AOQ Review 6-4: "Life Serial"
Arbitrar Of Quality
threads.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
(or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
"When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
Director: Nick Marck
That's a real groaner of a title. I love it.
Speaking of titles, for those who care (I think that'd be just me,
actually), my alternate name for the episode barely beat out "listen.
Buffy Summers has become unstuck in time." (No, no "Mikey"
jokes here. Too obvious, and William beat me to it anyway.)
This time around, the Geek Trio are the villains o' the week, having
some fun at Buffy's expense as they scout her strengths and
weaknesses or something. First of all, let me just say that I think
their scenes together have more oomph than last week's did. I could
list jokes that I liked, and may in fact still do that, but let's
just focus on the idea of them awarding each other points based on a
list of criteria regarding how effectively they can get to Buffy.
That's a wonderfully geeky idea, and they make the best of it, with
the best use of the gag coming when it's brought back in the
discussion of how the scoring works with a time-loop that takes up very
little actual time.
I was initially apprehensive about the frame story of
let's-show-how-worthless-Buffy-is-at-life-ha-ha. She returns from
her unseen visit with her ex and takes a stab at joining the rat race.
Even as it is, I don't know about the device of having all of her
efforts at making a life for herself sabotaged by circumstances beyond
her control, although at least she develops an independent reason to
hate everything too. This does lead to a scene at the end in which
Giles decides to step in and supply the fat checks. Obviously
there's a personal side there, but some of this nice moment may also
come from understanding that the fact that she's the Slayer is
literally keeping her from doing anything else; this isn't her fault.
Let her save the world and let others take care of her. Isn't that
kind of financial support part of a Watcher's job, actually?
Dividing the show into mini-episodes, the parts at school seem a little
forced in driving her out of UCSD (sociology just isn't some
people's thing). Things pick up quite a bit once the jumps through
time start. I figured out what was going on right away, but the
depiction is dizzyingly fast-paced, as befits the threat. Buffy's
attempt to race after Tara as reality gets in the way is well
presented, as is the way it so quickly gets elevated into an
"Earshot"-like nightmare. The fact that the problem is then solved
so quickly lets us know that we're in for a cool episode full of, and
I use this term in the kindest possible way, gimmickry.
I think the Buffy The Steel Beam Layer mini-episode is the worst chunk
of LS. It has its moments, like the fact that one and only one of the
other non-Xander guys tries to look out for her ("don't let them
hassle you into doing something stupid and hurting yourself"). Not
fond of the portrayal of working-class types as fundamentally lazy
underachievers, and very not fond of the Sunnydale Forgettyitis at the
end. Here we go again with the series's worst plot device, and
I'll leave it at that this week. Xander's apparently blaming her
had me worried at first too, until the subsequent reveal.
Then we go to the mummy's hand part, in which Buffy has to satisfy a
humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, _Groundhog
Day_ style. The setup for the spell with the geeks' hand-holding and
the magic bone is good for a smile too. Anyway, even before it starts
repeating, it's a good sequence, with little touches like the
delivery on "I'll just get it" after the attempted banter falls
flat. Also, when the hand first starts strangling her, Gellar (or the
script) throws in an extremely nice little moment in which she
doesn't start resisting right away; first she gets this expression on
her face that articulates the general concept "you have *got* to be
kidding me." Like the way when one is having a relentlessly shitty
day, one eventually becomes amused by how many new misfortunes find a
way to occur.
Once the time loop actually kicks in, it becomes another entertaining
set-piece. It's very well constructed for maximum entertainment
value; Buffy has four different people to talk to so that the viewer
doesn't get too bored, and she tries the "we don't have it"
tack early so the solution can't become too obvious. Marck does well
with making time pass, showing versions of the scene in shorter and
shorter increments to hint at how long it lasts from Buffy's point of
view, as she pretty much does try everything. Liked her taking out her
frustrations on Giles's glasses. The focus on the bell is effective,
plus it leads to the coda gag after she stalks away.
And finally, our hero tries a life of tequila and gambling and can't
quite master that either. She saves some cute kittens, at least.
Turning to Spike to show her a good time (and maybe get some info along
the way) makes sense given her "life is stupid" frame of mind. She
can hold her liquor here better than in certain past episodes, enough
so to pick up on verbal opportunities to stake Spike. These scenes
drag slightly, but I wouldn't want to lose the simultaneous comedy,
sadness, pathetic side, and mean streak that all come along with her
mini-speech at the end. Excerpted a little to turn it into a
continuous rant... "You were gonna help me! You, you were gonna
beat heads and, and, and fix my life! But you're completely lame!
Tonight sucks! And the only person I can even stand to be around is a
neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker. Also? I think you're
drunk." Now there's a moment that's worth its setup.
The final attack on the van, and the overdone Jonathan-demon is solid
too. I didn't figure out that it was him until afterward, which
amusingly explains the strange moment in which Buffy's attacks pass
through the monster at first, but then start to connect when she aims
lower. Because he's short. That's the humorous conclusion. Well,
I laughed. Speaking of which...
This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
- "That's not four o'clock." "Well, it is if you're facing the
front of the van." "But we're *not* facing the front of the van,
we're facing out that way. That's twelve, so she's at two o'clock."
"Look, she's over there, okay?" "Okay"
- The _Star Wars_ horn
- "Do what I do, just picture yourself naked"
- "I just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG
where the Enterprise kept blowing up." "Or Mulder, in that
_X-Files_ where the bank kept exploding." "Scully wants me so
bad." Also, the Monty Python riff a little later
- "Yes. And then I'm going to marry Bob Dole and raise penguins in
Guam"
- The demon with the card up his skinfold
Already mentioned the last Buffy/Giles moment, but worth hitting again
for the real affection there, especially on "wanna be my shiftless
absentee father?" But as far as Buffy's "knowing you're always
gonna be here..." well, Buffy, if he's going to take care of you
forever, how come he's not in the opening credits anymore, huh?
Speaking of credits, I wonder why they're not using the logo'd end
credits this week. I kinda liked those.
So...
One-sentence summary: A pleasure.
AOQ rating: Good
[Season Six so far:
1) "Bargaining" - Decent
2) "After Life" - Good
3) "Flooded" - Decent
4) "Life Serial" - Good]
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> - "That's not four o'clock." "Well, it is if you're facing the
> front of the van." "But we're *not* facing the front of the van,
> we're facing out that way. That's twelve, so she's at two o'clock."
> "Look, she's over there, okay?" "Okay"
if twelve oclock is at three oclock
then buffy would be at one oclock not two oclock
the only way for her to be at two oclock if twelve oclock is at two oclock
arf meow arf - nsa fodder
ny dnrqn greebevfz ahpyrne obzo vena gnyvona ovt oebgure
if you meet buddha on the usenet killfile him
Dwayne Johnson
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 Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
>
> I was initially apprehensive about the frame story of
> let's-show-how-worthless-Buffy-is-at-life-ha-ha. She returns from
> her unseen visit with her ex and takes a stab at joining the rat race.
> Even as it is, I don't know about the device of having all of her
> efforts at making a life for herself sabotaged by circumstances beyond
> her control, although at least she develops an independent reason to
> hate everything too.
Until the demons showed up, and she wrecked the construction site, I
think she was actually enjoying the construction job, once she got past
the guys calling her "Barbie."
> The final attack on the van, and the overdone Jonathan-demon is solid
> too. I didn't figure out that it was him until afterward, which
> amusingly explains the strange moment in which Buffy's attacks pass
> through the monster at first, but then start to connect when she aims
> lower. Because he's short. That's the humorous conclusion. Well,
> I laughed. Speaking of which...
Did you notice that Jonathan's demon looked a lot like the Southpark
Satan?
(And I don't think Buffy's punches passed through him. She was just so
drunk she missed.)
>
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
> - "That's not four o'clock." "Well, it is if you're facing the
> front of the van." "But we're *not* facing the front of the van,
> we're facing out that way. That's twelve, so she's at two o'clock."
> "Look, she's over there, okay?" "Okay"
> - The _Star Wars_ horn
> - "Do what I do, just picture yourself naked"
> - "I just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG
> where the Enterprise kept blowing up." "Or Mulder, in that
> _X-Files_ where the bank kept exploding." "Scully wants me so
> bad." Also, the Monty Python riff a little later
> - "Yes. And then I'm going to marry Bob Dole and raise penguins in
> Guam"
> - The demon with the card up his skinfold
And who's your favourite Bond?
(Personally, I think that George Lazenby gets short shrift. He's still
got my favourite Bond one-liner: "He had a lot of guts," after a bad guy
went through a snow blower.)
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
burt...@hotmail.com
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> Director: Nick Marck
Hated this episode too. I always saw this as the writers forcing
Buffy's friends to behave like jerks toward her in order to screw up
her attempts at getting back into school or finding a job. In
particular, there's no way I can believe that Xander and Giles would
have acted the way they did. But Joss decided that Buffy's life had to
suck this season, so characterization be damned.
And, about the Nerd Trio, there's one more thing to note. They make the
classic mistake that all supervillains everywhere seem to make - if
they'd just marketed and sold their inventions on the open market, they
could have made a ton more money then they could possibly get by
robbing banks. Seriously - can you imagine how rich Warren could have
gotten by selling April- and Buffy-bots?
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
> > let's-show-how-worthless-Buffy-is-at-life-ha-ha. She returns from
> > her unseen visit with her ex and takes a stab at joining the rat race.
> > Even as it is, I don't know about the device of having all of her
> > efforts at making a life for herself sabotaged by circumstances beyond
> > her control, although at least she develops an independent reason to
> > hate everything too.
>
> Until the demons showed up, and she wrecked the construction site, I
> think she was actually enjoying the construction job, once she got past
> the guys calling her "Barbie."
somehow the construction job loss seems the most unfair to me
dont know why
but that one makes me most irritated on buffys behalf than the other two
Apteryx
news:1154581450.0...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> some fun at Buffy's expense as they scout her strengths and
> weaknesses or something. First of all, let me just say that I think
> their scenes together have more oomph than last week's did.
Their higher status this week is emphasised by giving Jonathon a joke that
in season 4 was good enough to be given to Spike - his "The Slayer always
knows what she's doing" when we've seen different.
> I was initially apprehensive about the frame story of
> let's-show-how-worthless-Buffy-is-at-life-ha-ha. She returns from
> her unseen visit with her ex and takes a stab at joining the rat race.
