eric waits ... quietly ... for the next review.*
Shloonktapooxis
William Hurt and Kathleen Turner in "Body Heat."
My vote still goes to Buffy and Spike for the completely shallow reason
that they just look prettier together, IMO.
jil...@hotmail.com
love Spike and he loves her just because the only thing Willow said was
they should get married.
It's been shown again that magic over-rides natural will. Does anyone
really think that every woman in Sunnydale (including Dru at that time)
harbors a secret desire to be Xander's love-slave?
The spell worked simply: Giles is blind. The most expedient way to do
that is to worsen his pre-existing vision-problem. Xander is a
demon-magnet. The most expedient way to do that is to take the
aggressive demons and make him the focus of their agression. Buffy and
Spike will get married. The most expedient way to accomplish this is
to make them so utterly besotted with each other that Buffy loses
interest in protecting Xander and Anya in the middle of a massive
battle for their lives to kiss Spike better.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry to all the twits out there, but really Buffy had
no love-interest at all in Spike. Nope, nada, nein, nicht.
jil...@hotmail.com
Apteryx wrote:
> It is of course just as well that this spell is just used for laughs. If we
> were to take seriously that Willow has this much power at this stage, then
> it is game over for the series. All she needs do is abandon any further
> researches into magic and concentrate on staying focused next time she casts
> this spell. No further villains could ever harm our heroes again if Willow
> used this spell (intelligently) to stop them. Once she understood how this
> spell worked, and learnt to avoid extraneous wishes, she could rid the world
> of vampires (or shrimp, or rabbits) with a word, and the series would end.
She could... but then again magic always has a price. After all...
well, never mind. I'm bound and determined NOT TO accidently spoil!
jil...@hotmail.com
George W Harris wrote:
> On Fri, 28 Apr 2006 17:52:08 +0200, Espen Schjønberg
> <ess...@excite.com> wrote:
>
> :> Totally predicted the joke at the end of Ta'hoffren's scene -
> :> "oh well" [complete with the music abruptly stopping]. It was
> :> still good for a smile.
> :
> :And who _is_ this D'Hoffryn-guy. (You noticed you have seen the actor
> :before? (Not that I did when I saw him in his other part other way
> :around, out of order). )
>
> We've seen him before on Buffy, at the
> beginning of Doppelgangland; Anya was begging
> him for her powers back.
You know, I thought one other thing. You've got a witch going around
casting spells with the potential to (as someone pointed out earlier)
wish there were no monsters on Earth. What do you do? Well, if you're
a demon like D'Hoffryn you get this person under control as quickly as
you can!
Scott Lurndal
Shhh.. No spoilers.....
drifter
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
/some snippage occurs/
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
> It's a fair point to raise, but in my mind the problem is
> simpler than that: *Riley* is boring.
Hence his nickname, "Captain Cardboard."
--
Kel
"I reject your reality, and substitute my own."
jil...@hotmail.com
Shloonktapooxis wrote:
> Hey, I resemble that comment! But it wasn't just Spuffys (an
> embarrassingly cutesy-poo term for S/B shippers), Sarah asked Joss to
> pair up Buffy with Spike too. His response, "No more vampires!" Joss
> thought up the engagement spell not to cater, but to illustrate just
> how wrong for each other they were, or so he claims.
I'm sorry? This comes out of left-field for me. I don't remember
reading or hearing anywhere before about Sarah asking Joss to pair
Spike and Buffy. This does NOT mean it never happened.
Aside from that, for anyone with doubts I'm pretty certain nits were
writing Buffy with Spike from the moment he first appeared on the show.
One Bit Shy
news:1146249730....@g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Oh another point that you haven't mentioned, but that has been
> discussed ad nauseam!
>
> How exactly does the spell work? The best theory I've read is that it
> can only perpetuate what already exists - which is why the Q-tip
> doesn't unbend etc. But Giles's eyesight is already poor, Xander has a
> history of being attractive to demons, Amy used to be human and Buffy
> and Spike spend a great part of the episode aruging like an old couple.
>
>
I tend to think that the clues come from D'Hoffryn, who felt Willow's
extravagant pain and anger, and Giles, who spoke of her energy being
unfocused and her grieving. That suggests to me that the spell ended up
relying on some form of emotional energy (perhaps even limited to pain and
anger) as well as words. Amy's restoration might be the questionable
manifestation from that point of view, but I think that can be explained by
Willow's bitter feelings about her perceived failure with magic.
I suppose we should also be thankful that Willow's remarks about Oz were
just vague enough not to have generated a spell on him... On the other hand
we don't really know. Perhaps some distance away Oz turned his van around
and was headed back to Sunnydale until Willow broke the spell.
OBS
One Bit Shy
news:1254k54...@corp.supernews.com...
> Arbitrar Of Quality <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>> Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill us
>> to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
>
> They can if they want, though they usually don't want to. Sometimes a
> vamp will eat in order to pass as human (we see this at least once, but in
> an episode you haven't seen yet). And sometimes they just do it to enjoy
> the taste. The taste of anything besides blood is no doubt pretty bland
> and insipid to vamps (hence mortal Angel's food binge in IWRY), but they
> haven't lost the sense of taste altogether.
Certainly not Spike. He's still got Buffy taste in his mouth.
> Buffy's haristyle in this episode is perhaps my least favorite of the
> entire series.
BB&B hair was the worst for me.
I actually kind of enjoy her hair here, though I sure wouldn't want it all
of the time.
OBS
nimue
Huh?
nimue
Never watched Moonlighting and I can't STAND Cybill Shephard.
>
> HWL
One Bit Shy
news:1146229321....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Yet another primarily-comedy episode. That's a lot in a short time.
There will be more. The show is a comedy after all. Well, among all the
other things it is.
> Since it's the first plot that's addressed, and since it doesn't
> fit neatly anywhere else in the review, I'm actually going to start
> by talking about the growing feelings between our hero and Riley The
> TA. I'm not so crazy about the conceit that he acts exactly the same
> towards her as he would were he not a sinister soldier who may or may
> not be aware on some level that Buffy isn't as she seems. But
> that's standard BTVS conceit, so I'll cope. More relevant is that
> there's some real lack of sparkage. The show misdirects us a little
> by suggesting that the issue is that Buffy is attuned to dangerous men,
> so nice guys seem a little boring. It's a fair point to raise
> (although I think the only reason it's mentioned is to try to
> "justify" the Spike thing later), but in my mind the problem is
> simpler than that: *Riley* is boring. Other than his reaching out to
> Willow during the picnic, every scene in this episode in which he
> appears is a big nothing for me.
