AOQ Review 5-5: "No Place Like Home"
Arbitrar Of Quality
threads.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
(or "You left the key in the house?")
Writer: Douglas Petrie
Director: David Solomon
I think it's been a little while since we opened with the mysterious
ritual before moving on to the more traditional Slaying or banter. I
just want to say that I like the timing on the "two months ago" and
"now" titles.
Dawn can be a serious bitch when she wants to, huh? The part where she
tells Riley "she just said you look even cuter when you're all weak
and kitteny and she'd better go solo or you'd get hurt," comes to
mind; talk about kicking a troubled relationship when it's down. If
she's only interested in making Buffy's life miserable, she's
doing a pretty good job, but it's not going to win many friends.
Our comic relief subplot involves Giles opening the Magic Box for
business. A few things bothered me (Giles is a little too butt-of-joke
for my taste, and stammers way too much, it's annoying), but on the
whole the humor comes off well. The clear highlight there comes when
Buffy enters to see him wearing the robe and hat, and the ensuing
silence lasts exactly the right amount of time to make the scene
successful. Kinda reminiscent of the best part of "Fear Itself"
last year. And then the show engages in mild cool by subverting the
"obvious" joke of having no one come by having the others'
reassurances that the store will be popular turn out to be true.
Anya makes a reference to running out of money. I wonder if she had
some kind of stash from sometime in her eleven hundred years of
demonhood?
You know which side character I really got a kick out of this week (I
think he was in OOMM too)? Ben The Man-Nurse. A good-humored mix of
competence and lameness, kinda like Xander on the occasions that they
write him the way I like.
Any particular reason Buffy's doing the magic instead of Willow?
Least favorite part of the episode, by far: the five-hour scene in
which The Beast tortures her prisoners. It's too long to spend on a
bunch of people we don't know, particularly not ones who're so
shrill and irritating. Her ditzy act not only isn't that
interesting, but is too reminiscent of Harmony for my taste. I don't
even like Harmony all that much, but she's more fun than this chick.
The again, so is a metal bat to the skull. I'd say The Beast
combines things that I don't like about BTVS-era Cordelia, Harmony,
and "Sense And Sensitivity" into one black hole of AOQ-irritation.
Sadly, since she was portrayed as all badass and stuff, and we didn't
actually see her die, we may have picked up a recurring antagonist.
Favorite part of the episode: the confrontation in Dawn's room after
Buffy gets all tranced-out. First there's the nice visual of the
room gently flickering back and forth between Dawn and Dawnless
versions in the background. Then there's Dawn getting genuinely
creepy... but, as I noticed at the time, never quite giving herself
away or saying anything truly wrong or out of place. Given that she
doesn't actually have anything to give away, or so she thinks, that
would make sense. The show isn't trying to "fool" the audience
so much as keep us guessing, and it does a great job. Trachtenberg
brings out a whole new dimension here, and Gellar sells the cold rage
like an overpriced crystal ball.
Some parts in Spike's one scene make for a pretty fun followup to the
end of the last episode. One thing that the writers should be careful
not to overdo is having Buffy "cutely" beating him up too often.
That has the potential to get very old very quickly, and you all know
my issues with anything that reminds me of a bad romantic comedy. But
the amusement factor of our favorite lovestruck vampire's
"satisfied? You know, I really hope, so because God knows you need
some satisfaction in life besides shagging Captain Cardboard, and I
never really liked you anyway and... and you have stupid hair,"
can't be denied. It's the dignified tone of voice that makes it
work.
Buffy knowing that she was about to be attacked from behind plays out
pretty well. As for the rest of the chick-fight, just one other
comment: the combination of "can you fly?" and jumping through a
window while holding someone makes we wonder whether the local
affiliate in Sunnydale just finally started airing _Angel_.
Ultimately, of course, our hero saves the one guy just long enough to
learn The Rest Of The Story about the younger sister she thinks she's
been living with for fourteen years. The concept of an energy being
from another dimension is kinda lame, but the effect of the plot device
is to make Dawn still an innocent girl on some level, and leave Buffy
feeling responsible for protecting her even after learning the truth.
So, that works. I must say, though, that other than "you put THAT in
my house?" the actual delivery does very little for me. Waaay too
long and exposition-speech-y.
It's still not clear to me what's going on with Joyce's illness,
and why it's so intermittent. The story continues...
This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
- The "world speed record for closure" scene in the teaser
- _Iron Chef_ jokes are pretty much guaranteed to amuse me, regardless
of whether they're any good. Also from the same scene, "so I
can't be retro?"
- "It appears to be paranormal in origin." "How can you tell?"
"Well, it's so shiny"
- "Please go"
So...
One-sentence summary: The parts that don't suck are good.
AOQ rating: Decent
[Season Five so far:
1) "Buffy Vs. Dracula" - Good
2) "Real Me" - Decent
3) "The Replacement" - Good
4) "Out Of My Mind" - Weak
5) "No Place Like Home" - Decent]
Arbitrar Of Quality
I'll use them to offload extra reviews when I get ahead. This is one
of those weekends. Say interesting and insightful stuff about this and
"Dear Boy," and I'll see you Sunday or Monday.
