Mr Pointy's Review: Real Me [SPOILERS]
so...@xs4all.nl
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Real Me
Season: 5, Episode 2
Rating: 3 out of 5 stakes
Summary
Harmony has gathered some minions and plans to kill Buffy. Her first plan
is to go to Buffy's house and kill her. That fails, because Buffy isn't
there. She can't come in either, until Dawn, Buffy's mysteriously appeared
sister, accidentally invites her in. Xander manages to close the door on
her, foiling Harmony's first plan. Her second plan is better, because it
wasn't one of her own. It was Spike's. She kidnaps Dawn, but by the time
Buffy gets there, Harmony's minions have gotten fed up with her and plan to
kill her. Buffy arrives just in time and kills the whole gang, except
Harmony, who escapes.
My Opinion
This episode has one big problem, it doesn't have a convincing plot.
Although the idea of Harmony with minions is hilarious, in the end she
isn't much of a foe for Buffy and I was never worried. This episode does do
a lot of solid character work, though. Mostly, Dawn is fleshed out very
well and other characters get a bit of a work-out too: Giles snaps out of
his mid-life crisis and becomes a shopkeeper, Tara still feels like an
outsider, Buffy is having trouble with her role as an older sister, Anya is
becoming more human, she cares about Dawn enough to try to help her and even
Harmony is shown to be a lot more self-confident. Not that self-confidence
is enough to lead a gang. There's a lot of humor in this episode as well
and it's surprisingly well divided between the characters. Almost every
character in this episode has something funny to say.
Musings about Monster Meanings
Who Dawn really is is still a big mystery, but to Buffy, Dawn is what she
has always wanted to be: normal. I think most of the friction between them
is the result of Buffy being jealous of Dawn. Buffy wants a normal life so
badly and when she looks at Dawn, she sees herself, the way she wanted to
be, with no prophecies, no sacred birthright, no obligations, nothing. Just
an ordinary girl.
Memorable Moments
At the start of the episode, Giles is teaching Buffy a kind of meditation to
help her with her fighting. It's a bit like hypnosis. That, and the
presence of crystals, reminds me of "Helpless". Since Helpless, I don't
think Buffy has completely trusted Giles. Oh, she trusts his intentions,
but it hasn't been the kind of trust that makes a girl believe her dad will
catch her if she falls off her bike. After a year and a half of this, it
looks as if she has enough faith in him again.
It's interesting to see how Tara reacts to the core Scoobies. Her
relationship with Buffy isn't too good. It's about average for sisters with
that much age difference. It doesn't look as if there's any real hatred
between them, but both manage to get under the other's skin without trying
very hard. Buffy being the Slayer is an additional problem. Dawn doesn't
get as much attention as she's like to and she blames it on Buffy. Dawn
thinks Giles is an old guy who doesn't like her too much. She's probably
right about that. It's not unlike Buffy's attitude towards him at the start
of the series. Dawn identifies with Willow, because she's smart and they
like similar things, like chess and magic. Willow doesn't treat her like a
kid either, something just about every teenager hates. Dawn has an obvious
crush on Xander, something else that makes her very much like Willow.
Quotes
Riley: Morning, Mrs. Summers. You look great.
Joyce: Oh, thank you, Riley. (Exits)
Buffy: Suck up.
Riley: What? It's a nice outfit. Besides, "I'm here to violate
your firstborn" never goes over with parents. Not sure why.
Buffy: Are you mad at me?
Riley: Oh, no, not at all. I'm plotting your death, but in a happy way.
Dawn: I don't think Buffy's Watcher likes me too much. I think it's
'cause he's just so ... old. I'm not sure how old he is, but I heard him
use the word "newfangled" one time. So he's gotta be pretty far gone.
Willow: Hey Giles, sharp wheels!
Tara: The rest of the car's nice too.
Buffy: Boy, you've really thought this through. How bored *were* you
last year?
Giles: I watched Passions with Spike. Let us never speak of it.
Reviews of other Buffy episodes: http://www.xs4all.nl/~sotty/buffy.html
Reviews of Angel episodes: http://www.xs4all.nl/~sotty/angel.html
--
Patrick Scheele (so...@xs4all.nl)
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
=*= Mr. Pointy's Reviews: http://www.xs4all.nl/~sotty/buffy.html =*=
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=