> Even as it is, I don't know about the device of having all of her
> efforts at making a life for herself sabotaged by circumstances beyond
> her control, although at least she develops an independent reason to
> hate everything too.
Well, the back to college idea was pretty much sabotaged by the Sociology
class before Warren got involved, and although Andrew accelerated the
obvious problem in working with strangers (that Slayer duties would
interfere) it would have happened sooner or later anyway. That leaves the
Magic Box, and retail was her last choice - and that was even before she'd
experienced working for Anya.
> This does lead to a scene at the end in which
> Giles decides to step in and supply the fat checks. Obviously
> there's a personal side there, but some of this nice moment may also
> come from understanding that the fact that she's the Slayer is
> literally keeping her from doing anything else; this isn't her fault.
> Let her save the world and let others take care of her. Isn't that
> kind of financial support part of a Watcher's job, actually?
All the more so in view of her getting him reinstated retroactively, which
gave him the money in the first place.
> I think the Buffy The Steel Beam Layer mini-episode is the worst chunk
> of LS. It has its moments, like the fact that one and only one of the
> other non-Xander guys tries to look out for her ("don't let them
> hassle you into doing something stupid and hurting yourself"). Not
> fond of the portrayal of working-class types as fundamentally lazy
> underachievers, and very not fond of the Sunnydale Forgettyitis at the
> end.
It's not typical Forgettytis. The first guy (the foreman) never seemed to
see the demons. Buffy tosses him aside as the first demon approaches from
behind him, and he's not seen again till it's all over - when we see he has
hit his head. So the fact that he says Buffy went berserk and attacked him
is perfectly reasonable from his POV. The second guy, who did see, is
presented as an example of extreme macho - he's not going to go along with
Buffy's formulation - "Tell him how I jumped right in and protected you from
those things", especially when she adds that he was huddled in a corner,
crying like a baby.
>
> Then we go to the mummy's hand part, in which Buffy has to satisfy a
> humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, _Groundhog
> Day_ style. The setup for the spell with the geeks' hand-holding and
> the magic bone is good for a smile too. Anyway, even before it starts
> repeating, it's a good sequence, with little touches like the
> delivery on "I'll just get it" after the attempted banter falls
> flat. Also, when the hand first starts strangling her, Gellar (or the
> script) throws in an extremely nice little moment in which she
> doesn't start resisting right away; first she gets this expression on
> her face that articulates the general concept "you have *got* to be
> kidding me." Like the way when one is having a relentlessly shitty
> day, one eventually becomes amused by how many new misfortunes find a
> way to occur.
>
> Once the time loop actually kicks in, it becomes another entertaining
> set-piece. It's very well constructed for maximum entertainment
> value; Buffy has four different people to talk to so that the viewer
> doesn't get too bored, and she tries the "we don't have it"
> tack early so the solution can't become too obvious. Marck does well
> with making time pass, showing versions of the scene in shorter and
> shorter increments to hint at how long it lasts from Buffy's point of
> view, as she pretty much does try everything. Liked her taking out her
> frustrations on Giles's glasses. The focus on the bell is effective,
> plus it leads to the coda gag after she stalks away.
That one is the highlight, and the scene that springs to mind whenever I
think of the episode.
>
> Already mentioned the last Buffy/Giles moment, but worth hitting again
> for the real affection there, especially on "wanna be my shiftless
> absentee father?" But as far as Buffy's "knowing you're always
> gonna be here..." well, Buffy, if he's going to take care of you
> forever, how come he's not in the opening credits anymore, huh?
Yep, another sad instance of a character not bothering to read the opening
credits. When will they learn.
>
> One-sentence summary: A pleasure.
>
> AOQ rating: Good
Good for me too. It's my 61st favourite BtVS episode, 5th best in season 6
--
Apteryx
MBangel10 (Melissa)
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> Director: Nick Marck
>
> That's a real groaner of a title. I love it.
>
> Speaking of titles, for those who care (I think that'd be just me,
> actually), my alternate name for the episode barely beat out "listen.
> Buffy Summers has become unstuck in time." (No, no "Mikey"
> jokes here. Too obvious, and William beat me to it anyway.)
Nothing beats a little Rye Humor.
>
> This time around, the Geek Trio are the villains o' the week, having
> some fun at Buffy's expense as they scout her strengths and
> weaknesses or something. First of all, let me just say that I think
> their scenes together have more oomph than last week's did. I could
> list jokes that I liked, and may in fact still do that, but let's
> just focus on the idea of them awarding each other points based on a
> list of criteria regarding how effectively they can get to Buffy.
> That's a wonderfully geeky idea, and they make the best of it, with
> the best use of the gag coming when it's brought back in the
> discussion of how the scoring works with a time-loop that takes up very
> little actual time.
I wasn't sure how much I would get a kick out of the "trio" until Life
Serial. The scenes with them were amusing to say the least. There are so
many quotable lines...
"You're insane. You're short, and you're insane"
Plus, the magic bone just cracks me up.
>
> I was initially apprehensive about the frame story of
> let's-show-how-worthless-Buffy-is-at-life-ha-ha. She returns from
> her unseen visit with her ex and takes a stab at joining the rat race.
> Even as it is, I don't know about the device of having all of her
> efforts at making a life for herself sabotaged by circumstances beyond
> her control, although at least she develops an independent reason to
> hate everything too. This does lead to a scene at the end in which
> Giles decides to step in and supply the fat checks. Obviously
> there's a personal side there, but some of this nice moment may also
> come from understanding that the fact that she's the Slayer is
> literally keeping her from doing anything else; this isn't her fault.
> Let her save the world and let others take care of her. Isn't that
> kind of financial support part of a Watcher's job, actually?
When Giles handed her that check my first thought was "It's about darn
time!" Heck, the girl should be on the Council's payroll.
>
> Dividing the show into mini-episodes, the parts at school seem a little
> forced in driving her out of UCSD (sociology just isn't some
> people's thing). Things pick up quite a bit once the jumps through
> time start. I figured out what was going on right away, but the
> depiction is dizzyingly fast-paced, as befits the threat. Buffy's
> attempt to race after Tara as reality gets in the way is well
> presented, as is the way it so quickly gets elevated into an
> "Earshot"-like nightmare. The fact that the problem is then solved
> so quickly lets us know that we're in for a cool episode full of, and
> I use this term in the kindest possible way, gimmickry.
Darn that evil lint!
>
> I think the Buffy The Steel Beam Layer mini-episode is the worst chunk
> of LS. It has its moments, like the fact that one and only one of the
> other non-Xander guys tries to look out for her ("don't let them
> hassle you into doing something stupid and hurting yourself"). Not
> fond of the portrayal of working-class types as fundamentally lazy
> underachievers, and very not fond of the Sunnydale Forgettyitis at the
> end. Here we go again with the series's worst plot device, and
> I'll leave it at that this week. Xander's apparently blaming her
> had me worried at first too, until the subsequent reveal.
At least he fired her in the nicest way possible.
>
> Then we go to the mummy's hand part, in which Buffy has to satisfy a
> humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, _Groundhog
> Day_ style. The setup for the spell with the geeks' hand-holding and
> the magic bone is good for a smile too. Anyway, even before it starts
> repeating, it's a good sequence, with little touches like the
> delivery on "I'll just get it" after the attempted banter falls
> flat. Also, when the hand first starts strangling her, Gellar (or the
> script) throws in an extremely nice little moment in which she
> doesn't start resisting right away; first she gets this expression on
> her face that articulates the general concept "you have *got* to be
> kidding me." Like the way when one is having a relentlessly shitty
> day, one eventually becomes amused by how many new misfortunes find a
> way to occur.
The mummy hand, hee! "Fingers sold separately"
>
> Once the time loop actually kicks in, it becomes another entertaining
> set-piece. It's very well constructed for maximum entertainment
> value; Buffy has four different people to talk to so that the viewer
> doesn't get too bored, and she tries the "we don't have it"
> tack early so the solution can't become too obvious. Marck does well
> with making time pass, showing versions of the scene in shorter and
> shorter increments to hint at how long it lasts from Buffy's point of
> view, as she pretty much does try everything. Liked her taking out her
> frustrations on Giles's glasses. The focus on the bell is effective,
> plus it leads to the coda gag after she stalks away.
> And finally, our hero tries a life of tequila and gambling and can't
> quite master that either. She saves some cute kittens, at least.
> Turning to Spike to show her a good time (and maybe get some info along
> the way) makes sense given her "life is stupid" frame of mind. She
> can hold her liquor here better than in certain past episodes, enough
> so to pick up on verbal opportunities to stake Spike. These scenes
> drag slightly, but I wouldn't want to lose the simultaneous comedy,
> sadness, pathetic side, and mean streak that all come along with her
> mini-speech at the end. Excerpted a little to turn it into a
> continuous rant... "You were gonna help me! You, you were gonna
> beat heads and, and, and fix my life! But you're completely lame!
> Tonight sucks! And the only person I can even stand to be around is a
> neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker. Also? I think you're
> drunk." Now there's a moment that's worth its setup.
My favorite sequence of LS. From Buffy's "Blahhhh" every time she takes
a drink, grabbing the bottle from the bartender and of course her
"kittens are stupid currency" and the barfight rant. Amusing.
>
> The final attack on the van, and the overdone Jonathan-demon is solid
> too. I didn't figure out that it was him until afterward, which
> amusingly explains the strange moment in which Buffy's attacks pass
> through the monster at first, but then start to connect when she aims
> lower. Because he's short. That's the humorous conclusion. Well,
> I laughed. Speaking of which...
Didn't pass through... she just kept missing.
>
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
> - "That's not four o'clock." "Well, it is if you're facing the
> front of the van." "But we're *not* facing the front of the van,
> we're facing out that way. That's twelve, so she's at two o'clock."
> "Look, she's over there, okay?" "Okay"
> - The _Star Wars_ horn
> - "Do what I do, just picture yourself naked"
> - "I just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG
> where the Enterprise kept blowing up." "Or Mulder, in that
> _X-Files_ where the bank kept exploding." "Scully wants me so
> bad." Also, the Monty Python riff a little later
> - "Yes. And then I'm going to marry Bob Dole and raise penguins in
> Guam"
> - The demon with the card up his skinfold
>
> Already mentioned the last Buffy/Giles moment, but worth hitting again
> for the real affection there, especially on "wanna be my shiftless
> absentee father?" But as far as Buffy's "knowing you're always
> gonna be here..." well, Buffy, if he's going to take care of you
> forever, how come he's not in the opening credits anymore, huh?