-AOQ
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
i think dawn was oblivious to any pain she was causing
she was complaining how buffy treated her
and drawing parallels to riley
without realizing riley didnt want those parallels pointed out
> business. A few things bothered me (Giles is a little too butt-of-joke
> for my taste, and stammers way too much, it's annoying), but on the
hes an anxiety stammerer not a neurlogical stutterer
when people like us get under stress we have lots of trouble speaking
and the process cascades on itself
> whole the humor comes off well. The clear highlight there comes when
> Buffy enters to see him wearing the robe and hat, and the ensuing
> silence lasts exactly the right amount of time to make the scene
its nice the buffy and giles have gone beyond
a slayer and her watcher
> Anya makes a reference to running out of money. I wonder if she had
> some kind of stash from sometime in her eleven hundred years of
> demonhood?
she was established as a daughter of well off parents in the wish
where her human status was frozen
but we never see these parents
perhaps she established them as off on vacation
which got permanently frozen as nonpresent
and she lived off their income until their nonpresence ruined them
> You know which side character I really got a kick out of this week (I
> think he was in OOMM too)? Ben The Man-Nurse. A good-humored mix of
ben is an intern a doctor not a nurse
hes at the bottom level with less status than nurse
> Any particular reason Buffy's doing the magic instead of Willow?
it was buffys mother
and she felt her responsibility to fiind out and destroy the enemy
> It's still not clear to me what's going on with Joyce's illness,
> and why it's so intermittent. The story continues...
thats pretty realistic for a lot of conditions
the body manages to temporarily patch around problems
until patches fail and patched again
arf meow arf - nsa fodder
ny dnrqn greebevfz ahpyrne obzo vena gnyvona ovt oebgure
if you meet buddha on the usenet killfile him
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 Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
> (or "You left the key in the house?")
> Writer: Douglas Petrie
> Director: David Solomon
>
> I think it's been a little while since we opened with the mysterious
> ritual before moving on to the more traditional Slaying or banter. I
> just want to say that I like the timing on the "two months ago" and
> "now" titles.
>
> Dawn can be a serious bitch when she wants to, huh? The part where she
> tells Riley "she just said you look even cuter when you're all weak
> and kitteny and she'd better go solo or you'd get hurt," comes to
> mind; talk about kicking a troubled relationship when it's down. If
> she's only interested in making Buffy's life miserable, she's
> doing a pretty good job, but it's not going to win many friends.
She wasn't being malicious. She thought she was being nice. She was
completely oblivious to the effect what she was saying was having on
Riley.
> Least favorite part of the episode, by far: the five-hour scene in
> which The Beast tortures her prisoners. It's too long to spend on a
> bunch of people we don't know, particularly not ones who're so
> shrill and irritating. Her ditzy act not only isn't that
> interesting, but is too reminiscent of Harmony for my taste.
But it gives us yet another Miss Muffet reference:
"Wriggling, piling, prowling, crawling, clowning, cavorting,
doing it over and over and over and over until someones going
to sit down on their tuffet and make this birthing *stop!*"
Something I wrote a while back:
Memories of Dawn
Memory is a funny thing. It isn't as concrete and fixed as most people
think it is. We really remember a whole lot less about what happens in
our lives than we imagine we do. Our memories are constantly shifting,
and getting overwritten by new versions.
So how much does anyone really remember about Dawn? I expect that the
answer is "not very much." I wouldn't be surprised if every concrete
memory that any of them had about her was written down her diaries.
For most of her life Dawn was just "around." For many of the critical
events that happened during the first fourteen years of her life Dawn
was likely "visiting Dad" or "at home with the babysitter." If you try
to pin anyone down about exactly what Dawn was doing at any particular
time you will find that outside of a few common incidents, they mostly
don't remember. While Buffy was having a very exciting life as the
Slayer, Dawn was being sheltered from it. Very little particularly
memorable ever happened while she was actually present.
Dawn was probably a very Marcy-like person for the first fourteen years
of her "life." She was the girl no one noticed. She sat quietly in
class, handed in her homework on time, and got good grades on tests so
her teachers and classmates didn't really notice her much at all. She
didn't have many friends, so she has few memories of friends, and few
friends that remember her.
Joyce's friends were probably aware that she had two daughters. Buffy,
and "the good one." Dawn even has memories of being totally overshadowed
by her older sister:
"Nobody knows who I am, not the real me. It's like nobody cares
enough to find out. I mean, does anyone ever ask me what I want
to do with my life? Or what my opinion is on stuff? Or what
restaurant to order in from? _No!!!_ No one understands. No one
has an older sister who's a Slayer."
-- Dawn's diary, "Real Me"
Buffy is also aware that something has recently changed in the way she
thinks about Dawn:
"I know it's always been this way. She's the baby. But for some
reason lately it's just really getting to me. I mean, she's
always around."
-- Buffy, "Real Me"
Buffy senses that there is something different about her recent (real)
memories of Dawn, like she is impinging more on her consciousness than
she had in the past, but that awareness isn't enough to make her suspect
that there is anything wrong with her memories.
Buffy and Joyce got the most extensive set of memories. They could
probably both come up with countless anecdotes of Stuff Dawn Did when
she was twelve, but they probably never noticed that they both
remembered pretty much the same anecdotes. They both remember something
that happened in February of 1997, but they don't notice that neither of
them can remember anything that happened to Dawn in March of 1997.
After they became aware that their memories had been altered they might
be able to sit down and try to figure out everything that had happened,
and realize that their memories do have some rather large holes, but
unless they made the effort they just wouldn't notice.
Dawn also probably has a limited memory. She remembers the stuff that
was written in the diaries. Everything else is just a fuzzy "I was
there, but I don't really recall what I was doing," type of thing. She
probably remembers spending a lot of time alone in her room reading
books, and things like that.
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
George W Harris
<tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
:BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
:Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
:(or "You left the key in the house?")
:Writer: Douglas Petrie
:Director: David Solomon
:
:Dawn can be a serious bitch when she wants to, huh? The part where she
:tells Riley "she just said you look even cuter when you're all weak
:and kitteny and she'd better go solo or you'd get hurt," comes to
:mind; talk about kicking a troubled relationship when it's down. If
:she's only interested in making Buffy's life miserable, she's
:doing a pretty good job, but it's not going to win many friends.