Your impression is obviously hardly unique. Bland and nice - or maybe nice
and bland - seems to be the usual reaction. Personally, I think his
distinguishing characteristic is stable. Considering how neurotic the rest
of the characters are, that does make it rather hard for him to fit in. The
bland and nice aspects are true to a point too, but just a reminder that he
also has the military commander aspect and has a huge secret. One that's
big enough on its own, but especially large with Buffy in the picture.
Previously in this series, secrets have been -um- problems. I'm not
spoiling, by the way. Just pointing out some bits we know beyond the
surface appearance.
Oh, and as one female Buffy fan friend of mine makes sure I am constantly
reminded of, the guy is a bit of a hunk. *Some* people like him.
I expect I'll have more to say about the character at a later point. At
this point, for me, I'm mildly favorably inclined. But very uncertain about
a relationship with Buffy working.
> Okay, on to the protein of the show.
There's protein in this show?
> Spike continues in his role of mostly providing
> sarcastic commentary on the action, and occasionally being strangely
> perceptive about human behavior with lines like "what, are you people
> blind? She's hangin' on by a thread!"
Yes. As pointed out elsewhere, the bad guys are often the perceptive ones.
(As opposed to Buffy saying, "I promise" - something to be wary of.) But
Spike is special - in many ways, but this one too. He's exceptionally
perceptive of people's emotional states - except, that is, when he's wildly
off. In this he actually reminds me a lot of Willow - both as to being the
one who observes the truths about people, and is also periodically in
another zip code.
> Sticking with Spike for
> the moment, I do continue to get a kick out of his attitude in
> captivity, coming off as desperate and contemptuous at once (especially
> when hungry). What's funny is that he's not the center of the
> episode per se, but his personality dominates it, to the point that
> I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
> because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to him
Willow causes most of the trouble, but it's at least as much Spike's
episode. Though everybody gets a fair shake in this one.
> ("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!"
Love that. Great delivery.
> Back on Willow, I'm glad to see that she's back to being portrayed
> properly after the questionable scenes in the last two episodes. I
> wanted to mention the buzzed ("drunk" is such a guttural
> Anglo-Saxon word) dance in the Bronze,
Another great line. And she's sooo cute dancing.
> since, well, it's my favorite
> scene in the episode. This hammers home how good she can be at looking
> like (and trying to convince herself that) she's okay, and also how
> thin the veneer is getting. Buffy's reaction of concern is spot-on
> too ("you'll thank me when you still have a friend in the
> morning"). Also good is Xander continuing to try to be a friend to
> her despite how hard she is to talk to at times like this,
How different Xander is from a year ago. Practically mellow. Did Anya do
this to him? (Hard to imagine Anya as a mellowing influene.)
> and even her
> childishly clinging to Buffy makes sense (and we know that Buffy
> shouldn't leave her alone at a time like that, but what else can a
> Slayer be expected to do when a crisis arises)? Probably more so than
> before, the end of the episode gives her a chance to see some
> consequences of her tendencies to be reckless and to lash out, and I
> think it'll be interesting to see whether this is the one that
> she'll take to heart and remember... it'll tell us a lot about the
> character.
In some ways the show is quite rough on Willow. I'm not sure I can recall
her ever being quite as unlikable as she is when she puts down Xander -
twice. And having D'Hoffryn recruit her as a potential vengeance demon
because of how strongly he feels her pain and anger ("a scream that pierces
dimensional walls") suggests that the depths of her bad side go even further
than depicted on the surface. Willow herself is the one who characterized
it as rage.
She, of course, seeks to redeem herself in usual endearing fashion at the
end. "Eat a cookie; ease my pain?" But I don't know. Even that seems like
seeking the easy way out.
There's also some informative character information about Anya in this
episode where a bit of back history is settled for her. In case it wasn't
clear before, we now know that Anya was originally human, was doing some
small time vengeance on her own because she was dumped, and then was
recruited by D'Hoffryn. We also see in a couple places that she really
knows stuff - should be considered an independent source of demon and magic
lore. That's not exactly news, but it's emphasized a bit in this episode.
> So our witch's words start coming to pass. I was kept guessing long
> enough about what device in particular was going to be used to make all
> hell break loose, so I suppose that's to the episode's credit. All
> hell does in fact break loose, and it's mainly simple silliness.
> Nothing earth-shattering in the blind-Giles sections, but they work
> adequately. Xander and Anya seem to be working out a good
> demon-killing rhythm, mainly involving being on opposite sides of it so
> that only one of them gets thrown around at a time. Got a kick out of
> Anya's impatiently classifying their assailants.
I get a kick out of the way Anya holds the bat. They sure make a funny
fighting pair. But she sure does jump right in. Xander must really mean
the world to her.
> I don't know what it is about fandumb that gives rise to such rabid,
> irrational "shipper-ism," but I'm assuming that chunks of this
> episode were written to cater to the segment of the fanbase clamoring
> for Buffy and Spike to get together. But such a romance would be
> hindered by the tiny trivial fact that, at least at the moment, it
> would make no fucking sense whatsoever (yes, even given Buffy's thing
> with bad-boy types). That wouldn't stop a fanfic writer, but TV
> writers do have to note these things. Ergo, Forbes forces the issue
> through magic and then has it "not count." The actors and dialogue
> do enough good work to salvage what could have been something painful
> and make it something fun. Most of the time, they continue to act like
> the characters we know and love, only they inexplicably love each other
> too. It's only the last act that lets us down a little once they get
> too wrapped up in each other to worry about, say, their friends in
> danger of being slaughtered five feet away.
Uh - they're under the enchantment of a major spell, remember?
I don't care about the shipper aspect. They just have good chemistry
together on screen. However, I'd note that the best chemistry was
pre-enchantment. Loved the bathtub scene.
> The rest of the time, we
> get exchanges like "do you wanna be 'William The Bloody' or just
> 'Spike?' Cuz either way it's gonna look majorly weird."
> "Whereas the name 'Buffy' gives it that touch of classic
> elegance." And Giles shines as the voice of reason. Not much else
> to say about the wedding storyline: pure fluff, but fairly enjoyable.
I liked how Anya had to avert her eyes from them. Man, how creepy must it
be for a former vengeance demon to have to avert her eyes?