>
> Speaking of credits, I wonder why they're not using the logo'd end
> credits this week. I kinda liked those.
>
>
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: A pleasure.
So many good moments and I'm glad you agree.
Don Sample
wrote:
> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1154581450.0...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
> >A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> > threads.
> >
> Well, the back to college idea was pretty much sabotaged by the Sociology
> class before Warren got involved, and although Andrew accelerated the
> obvious problem in working with strangers (that Slayer duties would
> interfere) it would have happened sooner or later anyway.
While sociology clearly wasn't her thing, Buffy had been shown to be
doing well in the college setting, before the burdens of having to take
over the parenting of Dawn, on top of her duties as the Slayer made her
drop out.
The main problem with the college bit was that it didn't really fit with
the "Buffy's got to make some money" theme. Last time I looked "College
Student" was a cash drain, not a source of income.
Elisi
I adore Life Serial and actually happened to re-watch it the other
night. I agree that the construction part is the weakest, and the mummy
hand sequence is *fabulous* ("This is an ex-mummy hand!")
> And finally, our hero tries a life of tequila and gambling and can't
> quite master that either. She saves some cute kittens, at least.
> Turning to Spike to show her a good time (and maybe get some info along
> the way) makes sense given her "life is stupid" frame of mind. She
> can hold her liquor here better than in certain past episodes, enough
> so to pick up on verbal opportunities to stake Spike. These scenes
> drag slightly, but I wouldn't want to lose the simultaneous comedy,
> sadness, pathetic side, and mean streak that all come along with her
> mini-speech at the end. Excerpted a little to turn it into a
> continuous rant... "You were gonna help me! You, you were gonna
> beat heads and, and, and fix my life! But you're completely lame!
> Tonight sucks! And the only person I can even stand to be around is a
> neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker. Also? I think you're
> drunk." Now there's a moment that's worth its setup.
Although this part is my favourite. Now the *very* interesting thing to
do is to compare this to 'Crush'. Remember the 'date' Spike tried to
set up? The stake-out? The flask? Holding the door, and Buffy getting
freaked? Well they're pretty much all there in LS, and Buffy is happily
playing along this time. OK, so it's whisky and not bourbon, but still.
Spike even at one point mentions that she's 'his lady' and she doesn't
object at all.
Things have changed *a lot* from last year.
George W Harris
<tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
:Xander's apparently blaming her
:had me worried at first too, until the subsequent reveal.
I kinda got the impression that Xander was
told to fire her, and the only reason *he* did it was he
talked the boss into hiring her.
--
"The truths of mathematics describe a bright and clear universe,
exquisite and beautiful in its structure, in comparison with
which the physical world is turbid and confused."
-Eulogy for G.H.Hardy
George W. Harris For actual email address, replace each 'u' with an 'i'
jil...@hotmail.com
was that Buffy is essentially treating Spike as her boyfriend.
Except that he doesn't get any of the fringe benefits. She goes to him
when she needs companionship (and not the kind of companionship where
"I love you, but I want to strangle you for what you did to me,"
feelings are foremost in her). She expects him to solve her problems,
in fact even has a hope that he will. She's starting to put faith in
him.
Notice also that the Scoobies don't really believe her when she tells
them what's happening to her.
John Briggs
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
There are several ways, in different numbering conventions, of referring to
this episode:
B6x05
6-5
6ABB05
Episode 105
--
John Briggs
Rowan Hawthorn
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> Director: Nick Marck
>
> That's a real groaner of a title. I love it.
>
> Speaking of titles, for those who care (I think that'd be just me,
> actually),
You're probably right. I like the actual alternate you gave it much
better. In fact, I think I'll save it somewhere...
>
> I was initially apprehensive about the frame story of
> let's-show-how-worthless-Buffy-is-at-life-ha-ha. She returns from
> her unseen visit with her ex and takes a stab at joining the rat race.
> Even as it is, I don't know about the device of having all of her
> efforts at making a life for herself sabotaged by circumstances beyond
> her control, although at least she develops an independent reason to
> hate everything too. This does lead to a scene at the end in which
> Giles decides to step in and supply the fat checks. Obviously
> there's a personal side there, but some of this nice moment may also
> come from understanding that the fact that she's the Slayer is
> literally keeping her from doing anything else; this isn't her fault.
> Let her save the world and let others take care of her. Isn't that
> kind of financial support part of a Watcher's job, actually?
If it ain't, it ought to be (actually, it should be the responsibility
of the Watcher's Council itself, but we know better than to expect that,
now, don't we?)
>
> Then we go to the mummy's hand part, in which Buffy has to satisfy a
> humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, _Groundhog
> Day_ style. The setup for the spell with the geeks' hand-holding and
> the magic bone is good for a smile too. Anyway, even before it starts
> repeating, it's a good sequence, with little touches like the
> delivery on "I'll just get it" after the attempted banter falls
> flat. Also, when the hand first starts strangling her, Gellar (or the
> script) throws in an extremely nice little moment in which she
> doesn't start resisting right away; first she gets this expression on
> her face that articulates the general concept "you have *got* to be
> kidding me." Like the way when one is having a relentlessly shitty
> day, one eventually becomes amused by how many new misfortunes find a
> way to occur.
Really? Hm. My relentlessly shitty days must have been going off one
or the other end of the scale, then...
>
> Once the time loop actually kicks in, it becomes another entertaining
> set-piece. It's very well constructed for maximum entertainment
> value; Buffy has four different people to talk to so that the viewer
> doesn't get too bored, and she tries the "we don't have it"
> tack early so the solution can't become too obvious. Marck does well
> with making time pass, showing versions of the scene in shorter and
> shorter increments to hint at how long it lasts from Buffy's point of
> view, as she pretty much does try everything. Liked her taking out her
> frustrations on Giles's glasses. The focus on the bell is effective,
> plus it leads to the coda gag after she stalks away.
>
Not to mention her ripping that %&@#% bell off the door. Gotta say, she
took the cheery ding-a-ling a lot longer than *I* would have...
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
WILLOW: I’m a breast girl myself. (to Tara) But then again, you knew that.
>
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: A pleasure.
>
> AOQ rating: Good
>
Yeah, I love this episode. It's funny as all hell, even though the
topic really *isn't* funny at all.
--
Rowan Hawthorn
"Occasionally, I'm callous and strange." - Willow Rosenberg, "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer"
Rowan Hawthorn
You have that programmed into a macro?
John Briggs
> John Briggs wrote:
>> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>>> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>>> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
>>
>> There are several ways, in different numbering conventions, of
>> referring to this episode:
>>
>> B6x05
>> 6-5
>> 6ABB05
>> Episode 105
>
> You have that programmed into a macro?
Cut-and-paste works well enough.
--
John Briggs
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
> threads.
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> Director: Nick Marck
> forced in driving her out of UCSD (sociology just isn't some
> people's thing). Things pick up quite a bit once the jumps through
> time start. I figured out what was going on right away, but the
> depiction is dizzyingly fast-paced, as befits the threat.
Note that Buffy's friends fail to notice what's wrong. Probably she's
still occasionally zoning out, as she did in AL and Flooded, and Tara
figured that was just happening again.
Unofficially visiting a class is one thing, but acutally auditing classes
is the worst possible idea for Buffy right now. Auditing means you have
to pay, but you *can't* apply the course towards completing your degree.
Worst of both worlds.
> I think the Buffy The Steel Beam Layer mini-episode is the worst chunk
> of LS. It has its moments, like the fact that one and only one of the
> other non-Xander guys tries to look out for her ("don't let them
> hassle you into doing something stupid and hurting yourself"). Not
> fond of the portrayal of working-class types as fundamentally lazy
> underachievers,
Lazy, lying, *obnoxious* underachievers. Maybe the foreman, Tony
according to this transcript, was the bad apple who turned the whole crew
bad. And we do have Xander (and Tito?) to show the decent side of
construction workers. Still, the stereotyping meant that this part
annoyed me.
> value; Buffy has four different people to talk to so that the viewer
> tack early so the solution can't become too obvious. Marck does well
> with making time pass, showing versions of the scene in shorter and
> shorter increments to hint at how long it lasts from Buffy's point of
> view, as she pretty much does try everything. Liked her taking out her
> frustrations on Giles's glasses.
And this part killed me! The rest of this mini-episode too. I agree with
those who rate it the best part of the episode.
I know he was doing it to gain information and all, but I still laughed at
Spike acting like so many clueless guys, expecting his "lady" to sit in
the corner and watch while he played a game with the fellas....
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
-the Essence of Slug candle
-"The Slayer touched you." "Yeah, that was sexy the way she touched me
real hard with her fists."
I'm not thinking of much else that hasn't already been said. Life Serial
is one of those episodes that's improved for me on repeat viewings. I'd
give it a Good now.
--Chris
______________________________________________________________________
chrisg [at] gwu.edu On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog.
William George Ferguson
wrote:
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
>threads.
>
>
>BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
>(or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
>"When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
>'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
>Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
>Director: Nick Marck
>
>That's a real groaner of a title. I love it.
>I think the Buffy The Steel Beam Layer mini-episode is the worst chunk
>of LS. It has its moments, like the fact that one and only one of the
>other non-Xander guys tries to look out for her ("don't let them
>hassle you into doing something stupid and hurting yourself"). Not
>fond of the portrayal of working-class types as fundamentally lazy
>underachievers, and very not fond of the Sunnydale Forgettyitis at the
>end. Here we go again with the series's worst plot device, and
>I'll leave it at that this week. Xander's apparently blaming her
>had me worried at first too, until the subsequent reveal.
The aggravating thing about this bit is that, actually, Buffy showed
aptitude and likely would have been able to settle in and do the job, and
enjoy it, without the outside intervention. The other two had
circumstances working against Buffy even without the Three Nerdellaros, but
the initial antogonism of the co-workers wasn't really enough here.