I think this is more cluelessness on Dawn's part
than malice.
:
:You know which side character I really got a kick out of this week (I
:think he was in OOMM too)? Ben The Man-Nurse. A good-humored mix of
:competence and lameness, kinda like Xander on the occasions that they
:write him the way I like.
He is a fun little background character.
:
:Any particular reason Buffy's doing the magic instead of Willow?
Because it's *her* mother!
:
:Favorite part of the episode: the confrontation in Dawn's room after
:Buffy gets all tranced-out. First there's the nice visual of the
:room gently flickering back and forth between Dawn and Dawnless
:versions in the background. Then there's Dawn getting genuinely
:creepy... but, as I noticed at the time, never quite giving herself
:away or saying anything truly wrong or out of place. Given that she
:doesn't actually have anything to give away, or so she thinks, that
:would make sense. The show isn't trying to "fool" the audience
:so much as keep us guessing, and it does a great job. Trachtenberg
:brings out a whole new dimension here, and Gellar sells the cold rage
:like an overpriced crystal ball.
I really liked the "I made you some tea."
:
:Some parts in Spike's one scene make for a pretty fun followup to the
:end of the last episode. One thing that the writers should be careful
:not to overdo is having Buffy "cutely" beating him up too often.
:That has the potential to get very old very quickly, and you all know
:my issues with anything that reminds me of a bad romantic comedy. But
:the amusement factor of our favorite lovestruck vampire's
:"satisfied? You know, I really hope, so because God knows you need
:some satisfaction in life besides shagging Captain Cardboard, and I
:never really liked you anyway and... and you have stupid hair,"
:can't be denied. It's the dignified tone of voice that makes it
:work.
"Out. For. A. Walk. ...Bitch." is an all-time
favorite line.
:
:This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
:- The "world speed record for closure" scene in the teaser
:- _Iron Chef_ jokes are pretty much guaranteed to amuse me, regardless
:of whether they're any good. Also from the same scene, "so I
:can't be retro?"
:- "It appears to be paranormal in origin." "How can you tell?"
: "Well, it's so shiny"
:- "Please go"
:
:So...
:
:One-sentence summary: The parts that don't suck are good.
:
:AOQ rating: Decent
--
Real men don't need macho posturing to bolster their egos.
George W. Harris For actual email address, replace each 'u' with an 'i'.
Mohamel
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
> (or "You left the key in the house?")
> Writer: Douglas Petrie
>
>
> Least favorite part of the episode, by far: the five-hour scene in
> which The Beast tortures her prisoners. It's too long to spend on a
> bunch of people we don't know, particularly not ones who're so
> shrill and irritating. Her ditzy act not only isn't that
> interesting, but is too reminiscent of Harmony for my taste. I don't
> even like Harmony all that much, but she's more fun than this chick.
> The again, so is a metal bat to the skull. I'd say The Beast
> combines things that I don't like about BTVS-era Cordelia, Harmony,
> and "Sense And Sensitivity" into one black hole of AOQ-irritation.
> Sadly, since she was portrayed as all badass and stuff, and we didn't
> actually see her die, we may have picked up a recurring antagonist.
>
V guvax NBD vf tbaan svaq guvf frnfba ybat vs ur qbrfa'g yvxr "Lbh'er zbfg
fpehzgvbhf zntavsvprapr" V pbhyqa'g trg rabhtu bs ure.
mo
vague disclaimer
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
> (or "You left the key in the house?")
> Writer: Douglas Petrie
> Director: David Solomon
>
>
>
> Some parts in Spike's one scene make for a pretty fun followup to the
> end of the last episode. One thing that the writers should be careful
> not to overdo is having Buffy "cutely" beating him up too often.
> That has the potential to get very old very quickly,
It really doesn't.
> Ultimately, of course, our hero saves the one guy just long enough to
> learn The Rest Of The Story about the younger sister she thinks she's
> been living with for fourteen years. The concept of an energy being
> from another dimension is kinda lame, but the effect of the plot device
> is to make Dawn still an innocent girl on some level, and leave Buffy
> feeling responsible for protecting her even after learning the truth.
> So, that works. I must say, though, that other than "you put THAT in
> my house?" the actual delivery does very little for me. Waaay too
> long and exposition-speech-y.
I thought it was a pretty good, fairly ruthless interrogation by Buffy.
She knew he was dying and didn't waste compassion. And one of the
coolest on-screen deaths ever.
> It's still not clear to me what's going on with Joyce's illness,
> and why it's so intermittent. The story continues...
Well...fainting...Two Daughter Headaches....more headaches...feeling
crappy.
It's probably not eczema.
--
Wikipedia: like Usenet, moderated by trolls
One Bit Shy
news:1149889781....@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
> (or "You left the key in the house?")
Heh. Not bad.
> Dawn can be a serious bitch when she wants to, huh?
She can be something. That's for sure. Whether it's bitch or not I'll
leave be as personal choice. Whatever it is, she has a knack for getting
under one's skin like a tick.
> The part where she
> tells Riley "she just said you look even cuter when you're all weak
> and kitteny and she'd better go solo or you'd get hurt," comes to
> mind; talk about kicking a troubled relationship when it's down. If
> she's only interested in making Buffy's life miserable, she's
> doing a pretty good job, but it's not going to win many friends.
Willow, Tara, Xander & Joyce all seem to adore her. In any case, I don't
think she knew anything about kicking a troubled relationship. Her world
view seems too self centered to get that. I think it was just a chance to
say "gotcha" to Buffy and enlist Riley as ally against the horrible meanie
that is sister. At this point I'm still getting a kick out of the
squabbling sisters. My favorite early on is when Joyce says she didn't have
any kid names for Buffy and Dawn mutters, "I got some names for you."
