AOQ Review 4-14: "Goodbye Iowa"
Arbitrar Of Quality
threads.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Season Four, Episode 14: "Goodbye Iowa"
(or "Soldiers of the corn")
Writer: Marti Noxon
Director: David Solomon
Have I mentioned how much I love the device of opening right where the
previous episode left off, or soon thereafter? Well I do. After the
brief euphoria rush of Buffy's "you really don't know what a
Slayer is" moment last episode, the extent of what they're up
against has time to sink in. The opening scene is wonderfully moody
and effective, with a palpable air of doom-n-gloom the likes of which
we haven't seen much of this season. Our heroes are being forced
into hiding, with, as far as they know, the human world (or at least
the ones who actually run it) hunting for them. In retrospect it's
odd that the writers didn't extend that part of the story beyond this
episode. Maybe they still want our heroes to be able to go to class
and visit friends?
This sense of dread is helped by Adam's early meandering search for
identity; a nicely dark moment, especially since the show doesn't
usually kill kids.
Not that this stuff won't be complemented by a few light moments when
appropriate. Like, say, the girls lying around in their pajamas
watching Roadrunner cartoons, with Buffy's matter-of-fact criticism
that "that would never happen." Whoosh indeed. (Think Marti et al
are poking fun at a certain subsection of the fanbase?) Being
simultaneously worried and bored tends to lead to amusing situations.
Props to the line about "scenes from my parents' marriage" too.
Perhaps more than anything else, this episode is about Riley and Buffy
trying to work out each other's agendas. I'll summarily evaluate
that whole big chunk of episode as good for the most part, with a few
hiccups. We The Viewer know that he wasn't in on the attempt to kill
his girlfriend, and the characters have reason to suspect as much, but
Giles is right that they'd be remiss not to at least entertain the
possibility. The early counterpoints are pretty good too, like the
idea of Forrest going nuts with casting suspicion on Buffy, and Riley
angrily glaring the others down. From the Initiative's standpoint,
it'd be stupid not to say that Dr. Walsh's most likely stabber is
the "escaped polgara" based on the available evidence. But one
would be remiss to exclude the Slayer too quickly - she has a motive,
and Walsh must've known what she was doing when she tried to kill
her, right?
Not so wild about Marc Blucas' acting during some of the key moments,
with the argument with Forrest in his room being his most unconvincing
bit of drama for me. This is a little odd since although I'm not
Riley's biggest fan, I haven't had any problem with his actor
before now. It's a more challenging role to play now with the loss
of that core of self-assuredness: his beliefs are being called into
question, people he cares about are ending up dead or murder suspects,
and he's going through withdrawal symptoms. I like the thought
processes behind some of the scenes: Buffy's anger in response to
being asked if she's happy to hear about Maggie, and Riley trying to
deal with seeing all the unslain vampires and demons that Buffy seems
to associate with. I'm not as happy about the part where he finally
snaps and pulls his gun, again mostly because of the acting. I
wouldn't so easily let something like that slide if I were dating
him, but again, he is having quite the rough day.
Solid mix of tension and cleverness in the scene in which our commandos
raid Spike's crypt. Mrs. Quality and I were pondering what Angel
would think about his old friend using a coffin and sullying the
vampire reputation that way. Desperate times... And now what'll he
do all day without his telly?
I can't really cite any particularly good moments, but I got a kick
out of Buffy and Xander briefly going undercover. The former looks
very cute with the ponytail and glasses.
I do have some misgivings about where the season might go. Again, I
did enjoy the bulk of the episode, but the last act sort of sat wrong
with me. Like I mentioned above, why put Buffy on (relatively) good
terms with the guys hunting them again so soon? Also, as mentioned
last time, Walsh put a human face on the Initiative, and now it's not
too clear who's in charge of their secrets. Instead, as of the end
of the episode, everyone's stopped hunting Buffy, and Engleman is
dead, leaving only Adam on the villain side. Despite all his
strength, he's just one monster. This episode doesn't give us a
full handle on what he's like. The superhuman abilities and
inquisitiveness about the world are of course somewhat evocative of
Frankenstein's monster. There's something about a guy looking like
that giving that somewhat florid speech that couldn't keep me from
smiling sheepishly, since I don't know whether we're meant to take
him completely seriously. Hopefully not.
