AOQ Review 3-18: "Earshot"
Arbitrar Of Quality
threads.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Season Three, Episode 18: "Earshot"
(or "Why does that title sound so dirty? Is something wrong with
me?")
Writer: Jane Espenson
Director: Regis B. Kimble
Slayer, demons, fight scene, credits. "Earshot" proper opens with
Buffy still obsessing over the events of "Enemies" and her
suspicions of Angel, irrational or not. Conveniently enough, life
picks this moment to infect her with her very own bit o' demon too.
She goes right to Giles once the itching starts rather than dragging
that aspect of the episode out. But what that means is that the
episode finds other places to drag and take forever to get where it's
going.
There's some good stuff in "Earshot," but it's doled out in a
way that gets so slow and dull sometimes. For example, Buffy gets the
questionable gift of telepathy - anyone think she'll soon learn
that it's not such a gift? Anyone think maybe her friends will find
her hard to be around? Buffy and maybe Willow don't seem to
recognize the negative implications right away, but most people
who've ever watched TV probably did. And d'ya think if
mind-reading gets strong enough, it might not just be annoying, but
make it impossible to function? Well, surprise. It's impressive how
long the episode takes to get where it's going. And once we're
there, we still get things like Giles trying to tell reassuring lies.
*To a telepath.*
Along the way we get a lot of looks into people's minds. Some of it
is interesting (Espenson episodes seem to be full of good lines, at
least), some less so. The rare chance to get a sense of what kinds of
things Oz thinks about is worth a smile. And I guess Xander's
inability to do math when thinking about nudity was meant to be funny?
As for the central Buffy/Angel moment, yeah, we're back to on-again
after a fleeting bit of off-again, but the actual content of the scene
seems fresh. It's set up by Willow again being the voice of reason
("as always, I advise you to ask") but who listens to reason on
this show? There's some comedy-through-mannerisms stuff as Buffy
tries to peer into a vampire's mind. He sees right through it, and
I'm amazed at the tolerance - I wouldn't take it nearly so well
if someone tried that shit on me, but if anything, he seems a little
amused. Then he very directly tells her just what she needs to hear.
And then the scene-ending banter is great, ending with the classic
"I'm a funny guy." Say what you will about Angel, but when
he's on his game, the man knows how to defuse these situations.
By the way, opening the front door of a vampire's house during
daylight seems like the kind of thing one doesn't just brush away as
a casual mistake.
In an effective-enough development, Buffy is able to pick up someone
with destructive wishes in the dying moments of her telepathy's
usefulness. The others then have to take care of things and go
through the student body in a bunch of not particularly interesting
scenes. There's also a noteworthy (to me) example of how one excess
line can make a bit go bad: Willow taking charge and everyone just sort
of going along is pretty cute, but the goodwill gets thrown away with
the ill-advised "punchline."
I'd say that based on the last few episodes, Cordelia's a
full-fledged Scoobie again - hadn't expected young Mr. Wyndam-Pryce
to be part of the reason for it (especially given that he hadn't been
introduced yet when I was speculating about such things). And the
scene where she's reading Jonathan's note without it registering?
Still worthless. Since there's a little here about how Xander
relates to her, I guess I'll also mention that the two of them seem
to intentionally sit near each other and such, I guess so they can
insult each other more efficiently. Hmm.
And I suppose I was indeed mildly interested to find out how Larry was
handling being comfortable with his sexual identity, so I hereby
acknowledge that the scene existed. Not much more to say.
Angel continues to bring the cool, bringing back a demon's heart for
his girl and staggering through the daylight to deliver it. Hopefully
it'd just been sunrise, since it'd be lame if vampires could just
throw cloaks over themselves to avoid more than a mild sizzling. I
don't know what was up with the alleged "suspense moment" with
Buffy passing out after drinking the antidote.
Danny Strong makes it into the opening credits without dying... barely.
There's both some clever plotting and some idiot plotting where
Jonathan is concerned. The good comes when we have Willow questioning
him in a scene reminiscent of "Go Fish," stuck in the middle of a
bunch of other stuff. We remember that he was a red herring in GF, but
he's not so irrelevant here. Freddy works as a reasonable diversion
(and Oz's "no, it's fair" re: the Dingoes review is fun). The
bad comes from how blindingly obvious it is that Jonathan's
submission to the paper is a suicide note rather than a Columbine note.
Also, far be it from me to criticize the suicidal, but a sniper-rifle
that needs to be assembled would seem to be more trouble than it's
worth (unless, of course, you're engaged in a transparent attempt to
misdirect the audience).
The actual confrontation between Jon and Buffy is weakened by the fact
that, familiar face or no, Strong isn't much of an actor (here,
anyway). At least Gellar brings her usual A-game (also, another
quotable: "No... you're up in the clock tower with a high-powered
rifle because you wanna blend in"), and her acting is one of the
pieces that make the "it's deafening" monologue work. I think
the other piece is that even though it's a clunky speech, it's
appropriate to the situation for two reasons: first because when
you're talking to someone about whether life is worth living, the big
questions come to play. And second, because it's played as if Buffy
is working this stuff out for herself and having her own epiphany as
she's explaining it to him, which is a good vibe. I personally think
understanding that People in a general sense are too caught up in their
own problems to really care about you is a big part of the transition
to adulthood, but that may be just me. [Post-hoc note: In his comments
in the DVD box set, Joss calls this scene "a mission statement for
the show." I can see that.]
Forgettyitis note: Ugh. I mean, we all know Bufy is badass and such,
but are we supposed to believe that only one person looked up to see a
person noisily treating the law of gravity as if it were more of a
suggestion, and that she was able to dismiss it so easily?
Once we're done with the real climax of the episode, actually
stopping the killer is an afterthought, so it's played with a coating
of snappy humor. "I don't see this being settled with logic."
Heh.
And that covers just about everything. Except for what Buffy learns
from Joyce, who's trying to hide it. I don't recall the sex being
confirmed back in "Band Candy," so it's news to the viewer as
well. It's really just an extension of the mental place they were in
at the time, but I suppose Buffy can't be expected to be in the most
rational headspace. What'd be more interesting is to see if she
still has the same shocked outrage post-crisis. But this show just
ends with Buffy dropping her awareness on Giles (it'd have worked
even better if network TV allowed profanity)... and then that's it.
If I had my druthers, this would not be something one can just bring up
as a gag and then drop. It's easy to keep something on slow-burn if
one person doesn't know that the other one knows about it, but once
it's been brought up, I want ramifications and such. So if the next
episode begins with the characters talking about it, or a scene that
briefly suggests how such a conversation went, or a pointed attempt to
consciously not address it, I'll be happy. If we wait months for the
show to get around to bothering with the topic again, I shall be
somewhat cross.
Anyone care to speculate on why Giles wasn't the one whose thoughts
betrayed that particular secret? Mental discipline? Other concerns
pushing it aside (which would suggest that he didn't think it was a
big a deal as Joyce did)? Well, maybe you shouldn't speculate, given
that later shows might enlighten us more.
Mrs. Quality enjoyed this episode a lot, in part because it reminded
her of the experience of people with schizophrenia. For me, some
promising ingredients were in place, but the execution wasn't quite
happening. It has something about it that makes it intriguing, and I
can imagine my rating going up with re-watching, but for now it's
"Decent."
This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s)
- Snyder has "Walk Like An Egyptian" running through his head
- Newspaper headline: "Apathy on the rise, no one cares"
- Giles walking into the tree at the end
So...
One-sentence summary: Worthwhile ideas, at least.
AOQ rating: Decent
[Season Three so far:
1) "Anne" - Decent
2) "Dead Man's Party" - Excellent
3) "Faith, Hope, And Trick" - Good
4) "Beauty And The Beasts" - Decent
5) "Homecoming" - Good
6) "Band Candy" - Weak
7) "Revelations" - Good
8) "Lovers Walk" - Excellent
9) "The Wish" - Decent
10) "Amends" - Good
11) "Gingerbread" - Good
12) "Helpless" - Excellent
13) "The Zeppo" - Decent
14) "Bad Girls" - Good
15) "Consequences" - Excellent
16) "Doppelgängland" - Decent
17) "Enemies" - Good
18) "Earshot" - Decent]
vague disclaimer
What do you propose he does? "Buffy, you screwed but don't worry there's
a island in the middle of the Pacific. Hey, you can be company for the
other guy who went nuts"?
Sometimes you are just *so* wrong.
You need to read up on the mind set of the suicidal, Ritual is not
unimportant (and there was, fairly recently, a lively discussion here
about the *practicalities* of a short guy using a long rifle).
>
> The actual confrontation between Jon and Buffy is weakened by the fact
> that, familiar face or no, Strong isn't much of an actor (here,
> anyway). At least Gellar brings her usual A-game (also, another
> quotable: "No... you're up in the clock tower with a high-powered
> rifle because you wanna blend in"), and her acting is one of the
> pieces that make the "it's deafening" monologue work. I think
> the other piece is that even though it's a clunky speech, it's
> appropriate to the situation for two reasons: first because when
> you're talking to someone about whether life is worth living, the big
> questions come to play. And second, because it's played as if Buffy
> is working this stuff out for herself and having her own epiphany as
> she's explaining it to him, which is a good vibe. I personally think
> understanding that People in a general sense are too caught up in their
> own problems to really care about you is a big part of the transition
> to adulthood, but that may be just me. [Post-hoc note: In his comments
> in the DVD box set, Joss calls this scene "a mission statement for
> the show." I can see that.]
>
> Forgettyitis note: Ugh. I mean, we all know Bufy is badass and such,
> but are we supposed to believe that only one person looked up to see a
> person noisily treating the law of gravity as if it were more of a
> suggestion, and that she was able to dismiss it so easily?
Hehe.
> Once we're done with the real climax of the episode, actually
> stopping the killer is an afterthought, so it's played with a coating
> of snappy humor. "I don't see this being settled with logic."
> Heh.
>
> And that covers just about everything. Except for what Buffy learns
> from Joyce, who's trying to hide it. I don't recall the sex being
> confirmed back in "Band Candy," so it's news to the viewer as
> well. It's really just an extension of the mental place they were in
> at the time, but I suppose Buffy can't be expected to be in the most
> rational headspace. What'd be more interesting is to see if she
> still has the same shocked outrage post-crisis. But this show just
> ends with Buffy dropping her awareness on Giles (it'd have worked
> even better if network TV allowed profanity)... and then that's it.
> If I had my druthers, this would not be something one can just bring up
> as a gag and then drop.