I also think the bickering is kind of interesting on another level. "You
just have no idea how much I wish I were an only child these days."
Obviously that's an unknowing reference to the real state of affairs. But I
think it's more than a sly plot reference - as is how stressed out Buffy is
over Dawn. My suspicion is that at some basic inner level she's genuinely
not used to having a sister around with all her annoying ways. And it's
getting to her. Maybe an indication of the limits of the monks power to
insert Dawn seemlessly? Or maybe it's not that, but rather her slayer
instincts reacting to something wrong? I don't know. Just a thought.
> Our comic relief subplot involves Giles opening the Magic Box for
> business. A few things bothered me (Giles is a little too butt-of-joke
> for my taste, and stammers way too much, it's annoying),
Oh, come on. Give the poor guy a break. It's the grand opening. He's
probably sunk most of his life savings into this venture (And it's probably
as close to his dream of being a grocer that he'll ever get.) And nobody
shows up. And then it's a madhouse. Of course he's nervous!
> but on the
> whole the humor comes off well. The clear highlight there comes when
> Buffy enters to see him wearing the robe and hat, and the ensuing
> silence lasts exactly the right amount of time to make the scene
> successful. Kinda reminiscent of the best part of "Fear Itself"
> last year. And then the show engages in mild cool by subverting the
> "obvious" joke of having no one come by having the others'
> reassurances that the store will be popular turn out to be true.
I really enjoy the chaos of the opening. Keeps the whole show hopping.
Anya: But I have their money. Who cares what kind of day they have?
Xander: No one. It's just a long cultural tradition of raging insincerity.
Embrace it.
Anya: Hey, you! Have a nice day.
Xander: There's my girl!
There's a bunch of good stuff, but I think I liked best Anya simply calling
Giles, "boss."
I don't quite understand why Willow changed her clothes at the Magic Box
though. Does she normally cary a change of clothes around with her?
One little catty moment of note:
Willow: Does this look right to you?
Anya: Sure, if you wrapped it with your feet.
Followed by dirty look from Willow.
> You know which side character I really got a kick out of this week (I
> think he was in OOMM too)? Ben The Man-Nurse. A good-humored mix of
> competence and lameness, kinda like Xander on the occasions that they
> write him the way I like.
He's a nice guy. Maybe Buffy should go for him instead of Riley. He'd be
good for patching wounds, but probably wouldn't want to patrol.
> Any particular reason Buffy's doing the magic instead of Willow?
I suppose because it's Buffy's mom, and Buffy has been practicing TM kind of
focus. Remember the opening to Real Me?
Giles: Focus inward. Let the world fall away ... fall away ... fall away....
That's pretty trance like. I'm also not sure that I've seen Willow exactly
do a trance. And I've heard rumor that she doesn't always maintain focus...
> Least favorite part of the episode, by far: the five-hour scene in
> which The Beast tortures her prisoners. It's too long to spend on a
> bunch of people we don't know, particularly not ones who're so
> shrill and irritating. Her ditzy act not only isn't that
> interesting, but is too reminiscent of Harmony for my taste. I don't
> even like Harmony all that much, but she's more fun than this chick.
> The again, so is a metal bat to the skull. I'd say The Beast
> combines things that I don't like about BTVS-era Cordelia, Harmony,
> and "Sense And Sensitivity" into one black hole of AOQ-irritation.
> Sadly, since she was portrayed as all badass and stuff, and we didn't
> actually see her die, we may have picked up a recurring antagonist.
Wow. I didn't think it was possible not to be impressed by her entrance.
The abomination kicked in a huge steel door! Tore it off the wall! And
then smoothed out her lovely red dress. I don't think we've ever seen a
monster quite like that.
She's not a ditz like Harmony so much as she's flat out crazy. (And there
does seem to be an excess of crazy lately.)
I'm not sure what else to say. The scene does run on a bit, but I enjoy it
a lot anyway. The whole bit where she forgets about the duck tape. And,
well... I like it. She's a breath of fresh air to me.
> Favorite part of the episode: the confrontation in Dawn's room after
> Buffy gets all tranced-out. First there's the nice visual of the
> room gently flickering back and forth between Dawn and Dawnless
> versions in the background. Then there's Dawn getting genuinely
> creepy... but, as I noticed at the time, never quite giving herself
> away or saying anything truly wrong or out of place. Given that she
> doesn't actually have anything to give away, or so she thinks, that
> would make sense. The show isn't trying to "fool" the audience
> so much as keep us guessing, and it does a great job. Trachtenberg
> brings out a whole new dimension here, and Gellar sells the cold rage
> like an overpriced crystal ball.
(Heh. Nice line.)
I used to be a little uncertain how I felt about Dawn getting creepy. But
then I thought how things would look to Buffy, and how we, the audience, can
act as a sort of an extension of Buffy in how things should be perceived
until more explanation comes. Once you know that Dawn really is false,
until you find out why, she's under suspicion. That makes little things
like getting a cup of tea for Mom look potentially sinister. It's a little
manipulative in a way. But I think it's much more interesting and
appropriate to the moment to watch Dawn with a suspicious attitude than just
observe the mundane.
> Some parts in Spike's one scene make for a pretty fun followup to the
> end of the last episode. One thing that the writers should be careful
> not to overdo is having Buffy "cutely" beating him up too often.
> That has the potential to get very old very quickly, and you all know
> my issues with anything that reminds me of a bad romantic comedy. But
> the amusement factor of our favorite lovestruck vampire's
> "satisfied? You know, I really hope, so because God knows you need
> some satisfaction in life besides shagging Captain Cardboard, and I
> never really liked you anyway and... and you have stupid hair,"
> can't be denied. It's the dignified tone of voice that makes it
> work.