GI has some more setup that, uh, sets stuff up that might at some point
go somewhere. Still at large to be addressed, as far as I can tell:
Walsh's motivations (and where Riley fits in), Adam's plans for the
future, Spike's plans for the future (wild guess here, but I think
he'll end up turning to the Scoobies to save him), Washington's
plans for the Initiative, and whatever magical influence is screwing up
our mini-coven's efforts. Riley is last seen looking for something
to hold on to, so to speak, and we get an idea which way he'll lean.
I didn't recognize Buffy's scarf or whatever; had to consult a
transcript for that little pearl. What can I say, I miss a lot.
This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
- "Maggie tried to kill me." "It didn't work, but they're all
upset anyway."
So...
One-sentence summary: Generally solid setup.
AOQ rating: Good
[Season Four so far:
1) "The Freshman" - Good
2) "Living Conditions" - Decent
3) "The Harsh Light Of Day" - Good
4) "Fear Itself" - Decent
5) "Beer Bad" - Weak
6) "Wild At Heart" - Excellent
7) "The Initiative" - Decent
8) "Pangs" - Good
9) "Something Blue" - Good
10) "Hush" - Good
11) "Doomed" - Weak
12) "A New Man" - Decent
13) "The I In Team" - Good
14) "Goodbye Iowa" - Good]
angelbuffy0
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> whatever magical influence is screwing up
> our mini-coven's efforts.
If you are referring to the spell Willow and Tara cast to find demons,
You may want to rewatch the scene.
Don Sample
"angelbuffy0" <ta...@and-then-some.com> wrote:
Yes. There was no magical influence screwing up that spell. Tara
deliberately botched it.
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
Apteryx
news:1147236727....@y43g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Four, Episode 14: "Goodbye Iowa"
> (or "Soldiers of the corn")
Indeed
>
> This sense of dread is helped by Adam's early meandering search for
> identity; a nicely dark moment, especially since the show doesn't
> usually kill kids.
It is one of the episode's strongest moments. Obviously modelled on
Frankenstein of course (although in Bride of Frankenstein the monster is not
evil, and when he meets the little girl by the lake, he does not know that
throwing her in the lake will kill her).
> Not that this stuff won't be complemented by a few light moments when
> appropriate. Like, say, the girls lying around in their pajamas
> watching Roadrunner cartoons, with Buffy's matter-of-fact criticism
> that "that would never happen." Whoosh indeed. (Think Marti et al
> are poking fun at a certain subsection of the fanbase?) Being
> simultaneously worried and bored tends to lead to amusing situations.
> Props to the line about "scenes from my parents' marriage" too.
Another highlight is the power speech undermined by the yummy sushi pjamas.
And Anya's bottom line - "You can't have Xander"
>
> Solid mix of tension and cleverness in the scene in which our commandos
> raid Spike's crypt. Mrs. Quality and I were pondering what Angel
> would think about his old friend using a coffin and sullying the
> vampire reputation that way. Desperate times... And now what'll he
> do all day without his telly?
Bigger question is how did he manage to hide underneath that skeleton
withoug scattering the bones which scattered when he got up?
> I do have some misgivings about where the season might go. Again, I
> did enjoy the bulk of the episode, but the last act sort of sat wrong
> with me. Like I mentioned above, why put Buffy on (relatively) good
> terms with the guys hunting them again so soon? Also, as mentioned
> last time, Walsh put a human face on the Initiative, and now it's not
> too clear who's in charge of their secrets. Instead, as of the end
> of the episode, everyone's stopped hunting Buffy, and Engleman is
> dead, leaving only Adam on the villain side.
The season seems to have a design flaw.
>
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
> - "Maggie tried to kill me." "It didn't work, but they're all
> upset anyway."