Also, in the college hallway, was Buffy going to say the same thing as
VampWillow, when she said "What the f..." (my assumption is 'for goodness
sake')
>Then we go to the mummy's hand part, in which Buffy has to satisfy a
>humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, _Groundhog
>Day_ style. The setup for the spell with the geeks' hand-holding and
>the magic bone is good for a smile too. Anyway, even before it starts
>repeating, it's a good sequence, with little touches like the
>delivery on "I'll just get it" after the attempted banter falls
>flat. Also, when the hand first starts strangling her, Gellar (or the
>script) throws in an extremely nice little moment in which she
>doesn't start resisting right away; first she gets this expression on
>her face that articulates the general concept "you have *got* to be
>kidding me." Like the way when one is having a relentlessly shitty
>day, one eventually becomes amused by how many new misfortunes find a
>way to occur.
You know, I hadn't actually thought of this before, but compare Buffy's
reaction here with the movie The Fellowship of the Ring, in the Hall of
Records when Boromir looks out the door, "They have a cave troll."
>This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
>- "That's not four o'clock." "Well, it is if you're facing the
>front of the van." "But we're *not* facing the front of the van,
>we're facing out that way. That's twelve, so she's at two o'clock."
>"Look, she's over there, okay?" "Okay"
>- The _Star Wars_ horn
>- "Do what I do, just picture yourself naked"
>- "I just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG
>where the Enterprise kept blowing up." "Or Mulder, in that
>_X-Files_ where the bank kept exploding." "Scully wants me so
>bad." Also, the Monty Python riff a little later
>- "Yes. And then I'm going to marry Bob Dole and raise penguins in
>Guam"
>- The demon with the card up his skinfold
And with each episode, I can return sigs to my rotation
--
HERBERT
1996 - 1997
Beloved Mascot
Delightful Meal
He fed the Pack
A little
Stephen Tempest
> This does lead to a scene at the end in which
>Giles decides to step in and supply the fat checks.
Judging by the really uncomfortable way Giles reacts when Buffy says
"I'm glad that you'll always be around.", I suspect that putting a
plurral on 'cheque' is speaking too soon. The last thing Giles wants
now is for Buffy to become dependent on him. I think all he's doing
here is clearing his conscience.
I also suspect, very strongly, that that's Giles's own personal money
- nothing to do with the Watchers' Council.
> She
>can hold her liquor here better than in certain past episodes, enough
>so to pick up on verbal opportunities to stake Spike.
You'd think someone with Slayer stamina would be able to drink the
entire room under the table, actually. Maybe, like her strength and
her healing rate, her alcohol tolerance also varies depending on her
current emotional strength? <g>
Stephen
Rowan Hawthorn
Well, of course, she was hitting that bottle pret-ty heavy, there. One
of my roommates in college downed over half of a fifth of whiskey in
about fifteen minutes once - and about ten minutes after that, his ass
was on the *floor*...
John Briggs
>
> Also, in the college hallway, was Buffy going to say the same thing as
> VampWillow, when she said "What the f..." (my assumption is 'for
> goodness sake')
The scripts don't bear you out: the script for "Doppelgängland" has "Oh,
fine --", whereas the script for "Life Serial" has "What the f--".
--
John Briggs
William George Ferguson
wrote:
Go watch Doppelgangland. VampWillow does not say "Oh fine" she says "Oh
f..." and dusts.
Just because someone decided to have Han shoot first in the script doesn't
make it so.
Mike Zeares
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> Director: Nick Marck
>
> That's a real groaner of a title. I love it.
>
> some fun at Buffy's expense as they scout her strengths and
> weaknesses or something. First of all, let me just say that I think
I agree. The three actors showed some good comedic timing and played
well off each other. Much better than "Flooded."
Snip school and contruction. I'm not a big fan of either segment. The
school part in particular has some issues if you look at it closely
(from Tara's point of view Buffy must have just zoned out -- so she
just left her there?). The construction segment was kind of dull to
me. Buffy did look cute in her hardhat. I liked Xander's slightly
alarmed reaction to her joke that she'd rather being dead again than do
retail. The gang's reaction to Buffy's grave humor has become a theme.
> Then we go to the mummy's hand part, in which Buffy has to satisfy a
> humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, _Groundhog
> Day_ style. [snip]
The mummy hand is an all-time classic.
> Once the time loop actually kicks in, it becomes another entertaining
> set-piece. It's very well constructed for maximum entertainment
> value; Buffy has four different people to talk to so that the viewer
> doesn't get too bored, and she tries the "we don't have it"
> tack early so the solution can't become too obvious. Marck does well
> with making time pass, showing versions of the scene in shorter and
> shorter increments to hint at how long it lasts from Buffy's point of
> view, as she pretty much does try everything. Liked her taking out her
> frustrations on Giles's glasses. The focus on the bell is effective,
> plus it leads to the coda gag after she stalks away.
I liked the way there were minor variations in dialogue each time it
repeated. This was definitely the most effective sequence in the
episode. I think it's one of the best comedy bits of the entire
series.
> And finally, our hero tries a life of tequila and gambling and can't
> quite master that either. She saves some cute kittens, at least.
I seem to recall some howls of derisive... derision, the first time
this aired. The writers were increasingly taking the piss out of their
show, while still taking the characters' problems seriously. A fine
line to tread, and the fans weren't always on board with them.
FWIW, I thought the kitten poker was funny. Still do. I mean, it's
demons! Playing for kittens! Ha!
> mini-speech at the end. Excerpted a little to turn it into a
> continuous rant... "You were gonna help me! You, you were gonna
> beat heads and, and, and fix my life! But you're completely lame!
> Tonight sucks! And the only person I can even stand to be around is a
> neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker. Also? I think you're
> drunk." Now there's a moment that's worth its setup.
Yeah, that was a good drunken rant. I liked the aftermath too, with
her comment that she thought she had turned inside out at one point. I
can relate.
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
> - "That's not four o'clock." "Well, it is if you're facing the
> front of the van." "But we're *not* facing the front of the van,
> we're facing out that way. That's twelve, so she's at two o'clock."
> "Look, she's over there, okay?" "Okay"
> - The _Star Wars_ horn
> - "Do what I do, just picture yourself naked"
> - "I just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG
> where the Enterprise kept blowing up." "Or Mulder, in that
> _X-Files_ where the bank kept exploding." "Scully wants me so
> bad." Also, the Monty Python riff a little later
> - "Yes. And then I'm going to marry Bob Dole and raise penguins in
> Guam"
> - The demon with the card up his skinfold
"I like Timothy Dalton" WHAP. The whole ongoing Bond argument was
great. I have a feeling it's one of those things that went from the
writers' room to the script.
-- Mike Zeares
Shuggie
> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1154581450.0...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
>>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
>> threads.
>>
>>
>> This time around, the Geek Trio are the villains o' the week, having
>> some fun at Buffy's expense as they scout her strengths and
>> weaknesses or something. First of all, let me just say that I think
>> their scenes together have more oomph than last week's did.
>
> Their higher status this week is emphasised by giving Jonathon a joke that
> in season 4 was good enough to be given to Spike - his "The Slayer always
> knows what she's doing" when we've seen different.
>
Maybe that says more about Spike in S4.
--
Shuggie
my blog - http://shuggie.livejournal.com/
John Briggs
> On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 18:54:42 GMT, "John Briggs"
> <john.b...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>> William George Ferguson wrote:
>>>
>>> Also, in the college hallway, was Buffy going to say the same thing
>>> as VampWillow, when she said "What the f..." (my assumption is 'for
>>> goodness sake')
>>
>> The scripts don't bear you out: the script for "Doppelgängland" has
>> "Oh, fine --", whereas the script for "Life Serial" has "What the
>> f--".
>
> Go watch Doppelgangland. VampWillow does not say "Oh fine" she says
> "Oh f..." and dusts.
>
> Just because someone decided to have Han shoot first in the script
> doesn't make it so.
It is not clear whether the "Oh f..." in "Doppelgängland" was created on the
set or in the editing suite.
--
John Briggs
drifter
> On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 18:54:42 GMT, "John Briggs"
> <john.b...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>> William George Ferguson wrote:
>>>
>>> Also, in the college hallway, was Buffy going to say the same thing
>>> as VampWillow, when she said "What the f..." (my assumption is 'for
>>> goodness sake')
>>
>> The scripts don't bear you out: the script for "Doppelgängland" has
>> "Oh, fine --", whereas the script for "Life Serial" has "What the
>> f--".
>
> Go watch Doppelgangland. VampWillow does not say "Oh fine" she says
> "Oh f..." and dusts.
>
> Just because someone decided to have Han shoot first in the script
> doesn't make it so.
What are you talking about? Han was holding a walkie-talkie, not a
gun.
--
Kel
"I reject your reality, and substitute my own."
Daniel Damouth
news:1154636510....@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com:
> The mummy hand is an all-time classic.
I haven't seen anyone mention my favorite specific part yet, which is
when the mummy hand is clapping the tongs at her. I'm not sure why I
find it so hilarious. Is the hand mocking her? Is it taunting her?
Or is it just starting to enjoy the joust?
-Dan Damouth
Arbitrar Of Quality
> > Until the demons showed up, and she wrecked the construction site, I
> > think she was actually enjoying the construction job, once she got past
> > the guys calling her "Barbie."
And them yelling at her for being too productive.
> somehow the construction job loss seems the most unfair to me
> dont know why
> but that one makes me most irritated on buffys behalf than the other two
My guess would be that it's a combination of:
- the weaker extenuating circumstances than the others, as some have
pointed out
- the fact that she gets fired from somewhere she apparently wants to
stay, instead of walking out on it as at school and the store
- as a superhero, she's extremely good at this job; that's not true of
retail
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
Don Sample wrote:
> The main problem with the college bit was that it didn't really fit with
> the "Buffy's got to make some money" theme. Last time I looked "College
> Student" was a cash drain, not a source of income.
Maybe they figured that if you get the right financial aid, it's a good
chance to take a few years to develop some job skills and a future and
stuff.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
Get letters after your name that look good to employers, I mean. No
actual skills are acquired in college.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
Elisi wrote:
>OK, so it's whisky
Note to self: check transcript before trusting memory.
-AOQ
BTR1701
ste...@stempest.demon.co.uk wrote:
> You'd think someone with Slayer stamina would be able to drink the
> entire room under the table, actually. Maybe, like her strength and
> her healing rate, her alcohol tolerance also varies depending on her
> current emotional strength? <g>
I don't think it's her emotional strength that dictates how strong she
is. It's the needs of that week's particular plot that determines her
abilities-- and that's something that has bugged me more than the
Sunnydale Forget-Factor-- you can reasonably fanwank that in any number
of ways-- but Buffy being strong enough to snap steel chains and bend
jail cell bars like tallow one week, then stymied by a locked door or a
sheetrock wall the next is just sloppy writing. Heck, it's not even
sloppy since it's intentional. It's more like they writers are just
hoping to get away with slipping something past the audience that they
know makes no sense.