That rather depends on whether it is an important part of the
storytelling, or just a nice piece of texture, does it not?
> It's easy to keep something on slow-burn if
> one person doesn't know that the other one knows about it, but once
> it's been brought up, I want ramifications and such. So if the next
> episode begins with the characters talking about it, or a scene that
> briefly suggests how such a conversation went, or a pointed attempt to
> consciously not address it, I'll be happy. If we wait months for the
> show to get around to bothering with the topic again, I shall be
> somewhat cross.
Hehe. Sort of (gur jnl vg vf cnvq bss vf abg, bs pbhefr, n 'urur'
zbzrag).
> Anyone care to speculate on why Giles wasn't the one whose thoughts
> betrayed that particular secret? Mental discipline? Other concerns
> pushing it aside (which would suggest that he didn't think it was a
> big a deal as Joyce did)? Well, maybe you shouldn't speculate, given
> that later shows might enlighten us more.
>
> Mrs. Quality enjoyed this episode a lot, in part because it reminded
> her of the experience of people with schizophrenia. For me, some
> promising ingredients were in place, but the execution wasn't quite
> happening. It has something about it that makes it intriguing, and I
> can imagine my rating going up with re-watching, but for now it's
> "Decent."
It certainly rewards re-watching.
--
A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend
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 Three, Episode 18: "Earshot"
> (or "Why does that title sound so dirty? Is something wrong with
> me?")
> Writer: Jane Espenson
> Director: Regis B. Kimble
I liked the way we got a look at the way most of the characters think.
Oz with his ongoing internal philosophical monologue, Willow thinking on
multiple channels, everything reminds Xander of sex (hey, he's a
teenaged boy) and everything Cordelia thinks comes straight out her
mouth.
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
kenm47
mixing all kinds of dark emotions yet often being very, very funny
(e.g., the Joyce/Giles stuff, Cordelia not having a thought that isn't
said, Oz' philosophising).
And somebody's crystal ball was really working too.
An Excellent(+) episode, IMO.
Ken (Brooklyn)
MBangel10 (Melissa)
I've got to say that when this episode originally aired, it surprised
me in that I had no idea what would happen to Buffy as her "demon gift"
got worse. The concept was still pretty new (to me) back then, at least
I don't remember a TV show that used that same power and had similar
consequences, prior to 'Earshot' (or I simply don't remember).
>
> Along the way we get a lot of looks into people's minds. Some of it
> is interesting (Espenson episodes seem to be full of good lines, at
> least), some less so. The rare chance to get a sense of what kinds of
> things Oz thinks about is worth a smile. And I guess Xander's
> inability to do math when thinking about nudity was meant to be funny?
The Oz moment was cute. Xander's was fairly typical.
>
> As for the central Buffy/Angel moment, yeah, we're back to on-again
> after a fleeting bit of off-again, but the actual content of the scene
> seems fresh. It's set up by Willow again being the voice of reason
> ("as always, I advise you to ask") but who listens to reason on
> this show? There's some comedy-through-mannerisms stuff as Buffy
> tries to peer into a vampire's mind. He sees right through it, and
> I'm amazed at the tolerance - I wouldn't take it nearly so well
> if someone tried that shit on me, but if anything, he seems a little
> amused. Then he very directly tells her just what she needs to hear.
> And then the scene-ending banter is great, ending with the classic
> "I'm a funny guy." Say what you will about Angel, but when
> he's on his game, the man knows how to defuse these situations.
That was one of my favorite scenes in the episode. You could really see
Buffy straining to read Angel's mind and him letting her try. It was
funny, and the conversation after a needed one.
>
> By the way, opening the front door of a vampire's house during
> daylight seems like the kind of thing one doesn't just *brush away as
> a casual mistake*.
Well no, but if it was a BIG mistake then there would be some brushing
away involved. ;)
>
<snip>
>
>
> And I suppose I was indeed mildly interested to find out how Larry was
> handling being comfortable with his sexual identity, so I hereby
> acknowledge that the scene existed. Not much more to say.
>
> Angel continues to bring the cool, bringing back a demon's heart for
> his girl and staggering through the daylight to deliver it. Hopefully
> it'd just been sunrise, since it'd be lame if vampires could just
> throw cloaks over themselves to avoid more than a mild sizzling.
Ummmm...............
>
> Danny Strong makes it into the opening credits without dying... barely.
> There's both some clever plotting and some idiot plotting where
> Jonathan is concerned. The good comes when we have Willow questioning
> him in a scene reminiscent of "Go Fish," stuck in the middle of a
> bunch of other stuff. We remember that he was a red herring in GF, but
> he's not so irrelevant here. Freddy works as a reasonable diversion
> (and Oz's "no, it's fair" re: the Dingoes review is fun). The
> bad comes from how blindingly obvious it is that Jonathan's
> submission to the paper is a suicide note rather than a Columbine note.
> Also, far be it from me to criticize the suicidal, but a sniper-rifle
> that needs to be assembled would seem to be more trouble than it's
> worth (unless, of course, you're engaged in a transparent attempt to
> misdirect the audience).
Also, why does he need a scope to point it at himself?
>
> The actual confrontation between Jon and Buffy is weakened by the fact
> that, familiar face or no, Strong isn't much of an actor (here,
> anyway). At least Gellar brings her usual A-game (also, another
> quotable: "No... you're up in the clock tower with a high-powered
> rifle because you wanna blend in"), and her acting is one of the
> pieces that make the "it's deafening" monologue work. I think
> the other piece is that even though it's a clunky speech, it's
> appropriate to the situation for two reasons: first because when
> you're talking to someone about whether life is worth living, the big
> questions come to play. And second, because it's played as if Buffy
> is working this stuff out for herself and having her own epiphany as
> she's explaining it to him, which is a good vibe. I personally think
> understanding that People in a general sense are too caught up in their
> own problems to really care about you is a big part of the transition
> to adulthood, but that may be just me.
It was something Jonathon needed to understand, and I think the part
was played just fine. It was a very effective scene for me. Jonathon
does depressed very well.
> Forgettyitis note: Ugh. I mean, we all know Bufy is badass and such,
> but are we supposed to believe that only one person looked up to see a
> person noisily treating the law of gravity as if it were more of a
> suggestion, and that she was able to dismiss it so easily?
I think the entire town is so used to 'odd things happening' nobody
gives a second look if it's not happening directly TO them.
>
> Once we're done with the real climax of the episode, actually
> stopping the killer is an afterthought, so it's played with a coating
> of snappy humor. "I don't see this being settled with logic."
> Heh.
>
There is nothing more dangerous than a Lunchlady set on revenge.
> <snip>
> Anyone care to speculate on why Giles wasn't the one whose thoughts
> betrayed that particular secret? Mental discipline? Other concerns
> pushing it aside (which would suggest that he didn't think it was a
> big a deal as Joyce did)? Well, maybe you shouldn't speculate, given
> that later shows might enlighten us more.
>
> Mrs. Quality enjoyed this episode a lot, in part because it reminded
> her of the experience of people with schizophrenia. For me, some
> promising ingredients were in place, but the execution wasn't quite
> happening. It has something about it that makes it intriguing, and I
> can imagine my rating going up with re-watching, but for now it's
> "Decent."
It will. This episode is in my top 5 of S3.
>
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s)
> - Snyder has "Walk Like An Egyptian" running through his head
> - Newspaper headline: "Apathy on the rise, no one cares"
> - Giles walking into the tree at the end
The tree scene always gets a chuckle from me, no matter how many times
I've seen it.
Opus the Penguin
> Also, far be it from me to criticize the suicidal, but a sniper-rifle
> that needs to be assembled would seem to be more trouble than it's
> worth (unless, of course, you're engaged in a transparent attempt to
> misdirect the audience).
If that's the only gun you have access to, that's the gun you're going
to use. The real question is why bother to thread your way through a
crowd of students and climb a clock tower in order to find the perfect
place to off yourself.
--
Opus the Penguin
The best darn penguin in all of Usenet
kenm47
all kinds of levels, even just plain old "double standard" that Joyce
would guilt trip over it and worry about it being found out when she
finds out that daughter Buffy has telepathic powers. I mean, after all,
"Twice!"
Giles had other things on his mind, ex-Watcher status notwithstanding,
mainly seeing that his Slayer recovers. And even when he first learns
of her "aspect," it makes sense for Giles to focus on how it helps and
not just have sex with Joyce come leaping to mind.
Re Jonathan and the rifle as a suicide weapon. I'm no shrink, but IIRC
from college courses and discussions many, many years ago, most
intended suicides that leave a note want to be discovered and stopped,
while the noteless less so. So, the assembly and difficulty of using a
rifle would add to the time required and therefore additional
opportunity for someone else to stop it before it happens.
Ken (Brooklyn)
gree...@gmail.com
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> One-sentence summary: Worthwhile ideas, at least.
>
> AOQ rating: Decent
After I first saw this episode, before it aired on the WB but well
after the next two episodes, I'd have argued your rating. But it
doesn't hold up well against multiple viewings, so yeah, decent.
-- Terry
Rowan Hawthorn
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Three, Episode 18: "Earshot"
> (or "Why does that title sound so dirty? Is something wrong with
> me?")
Quite possibly, but we'll forgo that for now... :-)
> I'd say that based on the last few episodes, Cordelia's a
> full-fledged Scoobie again - hadn't expected young Mr. Wyndam-Pryce
> to be part of the reason for it (especially given that he hadn't been
> introduced yet when I was speculating about such things). And the
> scene where she's reading Jonathan's note without it registering?
> Still worthless. Since there's a little here about how Xander
> relates to her, I guess I'll also mention that the two of them seem
> to intentionally sit near each other and such, I guess so they can
> insult each other more efficiently. Hmm.
Well, sure. It's no fun insulting someone who isn't there to hear it.
Along with as many other people as possible.
> Danny Strong makes it into the opening credits without dying... barely.
> There's both some clever plotting and some idiot plotting where
> Jonathan is concerned. The good comes when we have Willow questioning
> him in a scene reminiscent of "Go Fish," stuck in the middle of a
> bunch of other stuff. We remember that he was a red herring in GF, but
> he's not so irrelevant here. Freddy works as a reasonable diversion
> (and Oz's "no, it's fair" re: the Dingoes review is fun). The
> bad comes from how blindingly obvious it is that Jonathan's
> submission to the paper is a suicide note rather than a Columbine note.