And Really Stupid but not funny - they seem to have virtually dropped the
bit where sunlight is fatal to vampires, at least as far as Spike is
concerned. He has moved about in daylight before by various means when
desperate, but now it seems daylight is no problem so long as he remembers
to pull his coat over his head.
> So...
>
> AOQ rating: Good
You seem to have been so traumatised by Expecting that now everything seems
Good to you. This is Weak. It is my 125th favourite BtVS episode, 20th best
in Season 4
--
Apteryx
eli...@gmail.com
>bit where sunlight is fatal to vampires, at least as far as Spike is
>concerned. He has moved about in daylight before by various means when
>desperate, but now it seems daylight is no problem so long as he remembers
>to pull his coat over his head.
Angel: "Vampires don't sleep in coffins. It's a misconception made
popular by hack writers and ignorant media. In fact you know, we can
and do move around during the day, as long as we avoid direct sunlight.
Got it?"
Parting Gifts
Apteryx
news:1147248725.2...@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
Angel was talking to someone who expected vampires to sleep during the day
(which they would if they were classic Bram Stoker vampires). But Angel knew
the rules. You wouldn't catch him going for a midday stroll with just a
leather duster for a parasol. Moving around during the day for Angel mostly
meant using the vast network of man-high underground sewers under LA,
connecting to almost everywhere he wanted to go. On the very rare occasions
he ventured outside it was with full knowledge that this was risky
behaviour.
--
Apteryx
Arbitrar Of Quality
> Yes. There was no magical influence screwing up that spell. Tara
> deliberately botched it.
Ah. Totally missed that.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
> And Really Stupid but not funny - they seem to have virtually dropped the
> bit where sunlight is fatal to vampires, at least as far as Spike is
> concerned. He has moved about in daylight before by various means when
> desperate, but now it seems daylight is no problem so long as he remembers
> to pull his coat over his head.
I started noticing that after "Pangs" too. I knew that the scene from
"Earshot" would lead to trouble on that front. Fanwank it by saying
that Spike is [more] reckless given his frustration over lack of a
place in the world. Still mildly annoys me.
> You seem to have been so traumatised by Expecting that now everything seems
> Good to you. This is Weak. It is my 125th favourite BtVS episode, 20th best
> in Season 4
[Shrug.] I liked it, barring the concerns we've mentioned.
-AOQ
Sam
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> Apteryx wrote:
>
> > And Really Stupid but not funny - they seem to have virtually dropped the
> > bit where sunlight is fatal to vampires, at least as far as Spike is
> > concerned. He has moved about in daylight before by various means when
> > desperate, but now it seems daylight is no problem so long as he remembers
> > to pull his coat over his head.
>
> I started noticing that after "Pangs" too. I knew that the scene from
> "Earshot" would lead to trouble on that front. Fanwank it by saying
> that Spike is [more] reckless given his frustration over lack of a
> place in the world. Still mildly annoys me.
>
This becomes something we see a lot, but I always found it somewhat
mitigated by the fact that generally by the time he gets where he's
going he's at least smoking if not actually already a little bit on
fire. I find it oddly fitting with Spike's character that he'd be
willing to run around in daylight with a coat or a blanket over his
head, even if he does lose a few layers of skin and get some third
degree burns out of it.
And we did see a vampire getting around in sunlight with heavy robes
all the way as far back as "Becoming."
--Sam
Sam
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> Instead, as of the end
> of the episode, everyone's stopped hunting Buffy, and Engleman is
> dead, leaving only Adam on the villain side.
By the by, it's Angleman. Like the Polgara demon, he's another
character named after one of the regular posters on the old Bronze
posting board.
The most prominant example -- if it's actually true; this was always
speculation, but it seemed like strong speculation -- may be Anya. Back
in the day, the Bronzers used to throw Posting Board Parties where the
regulars all got together in real life, and a bunch of the writers and
actors typically attended as well. One of the regulars who planned the
parties was a girl named Anya, to whom Emma Caulfield bears more than a
passing resemblance, and who seems to share certain behavior patterns
with Anya's early behavior in "The Wish."