Arbitrar Of Quality
Rowan Hawthorn wrote:
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> > BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> > Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> > (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
> > "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> > 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> > Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> > Director: Nick Marck
> >
> > That's a real groaner of a title. I love it.
> >
on't know about the device of having all of her
> > efforts at makin> > Speaking of titles, for those who care (I think that'd be just me,
> > actually),
>
> You're probably right. I like the actual alternate you gave it much
> better. In fact, I think I'll save it somewhere...
I'm just quoting, not being creative or anything; you got that, right?
(for those who didn't, it's from _Spaceballs_.)
> Yeah, I love this episode. It's funny as all hell, even though the
> topic really *isn't* funny at all.
At its best, the show is good at doing that.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
BTR1701 wrote:
> I don't think it's her emotional strength that dictates how strong she
> is. It's the needs of that week's particular plot that determines her
> abilities
Pretty much.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
> I seem to recall some howls of derisive... derision, the first time
> this aired. The writers were increasingly taking the piss out of their
> show, while still taking the characters' problems seriously. A fine
> line to tread, and the fans weren't always on board with them.
>
> FWIW, I thought the kitten poker was funny. Still do. I mean, it's
> demons! Playing for kittens! Ha!
Obviously different bits of piss-taking are going to annoy different
people. I don't see it as such a big transition, though; the show has
always taken its characters more seriously than its plots. It goes
back to the original concept, with the hero being so snarky and
self-aware about her horror-movie adversaries.
-AOQ
Henry Hartmann
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> Director: Nick Marck
>
> That's a real groaner of a title. I love it.
>
> Buffy Summers has become unstuck in time." (No, no "Mikey"
> jokes here. Too obvious, and William beat me to it anyway.)
>
> This time around, the Geek Trio are the villains o' the week, having
> some fun at Buffy's expense as they scout her strengths and
> weaknesses or something. First of all, let me just say that I think
> list jokes that I liked, and may in fact still do that, but let's
> just focus on the idea of them awarding each other points based on a
> list of criteria regarding how effectively they can get to Buffy.
> That's a wonderfully geeky idea, and they make the best of it, with
> the best use of the gag coming when it's brought back in the
> discussion of how the scoring works with a time-loop that takes up very
> little actual time.
>
> I was initially apprehensive about the frame story of
> let's-show-how-worthless-Buffy-is-at-life-ha-ha. She returns from
> her unseen visit with her ex and takes a stab at joining the rat race.
> Even as it is, I don't know about the device of having all of her
> efforts at making a life for herself sabotaged by circumstances beyond
> her control, although at least she develops an independent reason to
> hate everything too. This does lead to a scene at the end in which
> Giles decides to step in and supply the fat checks. Obviously
> there's a personal side there, but some of this nice moment may also
> come from understanding that the fact that she's the Slayer is
> literally keeping her from doing anything else; this isn't her fault.
> Let her save the world and let others take care of her. Isn't that
> kind of financial support part of a Watcher's job, actually?
>
> forced in driving her out of UCSD (sociology just isn't some
> people's thing). Things pick up quite a bit once the jumps through
> time start. I figured out what was going on right away, but the
> attempt to race after Tara as reality gets in the way is well
> presented, as is the way it so quickly gets elevated into an
> "Earshot"-like nightmare. The fact that the problem is then solved
> so quickly lets us know that we're in for a cool episode full of, and
> I use this term in the kindest possible way, gimmickry.
>
> I think the Buffy The Steel Beam Layer mini-episode is the worst chunk
> of LS. It has its moments, like the fact that one and only one of the
> other non-Xander guys tries to look out for her ("don't let them
> hassle you into doing something stupid and hurting yourself"). Not
> fond of the portrayal of working-class types as fundamentally lazy
> underachievers, and very not fond of the Sunnydale Forgettyitis at the
> end. Here we go again with the series's worst plot device, and
> I'll leave it at that this week. Xander's apparently blaming her
> had me worried at first too, until the subsequent reveal.
>
> humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, _Groundhog
> the magic bone is good for a smile too. Anyway, even before it starts
> repeating, it's a good sequence, with little touches like the
> delivery on "I'll just get it" after the attempted banter falls
> flat. Also, when the hand first starts strangling her, Gellar (or the
> script) throws in an extremely nice little moment in which she
> doesn't start resisting right away; first she gets this expression on
> her face that articulates the general concept "you have *got* to be
> kidding me." Like the way when one is having a relentlessly shitty
> day, one eventually becomes amused by how many new misfortunes find a
> way to occur.
>
> set-piece. It's very well constructed for maximum entertainment
> value; Buffy has four different people to talk to so that the viewer
> doesn't get too bored, and she tries the "we don't have it"
> tack early so the solution can't become too obvious. Marck does well
> with making time pass, showing versions of the scene in shorter and
> shorter increments to hint at how long it lasts from Buffy's point of
> view, as she pretty much does try everything. Liked her taking out her
> frustrations on Giles's glasses. The focus on the bell is effective,
> plus it leads to the coda gag after she stalks away.
>
> quite master that either. She saves some cute kittens, at least.
> the way) makes sense given her "life is stupid" frame of mind. She
> can hold her liquor here better than in certain past episodes, enough
> drag slightly, but I wouldn't want to lose the simultaneous comedy,
> sadness, pathetic side, and mean streak that all come along with her
> mini-speech at the end. Excerpted a little to turn it into a
> continuous rant... "You were gonna help me! You, you were gonna
> beat heads and, and, and fix my life! But you're completely lame!
> Tonight sucks! And the only person I can even stand to be around is a
> neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker. Also? I think you're
> drunk." Now there's a moment that's worth its setup.
>
> too. I didn't figure out that it was him until afterward, which
> amusingly explains the strange moment in which Buffy's attacks pass
> through the monster at first, but then start to connect when she aims
> lower. Because he's short. That's the humorous conclusion. Well,
> I laughed. Speaking of which...
>
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
> - "That's not four o'clock." "Well, it is if you're facing the
> front of the van." "But we're *not* facing the front of the van,
> we're facing out that way. That's twelve, so she's at two o'clock."
> "Look, she's over there, okay?" "Okay"
> - The _Star Wars_ horn
> - "Do what I do, just picture yourself naked"
> - "I just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG
> where the Enterprise kept blowing up." "Or Mulder, in that
> _X-Files_ where the bank kept exploding." "Scully wants me so
> bad." Also, the Monty Python riff a little later
> - "Yes. And then I'm going to marry Bob Dole and raise penguins in
> Guam"
> - The demon with the card up his skinfold
>
> for the real affection there, especially on "wanna be my shiftless
> absentee father?" But as far as Buffy's "knowing you're always
> gonna be here..." well, Buffy, if he's going to take care of you
> forever, how come he's not in the opening credits anymore, huh?
>
> Speaking of credits, I wonder why they're not using the logo'd end
> credits this week. I kinda liked those.
>
>
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: A pleasure.
>
> AOQ rating: Good
>
> 1) "Bargaining" - Decent
> 2) "After Life" - Good
> 3) "Flooded" - Decent
> 4) "Life Serial" - Good]
--Well, AOQ, I'm surprised you rated this one so highly. Not that I
dislike it myself. I like all the moments with the Nerds in them
(they're some of my favorite BtVS villains of all time), and I like the
final part of the episode with Spike in it. But aside from the cuts
away to the Nerds, I didn't like the first three-quarters of the
episode. The college, construction, and retail scenes were pretty
drab, I thought. I especially disliked the sociology discussion. It
seemed incredibly fake to me (and I speak as someone who has been
involved in higher education, both as a student and as a teacher, for
more than thirty years).
But to cut the writers some slack: it might interest you to know, AOQ,
that this is an episode that was written and filmed in a tremendous
hurry, because it wasn't originally in the plans for the season at all.
What happened was that after UPN changed its mind about running
"Bargaining I" and "Bargaining 2" on two successive weeks, and decided
to make "Bargaining" a two-hour episode instead, ME suddenly realized
that they had a hole in their schedule they need to fill. They didn't
want to have a week in October, so early in the TV season, when they
would have to do a re-run or let UPN supply some other kind of fill-in
such as an "America's Top Models" special. They didn't want to lose
the momentum of all-new episodes, so they cobbled together "Life
Serial" in great haste.
Since you didn't know any of this behind-the-scenes stuff, AOQ, I
wonder if you had any inkling, just from what appeared on screen, of
the hastiness with which "Life Serial" was written and filmed? Myself,
I didn't think it had the look of a rush job, except perhaps in the
Sociology Class scene, which really needed to be tweaked.
I just think it's interesting when ME does something so last-minute and
spontaneous. Normally, Joss has whole seasons planned in his mind
years in advance.
Clairel
Rowan Hawthorn
> Rowan Hawthorn wrote:
>> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>
>>> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>>> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
>>> (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
>>> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
>>> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
>>> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
>>> Director: Nick Marck
>>>
>>> That's a real groaner of a title. I love it.
>>>
> on't know about the device of having all of her
>>> efforts at makin> > Speaking of titles, for those who care (I think that'd be just me,
>>> actually),
>> You're probably right. I like the actual alternate you gave it much
>> better. In fact, I think I'll save it somewhere...
>
> I'm just quoting, not being creative or anything; you got that, right?
> (for those who didn't, it's from _Spaceballs_.)
Oh. Damn. Guess I should mention I've never seen that movie, shouldn't I?
>
>> Yeah, I love this episode. It's funny as all hell, even though the
>> topic really *isn't* funny at all.
>
> At its best, the show is good at doing that.
>
> -AOQ
>
Rowan Hawthorn
> William George Ferguson wrote:
>> On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 18:54:42 GMT, "John Briggs"
>> <john.b...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>
>>> William George Ferguson wrote:
>>>> Also, in the college hallway, was Buffy going to say the same thing
>>>> as VampWillow, when she said "What the f..." (my assumption is 'for
>>>> goodness sake')
>>> The scripts don't bear you out: the script for "Doppelgängland" has
>>> "Oh, fine --", whereas the script for "Life Serial" has "What the
>>> f--".