> Also, far be it from me to criticize the suicidal, but a sniper-rifle
> that needs to be assembled would seem to be more trouble than it's
> worth (unless, of course, you're engaged in a transparent attempt to
> misdirect the audience).
Or unless that was the only gun in his home (by the way, it's really not
a "sniper rifle," it's just a take-down model hunting rifle.) Oddly
enough, lots of people who own rifles or shotguns wouldn't be caught
dead owning a pistol. Thanks in large part to television.
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s)
> - Snyder has "Walk Like An Egyptian" running through his head
> - Newspaper headline: "Apathy on the rise, no one cares"
> - Giles walking into the tree at the end
Willow's obviously enjoying grilling Jonathan just a *little* too much.
And her just as obvious disappointment when he caves so easily and it
turns into a waste of time.
--
Rowan Hawthorn
"Occasionally, I'm callous and strange." - Willow Rosenberg, "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer"
Rowan Hawthorn
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>
> Well, sure. It's no fun insulting someone who isn't there to hear it.
> Along with as many other people as possible.
>
>> Danny Strong makes it into the opening credits without dying... barely.
>> There's both some clever plotting and some idiot plotting where
>> Jonathan is concerned. The good comes when we have Willow questioning
>> him in a scene reminiscent of "Go Fish," stuck in the middle of a
>> bunch of other stuff. We remember that he was a red herring in GF, but
>> he's not so irrelevant here. Freddy works as a reasonable diversion
>> (and Oz's "no, it's fair" re: the Dingoes review is fun). The
>> bad comes from how blindingly obvious it is that Jonathan's
>> submission to the paper is a suicide note rather than a Columbine note.
>> Also, far be it from me to criticize the suicidal, but a sniper-rifle
>> that needs to be assembled would seem to be more trouble than it's
>> worth (unless, of course, you're engaged in a transparent attempt to
>> misdirect the audience).
>
>
> Or unless that was the only gun in his home (by the way, it's really not
> a "sniper rifle," it's just a take-down model hunting rifle.) Oddly
> enough, lots of people who own rifles or shotguns wouldn't be caught
> dead owning a pistol. Thanks in large part to television.
>
Oops, forgot: Also in large part to the fact that most people can't hit
a bull in the ass at three feet with a pistol (and a good portion of
those think it *can't* be done, thanks in large part to television shows
through the years and their idiotic lines about <fitb about twenty yards
away> being "out of pistol range.")
vague disclaimer
Opus the Penguin <opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Arbitrar Of Quality (tsm...@wildmail.com) wrote:
>
> > Also, far be it from me to criticize the suicidal, but a sniper-rifle
> > that needs to be assembled would seem to be more trouble than it's
> > worth (unless, of course, you're engaged in a transparent attempt to
> > misdirect the audience).
>
> If that's the only gun you have access to, that's the gun you're going
> to use. The real question is why bother to thread your way through a
> crowd of students and climb a clock tower in order to find the perfect
> place to off yourself.
To make a statement.
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
> Season Three, Episode 18: "Earshot"
> (or "Why does that title sound so dirty? Is something wrong with
> me?")
> Writer: Jane Espenson
> Director: Regis B. Kimble
>
> is interesting (Espenson episodes seem to be full of good lines, at
> least),
Oh, yes. Some others worth mentioning:
"Was it a boy demon?" (And somehow "boy" is far funnier than "male" would
have been.)
"Look at her shoes. If a fashion magazine told her to, she'd wear cats
strapped to her feet." (According to the commentary, this was a Joss
addition.)
"We talked, then he ripped out the heart of a demon and fed it to me, then
we talked some more." "See, that's the way it should work."
"What am I, Saint Buffy? He's like three feet tall!"
"Infect? ... Infect?" (Giles continues reading.) "Giles -- INFECT?!"
Though it's really the delivery that's funny.
Not a line at all, but: Xander and the lunchlady's silent, frozen moment
of eye contact.
> And I guess Xander's
> inability to do math when thinking about nudity was meant to be funny?
More precisely, inability to do math when thinking about nudity WHILE
knowing Buffy was reading his mind. Not quite as dumb as "Bitca?" from
WSWB. (Though not as catchphrase-worthy, either.)
> this show? There's some comedy-through-mannerisms stuff as Buffy
> tries to peer into a vampire's mind. He sees right through it, and
> I'm amazed at the tolerance - I wouldn't take it nearly so well
> if someone tried that shit on me, but if anything, he seems a little
> amused.
Easier to be amused if you know ahead of time that she'll try it, and that
it won't work. He probably would have been quite upset if there was a
chance it could have worked.
> Forgettyitis note: Ugh. I mean, we all know Bufy is badass and such,
> but are we supposed to believe that only one person looked up to see a
> person noisily treating the law of gravity as if it were more of a
> suggestion, and that she was able to dismiss it so easily?
Ah, but you see, it's part of the theme: all the students were too caught
up in their own affairs to notice anything unless they were looking right
at Buffy.... Okay, they probably didn't plan it that way, but it still
works, kind of.
--Chris
______________________________________________________________________
chrisg [at] gwu.edu On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog.
Sam
the people watching it at the time because it was one of the
'forbidden' episodes. This episode was originally supposed to air
literally within a day or two of the Columbine shootings.
Unsurprisingly, the network decided against airing an episode which
contains jokes about school shootings two days after Columbine.
It didn't actaully air until well into the summer rerun season, as a
special presentation dealie. By then, a small percentage of fans had
seen it over the internet, but this was back in the days before cheap
broadband, let alone BitTorrent, and pirating TV shows was nowhere near
the passtime it is these days. So it was pretty much a choice between
watching a grainy, low-quality RealVideo copy that constantly moved
around the net as network execs tried to find every site offering it
and shut it down, or waiting months until it aired on the WB.
The same thing happened with the second half of the season finale,
frustratingly. (Columbine really did a number on a show which
prominantly features violence in a high school.) Joss Whedon publically
encouraged the show's fans to bootleg that one. The network wasn't
super-happy about that, as you might imagine.
kenm47
I think someday if someone can figure out how to get the statistics, it
will also show that this event re "Buffy" in particular pretty much
created, or at least seriously increased, the idea of file swapping on
the net. It helped that in the USA for a long time Buffy was not
available on VHS or DVD (the good old days when shows weren't DVD'd
between seasons as they are now) even though available in England.
Here Buffy filled the traditional role that pornography has had -
taking advantage of and encouraging new technologies for distribution
of product.
Ken (Brooklyn)
William George Ferguson
wrote:
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
What, you didn't like the look inside Cordy's mind?
Also, didn't the look inside Willow's mind reinforce a lot of what you've
felt about her character?
>As for the central Buffy/Angel moment, yeah, we're back to on-again
>after a fleeting bit of off-again, but the actual content of the scene
>seems fresh. It's set up by Willow again being the voice of reason
>("as always, I advise you to ask") but who listens to reason on
>this show? There's some comedy-through-mannerisms stuff as Buffy
>tries to peer into a vampire's mind. He sees right through it, and
>I'm amazed at the tolerance - I wouldn't take it nearly so well
>if someone tried that shit on me, but if anything, he seems a little
>amused. Then he very directly tells her just what she needs to hear.
>And then the scene-ending banter is great, ending with the classic
>"I'm a funny guy." Say what you will about Angel, but when
>he's on his game, the man knows how to defuse these situations.
>
>By the way, opening the front door of a vampire's house during
>daylight seems like the kind of thing one doesn't just brush away as
>a casual mistake.
Well, the front door of a vampire's house with lots of windows, and a
skylight over the atrium (Spike got to hang a lantern on the unsuitability
of that mansion as a vampire's home back in season 2).
>In an effective-enough development, Buffy is able to pick up someone
>with destructive wishes in the dying moments of her telepathy's
>usefulness. The others then have to take care of things and go
>through the student body in a bunch of not particularly interesting
>scenes. There's also a noteworthy (to me) example of how one excess
>line can make a bit go bad: Willow taking charge and everyone just sort
>of going along is pretty cute, but the goodwill gets thrown away with
>the ill-advised "punchline."
>
>I'd say that based on the last few episodes, Cordelia's a
>full-fledged Scoobie again - hadn't expected young Mr. Wyndam-Pryce
>to be part of the reason for it (especially given that he hadn't been
>introduced yet when I was speculating about such things). And the
>scene where she's reading Jonathan's note without it registering?
>Still worthless. Since there's a little here about how Xander
>relates to her, I guess I'll also mention that the two of them seem
>to intentionally sit near each other and such, I guess so they can
>insult each other more efficiently. Hmm.
There's also the fact that since Harmony has led her Cordettes into
rebellion, Cordy doesn't really have an elsewhere to be.
>And I suppose I was indeed mildly interested to find out how Larry was
>handling being comfortable with his sexual identity, so I hereby
>acknowledge that the scene existed. Not much more to say.
And his willingness to help Xander reach the same comfort level.
>Angel continues to bring the cool, bringing back a demon's heart for
>his girl and staggering through the daylight to deliver it. Hopefully
>it'd just been sunrise, since it'd be lame if vampires could just
>throw cloaks over themselves to avoid more than a mild sizzling. I
>don't know what was up with the alleged "suspense moment" with
>Buffy passing out after drinking the antidote.
>
>Danny Strong makes it into the opening credits without dying... barely.
> There's both some clever plotting and some idiot plotting where
>Jonathan is concerned. The good comes when we have Willow questioning
>him in a scene reminiscent of "Go Fish," stuck in the middle of a
>bunch of other stuff. We remember that he was a red herring in GF, but
>he's not so irrelevant here. Freddy works as a reasonable diversion
>(and Oz's "no, it's fair" re: the Dingoes review is fun). The
>bad comes from how blindingly obvious it is that Jonathan's
>submission to the paper is a suicide note rather than a Columbine note.
> Also, far be it from me to criticize the suicidal, but a sniper-rifle
>that needs to be assembled would seem to be more trouble than it's
>worth (unless, of course, you're engaged in a transparent attempt to
>misdirect the audience).
To be fair, lots of people choose to commit suicide with inappropriate
firearms. Kurt Cobain shot himself in the head with a shotgun.
This was much debated after we finally got to see the episode (six months
or so later). It never really bothered me, I just figured that was the gun
he could easily get his hands on.
>Mrs. Quality enjoyed this episode a lot, in part because it reminded
>her of the experience of people with schizophrenia. For me, some
>promising ingredients were in place, but the execution wasn't quite
>happening. It has something about it that makes it intriguing, and I
>can imagine my rating going up with re-watching, but for now it's
>"Decent."