"Captain Cardboard" and "stupid hair" help a little too. LOL.
The scene in itself works very well for me and does progress the story
nicely from Spike's dream. I also like the reveal of Dawn watching from the
window at the end. But there are some fringe things around the edges that
bother me a little.
Do you remember in Superstar when Jonathan was talking about vampires and
said, "They mostly like to hang out all creepy and alone in the shadows.
Don't you agree... Spike?" And Spike steps out. A very exaggerated moment
with Jonathan saying, "Spike" with great drama, and accompanying music.
Satire. One moment in the episode where the show poked fun at itself.
Well, this moment of discovering Spike has much the same overdone feel to
it. Only I don't think it's meant as satire. Rather it feels a bit
intrusive. I've had much the same feeling about Spike suddenly appearing
earlier this season too.
Another thing about the scene that bothers me a little is that this is the
first encounter between Spike and Buffy since Out Of My Mind. As follow-up
to Spike's dream, it's spot on. But Buffy's point of view really should be
different. She should be madder at him. No, she doesn't have to stake him
right here. But endangering Riley's life would seem to earn something more
than just the same old Spike.
I may comment on the punching later - I don't know. But I agree that it's a
bit jarring.
> Buffy knowing that she was about to be attacked from behind plays out
> pretty well. As for the rest of the chick-fight, just one other
> comment: the combination of "can you fly?" and jumping through a
> window while holding someone makes we wonder whether the local
> affiliate in Sunnydale just finally started airing _Angel_.
As frame of reference, our smiling beast would appear to be physically
stronger than Adam.
> Ultimately, of course, our hero saves the one guy just long enough to
> learn The Rest Of The Story about the younger sister she thinks she's
> been living with for fourteen years. The concept of an energy being
> from another dimension is kinda lame, but the effect of the plot device
> is to make Dawn still an innocent girl on some level, and leave Buffy
> feeling responsible for protecting her even after learning the truth.
> So, that works. I must say, though, that other than "you put THAT in
> my house?" the actual delivery does very little for me. Waaay too
> long and exposition-speech-y.
It does drag on. The touching stuff about Dawn not knowing and being
innocent make up for it a little. But that's mostly lost again when you
think about it more and realize that it's decidedly less information than
one would like.
As for the device being kinda lame - that's certainly open for dispute. But
I would suggest that at this point you know far too little about it to draw
that conclusion. You're kinda jumping the gun.
> It's still not clear to me what's going on with Joyce's illness,
> and why it's so intermittent. The story continues...
The road goes ever on and on.
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
> - "It appears to be paranormal in origin." "How can you tell?"
> "Well, it's so shiny"
Oh, I do ever so like that one.
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: The parts that don't suck are good.
>
> AOQ rating: Decent
The Magic Box opening, the way cool trance (love the color shift in it), and
a monster door smashing babe. Spike's a stalker, Joyce and Dawn have a book
club, and there are madmen at the hospital. And the great Dawn mystery
answered with something big and still mysterious. What more could you ask
for in an episode?
Excellent
OBS
Don Sample
"One Bit Shy" <O...@nomail.sorry> wrote:
> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1149889781....@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
> > BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> > Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
> > (or "You left the key in the house?")
>
> > This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
>
> > - "It appears to be paranormal in origin." "How can you tell?"
> > "Well, it's so shiny"
>
> Oh, I do ever so like that one.
And yet the Watchers still let him go.
Another good one is how everyone takes a step back when Buffy tells them
that the guy who found the Orb went crazy.
Apteryx
news:1149889781....@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
> (or "You left the key in the house?")
> Writer: Douglas Petrie
> Director: David Solomon
>
>
> tells Riley "she just said you look even cuter when you're all weak
> and kitteny and she'd better go solo or you'd get hurt," comes to
> mind; talk about kicking a troubled relationship when it's down. If
> she's only interested in making Buffy's life miserable, she's
> doing a pretty good job, but it's not going to win many friends.
Sure she is. There's always plenty of people with an interest in Buffy's
life being made miserable.
> Our comic relief subplot involves Giles opening the Magic Box for
> business. A few things bothered me (Giles is a little too butt-of-joke
> for my taste, and stammers way too much, it's annoying), but on the
> whole the humor comes off well. The clear highlight there comes when
> Buffy enters to see him wearing the robe and hat, and the ensuing
> silence lasts exactly the right amount of time to make the scene
> successful. Kinda reminiscent of the best part of "Fear Itself"
> last year. And then the show engages in mild cool by subverting the
> "obvious" joke of having no one come by having the others'
> reassurances that the store will be popular turn out to be true.
Though I think it was Anya's scenes that made the opening for me.
> You know which side character I really got a kick out of this week (I
> think he was in OOMM too)? Ben The Man-Nurse. A good-humored mix of
> competence and lameness, kinda like Xander on the occasions that they
> write him the way I like.
Yeah, what a nice guy. But an intern rather than a nurse.
> Least favorite part of the episode, by far: the five-hour scene in
> which The Beast tortures her prisoners. It's too long to spend on a
> bunch of people we don't know, particularly not ones who're so
> shrill and irritating. Her ditzy act not only isn't that
> interesting, but is too reminiscent of Harmony for my taste.
That wouldn't be a problem for me in any event, but this one is clearly way
meaner than Harmony, with her meanness only softened by her craziness.
> Favorite part of the episode: the confrontation in Dawn's room after
> Buffy gets all tranced-out. First there's the nice visual of the
> room gently flickering back and forth between Dawn and Dawnless
> versions in the background. Then there's Dawn getting genuinely
> creepy... but, as I noticed at the time, never quite giving herself
> away or saying anything truly wrong or out of place. Given that she
> doesn't actually have anything to give away, or so she thinks, that
> would make sense. The show isn't trying to "fool" the audience
> so much as keep us guessing, and it does a great job.