>> Go watch Doppelgangland. VampWillow does not say "Oh fine" she says
>> "Oh f..." and dusts.
>>
>> Just because someone decided to have Han shoot first in the script
>> doesn't make it so.
>
> It is not clear whether the "Oh f..." in "Doppelgängland" was created on the
> set or in the editing suite.
I thought listening to AH's delivery made it pretty clear (I really
doubt she pronounced it "Aw, ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffine," hmm?)
Mike Zeares
While Buffy looks at it sadly. I love that scene too. Just forgot to
mention it.
-- Mike Zeares
One Bit Shy
news:1154581450.0...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> This time around, the Geek Trio are the villains o' the week, having
> some fun at Buffy's expense as they scout her strengths and
> weaknesses or something. First of all, let me just say that I think
> their scenes together have more oomph than last week's did.
I agree. The concept clicks better here. I liked most of the gags - from
the obvious magic bone jokes to arguing about the Deathstar design. But
they also demonstrate a pretty potent collection of powers, which adds
another level of interest. When I first saw this episode (and for too many
repeats of it) I didn't realize that Buffy really thought she had vanquished
the demon (Jonathan) at the end and didn't need to worry about the attacks
on her anymore.
> I was initially apprehensive about the frame story of
> let's-show-how-worthless-Buffy-is-at-life-ha-ha. She returns from
> her unseen visit with her ex and takes a stab at joining the rat race.
> Even as it is, I don't know about the device of having all of her
> efforts at making a life for herself sabotaged by circumstances beyond
> her control, although at least she develops an independent reason to
> hate everything too.
It's not fair, but she also kind of gives up on things too - aside from
being fired from the construction job.
> Dividing the show into mini-episodes, the parts at school seem a little
> forced in driving her out of UCSD (sociology just isn't some
> people's thing).
I'm not sure any topic handled that way would be my thing. When does
anybody have a sec to comprehend what is being said? I think that was the
lightening round from a quiz show. A class like that would make Buffy miss
Maggie Walsh!
> Things pick up quite a bit once the jumps through
> time start. I figured out what was going on right away, but the
> depiction is dizzyingly fast-paced, as befits the threat. Buffy's
> attempt to race after Tara as reality gets in the way is well
> presented, as is the way it so quickly gets elevated into an
> "Earshot"-like nightmare. The fact that the problem is then solved
> so quickly lets us know that we're in for a cool episode full of, and
> I use this term in the kindest possible way, gimmickry.
It's a crisply constructed show. What impresses me about it is that two of
the tricks played on Buffy require repeated application of the problem, but
the variations are consistently fresh and don't feel belabored. I also note
that Jane Espenson gets co-writing credit for this. That's two Good ratings
from you already this season for Jane.
> Here we go again with the series's worst plot device, and
> I'll leave it at that this week.
Hey, they didn't want to look like weenies - nor lose their jobs.
> Liked her taking out her
> frustrations on Giles's glasses.
I liked how Giles never noticed what Buffy said to him.
> And finally, our hero tries a life of tequila and gambling and can't
> quite master that either. She saves some cute kittens, at least.
Spike: So, who's gonna advance me a tiny tabby, get me started?
Spike: Come on, someone's gotta stake me.
Buffy: I'll do it!
(My favorite part of the episode.)
> Turning to Spike to show her a good time (and maybe get some info along
> the way) makes sense given her "life is stupid" frame of mind. She
> can hold her liquor here better than in certain past episodes, enough
> so to pick up on verbal opportunities to stake Spike. These scenes
> drag slightly, but I wouldn't want to lose the simultaneous comedy,
> sadness, pathetic side, and mean streak that all come along with her
> mini-speech at the end. Excerpted a little to turn it into a
> continuous rant... "You were gonna help me! You, you were gonna
> beat heads and, and, and fix my life! But you're completely lame!
> Tonight sucks! And the only person I can even stand to be around is a
> neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker. Also? I think you're
> drunk." Now there's a moment that's worth its setup.
Yep, good moment. And also pretty much settles any lingering doubt about
her spending time with Spike because it was easier for her than time with
the Scoobies.
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
> - "That's not four o'clock." "Well, it is if you're facing the
> front of the van." "But we're *not* facing the front of the van,
> we're facing out that way. That's twelve, so she's at two o'clock."
> "Look, she's over there, okay?" "Okay"
> - The _Star Wars_ horn
> - "Do what I do, just picture yourself naked"
> - "I just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG
> where the Enterprise kept blowing up." "Or Mulder, in that
> _X-Files_ where the bank kept exploding." "Scully wants me so
> bad." Also, the Monty Python riff a little later
> - "Yes. And then I'm going to marry Bob Dole and raise penguins in
> Guam"
> - The demon with the card up his skinfold
I liked the notion of Willow and Tara spending free time watching Spongebob
Squarepants.
> Already mentioned the last Buffy/Giles moment, but worth hitting again
> for the real affection there, especially on "wanna be my shiftless
> absentee father?" But as far as Buffy's "knowing you're always
> gonna be here..." well, Buffy, if he's going to take care of you
> forever, how come he's not in the opening credits anymore, huh?
The payoff of the whole show is the look on Giles's face as he absorbs what
Buffy says.
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: A pleasure.
>
> AOQ rating: Good
Good for me too. I'm tempted to reach for Excellent for its good humor and
crisp pacing, but the episode still feels an awful lot like it's mainly
setup - as most of what's happened so far this season does.
OBS
David E. Milligan
"Rowan Hawthorn" <rowan_h...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:fs6dnY9RnYWa2k_Z...@giganews.com...
Rowan Hawthorn
Yes. Among other things, while his ass was on the *way* to the floor,
his head got in the way of a concrete block wall that jumped out and
sucker-punched him from behind. Luckily, he was too drunk to feel it.
As far as alcohol poisoning, the multiple episodes of projectile
vomiting shortly afterward probably eliminated any danger of that.
(Also eliminated any danger of me letting him back into our *room* to
sleep it off, but that's another story...)
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> Rowan Hawthorn wrote:
> > Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>
> > > BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> > > Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> > > (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
> > > "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> > > 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> > > Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> > > Director: Nick Marck
> > >
> > > That's a real groaner of a title. I love it.
> > >
> on't know about the device of having all of her
> > > efforts at makin> > Speaking of titles, for those who care (I think
> > > that'd be just me,
> > > actually),
> >
> > You're probably right. I like the actual alternate you gave it much
> > better. In fact, I think I'll save it somewhere...
>
> I'm just quoting, not being creative or anything; you got that, right?
> (for those who didn't, it's from _Spaceballs_.)
shortly after they go plaid
arf meow arf - nsa fodder
ny dnrqn greebevfz ahpyrne obzo vena gnyvona ovt oebgure
if you meet buddha on the usenet killfile him
Mauro
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
news:1154581450.0...@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> Director: Nick Marck
>
> That's a real groaner of a title. I love it.
Okay, I should probably not admit this, but here goes anyway.
I didn't get it until you said that.
Usually, I'm the guy who has to explain stuff to my wife, or my mom or dad,
or my wife's mom or dad, or my coworkers, or whoever. If there's any
possible way that a scene can be interpreted in a humorous way, I'm usually
the first to point it out -- and sometimes the only one to actually find it
funny, but that's a whole other story.
But for some reason, I honestly didn't get the Serial/Cereal pun until I
read your review. And this episode first aired almost five years ago?
{Deep sigh}
[snip]
> Then we go to the mummy's hand part, in which Buffy has to satisfy a
> humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, _Groundhog
> Day_ style. The setup for the spell with the geeks' hand-holding and
> the magic bone is good for a smile too. Anyway, even before it starts
> repeating, it's a good sequence, with little touches like the
> delivery on "I'll just get it" after the attempted banter falls
> flat. Also, when the hand first starts strangling her, Gellar (or the
> script) throws in an extremely nice little moment in which she
> doesn't start resisting right away; first she gets this expression on
> her face that articulates the general concept "you have *got* to be
> kidding me." Like the way when one is having a relentlessly shitty
> day, one eventually becomes amused by how many new misfortunes find a
> way to occur.
This episode is a low Good or high Decent for me, but I think the mummy hand
bit is one the funniest things this show has ever done. And I second the
comment that SMG absolutely *nailed* the expression when the had first
starts strangling her.
Naq vf guvf gur svefg nccrnenapr bs Pyrz?
DysgraphicProgrammer
Oh, skills are aquired in college. Just not job skills.
George W Harris
wrote:
:
:Naq vf guvf gur svefg nccrnenapr bs Pyrz?
Lrf.
--
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar." -Wash, 'Serenity'
George W. Harris For actual email address, replace each 'u' with an 'i'
cry...@panix.com
> John Briggs wrote:
>> William George Ferguson wrote:
>>
>>> Just because someone decided to have Han shoot first in the
>>> script doesn't make it so.
>>
>> created on the set or in the editing suite.
>
> I thought listening to AH's delivery made it pretty clear (I really
> doubt she pronounced it "Aw, ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffine," hmm?)
Yes, it's obvious. How it was made doesn't change what it *is*,
either. I can only imagine a script would say "fine" to get it
past the censors, if it came up.
--
-Crystal
Espen Schjønberg
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
Or ep 5.
> (or "What happened to 'then?'" "We passed 'then.'"
> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> Director: Nick Marck
>
> Buffy's
> attempt to race after Tara as reality gets in the way is well
> presented,
If we had seen this from Taras perspective, we would have noted it makes
no sense.
Buffy freezes up, and Tara does not notice. She just walks away like
nothing ever happened. Give it a thought.
I have no idea how it is possible to abide to this show.
> I think the Buffy The Steel Beam Layer mini-episode is the worst chunk
> of LS.
It's the only part which makes sense, compared with previous seasons.
But it is not very good, I grant you.
> Then we go to the mummy's hand part, in which Buffy has to satisfy a
> humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, _Groundhog
> Day_ style.
I have seen Groundhog Day. I have also seen episodes based on it on
other shows.
This version is by far the lamest, and saddest of them all. The
Groundhog day concept is big. It should have been prohibited to not make
more than this from it.
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
> - "That's not four o'clock." "Well, it is if you're facing the
> front of the van." "But we're *not* facing the front of the van,
> we're facing out that way. That's twelve, so she's at two o'clock."
> "Look, she's over there, okay?" "Okay"
This was good.