>
>This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s)
>- Snyder has "Walk Like An Egyptian" running through his head
>- Newspaper headline: "Apathy on the rise, no one cares"
>- Giles walking into the tree at the end
Buffy telling Willow about getting a 'demon part'.
Willow: "Oh! Was it a boy demon?"
--
HERBERT
1996 - 1997
Beloved Mascot
Delightful Meal
He fed the Pack
A little
Don Sample
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
> "What am I, Saint Buffy? He's like three feet tall!"
And for a very long time the only non-child we ever saw on the show who
was shorter than Buffy (Even Principal Snyder had a couple of inches on
her.)
burt...@hotmail.com
Don Sample wrote:
> In article <1143477611....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> "Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
>
> > A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> > threads.
> >
> >
> > BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> > Season Three, Episode 18: "Earshot"
> > (or "Why does that title sound so dirty? Is something wrong with
> > me?")
> > Writer: Jane Espenson
> > Director: Regis B. Kimble
>
>
> I liked the way we got a look at the way most of the characters think.
> Oz with his ongoing internal philosophical monologue, Willow thinking on
> multiple channels, everything reminds Xander of sex (hey, he's a
> teenaged boy)
Meh. I was a teenaged boy once and I can say with absolute certainty
that Xander's thoughts here were a ridiculously over-the-top (and
unfunny) caricature. Honestly, if Xander's brain really worked the way
it was depicted in this episode, he wouldn't be able to so much as tie
his shoes without help.
Don Sample
It isn't forgettyitis at this point, so much as they're all getting
pretty blasé about the weird stuff that goes on around the school, and
Buffy's involvement in it.
Daniel Damouth
news:1143477611....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
> (Espenson episodes seem to be full of good lines, at
> least)
Ahh, the parenthetical dismissal of all I care about most.
-Dan Damouth
Mike Zeares
"Earshot" is my favorite "normal" Buffy episode, and my choice for the
best single episode (i.e. it's not part of a two-parter, and not one of
the fancy gimmick episodes that come later in the series. It shouldn't
be too much of a surprise to hear that Buffy has those, since you've
watched television before). I can't disagree more that it's
slow-moving and dull in parts. I just watched it yesterday and was
thinking how fast-moving and interesting it still is.
It's not perfect. Here's what doesn't work:
1. The lines in the classroom scene where Buffy asks Willow who the
newspaper editor is. That's just clumsy exposition -- I can't really
buy that Buffy wouldn't know the people in the class. The audience had
to be told who he was, but there were less clumsy ways to do it.
2. Jonathan's rifle is blatant misdirection that doesn't work for a
lot of people. I'm ok with it, because I just assume that the rifle is
the only weapon he was able to get ahold of. I wasn't annoyed with it
as I was with the misdirect in "Gingerbread," probably because I like
"Earshot" so much more.
Everything else is gold, as far as I'm concerned. If I start quoting
great lines I'll practically do the whole script. BtVS habitually
undercuts its horror and drama with humor (often of the dumb kind), but
this is the only episode that I think really counts as a black comedy.
A few of the lines were just chilling, knowing that this ep was
originally going to run in the week following the Columbine massacre
(it finally ran in September).
> Mrs. Quality enjoyed this episode a lot, in part because it reminded
> her of the experience of people with schizophrenia. For me, some
> promising ingredients were in place, but the execution wasn't quite
> happening. It has something about it that makes it intriguing, and I
> can imagine my rating going up with re-watching, but for now it's
> "Decent."
Maybe Mrs. Quality should do a review. I'd love to see her
perspective. Since it's obviously better than yours. [joke]
> This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s)
> - Snyder has "Walk Like An Egyptian" running through his head
> - Newspaper headline: "Apathy on the rise, no one cares"
Did you catch Oz's comment that he always goes straight to the obits?
> - Giles walking into the tree at the end
Never not funny.
For some reason, I'm tickled by:
Xander: [re: the cheerleaders] They really are good.
Oz: Well, their spelling's improved.
Maybe it was the fact that they'd just spelled out Tom. The whole rat
poison thing was really stupid too, but I laughed.
-- Mike Zeares
Kevin
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> The actual confrontation between Jon and Buffy is weakened by the fact
> that, familiar face or no, Strong isn't much of an actor (here,
> anyway). At least Gellar brings her usual A-game
Espenson, for some reason, talks about him like he's the greatest thing
since very small, sliced white bread. But I'm with you in the <shrug>
"eh" camp.
But the biggest flaw has got to be the casting of the SMALL THIN STUNT
DOUBLE for the BIG FAT LUNCH LADY. Ha! Many viewers even thought it
looked like a small *man*, though ME insists it was a woman.
Otherwise, that scene was great, and the pregnant pause when Xander
gets caught taking jello, while catching her with the giant tub of rat
poison, was priceless.
Oh, speaking of Jane, her "Earshot" DVD commentary is one of my
favorites. I guess it's best you continue to avoid them (spoilers,
y'know)... Perhaps others could comment on whether Joss's "Innocence"
commentary is now safe for AOQ? You should definitely listen to that
one, and of course WTTH/TH, whenever it's lowered to Spoiler Alert Code
Green. :)
Random thought: Kristine Sutherland is just great. I love her
performance almost all the time, even the brief scenes in Earshot.
Espenson gave her some fine material, especially in Gingerbread, but BC
and Earshot too. KS gets my vote for best TV mom.
Earshot, for me, is ultimately in the Top 3 of Season 3, and may even
outscore The Zeppo and Doppelgangland.
--Kevin
Apteryx
news:1143477611....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
>threads.
>BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
>Season Three, Episode 18: "Earshot"
>(or "Why does that title sound so dirty? Is something wrong with
>me?")
>Writer: Jane Espenson
>Director: Regis B. Kimble
>There's some good stuff in "Earshot," but it's doled out in a
>way that gets so slow and dull sometimes.
Its because there are opportunities for humor along the way:
Is this the thing? The aspect thing? Because I gotta say, if it is, it is
way better than a tail. I mean, I have a hard enough time finding jeans that
fit right.
GILES It could be very useful. You could anticipate your opponent's every
move. Turn his plans against him.
BUFFY Oh, way better than that. Cut to Buffy in literature class.
The cut from "But you never really see what's in someone's heart" to Buffy
trying out her new power on Angel
ANGEL I'm a funny guy.
The gang's personalities displayed in their thoughts, especially Cordelia
WESLEY "Look at Cordelia. No! Don't look at Cordelia! She's a student! Oh I
am a bad man. I'm a bad, bad man!", followed by the look Buffy gives him
And above all, though its later:
You had sex with Giles?!
YOU HAD SEX WITH GILES?!
On the hood of a police car?!?
TWICE!!!!
People like humour - well, not you obviously, but most people
>In an effective-enough development, Buffy is able to pick up someone
>with destructive wishes in the dying moments of her telepathy's
>usefulness. The others then have to take care of things and go
>through the student body in a bunch of not particularly interesting
>scenes. There's also a noteworthy (to me) example of how one excess
>line can make a bit go bad: Willow taking charge and everyone just sort
>of going along is pretty cute, but the goodwill gets thrown away with
>the ill-advised "punchline."
It's her leadership style - and of course the reason why she is not a
natural leader, i.e., someone who can inspire followers to perform. Maybe
that's why they do such a half-arsed job of the investigation until Xander
blunders onto the answer. It is significant though that they do not rely on
the obvious leader - Giles. Again, the show is making the point that this
season is about outgrowing adult guidance - even if the whole student body
of Sunnydale High have to die as a result.
>Angel continues to bring the cool, bringing back a demon's heart for
>his girl and staggering through the daylight to deliver it. Hopefully
>it'd just been sunrise, since it'd be lame if vampires could just
>throw cloaks over themselves to avoid more than a mild sizzling.
Lrnu, gung jbhyq or onq...
>The
>bad comes from how blindingly obvious it is that Jonathan's
>submission to the paper is a suicide note rather than a Columbine note.
Didn't the Columbine shooters also kill themselves? Obviously you are less
likely to leave a note if you are going to kill a bunch of other people
first, because of the chances of your plans being permanently thwarted is
greater if your note is read too soon, but it doesn't seem like something a
person would never do.
>Forgettyitis note: Ugh. I mean, we all know Bufy is badass and such,
>but are we supposed to believe that only one person looked up to see a
>person noisily treating the law of gravity as if it were more of a
>suggestion, and that she was able to dismiss it so easily?
The last beat of a reasonably funny running gag.
>rational headspace. What'd be more interesting is to see if she
>still has the same shocked outrage post-crisis. But this show just
>ends with Buffy dropping her awareness on Giles
Just? JUST?
>Anyone care to speculate on why Giles wasn't the one whose thoughts
>betrayed that particular secret? Mental discipline? Other concerns
As soon as they knew Buffy was reading their thoughts, several characters
started thinking about whatever they least wanted Buffy to find out, as
Wesley pointed out (like the experiment of trying to sit in silence for 5
minutes not thinking of an elephant). For Joyce, that was her sleeping with
Giles. For Giles, it was the fact that she would go insane.
>So...
>One-sentence summary: Worthwhile ideas, at least.
>AOQ rating: Decent
I can see why you'd rate it so low, because the best bits of it are the
humour. For me, its Excellent, even though the bar I have set for that grade
is a high one - only 17 BtVS episodes reach it or the higher "Superb" grade.
This in fact is my 17th favourite BtVS episode (so the least Excellent of
the Excellent ones), 2nd best in Season 3.
--
Apteryx
Rowan Hawthorn
> FINALLY I can vehemently disagree with you again.
>
> "Earshot" is my favorite "normal" Buffy episode, and my choice for the
> best single episode (i.e. it's not part of a two-parter, and not one of
> the fancy gimmick episodes that come later in the series. It shouldn't
> be too much of a surprise to hear that Buffy has those, since you've
> watched television before). I can't disagree more that it's
> slow-moving and dull in parts. I just watched it yesterday and was
> thinking how fast-moving and interesting it still is.
>
> It's not perfect. Here's what doesn't work:
>
> 1. The lines in the classroom scene where Buffy asks Willow who the
> newspaper editor is. That's just clumsy exposition -- I can't really
> buy that Buffy wouldn't know the people in the class.
I knew everyone in my class, but I didn't have a clue who was editor of
the newspaper - mainly, because I never looked at it, since I knew in
general who made up the group of students in the newspaper club (here's
a hint: in *my* school, they weren't the geeks, nerds *or* outcasts...)