There was a greater than usual amount of crosspollenation between the
fandom and the writers on this show. Mere Smith, one of the better
fanfic writers, actually got hired by the Mutant Enemy writing staff.
Despite all his
> strength, he's just one monster. This episode doesn't give us a
> full handle on what he's like. The superhuman abilities and
> inquisitiveness about the world are of course somewhat evocative of
> Frankenstein's monster.
Also, in the original novel, the monster does have a name. It's Adam.
They're wearing their influences on their sleeve with this one. Adam is
less inspired by the Frankenstein monster than he is the Frankenmonster
just plunked down whole into the show.
--Sam
Scott Lurndal
>Bigger question is how did he manage to hide underneath that skeleton
>withoug scattering the bones which scattered when he got up?
It was a velvet blanket with a skeleton printed on it.
scott
Exp315
I missed it too the first time I saw the episode. Could be it was just
a tad too subtle - or maybe we're just not as observant as we should
be.
>Like, say, the girls lying around in their pajamas
watching Roadrunner cartoons, with Buffy's matter-of-fact criticism
that "that would never happen."
Remember that scene. :-)
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> Apteryx wrote:
>
> > And Really Stupid but not funny - they seem to have virtually dropped the
> > bit where sunlight is fatal to vampires, at least as far as Spike is
> > concerned. He has moved about in daylight before by various means when
> > desperate, but now it seems daylight is no problem so long as he remembers
> > to pull his coat over his head.
it was established early on that only direct sunlight affects them
ambient sunlight might be hard on their eyes
but doesnt incinerate them
granted direct sunlight sometimes shines in directions
that are impossible for that latitude and-or time of day
but it is sunbeams and not mere daytime
arf meow arf - nsa fodder
al qaeda terrorism nuclear bomb iran taliban big brother
if you meet buddha on the usenet killfile him
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
tara (a rat) is evol
it should be obvious now
kenm47
The problem here was the suggestion otherwise in WML when Kendra had
locked Angel in that storage room at Willy's Bar. They certainly lead
us to believe that the mere touch of the direct sun ray would
incinerate Angel. They backed away from that over the years such that
Spike could have his hand catch fire, but put it out, and Angel could
run out of Oz's van, burst into flame, but survive long enough for the
water to put the flame out. Yet, IIRC, other vampires don't survive too
long at all.
Ken (Brooklyn)
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
> locked Angel in that storage room at Willy's Bar. They certainly lead
> us to believe that the mere touch of the direct sun ray would
> incinerate Angel. They backed away from that over the years such that
> Spike could have his hand catch fire, but put it out, and Angel could
> run out of Oz's van, burst into flame, but survive long enough for the
> water to put the flame out. Yet, IIRC, other vampires don't survive too
> long at all.
thats part of a generic issue
like heart mobility
or variations in time of death to time of rise and glower
or variations from time of stake to time of dust
William George Ferguson
>
>Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>> Instead, as of the end
>> of the episode, everyone's stopped hunting Buffy, and Engleman is
>> dead, leaving only Adam on the villain side.
>
>By the by, it's Angleman. Like the Polgara demon, he's another
>character named after one of the regular posters on the old Bronze
>posting board.
And in a bit of 'goes around, comes around', AngleMan's moniker was based
on probably the single most common typo/misspelling on the Buffy
newsgroups, rivalling the typo/misspelling 'Rouge' on the X-men newsgroups.
And, yes, there is crossover fanfic between the Buffyverse and the X-verse
featuring the characters Angle and Rouge.
--
HERBERT
1996 - 1997
Beloved Mascot
Delightful Meal
He fed the Pack
A little
kenm47
And in Becoming, that messenger female vamp pretty much immediately
ignited as soon as she shed the covering, but lasted just long enough
to deliver her message.
Ken (Brooklyn)
Arbitrar Of Quality
> They backed away from that over the years such that
> Spike could have his hand catch fire, but put it out, and Angel could
> run out of Oz's van, burst into flame, but survive long enough for the
> water to put the flame out. Yet, IIRC, other vampires don't survive too
> long at all.