> Totally predicted the joke at the end of Ta'hoffren's scene -
> "oh well" [complete with the music abruptly stopping]. It was
> still good for a smile.
That's good. I sure didn't. Indeed, I think that scene is when I realized
just how variable demons could be.
> One fleeting moment of Elizabeth Anne Allen in all her nudely glory,
> and that's it? I don't remember seeing the rat cage previously
> this season, despite all the views of the dorm room, but whatever. Now
> I hope more than ever that she eventually gets restored, if only
> because of how overjoyed she looked to momentarily be human again.
I'm still back there on the nudely glory. (Pardon me. Channeling Xander
here.)
> I seem to get a kick out of the "Buffy stakes a vamp in passing"
> scenes, no matter how many times that joke is reused, and this was the
> most in-passing yet.
Someday I think I'd like to watch a montage of nothing but random cemetary
staking scenes.
> As far as I can tell, Willow still has that amulet. The show sometimes
> likes to follow up on that kind of stuff, but not always. So I
> wouldn't call it a Chekhov Gun, but it has potential.
Maybe she'll casually flip it to a beggar one day without thinking.
> Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill us
> to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
Why does it have to be uniform? Different vamps have different interests.
And Spike's not your ordinary vamp.
> I feel pretty strongly about not dividing my rating scale into smaller
> increments and sub-sub-increments, but I must admit it hurts a little
> bit to be giving this episode the same rating as "Pangs." That was
> one of the best Good episodes of the series, and this is one of the
> weakest, not all that far removed from Decent. But Good stuff is Good
> stuff.
>
>
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: Something pleasantly silly.
>
> AOQ rating: Good
It's good light humor with some decent character moments. But in some ways
mid-season filler. It's a solid Good for me, but a fair distance from
Excellent.
And for those in need of a reminder:
http://www.stinalisa.com/Wind.html
OBS
DysgraphicProgrammer
> I have a fanwank (actually, it's not even fanwank, just the plain truth
> of how this works on real vampires in the real world;-))
>
> - vampires _can_ eat food. They just don't digest it. Digesting takes
> living bacteria etc inside your body, and inside, the vampires are dead.
> So, it will come out the way he ate it. Almost.
>
> Ok?
Um, there are no real vampires in the real world. Right?
One Bit Shy
news:_gz4g.28901$nA3....@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com...
> Scott Lurndal wrote:
>> "nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> writes:
>>> George W Harris wrote:
>>>> On 28 Apr 2006 06:02:01 -0700, "Arbitrar Of Quality"
>>>> <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
>>>>> because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to
>>>>> him
>>>> :("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!" "Among other things,
>>>>> I'd like to shower sometime today. Alone").
>>>>
>>>> One bit that's funny, but plays as incredibly sexy
>>>> and shows the tremendous chemistry between Marsters
>>>> and Gellar is when Buffy tauntingly offers her neck to
>>>> Spike.
>>>
>>> Their chemistry is the hottest chemistry I have ever seen. Can
>>> anyone think of any couples in film or television that rivalled
>>> Buffy and Spike for sheer, delicious hotness?
>>
>> Pierce and Stephanie? For the older gen, Robert and Stephanie.
>> Hmm. starting to see a pattern here ....
>
> Huh?
Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist in a TV show called Remington Steele.
They were a pretty good romantic couple for a while, but the series faded
soon enough.
I don't know the Robert and Stephanie reference.
OBS
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
"DysgraphicProgrammer" <Matthew...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I have a fanwank (actually, it's not even fanwank, just the plain truth
> > of how this works on real vampires in the real world;-))
> >
> > - vampires _can_ eat food. They just don't digest it. Digesting takes
> > living bacteria etc inside your body, and inside, the vampires are dead.
> > So, it will come out the way he ate it. Almost.
actually symbiot bacteria are used to compact ummm excess nonnutritive material
little nutrition is derived from that end of the alimentary canal
strong antibiotics kill off your symbiots for a few weeks
and you still digest food
its just getting rid of excess nonnutritive material might get a little umm messy
> Um, there are no real vampires in the real world. Right?
exxon?
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
"nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> wrote:
i guess then
you hate iambic pentameter
DysgraphicProgrammer
I just have to point out that this ep went out of its way to point out
just HOW wrong S/B is. Observe the reactions of the other characters.
Observe the reactions of Spike and Buffy after the spell broke. It is
not just wrong, but borderline incomprehencible.
Guvf cbvag vf znqr ntnva, naq ntnva, hagvy gur jevgref 180rq ba hf, naq
rkcrpgrq hf gb guvax bs vg nf bx. Vg vf abg.
Spuffy is moraly, ethicaly, phychologicaly and factualy WRONG, WRONG,
WRONG.
DysgraphicProgrammer
I just have to point out that this ep went out of its way to point out
just HOW wrong S/B is. Observe the reactions of the other characters.
Observe the reactions of Spike and Buffy after the spell broke. It is
not just wrong, but borderline incomprehensible.
Guvf cbvag vf znqr ntnva, naq ntnva, hagvy gur jevgref 180rq ba hf, naq
rkcrpgrq hf gb guvax bs vg nf bx. Vg vf abg.
Spuffy is morally, ethically, psychologically and factually WRONG,
WRONG, WRONG.
BTR1701
Rowan Hawthorn
The important thing is that *you* believe that. Hold that
thought close to keep you warm on those cold, dark, lonely
nights when things around you just don't look...*right*...
<cue sinister laugh>
Rowan Hawthorn
"Occasionally, I'm callous and strange." - Willow Rosenberg,
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
Rowan Hawthorn
Don't know the guy, why would someone hate him?
--
Rowan Hawthorn
Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers from "Hart to Hart," I'd guess.
Apteryx
news:zry4g.21656$tN3....@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net...
Abg fnlva' n jbeq. Ohg npghnyyl uvf arkg erivrj fubhyq or Ureb sebz NgF 1.
V'yy or vagrerfgrq rabhtu va uvf ernpgvba gb gur raqvat bs gung, ohg V qba'g
xabj gung vg erdhverf n zvahgrf fvyrapr
--
Apteryx
Opus the Penguin
> mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges wrote:
>> In article <fiz4g.46999$x97....@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com>,
>> "nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Horace LaBadie wrote:
>>>> But seriously, Bruce and Cyb.