Mike Zeares
Rowan Hawthorn wrote:
> >
> > 1. The lines in the classroom scene where Buffy asks Willow who the
> > newspaper editor is. That's just clumsy exposition -- I can't really
> > buy that Buffy wouldn't know the people in the class.
>
> I knew everyone in my class, but I didn't have a clue who was editor of
> the newspaper - mainly, because I never looked at it, since I knew in
> general who made up the group of students in the newspaper club (here's
> a hint: in *my* school, they weren't the geeks, nerds *or* outcasts...)
Buffy didn't even seem to know his name. That's what I found clumsy
about it. It may be just me, though.
-- Mike Zeares
vmac...@yahoo.com
-And that covers just about everything. Except for what Buffy learns
from Joyce, who's trying to hide it. I don't recall the sex being
confirmed back in "Band Candy," so it's news to the viewer as
well. -
At the very end of 'BC', Buffy says something like "Well, at least it
wore off before you two had a chance to do something *really* stupid."
Giles and Joyce both hem and haw a bit before zipping off in opposite
directions. Pretty much spelled it out for me!
VMacek
Michael Ikeda
news:dsample-2727D1...@news.giganews.com:
> In article <122gddc...@corp.supernews.com>,
> chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
>
>> "What am I, Saint Buffy? He's like three feet tall!"
>
> And for a very long time the only non-child we ever saw on the
> show who was shorter than Buffy (Even Principal Snyder had a
> couple of inches on her.)
>
Although I seem to recall that Danny is actually slightly taller than
Sarah.
--
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
drifter
I think it's more along the lines of "For the next 60 seconds, DON'T
think about a white elephant." He couldn't stop thinking about sex
because he knew he shouldn't; Buffy would find it inappropriate.
Plus, of course, you're not representative af *all* teenage boys. I've
known several who could have left Xander in the dust, sex-thinking-
wise.
--
Kel
"I reject your reality, and substitute my own."
Don Sample
Michael Ikeda <mmi...@erols.com> wrote:
> Don Sample <dsa...@synapse.net> wrote in
> news:dsample-2727D1...@news.giganews.com:
>
> > In article <122gddc...@corp.supernews.com>,
> > chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
> >
> >> "What am I, Saint Buffy? He's like three feet tall!"
> >
> > And for a very long time the only non-child we ever saw on the
> > show who was shorter than Buffy (Even Principal Snyder had a
> > couple of inches on her.)
> >
>
> Although I seem to recall that Danny is actually slightly taller than
> Sarah.
IMDB has SMG at 5'3" Danny Strong is listed as being 5'2".
Don Sample
"Mike Zeares" <mze...@yahoo.com> wrote:
When I was in high school there were kids in my classes whose names I
didn't know.
BTR1701
Don Sample <dsa...@synapse.net> wrote:
> In article <122gddc...@corp.supernews.com>,
> chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
>
> > "What am I, Saint Buffy? He's like three feet tall!"
>
> And for a very long time the only non-child we ever saw on the show who
> was shorter than Buffy (Even Principal Snyder had a couple of inches on
> her.)
The guy really is close to midget size. I was standing next to him once
at a Buffy event in L.A. and I didn't realize it was him. I thought he
was someone's kid.
MBangel10 (Melissa)
there is no way I could have told you who the editor was. I had too many
other things to think about.
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
Don Sample <dsa...@synapse.net> wrote:
> In article <4aWdnT0aUuIk5LXZ...@rcn.net>,
> Michael Ikeda <mmi...@erols.com> wrote:
>
> > Don Sample <dsa...@synapse.net> wrote in
> > news:dsample-2727D1...@news.giganews.com:
> >
> > > In article <122gddc...@corp.supernews.com>,
> > > chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
> > >
> > >> "What am I, Saint Buffy? He's like three feet tall!"
> > >
> > > And for a very long time the only non-child we ever saw on the
> > > show who was shorter than Buffy (Even Principal Snyder had a
> > > couple of inches on her.)
> > >
> >
> > Although I seem to recall that Danny is actually slightly taller than
> > Sarah.
>
> IMDB has SMG at 5'3" Danny Strong is listed as being 5'2".
(hums randy newman music)
arf meow arf - nsa fodder
al qaeda terrorism nuclear bomb iran taliban big brother
if you meet buddha on the usenet killfile him
EGK
>"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
>>There's some good stuff in "Earshot," but it's doled out in a
>>way that gets so slow and dull sometimes.
>
>Its because there are opportunities for humor along the way:
>ANGEL I'm a funny guy.
I was wondering if anyone would mention that scene. It always makes me
laugh.
ANGEL And Buffy, be careful with this gift. A lot of things that seem strong
and good and powerful, they can be painful.
BUFFY Like say, immortality?
ANGEL Exactly, I'm dying to get rid of that.
BUFFY Funny.
ANGEL I'm a funny guy.
As you point out, It's not really the joke but Angel's deadpan (no pun
intended) "I'm a funny guy" that always gets me.
I'd also rate Earshot as excellent and agree with you that Arbiter's funny
bone seems slightly askew. He seems to get bored with the funny and likes
the episodes with plot progression. If he continuest, it's going to be
interesting to see how that translates to the later seasons.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"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)
Don Sample
"MBangel10 (Melissa)" <mban...@comcast.net> wrote:
Buffy's question wasn't "What does that guy do around the school?" It
was "Who is he?" To which Willow gave his name, and added the
unsolicited information that he was the editor of the school paper, in
an obvious piece of plot important exposition.
hopelessly devoted
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for later episodes in these review
> threads.
>
>
> BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
> Season Three, Episode 18: "Earshot"
> (or "Why does that title sound so dirty? Is something wrong with
> me?")
> Writer: Jane Espenson
> Director: Regis B. Kimble
>
> Buffy still obsessing over the events of "Enemies" and her
> suspicions of Angel, irrational or not. Conveniently enough, life
> picks this moment to infect her with her very own bit o' demon too.
> She goes right to Giles once the itching starts rather than dragging
> that aspect of the episode out. But what that means is that the
> episode finds other places to drag and take forever to get where it's
> going.
>
> questionable gift of telepathy - anyone think she'll soon learn
> that it's not such a gift? Anyone think maybe her friends will find
> her hard to be around? Buffy and maybe Willow don't seem to
> recognize the negative implications right away, but most people
> who've ever watched TV probably did. And d'ya think if
> mind-reading gets strong enough, it might not just be annoying, but
> make it impossible to function? Well, surprise. It's impressive how
> long the episode takes to get where it's going. And once we're
> there, we still get things like Giles trying to tell reassuring lies.
> *To a telepath.*
>
> Along the way we get a lot of looks into people's minds. Some of it
> is interesting (Espenson episodes seem to be full of good lines, at
> least), some less so. The rare chance to get a sense of what kinds of
> things Oz thinks about is worth a smile. And I guess Xander's
> inability to do math when thinking about nudity was meant to be funny?
>
> after a fleeting bit of off-again, but the actual content of the scene
> seems fresh. It's set up by Willow again being the voice of reason
> ("as always, I advise you to ask") but who listens to reason on
> this show? There's some comedy-through-mannerisms stuff as Buffy
> tries to peer into a vampire's mind. He sees right through it, and
> I'm amazed at the tolerance - I wouldn't take it nearly so well
> if someone tried that shit on me, but if anything, he seems a little
> amused. Then he very directly tells her just what she needs to hear.
> And then the scene-ending banter is great, ending with the classic
> "I'm a funny guy." Say what you will about Angel, but when
> he's on his game, the man knows how to defuse these situations.
>
> By the way, opening the front door of a vampire's house during
> daylight seems like the kind of thing one doesn't just brush away as
> a casual mistake.
>
> with destructive wishes in the dying moments of her telepathy's
> usefulness. The others then have to take care of things and go
> through the student body in a bunch of not particularly interesting
> scenes. There's also a noteworthy (to me) example of how one excess
> line can make a bit go bad: Willow taking charge and everyone just sort
> of going along is pretty cute, but the goodwill gets thrown away with
> the ill-advised "punchline."
>
> full-fledged Scoobie again - hadn't expected young Mr. Wyndam-Pryce
> to be part of the reason for it (especially given that he hadn't been
> introduced yet when I was speculating about such things). And the
> scene where she's reading Jonathan's note without it registering?
> Still worthless. Since there's a little here about how Xander
> relates to her, I guess I'll also mention that the two of them seem
> to intentionally sit near each other and such, I guess so they can
> insult each other more efficiently. Hmm.
>
> handling being comfortable with his sexual identity, so I hereby
> acknowledge that the scene existed. Not much more to say.
>
> his girl and staggering through the daylight to deliver it. Hopefully
> it'd just been sunrise, since it'd be lame if vampires could just
> don't know what was up with the alleged "suspense moment" with
> Buffy passing out after drinking the antidote.
>
> Danny Strong makes it into the opening credits without dying... barely.
> There's both some clever plotting and some idiot plotting where
> Jonathan is concerned. The good comes when we have Willow questioning
> him in a scene reminiscent of "Go Fish," stuck in the middle of a
> bunch of other stuff. We remember that he was a red herring in GF, but
> he's not so irrelevant here. Freddy works as a reasonable diversion
> bad comes from how blindingly obvious it is that Jonathan's
> submission to the paper is a suicide note rather than a Columbine note.
> that needs to be assembled would seem to be more trouble than it's
> worth (unless, of course, you're engaged in a transparent attempt to
> misdirect the audience).
>
> that, familiar face or no, Strong isn't much of an actor (here,
> quotable: "No... you're up in the clock tower with a high-powered
> rifle because you wanna blend in"), and her acting is one of the
> pieces that make the "it's deafening" monologue work. I think
> the other piece is that even though it's a clunky speech, it's
> appropriate to the situation for two reasons: first because when
> you're talking to someone about whether life is worth living, the big
> questions come to play. And second, because it's played as if Buffy
> is working this stuff out for herself and having her own epiphany as
> she's explaining it to him, which is a good vibe. I personally think
> understanding that People in a general sense are too caught up in their
> own problems to really care about you is a big part of the transition
> to adulthood, but that may be just me. [Post-hoc note: In his comments
> in the DVD box set, Joss calls this scene "a mission statement for
> the show." I can see that.]
>
> Forgettyitis note: Ugh. I mean, we all know Bufy is badass and such,
> but are we supposed to believe that only one person looked up to see a
> person noisily treating the law of gravity as if it were more of a
> suggestion, and that she was able to dismiss it so easily?