> Already mentioned the last Buffy/Giles moment, but worth hitting again
> for the real affection there, especially on "wanna be my shiftless
> absentee father?" But as far as Buffy's "knowing you're always
> gonna be here..." well, Buffy, if he's going to take care of you
> forever, how come he's not in the opening credits anymore, huh?
The problem with Giles, is not very well known. But you see: Glory
swapped Bens and Giles's souls just before Giles (or then actually Ben)
killed her. So this is not Giles, but Ben, believing he is Giles,
because he has Giles's memories.
But Ben's lameness shines throu, and even if he never will understand
this (the real Giles is in hell, unfortunately, by the way. After all,
he decided to kill a God, which obviously is against the rules of
engagement.) "Biles" will now adjust more and more towards Ben's way of
doing things, and a part of this is just leaving Buffy after she had
managed to explain both Giles, and the council, they existed to be her
logistic train.
> One-sentence summary: A pleasure.
...if you are a masochist, that part fell out.
> AOQ rating: Good
Oh, crap, he means it.
--
Espen
3D Master
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
>> threads.
>>
>>
>> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
>> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
>> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
>> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
>> Director: Nick Marck
>
> Buffy's friends to behave like jerks toward her in order to screw up
> her attempts at getting back into school or finding a job. In
> particular, there's no way I can believe that Xander and Giles would
> have acted the way they did. But Joss decided that Buffy's life had to
> suck this season, so characterization be damned.
>
> And, about the Nerd Trio, there's one more thing to note. They make the
> classic mistake that all supervillains everywhere seem to make - if
> they'd just marketed and sold their inventions on the open market, they
> could have made a ton more money then they could possibly get by
> robbing banks. Seriously - can you imagine how rich Warren could have
> gotten by selling April- and Buffy-bots?
Yeah, but the problem is, if you want to take over Sunnydale, or more
like, the World, you can't sell (all of) your evil inventions, because
then your enemies have the same weapons you do. You need to have that
advantage.
Anyway, if in real life, a trio with the ability to build Terminators,
nano-technology to build and create just about anything (including those
terminators) (equivalent of Jonathan with magic), and the genetic
engineering skills to produce loyal but devastatingly powerful and smart
beings with leadership capabilities to serve as generals to the
terminator armies (summoning demons, Andrew), sit around a table and out
of boredom go, "hey, let's take over the world" they'll win.
It isn't like we've got some superiority complex, frothing at the mouth
guy, that through sheer arrogance would make mistakes, but we've got
three super brilliant guys with the power to grow/build just about
unstoppable armies and weapons, and since they're doing it out of
boredom, they'll meticulously plan it, and have fun coming up with
contingency plans, and anticipating trouble from some. With the average
stupidity of world leaders... the world is as good as taken over.
3D Master
--
~~~~~
"I've got something to say; it's better to burn out than to fade away!"
- The Kurgan, Highlander
"Give me some sugar, baby!"
- Ashley J. 'Ash' Williams, Army of Darkness
~~~~~
Author of several stories, which can be found here:
http://members.chello.nl/~jg.temolder1/
Rowan Hawthorn
True. I learned how to mix up a batch of alcoholic punch that had
virtually no alcohol taste or feel, and could be consumed in massive
quantities. Until you stopped moving and sat down.
*plop*
"Turn out the lights, the party's over..."
Stephen Tempest
>If we had seen this from Taras perspective, we would have noted it makes
>no sense.
>
>Buffy freezes up, and Tara does not notice. She just walks away like
>nothing ever happened. Give it a thought.
As someone else said earlier, we've seen several examples already of
Buffy standing there gazing blankly into space, taking no notice of
her surroundings. So it's not exactly going to be something that
takes Tara by surprise.
Nor does she 'just walk away' - since in that particular scene, Buffy
is out of it for at least 20 minutes: and when she comes round, Tara
has only just gone. We know this because Buffy is able to catch sight
of her walking away. In other words, Tara was standing with Buffy for
at least 15 of those minutes. While it's possible that she spent
those 15 minutes chattering away obliviously about how wonderful
Willow is (be ubj jbeevrq fur vf gung fur'f fgnegvat gb nohfr gur
zntvpf), it's equally possible that she got all concerned about Buffy,
tried to distract her or get her attention, failed, realised she had
another class to get to, worried about it, and eventually decided that
Buffy didn't seem to be harmed in any way, just distracted, and
reluctantly left her.
We also know that Tara can see people's auras: it's not impossible
that she could sense that Buffy was not under any kind of dangerous
magic spell or compulsion (since Warren's device was technological,
not magical), and so assumed that she was in no danger, and just
needed some privacy and time to think.
Stephen
Don Sample
Stephen Tempest <ste...@stempest.demon.co.uk> wrote:
So, you've got a friend who is standing catatonic in a hallway, and
you've been trying to get them to react to you for 15 minutes. Are you
just going to suddenly go "Oops! I got to get to class!" and walk away
and leave them?
Though in the context, Tara doesn't seem to have noticed anything. She
stops at the door to the class, and calls to ask if Buffy's coming.
Then after Tara comes out of her class, an obviously agitated Buffy
starts telling her that something freaky is going on, and then from
Tara's point of view, just freezes. And Tara does nothing, and just
walks away.
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
Rowan Hawthorn
That appears to have been a component of everyone's test except
Andrew's. No one noticed anything strange about the time loop, either,
yet it's fairly obvious that Buffy wasn't *actually* going back in
objective time - notice that the Geek Trio are aware of everything
that's going on inside the Magic Box, and are able to time how long it
takes Buffy to solve the puzzle.
Stephen Tempest
>So, you've got a friend who is standing catatonic in a hallway, and
>you've been trying to get them to react to you for 15 minutes. Are you
>just going to suddenly go "Oops! I got to get to class!" and walk away
>and leave them?
Probably, yes. Oh, I'd worry about her; but she's in no apparent
danger. And she's being doing more or less the same thing frequently
over the last few weeks. In fact, she's spaced out like that twice
already today while I've been with her. Clearly, she's got a lot on
her mind. Best to let her ease back into things...
Alternatively, if I'm a powerful witch and I'm on a Hellmouth, I might
try scanning her aura to see if she's under some sort of magical
compulsion. If I were Willow, I might even try using magic to get her
attention, if I were really worried. Since I'm Tara instead, I'm
unlikely to do this if she's not in immediate danger and hasn't
consented to the spell. I might make a note to talk about it to her
later, and offer any help I can. Other than that, what else do you
expect me to do? Physically drag her away?
>Then after Tara comes out of her class, an obviously agitated Buffy
>starts telling her that something freaky is going on, and then from
>Tara's point of view, just freezes. And Tara does nothing, and just
>walks away.
Like I said before, we don't know what she did - but we know she spent
at least 15 minutes doing it. We have to make our own assumptions.
Stephen
Clairel
--Tha t was a huge problem for me (see my post above on this thread).
Students who speak up that quickly, and that eloquently, are just
unreal. Their sentences were too well-formed; there was too little
hesitation, hemming and hawing, etc. It was just unnatural. Did the
person who wrote that dialogue not remember what college class
discussions are actually like?
> > Things pick up quite a bit once the jumps through
> > time start. I figured out what was going on right away, but the
> > depiction is dizzyingly fast-paced, as befits the threat. Buffy's
> > attempt to race after Tara as reality gets in the way is well
> > presented, as is the way it so quickly gets elevated into an
> > "Earshot"-like nightmare. The fact that the problem is then solved
> > so quickly lets us know that we're in for a cool episode full of, and
> > I use this term in the kindest possible way, gimmickry.
>
> It's a crisply constructed show. What impresses me about it is that two of
> the tricks played on Buffy require repeated application of the problem, but
> the variations are consistently fresh and don't feel belabored. I also note
> that Jane Espenson gets co-writing credit for this. That's two Good ratings
> from you already this season for Jane.
--I remember back in season 6 reading that even though only two writers
were credited with this episode, it actually had four writers: one for
each of the different acts. I know Jane Espenson wrote the final act,
with Buffy and Spike and the kitten poker game. I don't remember which
part David Fury wrote, or who the other two writers were who were
uncredited.
--When you have a seasonal arc, what's wrong with using some episodes
for set-up? It's a necessity. I don't see how that's something to
complain about. Now, later on if the climax that has been set up
dissatisfies you, well, then you can complain. But if you like acts
one and two of a play, you don't complain that they seem inconclusive
when you know that act three is still to follow. Right?
Clairel
Lydy Nickerson
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> Season Six, Episode 4: "Life Serial"
> "When?" "Just now. We're at 'now' now." "Go back to
> 'then!'" "When?" "Now!")
> Writers: David Fury and Jane Espenson
> Director: Nick Marck
>
>
> I was initially apprehensive about the frame story of
> let's-show-how-worthless-Buffy-is-at-life-ha-ha. She returns from
> her unseen visit with her ex and takes a stab at joining the rat race.
> Even as it is, I don't know about the device of having all of her
> efforts at making a life for herself sabotaged by circumstances beyond
> her control, although at least she develops an independent reason to
> hate everything too.
I don't know. My dim memories of being twenty and attempting to be
self-supporting sure seemed a lot like that. If high school was hell
(and boy was it), early adulthood was an endless series of obstacles
that I couldn't overcome. The worst was probably the "we won't hire
without experience and you can't get experience until you're hired"
Catch-22.
Like Buffy, I didn't have any parental support, so I had nothing to fall
back on; no basement to go live in until things got better, no one to
help pay a month's rent now and again, not even someone to lend me food
money there for a while. Buffy having the geeks constantly sabatoge her
is metaphorically less satisfying than having the hellmouth externalize
the experience of high school being hell, but I think it does capture
some of the experience of trying to make it on your own and just out of
high school.
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
> you've been trying to get them to react to you for 15 minutes. Are you
> just going to suddenly go "Oops! I got to get to class!" and walk away
> and leave them?
also college students generally walk around someone who isnt moving
rather than bowling them over
yes to keep the story in buffys point of view
they do have other characters pretending they cant see
the dead girl not walking
Rowan Hawthorn
I suspect they did, indeed - and that's why Buffy's completely lost,
because *any* normal human being would be lost in a class like that.