>>> Never watched Moonlighting and I can't STAND Cybill Shephard.
>>
>> i guess then
>> you hate iambic pentameter
>
> Don't know the guy, why would someone hate him?
>
The rhythm of his speeches wears you out.
--
Opus the Penguin
The best darn penguin in all of Usenet
Opus the Penguin
> Along with BBB and Dopplegangland, this is something people call
> "hilarious".
BBB was funny, but I wouldn't put it in the same league as
Dopplegangland or Something Blue. Those two are standouts for funniest
Buffy ep ever. I'd give the edge to Something Blue.
Regarding, BBB, one episode guide has the following note: "The episode
title takes its name from a 1986 song by Linda Ronstadt, on the album
For Sentimental Reasons".
Cretins. Are they serious? "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" is a
classic. It's known as a "standard" because *everyone* sings it. It
came out in 1940 in the Rodgers and Hart musical _Pal Joey_. Kids these
days. I dunno. Get off my lawn.
Mel
Everyone? Huh. I've never heard of it before. Neither version.
Mel
Horace LaBadie
Opus the Penguin <opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Rowan Hawthorn (rowan_h...@hotmail.com) wrote:
>
> > mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges wrote:
> >> In article <fiz4g.46999$x97....@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com>,
> >> "nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Horace LaBadie wrote:
> >>>> But seriously, Bruce and Cyb.
> >>> Never watched Moonlighting and I can't STAND Cybill Shephard.
> >>
> >> i guess then
> >> you hate iambic pentameter
> >
> > Don't know the guy, why would someone hate him?
> >
>
> The rhythm of his speeches wears you out.
But he's Atomic when paired with Shakespeare.
HWL
nimue
Wow. That was so completely stupid. Cybill Shepherd is not an example of
iambic pentameter. You've got the iambs right, but you are wrong on the
pentameter. Anyway, she's an ugly, unappealing woman.
> arf meow arf - nsa fodder
> al qaeda terrorism nuclear bomb iran taliban big brother
> if you meet buddha on the usenet killfile him
--
nimue
Cute show, cute people, no sexy, sizzling, Spuffy heat, though.
nimue
> Rowan Hawthorn (rowan_h...@hotmail.com) wrote:
>
>> mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges wrote:
>>> In article <fiz4g.46999$x97....@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com>,
>>> "nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Horace LaBadie wrote:
>>>>> But seriously, Bruce and Cyb.
>>>> Never watched Moonlighting and I can't STAND Cybill Shephard.
>>>
>>> i guess then
>>> you hate iambic pentameter
>>
>> Don't know the guy, why would someone hate him?
>>
>
> The rhythm of his speeches wears you out.
You could say that you go from being unstressed to stressed.
Rowan Hawthorn
> Rowan Hawthorn (rowan_h...@hotmail.com) wrote:
>
>> mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges wrote:
>>> In article <fiz4g.46999$x97....@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com>,
>>> "nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Horace LaBadie wrote:
>>>>> But seriously, Bruce and Cyb.
>>>> Never watched Moonlighting and I can't STAND Cybill Shephard.
>>> i guess then
>>> you hate iambic pentameter
>> Don't know the guy, why would someone hate him?
>>
>
> The rhythm of his speeches wears you out.
>
:-)
Rowan Hawthorn
> Rowan Hawthorn wrote:
>> Somewhere in here somebody wrote something...:
>> Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers from "Hart to Hart," I'd guess.
>
> Cute show, cute people, no sexy, sizzling, Spuffy heat, though.
>
Of course, I pretty much feel the same about Spuffy...
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
<hwlabadiejr-D5B9...@sn-radius.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net>,
Horace LaBadie <hwlab...@nospam.highstream.net> wrote:
didnt he write the taming of the spike?
MBangel10 (Melissa)
> Shloonktapooxis wrote:
>> Hey, I resemble that comment! But it wasn't just Spuffys (an
>> embarrassingly cutesy-poo term for S/B shippers), Sarah asked Joss to
>> pair up Buffy with Spike too. His response, "No more vampires!" Joss
>> thought up the engagement spell not to cater, but to illustrate just
>> how wrong for each other they were, or so he claims.
>
> reading or hearing anywhere before about Sarah asking Joss to pair
> Spike and Buffy. This does NOT mean it never happened.
>
> Aside from that, for anyone with doubts I'm pretty certain nits were
> writing Buffy with Spike from the moment he first appeared on the show.
>
Entertainment Weekly. October 1, 1999. (The issue that includes the
Buffy Guide of Seasons 1-3). Article Hell is for Heroes - Buffy Summers.
Fantasy Date: Spike - though, "When I mentioned the possibility of Spike
and Buffy to Joss," says Gellar, "he was like, 'No more vampires!'"
Daniel Damouth
news:Xns97B3E6EFD2E8Aop...@127.0.0.1:
> Regarding, BBB, one episode guide has the following note: "The
> episode title takes its name from a 1986 song by Linda Ronstadt,
> on the album For Sentimental Reasons".
>
> Cretins. Are they serious? "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"
> is a classic. It's known as a "standard" because *everyone* sings
> it. It came out in 1940 in the Rodgers and Hart musical _Pal
> Joey_. Kids these days. I dunno. Get off my lawn.
Hardly anyone has heard of or listened to most songs known as
"standards". Most people don't even know what some old people mean by
the term.
-Dan Damouth
Stephen Tempest
>I suppose we should also be thankful that Willow's remarks about Oz were
>just vague enough not to have generated a spell on him... On the other hand
>we don't really know. Perhaps some distance away Oz turned his van around
>and was headed back to Sunnydale until Willow broke the spell.
Or worse, if he was on a plane to Tibet or somewhere at the time, and
had to be restrained before he opened the cabin door at 40,000 feet
and jumped out...
Stepgen
alphakitten
nimue wrote:
> George W Harris wrote:
>
>>On 28 Apr 2006 06:02:01 -0700, "Arbitrar Of Quality"
>><tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
>>>because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to him
>>
>>:("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!" "Among other things,
>>
>>>I'd like to shower sometime today. Alone").
>>
>>One bit that's funny, but plays as incredibly sexy
>>and shows the tremendous chemistry between Marsters
>>and Gellar is when Buffy tauntingly offers her neck to
>>Spike.
>
>
> Their chemistry is the hottest chemistry I have ever seen. Can anyone think
> of any couples in film or television that rivalled Buffy and Spike for
> sheer, delicious hotness?