>
> stopping the killer is an afterthought, so it's played with a coating
> of snappy humor. "I don't see this being settled with logic."
> Heh.
>
> And that covers just about everything. Except for what Buffy learns
> from Joyce, who's trying to hide it. I don't recall the sex being
> confirmed back in "Band Candy," so it's news to the viewer as
> at the time, but I suppose Buffy can't be expected to be in the most
> rational headspace. What'd be more interesting is to see if she
> still has the same shocked outrage post-crisis. But this show just
> even better if network TV allowed profanity)... and then that's it.
> If I had my druthers, this would not be something one can just bring up
> as a gag and then drop. It's easy to keep something on slow-burn if
> one person doesn't know that the other one knows about it, but once
> it's been brought up, I want ramifications and such. So if the next
> episode begins with the characters talking about it, or a scene that
> briefly suggests how such a conversation went, or a pointed attempt to
> consciously not address it, I'll be happy. If we wait months for the
> show to get around to bothering with the topic again, I shall be
> somewhat cross.
>
> Anyone care to speculate on why Giles wasn't the one whose thoughts
> betrayed that particular secret? Mental discipline? Other concerns
> big a deal as Joyce did)? Well, maybe you shouldn't speculate, given
> that later shows might enlighten us more.
>
> Mrs. Quality enjoyed this episode a lot, in part because it reminded
> her of the experience of people with schizophrenia. For me, some
> promising ingredients were in place, but the execution wasn't quite
> happening. It has something about it that makes it intriguing, and I
> can imagine my rating going up with re-watching, but for now it's
> "Decent."
>
> - Snyder has "Walk Like An Egyptian" running through his head
> - Newspaper headline: "Apathy on the rise, no one cares"
>
>
>
> One-sentence summary: Worthwhile ideas, at least.
>
> AOQ rating: Decent
>
> 1) "Anne" - Decent
> 2) "Dead Man's Party" - Excellent
> 3) "Faith, Hope, And Trick" - Good
> 4) "Beauty And The Beasts" - Decent
> 5) "Homecoming" - Good
> 6) "Band Candy" - Weak
> 7) "Revelations" - Good
> 8) "Lovers Walk" - Excellent
> 9) "The Wish" - Decent
> 10) "Amends" - Good
> 11) "Gingerbread" - Good
> 12) "Helpless" - Excellent
> 13) "The Zeppo" - Decent
> 14) "Bad Girls" - Good
> 15) "Consequences" - Excellent
> 16) "Doppelgängland" - Decent
> 17) "Enemies" - Good
> 18) "Earshot" - Decent]
Not much to add that hasn't already been said. Earshot is definately a
very funny and, because of the circumstances then, very serious decent
in my book. Not on my top 10. But it was finally nice to get into
Cordy's head for a change. Nice to know her mouth is connected to her
brain after all.
Most memorable line: Buffy: "You know what? I was wrong. You are an
idiot. My life happens to, on occasion, suck beyond the telling of it.
Sometimes more than I can handle. And it's not just mine. Every single
person down there is ignoring your pain because they're too busy with
their own."
Good stuff.
p.s.
I will be discontinuing the Open Discussion threads. If anyone wants
to pick it up from here, you're more than welcome to. My schedule is
going to be tight until August and it's hard enough keeping up with AOQ
as it is. Hopefully I will get a chance to make more than quick random
comments.
Enjoy the ride!
:->
Mel
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
How does Angel know it doesn't work, though? Experience with Drusilla,
perhaps?
Mel
Mel
Kevin wrote:
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>
>>The actual confrontation between Jon and Buffy is weakened by the fact
>>that, familiar face or no, Strong isn't much of an actor (here,
>>anyway). At least Gellar brings her usual A-game
>
>
>
> Espenson, for some reason, talks about him like he's the greatest thing
> since very small, sliced white bread. But I'm with you in the <shrug>
> "eh" camp.
>
> But the biggest flaw has got to be the casting of the SMALL THIN STUNT
> DOUBLE for the BIG FAT LUNCH LADY. Ha! Many viewers even thought it
> looked like a small *man*, though ME insists it was a woman.
> Otherwise, that scene was great, and the pregnant pause when Xander
> gets caught taking jello, while catching her with the giant tub of rat
> poison, was priceless.
I thought Espenson said it was man on the commentary. Anyone confirm???
She also mentioned that they didn't really match body profiles.
I never notice stuff like that, not even after it's pointed out. It's
not really important to me, I guess.
Mel
Mel
Mike Zeares wrote:
Well, you know, she has been skipping out on her classes....
Mel
Kevin
Mel wrote:
> Kevin wrote:
> > But the biggest flaw has got to be the casting of the SMALL THIN STUNT
> > DOUBLE for the BIG FAT LUNCH LADY. Ha! Many viewers even thought it
> > looked like a small *man*, though ME insists it was a woman.
>
> She also mentioned that they didn't really match body profiles.
>
> I never notice stuff like that, not even after it's pointed out. It's
> not really important to me, I guess.
I barely noticed it the first time either, and you're right, it's not
important at all... What I really meant is that the episode's biggest
flaw, to me, was a dumb technical thing, and nearly everything else was
quite excellent.
"Uh... a new... fabric softener... can cause irritation..." (Giles,
master of the mundane)
:)
--Kevin
George W Harris
wrote:
:
Remember, though, Buffy's not going to win
any awards for perfect attendance. For her, classes
are an extra-curricular activity.
:
:-- Mike Zeares
--
/bud...@nirvana.net/h:k
George W. Harris For actual email address, replace each 'u' with an 'i'
Opus the Penguin
> "Look at her shoes. If a fashion magazine told her to, she'd wear
> cats strapped to her feet." (According to the commentary, this
> was a Joss addition.)
I believe you recall incorrectly, but perhaps I do. I believe in the
commentary Jane said she originally had a more pedestrian (heh!) line.
But Joss encouraged her to try harder and that's what she came up with.
--
Opus the Penguin
The best darn penguin in all of Usenet
Opus the Penguin
> It's not perfect. Here's what doesn't work:
>
> 1. The lines in the classroom scene where Buffy asks Willow who
> the newspaper editor is. That's just clumsy exposition -- I can't
> really buy that Buffy wouldn't know the people in the class.
>
Right, 'cause in most high schools the newspaper editor is almost like
a god and everybody knows his or her name.
Opus the Penguin
about BtVS Season 4/AtS Season 1?
As you know, Arb (may I call you "Arb"?), Angel is about to get his own
series. You may find your viewing improved by watching the first season
interlaced with the Buffy episodes in the order that each one aired.
I.e. you watch the Buffy Season 4 opener followed by the Angel Season 1
opener followed by Buffy 4:2 then Angel 4:2 etc.
It may get a little trickier than that to reproduce the original air
order in places. Mrs. Penguin took care of looking up which one was
supposed to come next and queuing up the proper ep.
By the way, I'm rather jealous of you. Mrs. P and I watched all 7 Buffy
seasons and all 5 Angel seasons over the course of 2005 (more or less).
I wish I'd thought of becoming a minor celebrity by posting my reviews
here.
Apteryx
news:dsample-6FC1FC...@news.giganews.com...
> In article <4aWdnT0aUuIk5LXZ...@rcn.net>,
> Michael Ikeda <mmi...@erols.com> wrote:
>
>> Don Sample <dsa...@synapse.net> wrote in
>> news:dsample-2727D1...@news.giganews.com:
>>
>> > In article <122gddc...@corp.supernews.com>,
>> > chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu wrote:
>> >
>> >> "What am I, Saint Buffy? He's like three feet tall!"
>> >
>> > And for a very long time the only non-child we ever saw on the
>> > show who was shorter than Buffy (Even Principal Snyder had a
>> > couple of inches on her.)
>> >
>>
>> Although I seem to recall that Danny is actually slightly taller than
>> Sarah.
>
> IMDB has SMG at 5'3" Danny Strong is listed as being 5'2".
I was an extra in a movie with Seth Green (Without a Paddle, though as far
as I can tell from my one viewing of the movie, I didn't make the final cut,
much like Seth Green himself in the BtVS movie). He seemed to me to be very
short, though he is clearly not the shortest actor on BtVS. BtVS seems to
have made a point of casting unusually short actors. Maybe they saved on
sets that way, everything could be scaled down :)
--
Apteryx
Opus the Penguin
Me too. The only thing left to learn was "twice" and "on the hood of a
police car."
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
>>
>> Easier to be amused if you know ahead of time that she'll try it, and that
>> it won't work. He probably would have been quite upset if there was a
>> chance it could have worked.
>
> How does Angel know it doesn't work, though? Experience with Drusilla,
> perhaps?
That would be my first guess. Or, it's always possible that Angel/us ran
into someone else who tried to read his mind over the years. Or he might
have studied up on vampire lore at some point, perhaps after he was
cursed, and learned it then. One more possibility: Giles knew that it
wouldn't work on vamps, phoned Angel to update him on Buffy's infection,
and told him about it then. Yes, all sorts of possibilities, and no
definite evidence for or against any of them as far as I know.
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
> (chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu) wrote:
>
>> "Look at her shoes. If a fashion magazine told her to, she'd wear
>> cats strapped to her feet." (According to the commentary, this
>> was a Joss addition.)
>
> I believe you recall incorrectly, but perhaps I do. I believe in the
> commentary Jane said she originally had a more pedestrian (heh!) line.
> But Joss encouraged her to try harder and that's what she came up with.
I'm *pretty* sure, though not positive, that she said Joss specifically
suggested the cats. Either way, I shouldn't have said "addition" --
"alteration" or "improvement" would be more accurate.
Arbitrar Of Quality
Opus the Penguin wrote:
> By the way, have we discussed with Mr. Quality what he intends to do
> about BtVS Season 4/AtS Season 1?
My plan had been to alternate. Now I guess I'll have to look into
actual airdate orders if they don't exactly match up...
-AOQ
KenM47
My rec is most times that alternating works, but there may have been a
couple of times one show at 8 or at 9 was a repeat while the other was
new or even pre-empted.
When you get to it, I'm sure some here will be glad to post a schedule
or point you to one.
Ken (Brooklyn)
gree...@gmail.com
KenM47 wrote:
> My rec is most times that alternating works, but there may have been a
> couple of times one show at 8 or at 9 was a repeat while the other was
> new or even pre-empted.