The extreme example in the show just goes as a bit of hyperbole to show
exactly *how* out-of-place Buffy feels.
rrh...@acme.com
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> Dividing the show into mini-episodes, the parts at school seem a little
> forced in driving her out of UCSD
I've been meaning to mention that your calling UC Sunnydale "UCSD" is
(how to put this nicely?) really annoying. UCSD is a real school, but
the "SD" part stands for San Diego. I am a proud graduate of UCSB,
i.e. UC Santa Barbara (the campus on the beach). Compare this with
UCR, i.e. UC Riverside. Sunnydale would clearly follow the Riverside
pattern, so it should be UCS. It's petty, I know, but every time you
use "UCSD" I do a double take.
Richard R. Hershberger
One Bit Shy
news:1154723384....@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
>
> One Bit Shy wrote:
>> Good for me too. I'm tempted to reach for Excellent for its good humor
>> and
>> crisp pacing, but the episode still feels an awful lot like it's mainly
>> setup - as most of what's happened so far this season does.
>
> --When you have a seasonal arc, what's wrong with using some episodes
> for set-up? It's a necessity. I don't see how that's something to
> complain about. Now, later on if the climax that has been set up
> dissatisfies you, well, then you can complain. But if you like acts
> one and two of a play, you don't complain that they seem inconclusive
> when you know that act three is still to follow. Right?
It's not really a complaint. (I rated it Good - almost Excellent) The
character work in this episode is largely to demonstrate a few things and
move people into position. That's fine, necessary, and entertaining. But
for me, the Excellent shows tend to include the cause of those character
aspects or seriously reap their consequences. Some additional level of
depth.
OBS
Don Sample
Rowan Hawthorn <rowan_h...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Don Sample wrote:
> > So, you've got a friend who is standing catatonic in a hallway, and
> > you've been trying to get them to react to you for 15 minutes. Are you
> > just going to suddenly go "Oops! I got to get to class!" and walk away
> > and leave them?
> >
> > Though in the context, Tara doesn't seem to have noticed anything. She
> > stops at the door to the class, and calls to ask if Buffy's coming.
> > Then after Tara comes out of her class, an obviously agitated Buffy
> > starts telling her that something freaky is going on, and then from
> > Tara's point of view, just freezes. And Tara does nothing, and just
> > walks away.
> >
>
> That appears to have been a component of everyone's test except
> Andrew's. No one noticed anything strange about the time loop, either,
> yet it's fairly obvious that Buffy wasn't *actually* going back in
> objective time - notice that the Geek Trio are aware of everything
> that's going on inside the Magic Box, and are able to time how long it
> takes Buffy to solve the puzzle.
I figure that since they were participants in the spell, they were also
stuck in the loop with her (which might have become a problem for them,
if she hadn't solved it.) Everyone else behaved as if they had no
recollection, each time the loop restarted.
Don Sample
<mair_fheal-8DB5F...@sn-ip.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net>,
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
<mair_...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > So, you've got a friend who is standing catatonic in a hallway, and
> > you've been trying to get them to react to you for 15 minutes. Are you
> > just going to suddenly go "Oops! I got to get to class!" and walk away
> > and leave them?
>
> also college students generally walk around someone who isnt moving
> rather than bowling them over
In Buffy's state, even someone just brushing against her, could have
felt like being hit by a truck.
Arbitrar Of Quality
> But to cut the writers some slack: it might interest you to know, AOQ,
> that this is an episode that was written and filmed in a tremendous
> hurry, because it wasn't originally in the plans for the season at all.
> What happened was that after UPN changed its mind about running
> "Bargaining I" and "Bargaining 2" on two successive weeks, and decided
> to make "Bargaining" a two-hour episode instead, ME suddenly realized
> that they had a hole in their schedule they need to fill. They didn't
> want to have a week in October, so early in the TV season, when they
> would have to do a re-run or let UPN supply some other kind of fill-in
> such as an "America's Top Models" special. They didn't want to lose
> the momentum of all-new episodes, so they cobbled together "Life
> Serial" in great haste.
>
> Since you didn't know any of this behind-the-scenes stuff, AOQ, I
> wonder if you had any inkling, just from what appeared on screen, of
> the hastiness with which "Life Serial" was written and filmed? Myself,
> I didn't think it had the look of a rush job, except perhaps in the
> Sociology Class scene, which really needed to be tweaked.
Yeah, never would've guessed that. It seems as solidly put together as
anything else so far in S6... actually, I'd argue it's tighter than
"Bargaining" or "Flooded."
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> > I was initially apprehensive about the frame story of
> > let's-show-how-worthless-Buffy-is-at-life-ha-ha. She returns from
> > her unseen visit with her ex and takes a stab at joining the rat race.
> > Even as it is, I don't know about the device of having all of her
> > efforts at making a life for herself sabotaged by circumstances beyond
> > her control, although at least she develops an independent reason to
> > hate everything too.
>
> I don't know. My dim memories of being twenty and attempting to be
> self-supporting sure seemed a lot like that. If high school was hell
> (and boy was it), early adulthood was an endless series of obstacles
> that I couldn't overcome. The worst was probably the "we won't hire
> without experience and you can't get experience until you're hired"
> Catch-22.
>
> Like Buffy, I didn't have any parental support, so I had nothing to fall
> back on; no basement to go live in until things got better, no one to
> help pay a month's rent now and again, not even someone to lend me food
> money there for a while. Buffy having the geeks constantly sabatoge her
> is metaphorically less satisfying than having the hellmouth externalize
> the experience of high school being hell, but I think it does capture
> some of the experience of trying to make it on your own and just out of
> high school.
I can allow for that, I think, as an extension of the show's tendency
to metapor-ize. Nice thought.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
> I've been meaning to mention that your calling UC Sunnydale "UCSD" is
> (how to put this nicely?) really annoying. UCSD is a real school, but
> the "SD" part stands for San Diego. I am a proud graduate of UCSB,
> i.e. UC Santa Barbara (the campus on the beach). Compare this with
> UCR, i.e. UC Riverside. Sunnydale would clearly follow the Riverside
> pattern, so it should be UCS. It's petty, I know, but every time you
> use "UCSD" I do a double take.
Hmmm. I can see that. I grew up in the Northwest, so I double-take
when people call the U of Wisconisin the "U-Dub," since I "know" that
the University Of Washington is the "real" U-Dub. The former was
probably founded first, but I don't care.
Based on "The Freshman," the school uses "UC[sun]D" unofficially, which
I try to use, but an abbreviation shouldn't require so many keystrokes.
No idea what's on their official letterhead.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
Espen Schjønberg wrote:
> > Then we go to the mummy's hand part, in which Buffy has to satisfy a
> > humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, _Groundhog
> > Day_ style.
>
> I have seen Groundhog Day. I have also seen episodes based on it on
> other shows.
>
> This version is by far the lamest, and saddest of them all. The
> Groundhog day concept is big. It should have been prohibited to not make
> more than this from it.
Why? Everyone's done it by now; should it always have to be a big
deal? BTVS has never been about the plot devices anyway so much as
whether they can be used to create emotional resonance or, in this
case, an excellent act's worth of comedy.
-AOQ
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> Espen Schjønberg wrote:
>
> > > Then we go to the mummy's hand part, in which Buffy has to satisfy a
> > > humorless customer or else repeat the moment over and over, Groundhog
> > > Day style.
> >
> > I have seen Groundhog Day. I have also seen episodes based on it on
> > other shows.
> >
> > This version is by far the lamest, and saddest of them all. The
> > Groundhog day concept is big. It should have been prohibited to not make
> > more than this from it.
>
> Why? Everyone's done it by now; should it always have to be a big
> deal? BTVS has never been about the plot devices anyway so much as
> whether they can be used to create emotional resonance or, in this
> case, an excellent act's worth of comedy.
and doctor who did timeloops before groundhog day
as well as chronic hysterisis loops
Don Sample
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
The script writers tended to call it UCS.
DysgraphicProgrammer
So... wait, are you saying there is some kind of connecton between Ben
and Giles?
> > One-sentence summary: A pleasure.
>
> ...if you are a masochist, that part fell out.
>
> > AOQ rating: Good
>
> Oh, crap, he means it.
>
I liked it. Not a Super Episode, not a special event, but a good time
was had, and I was entertained for an hour.
> --
> Espen
DysgraphicProgrammer
Yes, that. Also, My mad Unreal Tournament skillz. W00T!
Shuggie
>
>>
>> I'm not sure any topic handled that way would be my thing. When does
>> anybody have a sec to comprehend what is being said? I think that was the
>> lightening round from a quiz show. A class like that would make Buffy miss
>> Maggie Walsh!
>
> --Tha t was a huge problem for me (see my post above on this thread).
> Students who speak up that quickly, and that eloquently, are just
> unreal. Their sentences were too well-formed; there was too little
> hesitation, hemming and hawing, etc. It was just unnatural. Did the
> person who wrote that dialogue not remember what college class
> discussions are actually like?
>
But that's the difference between TV and reality. A good TV scene should
feel real but won't be 'realistic' - in the same way that a great
painting evokes something about the sense of its subject but it isn't a
photograph (and even a photograph is unrealistic in some ways). Van
Gogh's Starry Night doesn't look at all real but it captures the sense
of wonder of looking a sky full of stars.
Now this scene, even as TV, is not great art. It only really exists for
one purpose - to show that Buffy feels she's fallen behind - and by
having everyone else's answers be so perfect and so on cue it acheives
that. Think of it not as a 'realistic' depiction of what a sociology
class is like but as a depiction of what it feels like for Buffy.
Finally, don't forget that the pace of this episode is pretty
unforgiving. There's really not much time to do anything more than
acheive the goal of the scene. But that's also why the episode as a
whole feels so tight.
--
Shuggie
my blog - http://shuggie.livejournal.com/
Eric Hunter
I believe it is UCHM, (University of California, Hell-Mouth) ;-)
Eric.
--
(Harmony) Watcher
"Don Sample" <dsa...@synapse.net> wrote in message
news:dsample-40AAB1...@news.giganews.com...
was on the letterhead on the acceptance letter sent to Buffy?
--
==Harmony Watcher==
Don Sample
Possibly, but I don't recall what, if any, abbreviations we've seen for
UCSunnydale in any official correspondence.
Gur bayl bssvpvny yrggre V pna erpnyy Ohssl trggvat, gung jr unir frra,
vf gur bar gryyvat ure fur jnf gbb yngr gb raeby va nal pynffrf guvf
lrne. (Gur bar frag gb gur jebat nqqerff.) V qba'g erpnyy vs jr frr na
nooerivngvba sbe HPFhaalqnyr va vgf yrggreurnq.