>
For TV anyway, James Gandolfini and Annabella Sciorra on The Sopranos.
That's about it, though.
~Angel
Ian Galbraith
[snip]
> I don't know what it is about fandumb that gives rise to such rabid,
> irrational "shipper-ism," but I'm assuming that chunks of this
> episode were written to cater to the segment of the fanbase clamoring
> for Buffy and Spike to get together. But such a romance would be
> hindered by the tiny trivial fact that, at least at the moment, it
> would make no fucking sense whatsoever (yes, even given Buffy's thing
> with bad-boy types). That wouldn't stop a fanfic writer, but TV
IIRC there wasn't much, if any, clamour for Spike and Buffy to get together
prior to this episode. They did it because they noticed the chemistry
between Gellar and Marsters, which is considerable.
[snip]
> One-sentence summary: Something pleasantly silly.
>
> AOQ rating: Good
I'd rank it excellent but I'm glad you actually like one of the full on
comedic episodes.
--
You Can't Stop The Signal
Michael Ikeda
news:1146269901....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
(snipped)
>
> I'm sorry, I'm sorry to all the twits out there, but really
> Buffy had no love-interest at all in Spike. Nope, nada, nein,
> nicht.
>
Although their pre-spell interactions were very reminiscent of the
standard TV/Movie/literary etc. meme of bickering soon-to-be
lovebirds who bicker because they haven't yet realized they're in
love with each other.
--
Michael Ikeda mmi...@erols.com
"Telling a statistician not to use sampling is like telling an
astronomer they can't say there is a moon and stars"
Lynne Billard, past president American Statistical Association
Arbitrar Of Quality
> "jil...@hotmail.com" <jil...@hotmail.com> wrote in
> news:1146269901....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
>
> > Buffy had no love-interest at all in Spike. Nope, nada, nein,
> > nicht.
> >
>
> Although their pre-spell interactions were very reminiscent of the
> standard TV/Movie/literary etc. meme of bickering soon-to-be
> lovebirds who bicker because they haven't yet realized they're in
> love with each other.
And I couldn't help but notice that Buffy used to do some of the same
overdone thing where with no special prompting she'll randomly say "I
really don't like you" and such (particularly in "Lovers Walk") that
she did when she first met Angel.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
> I probably like Riley more than most people here do, but even I can't say
> you're entirely wrong. ME was trying to build a strong contrast between
> nice boy Riley and dark mysterious Angel, and a simultaneous contrast
> between his nice, ordinary personality and his dark, mysterious secret
> role. Unfortunately, they just went overboard with the ordinary, so that
> he sometimes becomes a caricature of a normal guy. One small example: I
> think it was a mistake to have him come from an Iowa farm family. That's
> not so much a normal background as a Traditional TV Signifier of a Normal
> Background. And making it worse, the only times we've seen him being
> angry or sarcastic or anything other than pleasant have been when he's at
> his night job, separate from Buffy and her friends. Oh, well.
That's a pretty good analysis. I don't know how it'll hold up should
Riley start acting less pleasant, but for now it does some up some of
my problems with the character. There's not really much there about
which to feel any strong opinion, positive or negative.
> > Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill us
> > to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
>
> They can if they want, though they usually don't want to. Sometimes a
> vamp will eat in order to pass as human (we see this at least once, but in
> an episode you haven't seen yet). And sometimes they just do it to enjoy
> the taste. The taste of anything besides blood is no doubt pretty bland
> and insipid to vamps (hence mortal Angel's food binge in IWRY), but they
> haven't lost the sense of taste altogether.
I can accept the blandness explanation, esepcially if different
vampires feel it differently. That'd explain why Spike still likes
food but the joys of chocolate ice cream and peanut butter are
something that vamp-Angel "couldn't" have appreciated, according to
Buffy.
> Buffy's haristyle in this episode is perhaps my least favorite of the
> entire series.
Yeah, let me echo the sentiment that it was worse during "Phases"/3B.
Also the beginning of "The Zeppo."
Horace LaBadie
<mair_fheal-7AB6E...@sn-ip.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net>,
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
> In article
> <hwlabadiejr-D5B9...@sn-radius.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net>,
> Horace LaBadie <hwlab...@nospam.highstream.net> wrote:
>
> > In article <Xns97B3E5301AF7Cop...@127.0.0.1>,
> > Opus the Penguin <opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Rowan Hawthorn (rowan_h...@hotmail.com) wrote:
> > >
> > > > mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges wrote:
> > > >> In article <fiz4g.46999$x97....@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com>,
> > > >> "nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >>> Horace LaBadie wrote:
> > > >>>> But seriously, Bruce and Cyb.
> > > >>> Never watched Moonlighting and I can't STAND Cybill Shephard.
> > > >>
> > > >> i guess then
> > > >> you hate iambic pentameter
> > > >
> > > > Don't know the guy, why would someone hate him?
> > > >
> > >
> > > The rhythm of his speeches wears you out.
> >
> >
> > But he's Atomic when paired with Shakespeare.
>
> didnt he write the taming of the spike?
>
That was Nuclear Marlowe.
HWL
Steve Schaffner
Ick. I didn't see anything good in "Hart to Hart", chemical or
otherwise. Oh well, tastes are reported to differ.
--
Steve Schaffner s...@broad.mit.edu
Immediate assurance is an excellent sign of probable lack of
insight into the topic. Josiah Royce
vague disclaimer
"MBangel10 (Melissa)" <mban...@comcast.net> wrote:
pedant
"Mentioning the possibility of" != "asked Joss to pair"
/pedant
--
A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend
vague disclaimer
"One Bit Shy" <O...@nomail.sorry> wrote:
> She, of course, seeks to redeem herself in usual endearing fashion at the
> end. "Eat a cookie; ease my pain?" But I don't know. Even that seems like
> seeking the easy way out.
But she does have to detail Giles's car....
> There's also some informative character information about Anya i
I just know you Inner Sub Editor wants to revisit that :).
> And for those in need of a reminder:
>
> http://www.stinalisa.com/Wind.html
You are going to burn for that....
jil...@hotmail.com
Yes, but Angel was constantly and increasingly helping her. It wasn't
a continued thing. With Spike it's more of a general statement of
actual truth.
Try this one on for size: "Sometimes a sheep is just a sheep."