The sun goes easier on main characters.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> Despite all his
> > strength, he's just one monster. This episode doesn't give us a
> > full handle on what he's like. The superhuman abilities and
> > inquisitiveness about the world are of course somewhat evocative of
> > Frankenstein's monster.
>
> Also, in the original novel, the monster does have a name. It's Adam.
Huh. I don't remember that.
> They're wearing their influences on their sleeve with this one. Adam is
> less inspired by the Frankenstein monster than he is the Frankenmonster
> just plunked down whole into the show.
Sort of, but he's not like Shelly's version. Unlike Walsh,
Frankenstein abandoned his "son," which was pretty important in shaping
his personality. And the monster wouldn't have started killing
immediately upon animation like that; he was inquisitive and curious
about the world at first, and then kinda lost that and became a killer
after going through the feared-and-hated thing. Maybe Adam is sort of
an amalgam of the different versions of the character over the years?
-AOQ
Opus the Penguin
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>> Don Sample wrote:
>>
>> > Yes. There was no magical influence screwing up that spell.
>> > Tara deliberately botched it.
>>
>> Ah. Totally missed that.
>
> just a tad too subtle - or maybe we're just not as observant as we
> should be.
Maybe. I thought it was as plain as the nose on ... heck, on MY face.
--
Opus the Penguin
The best darn penguin in all of Usenet
One Bit Shy
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Four, Episode 14: "Goodbye Iowa"
> (or "Soldiers of the corn")
> Writer: Marti Noxon
> Director: David Solomon
>
> Have I mentioned how much I love the device of opening right where the
> previous episode left off, or soon thereafter? Well I do. After the
> brief euphoria rush of Buffy's "you really don't know what a
> Slayer is" moment last episode, the extent of what they're up
> against has time to sink in. The opening scene is wonderfully moody
> and effective, with a palpable air of doom-n-gloom the likes of which
> we haven't seen much of this season. Our heroes are being forced
> into hiding, with, as far as they know, the human world (or at least
> the ones who actually run it) hunting for them. In retrospect it's
> odd that the writers didn't extend that part of the story beyond this
> episode. Maybe they still want our heroes to be able to go to class
> and visit friends?
I imagine that having them on the run for an extended period would be
rather plot constraining - especially if they want some non-Initiative
episodes between here and the end of the season. In any case, Angleman
said the Initiative didn't want to eliminate the Slayer. That was
Maggie's personal vendetta. And while there are reasons not to believe
all that Angleman says, it would appear that he's right about the
organization not being out to get her.
That little bit (along with Angleman earlier concealing the truth about
Adam on the loose) also suggests that Maggie was either experimenting
on her own or at a level of secrecy that would be disavowed if exposed,
and that the nominal authority behind the Initiative wouldn't know
about.
If so, it really makes sense for being on the run to stop at this
point.
> This sense of dread is helped by Adam's early meandering search for
> identity; a nicely dark moment, especially since the show doesn't
> usually kill kids.
One of my favorite scenes in the season.
> Perhaps more than anything else, this episode is about Riley and Buffy
> trying to work out each other's agendas. I'll summarily evaluate
> that whole big chunk of episode as good for the most part, with a few
> hiccups. We The Viewer know that he wasn't in on the attempt to kill
> his girlfriend, and the characters have reason to suspect as much, but
> Giles is right that they'd be remiss not to at least entertain the
> possibility.
A rational reason for being wrong. It's interesting that no matter how
much the Scoobies genuinely care for each other, they remain prone to
doubting each other.
What stands out about that scene to me is Spike's role. He didn't
couch the accusation in soft terms like entertaining the possibility.
He just sneared at Buffy once again choosing her men badly. This is
Spike, the one who's usually insightful about relationships. Did he
just get it wrong this time? Or did he do something else?