Well, if they are not trying to fool the audience here, then they certainly
are later in Dawn's scene with Joyce and the cup of tea.
> Some parts in Spike's one scene make for a pretty fun followup to the
> end of the last episode. One thing that the writers should be careful
> not to overdo is having Buffy "cutely" beating him up too often.
Clearly it could be overdone. But perhaps an occaisional beating might be
justified as a sop to those who would rather see her staking him. Whether
the writers get the balance right remains to be seen.
> Ultimately, of course, our hero saves the one guy just long enough to
> learn The Rest Of The Story about the younger sister she thinks she's
> been living with for fourteen years. The concept of an energy being
> from another dimension is kinda lame, but the effect of the plot device
> is to make Dawn still an innocent girl on some level, and leave Buffy
> feeling responsible for protecting her even after learning the truth.
> So, that works. I must say, though, that other than "you put THAT in
> my house?" the actual delivery does very little for me. Waaay too
> long and exposition-speech-y.
I didn't really have a problem with it, but maybe it is a little
expositiony. But at some point or other, you're gonna need to bring Buffy
and the audience up to speed on Dawn. They leave it as late in the episode
as possible, meaning it has to be a bit wordy.
> It's still not clear to me what's going on with Joyce's illness,
> and why it's so intermittent. The story continues...
Some illnesses are just like that.
>
> One-sentence summary: The parts that don't suck are good.
>
> AOQ rating: Decent
I'd agree with Decent. For me its the 93rd best BtVS episode, 11th best in
season 5
--
Apteryx
Michael Ikeda
news:128k7s7...@news.supernews.com:
> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1149889781....@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
>> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>> Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
>> (or "You left the key in the house?")
>
> I also think the bickering is kind of interesting on another
> level. "You just have no idea how much I wish I were an only
> child these days." Obviously that's an unknowing reference to
> the real state of affairs.
The phrase "Be careful what you wish for" does come to mind here.
--
Michael Ikeda mmi...@erols.com
"Telling a statistician not to use sampling is like telling an
astronomer they can't say there is a moon and stars"
Lynne Billard, past president American Statistical Association
Don Sample
wrote:
> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1149889781....@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> > You know which side character I really got a kick out of this week (I
> > think he was in OOMM too)? Ben The Man-Nurse. A good-humored mix of
> > competence and lameness, kinda like Xander on the occasions that they
> > write him the way I like.
>
> Yeah, what a nice guy. But an intern rather than a nurse.
He calls himself a Man-Nurse in this episode.
Ben: Hey, it's, uh, Buffy, isn't it?
Buffy: Uh...
Ben: Ben, but you can call me man-nurse. Everybody else here does.
He also says that he's almost a doctor.
> > Favorite part of the episode: the confrontation in Dawn's room after
> > Buffy gets all tranced-out. First there's the nice visual of the
> > room gently flickering back and forth between Dawn and Dawnless
> > versions in the background. Then there's Dawn getting genuinely
> > creepy... but, as I noticed at the time, never quite giving herself
> > away or saying anything truly wrong or out of place. Given that she
> > doesn't actually have anything to give away, or so she thinks, that
> > would make sense. The show isn't trying to "fool" the audience
> > so much as keep us guessing, and it does a great job.
>
> Well, if they are not trying to fool the audience here, then they certainly
> are later in Dawn's scene with Joyce and the cup of tea.
And the way Dawn just appears out of nowhere when Buffy's talking on the
phone, and about to tell Giles what she saw in her vision.
JJ Karhu
wrote:
>> Least favorite part of the episode, by far: the five-hour scene in
>> which The Beast tortures her prisoners. It's too long to spend on a
>> bunch of people we don't know, particularly not ones who're so
>> shrill and irritating. Her ditzy act not only isn't that
>> interesting, but is too reminiscent of Harmony for my taste. I don't
>> even like Harmony all that much, but she's more fun than this chick.
>> The again, so is a metal bat to the skull. I'd say The Beast
>> combines things that I don't like about BTVS-era Cordelia, Harmony,
>> and "Sense And Sensitivity" into one black hole of AOQ-irritation.
>> Sadly, since she was portrayed as all badass and stuff, and we didn't
>> actually see her die, we may have picked up a recurring antagonist.
>>
>
>V guvax NBD vf tbaan svaq guvf frnfba ybat vs ur qbrfa'g yvxr "Lbh'er zbfg
>fpehzgvbhf zntavsvprapr" V pbhyqa'g trg rabhtu bs ure.
Please don't put sig separators in the middle of your posts, thank you
:) (two dashes followed by a space).
Anyway...
Ur qvqa'g yvxr gur Znlbe ng svefg, rvgure. Creuncf fur jvyy tebj ba
uvz?
// JJ
BTR1701
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> You know which side character I really got a kick out of this week (I
> think he was in OOMM too)? Ben The Man-Nurse.
Ben is actually a Man-Doctor.
BTR1701
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
How could you not like Glory's entrance? For me it was an even more
"what the hell?" moment than the first appearance of Dawn. The
mysterious creature with titanic strength turns out to be an insane
super-model in a slinky red dress...
Maybe it's just me but I've always considered Glory to be one of the
show's best villains.
Horace LaBadie
BTR1701 <btr...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> How could you not like Glory's entrance? For me it was an even more
> "what the hell?" moment than the first appearance of Dawn. The
> mysterious creature with titanic strength turns out to be an insane
> super-model in a slinky red dress...
>
> Maybe it's just me but I've always considered Glory to be one of the
> show's best villains.