I went to see "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" with two
lady-friends. You know what? One of those women was really jittery
after the movie because, as far as she was concerned, Mr. Tumnus was
clearly trying to seduce Lucy! The hardest part of this? She wasn't
joking. She was absolutely convinced that Tumnus was a pedophile. I
pointed out that I'd spent about half the movie holding hands with our
other friend and stroking her hair, and I wasn't lusting after her.
This, of course, doesn't change the fact of how the woman felt.
Horace LaBadie
"nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Okay, you never watched the show, so you don't get the allusion to
"Atomic Shakespeare," their version of William "Budd" Shakespeare's "The
Taming of the Shrew."
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0651043/>
I have never been a fan of Cybill, but there's no denying that about 30
million people, myself included, thought that David and Maddie were the
hot couple for those three abbreviated seasons before GGC finally put
them together.
That third season also featured Leroy Jethro Gibbs as "Sam the
Astronaut."
HWL
Arbitrar Of Quality
jil...@hotmail.com wrote:
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> > Michael Ikeda wrote:
> > > "jil...@hotmail.com" <jil...@hotmail.com> wrote in
> > > news:1146269901....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
> > >
> > > > I'm sorry, I'm sorry to all the twits out there, but really
> > > > Buffy had no love-interest at all in Spike. Nope, nada, nein,
> > > > nicht.
> > > >
> > >
> > > Although their pre-spell interactions were very reminiscent of the
> > > standard TV/Movie/literary etc. meme of bickering soon-to-be
> > > lovebirds who bicker because they haven't yet realized they're in
> > > love with each other.
> >
> > And I couldn't help but notice that Buffy used to do some of the same
> > overdone thing where with no special prompting she'll randomly say "I
> > really don't like you" and such (particularly in "Lovers Walk") that
> > she did when she first met Angel.
>
> Yes, but Angel was constantly and increasingly helping her. It wasn't
> a continued thing. With Spike it's more of a general statement of
> actual truth.
>
> Try this one on for size: "Sometimes a sheep is just a sheep."
Oh, I agree with you on principle that there's no real love interest
here sans spell, but I think the TV writers are well aware of the
'shipper contingent, and it shows pretty clearly in the product.
-AOQ
eli...@gmail.com
>after the movie because, as far as she was concerned, Mr. Tumnus was
>clearly trying to seduce Lucy!
with absolute certainty that Mr Tumnus is sweetness itself, those
scenes gave me the same vibe. I think it is due to the books being so
realtively old. Paedophilia wasn't the same issue it is today. But
still, I felt like saying to my daughters - don't walk off with strange
fauns!
drifter
> "Scott Lurndal" <sc...@slp53.sl.home> wrote in message
> news:zry4g.21656$tN3....@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net...
>> "Eric Hunter" <hunt...@comcast.invalid> writes:
>>> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>>>> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these
>>>> review threads.
>>>>
>>>> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>>>> Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
>>>
>>> *Eric waits ... quietly ... for the next review.*
>>>
>>
>> Shhh.. No spoilers.....
>
> Abg fnlva' n jbeq. Ohg npghnyyl uvf arkg erivrj fubhyq or Ureb sebz
> NgF 1. V'yy or vagrerfgrq rabhtu va uvf ernpgvba gb gur raqvat bs
> gung, ohg V qba'g xabj gung vg erdhverf n zvahgrf fvyrapr
V'z nyzbfg nsenvq gb frr uvf erivrj bs Uhfu pbzr bhg. Ur'f
bppnfvbanyyl fb nyy-bire-gur-gnetrg gung V'z arneyl pregnva
ur'f tbvat gb tvir vg n "onq," whfg orpnhfr vg'f bar bs zl gbc 5
rcvfbqrf. V jbhyq or dhvgr cyrnfrq gb or jebat urer, gubhtu.
--
Kel
"I reject your reality, and substitute my own."
Shloonktapooxis
Shloonktapooxis
> I just have to point out that this ep went out of its way to point out
> just HOW wrong S/B is.
Um, hello! I already pointed that out. No need to repeat the same damn
thing I just said.
> Spuffy is morally, ethically, psychologically and factually WRONG,
> WRONG, WRONG.
That's true. But calm down, dude. It really is just a tv show. You'd
think I'd crush on an evil serial killer if this was real life? Well,
let me tell you, the answer would be a big resounding no. But you know,
since this is fiction and all, I think it's perfectly ok for me to
fangirlishly ogle at Spike's cheekbones and the writers to hook Buffy
up with the resident "bad boy" of the show. Feel free to disagree.
KenM47
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
>threads.
>
>
>BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>Season Four, Episode 9: "Something Blue"
>(or "Here comes the bride, she's out of her friggin' mind")
>Writer: Tracey Forbes
>Director: Nick Marck
>
>Yet another primarily-comedy episode. That's a lot in a short time.
Actually, I don't think of it that way. I see a serious episode with a
lot of humor. That's kind of why I love the show so much. The ability
to dance around like that while basically staying true to the overall
story was so damn remarkable. And the laughs are not little cheap
giggles, but markedly funny stuff.
>
>Since it's the first plot that's addressed, and since it doesn't
>fit neatly anywhere else in the review, I'm actually going to start
>by talking about the growing feelings between our hero and Riley The
>TA. I'm not so crazy about the conceit that he acts exactly the same
>towards her as he would were he not a sinister soldier who may or may
>not be aware on some level that Buffy isn't as she seems. But
>that's standard BTVS conceit, so I'll cope. More relevant is that
>there's some real lack of sparkage.
First: I liked Riley. I thought for a "normal" they did a nice job. I
totally bought his fascination with Buffy. I was impressed with his
coming across as so darn honorable.
I thought, particularly in the last scene, there was sufficient
sparkage for a more mature relationship, especially compared to the
childish relationship just depicted with Spike.
>The show misdirects us a little
>by suggesting that the issue is that Buffy is attuned to dangerous men,
>so nice guys seem a little boring. It's a fair point to raise
>(although I think the only reason it's mentioned is to try to
>"justify" the Spike thing later), but in my mind the problem is
>simpler than that: *Riley* is boring. Other than his reaching out to
>Willow during the picnic, every scene in this episode in which he
>appears is a big nothing for me.
See above. I did not react that way.
>
<SNIP>
>Sticking with Spike for
>the moment, I do continue to get a kick out of his attitude in
>captivity, coming off as desperate and contemptuous at once (especially
>when hungry). What's funny is that he's not the center of the
>episode per se, but his personality dominates it, to the point that
>I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
>because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to him
>("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!" "Among other things,
>I'd like to shower sometime today. Alone").