> The early counterpoints are pretty good too, like the
> idea of Forrest going nuts with casting suspicion on Buffy, and Riley
> angrily glaring the others down. From the Initiative's standpoint,
> it'd be stupid not to say that Dr. Walsh's most likely stabber is
> the "escaped polgara" based on the available evidence. But one
> would be remiss to exclude the Slayer too quickly - she has a motive,
> and Walsh must've known what she was doing when she tried to kill
> her, right?
Yeah, but Angleman is the one pushing them that direction, and he has
stronger reason than the others to think that it's not Buffy. He knows
what's missing from the slab. And he knows how hard it is to get in
that room.
> Not so wild about Marc Blucas' acting during some of the key moments,
> with the argument with Forrest in his room being his most unconvincing
> bit of drama for me. This is a little odd since although I'm not
> Riley's biggest fan, I haven't had any problem with his actor
> before now. It's a more challenging role to play now with the loss
> of that core of self-assuredness: his beliefs are being called into
> question, people he cares about are ending up dead or murder suspects,
> and he's going through withdrawal symptoms. I like the thought
> processes behind some of the scenes: Buffy's anger in response to
> being asked if she's happy to hear about Maggie,
This is where he finally starts truly connecting with what Buffy had
been telling him before about what her life was about. Not that he
really needed another awful realization, but today's the day it piles
on the poor guy. I'm reminded of an old Firesign Theatre album called,
"Everything You Know Is Wrong".
> and Riley trying to
> deal with seeing all the unslain vampires and demons that Buffy seems
> to associate with. I'm not as happy about the part where he finally
> snaps and pulls his gun, again mostly because of the acting. I
> wouldn't so easily let something like that slide if I were dating
> him, but again, he is having quite the rough day.
Well, Buffy sees that he's seriously ill then, so she's got an
immediate reason to forgive him as well as the general understanding
that his world was just turned on its end.
> Solid mix of tension and cleverness in the scene in which our commandos
> raid Spike's crypt. Mrs. Quality and I were pondering what Angel
> would think about his old friend using a coffin and sullying the
> vampire reputation that way. Desperate times... And now what'll he
> do all day without his telly?
I was wondering where he got the electricity.
> I can't really cite any particularly good moments, but I got a kick
> out of Buffy and Xander briefly going undercover. The former looks
> very cute with the ponytail and glasses.
Adam with the boy is pretty memmorable. But aside from that (which is
rather brief anyway) I agree that the show lacks really standout
scenes. Cuts the rating a tad for me.
> I do have some misgivings about where the season might go. Again, I
> did enjoy the bulk of the episode, but the last act sort of sat wrong
> with me. Like I mentioned above, why put Buffy on (relatively) good
> terms with the guys hunting them again so soon?
Relative to what? They trained guns on her so as to take Riley away,
and aren't letting Buffy see him. Yeah, they're not trying to kill her
right now. But they sure don't seem like chums. And Forrest loathes
her now.
> Also, as mentioned
> last time, Walsh put a human face on the Initiative, and now it's not
> too clear who's in charge of their secrets.
Interesting point. With Angleman dead too, I wonder who even knows
what the secrets are.
> Instead, as of the end
> of the episode, everyone's stopped hunting Buffy, and Engleman is
> dead, leaving only Adam on the villain side. Despite all his
> strength, he's just one monster.
Good point.
> This episode doesn't give us a
> full handle on what he's like. The superhuman abilities and
> inquisitiveness about the world are of course somewhat evocative of
> Frankenstein's monster. There's something about a guy looking like
> that giving that somewhat florid speech that couldn't keep me from
> smiling sheepishly, since I don't know whether we're meant to take
> him completely seriously. Hopefully not.
Another good question. You might want to revisit these when the story
is eventually resolved.
> GI has some more setup that, uh, sets stuff up that might at some point
> go somewhere. Still at large to be addressed, as far as I can tell:
> Walsh's motivations (and where Riley fits in), Adam's plans for the
> future, Spike's plans for the future (wild guess here, but I think
> he'll end up turning to the Scoobies to save him),
Oooh, an outright prediction. Well, then we'll certainly want to test
that theory.