For BtVS S4 and _Angel_ S1, alternating will work fine. After S4/S1, it
really doesn't matter that much, rkprcg sbe gur _Natry_ rcfvbqr jurer
gurl pnyy gb gryy Natry Ohssl'f nyvir ntnva. Vs ur znxrf vg gb _Natry_
F4, ur'f ba uvf bja.
-- Terry
Stephen Tempest
>Me too. The only thing left to learn was "twice" and "on the hood of a
>police car."
We never did learn exactly why Joyce had a pair of handcuffs in her
pocket, though...
Stephen
Stephen Tempest
I think you're pretty safe with B4/A1 through to B6/A3. B7/A4 is the
only season where some of the match-ups weren't exact.
Another point - is everyone happy with AoQ posting reviews of _Angel_
episodes here? (Assuming he wants to, of course) Or should they go
on alt.tv.angel? Or even be cross-posted there?
Stephen
vague disclaimer
gree...@gmail.com wrote:
Gurer nyfb gur fznyy znggre bs Sbby Sbe Ybir/ Qneyn naq...re...fbzrguvat
be bgure naq Pehfu va Ohssl Fsvir naq NgfFgjb.
--
A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend
KenM47
IMO, the Angel spin-off and the Angel separate NG never should have
existed in this reality.
No objection to posting here or cross-posting. Don't most newsreaders
(other than through Google Groups) filter cross-posts?
Ken (Brooklyn)
Don Sample
Stephen Tempest <ste...@stempest.demon.co.uk> wrote:
She obviously took them from the cop. Maybe she was planning on a
little bondage fun later in the evening.
BTR1701
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
Sample posted this in another thread in case you passed it by.
As someone mentioned, alternating episodes from Buffy to Angel will give
you everything in the right order.
Buffy Angel
4.01 The Freshman 1.01 City of...
4.03 The Harsh Light of Day 1.03 In the Dark
1.07 The Bachelor Party
4.08 Pangs 1.08 I Will Remember You
4.15 This Year's Girl
4.16 Who Are You
1.18 Five by Five
1.19 Sanctuary
4.20 The Yoko Factor
4.21 Primeval 1.21 Blind Date
chr...@removethistoreply.gwu.edu
>
> Another point - is everyone happy with AoQ posting reviews of _Angel_
> episodes here? (Assuming he wants to, of course) Or should they go
> on alt.tv.angel? Or even be cross-posted there?
I'd be happy to see them here. Cross-posted to alt.tv.angel, sure, but
definitely posted here. These days atbvs seems like the main AtS
discussion group anyway, and ata a little-visited secondary group.
gree...@gmail.com
vague disclaimer wrote:
> Gurer nyfb gur fznyy znggre bs Sbby Sbe Ybir/ Qneyn naq...re...fbzrguvat
> be bgure naq Pehfu va Ohssl Fsvir naq NgfFgjb.
Lrnu, SSY naq "Qneyn", V thrff, gubhtu pbagvahvat gur nygreangvat
zrgubq jvyy fgvyy trg lbh gurer. Ohg rira va gur frevrf' nvevat beqre,
gurer jnf n guerr-rcvfbqr tnc orgjrra Qehfvyyn yrnivat _Natry_
("Erqrsvavgvba"), naq gura fubjvat hc va Fhaalqnyr va "Pehfu". Fgvyy
gur nygreangvat zrgubq jvyy jbex urer nf jryy.
-- Terry
Mike Zeares
A couple of other people have given you the order of the crossover eps.
But I highly recommend watching all of Angel S1. Otherwise, the later
crossover eps might be a bit confusing. Plus its a pretty good show in
its own right.
The shows' schedules matched up perfectly that first season -- if Buffy
was in repeats so was Angel, for example. This was also true the
following season. After that, when Buffy went to UPN, they became
almost completely disconnected.
-- Mike Zeares
jil...@hotmail.com
Mel
gree...@gmail.com wrote:
Vg jbhyq nyfb or n tbbq vqrn gb jngpu "Gur Tvsg" orsber Natry'f frnfba
gjb svany zbzragf.
Mel
Mel
Stephen Tempest wrote:
Posting them here works for me. Cross-posting might liven up the Angel
newsgroup though :-)
Mel
Opus the Penguin
> For BtVS S4 and _Angel_ S1, alternating will work fine. After
> S4/S1, it really doesn't matter that much, rkprcg sbe gur _Natry_
> rcfvbqr jurer gurl pnyy gb gryy Natry Ohssl'f nyvir ntnva. Vs ur
> znxrf vg gb _Natry_ F4, ur'f ba uvf bja.
>
> -- Terry
Hey Terry, did you know that your ROT-13 name is Greel?
--
Bchf gur Crathva
Gur orfg qnea crathva va nyy bs Hfrarg
George W Harris
<opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
: (gree...@gmail.com) wrote:
:
:> For BtVS S4 and _Angel_ S1, alternating will work fine. After
:> S4/S1, it really doesn't matter that much, rkprcg sbe gur _Natry_
:> rcfvbqr jurer gurl pnyy gb gryy Natry Ohssl'f nyvir ntnva. Vs ur
:> znxrf vg gb _Natry_ F4, ur'f ba uvf bja.
:>
:> -- Terry
:
:Hey Terry, did you know that your ROT-13 name is Greel?
I had noticed that myself. Alas, I'm Trbetr J
Uneevf (J for Jvyyvnz), which doesn't really roll
trippingly off the gbathr.
--
Real men don't need macho posturing to bolster their egos.
George W. Harris For actual email address, replace each 'u' with an 'i'.
William George Ferguson
wrote:
>On 29 Mar 2006 05:11:48 GMT, Opus the Penguin
><opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>: (gree...@gmail.com) wrote:
>:
>:> For BtVS S4 and _Angel_ S1, alternating will work fine. After
>:> S4/S1, it really doesn't matter that much, rkprcg sbe gur _Natry_
>:> rcfvbqr jurer gurl pnyy gb gryy Natry Ohssl'f nyvir ntnva. Vs ur
>:> znxrf vg gb _Natry_ F4, ur'f ba uvf bja.
>:>
>:> -- Terry
>:
>:Hey Terry, did you know that your ROT-13 name is Greel?
>
> I had noticed that myself. Alas, I'm Trbetr J
>Uneevf (J for Jvyyvnz), which doesn't really roll
>trippingly off the gbathr.
So your George W and I'm W George. How stwenge.
--
HERBERT
1996 - 1997
Beloved Mascot
Delightful Meal
He fed the Pack
A little
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
George W Harris <gha...@mundsprung.com> wrote:
> On 29 Mar 2006 05:11:48 GMT, Opus the Penguin
> <opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> : (gree...@gmail.com) wrote:
> :
> :> For BtVS S4 and _Angel_ S1, alternating will work fine. After
> :> S4/S1, it really doesn't matter that much, rkprcg sbe gur _Natry_
> :> rcfvbqr jurer gurl pnyy gb gryy Natry Ohssl'f nyvir ntnva. Vs ur
> :> znxrf vg gb _Natry_ F4, ur'f ba uvf bja.
> :>
> :> -- Terry
> :
> :Hey Terry, did you know that your ROT-13 name is Greel?
>
> I had noticed that myself. Alas, I'm Trbetr J
thats peoples commissioner george leroy tirebiter to you
arf meow arf - nsa fodder
al qaeda terrorism nuclear bomb iran taliban big brother
if you meet buddha on the usenet killfile him
George W Harris
<wmgf...@newsguy.com> wrote:
:On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 07:00:02 GMT, George W Harris <gha...@mundsprung.com>
:wrote:
:
:>On 29 Mar 2006 05:11:48 GMT, Opus the Penguin
:><opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
:>
:>: (gree...@gmail.com) wrote:
:>:
:>:> For BtVS S4 and _Angel_ S1, alternating will work fine. After
:>:> S4/S1, it really doesn't matter that much, rkprcg sbe gur _Natry_
:>:> rcfvbqr jurer gurl pnyy gb gryy Natry Ohssl'f nyvir ntnva. Vs ur
:>:> znxrf vg gb _Natry_ F4, ur'f ba uvf bja.
:>:>
:>:> -- Terry
:>:
:>:Hey Terry, did you know that your ROT-13 name is Greel?
:>
:> I had noticed that myself. Alas, I'm Trbetr J
:>Uneevf (J for Jvyyvnz), which doesn't really roll
:>trippingly off the gbathr.
:
:So your George W and I'm W George. How stwenge.
George William, in fact. I was going to George
Wallace Harris, but the then-governor of Alabama's
stance on segregation torpedoed that for my parents.
Unfortunately, the entire initial has now been ruined.
--
Never give a loaded gun to a woman in labor.
One Bit Shy
news:1143477611....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> But what that means is that the
> episode finds other places to drag and take forever to get where it's
> going.
Hmmm. I never thought of this episode as dragging. I suspect that it's not
the pacing so much as that the content didn't engage you.
> There's some good stuff in "Earshot," but it's doled out in a
> way that gets so slow and dull sometimes. For example, Buffy gets the
> questionable gift of telepathy - anyone think she'll soon learn
> that it's not such a gift? Anyone think maybe her friends will find
> her hard to be around? Buffy and maybe Willow don't seem to
> recognize the negative implications right away, but most people
> who've ever watched TV probably did. And d'ya think if
> mind-reading gets strong enough, it might not just be annoying, but
> make it impossible to function? Well, surprise. It's impressive how
> long the episode takes to get where it's going. And once we're
> there, we still get things like Giles trying to tell reassuring lies.
> *To a telepath.*
Well, those are just the natural stages for the situation. If the idea
interests, then you don't want to just skip past the fun part of it's cool
to eavesdrop and oh, what a ruckus is created when they discover they can't
hide their thoughts.... Hmmm. you seem more jaded than usual in this
review.
> Along the way we get a lot of looks into people's minds. Some of it
> is interesting (Espenson episodes seem to be full of good lines, at
> least), some less so. The rare chance to get a sense of what kinds of
> things Oz thinks about is worth a smile. And I guess Xander's
> inability to do math when thinking about nudity was meant to be funny?
Curious to me is how uninteresting - banal - most everybody's thoughts are -
which I suppose is kind of true. As much as I would like to think that the
running thoughts in my head are pure poetry, I'm afraid the reality is
rather less. In any case, what I like in that scene is the stuff that isn't
the thoughts themselves. Like Buffy enjoying watch Wesley squirm until he
runs away in humiliation and then pops out to ask if she can still hear his
thoughts. And Cordy just saying what she thinks.
> As for the central Buffy/Angel moment, yeah, we're back to on-again
> after a fleeting bit of off-again, but the actual content of the scene
> seems fresh.