Yes, buffoon neutered Spike was fun then.
<SNIP>
>Probably more so than
>before, the end of the episode gives her a chance to see some
>consequences of her tendencies to be reckless and to lash out, and I
>think it'll be interesting to see whether this is the one that
>she'll take to heart and remember... it'll tell us a lot about the
>character.
You show wondrous insight at times.
<SNIP>
>
>I don't know what it is about fandumb that gives rise to such rabid,
>irrational "shipper-ism," but I'm assuming that chunks of this
>episode were written to cater to the segment of the fanbase clamoring
>for Buffy and Spike to get together. But such a romance would be
>hindered by the tiny trivial fact that, at least at the moment, it
>would make no fucking sense whatsoever (yes, even given Buffy's thing
>with bad-boy types). That wouldn't stop a fanfic writer, but TV
>writers do have to note these things. Ergo, Forbes forces the issue
>through magic and then has it "not count." The actors and dialogue
>do enough good work to salvage what could have been something painful
>and make it something fun. Most of the time, they continue to act like
>the characters we know and love, only they inexplicably love each other
>too. It's only the last act that lets us down a little once they get
>too wrapped up in each other to worry about, say, their friends in
>danger of being slaughtered five feet away. The rest of the time, we
>get exchanges like "do you wanna be 'William The Bloody' or just
>'Spike?' Cuz either way it's gonna look majorly weird."
>"Whereas the name 'Buffy' gives it that touch of classic
>elegance." And Giles shines as the voice of reason. Not much else
>to say about the wedding storyline: pure fluff, but fairly enjoyable.
There's that insightfulness again. I don't know how much was inspired
and who got inspired. I do know I liked the episode a lot. A little
troubled by the whole idea of some demon kingdom where the top of the
food chain can just make a human into a demon with a wave of the scaly
hand. Boy, the Mayor hooked up with the wrong guys didn't he? They
were really putting him through hoops, when all it really required was
a spell putting boils on someone's genitalia or the like catching
something's eye.
>
>Totally predicted the joke at the end of Ta'hoffren's scene -
>"oh well" [complete with the music abruptly stopping]. It was
>still good for a smile.
>
>One fleeting moment of Elizabeth Anne Allen in all her nudely glory,
>and that's it? I don't remember seeing the rat cage previously
>this season, despite all the views of the dorm room, but whatever. Now
>I hope more than ever that she eventually gets restored, if only
>because of how overjoyed she looked to momentarily be human again.
>
>I seem to get a kick out of the "Buffy stakes a vamp in passing"
>scenes, no matter how many times that joke is reused, and this was the
>most in-passing yet.
>
>As far as I can tell, Willow still has that amulet.
Just a talisman. Not an amulet.
>The show sometimes
>likes to follow up on that kind of stuff, but not always. So I
>wouldn't call it a Chekhov Gun, but it has potential.
>
>Everyone gets a cookie at the end! Seriously, folks, would it kill us
>to decide once and for all whether or not vampires eat human food?
They eat. Their taste buds just don't react all that well. They don't
eat for nutrients, but sensual pleasure. That's my read. They do seem
to get high - remember the pothead in Sunday's crew?
>
>I feel pretty strongly about not dividing my rating scale into smaller
>increments and sub-sub-increments, but I must admit it hurts a little
>bit to be giving this episode the same rating as "Pangs." That was
>one of the best Good episodes of the series, and this is one of the
>weakest, not all that far removed from Decent. But Good stuff is Good
>stuff.
>
>
>So...
>
>One-sentence summary: Something pleasantly silly.
>
>AOQ rating: Good
>
Another Excellent (-) for me.
IMO, you're going to be running out of adjectives soon enough.
Ken (Brooklyn)
KenM47
>Two more points.
>
>Re. Spike's perceptiveness, he obviously watches a lot of TV
>("Passions" is on! Timmy's down the bloody well, and if you make me
>miss it, I'll -) which I'm sure helps.
Sadly the actor who played "Timmy" died. The shows that Spike watched
are currently on SciFi at 9 a.m.
The current "Passions" is not the grabber it was, IMO, in the "Timmy"
days.
Ken (Brooklyn)
KenM47
>What got me was the number of people insisting that Buffy must really
>love Spike and he loves her just because the only thing Willow said was
>they should get married.
>
>It's been shown again that magic over-rides natural will. Does anyone
>really think that every woman in Sunnydale (including Dru at that time)
>harbors a secret desire to be Xander's love-slave?
>
>The spell worked simply: Giles is blind. The most expedient way to do
>that is to worsen his pre-existing vision-problem. Xander is a
>demon-magnet. The most expedient way to do that is to take the
>aggressive demons and make him the focus of their agression. Buffy and
>Spike will get married. The most expedient way to accomplish this is
>to make them so utterly besotted with each other that Buffy loses
>interest in protecting Xander and Anya in the middle of a massive
>battle for their lives to kiss Spike better.
>
>I'm sorry, I'm sorry to all the twits out there, but really Buffy had
>no love-interest at all in Spike. Nope, nada, nein, nicht.
IAWTP
Ken (Brooklyn)
KenM47
>"nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:_gz4g.28901$nA3....@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com...
>> Scott Lurndal wrote:
>>> "nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> writes:
>>>> George W Harris wrote:
>>>>> On 28 Apr 2006 06:02:01 -0700, "Arbitrar Of Quality"
>>>>> <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm mentally classifying it as a "comedy" episode almost solely
>>>>>> because of parts that involve him or other characters reacting to
>>>>>> him
>>>>> :("Giles, help! He's going to scold me!" "Among other things,
>>>>>> I'd like to shower sometime today. Alone").
>>>>>
>>>>> One bit that's funny, but plays as incredibly sexy
>>>>> and shows the tremendous chemistry between Marsters
>>>>> and Gellar is when Buffy tauntingly offers her neck to
>>>>> Spike.
>>>>
>>>> Their chemistry is the hottest chemistry I have ever seen. Can
>>>> anyone think of any couples in film or television that rivalled
>>>> Buffy and Spike for sheer, delicious hotness?
>>>
>>> Pierce and Stephanie? For the older gen, Robert and Stephanie.
>>> Hmm. starting to see a pattern here ....
>>
>> Huh?