A hot blonde with superpowers, a line of snappy patter, and a keen
fashion sense -- what's not to like?
HWL
One Bit Shy
news:btr1702-72D63A...@news.giganews.com...
The beast. The abomination. Foiled by a broken heel. And a foot stomping
tantrum.
Yeah, she's a favorite villain of mine too.
OBS
Rowan Hawthorn
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
> (or "You left the key in the house?")
> Writer: Douglas Petrie
> Director: David Solomon
>
> which The Beast tortures her prisoners. It's too long to spend on a
> bunch of people we don't know, particularly not ones who're so
> shrill and irritating. Her ditzy act not only isn't that
> interesting, but is too reminiscent of Harmony for my taste. I don't
> even like Harmony all that much, but she's more fun than this chick.
> The again, so is a metal bat to the skull. I'd say The Beast
> combines things that I don't like about BTVS-era Cordelia, Harmony,
> and "Sense And Sensitivity" into one black hole of AOQ-irritation.
That pretty much sums the character up for me, too.
--
Rowan Hawthorn
"Occasionally, I'm callous and strange." - Willow Rosenberg, "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer"
vague disclaimer
>
> How could you not like Glory's entrance? For me it was an even more
> "what the hell?" moment than the first appearance of Dawn. The
> mysterious creature with titanic strength turns out to be an insane
> super-model in a slinky red dress...
>
> Maybe it's just me but I've always considered Glory to be one of the
> show's best villains.
Not just you.
KenM47
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
>threads.
>
>
>BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
>(or "You left the key in the house?")
>Writer: Douglas Petrie
>Director: David Solomon
>
<SNIP>
>
>So...
>
>One-sentence summary: The parts that don't suck are good.
>
>AOQ rating: Decent
>
>[Season Five so far:
>1) "Buffy Vs. Dracula" - Good
>2) "Real Me" - Decent
>3) "The Replacement" - Good
>4) "Out Of My Mind" - Weak
>5) "No Place Like Home" - Decent]
Just rewatched, and with two exceptions would get an Excellent from
me. Instead, it's a Good (+)
The two issues are: 1) Spike just tried to kill Buffy. His obsession
and school boy crush are cute, but there seem to be no consequences to
OOMM at all; and 2) Dawn is supposed to be 14, but more often than not
acts like 9.
Otherwise, I always liked Clare Kramer and thought she was somehow a
lot scarier than other big bads, particularly her seemingly casual
sadism. The episode worked for me. Humorous and scary, annoying and a
bit cathartic in explaining Dawn.
Ken (Brooklyn)
KenM47
>In article <128k7s7...@news.supernews.com>,
> "One Bit Shy" <O...@nomail.sorry> wrote:
>
>> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:1149889781....@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>>
>> > BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>> > Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
>> > (or "You left the key in the house?")
>>
>
>> > This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
>>
>> > - "It appears to be paranormal in origin." "How can you tell?"
>> > "Well, it's so shiny"
>>
>> Oh, I do ever so like that one.
>
>And yet the Watchers still let him go.
>
>Another good one is how everyone takes a step back when Buffy tells them
>that the guy who found the Orb went crazy.
SMG does a terrific take on "shiny."
Ken (Brooklyn)
jil...@hotmail.com
KenM47 wrote:
> Just rewatched, and with two exceptions would get an Excellent from
> me. Instead, it's a Good (+)
>
> The two issues are: 1) Spike just tried to kill Buffy. His obsession
> and school boy crush are cute, but there seem to be no consequences to
> OOMM at all; and 2) Dawn is supposed to be 14, but more often than not
> acts like 9.
Well, on 1) Buffy probably doesn't consider his FAILURE as important as
you do. She probably hardly ever thinks of him at all, as he is
chipped and generally harmless, as far as she's concerned.
2) Dawn is supposed to be 14, yes. But let's face it... she's barely a
month-old. Heheheheh
Elisi
>
> Well, on 1) Buffy probably doesn't consider his FAILURE as important as
> you do. She probably hardly ever thinks of him at all, as he is
> chipped and generally harmless, as far as she's concerned.
That's my reading as well. When he tries to get the chip out he
suddenly became important again, but only momentarily. I think that to
Buffy at this stage, he's mostly just a vague annoyance - like a fly or
something.
But considering Spike's new and different angle of obsession, it's
interesting that JM once said in an interview that he from the
beginning approached Spike's fascination with Buffy as a stalker.
Rewatch 'School Hard' and note the way Spike is observing Buffy on the
dance floor. It's the same vibe. Which in retrospect is very
interesting indeed.
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Five, Episode 5: "No Place Like Home"
> (or "You left the key in the house?")
> Writer: Douglas Petrie
> Director: David Solomon
> I think it's been a little while since we opened with the mysterious
> ritual before moving on to the more traditional Slaying or banter. I
> just want to say that I like the timing on the "two months ago" and
> "now" titles.
Me too. They continue with the robed monks and candle-lit corridors just
long enough to make you think it's a flashback to the Middle Ages, like in
IRYJ, then calmly announce "two months ago." And better still, the monks
speak Czech! Czech makes me happy.
> Dawn can be a serious bitch when she wants to, huh? The part where she
She wasn't deliberately trying to hurt Riley. I think she was just trying
to embarrass big sis by catching her in a contradiction about whether
Riley should patrol with Buffy. Her baffled "What? WHAT?" at the end
shows how clueless she was about her words' effect.
> whole the humor comes off well. The clear highlight there comes when
> Buffy enters to see him wearing the robe and hat, and the ensuing
> silence lasts exactly the right amount of time to make the scene
> successful. Kinda reminiscent of the best part of "Fear Itself"
> last year.