> Washington's
> plans for the Initiative, and whatever magical influence is screwing up
> our mini-coven's efforts.
I gather you've been told that Tara deliberately mucked up the spell.
That leaves the question - why?
> Riley is last seen looking for something
> to hold on to, so to speak, and we get an idea which way he'll lean.
> I didn't recognize Buffy's scarf or whatever; had to consult a
> transcript for that little pearl. What can I say, I miss a lot.
That moment is a little too precious for me. But I suppose he's the
kind of Iowa farmboy who would act that way.
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
> - "Maggie tried to kill me." "It didn't work, but they're all
> upset anyway."
I like Willy's notion that naming the bar "Willy's Place" brings in a
better clientele.
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: Generally solid setup.
>
> AOQ rating: Good
Good for me too.
OBS
Mike Zeares
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>
> Have I mentioned how much I love the device of opening right where the
> previous episode left off, or soon thereafter?
A sign of the show's becoming more of a serial. The early metaphoric
MOTW episodes are largely gone now as the show's plot has become more
and more driven by its own internal mythology, and the continuing
storylines have started to eclipse the "A" plots. This has been an
ongoing, gradual process and is part of the show's natural evolution.
The only downside, if it's considered to be a downside, is that there
are some episodes that don't stand as well on their own merits outside
of the overall story arc, serving mostly to move the various plots
along.
TIIT/GI functions as a two-parter, even without a "to be continued."
There was also the continuation of "Doomed" from the end of "Hush."
Many future episodes will use this first scene pick-up device. It
works well when you watch a bunch of eps in a row.
> Not that this stuff won't be complemented by a few light moments when
> appropriate. Like, say, the girls lying around in their pajamas
> watching Roadrunner cartoons, with Buffy's matter-of-fact criticism
> that "that would never happen." Whoosh indeed.
Followed by the classic Yummy Sushi Pajamas speech. That scene caused
frantic searches for yummy sushi pajamas on the web. They turned out
to be fairly expensive jammies.
-- Mike Zeares
Don Sample
"One Bit Shy" <ult...@mail.com> wrote:
>
> I like Willy's notion that naming the bar "Willy's Place" brings in a
> better clientele.
>
Given that its previous name was "The Alibi Room," it just might.
One Bit Shy
news:dsample-39D4A4...@news.giganews.com...
> In article <1147290868.4...@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com>,
> "One Bit Shy" <ult...@mail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> I like Willy's notion that naming the bar "Willy's Place" brings in a
>> better clientele.
>>
>
> Given that its previous name was "The Alibi Room," it just might.
No kidding? I missed that. Pretty funny.
OBS
Don Sample
The name was only given in the script for 'What's My Line.' Never
stated on the show itself.
Apteryx
> Apteryx wrote:
>
>> And Really Stupid but not funny - they seem to have virtually dropped the
>> bit where sunlight is fatal to vampires, at least as far as Spike is
>> concerned. He has moved about in daylight before by various means when
>> desperate, but now it seems daylight is no problem so long as he
>> remembers
>> to pull his coat over his head.
>
> I started noticing that after "Pangs" too. I knew that the scene from
> "Earshot" would lead to trouble on that front. Fanwank it by saying
> that Spike is [more] reckless given his frustration over lack of a
> place in the world. Still mildly annoys me.
At least in Pangs he was at the end of his tether - going to Buffy was a
pretty desperate measure whatever time of day he did it. And after that,
even when smitten in Something Blue, he knew an outdoor wedding under the
trees would be a bad idea.
At this point his daytime movements have become a bit too casual. The reason
for it is obvious enough - he has become a main character, at times almost
part of the Scooby gang. It gets too hard for the writers to schedule all
his appearances for night-time.
--
Apteryx
EGK
>
>Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>>
>> Have I mentioned how much I love the device of opening right where the
>> previous episode left off, or soon thereafter?
>
>A sign of the show's becoming more of a serial. The early metaphoric
>MOTW episodes are largely gone now as the show's plot has become more
>and more driven by its own internal mythology, and the continuing
>storylines have started to eclipse the "A" plots. This has been an
>ongoing, gradual process and is part of the show's natural evolution.