>
>Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist in a TV show called Remington Steele.
>They were a pretty good romantic couple for a while, but the series faded
>soon enough.
>
>I don't know the Robert and Stephanie reference.
>
>OBS
>
There was Robert Sterling, but he was matched with real life wife Anne
Jeffreys as the Kirbys in the 50s TV show "Topper."
Ken (Brooklyn)
KenM47
>Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers from "Hart to Hart," I'd guess.
Ah! Watched maybe one episode of that. Didn't grab me.
Ken (Brooklyn)
Shloonktapooxis
be honest I hate the idea that underneath it all they had schmoopy
fuzzy feelings for each other from the get go. That's too Buffy/Angel
love at first sight for my taste. But mild sexual attraction? Why not?
I understand that you don't see it. But I don't think it's completely
out of the question.
NZNAQN
Gur guvat vf, V pna'g gryy. Zl zbz fnlf jura n thl grnfrf lbh, vg zrnaf
ur yvxrf lbh.
OHSSL
(abqf) Fbzrgvzrf gung'f gehr.
NZNAQN
Vf vg jrveq? Jr'er zrna gb rnpu bgure, naq jr yvxr rnpu bgure.
OHSSL
Jryy, vg qrcraqf. Fbzrgvzrf gung'f ubj crbcyr eryngr. Orvat zrna gb
rnpu bgure. Rira zbegny rarzvrf-
Vg'f n ergpba, lrf. Ohg bar rira gur jevgref ohl vagb. Fb gurer vf fbzr
onfvf va pnaba gb onpx hc gur vagrecergngvba gung rira jura gurl jrer
fgvyy zbegny rarzvrf, Ohssl naq Fcvxr jrer fhopbafpvbhfyl va HFG.
KenM47
>
>
>Opus the Penguin wrote:
>> Apteryx (apt...@extra.co.nz) wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Along with BBB and Dopplegangland, this is something people call
>>>"hilarious".
>>
>>
>> BBB was funny, but I wouldn't put it in the same league as
>> Dopplegangland or Something Blue. Those two are standouts for funniest
>> Buffy ep ever. I'd give the edge to Something Blue.
>>
>> Regarding, BBB, one episode guide has the following note: "The episode
>> title takes its name from a 1986 song by Linda Ronstadt, on the album
>> For Sentimental Reasons".
>>
>> Cretins. Are they serious? "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" is a
>> classic. It's known as a "standard" because *everyone* sings it. It
>> came out in 1940 in the Rodgers and Hart musical _Pal Joey_. Kids these
>> days. I dunno. Get off my lawn.
>>
>
>
>Everyone? Huh. I've never heard of it before. Neither version.
>
>
>Mel
Time to open the American Songbook. Lots and lots of good stuff there.
There was a reason for the big deal about Sinatra and the like.
Ken (Brooklyn)
Arbitrar Of Quality
> > Since it's the first plot that's addressed
>
> There's a plot?
It's there. Or at least character work is. Like I said, SB has an
underbelly of "serious" stuff too.
> ts not just the bigger jokes that people have mentioned that
> do the job, it is the constant stream of little jokes that keep a smile on
> your face while you are waiting for the next big joke. Stuff like "GILES! I
> accidentally killed Spike. That's okay, right?" and "something else is going
> wrong ... [Buffy and Spike cuddle] horribly wrong".
Forgot to mention this back when you psoted it, but I think that's a
good summary. I actually didn't laugh hysterically very much here, but
there's a steady flow of little jokes that keep the viewer smiling and
give the better scenes in SB their comic rhythm.
-AOQ
Bill Reid
Arbitrar Of Quality <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
news:1146315434....@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
> chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
>
> > Buffy's haristyle in this episode is perhaps my least favorite of the
> > entire series.
>
> Yeah, let me echo the sentiment that it was worse during "Phases"/3B.
> Also the beginning of "The Zeppo."
>
"Worst Buffy Hair Continuity...EVER!"
Her hair went from straight to that horrid perm from scene to scene,
and practically within scenes...I can accept a lot of things in the show,
but not magically-changing hair-styles...
The episode with the fat demon in the bathtub had the most number
of Buffy hair-styles, but at least they were all within the realm of
possibility
because they were just variations of her hair up/down, different parts,
etc., and not supernatural transformations of the hair structure itself...
---
William Ernest Reid
One Bit Shy
news:l64o-1rj5-004C2...@mercury.nildram.net...
> In article <1255jl2...@news.supernews.com>,
> "One Bit Shy" <O...@nomail.sorry> wrote:
>
>> She, of course, seeks to redeem herself in usual endearing fashion at the
>> end. "Eat a cookie; ease my pain?" But I don't know. Even that seems
>> like
>> seeking the easy way out.
>
> But she does have to detail Giles's car....
You have a point. Considering the car.
>> There's also some informative character information about Anya i
>
> I just know you Inner Sub Editor wants to revisit that :).
I'm a long time employee of the Department of Redundancy Department where I
work. I think it's perfect the way it is.
>> And for those in need of a reminder:
>>
>> http://www.stinalisa.com/Wind.html
>
> You are going to burn for that....
If you leave the page up, it repeats. Check it out. ;-)
OBS
Mel
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
>
>
>
>>Buffy's haristyle in this episode is perhaps my least favorite of the
>>entire series.
>
>
> Yeah, let me echo the sentiment that it was worse during "Phases"/3B.
> Also the beginning of "The Zeppo."
>
This episode's hair left a lot to be desired. The bad crimping effect
just doesn't work well on SMG. Straight and flat or straighy yet poufy,
but not wavy and going in every possible direction.
Ubjrire, gur jbefg unve bs nyy vf lrg gb pbzr yngre guvf frnfba. Zl
snajnaxl rkcynangvba sbe vg vf gung Ohssl'f obql jnf fb genhzngvmrq ol
gur obql fjvgpu, gung ure unve sernxrq bhg naq gbbx frireny jrrxf gb
erpbire.
Mel
Mel
KenM47 wrote:
Sorry, not really interested.
Mel
Opus the Penguin
> You know, I thought one other thing. You've got a witch going
> around casting spells with the potential to (as someone pointed
> out earlier) wish there were no monsters on Earth. What do you
> do? Well, if you're a demon like D'Hoffryn you get this person
> under control as quickly as you can!
And head for the planet full of shrimp! Yum.
--
Opus the Penguin
The best darn penguin in all of Usenet