See what I meant about them dragging B/A out? It's not that the scenes are
bad - this one is wonderful. But for God's sake, how many times can they
separate and get back together in one season? (Actually, I don't think
they're really on-again until later. After Angel ripped out the heart of a
demon and fed it to Buffy.)
> And then the scene-ending banter is great, ending with the classic
> "I'm a funny guy." Say what you will about Angel, but when
> he's on his game, the man knows how to defuse these situations.
My favorite moment in the episode and one of Angel's best ever.
> By the way, opening the front door of a vampire's house during
> daylight seems like the kind of thing one doesn't just brush away as
> a casual mistake.
I really like how that was staged, with the shaft of light across the floor
forcefully separating them as they continue to walk from the entrance.
> I'd say that based on the last few episodes, Cordelia's a
> full-fledged Scoobie again - hadn't expected young Mr. Wyndam-Pryce
> to be part of the reason for it (especially given that he hadn't been
> introduced yet when I was speculating about such things). And the
> scene where she's reading Jonathan's note without it registering?
> Still worthless.
Except that she discovered it. Nobody else did.
> And I suppose I was indeed mildly interested to find out how Larry was
> handling being comfortable with his sexual identity, so I hereby
> acknowledge that the scene existed. Not much more to say.
I can never quite decide what I think of that subplot. Larry's personal
change is kind of cool to see. But it's still used to set up the same dumb
joke about thinking Xander is gay.
> Angel continues to bring the cool, bringing back a demon's heart for
> his girl and staggering through the daylight to deliver it. Hopefully
> it'd just been sunrise, since it'd be lame if vampires could just
> throw cloaks over themselves to avoid more than a mild sizzling.
Yeah. At least Spike had his black windowed car to hide in.
> Danny Strong makes it into the opening credits without dying... barely.
> There's both some clever plotting and some idiot plotting where
> Jonathan is concerned. The good comes when we have Willow questioning
> him in a scene reminiscent of "Go Fish," stuck in the middle of a
> bunch of other stuff. We remember that he was a red herring in GF, but
> he's not so irrelevant here.
I liked that touch. I also like that - again - Willow had way too much fun
interrogating him, but this time finds she wasn't really all that good. "I
had him in my grasp! Slippery weasel."
> The actual confrontation between Jon and Buffy is weakened by the fact
> that, familiar face or no, Strong isn't much of an actor (here,
> anyway). At least Gellar brings her usual A-game (also, another
> quotable: "No... you're up in the clock tower with a high-powered
> rifle because you wanna blend in"), and her acting is one of the
> pieces that make the "it's deafening" monologue work. I think
> the other piece is that even though it's a clunky speech, it's
> appropriate to the situation for two reasons: first because when
> you're talking to someone about whether life is worth living, the big
> questions come to play. And second, because it's played as if Buffy
> is working this stuff out for herself and having her own epiphany as
> she's explaining it to him, which is a good vibe.
I like that aspect a whole lot - really makes it work. And, yes, SMG sells
it.
The clunky aspect is I think a natural consequence of "preaching" a broad
principal. Too much nuance loses the global message. That's the thing I
wonder the most about the episode. It does kind of lead to preaching a
message. (Even if Joss sidesteps that by calling it a mission statement.)
I don't know if that's necessarily a criticism. It's not a terrible message
and not too overbearing in its presentation. But I sure wouldn't want to
see them do this very often.
> Forgettyitis note: Ugh. I mean, we all know Bufy is badass and such,
> but are we supposed to believe that only one person looked up to see a
> person noisily treating the law of gravity as if it were more of a
> suggestion, and that she was able to dismiss it so easily?
Forgettyitis will run its course eventually. The stand out element of that
here I think is that Buffy does her thing in broad daylight in front of
everybody here. And at the end smack in the middle of a crowded lunchroom.
Doesn't the whole school have to know that she smacked down the cafeterial
lady that was trying to poison them all?
> And that covers just about everything. Except for what Buffy learns
> from Joyce, who's trying to hide it. I don't recall the sex being
> confirmed back in "Band Candy," so it's news to the viewer as
> well. It's really just an extension of the mental place they were in
> at the time, but I suppose Buffy can't be expected to be in the most
> rational headspace. What'd be more interesting is to see if she
> still has the same shocked outrage post-crisis. But this show just
> ends with Buffy dropping her awareness on Giles (it'd have worked
> even better if network TV allowed profanity)... and then that's it.
> If I had my druthers, this would not be something one can just bring up
> as a gag and then drop. It's easy to keep something on slow-burn if
> one person doesn't know that the other one knows about it, but once
> it's been brought up, I want ramifications and such. So if the next
> episode begins with the characters talking about it, or a scene that
> briefly suggests how such a conversation went, or a pointed attempt to
> consciously not address it, I'll be happy. If we wait months for the
> show to get around to bothering with the topic again, I shall be
> somewhat cross.
What's odd to me about your analysis is that this show is the follow-up, not
the set-up. This was set-up in Band Candy. Furthermore, it serves to
retroactively illuminate past scenes in a fresh way. Do you remember how
Joyce didn't want to invite Giles over for Christmas in Ammends? Now you
know why.
> So...
> One-sentence summary: Worthwhile ideas, at least.
> AOQ rating: Decent
Everybody else has hammered on the humor. (Which could be debated as acting
to undercut the power of the story, but I think of as preventing it from
becoming too overbearing.) I think it's a solid Good.
OBS
Arbitrar Of Quality
> That's the thing I
> wonder the most about the episode. It does kind of lead to preaching a
> message. (Even if Joss sidesteps that by calling it a mission statement.)
> I don't know if that's necessarily a criticism. It's not a terrible message
> and not too overbearing in its presentation. But I sure wouldn't want to
> see them do this very often.
You give someone a forum where he can reach millions worldwide, and
he'll end up preaching, even if it's only occasionally. It comes with
the territory. And like you say, the message is a good one and it's
not presented too terribly overbearingly.
> > And that covers just about everything. Except for what Buffy learns
> > from Joyce, who's trying to hide it. I don't recall the sex being
> > confirmed back in "Band Candy," so it's news to the viewer as
> > well. It's really just an extension of the mental place they were in
> > at the time, but I suppose Buffy can't be expected to be in the most
> > rational headspace. What'd be more interesting is to see if she
> > still has the same shocked outrage post-crisis. But this show just
> > ends with Buffy dropping her awareness on Giles (it'd have worked
> > even better if network TV allowed profanity)... and then that's it.
> > If I had my druthers, this would not be something one can just bring up
> > as a gag and then drop. It's easy to keep something on slow-burn if
> > one person doesn't know that the other one knows about it, but once
> > it's been brought up, I want ramifications and such. So if the next
> > episode begins with the characters talking about it, or a scene that
> > briefly suggests how such a conversation went, or a pointed attempt to
> > consciously not address it, I'll be happy. If we wait months for the
> > show to get around to bothering with the topic again, I shall be
> > somewhat cross.
>
> What's odd to me about your analysis is that this show is the follow-up, not
> the set-up. This was set-up in Band Candy.
Kind of a shit followup then, innit?
As some have pointed out, the sex was implied during BC itself, and
even if one missed that, it's not a huge surprise. This episode tells
us nothing new... except for the implication that the sex act per se IS
a big deal to Buffy and Joyce (but perhaps not Giles). And now
everyone involved knows that everyone else knows about it, which would
seem to imply that there's more story to tell. But given the lack of
followup in the next few episodes (hopefully that's not a "spoiler" to
newbies)...
> Do you remember how
> Joyce didn't want to invite Giles over for Christmas in Ammends? Now you
> know why.
Um, I assumed it was because she was uncomfortable with the events of
"Band Candy." Which was the case.
-AOQ
Eric Hunter
> On 29 Mar 2006 05:11:48 GMT, Opus the Penguin
> <opusthepen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> (gree...@gmail.com) wrote:
>>
>>> For BtVS S4 and _Angel_ S1, alternating will work fine. After
>>> S4/S1, it really doesn't matter that much, rkprcg sbe gur _Natry_
>>> rcfvbqr jurer gurl pnyy gb gryy Natry Ohssl'f nyvir ntnva. Vs ur
>>> znxrf vg gb _Natry_ F4, ur'f ba uvf bja.
>>>
>>> -- Terry
>>
>> Hey Terry, did you know that your ROT-13 name is Greel?
>
> I had noticed that myself. Alas, I'm Trbetr J
> Uneevf (J for Jvyyvnz), which doesn't really roll
> trippingly off the gbathr.
My name, Revp Uhagre, is also more tripping than
trippingly, but it is interesting that the first two
letters of both my first and last name are 13 letters
apart.
Revp. ;-)
--
George W Harris
<hunt...@comcast.invalid> wrote:
I have a friend in Boston whose name becomes
Ivetvy S Ferrar, which is really cool. I don't know what the S
stands for.
:
:Revp. ;-)
--
"If you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce, they taste more like
prunes than rhubarb does" -Groucho Marx
Eric Hunter
Technically, reviews of AtS (Angel the Series) should
be posted to alt.tv.angel, but cross-posting would be
appropriate, especially for BtVS Seasons 4 and 5, and
AtS S1 and S2.
Eric.
--
Opus the Penguin
> "Eric Hunter" <hunt...@comcast.invalid> wrote:
>:George W Harris wrote:
>:>> (gree...@gmail.com) wrote:
>:>>
>:>>> For BtVS S4 and _Angel_ S1, alternating will work fine. After
>:>>> S4/S1, it really doesn't matter that much, rkprcg sbe gur
>:>>> _Natry_ rcfvbqr jurer gurl pnyy gb gryy Natry Ohssl'f nyvir
>:>>> ntnva. Vs ur znxrf vg gb _Natry_ F4, ur'f ba uvf bja.
>:>>>
>:>>> -- Terry
>:>>
>:>> Hey Terry, did you know that your ROT-13 name is Greel?
>:>
>:> I had noticed that myself. Alas, I'm Trbetr J
>:> Uneevf (J for Jvyyvnz), which doesn't really roll
>:> trippingly off the gbathr.
>:
>:My name, Revp Uhagre, is also more tripping than
>:trippingly, but it is interesting that the first two
>:letters of both my first and last name are 13 letters
>:apart.
>
> I have a friend in Boston whose name becomes
> Ivetvy S Ferrar, which is really cool.
Yeah? What's his name?
--
Opus the Penguin
The best darn penguin in all of Usenet