>The only downside, if it's considered to be a downside, is that there
>are some episodes that don't stand as well on their own merits outside
>of the overall story arc, serving mostly to move the various plots
>along.
>
>TIIT/GI functions as a two-parter, even without a "to be continued."
>There was also the continuation of "Doomed" from the end of "Hush."
>Many future episodes will use this first scene pick-up device. It
>works well when you watch a bunch of eps in a row.
Despite which seasons you originally found the best, this is why I always
said even seasons I didn't like play better on DVD. I don't think this
heavy serialization worked nearly so well when watching the first runs. Long
breaks between episodes hurt the momentum.
I wonder if Arbiter would have liked this device nearly as well if he had to
spend the weeks and months of rerun hell along with the rest of us? :)
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There would be a lot more civility in this world if people
didn't take that as an invitation to walk all over you"
(Calvin and Hobbes)
(Harmony) Watcher
> Apteryx wrote:
>
> > And Really Stupid but not funny - they seem to have virtually dropped
the
> > bit where sunlight is fatal to vampires, at least as far as Spike is
> > concerned. He has moved about in daylight before by various means when
> > desperate, but now it seems daylight is no problem so long as he
remembers
> > to pull his coat over his head.
>
> I started noticing that after "Pangs" too. I knew that the scene from
> "Earshot" would lead to trouble on that front. Fanwank it by saying
> that Spike is [more] reckless given his frustration over lack of a
> place in the world.
>
zber fb guna bguref: Natry ohefg bhg va synzrf nf fbba nf ur ehfurq bhg bs
gur ina va "Va gur Qnex" (uggc://oqo.ieln.arg/oqo/pyvc.cuc?pyvc=4343), ohg
Fcvxr jnf whfg n "fzbyqrevat ybt" va Cnatf
(uggc://oqo.ieln.arg/oqo/pyvc.cuc?pyvc=1045) sbe fbzrguvat yvxr ng yrnfg
unys n zvahgr haqre cerfhznoyl qverpg fhayvtug. Va Fcvxr'f pnfr, creuncf vg
jnf znvayl na birepnfg qnl jvgu gur fha fuvavat guebhtu bppnfvbanyyl.
>
> Still mildly annoys me.
>
==(Harmony) Watcher==
(Harmony) Watcher
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
news:1147281280.3...@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
by the dozen, :) (http://dermatology.about.com/library/bldefsunblock.htm)
> -AOQ
>
(Harmony) Watcher
"Mike Zeares" <mze...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1147295499.7...@j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
http://www.sushilinks.com/sushi-pajamas.html
http://www.thecatspjs.com/sushi.html
Are these the same brand of pajamas that the girls wore in previous
episodes?
Buffy in Consequences: http://www.heyrick.co.uk/willow/ep3_15/
Willow in Amends: http://www.heyrick.co.uk/willow/ep3_10/index.html
Willow in Hush: http://www.heyrick.co.uk/willow/ep4_10/index.html
OK, how angry could OZ be if he was still wearing Willow's pajamas to class:
http://www.heyrick.co.uk/willow/ep3_09/index.html (I'm just being silly, of
course), :)
==(Harmony) Watcher==
Mike Zeares
EGK wrote:
>
> Despite which seasons you originally found the best, this is why I always
> said even seasons I didn't like play better on DVD. I don't think this
> heavy serialization worked nearly so well when watching the first runs. Long
> breaks between episodes hurt the momentum.
I agree. The whole series seems tailor-made for DVD marathons. Joss
couldn't control the airing schedule, of course. Those big rerun gaps
did really screw up the momentum at times.
S4 is an example of a season that I thought better of when I watched it
on DVD.
-- Mike Zeares
KenM47
I thought it a Good transitional episode. The set up is in. Now for
the story.
Ken (Brooklyn)
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
> >
> >-AOQ
>
>
> I thought it a Good transitional episode. The set up is in. Now for
> the story.
now for something completely different