And the joke pays off a second time when Willow comes in all excited to
see Giles in his hat and robe. I wonder if the whole hat thing was her
idea?
> The again, so is a metal bat to the skull. I'd say The Beast
> combines things that I don't like about BTVS-era Cordelia, Harmony,
> and "Sense And Sensitivity" into one black hole of AOQ-irritation.
The Beast only resembles Harmony and Old Cordy in the broad sense that all
three are bitches. The details are very different. H and OC enjoy
hurting other people's feelings, the Beast is usually too self-involved to
notice anyone else's feelings at all. (All the while accusing everyone
else, in fluent selfhelpbookese, of ignoring HER feelings.) Heck, it
takes her a minute just to notice that Buffy has super strength.
Did you notice what, exactly, the Beast (her name isn't actually stated,
is it?) does to the second night watchman?
I've never quite been sure what the Dagon Sphere is doing in the parking
lot. Presumably the Monk brought it with him. Did he drop it while
running to the warehouse? If he relied on it for protection, you'd think
he would have noticed it was missing. Or did he leave it out there like a
mystical landmine for when the Beast arrives?
Buffy rolled that towel for the door to block the incense smell like she
had done it a hundred times before. Well, she does have a year of college
under her belt....
> AOQ rating: Decent
I'd call it Good. (And that's even after being reminded that Good is the
second of five levels, not four like I was thinking earlier.)
--Chris
______________________________________________________________________
chrisg [at] gwu.edu On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog.
Arbitrar Of Quality
> In article <e6dk9v$let$1...@nntp.aioe.org>, "Apteryx" <apt...@xtra.co.nz>
> wrote:
> > Yeah, what a nice guy. But an intern rather than a nurse.
>
> He calls himself a Man-Nurse in this episode.
>
> Ben: Hey, it's, uh, Buffy, isn't it?
> Buffy: Uh...
> Ben: Ben, but you can call me man-nurse. Everybody else here does.
Glad to see someone else remembered the line. Seriously, after a
comment like that, how can he not be referred to forever as Ben The
Man-Nurse?
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
> Did you notice what, exactly, the Beast (her name isn't actually stated,
> is it?) does to the second night watchman?
I didn't get that. Anyone have an explanation that wouldn't spoil
future episodes?
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
Rowan Hawthorn wrote:
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> > A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> > threads.
> >
> >
> > which The Beast tortures her prisoners. It's too long to spend on a
> > bunch of people we don't know, particularly not ones who're so
> > shrill and irritating. Her ditzy act not only isn't that
> > interesting, but is too reminiscent of Harmony for my taste. I don't
> > even like Harmony all that much, but she's more fun than this chick.
> > The again, so is a metal bat to the skull. I'd say The Beast
> > combines things that I don't like about BTVS-era Cordelia, Harmony,
> > and "Sense And Sensitivity" into one black hole of AOQ-irritation.
>
> That pretty much sums the character up for me, too.
Someone else with taste...
-AOQ
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
sticks her fingers in his brain
and then calms down
Don Sample
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
She stuck her fingers into his head, and sucked his brains out through
them.
George W Harris
<tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
Not really. Just, you should definitely notice it.
:
:-AOQ
--
/bud...@nirvana.net/h:k
Paul Hyett
>>
>> > Did you notice what, exactly, the Beast (her name isn't actually stated,
>> > is it?) does to the second night watchman?
>>
>> I didn't get that. Anyone have an explanation that wouldn't spoil
>> future episodes?
>
>them.
>
--
Paul 'Charts Fan' Hyett
Ian Galbraith
> V guvax NBD vf tbaan svaq guvf frnfba ybat vs ur qbrfa'g yvxr "Lbh'er zbfg
> fpehzgvbhf zntavsvprapr" V pbhyqa'g trg rabhtu bs ure.
My thoughts exactly.
--
You Can't Stop The Signal
(Harmony) Watcher
"Don Sample" <dsa...@synapse.net> wrote in message
news:dsample-76F02A...@news.giganews.com...
> In article <1150087357.5...@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>
> > chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
> >
> > > Did you notice what, exactly, the Beast (her name isn't actually
stated,
> > > is it?) does to the second night watchman?
> >
> > I didn't get that. Anyone have an explanation that wouldn't spoil
> > future episodes?
> >
> > -AOQ
>
> She stuck her fingers into his head, and sucked his brains out through
> them.
>
>
feeds on you. She injects some pre-digestive enzymes into the wound before
sucking out the brains. <snasvp>Vg jnf gur vawrpgvba bs gur ramlzr vagb gur
jbhaq gung pnhfrf ng yrnfg n zvyq ahzovat ohg zbfgyl arheb-cnenylfvf bs gur
ivpgvz. Guvf jbhyq rkcynva jul ivpgvzf jbhyq hfhnyyl tb phpxbb nsgrejneqf.
Va snpg, ab oenva znggre jnf fhpxrq bhg. Engure, gur zlfgvpny raretl
nffbpvngrq jvgu gur arhebaf jrer fhpxrq bhg. Ol erfgbevat gung zlfgvpny
raretl, n ivpgvz znl or noyr gb ertnva fnavgl.</snasvp>
==Harmony Watcher==
KenM47
>In article <1150087357.5...@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>
>> chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
>>
>> > Did you notice what, exactly, the Beast (her name isn't actually stated,
>> > is it?) does to the second night watchman?
>>
>> I didn't get that. Anyone have an explanation that wouldn't spoil
>> future episodes?
>>
>> -AOQ
>
>She stuck her fingers into his head, and sucked his brains out through
>them.
Well she sucked out something. I don't think it's right to call that
the "brains." More like whatever it is that separates the sane from
the insane.
Ken (Brooklyn)